FOXO3 Expression and Function in the Pig Oocyte and Embryo

Forkhead box O3 (FOXO3), a member of the FOXO subfamily of Forkhead transcription factors, has been shown to play critical roles in apoptosis, oxidative stress, cell cycle and DNA repair. The objective of this study was to characterize FOXO3 expression and its function during oocyte maturation and early embryo development in the pig.We found: (1) FOXO3 is dynamically expressed at both mRNA and protein level in the maturing oocyte and early in vitro fertilized embryos. (2) FOXO3 protein is localized in the cytoplasm of pig maturing oocytes. (3) Co-culture with Doxorubicin (DOX, 2 µM) significantly altered the total FOXO3 protein level during in vitro maturation. (4) in vitromaturation with DOX (2µM) numerically increased maturation rate, but significantly decreased embryo development to the blastocyst stage after oocyte parthenogenetic activation. Our work provides useful data for functional study of FOXO3 protein in female gametogenesis and the potential impact on developing pig embryos, which could benefit animal reproductive health and provide foundational knowledge for improving swine reproductive efficiency

Demand-controlled ventilation in schools: Influence of base ventilation rates on subjective symptoms, perceived indoor environment and young adults' learning performance

The ventilation airflow rates in a demand-controlled ventilation strategy typically vary between a base (Vmin) and a maximum ventilation rate (Vmax). Classrooms have relatively short but intense hours of occupancy and a low Vmin can result in high energy savings. Our study aims to examine how different Vmin (1.1 versus 2.0 l/s per m²) affect subjective symptoms, perceived indoor environment quality (IEQ), and performance for young adults. Symptom intensity and perceived IEQ were recorded on a visual scale, and performance was examined by identifying three different letters in a nonsense text. Tests were done immediately after entering the classroom. We found no significant effects of increasing Vmin from 1.1 to 2.0 l/s per m² on learning performance, symptoms, or perceived IEQ.publishedVersio

Cooking habits and usage of kitchen hoods in Norwegian homes

Sustainable urban development results in more space and energy-efficient apartments. Open plan solutions are becoming more common, and the market is exploring new configurations and ventilation solutions for the kitchen in direction of the design and minimize space for ductwork. Cooking is an important aspect of human life and is considered one of the major sources of particle emissions. The cooking method, the type of cuisine, and the type of kitchen hood are some of the factors that will influence this. In Norway, the minimum requirement for general kitchen exhaust is 36 m3/h, with a minimum additional forced ventilation by the kitchen hood of 108 m3/h. However, these requirements might not be sufficient to mitigate the exposure from cooking. Electricity is the main heating source, traditionally with hot plate, today mainly induction or ceramic cooktop. In this work, we aim to investigate representative Norwegian cooking habits, typical meals and set up a procedure for cooking in the laboratory to perform intensive exposure studies. A survey has been performed to identify the type and usage of kitchen hoods in different living situations as well as typical Norwegian meals. A total of 336 people responded to the survey, of which 111 provided answers to a few additional questions. More than 60% of the respondents belonged in the age groups 30 – 60 years old and 92% owned their dwelling. Wall-mounted kitchen hoods were found in the majority of the homes, and almost 4% had downdraft. Only 12% of the homes had recirculating hoods. 76% of the respondents used the kitchen hood during cooking. The Norwegians mainly cook or fry their food, while deep-frying is not common. For the question related to what meal is most often cooked, the categories of food that were most mentioned were pasta dishes, taco, meat, fish, boiled potatoes, and chicken. Based on this we developed the cooking procedure for three different test meals suitable for exposure studies.publishedVersio

Cooking emissions from typical Norwegian meals: basis for advanced exposure studies

Sustainable urban dwellings are built space-efficient, and open-plan kitchens have increasingly become the norm. A study of newer building projects has shown that the kitchen space is in the inner area of the apartment with limited options for forced window airing, leaving the job of removing cooking emissions to the kitchen hood or general ventilation. One of the aims of our study is to measure exposure from actual cooking in modern apartments, as preparations for further advanced studies. To achieve this, particle number concentrations (>0.3 μm) are measured for three typical Norwegian meals with different ventilation rates at three locations in the kitchen lab. The kitchen setup is comparable to the EN 61591:2019 standard with an area of approximately 30 m2 and a height of 2.7 m. The measurements show that the meals and cooking procedures developed are reasonably repeatable. Most of the particles are in the range 0.3-2.5 μm. The meal producing the lowest numbers of particles is the vegetarian pasta Bolognese, while taco and fried salmon which required both higher cooking temperature and contained more fat resulted in a much higher number of particles. The peak for particle number concentration was more than 40% lower for the vegetarian meal. Turning on the kitchen hood at medium setting (286 m3/h) drastically reduced the particle number concentrations, however, the Norwegian requirement of 108 m3/h (low) resulted in a 58% reduction for the taco meal.publishedVersio

Additional Routes to Staphylococcus aureus Daptomycin Resistance as Revealed by Comparative Genome Sequencing, Transcriptional Profiling, and Phenotypic Studies

Daptomycin is an extensively used anti-staphylococcal agent due to the rise in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but the mechanism(s) of resistance is poorly understood. Comparative genome sequencing, transcriptomics, ultrastructure, and cell envelope studies were carried out on two relatively higher level (4 and 8 mu g/ml(-1)) laboratory-derived daptomycin-resistant strains (strains CB1541 and CB1540 respectively) compared to their parent strain (CB1118; MW2). Several mutations were found in the strains. Both strains had the same mutations in the two-component system genes waIK and agrA. In strain CB1540 mutations were also detected in the ribose phosphate pyrophosphokinase (prs) and polyribonucleotide nucleotidyltransferase genes (pnpA), a hypothetical protein gene, and in an intergenic region. In strain CB1541 there were mutations in clpP, an ATP-dependent protease, and two different hypothetical protein genes. The strain CB1540 transcriptome was characterized by upregulation of cap (capsule) operon genes, genes involved in the accumulation of the compatible solute glycine betaine, ure genes of the urease operon, and mscL encoding a mechanosensitive chanel. Downregulated genes included smpB, femAB and femH involved in the formation of the pentaglycine interpeptide bridge, genes involved in protein synthesis and fermentation, and spa encoding protein A. Genes altered in their expression common to both transcriptomes included some involved in glycine betaine accumulation, mscL, ure genes, femH, spa and smpB. However, the CB1541 transcriptome was further characterized by upregulation of various heat shock chaperone and protease genes, consistent with a mutation in clpP, and lytM and sceD. Both strains showed slow growth, and strongly decreased autolytic activity that appeared to be mainly due to decreased autolysin production. In contrast to previous common findings, we did not find any mutations in phospholipid biosynthesis genes, and it appears there are multiple pathways to and factors in daptomycin resistance

VOC contributions from building materials, furniture, and user equipment in low emitting and modular classrooms

This study aimed to assess whether building materials, furniture, and user equipment are sources of pollution that would influence the need for ventilation. Between 2017-2020, measurements were taken in four regular classrooms in a low emitting school and four modular classrooms in a prefabricated school. Weekly passive sampling of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and aldehydes were carried out in the classrooms under the following four conditions: 1) emptied, 2) furnished, 3) with furniture and user equipment, and 4) during normal use. For the first three conditions, the classrooms were measured with either no ventilation or "low" airflow rates. Total VOC (TVOC) concentrations were up to ten times higher in the unventilated classroom at the prefabricated school compared to classrooms at the low emitting school (<450 μg/m3 for conditions 1-2). Our results show the importance of selecting low emitting building materials and proper ventilation.publishedVersio

MMEAD: MS MARCO Entity Annotations and Disambiguations

MMEAD, or MS MARCO Entity Annotations and Disambiguations, is a resource for entity links for the MS MARCO datasets. We specify a format to store and share links for both document and passage collections of MS MARCO. Following this specification, we release entity links to Wikipedia for documents and passages in both MS MARCO collections (v1 and v2). Entity links have been produced by the REL and BLINK systems. MMEAD is an easy-to-install Python package, allowing users to load the link data and entity embeddings effortlessly. Using MMEAD takes only a few lines of code. Finally, we show how MMEAD can be used for IR research that uses entity information. We show how to improve recall@1000 and MRR@10 on more complex queries on the MS MARCO v1 passage dataset by using this resource. We also demonstrate how entity expansions can be used for interactive search applications

The challenge of social networking in the field of environment and health

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The fields of environment and health are both interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary, and until recently had little engagement in social networking designed to cross disciplinary boundaries. The EU FP6 project HENVINET aimed to establish integrated social network and networking facilities for multiple stakeholders in environment and health. The underlying assumption is that increased social networking across disciplines and sectors will enhance the quality of both problem knowledge and problem solving, by facilitating interactions. Inter- and trans-disciplinary networks are considered useful for this purpose. This does not mean that such networks are easily organized, as openness to such cooperation and exchange is often difficult to ascertain.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Different methods may enhance network building. Using a mixed method approach, a diversity of actions were used in order to investigate the main research question: which kind of social networking activities and structures can best support the objective of enhanced inter- and trans-disciplinary cooperation and exchange in the fields of environment and health. HENVINET applied interviews, a role playing session, a personal response system, a stakeholder workshop and a social networking portal as part of the process of building an interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary network.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The interviews provided support for the specification of requirements for an interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary network. The role playing session, the personal response system and the stakeholder workshop were assessed as useful tools in forming such network, by increasing the awareness by different disciplines of other’s positions. The social networking portal was particularly useful in delivering knowledge, but the role of the scientist in social networking is not yet clear.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The main challenge in the field of environment and health is not so much a lack of scientific problem knowledge, but rather the ability to effectively communicate, share and use available knowledge for policy making. Structured social network facilities can be useful by policy makers to engage with the research community. It is beneficial for scientists to be able to integrate the perspective of policy makers in the research agenda, and to assist in co-production of policy-relevant information. A diversity of methods need to be applied for network building: according to the fit-for-purpose-principle. It is useful to know which combination of methods and in which time frame produces the best results.</p> <p>Networking projects such as HENVINET are created not only for the benefit of the network itself, but also because the applying of the different methods is a learning tool for future network building. Finally, it is clear that the importance of specialized professionals in enabling effective communication between different groups should not be underestimated.</p

ID4 levels dictate the stem cell state in mouse spermatogonia

Spermatogenesis is a classic model of cycling cell lineages that depend on a balance between stem cell self-renewal for continuity and the formation of progenitors as the initial step in the production of differentiated cells. The mechanisms that guide the continuum of spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) to progenitor spermatogonial transition and precise identifiers of subtypes in the process are undefined. Here we used an Id4-eGfp reporter mouse to discover that EGFP intensity is predictive of the subsets, with the ID4-EGFPBright population being mostly, if not purely, SSCs, whereas the ID4-EGFPDim population is in transition to the progenitor state. These subsets are also distinguishable by transcriptome signatures. Moreover, using a conditional overexpression mouse model, we found that transition from the stem cell to the immediate progenitor state requires downregulation of Id4 coincident with a major change in the transcriptome. Collectively, our results demonstrate that the level of ID4 is predictive of stem cell or progenitor capacity in spermatogonia and dictates the interface of transition between the different functional states

Fire safety of ventilation systems and fire incidence reports in Norwegian schools

School fires are causes of concern in many countries. Although most of these fires are minor in terms of heat release rate, the amount of smoke produced can be substantial and cause significant damage beyond the room of origin. Currently, Norwegian schools have a wide spread of different ventilation strategies and systems, and building owners struggle with how to test, maintain and keep them fire safe. A systematic survey of fire incidences and ventilation strategies in schools for three municipalities in Norway was done to gain better insights into fire safety in schools. The results indicated that the place of origin is often in locker rooms/toilets, kitchen, or outdoors, and the fires were usually deliberately set. For non-arson fires, electrical failure was the most common cause. The majority of the fire incidences were small but would often result in smoke damage and spread of soot in the building, leading to high restoration costs for the local municipality. A lack of documentation of the fire safety and the function of the ventilation system was also identified, indicating a need for improved routines and systems for registering fire incidences and documentation of the technical systems.publishedVersio