Household-level risk factors for secondary influenza-like illness in a rural area of Bangladesh

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.Objective To describe household‐level risk factors for secondary influenza‐like illness (ILI), an important public health concern in the low‐income population of Bangladesh. Methods Secondary analysis of control participants in a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effect of handwashing to prevent household ILI transmission. We recruited index‐case patients with ILI – fever (<5 years); fever, cough or sore throat (≥5 years) – from health facilities, collected information on household factors and conducted syndromic surveillance among household contacts for 10 days after resolution of index‐case patients’ symptoms. We evaluated the associations between household factors at baseline and secondary ILI among household contacts using negative binomial regression, accounting for clustering by household. Results Our sample was 1491 household contacts of 184 index‐case patients. Seventy‐one percentage reported that smoking occurred in their home, 27% shared a latrine with one other household and 36% shared a latrine with >1 other household. A total of 114 household contacts (7.6%) had symptoms of ILI during follow‐up. Smoking in the home (RRadj 1.9, 95% CI: 1.2, 3.0) and sharing a latrine with one household (RRadj 2.1, 95% CI: 1.2, 3.6) or >1 household (RRadj 3.1, 95% CI: 1.8–5.2) were independently associated with increased risk of secondary ILI. Conclusion Tobacco use in homes could increase respiratory illness in Bangladesh. The mechanism between use of shared latrines and household ILI transmission is not clear. It is possible that respiratory pathogens could be transmitted through faecal contact or contaminated fomites in shared latrines

Acquisition of sexual orientation and gender identity data among NCI Community Oncology Research Program practice groups

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149296/1/cncr31925_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149296/2/cncr31925.pd

Phosphorus in the landscape: diffuse sources to surface waters. Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation. Occasional Paper 16/98

The National Eutrophication Management Program (NEMP) and Environment Australia convened a workshop to develop a coherent overview of the sources and transport of diffuse phosphorus in Australian catchments based on the latest knowledge. The Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation (LWRRDC) and the Murray–Darling Basin Commission (MDBC) jointly fund NEMP. A select group of scientists attended the workshop and developed a coherent statement about phosphorus sources and transport in Australian catchments. The group did not extend this statement to include recommended management practices. This paper reports the findings from the workshop. State governments have developed algal and nutrient management strategies in response to concerns about the frequency and severity of algal blooms, including cyanobacterial blooms, in Australian rivers and estuaries. There is an emphasis on phosphorus management, particularly in rural environments, now that nutrients are recognised as fundamental drivers of algal growth. Best management practices (BMPs) were developed for these strategies on the basis of the limited scientific evidence that was available at the time. The absence of a significant body of Australian information meant that there was a reliance on overseas research findings to develop such BMPs. A number of research projects have been completed in recent years on the sources and transport of nutrients in Australian catchments that challenge the Northern Hemisphere model of nutrient behaviour and will have implications for future development of BMPs. Principal conclusions 1. The studies presented in the workshop demonstrate that control of phosphorus entering surface waters must start with land management that minimises accelerated erosion and overland flow of water potentially rich in phosphorus. Heavily grazed lands, irrigation areas and intensive animal and horticultural industries are at risk, especially at the onset of rainy seasons and during periods of high rain intensity. 2. The transport of phosphorus from diffuse sources in landscapes can occur in both dissolved and particulate form. This can be due to different mobilisation and delivery mechanisms operating in different environments. Phosphorus mobilisation and delivery 1. Diffuse sources of phosphorus are the dominant component in most Australian catchments. Episodic rainfall is responsible for the bulk of phosphorus loss from the landscape. The mechanisms vary with each catchment. 2. Particulate phosphorus is carried by overland flow, resulting from run-off and erosion. In high to medium rainfall environments most is carried as filterable reactive phosphorus of less than 0.45 microns. Although most of the coarser materials from high parts of the landscape are deposited before they reach a watercourse, the particles ultimately carried into drainage lines are phosphorus-enriched by processes of sorting and filtration. 3. In river systems studied in the Murray–Darling Basin river sediments that originate from gully erosion and stream-bank collapse of readily dispersible soils carry most of the diffuse-source phosphorus. It is very likely that most of the phosphorus on these sediments is ‘native’ phosphorus coming from subsoils. 2 Phosphorus in the landscape: diffuse sources to surface waters Although the major episodes of gully formation occurred several decades ago, inputs of sediments and phosphorus from these sources continue at a high rate. Reduced input rates can best be achieved by targeting the gullies themselves and stabilising them by conservation works—particularly in small headwater catchments. 4. In larger dry-land catchments, fertiliser phosphorus is generally not an important component of phosphorus loss/export, although it may be locally significant. 5. Local soil, vegetation, terrain and climate conditions dictate whether surface erosion is the dominant source of phosphorus into a watercourse. To describe phosphorus exports from a specific landscape by surface erosion requires local studies. However, guidelines can be developed for management purposes to identify and minimise sources of phosphorus carried by overland flow. 6. Potential sources of diffuse phosphorus run-off occur wherever fertilisers are applied to soils that are already wet at the surface, or that may become wet by seasonally emerging groundwater. The magnitude of the loss will be greater if the application occurs on bare soils, or if it is next to a waterbody. 7. Dissolved phosphorus (from fertilisers and other sources) is readily mobilised and transported directly where the soil has both little ability to bind the phosphorus and a high leaching rate, as occurs in sandy regions of high rainfall around the continent. Phosphorus-laden water then travels via overland or shallow sub-surface flow to surface waterbodies quite quickly, unless other processes impede the movement. If the dissolved phosphorus moves via deep groundwater the time scales for its reappearance in surface water are generally large. 8. Dissolved phosphorus may also enter tributary waterbodies in headwater catchments via shortcircuit pathways, such as macropores, but this is only likely to be important over distances of hundreds of metres. However, these sub-surface pathways may reduce the effectiveness of local management practices that do not take them into account. 9. Large amounts of dissolved phosphorus are also being produced from irrigated dairy pastures (and possibly from other irrigation enterprises also). There is little or no sub-surface movement because soils are generally high in clay and flat. Phosphorus-laden water is pumped or drained across the land surface to channels. The time scale of dissolved phosphorus movement is comparable with the time with which the water itself moves. Once within drainage channels and streambeds the dissolved phosphorus fraction may be partially re-adsorbed onto particulates. 10. Large quantities of dissolved phosphorus are found in surface waters next to areas where animal excreta or over-fertilised market gardens give rise to phosphorus in surface wastewater that flows directly into waterways. These situations are most likely to arise in catchments that contain mixtures of horticultural, dairying, hobby-farming and similar land uses. Where farm dams are abundant a significant fraction of this phosphorus will not enter streams but will be retarded or retained in the landscape

Dietary Intakes of Total and Specific Lignans Are Associated with Clinical Breast Tumor Characteristics 1-3

. There were significant differences in the contribution to these effects by specific lignans, especially matairesinol and lariciresinol. In summary, in this case-control study of dietary lignan intakes and breast cancer, we found that higher lignan intakes were associated with lower risks of breast cancer with more favorable prognostic characteristics. Future investigations are warranted to explore the strong associations observed with ER 2 cancer in premenopausal women. J. Nutr. 142: 91-98, 2012

A statistical review of light curves and the prevalence of contact binaries in the Kuiper Belt

We investigate what can be learned about a population of distant Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) by studying the statistical properties of their light curves. Whereas others have successfully inferred the properties of individual, highly variable KBOs, we show that the fraction of KBOs with low amplitudes also provides fundamental information about a population. Each light curve is primarily the result of two factors: shape and orientation. We consider contact binaries and ellipsoidal shapes, with and without flattening. After developing the mathematical framework, we apply it to the existing body of KBO light curve data. Principal conclusions are as follows. (1) When using absolute magnitude H as a proxy for the sizes of KBOs, it is more accurate to use the maximum of the light curve (minimum H) rather than the mean. (2) Previous investigators have noted that smaller KBOs tend to have higher-amplitude light curves, and have interpreted this as evidence that they are systematically more irregular in shape than larger KBOs; we show that a population of flattened bodies with uniform proportions, independent of size, could also explain this result. (3) Our method of analysis indicates that prior assessments of the fraction of contact binaries in the Kuiper Belt may be artificially low. (4) The pole orientations of some KBOs can be inferred from observed changes in their light curves over time scales of decades; however, we show that these KBOs constitute a biased sample, whose pole orientations are not representative of the population overall. (5) Although surface topography, albedo patterns, limb darkening, and other surface properties can affect individual light curves, they do not have a strong influence on the statistics overall. (6) Photometry from the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) survey is incompatible with previous results and its statistical properties defy easy interpretation. We also discuss the promise of this approach for the analysis of future, much larger data sets such as the one anticipated from the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory

A statistical review of light curves and the prevalence of contact binaries in the Kuiper Belt

We investigate what can be learned about a population of distant Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) by studying the statistical properties of their light curves. Whereas others have successfully inferred the properties of individual, highly variable KBOs, we show that the fraction of KBOs with low amplitudes also provides fundamental information about a population. Each light curve is primarily the result of two factors: shape and orientation. We consider contact binaries and ellipsoidal shapes, with and without flattening. After developing the mathematical framework, we apply it to the existing body of KBO light curve data. Principal conclusions are as follows. (1) When using absolute magnitude H as a proxy for the sizes of KBOs, it is more accurate to use the maximum of the light curve (minimum H) rather than the mean. (2) Previous investigators have noted that smaller KBOs tend to have higher-amplitude light curves, and have interpreted this as evidence that they are systematically more irregular in shape than larger KBOs; we show that a population of flattened bodies with uniform proportions, independent of size, could also explain this result. (3) Our method of analysis indicates that prior assessments of the fraction of contact binaries in the Kuiper Belt may be artificially low. (4) The pole orientations of some KBOs can be inferred from observed changes in their light curves over time scales of decades; however, we show that these KBOs constitute a biased sample, whose pole orientations are not representative of the population overall. (5) Although surface topography, albedo patterns, limb darkening, and other surface properties can affect individual light curves, they do not have a strong influence on the statistics overall. (6) Photometry from the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS) survey is incompatible with previous results and its statistical properties defy easy interpretation. We also discuss the promise of this approach for the analysis of future, much larger data sets such as the one anticipated from the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey of SDSS-III

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is designed to measure the scale of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of matter over a larger volume than the combined efforts of all previous spectroscopic surveys of large scale structure. BOSS uses 1.5 million luminous galaxies as faint as i=19.9 over 10,000 square degrees to measure BAO to redshifts z<0.7. Observations of neutral hydrogen in the Lyman alpha forest in more than 150,000 quasar spectra (g<22) will constrain BAO over the redshift range 2.15<z<3.5. Early results from BOSS include the first detection of the large-scale three-dimensional clustering of the Lyman alpha forest and a strong detection from the Data Release 9 data set of the BAO in the clustering of massive galaxies at an effective redshift z = 0.57. We project that BOSS will yield measurements of the angular diameter distance D_A to an accuracy of 1.0% at redshifts z=0.3 and z=0.57 and measurements of H(z) to 1.8% and 1.7% at the same redshifts. Forecasts for Lyman alpha forest constraints predict a measurement of an overall dilation factor that scales the highly degenerate D_A(z) and H^{-1}(z) parameters to an accuracy of 1.9% at z~2.5 when the survey is complete. Here, we provide an overview of the selection of spectroscopic targets, planning of observations, and analysis of data and data quality of BOSS.Comment: 49 pages, 16 figures, accepted by A