Hazards awareness for aircraft accident investigators

Hazards on accident sites are such that investigators must balance personal safety against the risks involved in collecting evidence intended to prevent future loss of life. Better knowledge of hazards and their mitigation could reconcile these conflicting objectives to a point at which risk might be no greater than in other workplaces. Nevertheless, the magnitude and nature of the hazards at any accident site cannot be determined in advance. The perceptions of novice accident investigators of potential hazards are not greatly different from the realities encountered by experienced investigators, although the former tend to focus on general health and safety issues, while experienced investigators are more aware of hazards arising from aircraft systems and materials. Experienced investigators reported most of the hazards they encountered over six years as arising within a narrow range of hazard categories - yet they must be prepared to carry out thorough investigations while protecting themselves against all hazards, including those encountered very infrequently. Both generic and dynamic risk assessments are important in protecting investigators and the integrity of evidence. The ongoing management of an investigation in the field involves a continuous and iterative cycle: identification of hazards, determination of exposure, assessment of risk, introduction of controls, review and assessment of remaining risk, and identification and management of residual hazard. Lives and evidence depend upon the quality of this process. At present, great reliance is placed on personal protection equipment as a control on hazards. Observation of participants in training programmes has identified instances of poor selection and ineffective use of such equipment to the extent that it has provided no protection. The thesis points to required further directions in the training of investigators - an investment which will yield its dividend in the prevention of future accidents and loss of life.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Age-associated B cells predict impaired humoral immunity after COVID-19 vaccination in patients receiving immune checkpoint blockade

Age-associated B cells (ABC) accumulate with age and in individuals with different immunological disorders, including cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint blockade and those with inborn errors of immunity. Here, we investigate whether ABCs from different conditions are similar and how they impact the longitudinal level of the COVID-19 vaccine response. Single-cell RNA sequencing indicates that ABCs with distinct aetiologies have common transcriptional profiles and can be categorised according to their expression of immune genes, such as the autoimmune regulator (AIRE). Furthermore, higher baseline ABC frequency correlates with decreased levels of antigen-specific memory B cells and reduced neutralising capacity against SARS-CoV-2. ABCs express high levels of the inhibitory FcγRIIB receptor and are distinctive in their ability to bind immune complexes, which could contribute to diminish vaccine responses either directly, or indirectly via enhanced clearance of immune complexed-antigen. Expansion of ABCs may, therefore, serve as a biomarker identifying individuals at risk of suboptimal responses to vaccination

Hazards awareness for aircraft accident investigators

Hazards on accident sites are such that investigators must balance personal safety against the risks involved in collecting evidence intended to prevent future loss of life. Better knowledge of hazards and their mitigation could reconcile these conflicting objectives to a point at which risk might be no greater than in other workplaces. Nevertheless, the magnitude and nature of the hazards at any accident site cannot be determined in advance. The perceptions of novice accident investigators of potential hazards are not greatly different from the realities encountered by experienced investigators, although the former tend to focus on general health and safety issues, while experienced investigators are more aware of hazards arising from aircraft systems and materials. Experienced investigators reported most of the hazards they encountered over six years as arising within a narrow range of hazard categories - yet they must be prepared to carry out thorough investigations while protecting themselves against all hazards, including those encountered very infrequently. Both generic and dynamic risk assessments are important in protecting investigators and the integrity of evidence. The ongoing management of an investigation in the field involves a continuous and iterative cycle: identification of hazards, determination of exposure, assessment of risk, introduction of controls, review and assessment of remaining risk, and identification and management of residual hazard. Lives and evidence depend upon the quality of this process. At present, great reliance is placed on personal protection equipment as a control on hazards. Observation of participants in training programmes has identified instances of poor selection and ineffective use of such equipment to the extent that it has provided no protection. The thesis points to required further directions in the training of investigators - an investment which will yield its dividend in the prevention of future accidents and loss of life

Detection of pleiotropy through a Phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) of epidemiologic data as part of the Environmental Architecture for Genes Linked to Environment (EAGLE) study.

We performed a Phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) utilizing diverse genotypic and phenotypic data existing across multiple populations in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and accessed by the Epidemiological Architecture for Genes Linked to Environment (EAGLE) study. We calculated comprehensive tests of association in Genetic NHANES using 80 SNPs and 1,008 phenotypes (grouped into 184 phenotype classes), stratified by race-ethnicity. Genetic NHANES includes three surveys (NHANES III, 1999-2000, and 2001-2002) and three race-ethnicities: non-Hispanic whites (n = 6,634), non-Hispanic blacks (n = 3,458), and Mexican Americans (n = 3,950). We identified 69 PheWAS associations replicating across surveys for the same SNP, phenotype-class, direction of effect, and race-ethnicity at p0.01, and sample size >200. Of these 69 PheWAS associations, 39 replicated previously reported SNP-phenotype associations, 9 were related to previously reported associations, and 21 were novel associations. Fourteen results had the same direction of effect across more than one race-ethnicity: one result was novel, 11 replicated previously reported associations, and two were related to previously reported results. Thirteen SNPs showed evidence of pleiotropy. We further explored results with gene-based biological networks, contrasting the direction of effect for pleiotropic associations across phenotypes. One PheWAS result was ABCG2 missense SNP rs2231142, associated with uric acid levels in both non-Hispanic whites and Mexican Americans, protoporphyrin levels in non-Hispanic whites and Mexican Americans, and blood pressure levels in Mexican Americans. Another example was SNP rs1800588 near LIPC, significantly associated with the novel phenotypes of folate levels (Mexican Americans), vitamin E levels (non-Hispanic whites) and triglyceride levels (non-Hispanic whites), and replication for cholesterol levels. The results of this PheWAS show the utility of this approach for exposing more of the complex genetic architecture underlying multiple traits, through generating novel hypotheses for future research

Rare variant APOC3 R19X is associated with cardio-protective profiles in a diverse population-based survey as part of the Epidemiologic Architecture for Genes Linked to Environment Study

A founder mutation was recently discovered and described as conferring favorable lipid profiles and reduced subclinical atherosclerotic disease in a Pennsylvania Amish population. Preliminary data have suggested that this null mutation APOC3 R19X (rs76353203) is rare in the general population. To better describe the frequency and lipid profile in the general population, we as part of the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology I Study and the Epidemiological Architecture for Genes Linked to Environment Study genotyped rs76353203 in 1113 Amish participants from Ohio and Indiana and 19 613 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES III, 1999 to 2002, and 2007 to 2008). We found no carriers among the Ohio and Indiana Amish. Of the 19 613 NHANES participants, we identified 31 participants carrying the 19X allele, for an overall allele frequency of 0.08%. Among fasting adults, the 19X allele was associated with lower triglycerides (n=7603; β=-71.20; P=0.007) and higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (n=8891; β=15.65; P=0.0002) and, although not significant, lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (n=6502; β= -4.85; P=0.68) after adjustment for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. On average, 19X allele participants had approximately half the triglyceride levels (geometric means, 51.3 to 69.7 versus 134.6 to 141.3 mg/dL), >20% higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (geometric means, 56.8 to 74.4 versus 50.38 to 53.36 mg/dL), and lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (geometric means, 104.5 to 128.6 versus 116.1 to 125.7 mg/dL) compared with noncarrier participants. These data demonstrate that APOC3 19X exists in the general US population in multiple racial/ethnic groups and is associated with cardio-protective lipid profiles

Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Faculty Senate Research Conference: Higher Education During Pandemics

This proceeding contains articles on the various ideas of the academic community presented at The 2nd Annual Faculty Senate Research Conference organized by the University of the District of Columbia (USA) on 05th February 2021. In February 2021, the exponential spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the effect of systemic racism resulted in dramatic changes in colleges and universities. These changes were extremely difficult for students, requiring faculty and institutions to stand in the gap to help students complete their studies. Moving to a completely online format was especially difficult for students traditionally served by UDC, but the institution and its faculty were better prepared than most to address this challenge. However, COVID-19 issues facing minority communities loomed larger, were more complex, and required a deeper societal dialogue.  The permeations of these issues ranged from vaccine hesitancy to social disparities that created impacts on social justice. As the only public, land-grant university in and for the capital city of the United States of America, and a Historically Black College and University, UDC was uniquely positioned to convene this discussion as a part of its 2021- 2nd Annual Faculty Senate Conference. Conference Title: 2nd Annual Faculty Senate Research Conference: Higher Education During PandemicsConference Date: 05 February 2021Conference Location: University of the District of Columbia, USAConference Organizer: University of the District of Columbi