Urban Appalachian Festival Proposal

We at COAL think that Appalachian culture has been marginalized by American urban centers and being an Appalachian American comes with many negative stereotypes. This is especially felt right here in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. We want to make an impact in the community in a way that lessens stereotypes towards Appalachian Americans and help the city of Columbus be more inclusive towards Appalachian culture. We propose to do this by organizing an Appalachian cultural festival that will both address the specific needs of Franklinton and celebrate its Appalachian roots. The specific issues we wish to address include socioeconomic instability and lack of cultural and community pride within the Franklinton and greater Columbus Area. This festival will feature local foods, music, vendors, adult beverages and education events that will promote Appalachian culture and lifestyles. This will help the residents of Columbus experience a taste of Appalachia and educate on the culture in ways that should help in reducing negative stereotypes and foster an environment of acceptance and inclusion. Strongwater Food and Spirits, a venue located in Franklinton, has already agreed to host the festival. The materials we will need financial support to cover will be the purchase the permits and police detail for the closure of the section of Lucas Street between West Town Street and West Rich Street. We will also need financial support to cover other additional festival related expenses related the festival. We need this financial support because we want this event to be as accessible as possible to the resident of Franklinton and will not be charging an entrance fee. We will only be making money on sales of beer that was donated by local breweries and vendor fees. We do not foresee these limited revenues being able to cover our numerous expenses but this festival would be absolutely beneficial in making Columbus a more inclusive community toward Appalachian Cultures and Lifestyles

In silico genomic analyses reveal three distinct lineages of Escherichia coli O157:H7, one of which is associated with hyper-virulence

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many approaches have been used to study the evolution, population structure and genetic diversity of <it>Escherichia coli </it>O157:H7; however, observations made with different genotyping systems are not easily relatable to each other. Three genetic lineages of <it>E. coli </it>O157:H7 designated I, II and I/II have been identified using octamer-based genome scanning and microarray comparative genomic hybridization (mCGH). Each lineage contains significant phenotypic differences, with lineage I strains being the most commonly associated with human infections. Similarly, a clade of hyper-virulent O157:H7 strains implicated in the 2006 spinach and lettuce outbreaks has been defined using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) typing. In this study an <it>in silico </it>comparison of six different genotyping approaches was performed on 19 <it>E. coli </it>genome sequences from 17 O157:H7 strains and single O145:NM and K12 MG1655 strains to provide an overall picture of diversity of the <it>E. coli </it>O157:H7 population, and to compare genotyping methods for O157:H7 strains.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>In silico </it>determination of lineage, Shiga-toxin bacteriophage integration site, comparative genomic fingerprint, mCGH profile, novel region distribution profile, SNP type and multi-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis type was performed and a supernetwork based on the combination of these methods was produced. This supernetwork showed three distinct clusters of strains that were O157:H7 lineage-specific, with the SNP-based hyper-virulent clade 8 synonymous with O157:H7 lineage I/II. Lineage I/II/clade 8 strains clustered closest on the supernetwork to <it>E. coli </it>K12 and <it>E. coli </it>O55:H7, O145:NM and sorbitol-fermenting O157 strains.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study highlight the similarities in relationships derived from multi-locus genome sampling methods and suggest a "common genotyping language" may be devised for population genetics and epidemiological studies. Future genotyping methods should provide data that can be stored centrally and accessed locally in an easily transferable, informative and extensible format based on comparative genomic analyses.</p

Pan-genome sequence analysis using Panseq: an online tool for the rapid analysis of core and accessory genomic regions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The pan-genome of a bacterial species consists of a core and an accessory gene pool. The accessory genome is thought to be an important source of genetic variability in bacterial populations and is gained through lateral gene transfer, allowing subpopulations of bacteria to better adapt to specific niches. Low-cost and high-throughput sequencing platforms have created an exponential increase in genome sequence data and an opportunity to study the pan-genomes of many bacterial species. In this study, we describe a new online pan-genome sequence analysis program, Panseq.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Panseq was used to identify <it>Escherichia coli </it>O157:H7 and <it>E. coli </it>K-12 genomic islands. Within a population of 60 <it>E. coli </it>O157:H7 strains, the existence of 65 accessory genomic regions identified by Panseq analysis was confirmed by PCR. The accessory genome and binary presence/absence data, and core genome and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of six <it>L. monocytogenes </it>strains were extracted with Panseq and hierarchically clustered and visualized. The nucleotide core and binary accessory data were also used to construct maximum parsimony (MP) trees, which were compared to the MP tree generated by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). The topology of the accessory and core trees was identical but differed from the tree produced using seven MLST loci. The Loci Selector module found the most variable and discriminatory combinations of four loci within a 100 loci set among 10 strains in 1 s, compared to the 449 s required to exhaustively search for all possible combinations; it also found the most discriminatory 20 loci from a 96 loci <it>E. coli </it>O157:H7 SNP dataset.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Panseq determines the core and accessory regions among a collection of genomic sequences based on user-defined parameters. It readily extracts regions unique to a genome or group of genomes, identifies SNPs within shared core genomic regions, constructs files for use in phylogeny programs based on both the presence/absence of accessory regions and SNPs within core regions and produces a graphical overview of the output. Panseq also includes a loci selector that calculates the most variable and discriminatory loci among sets of accessory loci or core gene SNPs.</p> <p>Availability</p> <p>Panseq is freely available online at <url>http://76.70.11.198/panseq</url>. Panseq is written in Perl.</p

Development of a molecular-based risk assessment assay for human pathogenic Campylobacter jejuni

Despite the fact that C. jejuni is a leading cause of bacterial enteritis in Canada, there is no diagnostic assay available to identify high-risk strains. This represents a significant challenge towards the prevention and control of campylobacteriosis. Additionally, molecular epidemiological studies have shown that not all C. jejuni strains or lineages appear to pose an equal risk to human health, and the factors underlying this subtype-dependent pathogenesis are not understood. A Genome-Wide Association Study was conducted to identify genetic markers associated with C. jejuni strains linked to human illness. These markers were implemented in a molecular-based risk assessment assay, and used to screen isolates collected as part of a national microbial survey of Canadian poultry products. This study suggests that strains with a diverse metabolic toolkit may pose an elevated risk by virtue of their ability to overcome ecological barriers that might otherwise mitigate exposure to humans

Pyomyositis mistaken for septic hip arthritis in children: the role of MRI in diagnosis and management

Septic arthritis is an orthopaedic emergency which requires timely management to prevent joint destruction and poor outcome. Differentiating septic arthritis from transient synovitis in pediatric patients is aided by the use of Kocher criteria which have excellent sensitivity but lack specificity. In addition to these two disorders, primary pyomyositis is bacterial infection of skeletal muscle that most commonly affects children. Patients present with pain, swelling, fever, and elevated inflammatory markers which mimics septic arthritis. If left untreated, pyomyositis can lead to abscess formation and sepsis. Due to potential for nearly identical presentations of septic arthritis and pyomyositis, differentiation of these two disorders can be aided with the use of MRI which has a high sensitivity for detecting muscle edema and abscess formation. In this case series, we discuss the use of MRI to assist with the diagnosis of pyomyositis versus septic arthritis. The authors advocate the use of MRI in questionable or complicated cases of septic arthritis or where synovial fluid aspiration is unable to be obtained promptly

A novel organic-rich meteoritic clast from the outer solar system

The Zag meteorite which is a thermally-metamorphosed H ordinary chondrite contains a primitive xenolitic clast that was accreted to the parent asteroid after metamorphism. The cm-sized clast contains abundant large organic grains or aggregates up to 20μm in phyllosilicate-rich matrix. Here we report organic and isotope analyses of a large (~10μm) OM aggregate in the Zag clast. The X-ray micro-spectroscopic technique revealed that the OM aggregate has sp2 dominated hydrocarbon networks with a lower abundance of heteroatoms than in IOM from primitive (CI,CM,CR) carbonaceous chondrites, and thus it is distinguished from most of the OM in carbonaceous meteorites. The OM aggregate has high D/H and 15N/14N ratios (δD=2,370±74‰ and δ15N=696±100‰), suggesting that it originated in a very cold environment such as the interstellar medium or outer region of the solar nebula, while the OM is embedded in carbonate-bearing matrix resulting from aqueous activities. Thus, the high D/H ratio must have been preserved during the extensive late-stage aqueous processing. It indicates that both the OM precursors and the water had high D/H ratios. Combined with 16O-poor nature of the clast, the OM aggregate and the clast are unique among known chondrite groups. We further propose that the clast possibly originated from D/P type asteroids or trans-Neptunian Objects

Genetic diversity and stability of the porA allele as a genetic marker in human Campylobacter infection

The major outer-membrane protein (MOMP) of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, encoded by the porA gene, is extremely genetically diverse. Conformational MOMP epitopes are important in host immunity, and variation in surface-exposed regions probably occurs as a result of positive immune selection during infection. porA diversity has been exploited in genotyping studies using highly discriminatory nucleotide sequences to identify potentially epidemiologically linked cases of human campylobacteriosis. To understand the overall nature and extent of porA diversity and stability in C. jejuni and C. coli we investigated sequences in isolates (n=584) obtained from a defined human population (approx. 600 000) over a defined time period (1 year). A total of 196 distinct porA variants were identified. Regions encoding putative extracellular loops were the most variable in both nucleotide sequence and length. Phylogenetic analysis identified three porA allele clusters that originated in (i) predominantly C. jejuni and a few C. coli, (ii) solely C. jejuni or (iii) predominantly C. coli and a few C. jejuni. The stability of porA within an individual human host was investigated using isolates cultured longitudinally from 64 sporadic cases, 27 of which had prolonged infection lasting between 5 and 98 days (the remainder having illness of normal duration, 0–4 days), and 20 cases from family outbreaks. Evidence of mutation was detected in two patients with prolonged illness. Despite demonstrable positive immune selection in these two unusual cases, the persistence of numerous variants within the population indicated that the porA allele is a valuable tool for use in extended typing schemes

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

A Genome-Wide Association Study to Identify Diagnostic Markers for Human Pathogenic Campylobacter jejuni Strains

Campylobacter jejuni is a leading human enteric pathogen worldwide and despite an improved understanding of its biology, ecology, and epidemiology, limited tools exist for identifying strains that are likely to cause disease. In the current study, we used subtyping data in a database representing over 24,000 isolates collected through various surveillance projects in Canada to identify 166 representative genomes from prevalent C. jejuni subtypes for whole genome sequencing. The sequence data was used in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) aimed at identifying accessory gene markers associated with clinically related C. jejuni subtypes. Prospective markers (n = 28) were then validated against a large number (n = 3,902) of clinically associated and non-clinically associated genomes from a variety of sources. A total of 25 genes, including six sets of genetically linked genes, were identified as robust putative diagnostic markers for clinically related C. jejuni subtypes. Although some of the genes identified in this study have been previously shown to play a role in important processes such as iron acquisition and vitamin B5 biosynthesis, others have unknown function or are unique to the current study and warrant further investigation. As few as four of these markers could be used in combination to detect up to 90% of clinically associated isolates in the validation dataset, and such markers could form the basis for a screening assay to rapidly identify strains that pose an increased risk to public health. The results of the current study are consistent with the notion that specific groups of C. jejuni strains of interest are defined by the presence of specific accessory genes