Plutonium in Soils from Northeast China and Its Potential Application for Evaluation of Soil Erosion

Surface and soil core samples from northeast China were analyzed for Pu isotopes. The measured Pu-240/Pu-239 atomic ratios and Pu239 + 240/Cs-137 activity ratios revealed that the global fallout is the dominant source of Pu and Cs-137 at these sites. Migration behavior of Pu varying with land type and human activities resulted in different distribution of Pu in surface soils. A sub-surface maximum followed by exponential decline of Pu239 + 240 concentrations was observed in an undisturbed soil core, with a total Pu239 + 240 inventory of 86.9 Bq/m(2) and more than 85% accumulated in 0 similar to 20 cm layers. While only half inventory of Pu was obtained in another soil core and no sub-surface maximum value occurred. Erosion of topsoil in the site should be the most possible reason for the significantly lower Pu inventory, which is also supported by the reported Cs-137 profiles. These results demonstrated that Pu could be applied as an ideal substitute of Cs-137 for soil erosion study in the future.</p

Minimal change in structural, functional and inflammatory markers of lung disease in newborn screened infants with cystic fibrosis at one year

BACKGROUND: With the widespread introduction of newborn screening for cystic fibrosis (CF), there has been considerable emphasis on the need to develop objective markers of lung health that can be used during infancy. We hypothesised that in a newborn screened (NBS) UK cohort, evidence of airway inflammation and infection at one year would be associated with adverse structural and functional outcomes at the same age. METHODS: Infants underwent lung function testing, chest CT scan and bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) at 1 year of age when clinically well. Microbiology cultures were also available from routine cough swabs. RESULTS: 65 infants had lung function, CT and BAL. Mean (SD) lung clearance index and forced expiratory volume in 0.5 s z-scores were 0.9(1.2) and -0.6(1.1) respectively; median Brody II CF-CT air trapping score on chest CT =0 (interquartile range 0-1, maximum possible score 27). Infants isolating any significant pathogen by 1 yr of age had higher LCI z-score (mean difference 0.9; 95%CI:0.4-1.4; p = 0.001) and a trend towards higher air trapping scores on CT (p = 0.06). BAL neutrophil elastase was detectable in 23% (10/43) infants in whom BAL supernatant was available. This did not relate to air trapping score on CT. CONCLUSIONS: In this UK NBS cohort at one year of age, lung and airway damage is much milder and associations between inflammation, abnormal physiology and structural changes were at best weak, contrary to our hypothesis and previously published reports. Continued follow-up will clarify longer term implications of these very mild structural, functional and inflammatory changes

Amygdala 14-3-3ζ as a Novel Modulator of Escalating Alcohol Intake in Mice

Alcoholism is a devastating brain disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. The development of alcoholism is caused by alcohol-induced maladaptive changes in neural circuits involved in emotions, motivation, and decision-making. Because of its involvement in these processes, the amygdala is thought to be a key neural structure involved in alcohol addiction. However, the molecular mechanisms that govern the development of alcoholism are incompletely understood. We have previously shown that in a limited access choice paradigm, C57BL/6J mice progressively escalate their alcohol intake and display important behavioral characteristic of alcohol addiction, in that they become insensitive to quinine-induced adulteration of alcohol. This study used the limited access choice paradigm to study gene expression changes in the amygdala during the escalation to high alcohol consumption in C57BL/6J mice. Microarray analysis revealed that changes in gene expression occurred predominantly after one week, i.e. during the initial escalation of alcohol intake. One gene that stood out from our analysis was the adapter protein 14-3-3ζ, which was up-regulated during the transition from low to high alcohol intake. Independent qPCR analysis confirmed the up-regulation of amygdala 14-3-3ζ during the escalation of alcohol intake. Subsequently, we found that local knockdown of 14-3-3ζ in the amygdala, using RNA interference, dramatically augmented alcohol intake. In addition, knockdown of amygdala 14-3-3ζ promoted the development of inflexible alcohol drinking, as apparent from insensitivity to quinine adulteration of alcohol. This study identifies amygdala 14-3-3ζ as a novel key modulator that is engaged during escalation of alcohol use

Development of an intervention to increase adherence to nebuliser treatment in adults with cystic fibrosis: CFHealthHub

Background Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-limiting genetic condition in which daily therapies to maintain lung health are critical, yet treatment adherence is low. Previous interventions to increase adherence have been largely unsuccessful and this is likely due to a lack of focus on behavioural evidence and theory alongside input from people with CF. This intervention is based on a digital platform that collects and displays objective nebuliser adherence data. The purpose of this paper is to identify the specific components of an intervention to increase and maintain adherence to nebuliser treatments in adults with CF with a focus on reducing effort and treatment burden. Methods Intervention development was informed by the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) and person-based approach (PBA). A multidisciplinary team conducted qualitative research to inform a needs analysis, selected, and refined intervention components and methods of delivery, mapped adherence-related barriers and facilitators, associated intervention functions and behaviour change techniques, and utilised iterative feedback to develop and refine content and processes. Results Results indicated that people with CF need to understand their treatment, be able to monitor adherence, have treatment goals and feedback and confidence in their ability to adhere, have a treatment plan to develop habits for treatment, and be able to solve problems around treatment adherence. Behaviour change techniques were selected to address each of these needs and were incorporated into the digital intervention developed iteratively, alongside a manual and training for health professionals. Feedback from people with CF and clinicians helped to refine the intervention which could be tailored to individual patient needs. Conclusions The intervention development process is underpinned by a strong theoretical framework and evidence base and was developed by a multidisciplinary team with a range of skills and expertise integrated with substantial input from patients and clinicians. This multifaceted development strategy has ensured that the intervention is usable and acceptable to people with CF and clinicians, providing the best chance of success in supporting people with CF with different needs to increase and maintain their adherence. The intervention is being tested in a randomised controlled trial across 19 UK sites

EVALUATION OF THE ABBOTT SARS-COV-2 IG-G ASSAY

ABSTRACTIntroductionAntibodies to the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can increase as soon as 10-13 days after infection. We describe our evaluation of the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay on the Architect immunoassay analyser.MethodsWe assessed the precision, sensitivity, and specificity of the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay in samples from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive patients and healthy healthcare workers. The manufacturer cut-off index (COI) of 1.4 was adopted to identify positive results. We examined the assay cross-reactivity with other viral antibodies (influenza/dengue/hepatitis C/hepatitis B) and rheumatoid factor (RF). The sample throughput of the Abbott assay was also assessed.ResultsThe Abbott assay showed excellent precision, with a CV of 3.4% for the negative control (COI = 0.06) and 1.6% for a high positive serum sample (COI = 8.6). Residual serum was available from 57 inpatients not initially suspected of having COVID-19, 29 of whom tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 IgG. The Abbott assay has a sensitivity of 90.9-100% when tested in 54 subjects ≥14 days post PCR positive, and a specificity of 100% (N = 358). There was no cross-reactivity with other viral antibodies (influenza/dengue/hepatitis C/hepatitis B) and RF. The Architect Abbott assay has a throughput of 100 samples in 70 minutes.ConclusionThe Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay shows excellent performance that is well within FDA and CDC guidelines when testing patients ≥14 days POS with little cross-reactivity from other viral antibodies. There is some evidence that SARS-CoV-2 IgG develops early in the disease process.IMPACT STATEMENTWith the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic still ongoing, laboratories are hard pressed to introduce SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing to help as an indirect marker for infection to identify patients with prior infection/exposure. The Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay has excellent performance with good precision, specificity, and sensitivity ≥14 days after a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test, with a competitive throughput of 100 samples in 70 minutes. It shows no cross-reactivity with other viral antibodies (influenza/dengue/hepatitis B/hepatitis C) and rheumatoid factor. We have also found evidence of early antibody development in some patients before they tested positive on the SARS-CoV-2 PCR test.</jats:sec

Evaluation of the Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Assay

ABSTRACTBackgroundLittle is known about the performance of the Roche novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 antibody (anti-SARS-CoV-2) assay. We provide an extensive evaluation of this fully automated assay on the Cobas e801/e602 immunoassay analysers.MethodsWe assessed the linearity, precision, and throughput of the Roche anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay. Sensitivity was calculated from 349 SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive samples; specificity was determined from 714 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-naive samples. We examined cross-reactivity against other antibody positive samples (syphilis, RF, ANA, ds-DNA, influenza, dengue, HBV, HCV) and the anti-SARS-CoV-2 kinetics.ResultsThe assay cut-off index (COI) was linear up to 90.7. The inter-assay precision was 2.9% for a negative control (COI=0.1) and 5.1% for a positive control (COI=3.0). Assay time is 18min and results are available 1 minute later; throughput for 300 samples was 76 minutes. No cross-reactivity was observed with other antibody positive samples; specificity was 100%. The assay has a sensitivity of 97.1% 14 days after PCR positivity (POS) and 100% at ≥21 days POS; 48.2% of cases had anti-SARS-CoV-2 within 6 days POS. In 11 subjects in whom serum was available prior to a positive antibody signal (COI ≥1.0) the interval between the last negative and first positive COI (time to “sero-conversion”) on average is 3 days (range 1-6 days) and 4 more days (range 1-7) for the anti-SARS-CoV-2 to plateau.ConclusionThe Roche anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay shows excellent performance with minimal cross-reactivity from other viral and confounding antibodies. Antibody development and sero-conversion appears quite early.</jats:sec