Obstructive sleep apnoea and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction among first responders to the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack: A cross-sectional study

Objectives Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is often linked to cardiovascular disease. A limited number of studies have reported an association between OSA and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD). However, prior studies were performed on small patient populations. Studies have shown a high prevalence of OSA among first responders to the 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) terrorist attack. We investigated the relationship between OSA and LVDD in a large population of WTC responders. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting One-time screening programme as part of the WTC-CHEST Study (NCT10466218), performed at a quaternary medical centre in New York City, from November 2011 to June 2014. Participants A total of 1007 participants with mean age of 51 years of mostly non-Hispanic white men were evaluated. Patients from the WTC Health Program-Clinical Center of Excellence, who were over the age of 39 years, were eligible to participate. Results Evaluation of those without OSA diagnosis showed no significant association with LVDD when comparing those screened (Berlin Questionnaire) as OSA high risk versus OSA low risk (p=0.101). Among those diagnosed with LVDD, there was a significant association when comparing those with and without patient-reported OSA (OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.00, p=0.005), but the significance was not maintained after adjusting for pertinent variables (OR 1.3, 0.94 to 1.75, p=0.119). Notably, comparing those with OSA diagnosis and those low risk of OSA, the OR for LVDD was significant (1.69, 1.24 to 2.31, p=0.001), and after adjusting for waist-hip ratio, diabetes and coronary artery calcium score percentile, the relationship remained significant (OR 1.45, 1.03 to 2.04, p=0.032). Conclusion The strong association of OSA with LVDD in this population may inform future guidelines to recommend screening for LVDD in high-risk asymptomatic patients with OSA

Bioavailability in soils

The consumption of locally-produced vegetables by humans may be an important exposure pathway for soil contaminants in many urban settings and for agricultural land use. Hence, prediction of metal and metalloid uptake by vegetables from contaminated soils is an important part of the Human Health Risk Assessment procedure. The behaviour of metals (cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, lead and zinc) and metalloids (arsenic, boron and selenium) in contaminated soils depends to a large extent on the intrinsic charge, valence and speciation of the contaminant ion, and soil properties such as pH, redox status and contents of clay and/or organic matter. However, chemistry and behaviour of the contaminant in soil alone cannot predict soil-to-plant transfer. Root uptake, root selectivity, ion interactions, rhizosphere processes, leaf uptake from the atmosphere, and plant partitioning are important processes that ultimately govern the accumulation ofmetals and metalloids in edible vegetable tissues. Mechanistic models to accurately describe all these processes have not yet been developed, let alone validated under field conditions. Hence, to estimate risks by vegetable consumption, empirical models have been used to correlate concentrations of metals and metalloids in contaminated soils, soil physico-chemical characteristics, and concentrations of elements in vegetable tissues. These models should only be used within the bounds of their calibration, and often need to be re-calibrated or validated using local soil and environmental conditions on a regional or site-specific basis.Mike J. McLaughlin, Erik Smolders, Fien Degryse, and Rene Rietr

Results of the randomized phase IIB ARCTIC trial of low dose Rituximab in previously untreated CLL

ARCTIC was a multi-center, randomized-controlled, open, phase IIB non-inferiority trial in previously untreated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). Conventional frontline therapy in fit patients is fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR). The trial hypothesized that including mitoxantrone with low-dose rituximab (FCM-miniR) would be non-inferior to FCR. 200 patients were recruited to assess the primary endpoint of complete remission (CR) rates according to IWCLL criteria. Secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), overall response rate, minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity, safety and cost-effectiveness. The trial closed following the pre-planned interim analysis. At final analysis, CR rates were 76% FCR vs 55% FCM-miniR [adjusted odds-ratio: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.19–0.73]. MRD-negativity rates were 54% FCR vs 44% FCM-miniR. More participants experienced Serious Adverse Reactions with FCM-miniR (49%) compared to FCR (41%). There are no significant differences between the treatment groups for PFS and OS. FCM-miniR is not expected to be cost-effective over a lifetime horizon. In summary, FCM-miniR is less well tolerated than FCR with an inferior response and MRD-negativity rate and increased toxicity, and will not be taken forward into a confirmatory trial. The trial demonstrated that oral FCR yields high response rates compared to historical series with intravenous chemotherapy

Positional cloning of rp2 QTL associates the P450 genes CYP6Z1, CYP6Z3 and CYP6M7 with pyrethroid resistance in the malaria vector Anopheles funestus

Pyrethroid resistance in Anopheles funestus is threatening malaria control in Africa. Elucidation of underlying resistance mechanisms is crucial to improve the success of future control programs. A positional cloning approach was used to identify genes conferring resistance in the uncharacterised rp2 quantitative trait locus (QTL) previously detected in this vector using F6 advanced intercross lines (AIL). A 113 kb BAC clone spanning rp2 was identified and sequenced revealing a cluster of 15 P450 genes and one salivary protein gene (SG7-2). Contrary to A. gambiae, AfCYP6M1 is triplicated in A. funestus, while AgCYP6Z2 orthologue is absent. Five hundred and sixty-five new single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)were identified for genetic mapping from rp2 P450s and other genes revealing high genetic polymorphisms with one SNP every 36 bp. A significant genotype/phenotype association was detected for rp2 P450s but not for a cluster of cuticular protein genes previously associated with resistance in A. gambiae. QTL mapping using F6 AIL confirms the rp2 QTL with an increase logarithm of odds score of 5. Multiplex gene expression profiling of 15 P450s and other genes around rp2 followed by individual validation using qRT–PCR indicated a significant overexpression in the resistant FUMOZ-R strain of the P450s AfCYP6Z1, AfCYP6Z3, AfCYP6M7 and the glutathione-s-transferase GSTe2 with respective fold change of 11.2,6.3, 5.5 and 2.8. Polymorphisms analysis of AfCYP6Z1 and AfCYP6Z3 identified amino acid changes potentially associated with resistance further indicating that these genes are controlling the pyrethroid resistance explained by the rp2 QTL. The characterisation of this rp2 QTL significantly improves our understanding of resistance mechanisms in A. funestus

Blueberry Advisory Committee Research Report

The 1985 edition of the Blueberry Progress Reports was prepared for the Maine Blueberry Commission and the University of Maine Blueberry Advisory Committee by researchers with the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station and Maine Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Maine, Orono. Projects in this report include: 1. Control of secondary blueberry pest insects 2. Effect of pruning practices on blueberry insect abundance 3. Effect of hexazinone on species distribution in lowbush blueberry fields 4. Dichlobenil for control of bunchberry 5. Evaluation of postemergence herbicides for grass control 6. Hand-wiper applications of herbicides on woody weeds 7. Evaluation of steam as a pruning practice for lowbush blueberry fields 8. Evaluation of glyphosate and 2,4-D applied with a commercial weed roller to control woody weeds 9. Hand-wiping and cutting treatments for dogbane 9. Evaluation of airblast-sprayer application of asulam for bracken fern control 10. Spot treatment of woody weeds with 2,4-D in oil 11. Chemical control of Botrytis blossom blight 12. Evaluation of preliminary steam treatments (1984) at Blueberry Hill Farm 13. Long term effects of N and NPK fertilizer on plant growth and yield 14. Nutritional survey of selected lowbush blueberry fields 15. Interaction of fertility and pruning practices on soil characteristics and lowbush blueberry growth and yield 16. Frequency of fertility application for establishment of lowbush blueberry seedlings 17. Slow release vs. liquid fertilizer for establishment of lowbush blueberry seedlings 18. The effect of several mulches on frost heaving, soil moisture, soil temperature and rhizome development 19. Blueberry product development: raisin-type blueberries 20. Blueberry product development: blueberry puree 21. Addendum: 1985 Report from Moody Trevet

Changes over time in the "healthy soldier effect"

Background: Death rates in military populations outside of combat are often lower than those in the general population. This study considers how this "healthy soldier effect" changes over time.Methods: Standardized mortality ratios were used to compare changes in death rates relative to the Australian population in two large studies of Australian servicemen of the Korean War (n = 17,381) and the Vietnam War era (n = 83,908).Results: The healthy soldier effect was most consistently observed in deaths from circulatory diseases. A large deficit in these deaths in the initial follow-up period (10-20 years) was observed before rates tended to rise to the level seen in the general population. There was no healthy soldier effect in deaths from external causes in enlisted personnel, and these death rates were significantly higher than expected in the initial follow-up period among Korean War veterans and regular Army veterans of the Vietnam War. Those selected for national service during the Vietnam War exhibited the strongest healthy soldier effect of all cohorts assessed.Conclusions: Patterns of the healthy soldier effect over time varied markedly by study cohort and by cause of death studied. In a number of analyses, the healthy soldier effect was still apparent after more than 30 years of follow-up

Blueberry Advisory Committee Research Report

The 1984 edition of the Blueberry Progress Reports was prepared for the Maine Blueberry Commission and the University of Maine Blueberry Advisory Committee by researchers with the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station and Maine Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Maine, Orono. Projects in this report include: 1. Control, biology, and ecology of insects affecting lowbush blueberries . 2. Chemical control of mummyberry disease (Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi) 3. New Fungicides for control of Botrytis blossom blight 4. Nutritional survey of selected lowbush blueberry fields 5. Interaction of fertility and pruning practices on soil characteristics and lowbush blueberry growth and yield 6. Long term effects of N and NPK fertilizer on plant growth and yield 7. The effect of N fertilization on clonal spread 8. Nutritional responses of the lowbush blueberry in new plantings as related to early establishment 9. The effect of several mulches on frost heaving, soil moisture, soil temperature and rhizome development 10. Effectiveness of mulches and planted lowbush blueberry seedlings for stabilizing soils and increasing plant cover 11. Effect of surface mulches on stabilizing lowbush blueberry soil in barren areas 12. Frequency of fertility application for establishment of lowbush blueberry seedlings 13. Slow release vs liquid fertilizer for establishment of lowbush blueberry seedlings 14. Comparison of rooted cuttings and tissue culture propagated lowbush blueberry plants 15. The effect of growth regulator formulations on growth and rhizome production of the lowbush blueberry 16. Unburned, mowed fields 17. Blueberry concentrate 18. Blueberry product development 19. Dehydrated blueberries 20. Low-calorie blueberry jellies 21. Hexazinone and terbacil mixture for weed control 22. Hexazinone and atrazine mixture for weed control 23. Effect of hexazinone and nitrogen or nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizer on lowbush blueberry plants 24. Hand-wiper applications of herbicides on birch, maple and willow 25. Glyphosate applied after leaf drop for bunchberry control 26. Napropamide for seedling weed control 27. PP333 plant growth regulator 28. Dichlobenil for bunchberry control 29. Effect of hexazinone on weed and blueberry populations 30. Fluazifop-butyl for grass control 31. Hand-wiping and cutting treatments for dogbane 32. Evaluation of airblast sprayer application of asulam for bracken fern control 33. Evaluation of spot treatment of woody weeds with 2,4-D in oil 34. Steam heat as a control of mummyberry diseas

Accuracy of popular automatic QT Interval algorithms assessed by a 'Gold Standard' and comparison with a Novel method: computer simulation study

BACKGROUND: Accurate measurement of the QT interval is very important from a clinical and pharmaceutical drug safety screening perspective. Expert manual measurement is both imprecise and imperfectly reproducible, yet it is used as the reference standard to assess the accuracy of current automatic computer algorithms, which thus produce reproducible but incorrect measurements of the QT interval. There is a scientific imperative to evaluate the most commonly used algorithms with an accurate and objective 'gold standard' and investigate novel automatic algorithms if the commonly used algorithms are found to be deficient. METHODS: This study uses a validated computer simulation of 8 different noise contaminated ECG waveforms (with known QT intervals of 461 and 495 ms), generated from a cell array using Luo-Rudy membrane kinetics and the Crank-Nicholson method, as a reference standard to assess the accuracy of commonly used QT measurement algorithms. Each ECG contaminated with 39 mixtures of noise at 3 levels of intensity was first filtered then subjected to three threshold methods (T1, T2, T3), two T wave slope methods (S1, S2) and a Novel method. The reproducibility and accuracy of each algorithm was compared for each ECG. RESULTS: The coefficient of variation for methods T1, T2, T3, S1, S2 and Novel were 0.36, 0.23, 1.9, 0.93, 0.92 and 0.62 respectively. For ECGs of real QT interval 461 ms the methods T1, T2, T3, S1, S2 and Novel calculated the mean QT intervals(standard deviations) to be 379.4(1.29), 368.5(0.8), 401.3(8.4), 358.9(4.8), 381.5(4.6) and 464(4.9) ms respectively. For ECGs of real QT interval 495 ms the methods T1, T2, T3, S1, S2 and Novel calculated the mean QT intervals(standard deviations) to be 396.9(1.7), 387.2(0.97), 424.9(8.7), 386.7(2.2), 396.8(2.8) and 493(0.97) ms respectively. These results showed significant differences between means at >95% confidence level. Shifting ECG baselines caused large errors of QT interval with T1 and T2 but no error with Novel. CONCLUSION: The algorithms T2, T1 and Novel gave low coefficients of variation for QT measurement. The Novel technique gave the most accurate measurement of QT interval, T3 (a differential threshold method) was the next most accurate by a large margin. The objective and accurate 'gold standard' presented in this paper may be useful to assess new QT measurement algorithms. The Novel algorithm may prove to be more accurate and reliable method to measure the QT interval

Blueberry Progress Reports

The 1983 edition of the Blueberry Progress Reports was prepared for the Maine Blueberry Commission and the University of Maine Blueberry Advisory Committee by researchers with the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station and Maine Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Maine, Orono. Projects in this report include: 1. Introduction 2. Forest Tent Caterpillar in Blueberries 3. Control, Biology, and Ecology of Insects Affecting Lowbush Blueberries 4. Blueberry Diseases: Incidence and Control 5. Physiology and Culture of the Lowbush Blueberry 6. Weed Control in Lowbush Blueberry Fields 7. Product Development of Lowbush Blueberrie

Blueberry Advisory Committee Extension Report

The 1986 edition of the Blueberry Advisory Committee Extension Reports was prepared for the Maine Blueberry Commission and the University of Maine Blueberry Advisory Committee by researchers with the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station and Maine Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Maine, Orono. Projects in this report include: 1. Fertility Levels 2. Insect and Disease Fact Sheets 3. Development of Insect ID Information for Growers 4. Effect of Pruning Practices an Blueberry Insect Abundance 5. Control of Blueberry Maggot (Alternatives to Guthion) 6. Economic Thresholds and Control of Secondary Blueberry Pests 7. Chemical Control of Mummyberry Disease 8. Chemical Control of Botrytis Bloom Blight 9. Effects of Late Summer Fungicide Applications 10. Mowing vs. Burning - Comparisons of Disease Incidence 11. Long-term Effects of N and NPK Fertilizer on Plant Growth and Yield 12. Effect of Several Mulches on Frost Heaving, Soil Moisture, Soil Temperature and Rhizome Development 13. Interaction of Fertility and Pruning Practices on Soil 14. Effect of Block Freezing on Physical Characterization and Sugar Migration on Lowbush Blueberries 15. Demonstration of the Rota-Cone Vacuum Drying Process on Lowbush Blueberries 16. Production of a Blueberry Gelatin 17. Isolation and Characterization of Blueberry Pectin 18. The Effect of pH, Chemicals and Holding time-temperature on the color of Blueberry Puree 19. Effect of Hexazinone on Species Distribution in Lowbush Blueberry Fields 20. Evaluation of Postemergent Herbicides for Grass Control 21. Evaluation of Sulfonyl urea and lmidazoline compounds for Bunchberry Control 22. Use of Mechanical wiper with glyphosate or dicamba for control of dogbane 23. Hand-wiper Applications of Herbicides on Woody Weeds 24. Dogbane Control with 2% Glyphosate 25. Low Volume Solution of Asulam for Bracken Fern Control 26. Integrated Weed Management 27. 1986 Annual Report to the Maine Lowbush Blueberry Commissio