Breathing Easy: Lung Health and Associated Conditions in the Day Care Setting

Introduction: Air pollutants are associated with many health risks. Children in the day care environment are uniquely suscept-ible to lung damage, infection, systemic illness & pollutant triggered hypersensitivity reactions. The latest public report by the CDC reports Vermont’s (VT) asthma rate is the high-est in the country at 11.1%. This project compared VT’s day care regulations regarding specific environmental factors linked with health risks to regulations in six surrounding New England states. We sought to assess whether VT’s regulations adequately protect children in day carehttps://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1064/thumbnail.jp

Vulnerability of Newborns to Environmental Factors: Findings from Community Based Surveillance Data in Bangladesh

Infection is the major cause of neonatal deaths. Home born newborns in rural Bangladeshi communities are exposed to environmental factors increasing their vulnerability to a number of disease agents that may compromise their health. The current analysis was conducted to assess the association of very severe disease (VSD) in newborns in rural communities with temperature, rainfall, and humidity. A total of 12,836 newborns from rural Sylhet and Mirzapur communities were assessed by trained community health workers using a sign based algorithm. Records of temperature, humidity, and rainfall were collected from the nearest meteorological stations. Associations between VSD and environmental factors were estimated. Incidence of VSD was found to be associated with higher temperatures (odds ratios: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.21 in Sylhet and 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.07 in Mirzapur) and heat humidity index (odds ratios: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04 to 1.08 in Sylhet and, 1.03, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.04 in Mirzapur). Four months (June–September) in Sylhet, and six months in Mirzapur (April–September) had higher odds ratios of incidence of VSD as compared to the remainder of the year (odds ratios: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.32 to 2.23 in Sylhet and, 1.62, 95% CI: 1.33 to 1.96 in Mirzapur). Prevention of VSD in neonates can be enhanced if these interactions are considered in health intervention strategies

Campaigning for Europe ‘After’ the Economic ‘Crisis’: The Cases of Greece and Portugal

This chapter analyses the campaign in Greece and Portugal, two of the countries that fared worst in the aftermath of the economic crisis of 2007–2008. The authors conclude that this was the first election since the crisis in which the political discourse in both member states adopted a moderately more optimistic tone than in previous campaigns. Nevertheless, the focus in 2019 was still on welfare issues, such as (un)employment, wages, pensions and taxation

On the use of a zoom lens for remote Raman measurements: Application in cultural heritage research

Raman spectroscopy is frequently implemented in the analysis of art objects. Especially its non-destructive character and the advent of mobile instruments, often equipped with fibre optics probe heads, have opened the doors for many direct investigations of artworks. However, Raman spectroscopy usually requires stable positioning of the objective lens, close to the paint surface. Consequently, and despite the use of an extensive range of positioning equipment, it is not possible to reach every spot of a large artefact. Positioning, and as a consequence measuring, is becoming even more critical for 3D objects. Therefore, we examine the characteristics and explore the opportunities for the investigation of art objects that can be obtained by using a zoom lens, which is suitable for the Raman investigation at working distances between 6 and 60 cm

On the use of a zoom lens for remote Raman measurements: Application in cultural heritage research

Raman spectroscopy is frequently implemented in the analysis of art objects. Especially its non-destructive character and the advent of mobile instruments, often equipped with fibre optics probe heads, have opened the doors for many direct investigations of artworks. However, Raman spectroscopy usually requires stable positioning of the objective lens, close to the paint surface. Consequently, and despite the use of an extensive range of positioning equipment, it is not possible to reach every spot of a large artefact. Positioning, and as a consequence measuring, is becoming even more critical for 3D objects. Therefore, we examine the characteristics and explore the opportunities for the investigation of art objects that can be obtained by using a zoom lens, which is suitable for the Raman investigation at working distances between 6 and 60 cm

Co-evolution of large inverted repeats and G-quadruplex DNA in fungal mitochondria may facilitate mitogenome stability : the case of Malassezia

Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) research and training grant-FEMS-GO-2020-199'Mitogenomes are essential due to their contribution to cell respiration. Recently they have also been implicated in fungal pathogenicity mechanisms. Members of the basidiomycetous yeast genus Malassezia are an important fungal component of the human skin microbiome, linked to various skin diseases, bloodstream infections, and they are increasingly implicated in gut diseases and certain cancers. In this study, the comparative analysis of Malassezia mitogenomes contributed to phylogenetic tree construction for all species. The mitogenomes presented significant size and gene order diversity which correlates to their phylogeny. Most importantly, they showed the inclusion of large inverted repeats (LIRs) and G-quadruplex (G4) DNA elements, rendering Malassezia mitogenomes a valuable test case for elucidating the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for this genome diversity. Both LIRs and G4s coexist and convergently evolved to provide genome stability through recombination. This mechanism is common in chloroplasts but, hitherto, rarely found in mitogenomes