Prenatal exposures and exposomics of asthma

This review examines the causal investigation of preclinical development of childhood asthma using exposomic tools. We examine the current state of knowledge regarding early-life exposure to non-biogenic indoor air pollution and the developmental modulation of the immune system. We examine how metabolomics technologies could aid not only in the biomarker identification of a particular asthma phenotype, but also the mechanisms underlying the immunopathologic process. Within such a framework, we propose alternate components of exposomic investigation of asthma in which, the exposome represents a reiterative investigative process of targeted biomarker identification, validation through computational systems biology and physical sampling of environmental medi

Amplicon Sequencing of Variable 16S rRNA from Bacteria and ITS2 Regions from Fungi and Plants, Reveals Honeybee Susceptibility to Diseases Results from Their Forage Availability under Anthropogenic Landscapes

European Apis mellifera and Asian Apis cerana honeybees are essential crop pollinators. Microbiome studies can provide complex information on health and fitness of these insects in relation to environmental changes, and plant availability. Amplicon sequencing of variable regions of the 16S rRNA from bacteria and the internally transcribed spacer (ITS) regions from fungi and plants allow identification of the metabiome. These methods provide a tool for monitoring otherwise uncultured microbes isolated from the gut of the honeybees. They also help monitor the composition of the gut fungi and, intriguingly, pollen collected by the insect. Here, we present data from amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA from bacteria and ITS2 regions from fungi and plants derived from honeybees collected at various time points from anthropogenic landscapes such as urban areas in Poland, UK, Spain, Greece, and Thailand. We have analysed microbial content of honeybee intestine as well as fungi and pollens. Furthermore, isolated DNA was used as the template for screening pathogens: Nosema apis, N. ceranae, N. bombi, tracheal mite (Acarapis woodi), any organism in the parasitic order Trypanosomatida, including Crithidia spp. (i.e., Crithidia mellificae), neogregarines including Mattesia and Apicystis spp. (i.e., Apicistis bombi). We conclude that differences between samples were mainly influenced by the bacteria, plant pollen and fungi, respectively. Moreover, honeybees feeding on a sugar based diet were more prone to fungal pathogens (Nosema ceranae) and neogregarines. In most samples Nosema sp. and neogregarines parasitized the host bee at the same time. A higher load of fungi, and bacteria groups such as Firmicutes (Lactobacillus); γ-proteobacteria, Neisseriaceae, and other unidentified bacteria was observed for Nosema ceranae and neogregarine infected honeybees. Healthy honeybees had a higher load of plant pollen, and bacteria groups such as: Orbales, Gilliamella, Snodgrassella, and Enterobacteriaceae. Finally, the period when honeybees switch to the winter generation (longer-lived forager honeybees) is the most sensitive to diet perturbations, and hence pathogen attack, for the whole beekeeping season. It is possible that evolutionary adaptation of bees fails to benefit them in the modern anthropomorphised environment.Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). The attached file is the published version of the article.NHM Repositor

Recent publications from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative: Reviewing progress toward improved AD clinical trials

INTRODUCTION: The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) has continued development and standardization of methodologies for biomarkers and has provided an increased depth and breadth of data available to qualified researchers. This review summarizes the over 400 publications using ADNI data during 2014 and 2015. METHODS: We used standard searches to find publications using ADNI data. RESULTS: (1) Structural and functional changes, including subtle changes to hippocampal shape and texture, atrophy in areas outside of hippocampus, and disruption to functional networks, are detectable in presymptomatic subjects before hippocampal atrophy; (2) In subjects with abnormal β-amyloid deposition (Aβ+), biomarkers become abnormal in the order predicted by the amyloid cascade hypothesis; (3) Cognitive decline is more closely linked to tau than Aβ deposition; (4) Cerebrovascular risk factors may interact with Aβ to increase white-matter (WM) abnormalities which may accelerate Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression in conjunction with tau abnormalities; (5) Different patterns of atrophy are associated with impairment of memory and executive function and may underlie psychiatric symptoms; (6) Structural, functional, and metabolic network connectivities are disrupted as AD progresses. Models of prion-like spreading of Aβ pathology along WM tracts predict known patterns of cortical Aβ deposition and declines in glucose metabolism; (7) New AD risk and protective gene loci have been identified using biologically informed approaches; (8) Cognitively normal and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subjects are heterogeneous and include groups typified not only by "classic" AD pathology but also by normal biomarkers, accelerated decline, and suspected non-Alzheimer's pathology; (9) Selection of subjects at risk of imminent decline on the basis of one or more pathologies improves the power of clinical trials; (10) Sensitivity of cognitive outcome measures to early changes in cognition has been improved and surrogate outcome measures using longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging may further reduce clinical trial cost and duration; (11) Advances in machine learning techniques such as neural networks have improved diagnostic and prognostic accuracy especially in challenges involving MCI subjects; and (12) Network connectivity measures and genetic variants show promise in multimodal classification and some classifiers using single modalities are rivaling multimodal classifiers. DISCUSSION: Taken together, these studies fundamentally deepen our understanding of AD progression and its underlying genetic basis, which in turn informs and improves clinical trial desig

Hexabromocyclododecane in industrial and food samples

Przeprowadzono oznaczanie izomerów α-, β- i γ-heksabromocyklododekanu w przemysłowych próbkach polistyrenu spienionego oraz w tkance mięsnej ryb z gatunku łososia, przy użyciu techniki rozcieńczeń izotopowych w chromatografii cieczowej sprzężonej ze spektrometrią mas. W próbkach przemysłowych zanotowano najwyższą zawartość izomeru γ -HBCD, natomiast w próbkach ryb dominował izomer α-HBCD.The determination of hexabromocyclododecane isomers, α-, β- and γ, in industrial expanded polystyrene foams and fish tissue samples by sensitive isotope dilution technique in liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry were performed. In industrial samples γ -HBCD was the most abundant while in fish samples α -HBCD dominated

Dioxin content in touristic forest bonfire ashes (preliminary test)

Negatywnych skutkiem ruchu turystycznego na obszarach leśnych jest powstawanie palenisk zanieczyszczonych popiołem ogniskowym. W wyniku procesu spalania do środowiska mogą przedostawać się różne substancje chemiczne, na przykład dioksyny. Toksyczność uwalnianych związków zależy głównie od stosowanego opału oraz powstałej temperatury. Dioksyny to grupa chloroorganicznych, aromatycznych związków, których cząsteczki wykazują wyjątkowo dużą stabilność termiczną i odporność chemiczną na utlenianie oraz procesy degradacji biologicznej. Ze względu na podobne właściwości toksyczne, wzajemne współwystępowanie oraz wspólne źródła, do grupy dioskyn zalicza się trzy grupy związków: polichlorowane dibenzodioksyny (PCDD), polichlorowane dibenzofurany (PCDF) i polichlorowane bifenyle (PCB). Dioksyny powstają w wyniku działalności zakładów chemicznych wytwarzających i przetwarzających związki zawierające chlor, spalarni odpadów komunalnych, przemysłowych i szpitalnych, hut żelaza i metali kolorowych, zakładów papierniczych, przetwórni surowców wtórnych. Celem przeprowadzonych badań było określenie zawartości kongenerów PCDDs i PCDFs w próbkach popiołowych i glebowych pobranych z palenisk, występujących na terenach leśnych spełniających funkcje rekreacyjne. Przeprowadzone badania wykazały niewielką zawartość dioksyn w analizowanym materiale badawczym