Do Questions Reflecting Indoor Air Pollutant Exposure from a Questionnaire Predict Direct Measure of Exposure in Owner-Occupied Houses?

Home characteristic questions are used in epidemiological studies and clinical settings to assess potentially harmful exposures in the home. The objective of this study was to determine whether questionnaire-reported home characteristics can predict directly measured pollutants. Sixty home inspections were conducted on a subsample of the 2006 population-based Toronto Child Health Evaluation Questionnaire. Indoor/outdoor air and settled dust samples were analyzed. Mean Fel d 1 was higher (p < 0.0001) in homes with a cat (450.58 μg/g) versus without (22.28 μg/g). Mean indoor NO2 was higher (p = 0.003) in homes with gas stoves (14.98 ppb) versus without (8.31 ppb). Self-reported musty odours predicted higher glucan levels (10554.37 μg/g versus 6308.58 μg/g, p = 0.0077). Der f 1 was predicted by the home’s age, but not by reports of carpets, and was higher in homes with mean relative humidity > 50% (61.30 μg/g, versus 6.24 μg/g, p = 0.002). Self-reported presence of a cat, a gas stove, musty odours, mice, and the home’s age and indoor relative humidity over 50% predicted measured indoor levels of cat allergens, NO2, fungal glucan, mouse allergens and dust mite allergens, respectively. These results are helpful for understanding the significance of indoor exposures ascertained by self-reporting in large epidemiological studies and also in the clinical setting

Global use of Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine.

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccines have been underutilized globally. We report progress in global use of Hib vaccines included in national immunization schedules. The number of countries using Hib vaccine increased from 89/193 (46%) in 2004 to 158/193 (82%) by the end of 2009. The increase was greatest among low-income countries eligible for financial support from the GAVI Alliance [13/75 (17%) in 2004, 60/72 (83%) by the end of 2009], and can be attributed to various factors. Additional efforts are still needed to increase vaccine adoption in lower middle income countries [20/31 (65%) by the end of 2009]

African swine fever : an Update

PòsterFebre

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Strain ST398 Is Present in Midwestern U.S. Swine and Swine Workers

BACKGROUND: Recent research has demonstrated that many swine and swine farmers in the Netherlands and Canada are colonized with MRSA. However, no studies to date have investigated carriage of MRSA among swine and swine farmers in the United States (U.S.). METHODS: We sampled the nares of 299 swine and 20 workers from two different production systems in Iowa and Illinois, comprising approximately 87,000 live animals. MRSA isolates were typed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) using SmaI and EagI restriction enzymes, and by multi locus sequence typing (MLST). PCR was used to determine SCCmec type and presence of the pvl gene. RESULTS: In this pilot study, overall MRSA prevalence in swine was 49% (147/299) and 45% (9/20) in workers. The prevalence of MRSA carriage among production system A's swine varied by age, ranging from 36% (11/30) in adult swine to 100% (60/60) of animals aged 9 and 12 weeks. The prevalence among production system A's workers was 64% (9/14). MRSA was not isolated from production system B's swine or workers. Isolates examined were not typeable by PFGE when SmaI was used, but digestion with EagI revealed that the isolates were clonal and were not related to common human types in Iowa (USA100, USA300, and USA400). MLST documented that the isolates were ST398. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that colonization of swine by MRSA was very common on one swine production system in the midwestern U.S., suggesting that agricultural animals could become an important reservoir for this bacterium. MRSA strain ST398 was the only strain documented on this farm. Further studies are examining carriage rates on additional farms

La representació de la memòria històrica. Anàlisi dels programes televisius que tracten la Guerra Civil i el franquisme a Catalunya

El present treball estudia la representació de la memòria històrica a través del mitjà televisiu a Catalunya. En concret, se centra en la representació dels esdeveniments més traumàtics de la història contemporània d'Espanya, la Guerra Civil i el franquisme. A partir de l'anàlisi de cinc productes recents de característiques diferents s'estableixen els punts en comú i les variants en el discurs sobre la memòria històrica transmès per la televisió.El presente trabajo estudia la representación de la memoria histórica a través del medio televisivo en Cataluña. En concreto, se centra en la representación de los acontecimientos más traumáticos de la historia contemporánea de España, la Guerra Civil y el franquismo. A partir del análisis de cinco productos recientes de características diferentes se establecen los puntos en común y las variantes en el discurso sobre la memoria histórica transmitido por la televisión.This study examines the representation of historical memory on television in Catalonia. In particular, it focuses on the representation of the most traumatic events in the contemporary history of Spain, the Civil War and the Francoist Spain. It is based on the analysis of five recent products with different characteristics, in order to define the points in common and the differences of the discourse on the historical memory broadcasted by television

Dry deposition and canopy uptake in Mediterranean holm-oak forests estimated with a canopy budget model : a focus on N estimations

Bulk/wet and throughfall fluxes of major compounds were measured from June 2011 to June 2013 at four Mediterranean holm-oak (Quercus ilex) forests in the Iberian Peninsula. Regression analysis between net throughfall fluxes and precipitation indicated that the best defined canopy process was leaching for K⁺ and uptake for NH₄⁺ at all sites. A more variable response between sites was found for Na⁺, Ca²⁺, SO₄²⁻ and Cl⁻, which suggests that the interplay of dry deposition, leaching and uptake at the canopy was different depending on site climate and air quality characteristics. A canopy budget model (CBM) was used to try to discriminate between the canopy processes and enable to estimate dry deposition and uptake fluxes at three of the sites that complied with the model specifications. To derive N uptake, an efficiency factor of NH₄⁺ vs. NO₃⁻ uptake (xNH₄) corresponding to moles of NH₄⁺ taken up for each NO₃⁻ mol, has to be determined. Up to now, a value of 6 has been proposed for temperate forests, but we lack information for Mediterranean forests. Experimental determination of N absorption on Quercus ilex seedlings in Spain suggests efficiency factors from 1 to 6. Based on these values, a sensitivity analysis for xNH₄ was performed and the NH₄N and NO₃N modeled dry deposition was compared with dry deposition estimated with independent methods (inferential modeling and washing of branches). At two sites in NE Spain under a milder Mediterranean climate, the best match was obtained for xNH4 = 6, corroborating results from European temperate forests. Based on this value, total DIN deposition was 12-13 kg N ha−1 y−1 at these sites. However, for a site in central Spain under drier conditions, variation of the NH4+ efficiency factor had little effect on DD estimates (which ranged from 2 to 2.6 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ with varying xNH₄); when added to wet deposition, this produced a total N deposition in the range 2.6-3.4 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹. Dry deposition was the predominant pathway for N, accounting for 60-80% of total deposition, while for base cations wet deposition dominated (55-65%). Nitrogen deposition values at the northwestern sites were close to the empirical critical load proposed for evergreen sclerophyllous Mediterranean forests (15-17 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹). When organic N deposition at these forests is added (3 kg N ha⁻¹ y⁻¹), the total N input to the sites in NE Spain are close to the critical loads for Mediterranean evergreen oak forests

Tnfaip3 expression in pulmonary conventional type 1 Langerin-expressing dendritic cells regulates T helper 2-mediated airway inflammation in mice

Background: Conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) control anti-viral and anti-tumor immunity by inducing antigen-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T-cell responses. Controversy exists whether cDC1s also control CD4+ T helper 2 (Th2) cell responses, since suppressive and activating roles have been reported. DC activation status, controlled by the transcription factor NF-κB, might determine the precise outcome of Th-cell differentiation upon encounter with cDC1s. To investigate the role of activated cDC1s in Th2-driven immune responses, pulmonary cDC1s were activated by targeted deletion of A20/Tnfaip3, a negative regulator of NF-κB signaling. Methods: To target pulmonary cDC1s, Cd207 (Langerin)-mediated excision of A20/Tnfaip3 was used, generating Tnfaip3fl/flxCd207+/cre (Tnfaip3Lg-KO) mice. Mice were exposed to house dust mite (HDM) to provoke Th2-mediated immune responses. Results: Mice harboring Tnfaip3-deficient cDC1s did not develop Th2-driven eosinophilic airway inflammation upon HDM exposure, but rather showed elevated numbers of IFNγ-expressing CD8+ T cells. In addition, Tnfaip3Lg-KO mice harbored increased numbers of IL-12–expressing cDC1s and elevated PD-L1 expression in all pulmonary DC subsets. Blocking either IL-12 or IFNγ in Tnfaip3Lg-KO mice restored Th2 responses, whereas administration of recombinant IFNγ during HDM sensitization in C57Bl/6 mice blocked Th2 development. Conclusions: These findings indicate that the activation status of cDC1s, shown by their specific expression of co-inhibitory molecules and cytokines, critically contributes to the development of Th2 cell–mediated disorders, most likely by influencing IFNγ production in CD8+ T cells

Central role of dendritic cells in pulmonary arterial hypertension in human and mice

The pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is not fully under-stood, but evidence is accumulating tha

Towards a Wolbachia Multilocus Sequence Typing system : discrimination of Wolbachia strains present in Drosophila species

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Current Microbiology 53 (2006): 388-395, doi:10.1007/s00284-006-0054-1.Among the diverse maternally inherited symbionts in arthropods, Wolbachia are the most common and infect over 20% of all species. In a departure from traditional genotyping or phylogenetic methods relying on single Wolbachia genes, the present study represents an initial Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) analysis to discriminate closely related Wolbachia pipientis strains, and additional data on sequence diversity in Wolbachia. We report new phylogenetic characterization of four genes (aspC, atpD, sucB and pdhB), and provide an expanded analysis of markers described in previous studies (16S rDNA, ftsZ, groEL, dnaA and gltA). MLST analysis of the bacterial strains present in sixteen different Drosophila-Wolbachia associations detected four distinct clonal complexes that also corresponded to maximum-likelihood identified phylogenetic clades. Among the sixteen associations analyzed, six could not be assigned to MLST clonal complexes and were also shown to be in conflict with relationships predicted by maximum-likelihood phylogenetic inferences. The results demonstrate the discriminatory power of MLST for identifying strains and clonal lineages of Wolbachia and provide a robust foundation for studying the ecology and evolution of this widespread endosymbiont.This work was partially supported by intramural funds of the University of Ioannina to K. Bourtzis, by grants to J.J. Wernegreen from the National Institutes of Health (R01 GM62626-01) and the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NNA04CC04A), and to J.H. Werren and J.J. Wernegreen from the National Science Foundation (EF-0328363)