Environmental tobacco smoke and children's health

Passive exposure to tobacco smoke significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality in children. Children, in particular, seem to be the most susceptible population to the harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Paternal smoking inside the home leads to significant maternal and fetal exposure to ETS and may subsequently affect fetal health. ETS has been associated with adverse effects on pediatric health, including preterm birth, intrauterine growth retardation, perinatal mortality, respiratory illness, neurobehavioral problems, and decreased performance in school. A valid estimation of the risks associated with tobacco exposure depends on accurate measurement. Nicotine and its major metabolite, cotinine, are commonly used as smoking biomarkers, and their levels can be determined in various biological specimens such as blood, saliva, and urine. Recently, hair analysis was found to be a convenient, noninvasive technique for detecting the presence of nicotine exposure. Because nicotine/cotinine accumulates in hair during hair growth, it is a unique measure of long-term, cumulative exposure to tobacco smoke. Although smoking ban policies result in considerable reductions in ETS exposure, children are still exposed significantly to tobacco smoke not only in their homes but also in schools, restaurants, child-care settings, cars, buses, and other public places. Therefore, more effective strategies and public policies to protect preschool children from ETS should be consolidated

Expression of Functional Recombinant Mussel Adhesive Protein Mgfp-5 in Escherichia coli

Mussel adhesive proteins have been suggested as a basis for environmentally friendly adhesives for use in aqueous conditions and in medicine. However, attempts to produce functional and economical recombinant mussel adhesive proteins (mainly foot protein type 1) in several systems have failed. Here, the cDNA coding for Mytilus galloprovincialis foot protein type 5 (Mgfp-5) was isolated for the first time. Using this cDNA, we produced a recombinant Mgfp-5 fused with a hexahistidine affinity ligand, which was expressed in a soluble form in Escherichia coli and was highly purified using affinity chromatography. The adhesive properties of purified recombinant Mgfp-5 were compared with the commercial extracted mussel adhesive Cell-Tak by investigating adhesion force using atomic force microscopy, material surface coating, and quartz crystal microbalance. Even though further macroscale assays are needed, these microscale assays showed that recombinant Mgfp-5 has significant adhesive ability and may be useful as a bioadhesive in medical or underwater environments.X119196sciescopu

PCR for Diagnosis of Male Trichomonas vaginalis Infection with Chronic Prostatitis and Urethritis

The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of PCR for diagnosis of Trichomonas vaginalis infection among male patients with chronic recurrent prostatitis and urethritis. Between June 2001 and December 2003, a total of 33 patients visited the Department of Urology, Hanyang University Guri Hospital and were examined for T. vaginalis infection by PCR and culture in TYM medium. For the PCR, we used primers based on a repetitive sequence cloned from T. vaginalis (TV-E650). Voided bladder urine (VB1 and VB3) was sampled from 33 men with symptoms of lower urinary tract infection (urethral charge, residual urine sensation, and frequency). Culture failed to detect any T. vaginalis infection whereas PCR identified 7 cases of trichomoniasis (21.2%). Five of the 7 cases had been diagnosed with prostatitis and 2 with urethritis. PCR for the 5 prostatitis cases yielded a positive 330 bp band from bothVB1 and VB3, whereas positive results were only obtained from VB1 for the 2 urethritis patients. We showed that the PCR method could detect T. vaginalis when there was only 1 T. vaginalis cell per PCR mixture. Our results strongly support the usefulness of PCR on urine samples for detecting T. vaginalis in chronic prostatitis and urethritis patients

Algorithm to estimate daily PAR at the ocean surface from GOCI data: description and evaluation

Photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) reaching the ocean surface controls phytoplankton growth, primary productivity, and evolution within marine ecosystems. Therefore, accurate daily PAR estimates are important for a broad range of marine biology and biogeochemistry applications. In this study, hourly data from Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI), the world’s first geostationary ocean color sensor, was employed to estimate daily mean PAR at the ocean surface around the Korean Peninsula using a budget model based on plane-parallel theory. In situ PAR data collected from two ocean research stations (Socheong-cho and Ieodo) were used to evaluate the accuracy of the GOCI PAR estimates. First, the instantaneous in situ measurements were checked for calibration and exposure errors against Second Simulation of the Satellite Signal in the Solar Spectrum (6S) radiative transfer calculations under the clearest sky conditions and adjusted to eliminate biases. After adjustment, the root-means-square error (RMSE) between 6S and in situ PAR data was reduced from 6.08 (4.81%) and 3.82 (3.93%) mol/m2/day to 2.85 (2.26%) and 1.74 (1.21%) mol/m2/day at the Socheong-cho and Ieodo stations, respectively, and the coefficient of determination R2 was 0.99. Then, the GOCI daily mean PAR estimated by the initial algorithm were corrected using the 2015 adjusted in situ daily PAR measurements collected under clear-sky conditions. The daily mean PAR values derived from GOCI data in all conditions were improved after the correction, with RMSE reduced from 4.58 (8.30%) to 2.57 (4.65%) mol/m2/day and R2 = 0.97. The comparison statistics were similar for 2015 and 2016 combined, with RMSE of 2.52 (4.38%) and mean bias error (MBE) of –0.40 (–0.70%), indicating that the correction was also effective in cloudy conditions. On the other hand, daily PAR estimates from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) yielded larger RMSE of 6.24 (10.40%) mol/m2/day and MBE of –2.49 (–4.15%) mol/m2/day (MODIS) and RMSE of 3.71 (6.51%) mol/m2/day and MBE of –2.65 (–4.65%) mol/m2/day (AHI) against in situ measurements. The GOCI-based daily PAR model developed in this study is reliable and suitable for investigating the marine environment around the Korean Peninsula

Gene-based copy number variation study reveals a microdeletion at 12q24 that influences height in the Korean population

AbstractHeight is a classic polygenic trait with high heritability (h2=0.8). Recent genome-wide association studies have revealed many independent loci associated with human height. In addition, although many studies have reported an association between copy number variation (CNV) and complex diseases, few have explored the relationship between CNV and height. Recent studies reported that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are highly correlated with common CNVs, suggesting that it is warranted to survey CNVs to identify additional genetic factors affecting heritable traits such as height.This study tested the hypothesis that there would be CNV regions (CNVRs) associated with height nearby genes from the GWASs known to affect height. We identified regions containing >1% copy number deletion frequency from 3667 population-based cohort samples using the Illumina HumanOmni1-Quad BeadChip. Among the identified CNVRs, we selected 15 candidate regions that were located within 1Mb of 283 previously reported genes. To assess the effect of these CNVRs on height, statistical analyses were conducted with samples from a case group of 370 taller (upper 10%) individuals and a control group of 1828 individuals (lower 50%).We found that a newly identified 17.7kb deletion at chromosomal position 12q24.33, approximately 171.6kb downstream of GPR133, significantly correlated with height; this finding was validated using quantitative PCR. These results suggest that CNVs are potentially important in determining height and may contribute to height variation in human populations

Clinical Outcome of Veterans with Acute Coronary Syndrome Who Had Been Exposed to Agent Orange

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), one of the components of Agent Orange, has been reported to be a deadly poison despite its presence at extremely small doses. TCDD is reported to cause various kinds of cancers and other harmful effects on humans. However, a correlation between exposure to TCDD and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is not yet proven. Thus, we examined the correlation between exposure to TCDD and ACS through an analysis of coronary angiograms from veterans of the Vietnam War. Two hundred fifty-one consecutive men undergoing coronary angiograms owing to ACS between April 2004 and May 2009 at Gwangju Veterans Hospital were analyzed. Included subjects were between 50 and 70 years of age. The patients were divided into two groups: 121 patients who had been exposed to TCDD (Group I) and 130 patients who had not been exposed to TCDD (Group II). Clinical and coronary angiographic findings were evaluated. Baseline clinical characteristics, inflammatory markers, and echocardiographic parameters were not significantly different between the two groups. The incidence of hypertension (71.1% vs. 60.0%, p=0.039) and hyperlipidemia (27.3% vs. 16.9%, p=0.038) was higher in Group I than in Group II. Total occlusion, stent length, stent use, and coronary lesion characteristics were not significantly different between the two groups. The rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) had no relationship with exposure to TCDD. Exposure to TCDD might not affect severity or the rate of MACE in persons with ACS