Investigating Stormwater Parameters from Runoff on East Tennessee State University Campus

Climate change has caused an increase in extreme rain events and flooding in certain regions across the globe. During rain events, water flows over impervious surfaces structures such as roads and sidewalks, picking up contaminants such as metals, fertilizers and other nutrients, and various organics that which may impact organisms in such as streams, river, and lakes. Previous work has found significant differences in survival of organisms that were exposed to contaminated stormwater runoff. This study investigated stormwater chemistry parameters at collection sites on the East Tennessee State University campus. Sites were selected based on the extent of human interaction and traffic in the areas. Additionally, acute toxicity of stormwater samples was investigated through 48-h bioassays with the cladoceran, Daphnia magna. In September and November 2022, water chemistry and toxicity analyses were conducted across multiple rain events and over a six-hour time course of an individual rain event. For each of the events and the time course, chlorophyll levels, specific conductivity, pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen were measured. No statistical difference between the water chemistry parameters between sampling sites or between rain events were observed. Additionally, no significant differences in 48-h survival of D. magna were detected between sampling locations or during the single event time course study. These data suggest that there were no pollutant surges at the collection sites and that D. manga survival was not affected by the contaminants

Loss of Nmp4 optimizes osteogenic metabolism and secretion to enhance bone quality

A goal of osteoporosis therapy is to restore lost bone with structurally sound tissue. Mice lacking the transcription factor Nuclear Matrix Protein 4 (Nmp4, Zfp384, Ciz, ZNF384) respond to several classes of osteoporosis drugs with enhanced bone formation compared to wild type (WT) animals. Nmp4-/- mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (MSPCs) exhibit an accelerated and enhanced mineralization during osteoblast differentiation. To address the mechanisms underlying this hyper-anabolic phenotype, we carried out RNA-sequencing and molecular and cellular analyses of WT and Nmp4-/- MSPCs during osteogenesis to define pathways and mechanisms associated with elevated matrix production. We determined that Nmp4 has a broad impact on the transcriptome during osteogenic differentiation, contributing to the expression of over 5,000 genes. Phenotypic anchoring of transcriptional data was performed for the hypothesis-testing arm through analysis of cell metabolism, protein synthesis and secretion, and bone material properties. Mechanistic studies confirmed that Nmp4-/- MSPCs exhibited an enhanced capacity for glycolytic conversion- a key step in bone anabolism. Nmp4-/- cells showed elevated collagen translation and secretion. Expression of matrix genes that contribute to bone material-level mechanical properties were elevated in Nmp4-/- cells, an observation that was supported by biomechanical testing of bone samples from Nmp4-/- and WT mice. We conclude that loss of Nmp4 increases the magnitude of glycolysis upon the metabolic switch, which fuels the conversion of the osteoblast into a super-secretor of matrix resulting in more bone with improvements in intrinsic quality

Dexamethasone in hospitalised coronavirus-19 patients not on intensive respiratory support.

INTRODUCTION: Dexamethasone decreases mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients on intensive respiratory support (IRS) but is of uncertain benefit if less severely ill. We determined whether early (within 48 h) dexamethasone was associated with mortality in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 not on IRS. METHODS: We included patients admitted to Veterans Affairs hospitals between June 7, 2020-May 31, 2021 within 14-days after SARS-CoV-2 positive test. Exclusions included recent prior corticosteroids and IRS within 48 h. We used inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTW) to balance exposed and unexposed groups, and Cox proportional hazards models to determine 90-day all-cause mortality. RESULTS: Of 19 973 total patients (95% men, median age 71, 27% black), 15 404 (77%) were without IRS within 48 h. Of these, 3514/9450 (34%) patients on no oxygen received dexamethasone and 1042 (11%) died; 4472/5954 (75%) patients on low-flow nasal cannula (NC) received dexamethasone and 857 (14%) died. In IPTW stratified models, patients on no oxygen who received dexamethasone experienced 76% increased risk for 90-day mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.76, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.47 to 2.12); there was no association with mortality among patients on NC (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.36). CONCLUSION: In patients hospitalised with COVID-19, early initiation of dexamethasone was common and was associated with no mortality benefit among those on no oxygen or NC in the first 48 h; instead, we found evidence of potential harm. These real-world findings do not support the use of early dexamethasone in hospitalised COVID-19 patients without IRS

Genomic Insights Into The Ixodes scapularis Tick Vector Of Lyme Disease

Ticks transmit more pathogens to humans and animals than any other arthropod. We describe the 2.1 Gbp nuclear genome of the tick, Ixodes scapularis (Say), which vectors pathogens that cause Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other diseases. The large genome reflects accumulation of repetitive DNA, new lineages of retrotransposons, and gene architecture patterns resembling ancient metazoans rather than pancrustaceans. Annotation of scaffolds representing B57% of the genome, reveals 20,486 protein-coding genes and expansions of gene families associated with tick–host interactions. We report insights from genome analyses into parasitic processes unique to ticks, including host ‘questing’, prolonged feeding, cuticle synthesis, blood meal concentration, novel methods of haemoglobin digestion, haem detoxification, vitellogenesis and prolonged off-host survival. We identify proteins associated with the agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis, an emerging disease, and the encephalitis-causing Langat virus, and a population structure correlated to life-history traits and transmission of the Lyme disease agent

Genomic Insights Into The Ixodes scapularis Tick Vector Of Lyme Disease

Ticks transmit more pathogens to humans and animals than any other arthropod. We describe the 2.1 Gbp nuclear genome of the tick, Ixodes scapularis (Say), which vectors pathogens that cause Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other diseases. The large genome reflects accumulation of repetitive DNA, new lineages of retrotransposons, and gene architecture patterns resembling ancient metazoans rather than pancrustaceans. Annotation of scaffolds representing B57% of the genome, reveals 20,486 protein-coding genes and expansions of gene families associated with tick–host interactions. We report insights from genome analyses into parasitic processes unique to ticks, including host ‘questing’, prolonged feeding, cuticle synthesis, blood meal concentration, novel methods of haemoglobin digestion, haem detoxification, vitellogenesis and prolonged off-host survival. We identify proteins associated with the agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis, an emerging disease, and the encephalitis-causing Langat virus, and a population structure correlated to life-history traits and transmission of the Lyme disease agent

Who is Who in Knowledge Economy in Africa?

This study assesses the knowledge economy (KE) performance of lagging African countries vis-à-vis their frontier counterparts with regard to the four dimensions of the World Bank’s knowledge economy index (KEI). The empirical exercise is for the period 1996-2010. It consists of first establishing leading nations before suggesting policy initiatives that can be implemented by sampled countries depending on identified gaps that are provided with the sigma convergence estimation approach. The following are established frontier knowledge economy countries. (i) For the most part, North African countries are dominant in education. Tunisia is overwhelmingly dominant in 11 of the 15 years, followed by Libya which is a frontier country in two years while Cape Verde and Egypt lead in a single year each. (ii) With the exception of Morocco that is leading in the year 2009, Seychelles is overwhelmingly dominant in ICT. (iii) South Africa also indomitably leads in terms of innovation. (iv) While Botswana and Mauritius share dominance in institutional regime, economic incentives in terms of private domestic credit are most apparent in Angola (8 years), the Democratic Republic of Congo (3 years) and Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Malawi (each leading in one year)

Predation Cues Influence Metabolic Rate and Sensitivity to Other Chemical Stressors in Fathead Minnows (Pimephales promelas) and Daphnia pulex

The response of aquatic species to contaminants is often context dependent as illustrated by the influence that predation cues can have on the toxicity of some chemicals. We sought to gain additional insight into this interaction by examining how predation cues (alarm cue and fish kairomone) influence metabolic rate and the acute toxicity of sodium chloride and cadmium to fathead minnow larvae (Pimephales promelas) and sodium chloride to Daphnia pulex neonates. Consistent with a “flight or fight” response, the metabolic rate of fish larvae was elevated in the presence of alarm cue and growth of the minnows was also significantly reduced when exposed to alarm cue. The average 48-h LC50 for fathead minnows exposed to sodium chloride was significantly lower in the presence of alarm cue and kairomone combined as compared to tests with the salt alone. Analysis of the dose and survival response indicated alarm cue increased sensitivity of the fish to mid-range salt concentrations in particular. These results suggest an energetic cost of exposure to predation cues that resulted in enhanced toxicity of NaCl. Exposure to kairomone alone had no significant effect on salt toxicity to the minnows, which could be related to a lack of previous exposure to that cue. The acute toxicity of cadmium to the fish larvae was also not affected by the presence of predation cues which could be due to a metal-induced sensory system dysfunction or reduced bioavailability of the metal due to organic exudates from the predation cues. In contrast to the fathead minnow results, the metabolic rate of D. pulex and toxicity of NaCl to the daphnids were reduced in the presence of certain predator kairomones. This suggests an anti-predator response that enhanced tolerance to the salt. This study illustrates that the effect of predation cues on toxicity of aquatic contaminants can vary significantly based on the prey species, type of cue, and chemical stressor

Assessment of two methods for sampling invertebrates in shallow vegetated wetlands

Invertebrates are often used as indicators of wetland health and habitat quality for species such as waterbirds. However, the sampling method may influence the characterization of wetland invertebrate populations. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two sampling methods, the aquatic D-frame net and Quadrat-Column-Core (QCC) method, in determining invertebrate population metrics in vegetated depressional wetlands of north central Oklahoma. As compared to the D-frame net, use of the QCC method resulted in higher estimates of both total microcrustacean and nonmicrocrustacean density and biomass. Additionally, the QCC method had higher estimates of density and biomass for seven of the eight functional feeding groups and nearly half of the 49 taxa collected from the wetlands. The D-frame net method produced higher estimates of taxa richness and the Shannon index as well as higher densities and biomasses than the QCC method for five taxa. Overall, invertebrate community structure was different between the two sampling methods. In light of differences in the metrics determined for the two sampling methods, the ultimate choice of a sampling method for wetland invertebrates should be based on study objectives