Resident Perceptions of a Proposed Environmental Education Center and Demonstration Farm

To gauge community support for a proposed environmental education center and demonstration farm, we surveyed 514 local residents. Our intent was to assess community members\u27 support for the project and relevant programming interests and to determine the roles that level of community satisfaction, perceived economic impact, and demographics played with regard to project support. We found that most community members supported the development and that levels of community satisfaction, perceptions of economic impact, background, gender, and age were significantly associated with level of support. Our research also revealed that community members were most interested in programs about nature and growing and preserving food and were not interested in technology-based programming

Interventions to optimise the care continuum for chronic viral hepatitis: a systematic review and meta-analyses.

BACKGROUND: Advances in therapy for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) have ushered in a new era in chronic hepatitis treatment. To maximise the effectiveness of these medicines, individuals must be engaged and retained in care. We analysed operational interventions to enhance chronic viral hepatitis testing, linkage to care, treatment uptake, adherence, and viral suppression or cure. METHODS: We did a systematic review of operational interventions, and did meta-analyses for sufficiently comparable data. We searched PubMed, Embase, WHO library, International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, PsycINFO, and CINAHL for randomised controlled trials and controlled non-randomised studies that examined operational interventions along the chronic viral hepatitis care continuum, published in English up to Dec 31, 2014. We included non-pharmaceutical intervention studies with primary or secondary outcomes of testing, linkage to care, treatment uptake, treatment adherence, treatment completion, treatment outcome, or viral endpoints. We excluded dissertations and studies of children only. Data were extracted by two independent reviewers, with disagreements resolved by a third reviewer. Studies were assessed for bias. Data from similar interventions were pooled and quality of evidence was assessed using GRADE. This study was registered in PROSPERO (42014015094). FINDINGS: We identified 7583 unduplicated studies, and included 56 studies that reported outcomes along the care continuum (41 for HCV and 18 for HBV). All studies except one were from high-income countries. Lay health worker HBV test promotion interventions increased HBV testing rates (relative risk [RR] 2·68, 95% CI 1·82-3·93). Clinician reminders to prompt HCV testing during clinical visits increased HCV testing rates (3·70, 1·81-7·57). Nurse-led educational interventions improved HCV treatment completion (1·14, 1·05-1·23) and cure (odds ratio [OR] 1·93, 95% CI 1·44-2·59). Coordinated mental health, substance misuse, and hepatitis treatment services increased HCV treatment uptake (OR 3·03, 1·24-7·37), adherence (RR 1·22, 1·05-1·41), and cure (RR 1·21, 1·07-1·38) compared with usual care. INTERPRETATION: Several simple, inexpensive operational interventions can substantially improve engagement and retention along the chronic viral hepatitis care continuum. Further operational research to inform scale-up of hepatitis services is needed in low-income and middle-income countries. FUNDING: World Health Organization and US Fulbright Program

A Novel Staphylococcus Podophage Encodes a Unique Lysin with Unusual Modular Design

ABSTRACT Drug-resistant staphylococci, particularly Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, are leading causes of hospital-acquired infections. Bacteriophages and their peptidoglycan hydrolytic enzymes (lysins) are currently being explored as alternatives to conventional antibiotics; however, only a limited diversity of staphylococcal phages and their lysins has yet been characterized. Here, we describe a novel staphylococcal phage and its lysins. Bacteriophage Andhra is the first reported S. epidermidis phage belonging to the family Podoviridae. Andhra possesses an 18,546-nucleotide genome with 20 open reading frames. BLASTp searches revealed that gene product 10 (gp10) and gp14 harbor putative catalytic domains with predicted peptidase and amidase activities, characteristic functions of phage lysins. We purified these proteins and show that both Andhra_gp10 and Andhra_gp14 inhibit growth and degrade cell walls of diverse staphylococci, with Andhra_gp10 exhibiting more robust activity against the panel of cell wall substrates tested. Site-directed mutagenesis of its predicted catalytic residues abrogated the activity of Andhra_gp10, consistent with the presence of a catalytic CHAP domain on its C terminus. The active site location combined with the absence of an SH3b cell wall binding domain distinguishes Andhra_gp10 from the majority of staphylococcal lysins characterized to date. Importantly, close homologs of Andhra_gp10 are present in related staphylococcal podophages, and we propose that these constitute a new class of phage-encoded lysins. Altogether, our results reveal insights into the biology of a rare family of staphylococcal phages while adding to the arsenal of antimicrobials with potential for therapeutic use. IMPORTANCE The spread of antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens is inciting a global public health crisis. Drug-resistant Staphylococcus species, especially S. aureus and S. epidermidis, have emerged in both hospital and community settings, underscoring the urgent need for new strategies to combat staphylococcal infections. Bacterial viruses (phages) and the enzymes that they use to degrade bacterial cell walls (lysins) show promise as alternative antimicrobials; however, only a limited variety of staphylococcal phages and their lysins have yet been identified. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of a novel staphylococcal phage, Andhra. We show that Andhra encodes two lysins (Andhra_gp10 and Andhra_gp14) that inhibit growth and degrade the cell walls of diverse staphylococci, including S. aureus and S. epidermidis strains. Andhra and its unique lysins add to the arsenal of antimicrobials with potential for therapeutic use

Promoting ecosystem and human health in urban areas using green infrastructure: A literature review

Europe is a highly urbanised continent. The consequent loss and degradation of urban and peri-urban green space could adversely affect ecosystems as well as human health and well-being. The aim of this paper is to formulate a conceptual framework of associations between urban green space and ecosystem and human health. Through an interdisciplinary literature review the concepts of Green Infrastructure, ecosystem health, and human health and well-being are discussed. The possible contributions of urban and peri-urban green space systems, or Green Infrastructure, on both ecosystem and human health are critically reviewed. Finally, based on a synthesis of the literature a conceptual framework is presented. The proposed conceptual framework highlights many dynamic factors, and their complex interactions, affecting ecosystem health and human health in urban areas. This framework forms the context into which extant and new research can be placed. In this way it forms the basis for a new interdisciplinary research agenda

Compact Binary Coalescences in the Band of Ground-based Gravitational-Wave Detectors

As the ground-based gravitational-wave telescopes LIGO, Virgo, and GEO 600 approach the era of first detections, we review the current knowledge of the coalescence rates and the mass and spin distributions of merging neutron-star and black-hole binaries. We emphasize the bi-directional connection between gravitational-wave astronomy and conventional astrophysics. Astrophysical input will make possible informed decisions about optimal detector configurations and search techniques. Meanwhile, rate upper limits, detected merger rates, and the distribution of masses and spins measured by gravitational-wave searches will constrain astrophysical parameters through comparisons with astrophysical models. Future developments necessary to the success of gravitational-wave astronomy are discussed.Comment: Replaced with version accepted by CQG

BCAA catabolism in brown fat controls energy homeostasis through SLC25A44.

Branched-chain amino acid (BCAA; valine, leucine and isoleucine) supplementation is often beneficial to energy expenditure; however, increased circulating levels of BCAA are linked to obesity and diabetes. The mechanisms of this paradox remain unclear. Here we report that, on cold exposure, brown adipose tissue (BAT) actively utilizes BCAA in the mitochondria for thermogenesis and promotes systemic BCAA clearance in mice and humans. In turn, a BAT-specific defect in BCAA catabolism attenuates systemic BCAA clearance, BAT fuel oxidation and thermogenesis, leading to diet-induced obesity and glucose intolerance. Mechanistically, active BCAA catabolism in BAT is mediated by SLC25A44, which transports BCAAs into mitochondria. Our results suggest that BAT serves as a key metabolic filter that controls BCAA clearance via SLC25A44, thereby contributing to the improvement of metabolic health

The Strayed Reveller, No. 8

The eighth issue of The Strayed Reveller.https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/reveller/1007/thumbnail.jp

Management of ErbB2-positive Breast Cancer: Insights from Preclinical and Clinical Studies with Lapatinib

The management of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (ErbB2+) breast cancer is challenging; patients with ErbB2+ breast tumors have more aggressive disease and a poor prognosis. The increasing incidence of breast cancer in Asia and the limitations of existing treatments pose additional challenges. In this review, we summarize the preclinical and clinical evidence that indicates how lapatinib, a novel inhibitor that targets the human epidermal growth factor receptor (ErbB1) and ErbB2 may help clinicians address four particularly challenging issues in the management of ErbB2+ breast cancer. These issues are: (i) trastuzumab therapy failure, (ii) development of central nervous system metastases, (iii) minimizing toxicity and (iv) selecting the most appropriate partners (chemotherapy and non-chemotherapy) for combination therapy with lapatinib. Lapatinib, in combination with chemotherapeutic agents, such as capecitabine, provides clinical benefits to patients with ErbB2+ breast cancer, including patients who develop progressive disease on trastuzumab. Lapatinib, in combination with non-chemotherapeutic agents, such as letrozole, may also provide a chemotherapy-free treatment option for postmenopausal patients with estrogen receptor-positive/ErbB2+ metastatic breast cancer. Encouraging results have also emerged regarding the synergistic effects of lapatinib in combination with other agents for the treatment of ErbB2+ breast cancer. Promising findings have also been reported for the use of lapatinib to prevent and treat central nervous system metastases. Collectively, these results indicate that the judicious use of lapatinib, an effective oral therapy with a manageable toxicity profile, can enhance the management of patients with ErbB2+ breast cancer

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far