Impact of month of birth on the development of autoimmune thyroid disease in the United Kingdom and Europe

CONTEXT: Viral/bacterial infection is proposed as a trigger for the autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD): Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). Previous studies in European Caucasian AITD subjects found higher birth rates in the autumn/winter, suggesting those born in the autumn/winter experience increased viral/bacterial exposure after birth, impacting upon immune system development and predisposing to AITD later in life. OBJECTIVE: Month of birth effects were investigated in three independent European Caucasian AITD datasets. DESIGN: Variation in GD and HT onset was compared across months and seasons, with fluctuations across all 12 months analyzed using a Walter-Elwood test. SETTING: The study was conducted at a research laboratory. PATIENTS: National UK Caucasian AITD Case Control Collection (2746 GD and 502 HT compared with 1 423 716 UK births), National UK Caucasian GD Family Collection (239 GD and 227 unaffected siblings), and OXAGEN AITD Caucasian Family Collection (885 GD, 717 HT, and 794 unaffected siblings of European Caucasian decent). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Case-control and family-based association studies were measured. RESULTS: No consistent month of birth effects were detected in GD females or males across all three collections. In HT females from the OXAGEN AITD Caucasian Family Collection, slightly higher birth rates were detected in autumn (Walter's test statistic = 7.47, P = .024) however, this was not seen in the HT females from the case-control cohort. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest in UK/Northern European Caucasian GD subjects, month of birth does not impact on AITD development. Although some month of birth effects for HT females in one collection cannot be excluded, only further work in larger European Caucasian AITD collections can confirm these effects

Enrichment of rare variants in population isolates : single AICDA mutation responsible for hyper-IgM syndrome type 2 in Finland

Antibody class-switch recombination and somatic hypermutation critically depend on the function of activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID). Rare variants in its gene AICDA have been reported to cause autosomal recessive AID deficiency (autosomal recessive hyper-IgM syndrome type 2 (HIGM2)). Exome sequencing of a multicase Finnish family with an HIGM2 phenotype identified a rare, homozygous, variant (c.416T > C, p.(Met139Thr)) in the AICDA gene, found to be significantly enriched in the Finnish population compared with other populations of European origin (38.56-fold, P <0.001). The population history of Finland, characterized by a restricted number of founders, isolation and several population bottlenecks, has caused enrichment of certain rare disease-causing variants and losses of others, as part of a phenomenon called the Finnish Disease Heritage. Accordingly, rare founder mutations cause the majority of observed Finnish cases in these mostly autosomal recessive disorders that consequently are more frequent in Finland than elsewhere. Screening of all currently known Finnish patients with an HIGM2 phenotype showed them to be homozygous for p.(Met139Thr). All the Finnish p.(Met139Thr) carriers with available data on their geographic descent originated from the eastern and northeastern parts of Finland. They were observed to share more of their genome identity by descent (IBD) than Finns in general (P <0.001), and they all carried a 207.5-kb ancestral haplotype containing the variant. In conclusion, the identified p.(Met139Thr) variant is significantly enriched in Finns and explains all thus far found AID deficiencies in Finland.Peer reviewe

Responses of herbaceous plants to urban air pollution: Effects on growth, phenology and leaf surface characteristics

Vehicle exhaust emissions are a dominant feature of urban environments and are widely believed to have detrimental effects on plants. The effects of diesel exhaust emissions on 12 herbaceous species were studied with respect to growth, flower development, leaf senescence and leaf surface wax characteristics. A diesel generator was used to produce concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOx) representative of urban conditions, in solardome chambers. Annual mean NOx concentrations ranged from 77 nl l−l to 98 nl l−1, with NO:NO2 ratios of 1.4–2.2, providing a good experimental simulation of polluted roadside environments. Pollutant exposure resulted in species-specific changes in growth and phenology, with a consistent trend for accelerated senescence and delayed flowering. Leaf surface characteristics were also affected; contact angle measurements indicated changes in surface wax structure following pollutant exposure. The study demonstrated clearly the potential for realistic levels of vehicle exhaust pollution to have direct adverse effects on urban vegetation

Norway spruce and spruce shoot aphid as indicators of traffic pollution

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Performance of Aphids on Norway spruce seedlings exposed to traffic emissions in road sides or fumigated with exhaust gas under laboratory conditions

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High-temperature crack growth in a Ni-base superalloy during sustained load

he high-temperature sustained load crack growth behaviour of a Ni-base superalloy was investigated using a combination of mechanical testing in controlled atmosphere, fractographical and microanalytical investigations, and finite element modelling. The results show that the local crack front geometry is un- even on two scales – jaggedness on the scale of 100 μm was observed in all specimens, whereas mm- scale waviness could occasionally be observed. The jaggedness can be explained by a percolation-type crack growth along weaker grain boundaries, whereas the large-scale waviness is presumably due to larger regions of the material having specific grain texture with high crack growth resistance. The un-even crack front is shown to potentially have considerable effects on the loading conditions at the crack tip, whereas ligaments of un-cracked material in the crack wake are deemed to have less effect on the crack tip loading due to their low area fraction. The ligaments fail intergranularly in the wake as the crack grows in the present case, as opposed to by creep fracture as previously proposed. Finally, the plastically deformed regions about the crack and crack tip are shown not to exhibit any elevated oxygen levels, implying that the damage in these regions is purely mechanical

High-temperature crack growth in a Ni-base superalloy during sustained load

The high-temperature sustained load crack growth behaviour of a Ni-base superalloy was investigated using a combination of mechanical testing in controlled atmosphere, fractographical and microanalytical investigations, and finite element modelling. The results show that the local crack front geometry is un-even on two scales - jaggedness on the scale of 100. μm was observed in all specimens, whereas mm-scale waviness could occasionally be observed. The jaggedness can be explained by a percolation-type crack growth along weaker grain boundaries, whereas the large-scale waviness is presumably due to larger regions of the material having specific grain texture with high crack growth resistance. The un-even crack front is shown to potentially have considerable effects on the loading conditions at the crack tip, whereas ligaments of un-cracked material in the crack wake are deemed to have less effect on the crack tip loading due to their low area fraction. The ligaments fail intergranularly in the wake as the crack grows in the present case, as opposed to by creep fracture as previously proposed. Finally, the plastically deformed regions about the crack and crack tip are shown not to exhibit any elevated oxygen levels, implying that the damage in these regions is purely mechanical. © 2014 Elsevier B.V

To separate or not? A comparison of wastewater management systems for the new city district of Hiedanranta, Finland

In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) methods were applied for the new city district of Hiedanranta, where source-separating sanitation systems are being considered. Two source-separating systems were compared to the conventional sanitation system with a centralized wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). With a separating system, three to 10 times more nitrogen could be recovered compared to the conventional system. If the nutrient potential of the reject water of the sludge digestion were to be utilized, the recovery rate would be even higher. For phosphorus, the recovered amount would be at the same level for all the alternatives. However, the plant availability of phosphorus is higher in separating systems. Based on the environmental impacts of separating systems with improved nutrient recovery, the climate and eutrophication impacts could be reduced, but the acidification impact may be higher. However, the actual climate benefits depend on how the avoided emissions will be realized, which is highly dependent on the policy and decision-making processes in the society. The life cycle costs of the alternative source-separating systems are higher at current prices. Source-separating sanitation produces new recycled nutrient products of human origin that contain fewer contaminants and could therefore be more easily accepted for end use when certain boundary conditions are met