High throughput genomic sequencing of bioaerosols in broiler chicken production facilities

Chronic inhalation exposure to agricultural dust promotes the development of chronic respiratory diseases among poultry workers. Poultry dust is composed of dander, chicken feed, litter bedding and microbes. However, the microbial composition and abundance has not been fully elucidated. Genomic DNA was extracted from settled dust and personal inhalable dust collected while performing litter sampling or mortality collection tasks. DNA libraries were sequenced using a paired-end sequencing-by-synthesis approach on an Illumina HiSeq 2500. Sequencing data showed that poultry dust is predominantly composed of bacteria (64–67%) with a small quantity of avian, human and feed DNA (\u3c 2% of total reads). Staphylococcus sp. AL1, Salinicoccus carnicancri and Lactobacillus crispatus were the most abundant bacterial species in personal exposure samples of inhalable dust. Settled dust had a moderate relative abundance of these species as well as Staphylococcus lentus and Lactobacillus salivarius. There was a statistical difference between the microbial composition of aerosolized and settled dust. Unlike settled dust composition, aerosolized dust composition had little variance between samples. These data provide an extensive analysis of the microbial composition and relative abundance in personal inhalable poultry dust and settled poultry dust

Tycho Brahe's supernova: light from centuries past

The light curve of SN 1572 is described in the terms used nowadays to characterize SNeIa. By assembling the records of the observations done in 1572--74 and evaluating their uncertainties, it is possible to recover the light curve and the color evolution of this supernova. It is found that, within the SNe Ia family, the event should have been a SNIa with a normal rate of decline, its stretch factor being {\it s} $\sim$ 0.9. Visual light curve near maximum, late--time decline and the color evolution sustain this conclusion. After correcting for extinction, the luminosity of this supernova is found to be M$_{V}$ $=$ --19.58 --5 log (D/3.5 kpc) $\pm$ 0.42.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables. submitted to ApJ (Main Journal

The Relationship between Early Childhood Blood Lead Levels and Performance on End-of-Grade Tests

Background Childhood lead poisoning remains a critical environmental health concern. Low-level lead exposure has been linked to decreased performance on standardized IQ tests for school-aged children. Objective In this study we sought to determine whether blood lead levels in early childhood are related to educational achievement in early elementary school as measured by performance on end-of-grade (EOG) testing. Methods Educational testing data for 4th-grade students from the 2000–2004 North Carolina Education Research Data Center were linked to blood lead surveillance data for seven counties in North Carolina and then analyzed using exploratory and multivariate statistical methods. Results The discernible impact of blood lead levels on EOG testing is demonstrated for early childhood blood lead levels as low as 2 μg/dL. A blood lead level of 5 μg/dL is associated with a decline in EOG reading (and mathematics) scores that is roughly equal to 15% (14%) of the interquartile range, and this impact is very significant in comparison with the effects of covariates typically considered profoundly influential on educational outcomes. Early childhood lead exposures appear to have more impact on performance on the reading than on the mathematics portions of the tests. Conclusions Our emphasis on population-level analyses of children who are roughly the same age linked to previous (rather than contemporaneous) blood lead levels using achievement (rather than aptitude) outcome complements the important work in this area by previous researchers. Our results suggest that the relationship between blood lead levels and cognitive outcomes are robust across outcome measures and at low levels of lead exposure

Surveillance of congenital Zika syndrome in England and Wales: methods and results of laboratory, obstetric and paediatric surveillance.

The spread of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in the Americas led to large outbreaks across the region and most of the Southern hemisphere. Of greatest concern were complications following acute infection during pregnancy. At the beginning of the outbreak, the risk to unborn babies and their clinical presentation was unclear. This report describes the methods and results of the UK surveillance response to assess the risk of ZIKV to children born to returning travellers. Established surveillance systems operating within the UK - the paediatric and obstetric surveillance units for rare diseases, and national laboratory monitoring - enabled rapid assessment of this emerging public health threat. A combined total of 11 women experiencing adverse pregnancy outcomes after possible ZIKV exposure were reported by the three surveillance systems; five miscarriages, two intrauterine deaths and four children with clinical presentations potentially associated with ZIKV infection. Sixteen women were diagnosed with ZIKV during pregnancy in the UK. Amongst the offspring of these women, there was unequivocal laboratory evidence of infection in only one child. In the UK, the number and risk of congenital ZIKV infection for travellers returning from ZIKV-affected countries is very small

Proceedings of a Symposium: Pollution Control of Industrial Wastewaters

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Effectiveness and reach of a directed-population approach to improving dental health and reducing inequalities: a cross sectional study

Background Childsmile School adopts a directed-population approach to target fluoride varnish applications to 20% of the primary one (P1) population in priority schools selected on the basis of the proportion of enrolled children considered to be at increased-risk of developing dental caries. The study sought to compare the effectiveness of four different methods for identifying individuals most in need when a directed-population approach is taken. <p></p> Methods The 2008 Basic National Dental Inspection Programme (BNDIP) cross-sectional P1 Scottish epidemiological survey dataset was used to model four methods and test three definitions of increased-risk. Effectiveness was determined by the positive predictive value (PPV) and explored in relation to 1-sensitivity and 1-specificity. <p></p> Results Complete data was available on 43470 children (87% of the survey). At the Scotland level, at least half (50%) of the children targeted were at increased-risk irrespective of the method used to target or the definition of increased-risk. There was no one method across all definitions of <i>increased-risk</i> that maximised PPV. Instead, PPV was highest when the targeting method complimented the definition of <i>increased-risk</i>. There was a higher percentage of children at <i>increased-risk</i> who were not targeted (1-sensitivity) when caries experience (rather than deprivation) was used to define <i>increased-risk</i>, irrespective of the method used for targeting. Over all three definitions of <i>increased-risk</i>, there was no one method that minimised (1-sensitivity) although this was lowest when the method and definition of <i>increased-risk</i> were complimentary. The false positive rate (1-specificity) for all methods and all definitions of <i>increased-risk</i> was consistently low (<20%), again being lowest when the method and definition of <i>increased-risk</i> were complimentary. <p></p> Conclusion Developing a method to reach all (or even the vast majority) of individuals at <i>increased-risk</i> defined by either caries experience or deprivation is difficult using a directed-population approach at a group level. There is a need for a wider debate between politicians and public health experts to decide how best to reach those most at need of intervention to improve health and reduce inequalities. <p></p&gt

Transformation of SV40-immortalized human uroepithelial cells by 3-methylcholanthrene increases IFN- and Large T Antigen-induced transcripts

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Simian Virus 40 (SV40) immortalization followed by treatment of cells with 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) has been used to elicit tumors in athymic mice. 3-MC carcinogenesis has been thoroughly studied, however gene-level interactions between 3-MC and SV40 that could have produced the observed tumors have not been explored. The commercially-available human uroepithelial cell lines were either SV40-immortalized (HUC) or SV40-immortalized and then 3-MC-transformed (HUC-TC).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To characterize the SV40 - 3MC interaction, we compared human gene expression in these cell lines using a human cancer array and confirmed selected changes by RT-PCR. Many viral Large T Antigen (Tag) expression-related changes occurred in HUC-TC, and it is concluded that SV40 and 3-MC may act synergistically to transform cells. Changes noted in <it>IFP 9-27, 2'-5' OAS, IF 56, MxA </it>and <it>MxAB </it>were typical of those that occur in response to viral exposure and are part of the innate immune response. Because interferon is crucial to innate immune host defenses and many gene changes were interferon-related, we explored cellular growth responses to exogenous IFN-γ and found that treatment impeded growth in tumor, but not immortalized HUC on days 4 - 7. Cellular metabolism however, was inhibited in <it>both </it>cell types. We conclude that IFN-γ <it>metabolic </it>responses were functional in both cell lines, but IFN-γ <it>anti-proliferative </it>responses functioned only in tumor cells.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Synergism of SV40 with 3-MC or other environmental carcinogens may be of concern as SV40 is now endemic in 2-5.9% of the U.S. population. In addition, SV40-immortalization is a generally-accepted method used in many research materials, but the possibility of off-target effects in studies carried out using these cells has not been considered. We hope that our work will stimulate further study of this important phenomenon.</p