Public perceptions of a radioactively contaminated site: concerns, remediation preferences, and desired involvement.

A public attitudes survey was conducted in neighborhoods adjacent to a radioactively contaminated site whose remediation is now under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy's Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP). The survey's purpose was to ascertain levels of actual and desired public involvement in the remediation process; to identify health, environmental, economic, and future land-use concerns associated with the site; and to solicit remediation strategy preferences. Surface water and groundwater contamination, desire for public involvement, and potential health risks were found to be the most highly ranked site concerns. Preferred remediation strategies included treatment of contaminated soil and excavation with off-site disposal. Among on-site remediation strategies, only institutional controls that leave the site undisturbed and do not require additional excavation of materials were viewed favorably. Cost of remediation appeared to influence remediation strategy preference; however, no strategy was viewed as a panacea. Respondents were also concerned with protecting future generations, better assessment of risks to health and the environment, and avoiding generation of additional contaminated materials

Utility

Background: Urinary lipoarabinomannan (LAM) detection is a promising approach for the rapid diagnosis of active tuberculosis (TB). Objective: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of urine LAM among TB patients either pulmonary or extra pulmonary. Methods: This study was carried out on 85 cases (46 male and 39 female) with active tubercular infection divided into three groups; pulmonary (n = 40), extra pulmonary (n = 30) and disseminated tuberculosis (n = 15). Twenty-five normal individuals were included as the control group. LAM level was measured in urine by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Results: TB Patients with disseminated disease had a higher urine LAM level (1.75 ± 1.65 ng/ml) than that for patients with pulmonary (0.58 ± 0.53 ng/ml) or extra pulmonary TB (0.17 ± 0.11 ng/ml) (P < 0.001). Patients with smear positive specimens had a higher urine LAM level (0.63 ± 0.54 ng/ml) than that of smear negative (0.040 ± 0.06 ng/ml) (P < 0.001). Quantitative urine LAM test results positively correlate with the degree of bacillary burden. Advanced age, immunosuppressant state and advanced radiological lesion were significant factors that were associated with higher quantitative urine LAM (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Urine LAM test is a simple, rapid, and reliable diagnostic modality for active pulmonary or extra pulmonary tuberculosis. Quantitative LAM detection results increased progressively with bacillary burden and immunosuppression. Patients with disseminated TB are target populations for urine LAM detection

Inflammatory blockade prevents injury to the developing pulmonary gas exchange surface in preterm primates

Perinatal inflammatory stress is associated with early life morbidity and lifelong consequences for pulmonary health. Chorioamnionitis, an inflammatory condition affecting the placenta and fluid surrounding the developing fetus, affects 25 to 40% of preterm births. Severe chorioamnionitis with preterm birth is associated with significantly increased risk of pulmonary disease and secondary infections in childhood, suggesting that fetal inflammation may markedly alter the development of the lung. Here, we used intra-amniotic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge to induce experimental chorioamnionitis in a prenatal rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) model that mirrors structural and temporal aspects of human lung development. Inflammatory injury directly disrupted the developing gas exchange surface of the primate lung, with extensive damage to alveolar structure, particularly the close association and coordinated differentiation of alveolar type 1 pneumocytes and specialized alveolar capillary endothelium. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis defined a multicellular alveolar signaling niche driving alveologenesis that was extensively disrupted by perinatal inflammation, leading to a loss of gas exchange surface and alveolar simplification, with notable resemblance to chronic lung disease in newborns. Blockade of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α ameliorated LPS-induced inflammatory lung injury by blunting stromal responses to inflammation and modulating innate immune activation in myeloid cells, restoring structural integrity and key signaling networks in the developing alveolus. These data provide new insight into the pathophysiology of developmental lung injury and suggest that modulating inflammation is a promising therapeutic approach to prevent fetal consequences of chorioamnionitis

Death among primates: a critical review of non-human primate interactions towards their dead and dying

For the past two centuries, non-human primates have been reported to inspect, protect, retrieve, carry or drag the dead bodies of their conspecifics and, for nearly the same amount of time, sparse scientific attention has been paid to such behaviours. Given that there exists a considerable gap in the fossil and archaeological record concerning how early hominins might have interacted with their dead, extant primates may provide valuable insight into how and in which contexts thanatological behaviours would have occurred. First, we outline a comprehensive history of comparative thanatology in non-human primates, from the earliest accounts to the present, uncovering the interpretations of previous researchers and their contributions to the field of primate thanatology. Many of the typical behavioural patterns towards the dead seen in the past are consistent with those observed today. Second, we review recent evidence of thanatological responses and organise it into distinct terminologies: direct interactions (physical contact with the corpse) and secondary interactions (guarding the corpse, vigils and visitations). Third, we provide a critical evaluation regarding the form and function of the behavioural and emotional aspects of these responses towards infants and adults, also comparing them with non-conspecifics. We suggest that thanatological interactions: promote a faster re-categorisation from living to dead, decrease costly vigilant/caregiving behaviours, are crucial to the management of grieving responses, update position in the group's hierarchy, and accelerate the formation of new social bonds. Fourth, we propose an integrated model of Life-Death Awareness, whereupon neural circuitry dedicated towards detecting life, i.e. the agency system (animate agency, intentional agency, mentalistic agency) works with a corresponding system that interacts with it on a decision-making level (animate/inanimate distinction, living/dead discrimination, death awareness). Theoretically, both systems are governed by specific cognitive mechanisms (perceptual categories, associative concepts and high-order reasoning, respectively). Fifth, we present an evolutionary timeline from rudimentary thanatological responses likely occurring in earlier non-human primates during the Eocene to the more elaborate mortuary practices attributed to genus Homo throughout the Pleistocene. Finally, we discuss the importance of detailed reports on primate thanatology and propose several empirical avenues to shed further light on this topic. This review expands and builds upon previous attempts to evaluate the body of knowledge on this subject, providing an integrative perspective and bringing together different fields of research to detail the evolutionary, sensory/cognitive, developmental and historical/archaeological aspects of primate thanatology. Considering all these findings and given their cognitive abilities, we argue that non-human primates are capable of an implicit awareness of death.Leverhulme TrustLeverhulme Trust [PLP-2016-114]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio