The effects of personal protective equipment Level A suits on human task performance

First response teams dealing with hazardous substances often require the highest level of protection provided by Level A suits. These suits are fully encapsulating, bulky, and heat retentive. The effect of these suits on the wearer\u27s ability to perform various tasks is of interest when it comes to human performance analysis. This research effort examined the effect of the Level A suit on fine motor and gross motor dexterity. Seven members of the National Guard\u27s Civil Support Team (CST) performed a battery of six tasks designed to test these abilities. Tasks comprised the Minnesota Dexterity test and the Mirror Tracer test at varying levels of difficulty. The measures of performance considered were time to complete and accuracy, and these were used to obtain a correlation between the Level A suit and performance. The results indicated that there was a significant detrimental effect from wearing the suit for both measures of performance. Also of interest is whether there exists a time-in-suit effect. Tests of repeated measures and regression analysis concluded that a significant detrimental time-in-suit effect was not identified. This could be due to a learning effect, or due to a limitation of the tasks not being sufficiently challenging. Regardless of the time-in-suit effect, the cumbersome Level A suits themselves have a proven negative effect on human performance. Based on the current results, substantial allowances should be provided when planning or modeling work to be performed in the protective suits. Additionally, there should be an appreciation for the associated increase in errors due to the level of discomfort and confinement brought about by these suits --Abstract, page iv

The insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) mRNA binding protein p62/IGF2BP2-2 amplifies steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in murine non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)

The insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA binding protein p62/IGF2BP2-2 is overexpressed in human cirrhotic nodules and in up to two thirds of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue. Liver-specific overexpression of p62 induces steatosis. Aim of this study was to investigate the pathophysiological role of p62 in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and NASH-induced liver fibrosis. MCD-induced steatosis was more pronounced in transgenic compared to wild-type animals and characterized by elevated levels of monounsaturated fatty acids and free cholesterol. p62 induced the expression of lipogenic regulators, most likely via elevated iron deposition. Despite no effect of p62 overexpression on transaminase levels, transgenic mice exhibited an aggravated inflammatory response as indicated by elevated leukocyte recruitment and lipid peroxidation. Also the activation of NFKB and the gene expression of its inflammatory downstream target cytokines were increased in hepatocytes of transgenic animals. We also observed an elevated activation of the inflammasome. Fibrosis development was accelerated with increased procollagen 1 mRNA expression and confirmed by histological analyses. A TGF-beta-independent upregulation of collagen 1 is suggested due to upregulated Ctgf mRNA and serum IL-13. Most notably, a pronounced ductular reaction was observed in transgenic animals. In summary, our data provide evidence that p62 acts as an active promotor in the progression of NASH and fibrosis.Die Expression des IGF2 mRNA bindenden Proteins p62/IGF2BP2-2 ist in menschlichen Leberzirrhosen und -tumoren erhöht. Die Überexpression von p62 in Mäuselebern induziert eine Steatose. Ziel dieser Studie war es, die pathophysiologische Rolle von p62 in der nicht-alkoholischen Steatohepatitis und der dadurch induzierten Fibrose zu untersuchen. In p62 transgenen Tieren war die durch eine MCD-Diät induzierte Fettleber stärker ausgeprägt als im Wildtyp und durch erhöhte Spiegel einfach ungesättigter Fettsäuren und freiem Cholesterin gekennzeichnet. p62 induzierte die Genexpression lipogener Regulatoren, die im Zusammenhang mit einer erhöhten Eisen-Akkumulation steht. Obwohl keine erhöhten Leberwerte in den Transgenen gemessen wurden, zeigten diese eine verstärkte Entzündungsreaktion. Dies wurde durch eine gesteigerte Lipidperoxidation sowie eine lobuläre Entzündung bestätigt. Zudem wurde eine Aktivierung des Transkriptionsfaktors NFKB, die verstärkte Expression seiner Targetgene sowie eine Aktivierung des Inflammasoms beobachtet. Histologische Untersuchungen belegten die beschleunigte Entwicklung einer Fibrose. Hier ist aufgrund erhöhter Ctgf mRNA und IL-13 Spiegel von einer TGF-beta-unabhängigen Erhöhung der Kollagen-Produktion auszugehen. Besonders festzuhalten ist eine verstärkte duktuläre Reaktion in den p62 transgenen Tieren. Zusammenfassend zeigen diese Daten, dass p62 als aktiver Promotor in der Progression der Fettleberentzündung und der dadurch induzierten Fibrose agiert

Lipid laden macrophages in respiratory disease

Letter to the edito

The Third Multilingual Surface Realisation Shared Task (SR’20):Overview and Evaluation Results

This paper presents results from the Third Shared Task on Multilingual Surface Realisation (SR’20) which was organised as part of the COLING’20 Workshop on Multilingual Surface Realisation. As in SR’18 and SR’19, the shared task comprised two tracks: (1) a Shallow Track where the inputs were full UD structures with word order information removed and tokens lemmatised; and (2) a Deep Track where additionally, functional words and morphological information were removed. Moreover, each track had two subtracks: (a) restricted-resource, where only the data provided or approved as part of a track could be used for training models, and (b) open-resource, where any data could be used. The Shallow Track was offered in 11 languages, whereas the Deep Track in 3 ones. Systems were evaluated using both automatic metrics and direct assessment by human evaluators in terms of Readability and Meaning Similarity to reference outputs. We present the evaluation results, along with descriptions of the SR’19 tracks, data and evaluation methods, as well as brief summaries of the participating systems. For full descriptions of the participating systems, please see the separate system reports elsewhere in this volume

Characterisation of a New Human Alveolar Macrophage-Like Cell Line (Daisy)

Purpose: There is currently no true macrophage cell line and in vitro experiments requiring these cells currently require mitogenic stimulation of a macrophage precursor cell line (THP-1) or ex vivo maturation of circulating primary monocytes. In this study, we characterise a human macrophage cell line, derived from THP-1 cells, and compare its phenotype to the THP-1 cells. Methods: THP-1 cells with and without mitogenic stimulation were compared to the newly derived macrophage-like cell line (Daisy) using microscopy, flow cytometry, phagocytosis assays, antigen binding assays and gene microarrays. Results: We show that the cell line grows predominantly in an adherent monolayer. A panel of antibodies were chosen to investigate the cell surface phenotype of these cells using flow cytometry. Daisy cells expressed more CD11c, CD80, CD163, CD169 and CD206, but less CD14 and CD11b compared with mitogen-stimulated THP-1 cells. Unlike stimulated THP-1 cells which were barely able to bind immune complexes, Daisy cells showed large amounts of immune complex binding. Finally, although not statistically significant, the phagocytic ability of Daisy cells was greater than mitogen-stimulated THP-1 cells, suggesting that the cell line is more similar to mature macrophages. Conclusions: The observed phenotype suggests that Daisy cells are a good model of human macrophages with a phenotype similar to human alveolar macrophages

Acceptability and Feasibility of Universal Offer of Rapid Point of Care Testing for HIV in an Acute Admissions Unit: Results of the RAPID Project

UK guidance recommend all acute medical admissions be offered an HIV test. Our aim was to determine whether a dedicated staff member using a multimedia tool, a model found to be effective in the USA, is an acceptable, feasible, and cost-effective model when translated to a UK setting

Cell-free DNA screening for rare autosomal trisomies and segmental chromosome imbalances

Funding Information: Ben W. Mol is supported by a NHMRC Investigator grant (GNT1176437). Ben W. Mol reports consultancy for ObsEva and Merck and travel support and research grants from Merck. The authors declare no conflict of interest. The authors wish to acknowledge the staff of Monash Ultrasound for Women, Sydney Ultrasound for Women, and Ultrasound Care for their diligent and compassionate care of the women involved in this study. Open access publishing facilitated by Monash University, as part of the Wiley - Monash University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.Peer reviewedPublisher PD