ParkIndex: Validation and Application of a Pragmatic Measure of Park Access and Use

Composite metrics integrating park availability, features, and quality for a given address or neighborhood are lacking. The purposes of this study were to describe the validation, application, and demonstration of ParkIndex in four diverse communities. This study occurred in Fall 2018 in 128 census block groups within Seattle(WA), Brooklyn(NY), Raleigh(NC), and Greenville County(SC). All parks within a half-mile buffer were audited to calculate a composite park quality score, and select households provided data about use of proximal parks via an online, map-based survey. For each household, the number of parks, total park acreage, and average park quality score within one half-mile were calculated using GIS. Logistic regression was used to identify a parsimonious model predicting park use. ParkIndex values (representing the probability of park use) were mapped for all study areas and after scenarios involving the addition and renovation/improvement of parks. Out of 360 participants, 23.3% reported visiting a park within the past 30 days. The number of parks (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.15–1.62), total park acreage (OR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.07–1.19), and average park quality score (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.01–1.06) within one half-mile were all associated with park use. Composite ParkIndex values across the study areas ranged from 0 to 100. Hypothetical additions of or renovations to study area parks resulted in ParkIndex increases of 22.7% and 19.2%, respectively. ParkIndex has substantial value for park and urban planners, citizens, and researchers as a common metric to facilitate awareness, decision-making, and intervention planning related to park access, environmental justice, and community health

Walkable Urban Design Attributes and Japanese Older Adults\u27 Body Mass Index: Mediation Effects of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to examine associations between objectively measured walkable urban design attributes with Japanese older adults’ body mass index (BMI) and to test whether objectively assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior mediated such associations. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Participants: Participants were 297 older residents (aged 65-84 years) randomly selected from the registry of residential addresses. Measures: Walkable urban design attributes, including population density, availability of physical activity facilities, intersection density, and access to public transportation stations, were calculated using geographic information systems. Physical activity, sedentary behavior, and BMI were measured objectively. Analysis: The relationships of walkable urban design attributes, Walk Score®, and BMI were examined by multiple linear regression with adjustment for covariates in all models. Mediation effects of the physical activity and sedentary behavior variables in these relationships were tested using a product-of-coefficients test. Results: Higher population density and Walk Score® were associated with lower BMI. Light and moderate-to-vigorous physical activities partially mediated the relationships between these walkable urban design attributes and BMI. Conclusions:Developing active-friendly environmental policies to (re)design neighborhoods may not only promote active transport behaviors but also help in improving residents’ health status in non-Western contexts

Characterising differences between self-reported and wastewater-identified drug use at two consecutive years of an Australian music festival.

BackgroundIn the context of drug prohibition, potential adulteration and variable purity pose additional health risks for people who use drugs, with these risks often compounded by the outdoor music festival environment. Ahead of the imminent implementation of drug checking services in Queensland, Australia, this study aims to characterise this problem using triangulated survey and wastewater data to understand self-reported and detected drug use among attendees of a multi-day Queensland-based music festival in 2021 and 2022.MethodsWe administered an in-situ survey focusing on drug use at the festival to two convenience samples of 136 and 140 festival attendees in 2021 and 2022 respectively. We compared survey findings to wastewater collected concurrently from the festival's site-specific wastewater treatment plant, which was analysed using Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry.ResultsMost survey respondents (82 % in 2021, 92 % in 2022) reported using or intending to use an illicit drug at the festival. Some respondents reported potentially risky drug use practices such as using drugs found on the ground (2 % in 2021, 4 % in 2022). Substances detected in wastewater but not surveys include MDEA, mephedrone, methylone, 3-MMC, alpha-D2PV, etizolam, eutylone, and N,N-dimethylpentylone.ConclusionMany substances detected in wastewater but not self-reported in surveys likely represent substitutions or adulterants. These findings highlight the benefits of drug checking services to prevent harms from adulterants and provide education on safer drug use practices. These findings also provide useful information on socio-demographic characteristics and drug use patterns of potential users of Queensland's future drug checking service

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

Genetic Variation and Relationships of Constitutive and Herbivore-Induced Glucosinolates, Trypsin Inhibitors, and Herbivore Resistance in Brassica rapa

We examined genetic variation in inducibility and in constitutive and herbivore-induced levels of glucosinolates, trypsin inhibitors, and resistance to herbivory in families of Brassica rapaoriginating from a wild population. We also examined phenotypic and genetic correlations among absolute levels of these traits in control and induced plants. We grew seedlings of 10 half-sib families in pairs in pots, and exposed one plant per pair to folivory by Trichoplusia nilarvae. Two days later, we sampled all plants for total glucosinolate and trypsin inhibitor levels and examined the preference and consumption by T. ni larvae of previously damaged (induced) and undamaged (control) plants. There was no significant variation among sire families in the induction of glucosinolates or trypsin inhibitors by T. ni feeding. Total glucosinolate levels in either control or induced plants did not vary by family. In contrast, trypsin inhibitor levels in both control and induced plants varied significantly by family. Trichoplusia ni fed less on induced plants than on control plants in the bioassay, but neither the induction of resistance by prior T. ni feeding nor absolute levels of damage done to control and induced plants varied significantly by sire family. Temporal blocking strongly affected trypsin inhibitor levels and the response of some families in the bioassays. There were no significant phenotypic or genetic correlations of levels of glucosinolates or trypsin inhibitors with each other or with damage in either control or induced plants. Overall, these results suggest that in the B. rapa population that we studied, both total glucosinolate content and biological resistance to herbivory by T. niwas nonvariable and almost universally inducible by prior T. ni feeding. In contrast, control and induced levels of trypsin inhibitors varied genetically and have the capacity to respond to future selection imposed by herbivores. However, the role of these defenses in constitutive or induced resistance to T. ni in this species remains unclear

Genetic Variation and Relationships of Constitutive and Herbivore-Induced Glucosinolates, Trypsin Inhibitors, and Herbivore Resistance in Brassica rapa

We examined genetic variation in inducibility and in constitutive and herbivore-induced levels of glucosinolates, trypsin inhibitors, and resistance to herbivory in families of Brassica rapaoriginating from a wild population. We also examined phenotypic and genetic correlations among absolute levels of these traits in control and induced plants. We grew seedlings of 10 half-sib families in pairs in pots, and exposed one plant per pair to folivory by Trichoplusia nilarvae. Two days later, we sampled all plants for total glucosinolate and trypsin inhibitor levels and examined the preference and consumption by T. ni larvae of previously damaged (induced) and undamaged (control) plants. There was no significant variation among sire families in the induction of glucosinolates or trypsin inhibitors by T. ni feeding. Total glucosinolate levels in either control or induced plants did not vary by family. In contrast, trypsin inhibitor levels in both control and induced plants varied significantly by family. Trichoplusia ni fed less on induced plants than on control plants in the bioassay, but neither the induction of resistance by prior T. ni feeding nor absolute levels of damage done to control and induced plants varied significantly by sire family. Temporal blocking strongly affected trypsin inhibitor levels and the response of some families in the bioassays. There were no significant phenotypic or genetic correlations of levels of glucosinolates or trypsin inhibitors with each other or with damage in either control or induced plants. Overall, these results suggest that in the B. rapa population that we studied, both total glucosinolate content and biological resistance to herbivory by T. niwas nonvariable and almost universally inducible by prior T. ni feeding. In contrast, control and induced levels of trypsin inhibitors varied genetically and have the capacity to respond to future selection imposed by herbivores. However, the role of these defenses in constitutive or induced resistance to T. ni in this species remains unclear