Multicompartment and cross-species monitoring of contaminants of emerging concern in an estuarine habitat

Supplementary data to this article can be found online athttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116300.Biotechnologyand Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) iNVERTOX proj-ect (Reference BB/P005187/1); Universityof Essex

Weak localization of light by cold atoms: the impact of quantum internal structure

Since the work of Anderson on localization, interference effects for the propagation of a wave in the presence of disorder have been extensively studied, as exemplified in coherent backscattering (CBS) of light. In the multiple scattering of light by a disordered sample of thermal atoms, interference effects are usually washed out by the fast atomic motion. This is no longer true for cold atoms where CBS has recently been observed. However, the internal structure of the atoms strongly influences the interference properties. In this paper, we consider light scattering by an atomic dipole transition with arbitrary degeneracy and study its impact on coherent backscattering. We show that the interference contrast is strongly reduced. Assuming a uniform statistical distribution over internal degrees of freedom, we compute analytically the single and double scattering contributions to the intensity in the weak localization regime. The so-called ladder and crossed diagrams are generalized to the case of atoms and permit to calculate enhancement factors and backscattering intensity profiles for polarized light and any closed atomic dipole transition.Comment: 22 pages Revtex, 9 figures, to appear in PR

Risk and clinical-outcome indicators of delirium in an emergency department intermediate care unit (EDIMCU) : an observational prospective study

We are thankful to the staff at the EDIMCU of Hospital de Braga.Background Identification of delirium in emergency departments (ED) is often underestimated; within EDs, studies on delirium assessment and relation with patient outcome in Intermediate Care Units (IMCU) appear missing in European hospital settings. Here we aimed to determine delirium prevalence in an EDIMCU (Hospital de Braga, Braga, Portugal) and assessed routine biochemical parameters that might be delirium indicators. Methods The study was prospective and observational. Sedation level was assessed via the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale and delirium status by the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU. Information collected included age and gender, admission type, Charlson Comorbidity Index combined condition score (Charlson score), systemic inflammatory response syndrome criteria (SIRS), biochemical parameters (blood concentration of urea nitrogen, creatinine, hemoglobin, sodium and potassium, arterial blood gases, and other parameters as needed depending on clinical diagnosis) and EDIMCU length of stay (LOS). Statistical analyses were performed as appropriate to determine if baseline features differed between the ‘Delirium’ and ‘No Delirium’ groups. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess the effect of delirium on the 1-month outcome. Results Inclusion and exclusion criteria were met in 283 patients; 238 were evaluated at 1-month for outcome follow-up after EDIMCU discharge (“good” recovery without complications requiring hospitalization or institutionalization; “poor” institutionalization in permanent care-units/assisted-living or death). Delirium was diagnosed in 20.1% patients and was significantly associated with longer EDIMCU LOS. At admission, Delirium patients were significantly older and had significantly higher blood urea, creatinine and osmolarity levels and significantly lower hemoglobin levels, when compared with No Delirium patients. Delirium was an independent predictor of increased EDIMCU LOS (odds ratio 3.65, 95% CI 1.97-6.75) and poor outcome at 1-month after discharge (odds ratio 3.51, CI 1.84-6.70), adjusted for age, gender, admission type, presence of SIRS criteria, Charlson score and osmolarity at admission. Conclusions In an EDIMCU setting, delirium was associated with longer LOS and poor outcome at1-month post-discharge. Altogether, findings support the need for delirium screening and management in emergency settings.NCS is supported by the post-doctoral fellowship UMINHO/BPD/013/2011 by the European Commission (FP7) “SwitchBox” Project (Contract HEALTH-F2-2010-259772)

A Universal System for Highly Efficient Cardiac Differentiation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells That Eliminates Interline Variability

The production of cardiomyocytes from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) holds great promise for patient-specific cardiotoxicity drug testing, disease modeling, and cardiac regeneration. However, existing protocols for the differentiation of hiPSC to the cardiac lineage are inefficient and highly variable. We describe a highly efficient system for differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and hiPSC to the cardiac lineage. This system eliminated the variability in cardiac differentiation capacity of a variety of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC), including hiPSC generated from CD34(+) cord blood using non-viral, non-integrating methods.We systematically and rigorously optimized >45 experimental variables to develop a universal cardiac differentiation system that produced contracting human embryoid bodies (hEB) with an improved efficiency of 94.7±2.4% in an accelerated nine days from four hESC and seven hiPSC lines tested, including hiPSC derived from neonatal CD34(+) cord blood and adult fibroblasts using non-integrating episomal plasmids. This cost-effective differentiation method employed forced aggregation hEB formation in a chemically defined medium, along with staged exposure to physiological (5%) oxygen, and optimized concentrations of mesodermal morphogens BMP4 and FGF2, polyvinyl alcohol, serum, and insulin. The contracting hEB derived using these methods were composed of high percentages (64-89%) of cardiac troponin I(+) cells that displayed ultrastructural properties of functional cardiomyocytes and uniform electrophysiological profiles responsive to cardioactive drugs.This efficient and cost-effective universal system for cardiac differentiation of hiPSC allows a potentially unlimited production of functional cardiomyocytes suitable for application to hPSC-based drug development, cardiac disease modeling, and the future generation of clinically-safe nonviral human cardiac cells for regenerative medicine

Early Myeloid Dendritic Cell Dysregulation is Predictive of Disease Progression in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

Myeloid dendritic cells (mDC) are lost from blood in individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection but the mechanism for this loss and its relationship to disease progression are not known. We studied the mDC response in blood and lymph nodes of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaques with different disease outcomes. Early changes in blood mDC number were inversely correlated with virus load and reflective of eventual disease outcome, as animals with stable infection that remained disease-free for more than one year had average increases in blood mDC of 200% over preinfection levels at virus set-point, whereas animals that progressed rapidly to AIDS had significant loss of mDC at this time. Short term antiretroviral therapy (ART) transiently reversed mDC loss in progressor animals, whereas discontinuation of ART resulted in a 3.5-fold increase in mDC over preinfection levels only in stable animals, approaching 10-fold in some cases. Progressive SIV infection was associated with increased CCR7 expression on blood mDC and an 8-fold increase in expression of CCL19 mRNA in lymph nodes, consistent with increased mDC recruitment. Paradoxically, lymph node mDC did not accumulate in progressive infection but rather died from caspase-8-dependent apoptosis that was reduced by ART, indicating that increased recruitment is offset by increased death. Lymph node mDC from both stable and progressor animals remained responsive to exogenous stimulation with a TLR7/8 agonist. These data suggest that mDC are mobilized in SIV infection but that an increase in the CCR7-CCL19 chemokine axis associated with high virus burden in progressive infection promotes exodus of activated mDC from blood into lymph nodes where they die from apoptosis. We suggest that inflamed lymph nodes serve as a sink for mDC through recruitment, activation and death that contributes to AIDS pathogenesis

CD4 T Cell Immunity Is Critical for the Control of Simian Varicella Virus Infection in a Nonhuman Primate Model of VZV Infection

Primary infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV) results in varicella (more commonly known as chickenpox) after which VZV establishes latency in sensory ganglia. VZV can reactivate to cause herpes zoster (shingles), a debilitating disease that affects one million individuals in the US alone annually. Current vaccines against varicella (Varivax) and herpes zoster (Zostavax) are not 100% efficacious. Specifically, studies have shown that 1 dose of varivax can lead to breakthrough varicella, albeit rarely, in children and a 2-dose regimen is now recommended. Similarly, although Zostavax results in a 50% reduction in HZ cases, a significant number of recipients remain at risk. To design more efficacious vaccines, we need a better understanding of the immune response to VZV. Clinical observations suggest that T cell immunity plays a more critical role in the protection against VZV primary infection and reactivation. However, no studies to date have directly tested this hypothesis due to the scarcity of animal models that recapitulate the immune response to VZV. We have recently shown that SVV infection of rhesus macaques models the hallmarks of primary VZV infection in children. In this study, we used this model to experimentally determine the role of CD4, CD8 and B cell responses in the resolution of primary SVV infection in unvaccinated animals. Data presented in this manuscript show that while CD20 depletion leads to a significant delay and decrease in the antibody response to SVV, loss of B cells does not alter the severity of varicella or the kinetics/magnitude of the T cell response. Loss of CD8 T cells resulted in slightly higher viral loads and prolonged viremia. In contrast, CD4 depletion led to higher viral loads, prolonged viremia and disseminated varicella. CD4 depleted animals also had delayed and reduced antibody and CD8 T cell responses. These results are similar to clinical observations that children with agammaglobulinemia have uncomplicated varicella whereas children with T cell deficiencies are at increased risk of progressive varicella with significant complications. Moreover, our studies indicate that CD4 T cell responses to SVV play a more critical role than antibody or CD8 T cell responses in the control of primary SVV infection and suggest that one potential mechanism for enhancing the efficacy of VZV vaccines is by eliciting robust CD4 T cell responses

Comparable Ages for the Independent Origins of Electrogenesis in African and South American Weakly Electric Fishes

One of the most remarkable examples of convergent evolution among vertebrates is illustrated by the independent origins of an active electric sense in South American and African weakly electric fishes, the Gymnotiformes and Mormyroidea, respectively. These groups independently evolved similar complex systems for object localization and communication via the generation and reception of weak electric fields. While good estimates of divergence times are critical to understanding the temporal context for the evolution and diversification of these two groups, their respective ages have been difficult to estimate due to the absence of an informative fossil record, use of strict molecular clock models in previous studies, and/or incomplete taxonomic sampling. Here, we examine the timing of the origins of the Gymnotiformes and the Mormyroidea using complete mitogenome sequences and a parametric Bayesian method for divergence time reconstruction. Under two different fossil-based calibration methods, we estimated similar ages for the independent origins of the Mormyroidea and Gymnotiformes. Our absolute estimates for the origins of these groups either slightly postdate, or just predate, the final separation of Africa and South America by continental drift. The most recent common ancestor of the Mormyroidea and Gymnotiformes was found to be a non-electrogenic basal teleost living more than 85 millions years earlier. For both electric fish lineages, we also estimated similar intervals (16–19 or 22–26 million years, depending on calibration method) between the appearance of electroreception and the origin of myogenic electric organs, providing rough upper estimates for the time periods during which these complex electric organs evolved de novo from skeletal muscle precursors. The fact that the Gymnotiformes and Mormyroidea are of similar age enhances the comparative value of the weakly electric fish system for investigating pathways to evolutionary novelty, as well as the influences of key innovations in communication on the process of species radiation

Variability in childhood allergy and asthma across ethnicity, language, and residency duration in El Paso, Texas: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We evaluated the impact of migration to the USA-Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas (USA), parental language preference, and Hispanic ethnicity on childhood asthma to differentiate between its social and environmental determinants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Allergy and asthma prevalence was surveyed among 9797 fourth and fifth grade children enrolled in the El Paso Independent School District. Parents completed a respiratory health questionnaire, in either English or Spanish, and a sub-sample of children received spirometry testing at their school. Here we report asthma and allergy outcomes across ethnicity and El Paso residency duration.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Asthma and allergy prevalence increased with longer duration of El Paso residency independent of ethnicity and preferred language. Compared with immigrants who arrived in El Paso after entering first grade (18%), lifelong El Paso residents (68%) had more prevalent allergy (OR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.32 - 2.24), prevalent asthma (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.24 - 2.46), and current asthma (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.37 - 2.95). Spirometric measurements (FEV₁/FVC and FEF_25-75) also declined with increasing duration of El Paso residency (0.16% and 0.35% annual reduction, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings suggest that a community-wide environmental exposure in El Paso, delayed pulmonary development, or increased health of immigrants may be associated with allergy and asthma development in children raised there.</p

The Neural Representation of Prospective Choice during Spatial Planning and Decisions

We are remarkably adept at inferring the consequences of our actions, yet the neuronal mechanisms that allow us to plan a sequence of novel choices remain unclear. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate how the human brain plans the shortest path to a goal in novel mazes with one (shallow maze) or two (deep maze) choice points. We observed two distinct anterior prefrontal responses to demanding choices at the second choice point: one in rostrodorsal medial prefrontal cortex (rd-mPFC)/superior frontal gyrus (SFG) that was also sensitive to (deactivated by) demanding initial choices and another in lateral frontopolar cortex (lFPC), which was only engaged by demanding choices at the second choice point. Furthermore, we identified hippocampal responses during planning that correlated with subsequent choice accuracy and response time, particularly in mazes affording sequential choices. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analyses showed that coupling between the hippocampus and rd-mPFC increases during sequential (deep versus shallow) planning and is higher before correct versus incorrect choices. In short, using a naturalistic spatial planning paradigm, we reveal how the human brain represents sequential choices during planning without extensive training. Our data highlight a network centred on the cortical midline and hippocampus that allows us to make prospective choices while maintaining initial choices during planning in novel environments