The Right Stuff: biodegradable alternatives to plastic mulch

This project was a continuation of work started by Mark Ingman after he was bothered by the amount of plastic sheeting used in agriculture in China. He was determined to develop an alternative to this environmentally destructive use of plastic by farmers. The plastic “mulch” is used to prevent weeds and maintain soil moisture, but after a season of use the plastic is either thrown into a landfill or burned. Needless to say this creates a lot of unnecessary waste. Mark came back to the United States and put together a team to develop an alternative to the plastic mulch using wool and flax shive waste. The shive waste is an agricultural byproduct. It is composed of biomass available after processing the plant for fibers, oil and seeds. The project was sponsored by the EPA and given a P3 Phase 2 Grant after all initial work. Dr. Skip Rochefort was asked to consult to help develop the product further. He suggested using sodium alginate, a common food additive, to bind the flax shive into a sheet form. Sodium alginate is biodegradable and fit within the sustainability needs of the project. I was tasked with taking Dr. Rochefort's idea and turning it into the final mulch sheet product. The goal of the project was to make this sheet retain moisture and prevent weeds like other mulches but biodegrade over time. At the end of the season, this product would be tilled into the soil as a soil amendment

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Outdoor particulate matter (PM10) exposure and lung cancer risk in the EAGLE study

Objective Cohort studies in Europe, but not in North-America, showed an association between exposure to outdoor particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10) and lung cancer risk. Only a case-control study on lung cancer and PM10 in South Korea has so far been performed. For the first time in Europe we analyzed quantitatively this association using a case-control study design in highly polluted areas in Italy. Methods The Environment And Genetics in Lung cancer Etiology (EAGLE) study, a population-based case-control study performed in the period 2002–2005 in the Lombardy Region, north-west Italy, enrolled 2099 cases and 2120 controls frequency-matched for area of residence, gender, and age. For this study we selected subjects with complete active and passive smoking history living in the same municipality since 1980 until study enrollment. Fine resolution annual PM10 estimates obtained by applying land use regression modeling to satellite data calibrated with fixed site monitor measurements were used. We assigned each subject the PM10 average estimates for year 2000 based on enrollment address. We used logistic regression models to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for matching variables, education, smoking, and dietary and occupational variables. Results We included 3473 subjects, 1665 cases (1318 men, 347 women) and 1808 controls (1368 men, 440 women), with PM10 individual levels ranging from 2.3 to 53.8 μg/m3 (mean: 46.3). We found increasing lung cancer risk with increasing PM10 category (P-value for trend: 0.04). The OR per 10 μg/m3 was 1.28 (95% CI: 0.95–1.72). The association appeared stronger for squamous cell carcinoma (OR 1.44, 95% CI: 0.90–2.29). Conclusion In a population living in highly polluted areas in Italy, our study added suggestive evidence of a positive association between PM10 exposure and lung cancer risk. This study emphasizes the need to strengthen policies to reduce airborne pollution

Perioperative Von Willebrand Factor Dynamics are Associated with Liver Regeneration and Predict Outcome after Liver Resection.

Von Willebrand Factor (vWF) was found to mediate platelet influx during the early phase of liver regeneration in mice. Further, increased vWF-antigen (vWF-Ag) levels were shown to be predictive for outcome of patients with chronic liver disease. Accordingly, we aimed to assess the relevance of perioperative vWF-Ag dynamics in terms of liver regeneration and clinical outcome in patients undergoing liver resection (LR). Accordingly, we observed that vWF-Ag and its activity - estimated via ristocetin cofactor measurement - increased immediately after induction of liver regeneration and was associated with platelet accumulation within the liver. However, a significant vWF-Ag burst was only observed in patients with unaffected postoperative liver regeneration. E-selectin, as an established marker for endothelial cell activation, was found to correlate with vWF-Ag in the liver vein after induction of liver regeneration (P=0.022). Preoperative vWF-Ag levels significantly predicted postoperative liver dysfunction (LD) (N=95, AUC:0.725, P=0.009). Furthermore, a cut-off of vWF-Ag≥182% was defined to identify patients with a higher risk for postoperative LD or morbidity. This was confirmed within an independent mulitcenter validation cohort (N=133). Ultimately, multivariable analysis revealed that vWF-Ag was an independent predictor of postoperative LD and morbidity. CONCLUSION Within this study we were able to provide evidence that an initial vWF burst is required to allow for adequate platelet accumulation and concomitant liver regeneration after LR and might be abolished as a consequence of intrahepatic endothelial cell dysfunction. We were further able to reveal and validate the potential of preoperative vWF-antigen levels to predict poor postoperative outcome in patients undergoing LR. Despite the pathophysiological relevance of our findings, vWF-Ag seems to be a valuable tool for preoperative risk assessment in patients undergoing LR. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved