Emerging Contaminants in Virginia

This Article summarizes the rise of emerging contaminants in waterways in Virginia and nationwide, and how they affect ecological and human health. First, we review the scientific discovery of chemicals that alter hormone systems, reproductive and developmental processes and how these were discovered in waterways. We go on to explain the current state of emerging contaminant regulations, noting that few states have a clear understanding of what chemicals are discharged into surface waters. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has no national effort in this area, despite congressional interest and action. Finally, we make recommendations for future emerging contaminant control and monitoring

Brain Trust: Students for Students: VCU to RPS Mentorship Program

As a public, urban research institution, Virginia Commonwealth University embraces the importance of developing university-community partnerships that generate innovative solutions to societal challenges and prepare engaged citizens of tomorrow. The Students for Students: VCU to RPS Mentorship Program provides a model that will connect current VCU students to current Richmond Public Schools (RPS) students through a formal, multi-year mentorship. The ultimate goal of this program is to support and positively influence RPS students, while providing current VCU students with an opportunity to give back to the community while developing their mentorship skills. The mentoring relationship will seek to motivate RPS sophomores, juniors and seniors to improve school performance, graduate on time, and craft a post-high school path

Over half of breakpoints in gene pairs involved in cancer-specific recurrent translocations are mapped to human chromosomal fragile sites.

Gene rearrangements such as chromosomal translocations have been shown to contribute to cancer development. Human chromosomal fragile sites are regions of the genome especially prone to breakage, and have been implicated in various chromosome abnormalities found in cancer. However, there has been no comprehensive and quantitative examination of the location of fragile sites in relation to all chromosomal aberrations

Diagnosis of the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses: An update

AbstractFor the majority of families affected by one of the neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs), a biochemical and/or genetic diagnosis can be achieved. In an individual case this information not only increases understanding of the condition but also may influence treatment choices and options. The presenting clinical features prompt initial investigation and also guide clinical care. The clinical labels “infantile NCL”, “late infantile NCL” and “juvenile NCL”, therefore remain useful in practice. In unusual or atypical cases ultra-structural analysis of white blood cells or other tissue samples enables planning and prioritisation of biochemical and genetic tests.This review describes current methods available to achieve clinical, pathological, biochemical and genetic diagnosis in children presenting with symptoms suggestive of one of the NCLs

Creating and Using an Access Database to Enhance Subject Analysis and Obtain Faculty Input About the Journals Collection

Using Microsoft Access, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library developed a database for all of its title-level journal holdings to assess and enhance its journal collection

Prey range and genome evolution of Halobacteriovorax marinus predatory bacteria from an estuary

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in mSphere 3 (2018): e00508-17, doi:10.1128/mSphere.00508-17.Halobacteriovorax strains are saltwater-adapted predatory bacteria that attack Gram-negative bacteria and may play an important role in shaping microbial communities. To understand how Halobacteriovorax strains impact ecosystems and develop them as biocontrol agents, it is important to characterize variation in predation phenotypes and investigate Halobacteriovorax genome evolution. We isolated Halobacteriovorax marinus BE01 from an estuary in Rhode Island using Vibrio from the same site as prey. Small, fast-moving, attack-phase BE01 cells attach to and invade prey cells, consistent with the intraperiplasmic predation strategy of the H. marinus type strain, SJ. BE01 is a prey generalist, forming plaques on Vibrio strains from the estuary, Pseudomonas from soil, and Escherichia coli. Genome analysis revealed extremely high conservation of gene order and amino acid sequences between BE01 and SJ, suggesting strong selective pressure to maintain the genome in this H. marinus lineage. Despite this, we identified two regions of gene content difference that likely resulted from horizontal gene transfer. Analysis of modal codon usage frequencies supports the hypothesis that these regions were acquired from bacteria with different codon usage biases than H. marinus. In one of these regions, BE01 and SJ carry different genes associated with mobile genetic elements. Acquired functions in BE01 include the dnd operon, which encodes a pathway for DNA modification, and a suite of genes involved in membrane synthesis and regulation of gene expression that was likely acquired from another Halobacteriovorax lineage. This analysis provides further evidence that horizontal gene transfer plays an important role in genome evolution in predatory bacteria.This research was supported by an Institutional Development award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under grant no. P20GM103430 and funding from Providence College

Bacterial communities in the digester bed and liquid effluent of a microflush composting toilet system

Lack of access to clean water and sanitation is a major factor impacting public health in communities worldwide. To address this, the S-Lab at Providence College and the Global Sustainable Aid Project developed a microflush composting toilet system to isolate and treat human waste. Solid waste is composted within a filter-digester bed via an aerobic process involving microbes and invertebrates. Liquid waste may be sanitized by solar disinfection (SODIS) or slow sand filtration (SSF). Here, we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of samples from a scaled-down test version of the system to better understand the bacterial component of the toilet system. Immediately after fecal matter was deposited in the test system, the bacterial community of the filter-digester bed at the site of deposition resembled that of the human gut at both the phylum and genus level, which was expected. Genus-level analysis of filter-digester bed samples collected over the next 30 days from the site of deposition showed reduced or undetectable levels of fecal-associated taxa, with the exception of Clostridium XI, which persisted at low abundance throughout the sampling period. Starting with the sample collected on day 4, the bacterial community of the filter-digester bed at the site of deposition was dominated by bacterial taxa commonly associated with environmental sources, reflecting a major shift in bacterial community composition. These data support the toilet system’s capacity for processing solid human waste. We also analyzed how SODIS and SSF sanitization methods affected the bacterial community composition of liquid effluent collected on day 15 from the test system. Untreated and treated liquid effluent samples were dominated by Proteobacteria. At the genus level, the bacterial community of the untreated effluent included taxa commonly associated with environmental sources. In the SODIS-treated effluent, these genera increased in abundance, whereas in the SSF-treated effluent, they were greatly reduced or undetectable. By analyzing operational taxonomic units that were unclassified at the genus level, we observed that SSF appears to introduce new taxa into the treated effluent, likely from the biological film of microbes and small animals that constitutes the key element of SSF. These data will inform continued development of liquid waste handling strategies for the toilet system. Using the test system as an indicator of the performance of the full-scale version, we have shown the effectiveness of the microflush composting toilet system for containing and eliminating gut-associated bacteria, thereby improving sanitation and contributing to better public health in rural and peri-urban communities

Adolescent Injury Rates

OBJECTIVE To describe the frequency of adolescent athlete injury based upon injury location, injury diagnosis, activity, playing surface, weather condition, and sport. MAIN.OUTCOME MEASUREMENTInjury frequency per injury location, diagnosis, activity, and playing surface were determined. Injury location and diagnosis frequency were reported by weather condition. Injuries per 1000 athletic exposures were analyzed by sport