A survey of a small group of workers exposed to toluene di-isocyanate

All 20 workers exposed to toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) in a chemical processing and packing factory were tested for TDI-induced asthma. The assessment included a respiratory symptom questionnaire, spirometry, skin prick tests for common allergens and assessment of total and TDI-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels by radio-allergo-sorbent tests. Six workers had symptoms suggestive of TDI-related asthtna. Three of these 6 workers had a significant cross-shift decline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (10% or greater). Two of the 6 had high levels of TDI-specific IgE. Of the 14 workers without work-related symptoms, 1 had a significant cross-shift decline in FEV1. There was no significant association between the levels of exposure to TDI and symptoms, lung function paratneters or immunological findings. This study demonstrates the difficulties in correlating immunological status with clinical and lung function findings in workers exposed to TDI. Recommendations include a stepwise approach to diagnosing TDI-induced asthma in exposed workers

Surface atomic geometry of Si(001)-(2X1): A low-energy electron-diffraction structure analysis

The reconstruction of the Si(001)-2×1 surface consists of asymmetric and buckled Si dimers. The vertical separation between the up and the down atom within the dimer is about 0.72±0.05 Å and the dimer bond length of 2.24±0.08 Å has been found to be slightly smaller than the Si-Si distance in the bulk. The tilt of the dimer is 19±2°. The formation of Si dimers induces pronounced distortions in the substrate that were detectable down to the fifth Si layer. The structure determination is based on two independent low-energy electron-diffraction data sets taken in two different laboratories. The structural results agree well within the error limits, though noticeable differences occur between the experimental data sets. These differences in the experimental data can possibly be attributed to different preparation procedures

B cells enhance early innate immune responses during bacterial sepsis

Type I interferon–responsive B cells provide early protection against bacterial sepsis

Tissue registration and exploration user interfaces in support of a human reference atlas

Seventeen international consortia are collaborating on a human reference atlas (HRA), a comprehensive, high-resolution, three-dimensional atlas of all the cells in the healthy human body. Laboratories around the world are collecting tissue specimens from donors varying in sex, age, ethnicity, and body mass index. However, harmonizing tissue data across 25 organs and more than 15 bulk and spatial single-cell assay types poses challenges. Here, we present software tools and user interfaces developed to spatially and semantically annotate ( register ) and explore the tissue data and the evolving HRA. A key part of these tools is a common coordinate framework, providing standard terminologies and data structures for describing specimen, biological structure, and spatial data linked to existing ontologies. As of April 22, 2022, the registration user interface has been used to harmonize and publish data on 5,909 tissue blocks collected by the Human Biomolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP), the Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions program (SPARC), the Human Cell Atlas (HCA), the Kidney Precision Medicine Project (KPMP), and the Genotype Tissue Expression project (GTEx). Further, 5,856 tissue sections were derived from 506 HuBMAP tissue blocks. The second exploration user interface enables consortia to evaluate data quality, explore tissue data spatially within the context of the HRA, and guide data acquisition. A companion website is at https://cns-iu.github.io/HRA-supporting-information/

Gut Microbiome Metagenomics Analysis Suggests a Functional Model for the Development of Autoimmunity for Type 1 Diabetes

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