Some infectious diseases, including COVID-19, can undergo airborne transmission. This may happen at close proximity, but as time indoors increases, infections can occur in shared room air despite ...distancing. We propose two indicators of infection risk for this situation, that is, relative risk parameter (H r) and risk parameter (H). They combine the key factors that control airborne disease transmission indoors: virus-containing aerosol generation rate, breathing flow rate, masking and its quality, ventilation and aerosol-removal rates, number of occupants, and duration of exposure. COVID-19 outbreaks show a clear trend that is consistent with airborne infection and enable recommendations to minimize transmission risk. Transmission in typical prepandemic indoor spaces is highly sensitive to mitigation efforts. Previous outbreaks of measles, influenza, and tuberculosis were also assessed. Measles outbreaks occur at much lower risk parameter values than COVID-19, while tuberculosis outbreaks are observed at higher risk parameter values. Because both diseases are accepted as airborne, the fact that COVID-19 is less contagious than measles does not rule out airborne transmission. It is important that future outbreak reports include information on masking, ventilation and aerosol-removal rates, number of occupants, and duration of exposure, to investigate airborne transmission.
Here, absolute cross sections for the addition of s- and d-wave neutrons to 14C and 14N have been determined simultaneously via the (d,p) reaction at 10 MeV/u. The difference between the neutron and ...proton separation energies, ΔS, is around -20 MeV for the 14C+n system and +8 MeV for 14N+n. The population of the 1s1/2 and 0d5/2 orbitals for both systems is reduced by a factor of approximately 0.5 compared with the independent single-particle model, or about 0.6 when compared with the shell model. This finding strongly contrasts with results deduced from intermediate-energy knockout reactions between similar nuclei on targets of 9Be and 12C. The simultaneous technique used removes many systematic uncertainties.
Numerous data demonstrate that global climate change affects crop yield and quality. However, the effect of climate change on the nutritive value of forage crops remains unclear.
Oat grass (Avena ...sativa L.) was used as a representative forage crop to understand changes in yield and chemical composition. The growth of oat grass under elevated temperature and CO2 conditions was simulated in a 51‐day growth experiment inside OTCs. The oat grass was harvested during the heading period and yield, nutrient content, macro‐ and micro‐mineral content and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) determined.
The fresh and dry yield, mineral P and Fe content and IVDMD of oat grass increased under increased CO2 concentrations (P < 0.05). As temperature increased, dry matter yield and soluble sugar content decreased and the content of Na, Mg, P, S, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn increased (P < 0.05), while IVDMD was not significantly affected. Under the interaction of increasing CO2 and temperature, the content of Mg, P, S, Ca, Mn and IVDMD of oat grass increased (P < 0.05); however, there was no significant effect on yield.
Climate change may result in oat grass containing more digestible nutrients and minerals for ruminants.
Simulated global climate change facilitates the accumulation of mineral elements and improves the digestibility of oat grass.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal malignancy in the U.S.A. and approximately 50% of patients develop metastatic disease (mCRC). Despite our understanding of long non-coding ...RNAs (lncRNAs) in primary colon cancer, their role in mCRC and treatment resistance remains poorly characterized. Therefore, through transcriptome sequencing of normal, primary, and distant mCRC tissues we find 148 differentially expressed RNAs Associated with Metastasis (RAMS). We prioritize RAMS11 due to its association with poor disease-free survival and promotion of aggressive phenotypes in vitro and in vivo. A FDA-approved drug high-throughput viability assay shows that elevated RAMS11 expression increases resistance to topoisomerase inhibitors. Subsequent experiments demonstrate RAMS11-dependent recruitment of Chromobox protein 4 (CBX4) transcriptionally activates Topoisomerase II alpha (TOP2α). Overall, recent clinical trials using topoisomerase inhibitors coupled with our findings of RAMS11-dependent regulation of TOP2α supports the potential use of RAMS11 as a biomarker and therapeutic target for mCRC.
Regulatory T cell (Treg) therapy has the potential to induce transplantation tolerance so that immunosuppression and associated morbidity can be minimized. Alloantigen‐reactive Tregs (arTregs) are ...more effective at preventing graft rejection than polyclonally expanded Tregs (PolyTregs) in murine models. We have developed a manufacturing process to expand human arTregs in short‐term cultures using good manufacturing practice‐compliant reagents. This process uses CD40L‐activated allogeneic B cells to selectively expand arTregs followed by polyclonal restimulation to increase yield. Tregs expanded 100‐ to 1600‐fold were highly alloantigen reactive and expressed the phenotype of stable Tregs. The alloantigen‐expanded Tregs had a diverse TCR repertoire. They were more potent than PolyTregs in vitro and more effective at controlling allograft injuries in vivo in a humanized mouse model.
This study details a good manufacturing practice‐compliant process for short‐term selective expansion of donoralloantigen‐reactive regulatory T cells for therapeutic applications in transplantation.
A series of ruthenium(II) bis(2,2'-bipyridyl) complexes containing N-phenyl-substituted diazafluorenes (Ru-C1, Ru-C6, Ru-C7 and Ru-F) was synthesized and their potential antibacterial activity ...against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was investigated. The Ru-C7 complex showed significant improvement in both minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC, 6.25 μg mL(-1)) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC, 25 μg mL(-1)) towards MRSA when compared with those of methicillin (positive control) (MIC = 25 μg mL(-1) and MBC = 100 μg mL(-1)). The Ru-C7 complex possessed much stronger antibacterial effects than the Ru-C6 complex (MIC, 25 μg mL(-1), MBC, >100 μg mL(-1)). Both Ru-C6 and Ru-C7 complexes were also demonstrated to be biologically safe when tested on normal human skin keratinocytes.
China disposes of bulk Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) by landfilling, resulting in a large quantity of mercury that enters landfills through waste. A detailed study on atmospheric mercury emissions from ...MSW landfills in China is necessary to understand mercury behavior from this source. Between 2003 and 2006, mercury airborne emissions through different pathways, as well as mercury speciation in Landfill Gas (LFG) were measured at 5 MSW landfills in Guiyang and Wuhan, China. The results showed that mercury content in the substrate increased the magnitude of mercury emissions, with the highest emission rate measured at the working face and in uncovered waste areas, and the lowest measured near soil covers and vegetated areas. Meteorological parameters, especially solar radiation, influenced the diurnal pattern of mercury surface-air emissions. Total Gaseous Mercury (TGM) in LFG varied from 2.0 to 1406.0 ng m−3, Monomethyl Mercury (MMHg) and Dimethyl Mercury (DMHg) in LFG averaged at 1.93 and 9.21 ng m−3, and accounted for 0.51% and 1.79% of the TGM in the LFG, respectively. Total mercury emitted from the five landfills ranged from 17 to 3300 g yr−1, with the highest from the working face, then soil covering, and finally the vent pipes.
The epidemics of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003 highlighted both short- and long-range transmission routes, i.e. between infected patients and healthcare workers, and between ...distant locations. With other infections such as tuberculosis, measles and chickenpox, the concept of aerosol transmission is so well accepted that isolation of such patients is the norm. With current concerns about a possible approaching influenza pandemic, the control of transmission via infectious air has become more important. Therefore, the aim of this review is to describe the factors involved in: (1) the generation of an infectious aerosol, (2) the transmission of infectious droplets or droplet nuclei from this aerosol, and (3) the potential for inhalation of such droplets or droplet nuclei by a susceptible host. On this basis, recommendations are made to improve the control of aerosol-transmitted infections in hospitals as well as in the design and construction of future isolation facilities.
We demonstrate a new technique for obtaining fission data for nuclei away from β stability. These types of data are pertinent to the astrophysical r process, crucial to a complete understanding of ...the origin of the heavy elements, and for developing a predictive model of fission. These data are also important considerations for terrestrial applications related to power generation and safeguarding. Experimentally, such data are scarce due to the difficulties in producing the actinide targets of interest. The solenoidal-spectrometer technique, commonly used to study nucleon-transfer reactions in inverse kinematics, has been applied to the case of transfer-induced fission as a means to deduce the fission-barrier height, among other variables. The fission-barrier height of ^{239}U has been determined via the ^{238}U(d,pf) reaction in inverse kinematics, the results of which are consistent with existing neutron-induced fission data indicating the validity of the technique.
The question of whether SARS‐CoV‐2 is mainly transmitted by droplets or aerosols has been highly controversial. We sought to explain this controversy through a historical analysis of transmission ...research in other diseases. For most of human history, the dominant paradigm was that many diseases were carried by the air, often over long distances and in a phantasmagorical way. This miasmatic paradigm was challenged in the mid to late 19th century with the rise of germ theory, and as diseases such as cholera, puerperal fever, and malaria were found to actually transmit in other ways. Motivated by his views on the importance of contact/droplet infection, and the resistance he encountered from the remaining influence of miasma theory, prominent public health official Charles Chapin in 1910 helped initiate a successful paradigm shift, deeming airborne transmission most unlikely. This new paradigm became dominant. However, the lack of understanding of aerosols led to systematic errors in the interpretation of research evidence on transmission pathways. For the next five decades, airborne transmission was considered of negligible or minor importance for all major respiratory diseases, until a demonstration of airborne transmission of tuberculosis (which had been mistakenly thought to be transmitted by droplets) in 1962. The contact/droplet paradigm remained dominant, and only a few diseases were widely accepted as airborne before COVID‐19: those that were clearly transmitted to people not in the same room. The acceleration of interdisciplinary research inspired by the COVID‐19 pandemic has shown that airborne transmission is a major mode of transmission for this disease, and is likely to be significant for many respiratory infectious diseases.
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