Putting biomonitors to work: native moss as a screening tool for solid waste incineration.

Solid waste incineration (SWI) can release numerous air pollutants although the geographic reach of emissions is not routinely monitored. While many studies use moss and lichens for biomonitoring trace elements, including around SWIs, few investigate the complex, multi-element footprint expected from SWI emissions. This study develops using native moss as a screening tool for SWI while also informing community concerns about an aging incinerator in rural Oregon, USA.

Interferons and tuft cell numbers are bottlenecks for persistent murine norovirus infection.

Noroviruses (NoVs) are a leading cause of viral gastroenteritis. Despite global clinical relevance, our understanding of how host factors, such as antiviral cytokines interferons (IFNs), modulate NoV population dynamics is limited. Murine NoV (MNoV) is a tractable in vivo model for the study of host regulation of NoV.

Long-term biocrust responses to wildfires in Washington, USA.

Premise: Dryland ecosystems in the western United States are affected by invasive species, wildfires, livestock grazing, and climate change in ways that are difficult to distinguish. Biocrusts perform important ecological roles in these systems and are sensitive to all of these pressures.

Methods: We revisited a Washington, USA, site sampled for biocrusts in 1999 to focus on effects of exotic annual grass invasion and wildfires in the absence of livestock grazing.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination as defense against SARS-CoV-2 (BADAS): a randomized controlled trial to protect healthcare workers in the USA by enhanced trained immune responses.

Background: A large epidemic, such as that observed with SARS-CoV-2, seriously challenges available hospital capacity, and this would be augmented by infection of healthcare workers (HCW). Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is a vaccine against tuberculosis, with protective non-specific effects against other respiratory tract infections in vitro and in vivo. Preliminary analyses suggest that regions of the world with existing BCG vaccination programs have lower incidence and mortality from COVID-19.