Part three: a randomized study to assess biomarker changes in cigarette smokers switched to Vuse Solo or Abstinence.

Biomarkers of exposure (BoE) can help evaluate exposure to combustion-related, tobacco-specific toxicants after smokers switch from cigarettes to potentially less-harmful products like electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). This paper reports data for one (Vuse Solo Original) of three products evaluated in a randomized, controlled, confinement study of BoE in smokers switched to ENDS. Subjects smoked their usual brand cigarette ad libitum for two days, then were randomized to one of three ENDS for a 7-day ad libitum use period, or to smoking abstinence.

Rahnella spp. are commonly isolated from onion (Allium cepa) bulbs and are weakly pathogenic.

Aims: Bacterial decays of onion bulbs have serious economic consequences for growers, but the aetiologies of these diseases are often unclear. We aimed to determine the role of Rahnella, which we commonly isolated from bulbs in the United States and Norway, in onion disease.

Methods And Results: Isolated bacteria were identified by sequencing of housekeeping genes and/or fatty acid methyl ester analysis.

Population Structure of and in England, Scotland and Norway.

species are important fungal pathogens of a wide range of crops and wild host plants. While the biology and population structure of has been well-studied, little information is available for the related species . In this study, isolates were collected from different crop plants and the wild host (meadow buttercup) in England, Scotland, and Norway to determine the incidence of and examine the population structure of this pathogen for the first time.

Study of cardiovascular disease biomarkers among tobacco consumers. Part 3: evaluation and comparison with the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) biomarkers of biological effect (BoBE), including hematologic biomarkers, serum lipid-related biomarkers, other serum BoBE, and one physiological biomarker, were evaluated in adult cigarette smokers (SMK), smokeless tobacco consumers (STC), and non-consumers of tobacco (NTC). Data from adult males and females in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and a single site, cross-sectional study of healthy US males were analyzed and compared. Within normal clinical reference ranges, statistically significant differences were observed consistently for fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP), hematocrit, mean cell volume, mean cell hemoglobin, hemoglobin, white blood cells, monocytes, lymphocytes, and neutrophils in comparisons between SMK and NTC; for CRP, white blood cells, monocytes, and lymphocytes in comparisons between SMK and STC; and for folate in comparisons with STC and NTC.

Study of cardiovascular disease biomarkers among tobacco consumers, part 2: biomarkers of biological effect.

An age-stratified, cross-sectional study was conducted in the US among healthy adult male cigarette smokers, moist snuff consumers, and non-tobacco consumers to evaluate cardiovascular biomarkers of biological effect (BoBE). Physiological assessments included flow-mediated dilation, ankle-brachial index, carotid intima-media thickness and expired carbon monoxide. Approximately one-half of the measured serum BoBE showed statistically significant differences; IL-12(p70), sICAM-1 and IL-8 were the BoBE that best differentiated among the three groups.