Upward propagation of gigantic jets revealed by 3D radio and optical mapping.

Occasionally, lightning will exit the top of a thunderstorm and connect to the lower edge of space, forming a gigantic jet. Here, we report on observations of a negative gigantic jet that transferred an extraordinary amount of charge between the troposphere and ionosphere (∼300 C). It occurred in unusual circumstances, emerging from an area of weak convection.

Hand hygiene: virucidal efficacy of a liquid hand wash product against Ebola virus.

Background: Hand washing is an important targeted hygiene intervention for limiting the spread of infectious agents, including the Ebola virus, which continues to re-emerge. We have assessed the virucidal efficacy of a commercially available liquid hand wash product (LHW) for inactivating Ebola virus.

Methods: The ASTM E1052-11 Standard was used to evaluate the efficacy of an LHW containing the microbicidal active salicylic acid for inactivating Ebola virus - Makona variant suspended in an organic load.

Extreme oxidant amounts produced by lightning in storm clouds.

Lightning increases the atmosphere's ability to cleanse itself by producing nitric oxide (NO), leading to atmospheric chemistry that forms ozone (O) and the atmosphere's primary oxidant, the hydroxyl radical (OH). Our analysis of a 2012 airborne study of deep convection and chemistry demonstrates that lightning also directly generates the oxidants OH and the hydroperoxyl radical (HO). Extreme amounts of OH and HO were discovered and linked to visible flashes occurring in front of the aircraft and to subvisible discharges in electrified anvil regions.

Site-specific contribution of Toll-like receptor 4 to intestinal homeostasis and inflammatory disease.

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a highly conserved protein of innate immunity, responsible for the regulation and maintenance of homeostasis, as well as immune recognition of external and internal ligands. TLR4 is expressed on a variety of cell types throughout the gastrointestinal tract, including on epithelial and immune cell populations. In a healthy state, epithelial cell expression of TLR4 greatly assists in homeostasis by shaping the host microbiome, promoting immunoglobulin A production, and regulating follicle-associated epithelium permeability.

A 21st century view of infection control in everyday settings: Moving from the Germ Theory of Disease to the Microbial Theory of Health.

Background: The growing understanding of the importance of a healthy microbiome is challenging traditional thinking that resulted in the general acceptance of the Germ Theory of Disease. We propose a more encompassing Microbial Theory of Health that will have implications for the way that we address our relationship with microbes, including hygiene policy and community-based infection control practices.

Methods: This paper considers theories over the last 30 years that have impacted hygiene policy and consumer practice, from the Germ Theory of Disease and the Hygiene Hypothesis, to the Microbial Theory of Health, including the concept of Bidirectional Hygiene.

A 28 Day Clinical Assessment of a Lactic Acid-containing Antimicrobial Intimate Gel Wash Formulation on Skin Tolerance and Impact on the Vulvar Microbiome.

While intimate feminine hygiene products are widely used as part of daily cleansing routines, little is known about how these products impact the vulvovaginal area and its microbiome stability. This 4 week clinical study assessed tolerance of a novel gel wash containing lactic acid (pH 4.2) for external daily use when used on the external genital area and its effects on skin moisturization, vulvar skin pH, and the vulvar microbiome.

Characteristics of Lightning within Electrified Snowfall Events using Lightning Mapping Arrays.

This study examined 34 lightning flashes within four separate thundersnow events derived from lightning mapping arrays (LMAs) in northern Alabama, central Oklahoma, and Washington DC. The goals were to characterize the in-cloud component of each lightning flash, as well as the correspondence between the LMA observations and lightning data taken from national lightning networks like the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN). Individual flashes were examined in detail to highlight several observations within the dataset.

Role of female intimate hygiene in vulvovaginal health: Global hygiene practices and product usage.

Women use various feminine hygiene products, often as part of their daily cleansing routine; however, there is a paucity of published medical literature related to the external vulva and how personal hygiene practices can affect it. This review article provides background information on the physiological changes that occur during women's lives and reviews the relevance of transient and resident microbiota as they relate to common vaginal and vulvar disorders. It also discusses the need for female intimate hygiene, common practices of feminine hygiene from a global perspective, and the potential benefits of using suitable external, topical feminine vulvar washes to minimize the risk of vulvovaginal disorders and to improve overall intimate health in women around the world.

Lightning Mapping Array flash detection performance with variable receiver thresholds.

This study characterizes Lightning Mapping Array performance for networks that participated in the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry field program using new Monte Carlo and curvature matrix model simulations. These open-source simulation tools are readily adapted to real-time operations or detailed studies of performance. Each simulation accounted for receiver threshold and location, as well as a reference distribution of source powers and flash sizes based on thunderstorm observations and the mechanics of station triggering.

Application of a topical biomimetic electrical signaling technology to photo-aging: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a galvanic zinc-copper complex.

Background: The first signs of facial skin photo-aging often occur in the skin of the periorbital area and include sagging, loss of firmness and definition, and sallowness. Epidermal wounds have been shown to alter the trans-epithelial electrical potential creating an electric signal that directs cell migration in epithelial wound healing; this electric field declines sharply with age. A topical galvanic zinc-copper complex, which couples elemental zinc and copper to create a biomimetic electric field, has demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity and extracellular matrix improvement in vitro, including collagen and elastin production.

Extracts from Glycine max (soybean) induce elastin synthesis and inhibit elastase activity.

Elastic fibres are essential extracellular matrix components of the skin, contributing to its resilience and elasticity. In the course of skin ageing, elastin synthesis is reduced, and elastase activity is accelerated, resulting in skin sagging and reduced skin elasticity. Our studies show that non-denatured Glycine max (soybean) extracts induced elastin promoter activity, inhibited elastase activity and protected elastic fibres from degradation by exogenous elastases in vitro.

CeFePO: a heavy fermion metal with ferromagnetic correlations.

The ground state properties of CeFePO, a homologue of the new high temperature superconductors RFePnO1-xFx, were studied by means of susceptibility, specific heat, resistivity, and NMR measurements on polycrystals. All the results demonstrate that this compound is a magnetically nonordered heavy fermion metal with a Kondo temperature TK approximately 10 K, a Sommerfeld coefficient gamma=700 mJ/mol K2, and a mass enhancement factor of the order of 50. Analysis of the susceptibility data and of the spin relaxation time indicates that the strong electronic correlation effects originate from the Ce-4f electrons rather than from Fe-3d electrons.

Phenotype, genotype, and sustained response to anakinra in 22 patients with autoinflammatory disease associated with CIAS-1/NALP3 mutations.

Objective: To characterize the multisystem chronic inflammatory phenotype, dermatopathologic features, and response to therapy with interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (anakinra) in patients with mutations in the CIAS-1/NALP3 gene.

Design: Retrospective review of medical records and evaluation of histologic findings.

Setting: The National Amyloidosis Centre, London, and a tertiary referral clinic for urticaria.

Brd2/RING3 interacts with a chromatin-binding domain in the Kaposi's Sarcoma-associated herpesvirus latency-associated nuclear antigen 1 (LANA-1) that is required for multiple functions of LANA-1.

Latency-associated nuclear antigen 1 (LANA-1) of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) mediates the episomal replication of the KSHV genome, as well as transcriptional regulation, in latently infected cells. Interaction of LANA-1 with cellular chromatin is required for both these functions. An N-terminal heterochromatin-binding site in LANA-1 is essential for the replication and maintenance of latent episomes, as well as transcriptional regulation.

No evidence for infection of human embryonic stem cells by feeder cell-derived murine leukemia viruses.

Until recently, culture and expansion of nondifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) depended on coculture with murine embryonic fibroblasts. Because mice are known to harbor a variety of pathogens, such culture conditions implicate the risk of xenozoonoses. Among these pathogens, endogenous retroviruses, including murine leukemia viruses (MuLVs), are of special importance.

Post-transcriptional regulation of albumin gene expression in Xenopus liver.

To clarify on what level of gene expression estrogen represses albumin synthesis in Xenopus hepatocytes, we have analyzed nuclear RNAs and the transcriptional rates in isolated nuclei. Since in nuclear RNA the quantity of albumin mRNA and its precursors does not change and the transcription remains constant during estrogen treatment, we conclude that a posttranscriptional control, possibly involving destabilization of cytoplasmic mRNA, is responsible for the repression of albumin synthesis by estrogen. This post-transcriptional control is in contrast to the well-known transcriptional induction of vitellogenin gene activity.

Congenital defect of the pericardium.

The morbid anatomy and histopathology is described as found at necropsy on a 7-year-old coloured girl who suffered from partial defect of the pericardium with prolapse and partial incarceration of the cardiac apex. Because of the absence of any history of illness during life the defect is considered to have been congenital, and because of the lack of any other significant necropsy findings, it is considered to have been the cause of death.