Polarity profiling of porous architectures: solvatochromic dye encapsulation in metal-organic frameworks.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gathered significant interest due to their tunable porosity leading to diverse potential applications. In this study, we investigate the incorporation of the fluorosolvatochromic dye 2-butyl-5,6-dimethoxyisoindoline-1,3-dione ([double bond, length as m-dash]Phth) into various MOF structures as a means to assess the polarity of these porous materials. As a purely inorganic compound, zeolite Y was tested for comparison.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with school field trips at a farm animal exhibit-Tennessee, September-October 2023.

Aims: In October 2023, the Tennessee Department of Health identified an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 infections among elementary school students who attended school field trips to the same farm animal exhibit. Our aim was to determine STEC source and prevent additional illnesses by initiating epidemiologic, laboratory and environmental investigations.

Methods And Results: We identified cases using laboratory-based surveillance and by surveying caregivers of children who attended the exhibit.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Hospitalizations Associated With Social Vulnerability by Census Tract: An Opportunity for Intervention?

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause hospitalization in young children and older adults. With vaccines and monoclonal antibody prophylaxis increasingly available, identifying social factors associated with severe illnesses can guide mitigation efforts.

Methods: Using data collected by the RSV Hospitalization Surveillance Network from 2016 to 2023, we identified RSV hospitalizations in Tennessee.

Implications of Measles Inclusion by Commercial Syndromic Polymerase Chain Reaction Panels - United States, May 2022-April 2023.

Syndromic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panels are used to test for pathogens that can cause rash illnesses, including measles. Rash illnesses have infectious and noninfectious causes, and approximately 5% of persons experience a rash 7-10 days after receipt of a measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. MMR vaccine includes live attenuated measles virus, which is detectable by PCR tests.

Isolated Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor Function Varies Between Mammals.

Concerted robust opening of cardiac ryanodine receptors' (RyR2) Ca release 1oplasmic reticulum (SR) is fundamental for normal systolic cardiac function. During diastole, infrequent spontaneous RyR2 openings mediate the SR Ca leak that normally constrains SR Ca load. Abnormal large diastolic RyR2-mediated Ca leak events can cause delayed after depolarizations (DADs) and arrhythmias.

Lessons Learned From Implementation of Mpox Surveillance During an Outbreak Response in Tennessee, 2022.

Objectives: Mpox surveillance was integral during the 2022 outbreak response. We evaluated implementation of mpox surveillance in Tennessee during an outbreak response and made recommendations for surveillance during emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

Methods: To understand surveillance implementation, system processes, and areas for improvement, we conducted 8 semistructured focus groups and 7 interviews with 36 health care, laboratory, and health department representatives during September 9-20, 2022.

Ligand sensitivity of type-1 inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor is enhanced by the D2594K mutation.

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IPR) and ryanodine receptor (RyR) are homologous cation channels that mediate release of Ca from the endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum (ER/SR) and thereby are involved in many physiological processes. In previous studies, we determined that when the D2594 residue, located at or near the gate of the IPR type 1, was replaced by lysine (D2594K), a gain of function was obtained. This mutant phenotype was characterized by increased IP sensitivity.

Early and Increased Influenza Activity Among Children - Tennessee, 2022-23 Influenza Season.

Influenza seasons typically begin in October and peak between December and February (1); however, the 2022-23 influenza season in Tennessee began in late September and was characterized by high pediatric hospitalization rates during November. This report describes a field investigation conducted in Tennessee during November 2022, following reports of increasing influenza hospitalizations. Data from surveillance networks, patient surveys, and whole genome sequencing of influenza virus specimens were analyzed to assess influenza activity and secondary illness risk.

A gain-of-function mutation in the ITPR1 gating domain causes male infertility in mice.

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor 1 (ITPR1) is an intracellular Ca release channel critical for numerous cellular processes. Despite its ubiquitous physiological significance, ITPR1 mutations have thus far been linked to primarily movement disorders. Surprisingly, most disease-associated ITPR1 mutations generate a loss of function.

Translocation of an Anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla) Infected with Rabies from Virginia to Tennessee Resulting in Multiple Human Exposures, 2021.

On August 16, 2021, the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) was notified of a positive rabies test result from a South American collared anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla) in Washington County, Tennessee. Tamanduas, or lesser anteaters, are a species of anteater in which rabies has not previously been reported. The animal was living at a Tennessee zoo and had been recently translocated from a zoo in Virginia.

Disparities in COVID-19 Mortality Rates: Implications for Rural Health Policy and Preparedness.

Context: It is well established that rural communities face geographic and socioeconomic challenges linked to higher rates of health disparities across the United States, though the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impact on rural communities is less certain.

Objective: To understand the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on rural communities in Tennessee, investigate differences in rural-urban mortality rates after controlling for confounding variables, and inform state pandemic response policy.

Design: A cross-sectional analysis of cumulative COVID-19 morality rates.

SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak among Malayan Tigers and Humans, Tennessee, USA, 2020.

We report an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 involving 3 Malayan tigers (Panthera tigris jacksoni) at a zoo in Tennessee, USA. Investigation identified naturally occurring tiger-to-tiger transmission; genetic sequence change occurred with viral passage. We provide epidemiologic, environmental, and genomic sequencing data for animal and human infections.

Modeling and Simulation of Either Co-Current or Countercurrent Operated Reverse-Osmosis-Based Air Water Generator.

Technologies for obtaining drinkable water are becoming more important as global water consumption steadily increases and climate change progresses. One possibility for obtaining water is the extraction of water vapor from ambient air by means of air water generators (AWG). Previous studies in the field of AWG have mainly dealt with the condensation of humidity on cold surfaces with a cooling system or with absorption and thermal desorption.

Fatal Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adult after SARS-CoV-2 Natural Infection and COVID-19 Vaccination.

We describe a fatal case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in an adult with onset 22 days after a second dose of mRNA coronavirus disease vaccine. Serologic and clinical findings indicated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection occurred before vaccination. The immunopathology of this syndrome, regardless of vaccination status, remains poorly understood.

Characteristics, Comorbidities, and Data Gaps for Coronavirus Disease Deaths, Tennessee, USA.

As of March 2021, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had led to >500,000 deaths in the United States, and the state of Tennessee had the fifth highest number of cases per capita. We reviewed the Tennessee Department of Health COVID-19 surveillance and chart-abstraction data during March 15‒August 15, 2020. Patients who died from COVID-19 were more likely to be older, male, and Black and to have underlying conditions (hereafter comorbidities) than case-patients who survived.

Simulating cardiac Ca release units: effects of RyR cluster size and Ca buffers on diastolic Ca leak.

Leak of Ca out of the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) via ryanodine receptors (RyRs) during diastole is vital to regulate SR Ca levels. This leak can become deleterious when large spontaneous RyR-mediated Ca release events evoke proarrhythmic Ca waves that can lead to delayed after-depolarizations. Here, we model diastolic SR Ca leak at individual SR Ca release sites using computer simulations of RyR arrays like those in the dyadic cleft.

Cardiac ryanodine receptor calcium release deficiency syndrome.

Cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) gain-of-function mutations cause catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, a condition characterized by prominent ventricular ectopy in response to catecholamine stress, which can be reproduced on exercise stress testing (EST). However, reports of sudden cardiac death (SCD) have emerged in EST-negative individuals who have loss-of-function (LOF) RyR2 mutations. The clinical relevance of RyR2 LOF mutations including their pathogenic mechanism, diagnosis, and treatment are all unknowns.

Evaluation of a new air water generator based on absorption and reverse osmosis.

The evaluation of a new air water generator (AWG) based on absorption and reverse osmosis is described. For the evaluation, an aqueous lithium bromide solution has been selected from a wide range of liquids as the absorbent. At high salt mass fractions, the aqueous lithium bromide solution has a low vapour pressure and a high osmotic pressure.