Preliminary Study on Clinical Characteristics and Pathogenesis of Mutations Patients.

Background: The IQ motif and Sec7 domain ArfGEF 2 (), an X-linked gene that encodes the BRAG1 protein, is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for the ADP ribosylation factor (ARF) protein family in the small guanosine triphosphate (GTP) binding protein. Mutations in this gene result in disorders such as intellectual disability (ID) and epilepsy. In this study, we analyze the clinical features of two patients with -mutation-related disease and discuss their possible pathogenesis.

Modulatory effects of dietary saturated fatty acids on platelet mitochondrial function following short-term exposure to ambient Particulate Matter (PM).

Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM) was found to produce vascular injury, possibly by activating platelets within days after exposure. The aim of this study was to investigate the modulatory effects of dietary saturated fatty acids on platelet mitochondrial respiratory parameters following short-term inhalational exposure to PM. A total of 22 healthy male volunteers were recruited from the Research Triangle area of North Carolina.

The effect Of vascular related CeRNA genes and corresponding imaging biomarkers on survival in lower grade glioma.

Background & Aims: To investigate the differential expression of vascular related ceRNA regulatory genes in LGG with different mutations of IDH1 and MGMT, and to verify imaging gene markers that can be closely associated with vascular related ceRNA regulatory genes.

Method: Five hundred fifteen patients with LGG were collected from TCGA database. CeRNA network analysis, GO analysis and Cox risk regression were used to find vascular ceRNA regulatory genes and their genetic markers related to survival.

Effects of Controlled Ozone Exposure on Circulating microRNAs and Vascular and Coagulation Biomarkers: A Mediation Analysis.

Exposure to ozone (O) is associated with adverse respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes. Alterations in circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) may contribute to the adverse vascular effects of O exposure through inter-cellular communication resulting in post-transcriptional regulation of messenger RNAs by miRNAs. In this study, we investigated whether O exposure induces alterations in circulating miRNAs that can mediate effects on downstream vascular and coagulation biomarkers.

Constrained control using novel nonlinear mapping for underactuated unmanned surface vehicles with unknown sideslip angle.

This paper addresses the problem of guidance and control for underactuated unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) with state constraints and input saturation, in support of enabling an underactuated USV to follow a parameterized curved path in the case of unknown sideslip angle and cross-tracking error constraint. First, a cross-tracking error constraint line-of-sight (LOS) guidance law with sideslip angle compensation is originally designed to guide an underactuated USV to convergence to the desired path within a time-varying cross-tracking error constraint. Second, a novel nonlinear mapping (NM) function is first constructed to map the heading and surge control subsystems with state constraints to unconstrained nonlinear systems, transforming the constrained control problem into the unconstrained control problem.

Improvement in Fitted Filtration Efficiency of N95 Respirators With Escalating Instruction of the Wearer.

Introduction: Fitted filtration performance of an N95 respirator may benefit from differing levels of instructions.

Methods: Using a modified Occupational Safety and Health Administration fit test protocol, we measured fitted filtration efficiency for an N95 respirator in 21 screened, healthy participants given 4 levels of escalating instruction: (1) uninstructed (baseline), (2) written/pictorial manufacturer instructions, (3) step-by-step video demonstration, and (4) staff instruction (visual inspection of respirator fit and verbal suggestions to adjust when applicable).

Results: Baseline fitted filtration efficiency was not significantly different between participants with or without previous experience of N95 use.

The Practical Effect of Action Intervention Strategy Combined Based on Surgical and Psychological Factors.

This study mainly analyzes the related surgical and psychological factors that cause the change of thirst degree after gastrointestinal surgery, and observes the practical effect of action intervention strategy combined with the two factors on reducing postoperative thirst degree. Based on this, the clinical data of 87 patients who underwent gastrointestinal tumor resection in our hospital from January 2020 to January 2021 is retrospectively analyzed. The degree of thirst is evaluated by the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the subjects are divided into three groups: a mild group ( = 29), a moderate group ( = 35), and a severe group ( = 23), and their psychological and surgical indicators are compared and analyzed.

Can disposable masks be worn more than once?

Disposable facemasks are a primary tool to prevent the transmission of SARS-COV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, plastic waste generated from their disposal represents a significant environmental problem that can be reduced by maximizing the service life of disposable masks. We evaluated the effect of repeated wearing on the fitted filtration efficiency (FFE) of N95, KF94, KN95, and procedure/surgical masks.

Fish oil blunts lung function decrements induced by acute exposure to ozone in young healthy adults: A randomized trial.

Background: Over one-third of the U.S. population is exposed to unsafe levels of ozone (O).

Exposures to low-levels of fine particulate matter are associated with acute changes in heart rate variability, cardiac repolarization, and circulating blood lipids in coronary artery disease patients.

Exposure to air pollution is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, disease risk factors, and mortality. Specifically, particulate matter (PM), and to some extent ozone, are contributors to these effects. In addition, exposures to these pollutants may be especially dangerous for susceptible populations.

Circulating microRNAs as putative mediators in the association between short-term exposure to ambient air pollution and cardiovascular biomarkers.

Background: Exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) may mediate cardiovascular effects of exposure to air pollution. This study aims to investigate whether circulating miRNAs mediate the associations between short-term human exposure to ambient air pollution and cardiovascular biomarkers.

Omega-3 fatty acids attenuate cardiovascular effects of short-term exposure to ambient air pollution.

Background: Exposure to air pollution is associated with elevated cardiovascular risk. Evidence shows that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (omega-3 PUFA) may attenuate the adverse cardiovascular effects of exposure to fine particulate matter (PM). However, it is unclear whether habitual dietary intake of omega-3 PUFA protects against the cardiovascular effects of short-term exposure to low-level ambient air pollution in healthy participants.

The influence of dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the association between short-term exposure to ambient nitrogen dioxide and respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes among healthy adults.

Background: Short-term exposure to ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO) is associated with adverse respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes. Supplementation of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) has shown protection against exposure to fine particulate matter. This study aims to investigate whether habitual omega-3 PUFA intake differentially modify the associations between respiratory and cardiovascular responses and short-term exposure to ambient NO.

Lung Function and Short-Term Ambient Air Pollution Exposure: Differential Impacts of Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids.

Exposure to air pollution is associated with adverse respiratory effects. Polyunsaturated omega 3 (n-3) fatty acids (FAs) appear to attenuate the health effects of air pollution. This panel study evaluated whether n-3 FA intake and blood levels of polyunsaturated omega 6 (n-6) FAs can modulate the associations between respiratory effects and short-term exposure to ambient air pollution in healthy adults.

Assessing the effect of beard hair lengths on face masks used as personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Globally, a large percentage of men keep a beard at least occasionally. Workplace regulations prohibit beards with N95 respirators, but there is little information on the effect of beards with face masks worn by the public for protection against SARS-CoV-2.

Methods And Findings: We examined the fitted filtration efficiency (FFE) of five commonly worn protective face masks as a function of beard length following the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration Quantitative Fit Test: N95 (respirator), KF94 and KN95, surgical/procedure, and cloth masks.

Fitted Filtration Efficiency of Double Masking During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This quality improvement study compares the fitted filtration efficiency of commonly available face masks worn singly, doubled, or in combinations.

Cardiovascular health impacts of wildfire smoke exposure.

In recent years, wildland fires have occurred more frequently and with increased intensity in many fire-prone areas. In addition to the direct life and economic losses attributable to wildfires, the emitted smoke is a major contributor to ambient air pollution, leading to significant public health impacts. Wildfire smoke is a complex mixture of particulate matter (PM), gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds.

Diets enriched with coconut, fish, or olive oil modify peripheral metabolic effects of ozone in rats.

Dietary factors may modulate metabolic effects of air pollutant exposures. We hypothesized that diets enriched with coconut oil (CO), fish oil (FO), or olive oil (OO) would alter ozone-induced metabolic responses. Male Wistar-Kyoto rats (1-month-old) were fed normal diet (ND), or CO-, FO-, or OO-enriched diets.

Fish oil and olive oil-enriched diets alleviate acute ozone-induced cardiovascular effects in rats.

Fish oil (FO) and olive oil (OO) supplementations attenuate the cardiovascular responses to inhaled concentrated ambient particles in human volunteers. This study was designed to examine the cardiovascular effects of ozone (O) exposure and the efficacy of FO and OO-enriched diets in attenuating the cardiovascular effects from O exposure in rats. Rats were fed either a normal diet (ND), a diet enriched with 6% FO or OO starting at 4 weeks of age.

Filtration Efficiency of Hospital Face Mask Alternatives Available for Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: Procuring respiratory protection for clinicians and other health care workers has become a major challenge of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and has resulted in nonstandard practices such as the use of expired respirators and various decontamination processes to prolong the useful life of respirators in health care settings. In addition, imported, non-National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-approved respirators have been donated or acquired by hospitals as a potential replacement for limited NIOSH-approved N95 respirators.

Objective: To assess fitted filtration efficiencies (FFEs) for face mask alternatives used during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The last known freshwater coelacanths: New Late Cretaceous mawsoniid remains (Osteichthyes: Actinistia) from Southern France.

Coelacanths are iconic fishes represented today by a single marine genus. The group was a little bit more diversified in the Mesozoic, with representatives in marine and continental environments in the Late Cretaceous. Here we describe isolated skull bones of the last know freshwater coelacanths found in several fossil sites from the Early Campanian to the Early Maastrichtian of Southern France (in the Departments of Aude, Bouches-du-Rhône, Hérault, and Var).

Effects of ambient ozone exposure on circulating extracellular vehicle microRNA levels in coronary artery disease patients.

Exposure to ambient air pollutants such as ozone (O) and particulate matter (PM) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and rate of mortality, but the underlying biological mechanisms have yet to be described. Emerging evidence shows that extracellular vehicle (EV) microRNAs (miRNAs) may facilitate cell-to-cell and organ-to-organ communications and play a role in the air pollution-induced cardiovascular effects. This study aims to explore the association between air pollutant exposure and miRNA changes related to cardiovascular diseases.

Cardiovascular effects of diesel exhaust inhalation: photochemically altered versus freshly emitted in mice.

This study was designed to compare the cardiovascular effects of inhaled photochemically altered diesel exhaust (aged DE) to freshly emitted DE (fresh DE) in female C57Bl/6 mice. Mice were exposed to either fresh DE, aged DE, or filtered air (FA) for 4 hr using an environmental irradiation chamber. Cardiac responses were assessed 8 hr after exposure utilizing Langendorff preparation with a protocol consisting of 20 min of perfusion and 20 min of ischemia followed by 2 hr of reperfusion.

Development of TracMyAir Smartphone Application for Modeling Exposures to Ambient PM and Ozone.

Air pollution epidemiology studies of ambient fine particulate matter (PM) and ozone (O) often use outdoor concentrations as exposure surrogates. Failure to account for the variability of the indoor infiltration of ambient PM and O, and time indoors, can induce exposure errors. We developed an exposure model called TracMyAir, which is an iPhone application ("app") that determines seven tiers of individual-level exposure metrics in real-time for ambient PM and O using outdoor concentrations, weather, home building characteristics, time-locations, and time-activities.