Drinking water sources, quality, and associated health outcomes in Appalachian Virginia: A risk characterization study in two counties.

Objectives: In the US, violations of drinking water regulations are highest in lower-income rural areas overall, and particularly in Central Appalachia. However, data on drinking water use, quality, and associated health outcomes in rural Appalachia are limited. We sought to assess public and private drinking water sources and associated risk factors for waterborne pathogen exposures for individuals living in rural regions of Appalachian Virginia.

Time outdoors and residential greenness are associated with reduced systemic inflammation and allostatic load.

Contacts with nature are linked with reduced morbidity and mortality. Hypothesized pathways include relaxation, physical activity, and improved immune function. This cross-sectional study of 320 adults in central North Carolina assessed health benefits of residential greenness using allostatic load (AL) and systemic inflammation (INFL) indices, composite biomarker-based measures of physiological dysregulation and inflammation, respectively.

CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis of the GROWTH-REGULATING FACTOR (GRF) gene family.

Genome editing in plants typically relies on T-DNA plasmids that are mobilized by -mediated transformation to deliver the CRISPR/Cas machinery. Here, we introduce a series of CRISPR/Cas9 T-DNA vectors for minimal settings, such as teaching labs. Gene-specific targeting sequences can be inserted as annealed short oligonucleotides in a single straightforward cloning step.

Recreational water exposure and waterborne infections in a prospective salivary antibody study at a Lake Michigan beach.

In a prospective observational study, seroconversion to a specific pathogen can serve as a marker of an incident infection, whether or not that infection is symptomatic or clinically diagnosed. While self-reported symptoms can be affected by reporting bias, seroconversion is likely to be free of this bias as it is based on objective measurements of antibody response. Non-invasive salivary antibody tests can be used instead of serum tests to detect seroconversions in prospective studies.

A Multiplex Noninvasive Salivary Antibody Assay for SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Its Application in a Population-Based Survey by Mail.

Noninvasive salivary antibody immunoassays can enable low-cost epidemiological surveillance of infections. This study involved developing and validating a multiplex suspension immunoassay on the Luminex platform to measure immunoglobulin G (IgG) responses to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid and spike (S) proteins, and the spike protein's S1 and S2 subunits and receptor binding domain. Multiple versions of these recombinant proteins acquired from commercial and noncommercial sources were evaluated.