Enabling Data Discovery with the Astrobiology Resource Metadata Standard.

As scientific investigations increasingly adopt Open Science practices, reuse of data becomes paramount. However, despite decades of progress in internet search tools, finding relevant astrobiology datasets for an envisioned investigation remains challenging due to the precise and atypical needs of the astrobiology researcher. In response, we have developed the Astrobiology Resource Metadata Standard (ARMS), a metadata standard designed to uniformly describe astrobiology "resources," that is, virtually any product of astrobiology research.

Genomic basis for the unique phenotype of the alkaliphilic purple nonsulfur bacterium Rhodobaca bogoriensis.

Although several species of purple sulfur bacteria inhabit soda lakes, Rhodobaca bogoriensis is the first purple nonsulfur bacterium cultured from such highly alkaline environments. Rhodobaca bogoriensis strain LBB1 was isolated from Lake Bogoria, a soda lake in the African Rift Valley. The phenotype of Rhodobaca bogoriensis is unique among purple bacteria; the organism is alkaliphilic but not halophilic, produces carotenoids absent from other purple nonsulfur bacteria, and is unable to grow autotrophically or fix molecular nitrogen.

MyLynch: A Patient-Facing Clinical Decision Support Tool for Genetically-Guided Personalized Medicine in Lynch Syndrome.

Lynch syndrome (LS) is a hereditary cancer susceptibility condition associated with varying cancer risks depending on which of the five causative genes harbors a pathogenic variant; however, lifestyle and medical interventions provide options to lower those risks. We developed MyLynch, a patient-facing clinical decision support (CDS) web application that applies genetically-guided personalized medicine (GPM) for individuals with LS. The tool was developed in R Shiny through a patient-focused iterative design process.

Absence of canonical trophic levels in a microbial mat.

In modern ecosystems, the carbon stable isotope (δ C) ratios of consumers generally conform to the principle "you are what you eat, +1‰." However, this metric may not apply to microbial mat systems where diverse communities, using a variety of carbon substrates via multiple assimilation pathways, live in close physical association and phagocytosis is minimal or absent. To interpret the δ C record of the Proterozoic and early Paleozoic, when mat-based productivity likely was widespread, it is necessary to understand how a microbially driven producer-consumer structure affects the δ C compositions of biomass and preservable lipids.

Genomic Features of the Bundle-Forming Heliobacterium .

Eight species of heliobacteria have had their genomes sequenced. However, only two of these genomes have been analyzed in detail, those from the thermophilic and the alkaliphilic . Here we present analyses of the draft genome sequence of a species of heliobacterium that grows optimally at a moderate temperature and neutral pH.

Fatigue in NTSB investigations 2013-2019: evidence of accidents and injuries.

This study updates the prevalence of operator fatigue as a causative factor in accidents investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the associated injury severity in fatigue-related accidents. In total, 394 investigations were analyzed and 12% of them identified fatigue. The prevalence of fatigue varied among the transportation modes, ranging from 28% of aviation to 7% of marine.

Discovery of Chlorophyll : Isolation and Characterization of a Far-Red Cyanobacterium from the Original Site of Manning and Strain (1943) at Moss Beach, California.

We have isolated a chlorophyll--containing cyanobacterium from the intertidal field site at Moss Beach, on the coast of Central California, USA, where Manning and Strain (1943) originally discovered this far-red chlorophyll. Here, we present the cyanobacterium's environmental description, culturing procedure, pigment composition, ultrastructure, and full genome sequence. Among cultures of far-red cyanobacteria obtained from red algae from the same site, this strain was an epiphyte on a brown macroalgae.

Anaerobic 3-methylhopanoid production by an acidophilic photosynthetic purple bacterium.

Bacterial lipids are well-preserved in ancient rocks and certain ones have been used as indicators of specific bacterial metabolisms or environmental conditions existing at the time of rock deposition. Here we show that an anaerobic bacterium produces 3-methylhopanoids, pentacyclic lipids previously detected only in aerobic bacteria and widely used as biomarkers for methane-oxidizing bacteria. Both Rhodopila globiformis, a phototrophic purple nonsulfur bacterium isolated from an acidic warm spring in Yellowstone, and a newly isolated Rhodopila species from a geochemically similar spring in Lassen Volcanic National Park (USA), synthesized 3-methylhopanoids and a suite of related hopanoids and contained the genes encoding the necessary biosynthetic enzymes.

High-Quality Genome-Scale Models From Error-Prone, Long-Read Assemblies.

Advances in nanopore-based sequencing techniques have enabled rapid characterization of genomes and transcriptomes. An emerging application of this sequencing technology is point-of-care characterization of pathogenic bacteria. However, genome assessments alone are unable to provide a complete understanding of the pathogenic phenotype.

Spectropolarimetry of Primitive Phototrophs as Global Surface Biosignatures.

Photosynthesis is an ancient metabolic process that began on early Earth and offers plentiful energy to organisms that can utilize it such that that they achieve global significance. The potential exists for similar processes to operate on habitable exoplanets and result in observable biosignatures. Before the advent of oxygenic photosynthesis, the most primitive phototrophs, anoxygenic phototrophs, dominated surface environments on the planet.

An application to support COVID-19 occupational health and patient tracking at a Veterans Affairs medical center.

Objective: Reducing risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection among healthcare personnel requires a robust occupational health response involving multiple disciplines. We describe a flexible informatics solution to enable such coordination, and we make it available as open-source software.

Materials And Methods: We developed a stand-alone application that integrates data from several sources, including electronic health record data and data captured outside the electronic health record.

Sleep and Transportation Safety: Role of the Employer.

Human fatigue is an important factor in transportation safety and a major causal factor of accidents. Employers play a vital role in minimizing fatigue-related risk, and are legally liable for damages arising from failure to address the risk. By taking an active role as stakeholders in transportation safety, employers not only reduce their risk of adverse safety events and limit their legal liability but may also benefit from improvements in productivity, morale, and health care expenditures.

Drowning Management.

Highly skilled swimmers and aquatically adaptable service members such as U.S. Navy Divers, Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) Teams, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians, die every year from drowning.

Constraints on the Metabolic Activity of Microorganisms in Atacama Surface Soils Inferred from Refractory Biomarkers: Implications for Martian Habitability and Biomarker Detection.

Dryness is one of the main environmental challenges to microbial survival. Understanding the threshold of microbial tolerance to extreme dryness is relevant to better constrain the environmental limits of life on Earth and critically evaluate long-term habitability models of Mars. Biomolecular proxies for microbial adaptation and growth were measured in Mars-like hyperarid surface soils in the Atacama Desert that experience only a few millimeters of precipitation per decade, and in biologically active soils a few hundred kilometers away that experience two- to fivefold more precipitation.

Exoplanet Biosignatures: Understanding Oxygen as a Biosignature in the Context of Its Environment.

We describe how environmental context can help determine whether oxygen (O) detected in extrasolar planetary observations is more likely to have a biological source. Here we provide an in-depth, interdisciplinary example of O biosignature identification and observation, which serves as the prototype for the development of a general framework for biosignature assessment. Photosynthetically generated O is a potentially strong biosignature, and at high abundance, it was originally thought to be an unambiguous indicator for life.

Exoplanet Biosignatures: At the Dawn of a New Era of Planetary Observations.

The rapid rate of discoveries of exoplanets has expanded the scope of the science possible for the remote detection of life beyond Earth. The Exoplanet Biosignatures Workshop Without Walls (EBWWW) held in 2016 engaged the international scientific community across diverse scientific disciplines, to assess the state of the science and technology in the search for life on exoplanets, and to identify paths for progress. The workshop activities resulted in five major review papers, which provide (1) an encyclopedic review of known and proposed biosignatures and models used to ascertain them (Schwieterman et al.

Exoplanet Biosignatures: A Review of Remotely Detectable Signs of Life.

In the coming years and decades, advanced space- and ground-based observatories will allow an unprecedented opportunity to probe the atmospheres and surfaces of potentially habitable exoplanets for signatures of life. Life on Earth, through its gaseous products and reflectance and scattering properties, has left its fingerprint on the spectrum of our planet. Aided by the universality of the laws of physics and chemistry, we turn to Earth's biosphere, both in the present and through geologic time, for analog signatures that will aid in the search for life elsewhere.

Influence of UGT2B10 Genotype on Urinary Excretion of 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol- N-glucuronide by African American Smokers.

At similar smoking levels, African American's lung cancer risk is as much as twice that of whites. We hypothesized that racial/ethnic differences in UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT)-catalyzed glucuronidation of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), a detoxication pathway for the tobacco-specific lung carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) may contribute to this variable risk. UGT2B10 catalyzes NNAL- N-glucuronidation, and a UGT2B10 splice variant is common among African Americans.

Biosignature Preservation and Detection in Mars Analog Environments.

This review of material relevant to the Conference on Biosignature Preservation and Detection in Mars Analog Environments summarizes the meeting materials and discussions and is further expanded upon by detailed references to the published literature. From this diverse source material, there is a detailed discussion on the habitability and biosignature preservation potential of five primary analog environments: hydrothermal spring systems, subaqueous environments, subaerial environments, subsurface environments, and iron-rich systems. Within the context of exploring past habitable environments on Mars, challenges common to all of these key environments are laid out, followed by a focused discussion for each environment regarding challenges to orbital and ground-based observations and sample selection.

The Utility of Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin in Hypogonadism and Infertile Males.

Purpose: We sought to determine the role of sex hormone-binding globulin in patients with male infertility.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 168 males seen at a fertility clinic from 2012 to 2014 to investigate the accuracy of total testosterone in the biochemical diagnosis of hypogonadism using calculated bioavailable testosterone as the reference value. We used multivariable analysis to assess sex hormone-binding globulin as an independent predictor of infertility.

Xeropreservation of functionalized lipid biomarkers in hyperarid soils in the Atacama Desert.

Our understanding of long-term organic matter preservation comes mostly from studies in aquatic systems. In contrast, taphonomic processes in extremely dry environments are relatively understudied and are poorly understood. We investigated the accumulation and preservation of lipid biomarkers in hyperarid soils in the Yungay region of the Atacama Desert.

Production and early preservation of lipid biomarkers in iron hot springs.

The bicarbonate-buffered anoxic vent waters at Chocolate Pots hot springs in Yellowstone National Park are 51-54°C, pH 5.5-6.0, and are very high in dissolved Fe(II) at 5.

The role of spatial representation in the development of a LUR model for Ottawa, Canada.

A land use regression (LUR) model for the mapping of NO(2) concentrations in Ottawa, Canada was created based on data from 29 passive air quality samplers from the City of Ottawa's National Capital Air Quality Mapping Project and two permanent stations. Model sensitivity was assessed against three spatial representations of population: population at the dissemination area level, population at the dissemination block level and a dasymetrically derived population representation. A spatial database with land use, roads, population, zoning, greenspaces and elevation was created.

Relationship between propagule pressure and colonization pressure in invasion ecology: a test with ships' ballast.

Increasing empirical evidence indicates the number of released individuals (i.e. propagule pressure) and number of released species (i.