Different aspects of the environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure of children in Germany have been investigated in the German Environmental Survey for Children (GerES IV). The field work of GerES IV was conducted from 2003 to 2006 using questionnaires, indoor air monitoring and human biomonitoring. About half of Germany's 3- to 14-year-old children lived in households with at least one smoker. The number of smokers in the household had a significant influence on the concentrations of several indoor air contaminants (VOC and aldehydes). Human biomonitoring data on cotinine were used to identify the levels of exposure to ETS. Urinary cotinine is correlated with several predictors of ETS and is also associated with other toxicants in non-smoking children, e.g. cadmium. Temporal comparison indicated that in the last 15 years no decrease of children's ETS exposure has been achieved in Germany.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2009.01.023 | DOI Listing |
Commun Biol
January 2025
Institute of Phytopathology, Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26, 35392, Giessen, Germany.
In vertebrates and plants, dsRNA plays crucial roles as PAMP and as a mediator of RNAi. How higher fungi respond to dsRNA is not known. We demonstrate that Magnaporthe oryzae (Mo), a globally significant crop pathogen, internalizes dsRNA across a broad size range of 21 to about 3000 bp.
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January 2025
Institute of Medical Biometry and Statistics, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center-University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
The characteristics of data produced by omics technologies are pivotal, as they critically influence the feasibility and effectiveness of computational methods applied in downstream analyses, such as data harmonization and differential abundance analyses. Furthermore, variability in these data characteristics across datasets plays a crucial role, leading to diverging outcomes in benchmarking studies, which are essential for guiding the selection of appropriate analysis methods in all omics fields. Additionally, downstream analysis tools are often developed and applied within specific omics communities due to the presumed differences in data characteristics attributed to each omics technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
January 2025
Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, LMU Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.
The evolutionary impact of epigenetic variation depends on its transgenerational stability and source - whether genetically determined, environmentally induced, or due to spontaneous, genotype-independent mutations. Here, we evaluate current approaches for investigating an independent role of epigenetics in evolution, pinpointing methodological challenges. We further identify opportunities arising from integrating epigenetic data with population genetic analyses in natural populations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethods Cell Biol
January 2025
Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain; Servei d'Immunologia, Centre de Diagnòstic Biomèdic, Hospital Clínic Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Biomedicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address:
Mice models serve as a valuable tool to study microbiome-immune system interactions. While the use of germ-free mice may represent the gold-standard method, antibiotic-based microbiome depletion provides a more cost-efficient and feasible system. The protocol here in presented provides a mild antimicrobial regime to deplete basal microbiota in 8-week-old C57BL/6 mice, aiming to ensure reproducibility in microbiota studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Data
January 2025
Remote Sensing Centre for Earth System Research (RSC4Earth), Leipzig University, Leipzig, 04103, Germany.
With climate extremes' rising frequency and intensity, robust analytical tools are crucial to predict their impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. Machine learning techniques show promise but require well-structured, high-quality, and curated analysis-ready datasets. Earth observation datasets comprehensively monitor ecosystem dynamics and responses to climatic extremes, yet the data complexity can challenge the effectiveness of machine learning models.
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