medRxiv
Genomics and the Environment in Respiratory and Allergic Health Group, Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Durham, NC, USA.
Published: August 2023
Background: Farm work entails a heterogeneous mixture of exposures that vary considerably across farms and farmers. Farm work is associated with various health outcomes, both adverse and beneficial. One mechanism by which farming exposures can impact health is through the microbiome, including the indoor built environment microbiome. It is unknown how individual occupational exposures shape the microbial composition in workers' homes.
Objectives: We investigated associations between farm work activities, including specific tasks and pesticide use, and the indoor microbiome in the homes of 468 male farmers.
Methods: Participants were licensed pesticide applicators, mostly farmers, enrolled in the Agricultural Lung Health Study from 2008-2011. Vacuumed dust from participants' bedrooms underwent whole-genome shotgun sequencing for indoor microbiome assessment. Using questionnaire data, we evaluated 6 farm work tasks (processing of either hay, silage, animal feed, fertilizer, or soy/grains, and cleaning grain bins) and 19 pesticide ingredients currently used in the past year, plus 7 persistent banned pesticide ingredients ever used.
Results: All 6 work tasks were associated with increased within-sample microbial diversity, with a positive dose-response for the sum of tasks (p=0.001). All tasks were associated with altered overall microbial compositions (weighted UniFrac p=0.001) and with higher abundance of specific microbes, including soil-based microbes such as . Among the 19 pesticides, only current use of glyphosate and past use of lindane were associated with increased within-sample diversity (p=0.02-0.04). Ten currently used pesticides and all 7 banned pesticides were associated with altered microbial composition (p=0.001-0.04). Six pesticides were associated with differential abundance of certain microbes.
Discussion: Specific farm activities and exposures can impact the dust microbiome inside homes. Our work suggests that occupational farm exposures could impact the health of workers and their families through modifying the indoor environment, specifically the microbial composition of house dust, offering possible future intervention targets.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.17.23293194 | DOI Listing |
Heliyon
January 2025
Center for Food Security Studies, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
Agriculture has been recognized as a key sector to leverage for improved food security. Yet, the evidence on agriculture-gender linkages to food security is still scarce and winding. This study investigates the impact of women empowerment in agriculture on efficiency and food security of households and individuals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Vet Res
January 2025
Theriogenology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, New-Valley University, New Valley, 725211, Egypt.
Background: Saidi sheep are one of the most important farm animals in Upper Egypt, particularly in the Assiut governorate. Since they can provide meat, milk, fiber, and skins from low-quality roughages, sheep are among the most economically valuable animals bred for food in Egypt. Regarding breeding, relatively little is known about the Saidi breed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMC Health Serv Res
January 2025
Te Aka Whai Ora (Māori Health Authority), Auckland, New Zealand.
Background: Breast cancer screening in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) still has persistent inequitable coverage by ethnicity, especially for Indigenous Māori women. This project aimed to undertake systematic data linkage to identify and invite eligible Māori women to participate in breast screening.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study conducted in Northern New Zealand between 1/01/2020 and 30/06/2021.
Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi
December 2024
State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Beijing 100700, China.
Black-bone silky fowls(Gallus gallus domesticus) have a long history of medicinal use, with the origin in Taihe county, Jiangxi province. The unclear family composition, inbreeding rate, and effective population size were inconducive to the resource conservation or breed improvement of black-bone silky fowls. A genome-wide analysis was performed to evaluate the genetic diversity of 80 black-bone silky fowls from random mating in three farms in 2021 in terms of minor allele frequency(MAF), expected heterozygosity(H_e), observed heterozygosity(H_o), effective population size(N_e), and runs of homozygosity(ROH).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeliyon
January 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mohammadia School of Engineering, Avenue Ibn Sina B.P 765, Agdal, Rabat, 10090, Morocco.
Enhanced penstock structural models significantly advance hydropower engineering, yet their increasing complexity introduces challenges. As model interactions intensify, predictability and comprehensibility decrease, complicating the evaluation of model accuracy and alignment with operational performance metrics and safety standards. This issue is particularly pronounced in dynamic modeling, where knowledge gaps hinder straightforward validation via observational data.
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