Optimizing Exposure Measures in Large-Scale Household Air Pollution Studies: Results from the Multicountry HAPIN Trial.

Repeated measurements of household air pollution may provide better estimates of average exposure but can add to costs and participant burden. In a randomized trial of gas versus biomass cookstoves in four countries, we took supplemental personal 24-h measurements on a 10% subsample for mothers and infants, interspersed between protocol samples. Mothers had up to five postrandomization protocol measurements over 16 months, while infants had three measurements over one year.

Exposure Contrasts of Women Aged 40-79 Years during the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network Randomized Controlled Trial.

Exposure to household air pollution has been linked to adverse health outcomes among women aged 40-79. Little is known about how shifting from biomass cooking to a cleaner fuel like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) could impact exposures for this population. We report 24-h exposures to particulate matter (PM), black carbon (BC), and carbon monoxide (CO) among women aged 40 to <80 years participating in the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network trial.

Plastome data provides new insights into population differentiation and evolution of Ginkgo in the Sichuan Basin of China.

Background: Ginkgo biloba L., an iconic living fossil, challenges traditional views of evolutionary stasis. While nuclear genomic studies have revealed population structure across China, the evolutionary patterns reflected in maternally inherited plastomes remain unclear, particularly in the Sichuan Basin - a potential glacial refugium that may have played a crucial role in Ginkgo's persistence.

Rural Roads to cognitive Resilience (RRR): A prospective cohort study protocol.

Background: Ambient air pollution, detrimental built and social environments, social isolation (SI), low socioeconomic status (SES), and rural (versus urban) residence have been associated with cognitive decline and risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Research is needed to investigate the influence of ambient air pollution and built and social environments on SI and cognitive decline among rural, disadvantaged, ethnic minority communities. To address this gap, this cohort study will recruit an ethnoracially diverse, rural Florida sample in geographic proximity to seasonal agricultural burning.

Improved Mesenchymal Stem Cell Viability in High-Stiffness, Translational Cartilage Matrix Hydrogels.

Scaffolds made from cartilage extracellular matrix are promising materials for articular cartilage repair, attributed to their intrinsic bioactivity that may promote chondrogenesis. While several cartilage matrix-based scaffolds have supported chondrogenesis and/or , it remains a challenge to balance the biological response (e.g.

Addressing Water Scarcity to Achieve Climate Resilience and Human Health.

Water scarcity is projected to affect half of the world's population, gradually exacerbated by climate change. This article elaborates from a panel discussion at the 2023 United Nations Water Conference on Addressing Water Scarcity to Achieve Climate Resilience and Human Health. Understanding and addressing water scarcity goes beyond hydrological water balances to also include societal and economic measures.

Inter-rater agreement and characterization of pleural line and subpleural fields in canine lung ultrasound: a comparative pilot study between high-frequency linear and curvilinear transducers using B- and M-mode ultrasonographic profiles.

Background: Lung ultrasound (LUS) is increasingly utilized in veterinary medicine to assess pulmonary conditions. However, the characterization of pleural line and subpleural fields using different ultrasound transducers, specifically high-frequency linear ultrasound transducers (HFLUT) and curvilinear transducers (CUT), remains underexplored in canine patients. This study aimed to evaluate inter-rater agreement in the characterization of pleural line and subpleural fields using B- and M-mode ultrasonography in dogs with and without respiratory distress.

Three-Dimensional Electrical Impedance Imaging During Spontaneous Breathing Trials in Patients With Acute Hypoxic Respiratory Failure: A Pilot Study.

The purpose of this work is to evaluate the feasibility of lung imaging using 3D electrical impedance tomography (EIT) during spontaneous breathing trials (SBTs) in patients with acute hypoxic respiratory failure. EIT is a noninvasive, nonionizing, real-time functional imaging technique, suitable for bedside monitoring in critically ill patients. EIT data were collected in 24 mechanically ventilated patients immediately preceding and during a SBT on two rows of 16 electrodes using a simultaneous multicurrent source EIT system for 3D imaging.

Saline Lavage for Sampling of the Canine Nasal Immune Microenvironment.

Evaluating the local immune microenvironment of the canine nasal cavity can be important for investigating normal tissue health and disease conditions, particularly those associated with local inflammation. We have optimized a technique to evaluate the local nasal immune microenvironment of dogs via serial nasal lavage. Briefly, with dogs under anesthesia and positioned in sternal recumbency, prewarmed sterile saline is flushed into the affected nostril using a flexible soft rubber catheter.

Colorado Immersion Training in Community Engagement: Ten years of learning and doing.

The Colorado Immersion Training in Community Engagement (CIT) program supports a change in the research trajectory of junior faculty, early career researchers, and doctoral students toward Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). CIT is within the Community Engagement and Health Equity Core (CEHE) at the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI), an NIH-funded Clinical and Translational Science award. This Translational Science Case Study reports on CIT's impacts from 2010 to 2019.

gscramble: Simulation of Admixed Individuals Without Reuse of Genetic Material.

While a best practice for evaluating the behaviour of genetic clustering algorithms on empirical data is to conduct parallel analyses on simulated data, these types of simulation techniques often involve sampling genetic data with replacement. In this paper we demonstrate that sampling with replacement, especially with large marker sets, inflates the perceived statistical power to correctly assign individuals (or the alleles that they carry) back to source populations-a phenomenon we refer to as resampling-induced, spurious power inflation (RISPI). To address this issue, we present gscramble, a simulation approach in R for creating biologically informed individual genotypes from empirical data that: (1) samples alleles from populations without replacement and (2) segregates alleles based on species-specific recombination rates.

A habitat suitability analysis for three Culicoides species implicated in bluetongue virus transmission in the Southeastern United States.

Culicoides biting midges adversely impact animal health through transmission of multiple orbiviruses, such as bluetongue virus (BTV). This study used light trapping data collected in the Southeastern United States for three Culicoides midge species that are confirmed or suspected BTV vectors: Culicoides insignis, Culicoides stellifer and Culicoides venustus. Midge presence datasets were combined with meteorological data and ecological data to model habitat suitability for each species.

Associations of fire smoke and other pollutants with incident rheumatoid arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease.

Objective: Determine whether pollutants such as fire smoke-related particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM) are associated with incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and RA-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD).

Methods: This case-control study used Veterans Affairs data 10/1/2009-12/31/2018.

Developmental plasticity does not improve performance during a species interaction: Implications for species turnover.

Species interactions can contribute to species turnover when the outcomes of the interactions are context dependent (e.g., change along environmental gradients).

Parametric finite element modeling of reinforced polymeric leaflets for improved durability.

Hyaluronic acid-enhanced polyethylene polymeric TAVR shows excellent in vivo anti-calcific, anti-thrombotic, and in vitro hydrodynamic performance. However, during durability testing, impact wear and fatigue cause early valve failure. Heart valve durability can be improved by strengthening the leaflet with fiber reinforcement.

Adjuvant Chemotherapy Is Associated With Prolonged Survival Time in Small-Breed Dogs Undergoing Amputation for Appendicular Osteosarcoma.

Adjuvant chemotherapy is a well-established treatment for large-breed dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma; however, it is unclear if it improves outcomes in small-breed dogs due to limited focused studies. This retrospective study aimed to investigate the oncologic outcomes of dogs weighting less than 15 kg with appendicular osteosarcoma that underwent curative resection with or without postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Endpoints were time to distant progression (TTDP) and overall survival (OS).

Evolutionary dynamics of mitochondrial genomes and intracellular transfers among diploid and allopolyploid cotton species.

Background: Plant mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) exhibit extensive structural variation yet extremely low nucleotide mutation rates, phenomena that remain only partially understood. The genus Gossypium, a globally important source of cotton, offers a wealth of long-read sequencing resources to explore mitogenome and plastome variation and dynamics accompanying the evolutionary divergence of its approximately 50 diploid and allopolyploid species.

Results: Here, we assembled 19 mitogenomes from Gossypium species, representing all genome groups (diploids A through G, K, and the allopolyploids AD) based on a uniformly applied strategy.

Governance of Indigenous data in open earth systems science.

In the age of big data and open science, what processes are needed to follow open science protocols while upholding Indigenous Peoples' rights? The Earth Data Relations Working Group (EDRWG), convened to address this question and envision a research landscape that acknowledges the legacy of extractive practices and embraces new norms across Earth science institutions and open science research. Using the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) as an example, the EDRWG recommends actions, applicable across all phases of the data lifecycle, that recognize the sovereign rights of Indigenous Peoples and support better research across all Earth Sciences.

A Novel Telehealth Exercise Program Designed for Rural Survivors of Cancer With Cancer-Related Fatigue: Single-Arm Feasibility Trial.

Background: Exercise interventions are among the best-known interventions for cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Rural survivors of cancer, however, report specific barriers to engaging in exercise programs and lack overall access to effective programs.

Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to assess the feasibility of a novel telehealth exercise program designed specifically for rural survivors of cancer with CRF.

Outcomes associated with local treatment of nasal planum squamous cell carcinoma in dogs: 89 cases (2003-2020).

Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics, treatments, complications, and outcomes in dogs with nasal planum squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) undergoing local treatment.

Methods: A retrospective, multi-institutional study was performed. Medical records were searched to identify dogs diagnosed with nasal planum SCC.

The role of chromatin state in intron retention: A case study in leveraging large scale deep learning models.

Complex deep learning models trained on very large datasets have become key enabling tools for current research in natural language processing and computer vision. By providing pre-trained models that can be fine-tuned for specific applications, they enable researchers to create accurate models with minimal effort and computational resources. Large scale genomics deep learning models come in two flavors: the first are large language models of DNA sequences trained in a self-supervised fashion, similar to the corresponding natural language models; the second are supervised learning models that leverage large scale genomics datasets from ENCODE and other sources.