72 research outputs found
Oral History Interview with Erv Uecker and Ross Walker, May 15, 2017
No full textErv Uecker and Ross Walker discuss the early years of the Brady Street East STD Clinic (BESTD), the evolution of HIV/AIDS testing, fundraising for BESTD, and education initiatives and outreach opportunities
Identification and characterization of ERV-W-like sequences in Platyrrhini species provides new insights into the evolutionary history of ERV-W in primates
No full textBackground: Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) constitute approximately 8% of every human genome and are relics of ancestral infections that affected the germ line cells. The ERV-W group contributed to primate physiology by providing an envelope protein (Syncytin-1) that has been adopted for placenta development in hominoids. Expression of Human ERV-W (HERV-W) sequences is investigated for a pathological role in various human diseases. Results: We previously characterized ERV-W group genomic sequences in human and non-human Catarrhini species. We now investigated ERV-W-like sequences in the parvorder Platyrrhini, especially regarding two species with complete genome assemblies, namely marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis). We identified in both species proviral sequences, annotated as ERV1-1 in respective genome assemblies, sharing high sequence similarities with Catarrhini ERV-W. A total of 130 relatively intact proviruses from the genomes of marmoset and squirrel monkey were characterized regarding their structural and evolutionarily relationships with Catarrhini ERV-W elements. Platyrrhini ERV-W sequences share several structural features with Catarrhini ERV-W elements and are closely related phylogenetically with the latter as well as with other ERV-W-related gammaretrovirus-like ERVs. The ERV-W group colonized Platyrrhini primates of both Callitrichidae and Atelidae lineages, with provirus formations having occurred mostly between 25 and 15 mya. Two LTR subgroups were associated with monophyletic proviral bodies. A pre-gag region appears to be a sequence feature common to the ERV-W group: it harbors a putative intron sequence that is missing in some ERV-W loci, holding a putative ORF as well. The presence of a long pre-gag portion was confirmed among all gammaretroviral ERV analyzed, suggesting a role in the latter biology. It is noteworthy that, contrary to Catarrhini ERV-W, there was no evidence of L1-mediated mobilization for Platyrrhini ERV-W sequences. Conclusions: Our data establish that ERV-W is not exclusive to Catarrhini primates but colonized both parvorders of Simiiformes, providing further insight into the evolution of ERV-W and the colonization of primate genomes. © 2020 The Author(s)
Author Correction: A HML6 endogenous retrovirus on chromosome 3 is upregulated in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis motor cortex
Full text linkThere is increasing evidence that endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) play a significant role in central nervous system diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Studies of ALS have consistently identified retroviral enzyme reverse transcriptase activity in patients. Evidence indicates that ERVs are the cause of reverse transcriptase activity in ALS, but it is currently unclear whether this is due to a specific ERV locus or a family of ERVs. We employed a combination of bioinformatic methods to identify whether specific ERVs or ERV families are associated with ALS. Using the largest post-mortem RNA-sequence datasets available we selectively identified ERVs that closely resembled full-length proviruses. In the discovery dataset there was one ERV locus (HML6_3p21.31c) that showed significant increased expression in post-mortem motor cortex tissue after multiple-testing correction. Using six replication post-mortem datasets we found HML6_3p21.31c was consistently upregulated in ALS in motor cortex and cerebellum tissue. In addition, HML6_3p21.31c showed significant co-expression with cytokine binding and genes involved in EBV, HTLV-1 and HIV type-1 infections. There were no significant differences in ERV family expression between ALS and controls. Our results support the hypothesis that specific ERV loci are involved in ALS pathology
Influence of Prolonged Serotonin and Ergovaline Pre-Exposure on Vasoconstriction Ex Vivo
Full text linkErgot alkaloid mycotoxins interfere in many functions associated with serotonergic neurotransmitters. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate whether the association of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) and ergot alkaloids during a 24 h pre-incubation could affect the vascular contractile response to ergot alkaloids. To evaluate the effects of 24 h exposure to 5-HT and ergot alkaloids (ergovaline, ERV), two assays were conducted. The first assay determined the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) following the 24 h pre-exposure period, while the second assay evaluated the effect of IC50 concentrations of 5-HT and ERV either individually or in combination. There was an interaction between previous exposure to 5-HT and ERV. Previous exposure to 5-HT at the IC50 concentration of 7.57 × 10−7 M reduced the contractile response by more than 50% of control, while the exposure to ERV at IC50 dose of 1.57 × 10−10 M tended to decrease (p = 0.081) vessel contractility with a response higher than 50% of control. The 24 h previous exposure to both 5-HT and ERV did not potentiate the inhibitory response of blood vessels in comparison with incubation with each compound alone. These results suggest receptor competition between 5-HT and ERV. More studies are necessary to determine the potential of 5-HT to treat toxicosis caused by ergot alkaloids
Experiment study on the performance of energy recovery system in buildings
No full textTropical countries like Singapore, are countries whose hot and humid climate mostly lie outside the thermal comfort of a building occupant. Hence, if the occupant were to occupy a building without any cooling or dehumidifying system, the occupant will have to endure a great deal of discomfort due to the hot and humid Singapore weather.
Hence, it is imperative in countries like Singapore to install Heating, Ventilation, And Cooling (HVAC) systems in buildings to achieve the prescribed thermal comfort. However, this has come at an expense of energy consumption. In order to curb away from this, devices like the Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) are installed together with the HVAC system to achieve energy savings.
As such, the scope of this report will cover the performance evaluation of a membrane-based type ERV of a quasi-flow membrane core. Its objectives include that of investigating the effect of various parameters such as velocity and outside air on the ERV efficiency and its rate of energy recovered.
From the experiment conducted the author found out that the parameters of outside air, as well as its velocity, have an effect on the efficiency where high level readings of OA parameter and velocity yield high efficiency. Whereas for the investigation of the energy recovery, it was observed that a high velocity results in high energy recovery.
When it is compared to the performance of other ERVs of different core structure, the trend posed by the ERV in the experiment was shared by other ERV despite of the different core structure. However, due to the limitation of equipment that the author had at that point of time, the author is not able to quantify the performances of these ERV for comparison purposes. Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering
Short-term effects of fine particulate air pollution on cardiovascular hospital emergency room visits: a time-series study in Beijing, China
No full textThe link between particulate matter (PM) and cardiovascular morbidity has been investigated in numerous studies. Less evidence exists, however, about how age, gender and season may modify this relationship. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between ambient PM2.5 (PM a parts per thousand currency sign 2.5 A mu m) and daily hospital emergency room visits (ERV) for cardiovascular diseases in Beijing, China. Moreover, potential effect modification by age, gender, season, air mass origin and the specific period with 2008 Beijing Olympic were investigated. Finally, the temporal lag structure of PM2.5 has also been explored. Daily counts of cardiovascular ERV were obtained from the Peking University Third Hospital from January 2007 to December 2008. Concurrently, data on PM2.5, PM10 (PM a parts per thousand currency sign 10 A mu m), nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide concentrations were obtained from monitoring networks and a fixed monitoring station. Poisson regression models adjusting for confounders were used to estimate immediate, delayed and cumulative air pollution effects. The temporal lag structure was also estimated using polynomial distributed lag (PDL) models. We calculated the relative risk (RR) for overall cardiovascular disease ERV as well as for specific causes of disease; and also investigated the potential modifying effect of age, gender, season, air mass origin and the period with 2008 Beijing Olympics. We observed adverse effects of PM2.5 on cardiovascular ERV-an IQR increase (68 mu g/m(3)) in PM2.5 was associated with an overall RR of 1.022 (95 % CI 0.990-1.057) obtained from PDL model. Strongest effects of PM2.5 on cardiovascular ERV were found for a lag of 7 days; the respective estimate was 1.012 (95 % CI 1.002-1.022). The effects were more pronounced in females and in spring. Arrhythmia and cerebrovascular diseases showed a stronger association with PM2.5. We also found stronger PM-effects for stagnant and southern air masses and the period of Olympics modified the air pollution effects. We observed a rather delayed effect of PM2.5 on cardiovascular ERV, which was modified by gender and season. Our findings provide new evidence about effect modifications and may have implications to improve policy making for particulate air pollution standards in Beijing, China.National Natural Science Foundation of China [20637026]; German Research Foundation (DFG) [WI 621/16-1]; China Scholarship Council (CSC) [2011601062]SCI(E)[email protected]
The experiences of a therapeutic relationship between dietitians and patients in UK eating disorder treatment: A qualitative study
Full text link© 2024 The Author(s). European Eating Disorders Review published by Eating Disorders Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Objective: Dietitians have a central role in eating disorder (ED) treatment, however few studies exist investigating therapeutic aspects of dietetic care and factors influencing the dietitian‐patient relationship. To address the gap, this study aimed to use a qualitative description approach to explore the experiences of delivering and receiving dietetic care in ED treatment in the UK. Method: Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 6 specialist ED dietitians and focus groups with 11 recovered ED patients. Interviews were transcribed and inductive thematic analysis was performed to identify key themes describing the data. Results: Six key themes were generated: (1) Building trust, (2) Appropriate timing, (3) Adapting, (4) Dietitians as experts, (5) Boundaries, and (6) Difficult relationships. Participants highlighted the importance of building trust and considering nutritional risk and readiness in treatment approach. Patients expressed a desire for dietitians to have experience in EDs, facilitating understanding of their illness. However, dietitians identified the nature of EDs making their role challenging at times. Discussion: This study described various factors affecting dietetic care in EDs and provided a valuable insight into patients' perceptions of treatment. The findings support advancements in ED dietitians' knowledge and understanding, helping to enhance quality of care
Determination of the Optimal Configuration of Energy Recovery Ventilator through Virtual Prototyping and DoE Techniques
No full textAbstractThis study presents an approach based on Design of Experiment (DoE) technique for the optimization of an energy recovery ventilator (ERV). This system is one of the efficient ways to enhance the thermo-hygrometric comfort without increase excessively the thermal load in domestic kitchen. However, there is a major concern, which energy recovery cannot trade off ERV's fan power consumption. The goal of this study is to obtain the information about the relation between factors and response in an empirical way. This approach integrates three different levels of analysis: the virtual prototyping, Design of Experiment (DoE) and rapid prototyping. The virtual analysis allows to define the principal parameterization of a simplified model and to simulate the performance of each configuration at working condition. The proposed approach investigates the effect of the defined parameters and noise factor on the experimental results. In particular, the applied method for DoE analysis is based on virtual experiments in according to the necessity to reduce time and costs during the early design phase. The optimum parameters configuration, which is defined by the previous step, is useful to define the geometry and the working condition of a reliable virtual model. The final level is the realization of a 3D ERV with a rapid prototyping printer. The obtained component is now evaluable at the test bench to investigate the air flow rate and the electric power consumption
Size-Segregated Particle Number Concentrations and Respiratory Emergency Room Visits in Beijing, China
Full text linkBACKGROUND: The link between concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and respiratory morbidity has been investigated in numerous studies. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyze the role of different particle size fractions with respect to respiratory health in Beijing, China. METHODS: Data on particle size distributions from 3 nm to 1 mu m; PM10 (PM <= 10 mu m), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide concentrations; and meteorologic variables were collected daily from March 2004 to December 2006. Concurrently, daily counts of emergency room visits (ERV) for respiratory diseases were obtained from the Peking University Third Hospital. We estimated pollutant effects in single-and two-pollutant generalized additive models, controlling for meteorologic and other time-varying covariates. Time-delayed associations were estimated using polynomial distributed lag, cumulative effects, and single lag models. RESULTS: Associations of respiratory ERV with NO2 concentrations and 100-1,000 nm-particle number or surface area concentrations were of similar magnitude-that is, approximately 5% increase in respiratory ERV with an interquartile range increase in air pollution concentration. In general, particles <50 nm were not positively associated with ERV, whereas particles 50-100 nm were adversely associated with respiratory ERV, both being fractions of ultrafine particles. Effect estimates from two-pollutant models were most consistent for NO2. CONCLUSIONS: Present levels of air pollution in Beijing were adversely associated with respiratory ERV. NO2 concentrations seemed to be a better surrogate for evaluating overall respiratory health effects of ambient air pollution than PM10 or particle number concentrations in Beijing.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000289065900032&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Environmental SciencesPublic, Environmental & Occupational HealthToxicologySCI(E)37ARTICLE4508-51311
Associations of PM2.5 and Black Carbon with Hospital Emergency Room Visits during Heavy Haze Events: A Case Study in Beijing, China
No full textIn January 2013, severe haze events over northeastern China sparked substantial health concerns. This study explores the associations of fine particulate matter less than 2.5 mu m (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC) with hospital emergency room visits (ERVs) during a haze season in Beijing. During that period, daily counts of ERVs for respiratory, cardiovascular and ocular diseases were obtained from a Level-3A hospital in Beijing from 1 December 2012 to 28 February 2013, and associations of which with PM2.5 and BC were estimated by time-stratified case-crossover analysis in singleand two-pollutant models. We found a 27.5% (95% confidence interval (CI): 13.0, 43.9%) increase in respiratory ERV (lag02), a 19.4% (95% CI: 2.5, 39.0%) increase in cardiovascular ERV (lag0), and a 12.6% (95% CI: 0.0, 26.7%) increase in ocular ERV (lag0) along with an interquartile range (IQR) increase in the PM2.5. An IQR increase of BC was associated with 27.6% (95% CI: 9.6, 48.6%) (lag02), 18.8% (95% CI: 1.4, 39.2%) (lag0) and 11.8% (95% CI: 1.4, 26.8%) (lag0) increases for changes in these same health outcomes respectively. Estimated associations were consistent after adjusting SO2 or NO2 in two-pollutant models. This study provides evidence that improving air quality and reducing haze days would greatly benefit the population health.Environmental Protection Ministry funding of China [201409081]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [81372950]SCI(E)SSCIARTICLE71
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