Search

Traffic-related air pollution has been associated with various health risks for human populations living near roadways. Understanding the relationship between traffic density and dispersion of vehicle-released air pollutants is important for assessing human exposure to near-road air pollutants. We performed a literature survey targeting publications containing measurement data of traffic-related air pollutants near roads with distance information on their concentration distribution. Concentration decay rates over down-wind distance away from major roads were calculated for black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NO2 or NOx) and meta-data analysis on these rates was performed. These analyses showed metadata-based exponential decay rates of 0.0026, 0.0019, 0.0004, and 0.0027 m−1 for BC, CO, NO2 and NOx, respectively. Using these measurement data-based decay rates, concentrations for BC, CO, NO2 and NOx over various near-road distances were predicted. These results are useful for enhancing exposure modeling and thus more reliably assessing the health risk of exposure to near road air pollution.

A simple assay for quantifying O-demethylation activity is desired for investigating the microbial utilization of phenylmethylethers. Detailed experiments showed that the titanium (III) nitrilotriacetate–vicinal diol colorimetric assay produced better results when Ti(III) and vicinal diols were mixed at ratios closer to 1:1 within the appropriate pH range and when the absorbance was measured at the wavelength of maximum absorbance. Vanillate was found to be a better substrate than syringate and ferulate for the determination of O-demethylating activity by Ti(III). The Ti(III) colorimetric assay was sensitive, detecting as low as 10 μM of vicinal diol. A low concentration (

In recent opinion papers in Trends in Biotechnology Cooper debated with Spellman and Sherlock on the validity and utility of ‘whole-culture’ techniques for cell synchronization. Cooper concluded that ‘whole-culture’ cell synchronization is biology's ‘perpetual-motion machine’ and ‘the results from such synchronization methods … cannot, and should not, be used to make deductions about the normal cell cycle’. Spellman and Sherlock objected to Cooper's criticism and claimed that ‘cell age and cell cycle are unlinked’.

Background PARADIGM-HF demonstrated significant clinical benefits for sacubitril/valsartan (LCZ696, an angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor) versus the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) enalapril in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. As inhibition of ACE, and co-inhibition of ACE and neprilysin, may increase the risk of angioedema, this was an adverse event of special interest. Methods Following sequential enalapril and sacubitril/valsartan run-ins, patients were randomized to twice-daily sacubitril/valsartan 200 mg or enalapril 10 mg. The study design incorporated two wash-out periods (~36 h each) to minimize any potential risk of angioedema due to overlapping ACE and neprilysin inhibition. Suspected cases of angioedema were reported to, and blindly adjudicated by, an independent angioedema adjudication committee (AAC). Results Of the 10,513 patients entering the enalapril run-in, 9419 entered the sacubitril/valsartan run-in and 8432 received double-blind treatment. Overall, 148 suspected angioedema events occurring in 144 patients were reported to AAC, with one event reported during screening period. Of the remaining 147 events, 54 were confirmed as angioedema by AAC. A confirmed event was experienced by 15 (0.14%) and 10 (0.11%) patients, during the enalapril and sacubitril/valsartan run-ins, respectively, and by 10 (0.24%) and 19 (0.45%) patients in the corresponding randomized arms during the double-blind phase. The frequency of confirmed angioedema was higher in black patients. Most events were mild. Only five patients required hospitalization and none required mechanical airway support. Conclusion The number of confirmed angioedema events in PARADIGM-HF was low and there was no-marked excess risk of angioedema with sacubitril/valsartan versus enalapril.