Environmental health risk assessment of dioxin exposure through foods in a Dioxin hot spot—Bien Hoa City, Vietnam

This study used the Australian Environmental Health Risk Assessment Framework to assess the human health risk of dioxin exposure through foods for local residents in two wards of Bien Hoa City, Vietnam. These wards are known hot-spots for dioxin and a range of stakeholders from central government to local levels were involved in this process. Publications on dioxin characteristics and toxicity were reviewed and dioxin concentrations in local soil, mud, foods, milk and blood samples were used as data for this risk assessment. A food frequency survey of 400 randomly selected households in these wards was conducted to provide data for exposure assessment. Results showed that local residents who had consumed locally cultivated foods, especially fresh water fish and bottom-feeding fish, free-ranging chicken, duck, and beef were at a very high risk, with their daily dioxin intake far exceeding the tolerable daily intake recommended by the WHO. Based on the results of this assessment, a multifaceted risk management program was developed and has been recognized as the first public health program ever to have been implemented in Vietnam to reduce the risks of dioxin exposure at dioxin hot-spots.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices to reduce exposure among residents living near Danang dioxin hot spot : 2.5 years after a preventative intervention

Da Nang Airbase in Viet Nam served as a bulk storage and supply facility for Agent Orange and other herbicides during Operation Ranch Hand 1961-1971[1]. Studies have shown that environmental and biological samples taken around the airbase site have elevated levels of dioxin [1-3]. Residents living in the vicinity of the airbase are at risk of exposure to dioxin in soil, water and mud and particularly through the consumption of local contaminated food. In 2009, a pre-intervention cross sectional survey was undertaken. This survey examined the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of householders living near Da Nang Airbase, relevent to reducing dioxin exposure through contaminated food. The results showed that despite living near a severe dioxin hot spot, the residents had very limited knowledge of both exposure risk and measures to reduce exposure to dioxin[4]. In response, the Vietnam Public Health Association (VPHA) and Da Nang Public Health Association implemented a risk reduction program at four residential wards in the vicinities of the Da Nang Airbase in 2010. A post intervention KAP survey was under taken in 2011, and the results showed that knowledge of the existence of dioxin in food, dioxin exposure pathways, potential high risk foods, and preventive measures was significantly enhanced. This new study monitored KAP 2.5 years after the intervention through a 2013 survey of food handlers from 400 households that were randomly selected from the four intervention wards. The results show that most of the positive outcomes remained stable or had increased; some KAP indicators decreased compared to those in the post-intervention survey, but were still significantly higher than the pre-intervention levels. In 2014, these findings will be incorporated with qualitative assessments and the results of laboratory analysis of dioxin concentrations in foods in Da Nang and Bien Hoa dioxin hot spots to comprehensively assess the sustained effects of the intervention.

Hot spot detection and spatio-temporal dispersion of dengue fever in Hanoi, Vietnam

INTRODUCTION Dengue fever (DF) in Vietnam remains a serious emerging arboviral disease, which generates significant concerns among international health authorities. Incidence rates of DF have increased significantly during the last few years in many provinces and cities, especially Hanoi. The purpose of this study was to detect DF hot spots and identify the disease dynamics dispersion of DF over the period between 2004 and 2009 in Hanoi, Vietnam. METHODS Daily data on DF cases and population data for each postcode area of Hanoi between January 1998 and December 2009 were obtained from the Hanoi Center for Preventive Health and the General Statistic Office of Vietnam. Moran's I statistic was used to assess the spatial autocorrelation of reported DF. Spatial scan statistics and logistic regression were used to identify space-time clusters and dispersion of DF. RESULTS The study revealed a clear trend of geographic expansion of DF transmission in Hanoi through the study periods (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.02-1.34). The spatial scan statistics showed that 6/14 (42.9%) districts in Hanoi had significant cluster patterns, which lasted 29 days and were limited to a radius of 1,000 m. The study also demonstrated that most DF cases occurred between June and November, during which the rainfall and temperatures are highest. CONCLUSIONS There is evidence for the existence of statistically significant clusters of DF in Hanoi, and that the geographical distribution of DF has expanded over recent years. This finding provides a foundation for further investigation into the social and environmental factors responsible for changing disease patterns, and provides data to inform program planning for DF control.

Hot spot detection and spatio-temporal dynamics of dengue in Queensland, Australia

Dengue has been a major public health concern in Australia since it re-emerged in Queensland in 1992-1993. This study explored spatio-temporal distribution and clustering of locally-acquired dengue cases in Queensland State, Australia and identified target areas for effective interventions. A computerised locally-acquired dengue case dataset was collected from Queensland Health for Queensland from 1993 to 2012. Descriptive spatial and temporal analyses were conducted using geographic information system tools and geostatistical techniques. Dengue hot spots were detected using SatScan method. Descriptive spatial analysis showed that a total of 2,398 locally-acquired dengue cases were recorded in central and northern regions of tropical Queensland. A seasonal pattern was observed with most of the cases occurring in autumn. Spatial and temporal variation of dengue cases was observed in the geographic areas affected by dengue over time. Tropical areas are potential high-risk areas for mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue. This study demonstrated that the locally-acquired dengue cases have exhibited a spatial and temporal variation over the past twenty years in tropical Queensland, Australia. There is a clear evidence for the existence of statistically significant clusters of dengue and these clusters varied over time. These findings enabled us to detect and target dengue clusters suggesting that the use of geospatial information can assist the health authority in planning dengue control activities and it would allow for better design and implementation of dengue management programs.

Wavelength Dependence of Raman Enhancement from Gold Nanorod Arrays: Quantitative Experiment and Modeling of a Hot Spot Dominated System

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra from molecules adsorbed on the surface of vertically aligned gold nanorod arrays exhibit a variation in enhancement factor (EF) as a function of excitation wavelength that displays little correlation with the elastic optical properties of the surface. The key to understanding this lack of correlation and to obtaining agreement between experimental and calculated EF spectra lies with consideration of randomly distributed, sub-10 nm gaps between nanorods forming the substrate. Intense fields in these enhancement “hot spots” make a dominant contribution to the Raman scattering and have a very different spectral profile to that of the elastic optical response. Detailed modeling of the electric field enhancement at both excitation and scattering wavelengths was used to quantitatively predict both the spectral profile and the magnitude of the observed EF.

Fitting hyperbolic universes to Cayon-Smoot spots in COBE maps

On the possibility that the universe's matter density is low (Ohm(0) < 1), cosmologies can be considered with the metric of Friedmann's open universe but with closed hyperbolic manifolds as the physical three-space. These models have nontrivial spatial topology, with the property of producing multiple images of cosmic sources. Here a fit is attempted of 10 of these models to the physical cold and hot spots found by Cayon & Smoot in the COBE/DMR maps. These spots are interpreted as early, distant images of much nearer sources of inhomogeneity. The source for one of the cold spots is seen as the seed of a known supercluster.

"Hot spot" in the PROP1 gene responsible for combined pituitary hormone deficiency.

As pituitary function depends on the integrity of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, any defect in the development and organogenesis of this gland may account for a form of combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD). Although pit-1 was 1 of the first factors identified as a cause of CPHD in mice, many other homeodomain and transcription factors have been characterized as being involved in different developmental stages of pituitary gland development, such as prophet of pit-1 (prop-1), P-Lim, ETS-1, and Brn 4. The aims of the present study were first to screen families and patients suffering from different forms of CPHD for PROP1 gene alterations, and second to define possible hot spots and the frequency of the different gene alterations found. Of 73 subjects (36 families) analyzed, we found 35 patients, belonging to 18 unrelated families, with CPHD caused by a PROP1 gene defect. The PROP1 gene alterations included 3 missense mutations, 2 frameshift mutations, and 1 splice site mutation. The 2 reported frameshift mutations could be caused by any 2-bp GA or AG deletion at either the 148-GGA-GGG-153 or 295-CGA-GAG-AGT-303 position. As any combination of a GA or AG deletion yields the same sequencing data, the frameshift mutations were called 149delGA and 296delGA, respectively. All but 1 mutation were located in the PROP1 gene encoding the homeodomain. Importantly, 3 tandem repeats of the dinucleotides GA at location 296-302 in the PROP1 gene represent a hot spot for CPHD. In conclusion, the PROP1 gene seems to be a major candidate gene for CPHD; however, further studies are needed to evaluate other genetic defects involved in pituitary development.

Identification of a new genomic hot spot of evolutionary diversification of protein function.

Establishment of phylogenetic relationships remains a challenging task because it is based on computational analysis of genomic hot spots that display species-specific sequence variations. Here, we identify a species-specific thymine-to-guanine sequence variation in the Glrb gene which gives rise to species-specific splice donor sites in the Glrb genes of mouse and bushbaby. The resulting splice insert in the receptor for the inhibitory neurotransmitter glycine (GlyR) conveys synaptic receptor clustering and specific association with a particular synaptic plasticity-related splice variant of the postsynaptic scaffold protein gephyrin. This study identifies a new genomic hot spot which contributes to phylogenetic diversification of protein function and advances our understanding of phylogenetic relationships.

Double strand breaks at the HIS2 recombination hot spot in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Double strand breaks (DSBs) have been found at several meiotic recombination hot spots in Saccharomyces cerevisiae; more global studies have found that they occur at many places along several yeast chromosomes during meiosis. Indeed, the number of breaks found is consistent with the number of recombination events predicted from the genetic map. We have previously demonstrated that the HIS2 gene is a recombination hot spot, exhibiting a high frequency of gene conversion and associated crossing over. This paper shows that DSBs occur in meiosis at a site in the coding region and at a site downstream of the HIS2 gene and that the DSBs are dependent upon genes required for recombination. The frequency of DSBs at HIS2 increases when the gene conversion frequency is increased by alterations in the DNA around HIS2, and vice versa. A deletion that increases both DSBs and conversion can stimulate both when heterozygous; that is, it is semidominant and acts to stimulate DSBs in trans. These data are consistent with the view that homologous chromosomes associate with each other before the formation of the DSBs.

How can land and urban development make houses healthier?

Traditionally, the main focus of the professional community involved with indoor air quality has been indoor pollution sources, preventing or reducing their emissions, as well as lowering the impact of the sources by replacing the polluted indoor air with "fresh" outdoor air. However, urban outdoor air cannot often be considered "fresh", as it contains high concentrations of pollutants emitted from motor vehicles - the main outdoor pollution sources in cities. Evidence from epidemiological studies conducted worldwide demonstrates that outdoor air quality has considerable effects on human health, despite the fact that people spend the majority of their time indoors. This is because pollution from outdoors penetrates indoors and becomes a major constituent of indoor pollution. Urban land and transport development has significant impact on the overall air quality of the urban airshed as well as the pollution concentration in the vicinity of high-density traffic areas. Therefore, an overall improvement in indoor air quality would be achieved by lowering urban airshed pollution, as well as by lowering the impact of the hot spots on indoor air. This paper explores the elements of urban land and vehicle transport developments, their impact on global and local air quality, and how the science of outdoor pollution generation and transport in the air could be utilized in urban development towards lowering indoor air pollution.

Life cycle inventory for Australian building materials

This paper discusses challenges to developers of a national Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database on which to base assessment of building environmental impacts and a key to development of a fully integrated eco-design tool created for automated eco-efficiency assessment of commercial building design direct from 3D CAD. The scope of this database includes Australian and overseas processing burdens involved in acquiring, processing, transporting, fabricating, finishing and using metals, masonry, timber, glazing, ceramics, plastics, fittings, composites and coatings. Burdens are classified, calculated and reported for all flows of raw materials, fuels, energy and emissions to and from the air, soil and water associated with typical products and services in building construction, fitout and operation. The aggregated life cycle inventory data provides the capacity to generate environmental impact assessment reports based on accepted performance indicators. Practitioners can identify hot spots showing high environmental burdens of a proposed design and drill down to report on specific building components. They can compare assessments with case studies and operational estimates to assist in eco-efficient design of a building, fitout and operation.

Leaving home for the party on the roof : Brisbane music and musicians

It lies 27°S of the Equator, wrapped uneasily around a wide, muddy river. Three years ago, Brisbane was identified by Billboard Magazine as one of six “hot spots” of independent music in the world. A place to watch. Someone turned a torch on this town, had a quick look, moved on. But this town has always had music in it. Some of it made by me. So, I’m taking my connection with this town, the music and the people, and working it into a contextual historical analysis of the creative lives of Brisbane musicians, and by extension, of Brisbane’s music and Brisbane itself. Talking about what music means to us, how it figures in our lives, and considering the notion, among other factors, of ‘place’ in both our creative practice and creative output. This paper offers an analysis of a particular auto/ethnographic method. How lives are organized and intensified by sounds made and heard in particular social and geographic settings. How music can be the thread which, when pulled, unravels stories, reveals certain truths about musicians and their relationships to one another, to family, to place and to their work.

Compilation of somatic mutations of the CDKN2 gene in human cancers : non-random distribution of base substitutions

The CDKN2 gene, encoding the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16, is a tumour suppressor gene that maps to chromosome band 9p21-p22. The most common mechanism of inactivation of this gene in human cancers is through homozygous deletion; however, in a smaller proportion of tumours and tumour cell lines intragenic mutations occur. In this study we have compiled a database of over 120 published point mutations in the CDKN2 gene from a wide variety of tumour types. A further 50 deletions, insertions, and splice mutations in CDKN2 have also been compiled. Furthermore, we have standardised the numbering of all mutations according to the full-length 156 amino acid form of p16. From this study we are able to define several hot spots, some of which occur at conserved residues within the ankyrin domains of p16. While many of the hotspots are shared by a number of cancers, the relative importance of each position varies, possibly reflecting the role of different carcinogens in the development of certain tumours. As reported previously, the mutational spectrum of CDKN2 in melanomas differs from that of internal malignancies and supports the involvement of UV in melanoma tumorigenesis. Notably, 52% of all substitutions in melanoma-derived samples occurred at just six nucleotide positions. Nonsense mutations comprise a comparatively high proportion of mutations present in the CDKN2 gene, and possible explanations for this are discussed.