Bensonmcintyre2188

1% to 5.0%; and lumbar spine 2.7%, 95% CI, 0.2% to 5.0%). Results were found to be similar between sexes although the magnitude of association was larger for women. Similar differences were estimated for beta-1 selective and nonselective BBs compared with no BB use. We modeled dose in categories (no BB use, low-dose, high-dose) and as a continuous variable and found an increasing dose response that levels off at higher doses. Finally, associations were similar for short-term versus long-term (≤4 years versus >4 years) use. In summary, this large comprehensive study shows that BB use is associated with higher BMD in a dose-related manner regardless of beta-1 specificity and duration of use, which supports the conduct of a randomized clinical trial of BBs for achieving improvements in BMD for individuals at risk of bone loss with aging. © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and bisphosphonates (BPs), including alendronate (ALN), have opposing effects on bone dynamics. The extent to which PTH remains effective in the treatment of stress fracture (SFx) in the presence of an ongoing BP treatment has not been tested. SFx was induced in 150 female Wistar rats, divided into five equal groups (n = 30). All rats were pretreated with ALN (1 μg/kg-1/day-1) for 14 days prior to SFx induction, followed by ALN cessation or continuation for the duration of the experiment; this was combined with daily PTH (8 μg/100 g-1/day-1) on SFx induction for 14 days, followed by cessation or continuation of ALN after SFx induction or an equivalent vehicle as a control. Ulnas were examined 2 weeks or 6 weeks following SFx. Two toluidine blue- and two tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-stained sections were examined for histomorphometric analysis using Osteomeasure software. There was a significant interaction between the effects of time and treatment type on the woven bone width Bone and Mineral Research.It is not known whether the relationships of lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) with bone microarchitecture and geometry are causal and/or are because of confounders, including familial confounders arising from genetic and environment effects shared by relatives. We tested the hypotheses that (i) LM is associated with cortical bone traits, (ii) FM is associated with trabecular bone traits, and (iii) these relationships of LM and FM with bone microarchitecture and geometry have a causal component. Total body composition was quantified for 98 monozygotic (MZ) and 54 dizygotic (DZ) white female twin pairs aged 31 to 77 years. Microarchitecture at the distal tibia and distal radius was quantified using HRpQCT and StrAx software. We applied the Inference about Causation through Examination of FAmiliaL CONfounding (ICE FALCON) method. Within-individuals, distal tibia total bone area, cortical area, cortical thickness, and trabecular number were positively associated with LM (standardized regression coefficient (β) = ecture and geometry are causal; they must in part due to by familial confounders affecting both bone architecture and body composition. © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.Impact microindentation (IMI) is a novel technique for assessing the bone material strength index (BMSi) in vivo. However, no studies have presented normative data for BMSi. The aim of this study was to develop such normative data using a population-based sample of men, randomly selected from electoral rolls for the Barwon Statistical Division in southeastern Australia to participate in the Geelong Osteoporosis Study. BMSi was measured on the tibial plateau using an OsteoProbe in 405 men (ages 33 to 96 years) during the period 2016 to 2019. Associations between BMSi, age, and anthropometry were examined using linear regression models. BMSi values ranged from 49.0 to 100.5. BMSi was negatively correlated with age (r = -0.152, p = 0.002), weight (r = -0.103, p = 0.039), and BMI (r = -0.187, p  less then  0.001), and positively correlated with height (r = +0.107, p = 0.032). Mean ± SD BMSi was 82.6 ± 7.0 for the whole group, and ranged from 85.6 ± 6.0 for ages 30 to 39 years to 79.8 ± 6.6 for ages 80+ years. This study provides normative data that can be used to calculate T- and Z-scores for BMSi. These data will be useful for identifying men with low BMSi. Further research is warranted to derive optimal cut points for BMSi that discriminate fracture risk. © 2020 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.We test the use of magnetic measurements of evergreen needles as a proxy for particulate matter pollution in Salt Lake City, Utah. Measurements of saturation isothermal remanent magnetization indicate needle magnetization increases with increased air pollution. Needle magnetization shows a high degree of spatial variability with the largest increases in magnetization near roadways. Results from our magnetic measurements are corroborated by scanning electron microscopy of needle surfaces and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry of metal concentrations in residues collected from sampled needles. Low-temperature magnetic analysis suggests the presence of small ( less then 20 nm) partially oxidized magnetite particles on needles collected adjacent to a major roadway. Magnetization may be a low-cost proxy for certain metal concentrations (including lead) during periods of increased particulate pollution. The spatial resolution of our method appears capable of resolving changes in ambient particulate matter pollution on the scale of tens to hundreds of meters. Questions remain regarding the timescales over which evergreen needles retain particulate matter accumulated during atmospheric inversion events in Salt Lake City. Results presented here corroborate previous studies that found needle magnetization is a fast, cost-effective measure of particulate matter pollution. This method has the potential to provide high spatial resolution maps of biomagnetically monitored particulate matter in polluted urban environments year-round.Active and abandoned mines pose serious health threats to humans, aquatic, and terrestrial biota. Northeastern Oklahoma, home to a number of Native American Tribes, is part of the well-known Tri-State Mining District. More than 100 years of mining production in this area has left numerous, large chat piles in the surrounding environment. Despite numerous studies and efforts on the restoration of metal contamination in this area, no studies have attempted to distinguish the contributions of different sources, particularly from the atmospheric deposition, of metals to the aquatic environment. Here, we analyzed the atmospheric deposition of Pb from Picher, a town surrounded by chat piles, and Tulsa, a primary metropolitan area in northeastern Oklahoma, from 2010 to 2016. We found that chat piles in Picher contain ~20% and 6% of fine particles that are subjective to windborne transport and human inhalation, respectively, and these fine particles contain disproportionally high concentrations of Pb. Despite the absence of industrial and human activities, airborne Pb in Picher is 2-5 times higher than that of Tulsa. Selleck Lomeguatrib A conservative estimate showed that airborne Pb may contribute up to 10% of annual Pb mass flux to a lake 18 km away from the chat piles in Picher and probably a much higher contribution for soil and water located adjacent to Picher. Despite known limitations, our study represents the first attempt to evaluate the significance of Pb-laden airborne particulate matter from a large-scale abandoned mining area where the humans are particularly vulnerable to metal exposure.The recent emergence of a novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) has caused a pandemic, which is the most severe infectious disease outbreak in many decades. Other infective agents such as influenza as well as other neglected viruses such as Lassa virus, Nipah virus or poxviruses are also a cause for concern owing to their attack rate and potential for global spread. Drug-resistant bacteria, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are already a significant public health issue in many countries, and it is expected that they will be expanding in the near future. Finally, airborne bioterrorism agents have high morbidity and mortality rates and should be looked with concern in the current international unrest.Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, is the global leading cause of mortality from an infectious agent. Part of this success relies on the unique cell wall, which consists of a thick waxy coat with tightly packed layers of complexed sugars, lipids and peptides. This coat provides a protective hydrophobic barrier to antibiotics and the host's defences, while enabling the bacterium to spread efficiently through sputum to infect and survive within the macrophages of new hosts. However, part of this success comes at a cost, with many of the current first- and second-line drugs targeting the enzymes involved in cell wall biosynthesis. The flip side of this coin is that resistance to these drugs develops either in the target enzymes or the activation pathways of the drugs, paving the way for new resistant clinical strains. This review provides a synopsis of the structure and synthesis of the cell wall and the major current drugs and targets, along with any mechanisms of resistance.The emergence of the novel Coronavirus has forced most governments across the world to enact stringent public laws to curb its transmission among the populations. The requirement to wear a facemask whenever in public places is one of such laws. As such, the demand for such masks has escalated across the world and this predisposition has presented a manufacturing challenge to the developing countries, which have limited capacity to meet the demand for their large populations. In developing countries such as Kenya, the citizens are now required to wear facemasks when in public places such as markets, streets, shopping malls, etc. With limited supply of the proper facemasks in the developing countries, the public is left to improvise them from the available resources. Alternatively, they purchase substandard facemasks from uncertified suppliers and sellers. The purchased masks do not meet the required health standards in most cases. In Kenya, for example, the government has been discouraging citizens from using N95 respirators and instead preserve them for medical practitioners due to their rarity and incapacity to manufacture them. The government has certified several textile industries to produce facemasks for the public from non-woven fabric materials. The challenge with such a move is that there has been an influx of an assortment of facemasks in the Kenyan market and it is not possible for the citizens to identify the safe ones. In this short communication, a brief description of the challenges facing the citizens in terms of access to and quality of face masks in developing countries, with a case study of Kenya is provided. Furthermore, a proposed design solution and a proof of concept of a low-cost and reusable 3D printed facemask for developing economies is herein presented. The adoption of such a design by the governments and manufacturers would solve the challenges of access and quality of the respirators to lower the transmissions of the Coronavirus.