Monthly Archives: August 2023

What Is The Purpose Of Vertical Farming

The purpose of vertical farming is to address several challenges associated with traditional agriculture and to provide a more sustainable and efficient way of producing food. Here are some of the key purposes of vertical farming:

  1. Maximizing Space Efficiency: Vertical farming involves growing crops in stacked layers, industrial shelving systems allowing for the efficient use of vertical space. This is particularly beneficial in urban areas where land is limited and expensive.
  2. Minimizing Environmental Impact: Vertical farming can significantly reduce the need for large expanses of land, which helps preserve natural ecosystems and reduces deforestation. Additionally, controlled environment agriculture (CEA) techniques used in vertical farms can minimize the use of pesticides and herbicides, leading to less pollution and soil degradation.
  3. Conserving Water: Vertical farming systems like hydroponics and aeroponics use water more efficiently than traditional soil-based farming. The water used in these systems can be recirculated, reducing overall water consumption.
  4. Reducing Transportation and Emissions: By growing food closer to where it’s consumed, vertical farming can reduce the need for long-distance transportation, which in turn lowers greenhouse gas emissions associated with food transportation.
  5. Year-Round Production: Vertical farms create a controlled environment that isn’t dependent on external weather conditions. This enables year-round production regardless of the climate, ensuring a consistent supply of fresh produce.
  6. Increasing Local Food Production: Vertical farming can help increase the availability of locally grown food, reducing the reliance on imported produce. This strengthens local food systems and enhances food security.
  7. Improving Crop Yields: The controlled environment of vertical farms allows for optimal growing conditions, resulting in potentially higher crop yields compared to traditional farming methods.
  8. Enhancing Food Safety: Vertical farming reduces the risk of contamination from external factors such as wildlife, pests, and pollutants, leading to safer and more hygienic produce.
  9. Supporting Urban Agriculture: Vertical farms can be integrated into urban landscapes, providing communities with access to fresh produce without the need for large amounts of rural land.
  10. Research and Innovation: Vertical farming serves as a platform for experimenting with new growing techniques, technologies, and crop varieties. This research can lead to advancements in agriculture that benefit both vertical and traditional farming practices.
  11. Educational Opportunities: Indoor vertical farming can be used as educational tools to teach people, especially students, about sustainable agriculture, plant biology, and technology.
  12. Drought and Climate Resilience: Vertical farming systems are less susceptible to extreme weather events, making them a potentially resilient solution in the face of climate change impacts like droughts and floods.

In essence, vertical farming aims to revolutionize agriculture by making it more resource-efficient, environmentally friendly, and adaptable to the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

Martz’ position of SB 407 became clearer only a few days after it gained Senate approval

In the letter, Sen. Miller identifies himself as “Montana’s State Public Chairman of ALEC ,” a national advocacy group made up of conservative state lawmakers. The Helena Independent Record, in an October 21, 2000 article, described Sen. Miller as leading the opposition to CA-35.Sen. Miller’s argued that the spending of MSA money would be better dealt with by the Legislature, and that the proposed trust-fund was too restrictive. Sen. Miller also stated that the trust fund “doesn’t belong in the Constitution,” and that he believed “it’s so wrong that we keep muddying the Constitution with this kind of stuff.”Miller even expressed his disagreement with the practice of using litigation against tobacco companies to recover health related costs.Sen. Miller’s opposition to CA-35 was also reported by the Associated Press in an October 23, 2000 article. In discussing the support given to CA-35 by multiple health groups, Sen. Miller said, “[o]f course they support it. It gives them a constant revenue source.”Sen. Miller added that “[t]his money should go to care for the best needs of the people. As to the health issues, we need to be able to spend that money now, partly to reimburse the taxpayers who’ve been footing those bills.”163 Sen. Miller’s association with the tobacco industry was not mentioned in the articles reporting his opposition to CA-35. Overall opposition to CA-35, however was not heavy, and the proponents were confident that the initiative would be passed by voters. Miller himself had tempered his personal opposition to it, telling the press that while he didn’t think the trust fund was a great idea, it “wouldn’t be the end of the world” if CA-35 was approved.Sen. Keenan,vertical indoor farming who sponsored the initiative, did not seem very worried by the opposition’s effect on voters, stating confidently that the proposed amendment was “a slam dunk,” and “it’s going to pass.”The November 2000 election proved that Sen.

Keenan’s confidence in the voter’s was well founded. The measure was overwhelmingly approved by a nearly 3-to-1 margin, 73% to 27%.Despite this clear expression of voter will, however, it became apparent very quickly that the expenditure of tobacco settlement funds would still be a major point of political contention, especially in the incoming administration of Republican Governor Judy Martz, who replaced Racicot when term limits prevented him from running for re-election a third time.Martz, who had served as Racicot’s Lieutenant Governor from 1996 to 2000, was elected Governor of Montana on November 7, 2000. Even before Governor Elect Martz took office, it became clear she would not be the ally to health advocacy groups that Gov. Racicot had been. According to reports by the Associated Press and the Helena Independent Record on December 30, 2000, Chuck Swysgood, Budget Director for Governor-elect Judy Martz , told outgoing Attorney General Mazurek that the $3.6 million that was supposed to go into the health care trust fund under CA-35 was instead going into the state’s general fund.The first MSA payment of $9 million was to arrive at the beginning of the 2001, but the tobacco companies, looking for a tax break, wanted to send the payment before the year’s end. Since the payment of $3.6 million would have come in before the January 1, 2001 start date of the trust, Martz could have deposited the payment into the general fund rather than the trust. Thus, payment into the trust would have been subject to available money in the general fund, alongside all other program funding that normally came out of the general fund.Mazurek explained to reporters that upon learning about Martz’ plan to divert the money into the general fund, “I tried to persuade the budget office that they really shouldn’t do that,” and that, “I think everybody expected that the money would go to the trust.”When Mazurek found out that none of the money would be going into the trust, he contacted Gov. Racicot, who wrote a letter to the tobacco companies asking that the entire $9 million be held the start of the new year and of the trust fund. Thus, Mazurek and Racicot blocked Martz from raiding the trust. Mazurek told reporter’s “Marc’s still the governor, he made the call,” and that, “frankly this was the right thing to do.” Lieutenant Governor Martz gave no sign to reporters of disagreement over Gov. Raciot’s blocking her attempts to divert trust fund money, saying that “they can do what they need to do, and we’ll do what we need to do.”

Martz also claimed to reporters that she supported the trust fund, but was facing an unexpectedly tight budget as she prepared to take office,a common argument used by pro-tobacco industry government officials as an excuse for pro-tobacco industry policy decisions.Gov-elect Martz had already announced $43 million in proposed cuts from spending increases that Racicot proposed in his final budget proposal, and she had dropped plans for $20 million in tax cuts that she promised in her campaign.Also during that final week of December 2000, Governor-elect Martz announced her plan to recommend that the legislature cut the Tobacco Use Prevention Program budget to $1 million for the 2002-2003 biennium, a $6 million reduction from the $7 million 2000-2001 biennium budget proposed by outgoing Gov. Marc Racicot.The actions taken by Martz made anti-tobacco advocates both nervous and angry.Kristin Page Nei, Director of State Government Relations for the American Cancer Society, told reporters that she had written a letter to Martz to protest the $6 million cut from the Tobacco Use Prevention budget. Both the budget cut and the letter were then widely reported by local newspapers.Martz told reporters that she was offended that the health groups would criticize her without talking with her first: “I don’t think this is any way of starting a relationship.”In response, Nei told reporters that the new governor shouldn’t be surprised by the health groups’ criticisms, especially when it comes to tobacco settlement funds. Nei stated, “Our job is to be watchdogs of this money,” and that, “we’re going to be watchdogs and be critical if it’s not used in the appropriate manner.”Despite arguments made by the health groups, Gov. Martz continued to state that she did not believe in the effectiveness of the Tobacco Use Prevention Program , saying “I want to see some results,” and that the state was “throwing good money away.” Cliff Christian, a lobbyist for the American Heart Association,shelving racks responded that it would be irresponsible to dismiss a program before it was given a chance to work.Dr. Shepard, along with C.B. Pearson , also pointed to a possible tobacco-tax increase as a way to solve the state’s budget deficit, which would also serve as a positive step for public health policy since it would reduce smoking in the state.

Pearson explained that the health groups would not be concerned with cigarette tax money going towards financing other government programs, since the tax itself would decrease tobacco use.Gov. Martz told the health groups that she did not believe in taxing unhealthy behavior as the way to prevent it.168 The idea for an increased cigarette tax would later return as a successful health group initiative in 2004. Furthermore, although the state’s tobacco use prevention program had not yet recorded results in 2001, information released 4 years later in the “Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Plan” showed that youth tobacco use from 1999 to 2003 had decreased from 23% to 13% among students in grades seven and eight, and from 35% to 23% among high school students.Since Gov. Racicot was firm in her recommendation to drastically reduce the TUPP 2002-2003 biennium budget to $1 million , it was thus left to the 2001 State Legislature to decide whether to accept her recommendation. Since there had not yet been any interest income from the voter-approved trust fund , the prevention program needed to be funded from other sources. The 2001 Legislature would also have to decide how to spend the remaining 60% of MSA money that wasn’t secured in the trust fund.Gov. Martz’ budget proposal would first go to the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, which is initially responsible for health-care expenditures. Sen. Dave Lewis , chairman of the subcommittee, made early indications that some skepticism existed over the effectiveness of the tobacco-prevention program: “I just want to see a lot of really hard evidence that we’re getting something,… If it works, grand.”Such results-oriented demands on tobacco prevention programs were common tobacco industry rhetoric and, in actuality, political factors have a greater influence than program results in determining tobacco control appropriations.The policy argument between the health groups and the governor continued to be covered in newspaper reports. Martz repeated to reporters that, though she supported tobacco prevention, the state budget was too tight for the state to spend money on unproven efforts.Health advocates, in response, continued to tell reporters that the tobacco use prevention program had not been given enough time to show results, and that other states with similar plans had been able to curb smoking.At the January 30, 2001 hearing before the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, 12 individuals testified against Gov. Martz’ proposal to reduce the TUPP budget, including representatives from Governor’s Advisory Council on Tobacco Use Prevention and health advocacy groups . No public testimony was given in support of Gov. Martz’ decreased budget proposal.Dr. Sargent testified that smoking related diseases cost Montana more than $150 million a year, plus $12 million in direct costs to the Medicaid program, and that Montana smokers spend an estimated $190 million per year on cigarettes.Joan Miles, director of Lewis and Clark City-County Health Department and member of the Governor’s Advisory Board, reminded the committee that the MSA money was in the state because Montanans had died and suffered from tobacco use.The next Joint Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services hearing regarding the TUPP budget occurred on February 1, 2001, where Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Lewis  told the Committee that if Gov. Martz’ recommendation was not accepted, the state budget would be short by $6 million. Lewis further stated that under the Governor’s recommendation, there would be $1 million in the state general fund for the TUPP program in the biennium, plus $870,000 per year from the CDC.Rep. Joey Jane attempted to push forward a substitute motion for a $9 million biennium budget , but the motion was defeated on party lines, with 4 Republicans voting against and 2 Democrats voting in favor. Gov. Martz proposed budget was then approved by the committee by a vote of 4 to 2, also on party lines.After the Joint Appropriations Committee approved the reduced budget at the February 1, 2001 hearing, Sen. John Cobb , Vice Chairman of the Committee, moved to put forward a committee bill that would take money from the voter-approved MSA health-care trust fund in order to increase the budget of the TUPP program.Sen. Cobb explained that he did not want to cut the existing program, reasoning that the program might fall by the wayside without money from the trust fund.Both Democrats on the committee blocked the motion , arguing that it would be a violation of the public trust to so quickly “bust the trust” that was only recently approved by the voters.Sen. Mignon Waterman stated, “I think this is real disingenuous,” and noted that, “the people of Montana spoke three months ago.” Waterman added, “it’s a tight budget, but I’m not ready to bust the trust.”The health groups would now have to continue their pursuit for funding as Martz’ budget proposal moved forward in the legislature. During the last month of February, health groups tried to reach legislators by purchasing a billboard advertisement that sent a message directly to them. The billboard stated, “Legislators: the tobacco settlement money is for health care. PLEASE DON’T DIVERT IT.G. Brian Zin, Executive Vice President of the Montana Medical Association, told reporters that it was the first time the Montana Medical Association had lobbied through a billboard, and that is was put in a prime location where people continually saw the message and were reminded about the issue.

The simultaneous equations regression model consists of two equations

The hypothesis was that tobacco industry campaign contributions were associated with sympathetic behavior towards the tobacco industry and that the tobacco industry may continue to provide or increase contributions to legislators who have acted in the tobacco industry’s best interest in the past.The first equation predicts the tobacco policy score given to legislators in 2005 from the total tobacco industry campaign contributions received from 1999-2002 and political affiliation. The second equation predicts the total tobacco industry campaign industry contributions received from 1999- 2002 from the tobacco policy score and political affiliation. The total tobacco campaign contributions used here include contributions from the tobacco industry and contributions from tobacco industry third party allies. The results of this analysis presented in Table 7 demonstrate a strong effect of tobacco industry contributions on legislative behavior, as well as a strong relationship between political party affiliation and legislative behavior. For every $100 increase in tobacco industry contributions, a legislator’s tobacco policy score decreased by an average of 0.5 points. On average, controlling for the amount of tobacco industry contributions received, Republican legislators had tobacco policy scores that were 4.5 points below than those of Democrats. All of the findings were statistically significant . In 1994, the Attorneys General of Mississippi and the Attorney General of Minnesota sued the four major tobacco companies to recover the costs to their states’ Medicaid programs for treating tobacco related illnesses and to force changes in tobacco industry marketing practices.

Several other states in the country soon followed, and in 1996, a group of attorneys general, private attorneys,ebb and flow benches public health advocates, and tobacco industry representatives began closed-door meetings to discuss a “global settlement” of all public and private litigation.This global settlement would have required Congress to grant the tobacco industry substantial relief from punitive damages in present and future litigation, as well as a cap on annual litigation payments. In exchange, the tobacco industry would have accepted federal regulation of marketing and advertising, as well as Food and Drug Administration jurisdiction on tobacco products. The tobacco companies would have also funded tobacco control education and made substantial payments to governments and private parties engaged in lawsuits. However, the immunity provisions which required changes to federal law, and thus legislation, opened the agreement up to public scrutiny.Though many proponents of the global settlement agreement saw it as an opportunity for new levels of progress, many in the public health community saw the agreement as “mortgaging the future,” and were especially opposed to the immunity provisions.The global settlement would ultimately die in the Senate in April 1998.88 Meanwhile, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, and Minnesota each settled with the tobacco companies in separate agreements.These agreements provided increasing amount of money to the states to reimburse them for Medicaid costs, as well as increasing restrictions on tobacco industry marketing and funding for state anti-smoking programs. Each settlement included a “most favored nations” clause which meant that better terms in subsequent settlements would apply to the earlier settlements. Montana Attorney General Joe Mazurek filed suit on behalf of Montana in May 1997.In November 1998, the attorneys general of 46 states reached a settlement with the four largest tobacco companies, called the Master Settlement Agreement , designed to resolve litigation between many of the states involved in the global settlement agreement and the tobacco industry.

Under the terms of the agreement, the 46 participating states would receive indefinite payments , with Montana’s share estimated to be $922.1 million through 2025.The first payment to Montana was made in 1999, with annual payments ranging from $10.5 million to $30.9 million over the first few year.When the MSA was signed in 1998, the settlement was unanimously endorsed in Montana by the governor, state public health officials and various health organizations.Montana governor Marck Racicot , who later became the Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2002, applauded the deal, saying, “it is time for our state and our country to acknowledge and attack what is perhaps our greatest public health challenge.”Gov. Racicot, who had served as Attorney General from 1988 to 1992, had a thorough understanding of the MSA and was supportive of tobacco control, and had a good relationship with Attorney General Joe Mazurek, who advocated for Montana’s involvement in the MSA, as well as for the use of MSA money for health programs and tobacco use prevention.95, 96 Health organizations also publicly supported the MSA. Art Dickh off of the Montana chapter of the American Cancer Society called the decision a landmark effort to stem smoking and protect children from being targeted by the tobacco industry.Dennis Alexander, Executive Director of the American Lung Association of the Northern Rockies, said that the agreement was “a positive first step in protecting public health from an addictive product that kills nearly a half-million people each year in this country.”Because state attorneys general do not have authority over state spending, the MSA contained no provisions with regard to the ways in which the states would spend their funds.However, even before the state had agreed to the MSA, Montana officials were expressing a desire to divide the money between the general fund and public health programs. The Public Health and Human Services Department suggested that 30 percent of the money be put into the state’s general fund and the remainder be divided evenly among three programs: “One would be aimed at preventing and reducing tobacco use, another would create an endowment to improve the general health of Montanans and the third would help pay for health insurance for poor children.”However, the strong desire of health advocates and state officials to use the MSA money mainly on health programs, with some portion going towards tobacco control programs, would be overwhelmed by the number of state legislators vying to use MSA funds for various projects. As would be the case in almost every state that participated in the MSA,only a small portion of the MSA money in Montana would end up being devoted to tobacco control programs.

By January 1999, Montana state legislators had filed 14 bills with various ideas on how to divide the tobacco settlement money, with proposals ranging from building a multi-million-dollar dinosaur museum to giving tax incentives to small businesses for offering health benefits. A divide between Montana’s two major political parties soon formed over the issue, with Democrats wanting to put the money in a trust fund to help pay for future medical costs, while Republicans wanted the money to go toward tax relief. A similar divide occurred over the allocation of Minnesota’s MSA fund, where some elected officials wanted to create a health and social programs endowment fund and provide tax rebates, while tobacco control advocates favored funding a statewide comprehensive tobacco control program.Diversion of MSA funds away from tobacco control programs had occurred in almost every other state as well. By 2004,commercial greenhouse shelving only four states had funded state tobacco prevention programs to the minimum level recommended by the Center for Disease Control’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs.In Montana, some of the proposed MSA allocation bills would be defeated almost immediately, while others were the subject of more prolonged debates and media attention. Tobacco control advocates appeared at some of the committee hearings to support the use of MSA money for tobacco prevention and health programs, though they seemed generally unprepared to oppose all of the different interests that wanted the MSA funds for various government programs, especially in a Republican controlled legislature that wanted most of the money for tax relief. Indeed, health advocates might have been even less successful if not for Governor Racicot’s support of tobacco prevention and public health policies, and his strong popularity in the state. Table 9 lists all of proposed tobacco settlement allocation bills in the 1999 regular session, ordered by the date of the last action taken on each bill. Those bills that progressed farther into the legislative process and were the subject of some debate are in bold font and discussed in the following paragraphs, as opposed to those bills that were quickly rejected or passed without substantial debate.

Attorney General Joe Mazurek , in addition to testifying at the House Appropriations Committee hearing, was also lobbying lawmakers to use the settlement money for health and prevention programs and touring the state to get public support for HB 131. Mazurek’s message to legislators was to remind them that the reason Montana joined the multi-state lawsuit was to get compensation for health damages caused by the sale and use of tobacco, and to “stop children from starting” tobacco use.In addition, Mazurek and Chris Tweeton, the Chief Deputy Attorney General who had also worked on the tobacco lawsuit, held public forums titled “Stop kids from smoking or fill potholes.”The two had held four such forums by March 9,1999, in which Mazurek explained that there would be constant pressure on lawmakers to “chip away” at the settlement. Mazurek thought that even though “the Legislature has taken a pretty responsible view of this so far,” he warned that “there may be pressure to push this money in other directions.”The Republican majority in the House strongly supported the use of MSA money for other government programs, such as tax relief, and on March 19, 1999, the House Appropriations Committee amended HB 131 and then approved it in a 17 to 1 vote.As amended, the bill’s allocation to the general fund was increased from 30% to 40%, because legislators wanted more money available in the general fund. The rest of the MSA money was to be divided as follows: 10% to the children’s health insurance plan , 3.4% to the Montana Comprehensive Health Association, and 46% to the Department of Health for health and prevention programs, which included tobacco use prevention and control.Programs funded by these grants could include efforts against use of tobacco, but also could address other health issues.Though supporters of tobacco control were disappointed by the amendment, they did not consider it a major setback, since much of the money would still be available for health and tobacco use preventions programs, and would be allocated at the direction of the Public Health and Human Services Department under a tobacco-control friendly administration. In reaction to the amendment, Attorney General Joe Mazurek told the Associated Press that he would have preferred more money for the health-care trust and less for the general fund, but thought the distributions showed a commitment to public health, especially considering that some states had found far-flung uses for their tobacco money, and had put much less money toward tobacco-control.On March 24, 1999, HB 131 reached the full House, and the Republican majority successfully pushed an amendment by House Majority Leader Larry Grinde -Lewiston, to reserve half the MSA for tax relief in the 2003-2005 biennium.Grinde’s reasoning behind the proposal was that the taxpayers deserved financial compensation after years of helping to pay the states share of Medicaid coverage for people with tobacco-related illnesses.Legislators voted 50-48 that half of each annual payment had to be set aside in a special account for future legislatures to spend on providing tax relief.The remaining half of the MSA payments would be divided among tobacco prevention projects and health care programs, in accordance with the previous percentage allocations in HB 131 A preliminary House vote had originally passed HB 131 by 64 to 36 on March 24, 1999 with bipartisan support. Many legislators believed that this particular vote in the House was not definitive, since debates over allocations in HB 131 would continue both in the House before the next vote, and again when it was transmitted to the Senate where a joint conference committee would have to resolve House-Senate differences.But on the next day, March 25, 1999, many House Democrats, guided by Minority Leader Emily Swanson and joined by House Republicans, opposed the bill because of the new government programs it would create.

The penalty for repeated violations under HB 304 was the cancellation of a restaurant’s license

Our study shows that ceilings with an insecticide treated netting window can substantially reduce human exposure to malaria vectors. It is likely that the greatest effect on clinical malaria would be seen in areas of moderate and high transmission where a reduction in exposure to malaria parasites would lead to a proportional reduction in morbidity. Based on results from our study we recommend that intervention trials that measure epidemiological outcomes should be conducted in areas of moderate to high transmission to determine the protective efficacy of ceilings against clinical malaria.Tobacco control advocacy in Montana in 2005 is led by a strong coalition of health groups and individual tobacco control advocates. However, this was not always the case. Up until the late 1990’s there were rarely any organized efforts to push tobacco control policies forward. The first organized tobacco control effort on the state level came in 1990, when a group of health professionals made a failed attempt against a much more organized and well financed tobacco industry to pass a state initiative for a cigarette tax increase. Starting in 1999, local communities began passing smoke-free ordinances and, despite sophisticated opposition coordinated by the tobacco industry, succeeded in increasing local protection against secondhand smoke. With the introduction of the Master Settlement Agreement settlement payments in 1999 and the creation of the Montana Tobacco Use Prevention Program, tobacco control efforts in Montana became much more organized,vertical farming shelves though they still lacked the political power held by the tobacco industry and it allies in the state. Health and tobacco control advocates in 1999 were unable to prevent most of the MSA money from being diverted by legislators to the state’s general fund, which was then dispersed to non-health related programs.

Furthermore, the state’s tobacco use prevention program did not have the political support needed to defend itself against an extremely pro-tobacco industry governor, Judy Martz , who severely cut the state’s tobacco use prevention resources. Since 1999, health groups and tobacco control advocates have developed strategies, such as ballot initiatives, that won them more public support and political power. By 2005, tobacco control advocates had more influence than ever before. Even with this new level of political influence, however, tobacco control advocates in 2005 still find themselves fighting the tobacco industry and its ally groups, which have themselves evolved into using strategies of seemingly reasonable compromise in order to advance pro-tobacco industry policies. In particular, the tobacco industry ally group, the Montana Tavern Association , negotiated with health groups to pass a compromised Montana Clean Indoor Air Act of 2005, which permanently preempted local smoke-free ordinances, and allowed for bar and casino exemptions for at least four years. Thus, by negotiating with state health groups, the MTA successfully eliminated stronger local ordinances and, being one of the parties that created the bill, gained the power to influence the implementation and interpretation of the 2005 clean indoor air law. The Montana Clean Indoor Act of 1979, introduced as House Bill 235, came at a time when such laws were relatively novel. In 1973, Arizona passed a limited clean indoor air law that established designated smoking areas in most public places.In 1975, Minnesota passed the first comprehensive clean indoor air act of its kind in the United States, prohibiting smoking in all public places with the exception of designated smoking sections. While designated smoking section laws seem modest in 2005, it was a big step at the time, and the Minnesota law became model legislation for future states. Although smoking section laws had also been passed in other states around this time, none were as comprehensive or effective as the Minnesota act. North Dakota passed a law in 1975 authorizing the creation of smoking and nonsmoking section,and Nebraska passed a law in 1974 that made locations nonsmoking unless specifically designated a smoking area .

As early as 1973, the tobacco industry recognized that the public’s knowledge about the dangers of smoking was increasing, and that smoking was starting to lose its status as a socially accepted habit.A review of the status of smoking and health issues found in an incomplete internal document from the Brown and Williamson tobacco company dated March 15, 1975 made several observations that were not favorable for the tobacco industry.Among the topics discussed in the review were the Surgeon’s General Report which made progress in “closing off scientific debate on the smoking and health issue,” the vast number of U.S. doctors who were advising their patients about the dangers of smoking, and the growing belief that secondhand smoke was harmful to one’s health.The first tobacco control legislation in Montana was passed in 1979, when two bills proposed in the House of Representatives attempted to require designated smoking sections: House Bill 304 and House Bill 235. House Bill 304, which was tabled by the House Committee on Human Services was introduced by Rep. Joe Kanduch , and would have prohibited smoking in restaurants unless signs were posted that designated smoking areas.House Bill 235, which was passed in amended form, was introduced by Rep. Robert Ellerd . As originally written, HB 235 would have required the designation of nonsmoking areas in enclosed public places, with a $50 fine for violations, though the bill was eventually softened to only facilitate the optional creation of smoke-free sections.When the two bills came before the House Committee on Human Services for a hearing on February 7, 1979, testimony was presented simultaneously because of “similar intent on both bills” and “for time factors involved.”Rep. Kanduch, in presenting HB 304 at the hearing, stated that the intent of the “smoking section bill” was to create areas for people to smoke “without infringing upon a non-smoker’s rights to breath clean air.”The bulk of the testimony, however, addressed House Bill 235. Several doctors and concerned citizens spoke as HB 235 proponents, citing health concerns and the high cost of treating smoking related illnesses.

Among the groups represented in the proponents testimony were the Montana Lung Association, the Montana Medical Association, the Montana Nurses Association, and the Montana Society of Respiratory Therapists. Testimony in opposition to HB 235 came from individual restaurant and tavern owners, as well as from the Cascade Tavern Association and from Tom Maddox, who represented the Montana Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors. Maddox argued to the committee that the issues was a waste of time and money, that it had not been adequately proven that smoking or second-hand smoke caused cancer, that smoking laws were unpopular, and that the law would be unenforceable.The tobacco industry was well prepared for the committee hearing on HB 304 and HB 235, shown by an information bulletin distributed by the Montana Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors, dated January 23, 1979,and a February 2, 1979 letter titled “Grass Roots Activities – Montana,” written by the Manager for State Public Affairs at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co, Larry Bewley. Together,commercial grow supply the documents show that the Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., and the Tobacco Institute coordinated their efforts against the two bills, with the effort being managed by Tom Maddox, Executive Director of the Montana Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors, who was also the lobbyist for the Tobacco Institute.The Montana Association for Tobacco and Candy Distributors informational bulletin reprints the proposed HB 304, and asks Montana wholesalers “will you and your people please telephone or call on your restaurant customers; advise all of this bill and HB 235? Ask all to write to their representatives and ask each to vote DO NOT PASS on both bills.” The bulletin further instructs to write “all members of the House Committee on Human Services.”The R.J. Reynolds State Public Affairs letter, “Grass Roots Activities,” was distributed to several RJR employees, including Vice President Charles A. Tucker and Assistant General Counsel Peter Ramm.The memorandum discussed the upcoming February 7, 1979 hearing on the two bills and listed the members of the House Committee holding the public hearing. The memorandum further indicated that Tom Maddox was the Tobacco Institute lobbyist in Montana and would handle the opponents phase of the hearing. The memo advised that “RJR people attending the hearing should locate Tom just prior to the hearing. Our people will not testify, but follow Tom’s instructions.”Thus, R.J. Reynolds would have a presence at the hearings without committee members knowing their affiliations. The “Grass Roots Activities – Montana” letter advised that opponents should call their representatives and indicate opposition to House Bill 304, and provided a phone number for themto call, as well as reasons they should give in opposing HB 304.This follows standard tobacco industry strategy used in several other states, including California,Minnesota,Mississippi Nebraska,and Texas. House Bill 304 was defeated with little argument.

According to the minutes from the House Committee on Human Services hearing from Feb. 7, 1979, no testimony from either proponents or opponents of the bill were heard.On February 9, 1979, Republican committee member G.C. Feda moved to table HB 304, and the House committee unanimously carried the motion. House Bill 235, on the other hand, did achieve passage, but in a weakened form. HB 235 was initially defeated by a 7 to 10 vote in the House Human Services Committee on Feb. 9, 1979, but was amended and re-introduced by the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Robert Ellerd , and committee chair Polly Holmes , thereby becoming known as substitute HB 235. On Feb. 12, 1979, the committee again voted against HB 235 in a 7 to 10 vote, but the sponsors were able to get 10 signatures from the House membership to overturn the committee on Feb. 14, 1979. Substitute HB 235 was approved by the House in a 78 to 22 vote on Feb. 19, 1972, and the bill was then moved to a hearing before the Senate.Substitute HB 235 was heard by the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee on March 5, 1979, where the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ellerd, introduced proposed amendments that were presumably made to increase the bill’s chances of passing, since the bill had already been defeated in the initial committee hearing.Instead of prohibiting smoking in certain areas, the bill would require that no smoking signs be posted in certain areas . None of the proponents of the bill at the March 5th hearing objected to these amendments. In fact, Rep. Holmes gave some further argument in favor of the amendments, saying that the change was made so that enforcement would be focused on sign compliance, instead of on the individual smoker.Holmes further stated that if substitute HB 235 were not passed, proponents would put a stricter version of the bill on a ballot for voter approval. Testimony was heard from many of the individuals and organizations that had spoken on the bill in the House Committee hearing. Among the witnesses in favor of HB 235 were several representative from various health organizations: the Montana Society for Respiratory Therapy, the Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, the Lewis and Clark County Health Department, the Montana Nurses’ Association, and the Montana Lung Association.Although HB 235 had been considerably weakened, the tobacco industry and it’s ally groups continued to fight against it, worried that it’s passage would be a first step for an even stronger bill.Opponents testifying at the Senate Committee hearing were individuals from the hospitality industry, the Montana Innkeeper’s Association, and Tom Maddox, who was again representing the Montana Tobacco and Candy Distributors Association. Maddox submitted a five page prepared statement to the senate committee, reiterating the arguments that HB 235 was unnecessary, unenforceable, and unpopular. Maddox also contended that the goal of reducing the harm caused by second-hand smoke could be better achieved through the use of “clean air devices,” otherwise known as ventilation devices, and claimed that such devices “clean the air amazingly in short time,”a common tobacco industry argument which has been proven to be untrue.On March 9, 1979, the senate committee voted 4-2 to advance te bill to the full senate, and on March 15, 1979, the Montana Senate approved HB 235 by a vote of 34-16.

Confirmation procedures included a chest X-ray and an on-the-spot sputum examination

These systems also offer a unique opportunity to tailor crop characteristics to changing consumer preferences by altering environmental conditions such as light quality for example , where blue light has been used to increase the glucosinolate content of several Brassica species including, pak choi and watercress . Here we investigate differences in yield, morphology, and glucosinolate content of watercress grown under three different cultivation systems.This research provides foundation information to suggest that high yield watercress crop production is possible in vertical farming systems and that watercress quality may be further enhanced for improved anti-cancer characteristics. We have shown that the quality and yield of the leafy green salad crop watercress can be significantly improved by growth in an indoor vertical hydroponic system, enriched in blue light. The CDC ranked watercress as the most nutrient dense crop based on the content of 17 nutrients that are associated with reducing chronic disease risk . Our results show the yield and nutrient content of watercress can be enhanced even further by utilizing a novel vertical indoor growing environment other than the current commercial system used in the UK. Yield increases may be explained by the ability to tightly control environmental conditions in the VF that generate a consistent optimal nutrient and temperature environment. The increase in glucosinolate content from UK to CA is probably explained by heat stress in CA,cannabis drying system with the maximum temperature recorded at the CA site at 43.8 ◦C compared to 30.9 ◦C for the UK. Glucosinolate accumulation is associated with improved heat and drought stress tolerance in Arabidopsis and increases in GLSs are observed in heat-stressed Brassica rapa .

Increases observed in GLS content in VF can be explained by prolonged blue light exposure and a longer growth period . The mechanism of different LEDs on GLS biosynthesis regulations still remain unclear, but a short-duration blue light photoperiod increased the total aliphatic GLSs in broccoli . A similar result from a genome wide association mapping of Arabidopsis also revealed that blue light controlled GLS accumulation by altering the PHOT1/PHOT2 blue light receptors . Increasing blue light in the VF increased total GLSs content and although not statistically significant, it confirms the study by Chen et al. that showed increased GLSs content with increased blue light. Rosa et al. showed that GLS concentrations are more sensitive to the effect of temperature than of photoperiod and this is consistent with our results in total GLSs between the UK and CA sites. Our results support the idea that indoor farm cultivation is effective in promoting health-beneficial chemical properties. Watercress produced PBGLS in both the VF treatments, but this compound was not detected in either the UK or CA trials. PBGLS strengthens the nutrient profile of watercress. PEITC derived from PEGLS has already been proven to be an extremely effective naturally-occurring dietary isothiocyanates against cancer . Inhibitory potency increases several-fold when the glucosinolate alkyl chain gets longer , suggesting that PBITC, with its elongated alkyl chain compared to PEITC, may contribute an additional health benefit to this super food, although this remains to be proven. It is evident that watercress is particularly well-suited for indoor hydroponic growing systems, where plants exhibited the highest yielding leafy growth with improved nutritional profiles, ideal for consumer preferences. Altering the blue:red light ratio may further enhance the anti-cancer properties of this highly nutritious salad crop, but further studies are required to hone the light recipe for indoor cultivation. Tuberculosis is a major infectious disease that causes illness and death worldwide . In 2006, there were about 9.2 million new TB cases and 1.7 million TB-related deaths [World Health Organization 2008].

Most new cases and deaths occurred in Asia and Africa. In Nepal, a South Asian country, TB is a major public health problem , with an overall annual incidence of all forms of TB estimated at 176 per 100,000 persons . A range of social, environmental, and behavioral factors influence exposure and susceptibility to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Identifying TB risk factors and minimizing exposure to them could reduce the TB burden in Nepal and other developing countries. Active tobacco smoking, for example, has been shown to be a risk factor for TB, presumably by damaging immune and other protective mechanisms, allowing TB infection to prosper . The composition of tobacco smoke has many similarities to that of indoor cooking smoke from biomass fuel , exposure to which is common in the developing world, including Nepal. Therefore, an association of TB with indoor cooking smoke is plausible. Six previous epidemiologic studies have investigated whether an association exists between TB and exposure to cooking-fuel smoke . Although four of these studies found some evidence of an association, all the studies had limitations. The first study to find an association between exposure to cooking-fuel smoke and TB presented limited data on potential confounding factors, and the risk model was adjusted only for age, which left open the possibility of confounding by socioeconomic factors or smoking . Mishra et al. also reported evidence of an association; however, they used data from the 1992–1993 Indian National Family Survey, which was based on self-reported TB status. This leaves the possibility of outcome mis-classification. A third study found an association between cooking smoke exposure and TB but included no validation of key components of the questionnaire . In a study conducted in Malawi, Crampin et al. found no association between cooking smoke exposure and TB, but the study participants varied little in the type of fuel they used, and the risk model was adjusted only for age, sex, area of residence, and HIV status, leaving open the possibility of confounding by other socioeconomic factors or smoking. The fifth study, conducted in South India by Shetty et al. , also found no association of cooking-fuel smoke with TB, but they did find an association between TB and not having a separate kitchen. The sixth study was conducted by Kolappan and Subramani in Chennai, India; they found a marginal association between biomass fuel and pulmonary TB in their study population [adjusted OR = 1.7; 95% confidence interval , 1.0–2.9]. The study participants in this study were primarily men but because women do most of the cooking, they are more likely to be exposed to smoke from cooking fuel. We conducted a TB case–control study in the Pokhara municipality of Nepal where cooking with biomass fuels in unvented indoor stoves is a common practice.

Our main objectives were to confirm results of earlier studies using clinically confirmed TB cases and to investigate possible confounding of the relationship using a validated questionnaire and exposure assessment in the kitchens of a subset of participants’ houses.old, who visited TB clinics in RTC and MTH and who had been newly diagnosed with active pulmonary TB by chest X-ray and positive active sputum smears , which are routinely conducted at the hospital using methods recommended by the WHO . Women who were pregnant, who were on chemotherapy for cancer, who had HIV/ AIDS or diabetes, or who had a history of TB were excluded from the study. Controls were recruited from outpatient and inpatient departments at the MTH, in the same months when cases were identified. For each case,rolling greenhouse benches the control subjects were the first eligible female patients without pulmonary TB, matched to cases on age , who presented at MTH between 0900 and 1000 hours after case enrollment. Controls were excluded from the study for the same reasons as for the cases. Control subjects were interviewed only after medical screening confirmed that they did not have TB. The ratio of cases to controls was 1:2. After obtaining an informed oral consent to participate, all cases and controls were interviewed face-to-face by trained interviewers shortly after diagnosis while they were still at the hospital. The three interviewers were unavoidably aware of the case or control status of the interviewees but were not aware of the main exposure of interest or hypothesis of the study. All interviewers interviewed both cases and controls. The questionnaire collected data on education level, area of residence , history of use of cooking fuels and stoves that included present and previous cooking fuels and stoves, present kitchen type and location, kitchen ventilation, house type, participant’s smoking history and smoking status of family members, alcohol consumption, vitamin supplement consumption, use of mosquito coils and incense, household crowding, vehicle ownership, and annual income level.Liquefied petroleum gas and biogas were designated “gaseousfuel stoves” , which was used as the reference category for most analyses compared with kerosene-fuel stoves and biomass-fuel stoves . Very few participants reported burning biomass in stoves with flues or chimneys venting to the outside, and no one reported using an electric cooker. For this reason, no separate category was created for vented BFS, and these subjects were included in the BFS category. We examined the extent of agreement of responses on the exposure information obtained during face-to-face interviews at the hospital with data obtained from actual inspection of these features in the houses of the first 28 study participants . The effect of mis-classification was calculated in terms of sensitivity and specificity. We combined information on kitchen location and windows in the kitchen to create a composite dichotomous variable for ventilation. “Fully and partially ventilated kitchens” included open-air kitchens, separate kitchens outside the house, and partitioned kitchens with windows inside the house. This was used as the reference category for ventilation. Unventilated kitchens included partitioned and non-partitioned kitchens without windows inside the house. We were unable to clearly interpret questionnaire data on closing doors in a way that could be used to characterize ventilation. To calculate the number of pack-years of smoking, we combined the information on the average number of tobacco products smoked every day multiplied by the duration of smoking in years divided by 20, assuming that a pack of cigarette contains twenty cigarettes/bidis. One participant who reported she smoked a hukka was excluded from this analysis. We calculated crude odds ratios between exposure and outcome. We decided a priori to include all statistically significant variables in the model, as well as any other recognized risk factors for TB. Then we applied a stepwise backward elimination model, with a variable selection criterion of p = 0.2, to all the variables to identify any others that should be included in the final model. Using the selected covariates, we constructed a multivariate unconditional logistic regression model for risk of TB. We calculated adjusted female population-attributable fractions and associated CIs using the aflogit command in Stata statistical software . This procedure assumes that the proportion of controls exposed is a good estimate of the proportion exposed in the target population.Four potential interviewees did not meet the inclusion criteria: two were diabetic and two were HIV positive. During recruitment, one potential control was found to have pulmonary TB and was transferred to the case group. Except for one control, all potential interviewees agreed to participate in this study. In total, we recruited and interviewed 125 cases and 250 controls. Cases were more likely to be referred by a health care professional than were controls . This might reasonably be expected because TB causes serious illness, but many of the controls would have had much less severe conditions. Table 1 lists descriptive data for the cases and controls, with unadjusted ORs and CIs. With the exception of the income variable, few data were missing. Confirming the success of the matching process, distributions of cases and controls were similar in terms of age. Most cases and controls were from the Kaski district. Cases were more likely than controls to be Buddhist, to live in urban and periurban areas, to reside in poorer quality houses , to be illiterate, to have non-partitioned and unventilated kitchens indoors, and to use kerosene wick lamps as their main source of light. Cases were also more likely than controls to regularly consume alcohol, to be tobacco smokers, to have more smokers in the family than controls, and to have not always lived in their present house. We think that, to some extent, the latter variable probably captures the likelihood of previously having used other cooking fuels.

Airborne microbial sampling involves either active or passive techniques

Low-retention swabs have been developed to isolate minute amounts of biological material for subsequent analysis for surface sampling; however, these swab-based techniques are currently incompatible with quantitative approaches, due to interpersonal variation in the strength of swabbing.Commonly used active air sampling methods include liquid impingers, size-resolved and non-size-resolved impaction-based filter methods , and wetted wall cyclones. Active air samplers operate at a range of airflow rates . While the advantage of higher flow rates is that more biomass can be collected over shorter amounts of time, there remain practical size and noise concerns associated with the higher flow rate pumps. A newly developed air-sampler relies on electro-kinetic air ionization to positively charge particles in the air, and then collect them onto a negatively charged surface. Commonly used passive air sampling methods include Petri dishes suspended in air, both with and without a growth medium, dust fall collector, and sampling of portions of used HVAC filters from recirculating air handling units. A few studies have compared the ability of various bioaerosol samplers to deliver repeatable results using molecular analysis techniques or for various analysis techniques to deliver repeatable microbial community results from a particular air sampling method. Airborne collection methods can vary widely in their collection efficiencies for different sizes of bioaerosols, as well as in their DNA extraction efficiencies from the sample collection media. One recent study suggests that because different air sampling methods can yield such different results,marijuana growing equipment it may be more appropriate to use a variety of techniques to provide a more complete representation of microbial communities present indoors, consistent with recommendations before next-generation DNA sequencing.

Overall, particle collection techniques involve difficult trade-offs between ease of use, cost, and unobtrusiveness with the amount of biomass collected, the impact of the collection on viability, and the consistency and representativeness of the targeted sample.Once particles have been collected, analysis techniques are structured toward providing physical , chemical , or biological attributes. See Q5 for a discussion of current biological techniques.Online methods are emerging that provide high time-resolution and are easy to use, such as those based on laser-induced fluorescence , chemical marker detection, or other techniques, but specificity is currently limited. In spite of this limitation, LIF-based particle counting is a useful choice in studies where the study of dynamic processes is of interest, or where information on particle size is critical. In studies where processes of interest have longer timescales, or if the schedule of particle collection can be dynamically managed to target conditions of interest, particle collection/ analysis offers greater specificity to well-defined outcomes.Aside from the specific method of sampling, there are additional questions of where in a building to sample and how many areas need to be studied to give a spatially and temporally representative outcome. For spatial resolution, current research indicates that areas that vary in their degree and nature of human contact and water exposure exhibit greater compositional differences than those accumulating environmental microbes in other way.Temporal variability of microbes indoors can be high, varying on the order of hours for air samples are likely due in part to diurnal activity of outdoor microbes and to activity levels in the room and, of course, across longer time scales of weeks, months, and seasons. It has been suggested previously that sampling on different days is necessary to obtain a representative sample of aerosol exposure in a home  and that sampling time on the order of 5e7 days better captures ergosterol concentrations in homes than <24 h air samples due to the considerable temporal variability in bioaerosols.

Since repeated or long-term sampling is not always practical, especially in larger epidemiological studies, settled dust is often used as a surrogate. While it is unclear precisely what portion of exposure originates from floor dust, it is likely to be high, given the strong role that resuspension plays on structuring bioaerosols.There are many opportunities for technological improvements in the way built environments are studied and sampled. Many of these have to do with bridging biological-oriented sampling, particularly those relying on genetic assays, with particle-based sampling. One major area in need of improvement is how microbes are collected from air for later biological processing. Ideally, samplers would be easy to operate and the sampling protocol would permit consistent use with little to no formal training. This would also allow indoor sampling to be scalable, and enable the sampling of homes or other buildings across the globe that differ in design and operation with minimal cost and logistical hurdles. When using DNA sequencing approaches to survey bioaerosols in buildings, it is critical that the sampling strategy yields sufficient amounts of retrievable DNA for downstream analyses. Current approaches overcome this by taking time-integrated samples, typically over many hours. Time-integrated samples capture a composite view of bioaerosols, which can vary substantially over time. At the same time, time-resolved methods would provide repeated samples continuously over a representative period of time to link specific activities and conditions with the effects on aerosols, as is commonly done with particles. Ideally, the time-resolved methods would also provide information on particle size, which would allow the application of pre-existing understanding of aerosol behavior to better predict and control the dynamics of microorganisms in the built environment. The ideal aerosol sampler would also provide quantitative and reproducible estimates of the amounts and types of bioaerosols found within buildings. Additional technological developments and availability of low cost built-environment sensors will enable the appropriate “metadata” to be acquired more easily along with microbiological measurements, to link microbial findings to underlying causes.

Spatial mapping , advanced visualization, and other emerging tools will enable the more effective and creative application of the data made available through current molecular and building measurement technologies. Lastly, other areas of technological improvements are related to microbiological analytical methods. Efforts should be extended broadly to include eukaryotes beyond fungi, and also viruses. Approaches are necessary to address the multiple sources of bias that may be present in next-generation sequencing based characterization of microbial communities, including DNA extraction methods, primer bias, and variable gene counts and genome sizes . Improved bio-informatic approaches and reference databases will enhance our ability to study the entire microbial community. Improved and validated approaches for discriminating between dead microbes and those that are alive, and particularly methods that are compatible with current genetic-based microbial detection,greenhouse rolling benches would greatly improve our understanding of microbes in buildings. Dead pathogens inside homes and buildings may be of little concern, although allergenic fungal species may still contain allergens regardless of viability. DNA can be remarkably persistent on surfaces and particles. Plus, analytical standards for microbial community analyses would facilitate testing different molecular approaches and comparing results obtained using different strategies . Lastly, new tools for studying microbial activity in situ would provide a basis to better understand what are the primary microbial processes and in real-world buildings. While many tools focus on DNA, we also need continued advances in metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics to make these techniques more accessible.There is a growing appreciation of the impact that micro-biomes have on the health of humans. Humans can acquire some components of their own micro-biome from their surroundings and are continuously exposed to the indoor micro-biome, so it follows that the micro-biomes found in the indoor environment could also have a profound effect on human health. Recent research has highlighted this potential connection between the indoor micro-biome and health, although many of the recently published connections thus far are based on correlation, not causation. The indoor micro-biome could influence health through inhalation, ingestion, and dermal contact, and there are numerous examples of a direct link between specific microbes in the indoor environment and acute infections. Indoor air can serve as a transmission route for pathogens including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, influenza, and the fungus Aspergillus. One of the most common hospital acquired infections in the United States is caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, and can lead to lethal diarrhea. C. difficile forms spores that can survive on indoor surfaces, even after the use of antimicrobial products. HAIs derived from Staphylococcus aureus and the antibiotic resistant strains such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus also frequently contaminate environmental surfaces.

Water can also serve as a source of infection transmission in the built environment. A widely recognized infectious bacterium that thrives in warm water and can become aerosolized is Legionella.While it is well known that building cooling towers can contribute to the spread of Legionnaire’s disease , other building operational parameters can also influence the transmission of infectious disease. Understanding the link between the micro-biome of the indoor environment and non-infectious diseases, such as respiratory ailments, is an active area of research. There is still much work to be done to appreciate the connections between microbial diversity, environmental exposure, and health outcomes across buildings in a variety of settings, especially because for many of the associations the specific causative agents remain unknown. Early on, there were investigations into sick building syndrome , a syndrome in which occupants experience acute health symptoms while in the building including fatigue, headaches, and irritation in the eyes, nose, and throat. In a similar vein, dampness and mold in buildings are known to be detrimental for respiratory-based diseases, particularly exacerbation of existing asthma. It is logical to consider that the ill effects derive from exposure to the microbial agents endogenously growing in these water damaged buildings, but lower fungal diversity has been shown to be predictive of asthma development. In fact, Dannemiller et al., using next-generation sequencing of fungal DNA, found that no individual fungal taxon was associated with asthma development but overall fungal diversity was. On the other hand, Ege et al., working in farm environments, found that a diverse microbial environment and the presence of bacteria from particular genera were inversely associated with asthma, atopic sensitization, and hay fever. Similarly, Lynch et al. carried out a longitudinal study in inner-city environments and found that children exposed to specific types of bacteria in combination with well-known allergens at high levels had a reduced risk of allergic disease. The authors suggested that mice and cockroaches were the sources of these bacteria associated with a beneficial health outcome. In addition, even dead cells and cell fragments can have negative health impacts on respiratory health, and microbial metabolites may also directly affect human health. Clearly, there is much to learn about the interplay between overall microbial diversity and composition, the presence of particular taxa, and the built environment, and the overall effect of this milieu on immune function. In what may be the only study showing a direct health benefit from an indoor microbe, Fujimura et al. showed that exposure to dog-associated bacteria from house dust in a mouse model was protective against airway allergen challenge. Moreover, the researchers isolated a single species associated with the dog associated house dust, Lactobacillus johnsonii, and found that intentional supplement with this bacterial species conferred airway protection in mice. In addition to the inhalation and ingestion routes of environmental exposure, direct contact between surfaces and an occupant could alter the skin micro-biome. While the skin micro-biome of diseased states is distinct from that of a healthy individual with some ailments, it is unclear whether this arises through contact with the built environment and whether the skin micro-biome influences the body’s larger immune system.Decisions that are made during building design have the potential to drive the indoor micro-biome regardless of their intention or motivation. As a sterile indoor environment is not possible, nor likely to be desirable , it has been suggested to move from treating all microorganisms as contaminants towards a more bio-informed design that considers impacts of the micro-biome in design decisions. However, it is not currently clear what constitutes a healthy indoor micro-biome, nor what are the necessary design parameters to drive the micro-biome to a healthy micro-biome. With regards to infrastructure health and maintenance, plumbing systems have received the most research attention. Altering the operation of a drinking water system, for example reducing flow and moving towards green building design or using onsite drinking water disinfection, has previously been shown to alter both the micro-biome as well as potential pathogens.

The primary gear type for shrimp fisheries is trawl gear

We estimated a potentially clinically significant 89-g increase in birth weight among infants born to mothers using wood-fueled chimney stoves compared with those born to mothers using open fires. These results are similar to those of four other studies that assessed the relationship between birth weight and maternal exposures to HAP . Unlike previous studies, however, ours introduced a standardized, improved chimney stove, assessed stove conditions on a weekly basis, and measured personal CO exposures among pregnant women every 3–6 months. In a recent meta-analysis of five studies, which included the present findings, Pope et al. estimated a reduced mean birth weight of 95.6 g and a 38% increase in LBW among women exposed to HAP compared with women who used cleaner stoves during pregnancy . Previous studies compared only birth weight outcomes and maternal report of fuel type. A Zimbabwean study of 3,559 newborns showed that infants born to clean fuel users weighed 175 g more than did infants born to mothers who used wood, straw, and dung as fuel . In a study of 1,771 newborns in Guatemala, Boy et al. reported that infants born to women using cleaner-fuel stoves versus wood-fuel stoves weighed 63 g more, on average, whereas infants born to women using wood-fueled improved stoves were 32 g heavier, on average, than were those born to women using open fires. Some of the improved stoves in that study were poorly maintained or repaired, which may have biased the estimate toward the null. A study of 634 infants in Pakistan found a non-significant decrease in birth weight in infants born to women using wood fuel compared with infants born to natural gas users . Although this last estimate is similar to that observed in the RESPIRE trial,cannabis grower supplies all the study women from RESPIRE used wood-fueled stoves. At present, in these rural, poor communities of Guatemala, an improved wood stove is the only viable, low-cost option.

Despite limitations of a small sample size, possible birth weight measurement error due to delay between time of birth and time of measurement, exposure mis-classification, other unmeasured exposures to wood smoke , and air pollution reductions primarily restricted to the third trimester, we identified a potentially clinically significant, but not statistically significant, difference in birth weight. Because of possible exposure misclassification among women who received their stove days before birth, we created an exposure variable indicating whether women had a stove in use for at least 60 days before delivery. This reduced the stove group from 69 to 34 births, introduced uncertainty into the model, and thus reduced our power to detect an effect from stove type with an estimated 63 g increase . Because of the heavy demands on field personnel to meet the primary aims of the RESPIRE trial, we were not able to assess newborn gestational age at the home deliveries and are thus not able to state what proportion of LBW was due to preterm birth. In 2009, the primary author trained 10 local traditional birth attendants who work in the communities that previously participated in RESPIRE. Using a cell-phone notification system, traditional birth attendants notified us of home deliveries. Within a 2-week period, we evaluated within 48 hr of birth 22 live newborns who were delivered at home. Preliminary analysis of estimated mean gestational age assessment using the New Ballard scale was 36.1 weeks . We estimated the lowest gestational age at 32 weeks, with an instrument margin of error of ± 2 weeks. We plan to conduct future studies to extend training in gestational age assessment using validated methods such as the New Ballard scale. A further limitation of the present study was the small number of maternal CO exposure measurements. A recent systematic review of 41 studies in industrialized countries examined the effect of a range of ambient air pollutants on adverse birth outcomes; 13 studies looked at CO and LBW . Although averaging times and exposure during pregnancy intervals varied across the studies, significant estimated effects on birth weight were reported for CO as low as 1–2 ppm in the third trimester based on in single-pollutant ambient models . These levels were lower than the 48-hr personal CO concentrations among the pregnant women in RESPIRE, including the stove group. Another limitation is the lack of information on diet and maternal weight gain during pregnancy. Chronic under nutrition was marked among the participating mothers and is reflected in their short stature. In this study, 2.0% of non-pregnant women were below the standard reference cutoff of 18.5 kg/m2 for maternal under nutrition.

This is comparable with the 2002 Guatemalan maternal–child health national survey, which found maternal under nutrition to be 1.9% for women of reproductive age . Our study has several strengths. This study of HAP exposure and birth weight is the first to explore a trimester effect with the use of improved stoves, although few women were observed starting from the first or the second trimester. Differential exposure was limited primarily to the third trimester and after stove construction. The velocity of fetal growth is largest during the third trimester, so limiting smoke exposures during this period is crucial . We observed a non-significant mean increase of 106 g in infant birth weight among the 52 women who used the chimney stove in the third trimester compared with women who used open fires throughout their pregnancy. Dejmek et al. estimated that newborns whose mothers were exposed to ETS throughout their pregnancy weighed 53 g less , on average, than those whose mothers were unexposed to ETS. In the same study, women who were moderate cigarette smokers during the third trimester had children whose birth weight averaged 130 g less than that of children born to mothers who never smoked. Our estimate falls within a plausible range for this third-trimester exposure period. A further strength of our study is the low prevalence of active tobacco smoke and ETS exposure. In other studies measuring the impact of solid fuels used for cooking, LBW could potentially be attributed in part to unmeasured tobacco exposures if smoking is common. In Pakistan, Siddiqui et al. found that 15% of the study women smoked during pregnancy. Among women enrolled in RESPIRE, only one woman stated that she was a former smoker, and among the 26% of women who reported a smoker in the house, only one or two cigarettes were smoked per day. Weekly visits made by trained fieldworkers ensured that the chimney stove was functioning as intended. During the RESPIRE trial, the chimney stove reduced kitchen air pollution by approximately 90%. Among all 529 women monitored during the 2-year trial, arithmetic mean personal exposures over 48 hr were reduced by 54%, from 4.8 ± 3.6 ppm to 2.2 ± 2.6 ppm, in the chimney-stove group . Among pregnant women, CO was 39% lower among women who used the cook stove compared with open-fire users.

However, CO levels were high even among chimney-stove users. In these communities, there are other important sources of smoke exposure, and certainly there are exposures to other copollutants in wood smoke besides CO. Roughly 85% of the population uses a wood-fired steam bath for 30–45 min several times a week . Temazcal use could have a much greater effect on LBW than kitchen exposures. Data presented here did not incorporate these significantly elevated exposures, because women were asked to remove their CO tubes before entering the temazcal to bathe,dry rack cannabis because high-humidity conditions would interfere with the accuracy of the tube measurement. These extreme, acute CO exposure levels affect the entire population of temazcal users and could contribute to the high incidence of LBW observed in the RESPIRE population . In this study, however, women who had the chimney stove in use during pregnancy and those who used the open fire were equally exposed to the temazcal . We observed a strong association with season, with a significantly higher average birth weight among children born during the cold season compared with children born during the rest of the year. We anticipated potentially higher exposures to CO during the cold season, when household members typically sit around the fire for warmth. However, we found no seasonal differences in measured maternal CO exposures . It is possible that higher birth weight during the cold season is attributable to increased food availability during the harvest period, which occurs in the months preceding the cold season. Increased fetal weight may be attributable to improved nutrition during the second trimester and third trimester, when fetal weight gain accelerates, although this cannot be verified from our data. Rao et al. found evidence of a seasonal energy stress effect among Indian women in rural farming communities. Women who had higher maternal caloric intake during the second and third trimesters, which coincided with the winter harvest season, were found to have heavier newborns than did women whose second and third trimesters coincided with summer and monsoon seasons . Women in the RESPIRE trial not only face chronic malnutrition but also experience seasonal stress that acutely affects infant birth weight. A final strength of this study is the intensive, weekly household surveillance that was employed during RESPIRE. This increased our ability to weigh infants born at home soon after birth. Our LBW prevalence was 22.4%, almost double the national reported prevalence of 12% . The national LBW rate includes urban populations, typically characterized by higher socioeconomic status, better access to medical care, and cleaner cooking fuels.The premise of this study is that an increasing number of the world’s fisheries are producing or exceeding their maximum yield, while the world demand for seafood increases. Global per capita seafood consumption has increased steadily from 9.9 kg in the 1960s to 19.2 kg per capita in 2012 .

This skyrocketing demand in conjunction with population growth and increased fishing efficiency has led to over exploitation of many marine fish stocks. Technological advancements have made accessible areas that were once too remote or too deep to be exploited. Commercial fishing involves deploying hundreds of miles of nets and dragging various apparatus along bottom habitats. A side effect of this is environmental damage throughout ocean ecosystems, much of which is unobservable and immeasurable . Fishery management authorities have started adopting ecosystem-based management approaches, understanding that fish populations depend upon habitat integrity . Many fisheries stipulate gear restrictions and limited access, but enforcement, efficacy, and consideration of economic and social factors all vary on a case-by-case basis. Despite increased efficiency, fleet size, and access, wild capture fisheries’ annual production has stabilized to 1990 levels, varying up and down about three percent since 1998 . The relative consistency of wild catch over the past two decades, accompanied by the periodic dramatic stock collapse, such as the anchoveta crisis in 1998 and today’s California sardine fishery closure, suggests wild-capture marine food fish production may be at capacity. Yet to date, seafood production has risen to meet demand, outpacing world population growth twofold in annual growth rates since the 2000s. This has been made possible by the aquaculture industry, which has been growing rapidly in the past few decades: aquaculture contributed to 5 percent of seafood production in 1962, and an impressive 49 percent in 2012 . From some perspectives, aquaculture is a means to contribute to global food security while alleviating pressure on wild stocks and preventing environmental damage from impactful fishing gear. But to others, farmed seafood comes with its own variety of health and environmental risks, and is neither an adequate nor sustainable substitute for its wild counterpart.In regards to U.S. seafood consumption, shrimp is the most consumed product, weighing in at 1.9 kg per year consumed by the average American . Despite this popularity, we remain dependent upon foreign production for upwards of 90% of shrimp products. In 2015 the U.S. imported almost 1.3 billion pounds of shrimp, valued at over $5.4B . The aquaculture industry continues expand, and import data prove shrimp is a top priority for the U.S. However, ecosystem-based assessments of commercial fisheries particularly malign shrimp fisheries.Certain types of trawls earn the highest rank among fishing gear in terms of physical and biological habitat damage . Also, trawling for small species leads to massive amounts of bycatch: roughly five pounds of non-target species per pound of shrimp in the U.S. fisheries.

Diaries were used to detect effects of cooking and indoor combustion events

Asthma was not associated with PM10 or SO2, except for an unexpected inverse association in boys for PM10. The association of acute asthma with CO is supported in a Seattle panel study of 133 asthmatic children and is likely explained by more causal components of vehicle exhaust and other combustion byproducts . It is possible that associations between allergic respiratory illnesses and traffic density are due to NAAQS criteria air pollutants, particularly NO2, which is directly related to local traffic density . Krämer et al. assessed this possibility in a study of 306 children 9 years of age living at least 2 years in a home near major roads in Germany . Using passive samples with Palmes tubes, weekly average concentrations were measured for personal NO2 in March and September, and for outdoor home or near home NO2 at 158 locations in each of four seasons . Investigators showed that outdoor NO2 was a good predictor of home traffic density but a poor predictor for personal NO2 exposure reflecting the known importance of indoor NO2 sources. They followed the children with weekly parental questionnaires for atopic symptoms for 1 year. In suburban areas there was little variation in outdoor NO2, and inclusion of suburban subjects in regression models decreased parameter estimates and increased standard errors. For urban areas , they found that atopic sensitizations to pollen, to house dust mite or cat, and to milk or egg were each significantly associated with outdoor NO2 but not predicted personal NO2. They also found that outdoor NO2, but not predicted personal NO2, was significantly associated with reports of at least 1 week with symptoms of wheezing and of allergic rhinitis. Relationships for atopy and rhinitis symptoms by quartile of outdoor NO2 suggested a dose–response relationship . Although an ever diagnosis of hay fever was associated with outdoor NO2, diagnosed asthma was not . The maximum outdoor NO2 of the urban sites was 36 ppb ,vertical grow system which is far less than the U.S. EPA NAAQS of 53 ppb annual mean . The overall results suggest that outdoor NO2 was serving as a marker for more causal airborne agents rather than a direct effect of NO2.

High personal exposures to PAHs near busy streets were possible in the study by Krämer et al. , as well as other studies in Table 2 for high traffic density. Dubowsky et al. measured total real-time, particle bound PAHs from three nonsmoking indoor sites with different traffic densities characteristic of urban, semiurban, and suburban residencies.A significant contribution of traffic related PAHs to indoor PAHs was detected. Indoor peaks occurred during morning rush hour on weekdays only . The geometric means of PAHs corrected for indoor sources were urban, 31 ng/m3; semiurban, 19 ng/m3; and suburban, 8 ng/m3. Despite the suggestion that NO2 may be acting as a surrogate pollutant, the respiratory effects of NO2 are still important. However, the magnitudes of effects of NO2 on asthma are not entirely clear, and there are considerable inconsistencies in the experimental literature. Some studies have shown alterations in lung function, airway responsiveness, or symptoms, whereas others have not, even at high concentrations [reviewed by Bascom et al. ]. Data that support the traffic density studies come from a clinical crossover study that used ambient exposures of 20 mild pollen-allergic adult asthmatic individuals . Subjects showed early- and late-phase bronchospastic reactions to pollen allergen challenge that were greater 4 hr after a 30-min exposure in a car parked in a road tunnel compared with a low control exposure in a suburban hotel . Specific airway resistance 15 min after allergen challenge increased 44% in 12 subjects exposed to road tunnel NO2 > 159 ppb compared with 24% for their control exposures . The higher NO2 tunnel exposures were associated with significantly more symptoms and beta-agonist inhaler use 18 hr after allergen challenge. In addition, FEV1 decreased significantly more than with control exposures 3–10 hr after allergen challenge . Effects were smaller using PM10 or PM2.5 as the exposure metric. The authors compared their results with those from earlier chamber studies using 265 ppb NO2 before allergen challenge.

They concluded that although those results also showed an enhancement of early- and late-phase asthmatic reactions , effects were greater for lower NO2 exposures in the tunnel, suggesting other pollutants were important. Other agents aside from either NAAQS criteria air pollutants or air toxics could explain some part of the association of asthma and allergy outcomes with traffic density. Latex allergen found on respirable rubber tire particles is likely common in urban air and could lead to sensitization and respiratory symptoms. In addition, the physical action of motor vehicles on road dust, which is known to contain pollen grains, could lead to the production and resuspension of smaller respirable pollen fragments . Other allergenic bioaerosols such as fungal spores could be fragmented and resuspended as well. Interactions between pollutants and allergens could also influence effects. Allergenic molecules could be delivered to target sites in the airways on diesel carbon particles. as evidenced in vitro using the rye grass pollen allergen Lol p1 . Another study using immunogold labeling techniques found that indoor home soot particles, primarily in the sub-micrometer size range, had bound antigens of cat , dog , and birch pollen , and this adsorption was replicated in vitro with DEP particles . Other biologic interactions between pollutants and allergens on airways that favor inflammatory reactions have been hypothesized , including enhancement of allergen sensitization in asthmatic children with ETS exposure and pollutant-induced enhancements of the antigenicity of allergens .Experimental evidence supports the biologic plausibility of a role for PAHs from fossil fuel combustion products in the onset and exacerbation of asthma. However, the occupational data on DE and asthma onset are limited to one three-case series. In addition, despite high exposures, overall inconsistency is found in occupational studies of respiratory symptoms or lung function and diesel/gas exhaust exposures. Bias from the healthy worker effect is likely given the expectation of avoidance behavior among individuals with respiratory sensitivity to inhaled irritants, including asthmatics. This behavior has been hypothesized to result from a toxicant-induced loss of tolerance . The inconsistent and weak occupational evidence does not rule out different dose–response relationships for asthma in nonoccupational settings. Epidemiologic results showing associations between childhood asthma and ETS may be explained, in part, by PAHs. Positive results in epidemiologic studies of asthma and traffic-related exposures also may be explained, in part, by PAHs.

The question that remains is, what are the determinants of asthma associations with complex mixtures of ETS-related and traffic-related particle components and gases? The above review gives the overall impression that asthma,indoor weed growing accessories related respiratory symptoms, lung function deficits, and atopy are higher among people living near busy traffic. Some data coherent with this view are found in studies showing a higher prevalence of asthma and atopic conditions in more developed Westernized countries and in urban compared with rural areas [reviewed by Beasley et al. and Weinberg ]. For instance, studies in Africa have shown that pediatric asthma is rare in rural regions, whereas African children living in urban areas have experienced an increasing incidence of asthma . The urban-rural differences have tended to narrow as rural Africans became more Westernized . This suggests that the increase of asthma seen in developed countries may be attributable to some component of urbanization, including automobile and truck traffic. However, this urbanization gradient is not a consistent finding across the literature . For instance, in the traffic exposure–response study by Montnémery et al. , although there were significant associations of asthma symptoms and diagnosis to traffic density, there were no urban-rural differences. In addition, some recent studies that specifically examined farming environments, found a decreased risk of asthma and atopy among children living on farms , particularly where there is regular contact with farm animals. This prompted these investigators to hypothesize that a “protective farm factor” may reflect the influence of microbial agents on TH1 versus TH2 cell development or reflect the development of immuno tolerance . This possibility, in addition to potentially high levels of confounding by uncontrolled factors that vary by geography, makes it difficult to clearly interpret the cross-sectional studies on urban versus rural areas or ecologic studies of international differences.The following section will examine the epidemiologic literature on the relationship of asthma and atopy in children to formaldehyde. This serves to exemplify one of the few low molecular weight agents associated with asthma in both the occupational and nonoccupational literature, and to exemplify an air toxic that has effects from low to high exposure levels. However, there are little available nonoccupational data on the risk of asthma onset from formaldehyde. One study passively measured formaldehyde over 2 weeks in the homes of 298 children and 613 adults . In log-linear models controlling for SES variables and ethnicity, the study found a significantly higher prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma and chronic bronchitis in children 6–15 years of age living in homes with higher formaldehyde concentrations over 41 ppb . However, the room specific measurements revealed that the association was attributable to high formaldehyde concentrations in kitchens, particularly those homes with ETS exposures , suggesting possible confounding by other factors not measured. In random effects models controlling for SES and ETS, they found significant inverse associations between morning PEF rates and average formaldehyde from the bedroom, and between evening PEF and household average formaldehyde.

There was no apparent threshold level. The PEF finding was independent of ETS, but the effects of age or of anthropomorphic factors were not mentioned. Symptoms of chronic cough and wheeze were higher, and PEF lower, in adults living in houses with higher formaldehyde levels. There was a significant interaction between formaldehyde and tobacco smoking in relation to cough in adults. Passive measurements of NO2 did not confound the associations in children or adults. Other nonoccupational data on formaldehyde relate indirectly to asthma. Wantke et al. evaluated levels of specific IgE to formaldehyde using RAST in 62 eight-year old children attending one school with particleboard paneling and urea foam window framing. The children were transferred to a brick building because of elevated formaldehyde levels in particleboard classrooms and complaints of headache, cough, rhinitis, and nosebleeds. Symptoms and specific IgE were examined before and 3 months after cessation of exposure. At baseline, three children had RAST classes ≥ 2 and 21 had classes ≥ 1.3 , whereas all 19 control children attending another school had classes < 1.3. After transfer, the RAST classes significantly decreased from 1.7 ± 0.5 to 1.2 ± 0.2 , and symptoms decreased. However, IgE levels did not correlate with symptoms. None of the children had asthma. Garrett et al. hypothesized that formaldehyde may adversely affect the lower respiratory tract by increasing the risk of allergic sensitization to common allergens. They studied 43 homes with at least one asthmatic child and 37 homes with only nonasthmatic children . Atopy was evaluated in the children with SPTs for allergy to 12 common animal, fungal, and pollen allergens. Formaldehyde was measured passively throughout the homes over 4 days in four different times of 1 year. Atopic sensitization by SPT was associated with formaldehyde levels [OR for 20 µg/m3 increase, 1.42 ]. Across three formaldehyde exposure categories, there was also a significant increase in the number of positive SPTs and in the wheal ratio of allergen SPT over histamine SPT. Mean respiratory symptom scores were significantly and positively associated across the three categories. There was a significant positive association between parent-reported, physician-diagnosed asthma and formaldehyde, but this was confounded by history of parental asthma and parental allergy. It is unclear why these familial determinants were treated as confounders rather than effect modifiers, although knowledge of asthma by parents may lead to bias in the assessment of asthma in their children. Several other studies of nonasthmatic subjects have examined health outcomes and biomarkers that are relevant to asthma. Franklin et al. studied 224 children 6–13 years of age with no history of upper or lower respiratory tract diseases, using expired nitric oxide as a marker for lower airway inflammation . Formaldehyde was passively monitored in the children’s homes for 3–4 days.

The results also include the effect size using partial ƞ2 as a measure of the strength of the independent effects

This is important because a better understanding of the underpinnings for phenotypes that contribute to an enhanced vulnerability to heavy drinking and alcohol problems can lead to prevention approaches that diminish that vulnerability . The concept of tolerance is broad and has several components. These include pharmacodynamic, or functional, tolerance where the body develops less response, or more resistance, to a given level of the drug . Functional tolerance can be further characterized based on the duration and intervals between alcohol exposure. Acute tolerance, which develops during a single exposure to alcohol and is sometimes labeled as within-session tolerance or the Mellanby effect , refers to the phenomenon whereby in a single drinking session one experiences less alcohol effect at a given blood level at falling alcohol concentrations as compared to an identical alcohol concentration at rising levels . Repeated bouts of alcohol exposure can also produce chronic, or intersession, tolerance to the drug which might reflect both the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic effects and is the usual tolerance definition that applies to the AUD criterion item in the recent versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals of the American Psychiatric Association.Acute tolerance in humans can be measured in a research laboratory by either having subjects ingest alcohol-containing beverages or by infusing ethanol intravenously . While each method of administration has its strengths and limitations for a critical review, systematic reviews of the acute tolerance literature find that 60% to 80% of these alcohol challenge studies yield evidence for acute tolerance to at least some of alcohol’s effects. The reviews also find more consistent evidence of acute tolerance when subjective measures of intoxication are assessed at rising and falling alcohol concentrations as opposed to more objective measurements such as performance on neuropsychological tests or driving simulation.

In summary,trimming weed plants some studies have used alcohol challenges to document acute tolerance and, and others have used alcohol challenges to evaluate the type and intensity of reaction to alcohol in individuals at higher risk for AUDs before repeated binge drinking or multiple alcohol problems develop. However, few, if any, studies have evaluated both acute tolerance and LR in the same population. When the relatively lower intensity of response to alcohol was first identified in young adult light-to-moderate drinking non-AUD offspring of individuals with AUDs, the phenomenon was labeled as a “low LR” because it was not possible to determine if the measure related to innate sensitivity or was the consequence of the development of some form of tolerance. Thus, there is a need to add evaluations of acute tolerance to alcohol challenge studies focusing on the low LR phenotype.This paper presents the results of secondary data analyses from one of our prior alcohol challenge studies to directly test whether moderate drinking low and high LR individuals differ in the development of acute tolerance. The data compare alcohol challenge scores at similar breath alcohol concentrations along the ascending and descending limbs of the BrAC curve. Data are available on changes in scores for subjective responses to alcohol and alterations in the amount of body sway. Our Hypothesis 1 is that low LR individuals, who have been shown to demonstrate less intense subjective feelings and body sway during the alcohol challenge, will also demonstrate greater levels of acute tolerance than their sex- and age-matched high LR counterparts. In addition, Hypothesis 2 predicts that, the relationship of LR to acute tolerance will be similar across the sexes .As described in detail in our prior work , participants in the present secondary data analysis were 18- to 25-yearold Anglo and white Hispanic students enrolled at the University of California, San Diego who took part in a multistage experiment examining fMRI differences in subjects with low and high responses to alcohol. Following approval by the UCSD Human Research Protection Program, a random cohort of students was first asked to respond to an email survey requesting information on demography, physical health, drinking and other drug use characteristics, as well as their family history of alcohol and other drug related problems.

Their survey responses were used to identify an initial cohort of healthy, right-handed students who had experience with alcohol but who never met criteria for an alcohol use or illicit substance use disorder; were not pregnant; and to be eligible for this functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study, had no irremovable body metal and no history of traumatic brain injury.The survey also included the Self-Report of the Effects of Alcohol questionnaire, a retrospective measure of LR, as a preliminary screen for the low LR phenotype . The SRE uses 12-items that ask individuals to recall the number of standard drinks it took to feel four effects of alcohol across three time frames. The effects are: first feeling any effect; feeling as if speech was slurred; feeling unsteady walking; and unwanted falling asleep . The three time periods included the first five times one ever consumed at least a full drink, most recent three months where drinking at least once a month, and during one’s period of heaviest drinking. The score for each period was the sum of the number of drinks for the effects actually experienced with alcohol for that time frame, divided by the number of the up to four experiences reported to generate the average drinks needed per effect. In the present analysis, the First-5 metric was used to preliminarily categorize participants into low and high LR subgroups . Each low LR individual was matched to a high LR subject on other characteristics that might affect LR including age, sex, recent six-month pattern of intake of alcohol, nicotine use and their use of other drugs . Respondents who completed the survey, met the initial inclusion criteria, and who completed the SRE were contacted by phone to confirm their continued interest in participating in the laboratory portion of the protocol. Selected participants were invited to come to the laboratory where a trained interviewer administered the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism  interview to review their personal and family history of psychiatric and substance use disorders. Participants who still met the recruitment criteria were instructed to fast overnight before coming to the laboratory at 8AM and to refrain from using alcohol or other drugs for at least 48 hours prior to their first alcohol challenge session in our laboratory as part of the final screen for the subsequent fMRI placebo and alcohol challenges. The data reported here came from that laboratory-based alcohol challenge as the fMRI-based sessions did not include the full usual laboratory measures.Upon arrival at the laboratory, participants underwent a breathalyzer test to confirm a zero-breath alcohol concentration .

They were seated in a recliner, allowed to acclimate to the lab environment, and fed an isocaloric snack. After approximately one hour, they were given 10 minutes to imbibe an alcoholic beverage mixed as a 20% by volume solution in a carbonated, non-caffeinated sugar-free soda flavored to their choice. Male participants received 0.75 mL/kg ethanol while female participants ingested a drink containing 0.70 mL/kg to adjust for sex differences in body water . The average resulting BrAC peak was approximately 60 milligrams/dL at about 60 minutes postingestion as shown in Table 1 . As per the standard procedure performed in our lab over the years, the beverage was consumed through a straw extending from a thermos that obscured the actual beverage offered. At baseline prior to administering the drink, and at 30-minute intervals thereafter for up to 210 minutes, participants completed the Subjective High Assessment Scale . For these secondary analyses,vertical growing system to assess SHAS items most comparable to subjective measures used in other labs that perform human laboratory alcohol research , we focused on the SHAS-7 items of feeling High, Clumsy, Confused, Dizzy, Drunk, Alcohol’s Effects, and Difficulty Concentrating. Notably, the SHAS-7 score correlates highly with the complete 13-item measure that the Schuckit lab has used widely in their research and it uses the same visual analog marking scales to measure an individual’s subjective responses to alcohol . To compare our results more directly with reports from other human laboratories that measure subjective responses to alcohol and that use Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale , we also analyzed the feeling Sleepy sub-scale of the SHAS which corresponds best with the Sedation sub-scale of the BAES. BrACs were also obtained every 30 minutes. Body sway, or standing ataxia, was recorded using a harness attached to the participant at the level of the axilla, from which ropes extended to the front and side at an approximate 90- degree angle from one another. Each rope passed over a pulley and anterior-posterior and lateral sway were recorded as the total number of centimeters of back-and-forth movement of the rope. Subjects completed three 1-minute trials at each time point with eyes open, feet together, and hands at their sides, with scores recorded as the mean values of the three trials. This is the same approach that has been used in our laboratory since about 1980. Body sway scores were adjusted for baseline differences before analyses were conducted. In keeping with NIAAA guidelines, participants were released from the laboratory when their BrAC fell below 0.01 g %. Following the completion of the laboratory-based alcohol challenge individuals went on to participate in the fMRI portion of the study the results of which have been reported previously .The following paradigm was used to compare low and high LR participants on their patterns of within-session acute tolerance. Using the methods of Plawecki et al. , the half-peaks on the ascending and descending BrAC arms, as well as the peak of the individual’s BrAC curve, were calculated.

Specifically, we used the Spline function in MATLAB® to determine the latencies corresponding to a session’s peak BrAC and to the same half-peak BrAC on the ascending and descending arms of the BrAC curve. We then computed corresponding subjective responses on the SHAS-7, Sleepy sub-scale, and Body Sway measures at those latencies, using linear interpolation between the nearest data collection time points. In keeping with procedures used in our lab for decades, participants were instructed to rate their subjective feelings on the SHAS visual analog scale as “none” prior to consuming the beverage. Thus, the baseline SHAS value was always a score of zero. The combined SHAS-7 total of scores were calculated by summing the scores for the seven individual items that comprise the scale that included the feeling High, Clumsy, Confused, Dizzy, Drunk, Alcohol’s Effects, and Difficulty Concentrating sub-scales. SHAS-7 total and individual item scores, the Sleepy sub-scale score, and baseline-corrected anterior-posterior and lateral body sway data were analyzed using a series of two-way, 3 within-subjects factors-by-2 groups mixed effects analysis of covariance , with Greenhouse-Geisser corrections for sphericity violations. The 3-level within-subjects factor was Timeand the 2-level between-subjects factor was either LR group or Sex . Separate analyses examining acute tolerance were performed utilizing one-way ANCOVAs between LR and Sex groups. Here, we defined the dependent variable, acute tolerance, as the difference score for each SHAS item at half-peak BrACs. In both sets of analyses, we covaried for the usual number of drinks per typical drinking occasion for the prior 6 months given that the low- and high-LR groups differed on this measure of recent drinking history prior to the alcohol challenge. The covariate was centered around the population mean before entry into the ANCOVA models as a main effect and as an interaction term with Time . All analyses were done in SPSS version 26 .Table 1 displays the demographic and physical characteristics as well as the drinking and other drug use patterns of the 60 pairs of low and high LR participants categorized based on their scores on the SRE-5. Consistent with prior reports on subsets of this sample , the two groups were well matched on demographic and physical characteristics and most measures of drinking and other drug use frequency occurring in the past six months.

Families express a range of emotional reactions to this information

The results indicated that C6- and C7-isoprenols have comparable RON boosting effects to isopentenols, making these two chemicals potential blendstocks for gasoline blends. We previously constructed the homoterpene biosynthesis platform as a proof of concept that introduces terpene structural diversity at the precursor stage. Here we further optimized this platform towards practical application. The most significant change is the upstream pathway to the key intermediate, 3- ketovaleryl-CoA. Like the natural LMVA pathways, our previous pathway starts from propionyl-CoA, condensed by a thiolase into 3-ketovaleryl-CoA. Two points led us to consider an alternative pathway to 3-ketovaleryl-CoA. First, thermodynamic analysis indicated the condensation reaction catalyzed by thiolase is endergonic with a positive Gibbs free energy change , suggesting the thiolase catalyzed condensation reaction is thermodynamically unfavorable. This calculation is consistent with the finding that PhaA homologs catalyze the degradation reaction better than the condensation reaction . Second, to our knowledge, almost all the reported thiolases that convert propionyl-CoA and acetyl-CoA into 3-ketovaleryl-CoA also convert two molecules of acetyl-CoA into acetoacetyl-CoA. Our later experiment using butyric acid as substrate in the beta-oxidation LMVA pathway suggests the LMVA pathway readily accepts acetoacetyl-CoA into IPP . Considering these two points and the relatively high concentration of acetyl-CoA in E. coli , we reasoned that it would be difficult for the thiolase LMVA pathway to make HIPP over IPP, complicating C16, C17 and C18 terpene biosynthesis. Instead, the beta-oxidation pathway is a more specific way to produce isopentenyl pyrophosphate analogs. Although background IPP production remains, either via the native MEP pathway or from endogenous acetoacetyl-CoA transformed by the LMVA pathway,curing marijuana the ratio of HIPP/IPP production is significantly improved, as the molar ratio of C6-isoprenol:isoprenol is over 60 in the production run using the E. coli BL21 ΔatoB host with 1 g/L valeric acid feeding.

The high production of HIPP and its dominant content in the isopentenyl pyrophosphate analog pool will benefit future homoterpene biosynthesis efforts. Using isoprenol analogs as the final product, we successfully optimized the flux to HIPP in the homoterpene biosynthesis platform. The enzymes after the LMVA pathway leading to complex terpenes are more challenging to optimize because of their elusive enzymology and unusual substrates. Following HIPP production, an IDI is supposed to isomerize HIPP to HDMAPP. We could not detect the corresponding alcohol of HDMAPP, C6-prenol, in the E. coli production run with the expression of NudB and the thiolase LMVA pathway containing the IDI from Bombyx mori. While this IDI was confirmed in vitro to transform HIPP to HDMAPP specifically , the absence of C6-prenol in the production run suggests that this IDI does not work well in E. coli, or the hydrolyzed product of HDMAPP, HDMAP, is not well accepted by the E. coli endogenous phosphatases. Incorporating this IDI into the optimized beta-oxidation LMVA pathway may increase HDMAPP production by increasing substrate supply. Other Lepidopteran IDIs are also candidates for enzyme screening of this step. At the same time, it is noteworthy that the regiospecificity of some Lepidopteran IDIs are low, because they transform HIPP to not only HDMAPP but also the -isomer of HDMAPP and isomers with a γ-δ double bond . After the isomerization, ideally, one molecule of HDMAPP is supposed to condense with different molecules of HIPP into homo-GPP , homo-FPP , and homoGGPP . To our knowledge, all the characterized FPPSs that produce homo-FPP also produce FPP, with varied substrate preferences. This substrate promiscuity could explain why our previous work only produced C16 homosesquiterpenes as low, or non-existent HDMAPP levels may hamper homo-FPP analog production. The overwhelming production of HIPP to IPP in the optimized platform here may increase the HIPP incorporation to produce more C16, C17, and even C18 FPPs. For other prenyl diphosphates, reported point mutations in prenyltransferases that change the product profiles could be applied on the lepidopteran FPPS to produce homo-GPP . Also, the structural basis of substrate preference for HIPP/HDMAPP derived prenyl diphosphates has been analyzed, the results of which are proposed to direct the engineering of non-lepidopteran prenyltransferases to accept HIPP/HDMAPP . Finally, terpene synthases cyclized the homo prenyl pyrophosphates to terpene scaffolds.

This step is the most challenging due to the lack of natural enzymes using homo prenyl pyrophosphates as the substrates. Future studies will focus on using rational design and directed evolution to alter the substrate specificity of canonical terpene synthases. Introducing extra carbon in the terpenes can significantly change their properties, exemplified by the optimized fuel properties of isoprenol biofuels. With comparable RON boosting effects and energy densities to isopentenols, C6- and C7-isoprenols have decreased water solubilities, making them better ingredients for fuel blends . In particular, C6-isoprenol derives fromvaleric acid, a key intermediate in the valerate biofuel platform . Numerous chemical reactions/processes have been developed to transform lignocellulose to valeric acid via levulinic acid , making our pathway promising to produce C6- isoprenol as a next-generation biofuel. Besides the simple terpenes we produce here, another example is -germacrene D, whose analog with two extra carbons, -14,15-dimethylgermacrene D shows a reversal in insect behavioral activity . Addressing those challenges in the homoterpene biosynthesis will enable the efficient production of various terpene analogs, leading to more diversified structures in the chemical portfolio for downstream applications. Proper adherence to combination antiretroviral medication therapy is critical for improving health outcomes in HIV . However, it is estimated that less than 40% of HIV+ individuals are retained in long-term healthcare management and only about one-quarter are virally suppressed in the U.S. . Further, approximately half of individuals prescribed antiretroviral medications do not fully adhere to their regimen . Suboptimal cART adherence is associated with increased viremia, immune suppression, increased risk of HIV transmission, and mortality . Numerous factors appear to be contributing to suboptimal cART adherence, including psychiatric comorbidities , lack of social support, severity of antiretroviral side effects, beliefs about self-efficacy and neurocognitive dysfunction .

With regard to the latter, HIV-associated neurocognitive deficits and cART non-adherence appear to have a cyclical relationship; that is, neurocognitive deficits can interfere with medication taking behaviors , which in turn can accelerate disease progression and further impair neurocognitive functioning . The historic complexity of combination antiretroviral therapies may also impose an undue burden on cognitive abilities necessary for adherence . The medications comprising a cART regimen may involve differing dosages and/or administration schedules, which could increase the risk of errors that negatively impact overall adherence, particularly among individuals with neurocognitive difficulties. Although the pill burden of cART is on a downward trajectory, polypharmacy remains common and these challenges are important given that cART is the gold standard for HIV treatment in the United States. Additionally, the prevalence of HIVassociated neurocognitive disorders may have even risen slightly in the cART era, with approximately 50% of the population affected . The elevated rates of HAND and domain-based impairment may be due to increasing lifespans resultant from high cART efficacy,dry racks for weed leading to longer exposure to both the presence of virus as well as potentially toxic long-term effects of the drug regimens, combined with comorbid processes such as cognitive aging . While HIV-associated neurocognitive deficits can be observed in a variety of neurocognitive domains, the prevalence of impairment in higher-order neurocognitive abilities, such as episodic memory in particular, are higher . In this study we therefore focus our attention on the role of episodic memory deficits in cART non-adherence. HIV-associated neural injury in frontal and temporal systems affect multiple aspects of episodic memory , including traditional retrospective memory for word lists, designs, and passages, as well as prospective, source, and temporal order memory . The profile of HIV-associated episodic memory deficits is heterogeneous , with prior studies showing evidence that numerous specific memory processes may be disrupted, including learning/acquisition, storage/consolidation, and retrieval . Anywhere from 20 to 40% of HIV+ individuals exhibit a primary retrieval profile of memory deficits consistent with injury to fronto-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits. This retrieval profile is characterized by difficulties in bringing previously stored information into conscious awareness and is evidenced by deficits in free recall of information that are ameliorated when structured retrieval cues are provided . A retrieval profile, which is sometimes referred to as a mixed encoding/retrieval profile, can suggest that an individual only partially encodes the target information. This is because stimuli that were processed only in part are difficult to spontaneously recall in their entirety, but may be accurately recognized when presented.

HIV-associated deficits in learning and memory have been linked to poorer everyday functioning, including medication management skills and cART non-adherence. Deficits in acquisition and delayed free recall as a global composite index have been consistently associated with poor performance on laboratory-based medication management tasks across varying types of stimuli . Among the two studies that we found examining specific memory components in the context of adherence, measures of delayed free recall were more consistently associated with medication adherence , whereas indices of initial learning show more variable associations. Yet the specificity of such delayed recall deficits is difficult to determine, as they may be a consequence of problems with encoding, forgetting, and/or retrieval. Thus, while learning and memory are consistently associated with medication management in the laboratory and daily life, little is known about the specific profile that may be driving these relationships. Identification of such profiles at the levels of both group data and individual participants is important in order to enhance the clinical identification of persons at risk for non-adherence and develop tailored compensatory mnemonic approaches to improve adherence. To that end, Wright and colleagues applied the item specific deficit approach , an item analytic method, to study the association between cART adherence and word list encoding, consolidation, and retrieval as measured by the California Verbal Learning Test in 75 HIV+ participants. The ISDA indices were developed as a novel method for categorizing encoding, consolidation and retrieval deficits. The ISDA encoding index is constructed by summing the number of items recalled in less than three of the five learning trials, the ISDA consolidation index reflects the number of items recalled during the learning trials but not recalled again during any of the recall trials , and retrieval deficits are indexed by the number of learned items recalled inconsistently across short- and long-delay trials. To control for potential group differences in learning, the consolidation and retrieval indices are each divided by the total words recalled at least once during the learning trials. When using the ISDA Wright and colleagues found that, compared to healthy adults, HIV+ individuals demonstrated poorer performance on the CVLT regardless of their level of antiretroviral adherence. Additionally, while both HIV+ groups demonstrated similar ISDA encoding deficits, only non-adherers demonstrated ISDA retrieval deficits compared to HIV− participants. Additionally, retrieval abilities, as measured by the ISDA indices, accounted for a greater proportion of variance in long-delay free recall performance for poor adherers than for good adherers. While the study conducted by Wright and colleagues provided initial evidence of an association between retrieval deficits and sub-optimal adherence in HIV, no studies have evaluated the association between sub-optimal adherence and traditional list learning profiles that also incorporate retention and recognition performance as is commonly done in clinical research and practice. At the group level, such profile-based approaches have a long tradition of utility in distinguishing between different neuropsychological disorders. For example, retrieval deficits in the context of significantly improved recognition are commonly associated with “subcortical” dementias . “Cortical” dementias , on the other hand, are sometimes differentiated by rapid forgetting, minimal improvement on recognition, and high rates of cued recall intrusions . Our approach here is to employ those same cognitive psychology approaches of learning and memory profile distinctions to better understand the cognitive architecture of non-adherence. To further enhance the clinical relevance of this group-level analytic approach, we also propose to classify individuals’ profiles as reflective of problems with encoding versus retrieval using an established data-based algorithm that has shown utility differentiating traditionally cortical versus sub-cortical diseases . This algorithm-based individual profile approach has proven to be a worthwhile complement to group-based analyses by allowing for clinically-relevant classification accuracy data and demonstrating the heterogeneity of profiles within these traditionally “cortical” and “sub-cortical” groups.