Investigation of COVID-19 Outbreak among Wildland Firefighters during Wildfire Response,Colorado, USA, 2020

A COVID-19 outbreak occurred among Cameron Peak Fire responders in Colorado, USA, during August 2020–January 2021. The Cameron Peak Fire was the largest recorded wildfire in Colorado history, lasting August–December 2020. At least 6,123 responders were involved, including 1,260 firefighters in 63 crews who mobilized to the fire camps. A total of 79 COVID-19 cases were identified among responders, and 273 close contacts were quarantined. State and local public health investigated the outbreak and coordinated with wildfire management teams to prevent disease spread. We performed whole-genome sequencing and applied social network analysis to visualize clusters and transmission dynamics. Phylogenetic analysis identified 8 lineages among sequenced specimens, implying multiple introductions. Social network analysis identified spread between and within crews. Strategies such as implementing symptom screening and testing of arriving responders, educating responders about overlapping symptoms of smoke inhalation and COVID-19, improving physical distancing of crews, and encouraging vaccinations are recommended.     

晚期非小细胞肺癌治疗策略的演变:从2009放眼2012

新近的临床试验资料,包括2009年美国临床肿瘤协会(ASCO)年会上报道的资料,有力地推动了对晚期非小细胞肺癌(NSCLC)患者的现代治疗策略的改革。此改革蕴含的主题包括:(1)基于组织学类型的治疗,(2)预     

Sexual dimorphism of stress-induced changes in renal peripheral benzodiazepine receptors in rat.

Adult male and female rats were exposed to either inescapable shock or no treatment. In vitro [3H]Ro 5-4864 (4'-chlorodiazepam) binding (1 nM) to peripheral benzodiazepine receptors (PRB) in both CNS and peripheral tissues indicated no gender differences in olfactory bulb, heart, lung or adrenal gland but a significant effect was observed in renal tissue. Female rats showed an attenuated stress-induced reduction (23%) in PBR in comparison to males (55%). This difference was shown to be an alteration of Bmax and not kD by Scatchard analysis. These data are the first demonstration of a sexual dimorphism in environmentally-induced alterations in PBR.     

Autologous bone marrow transplantation in acute myelogenous leukemia: in vitro treatment with myeloid cell-specific monoclonal antibodies

Second or third chemotherapy-induced remissions in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) are limited by early relapse of the leukemia. We developed monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) that are cytotoxic to myeloid leukemia cells to treat bone marrow from these patients ex vivo for autologous transplantation. In this pilot study, bone marrow was harvested from ten patients with AML in remission, treated with one or two complement-fixing MoAbs, PM-81 and AML-2-23, which react with myeloid differentiation antigens, incubated with rabbit complement, and cryopreserved. These MoAbs were chosen because they have broad reactivity with AML cells but not with pluripotent progenitor cells. At the time of transplant, 6 patients were in second complete remission, 1 each was in third complete or partial remission, and 2 were in early first relapse. The patients were treated with cyclophosphamide (60 mg/kg a day for 2 days) and total body irradiation (200 cGy twice a day for 3 days) and given infusions of MoAb-treated bone marrow. Full bone marrow reconstitution was observed in eight patients; two patients did not recover platelets. Seven of the ten patients are surviving and disease-free at 21.0, 15.0, 13.0, 10.0, 6.0, 3.0, and 2.0 months posttransplant. Treating bone marrow with MoAbs to myeloid differentiation antigens does not interfere with pluripotential stem cell engraftment. Longer follow-up and a controlled study are necessary to prove that the apparent efficacy of this therapeutic approach in some patients is attributable to MoAb-mediated killing of leukemia cells.     

Highly Polymorphic Domains of the Human Serum Amyloid A (SAA) Gene GSAA1

The DNA of the human serum amyloid A (SAA) gene GSAA1 contains several repetitive regions within its introns. We have studied length variations at one such region in the 2nd intron by selective amplification using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and defined oligonucleotide primers. The lengths of the repetitive regions frequently differ between individual chromosomes and can be transmitted as Mendelian markers, making them useful for genetic linkage analysis.