Morbidity and mortality during adolescence is primarily the result of certain risk behaviors. Today, it is observed that early teens contact form with snuff, alcohol and legal drugs and not many of them have a high intake of these substances. Habits such as those mentioned on many occasions not only maintained during adolescence, but the rest of life extend causing major consequences for public health.

The RemoveDEBRIS mission has been the first mission to successfully demonstrate, in-orbit, a series of technologies that can be used for the active removal of space debris. The mission started late in 2014 and was sponsored by a grant from the EC that saw a consortium led by the Surrey Space Centre to develop the mission, from concept to in-orbit demonstrations, that terminated in March 2019. Technologies for the capture of large space debris, like a net and a harpoon, have been successfully tested together with hardware and software to retrieve data on non-cooperative target debris kinematics from observations carried out with on board cameras. The final demonstration consisted of the deployment of a drag-sail to increase the drag of the satellite to accelerate its demise.

Conversion of pig slurry to pellets is a desirable fertilizer option for farmers who want to mitigate environmental pollution from slurry accumulation. The goals of the current investigation were to determine the fertilizer properties of pig slurry solid fraction (SF) pellets and to assess its potential to enhance soil properties in order to reduce ammonia (NH3) volatilization and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Various parameters influence SF-based pellet fertilizer effectiveness: bulking agent use during composting, pellet diameter sizing and soil application type (superficially or incorporated into the soil). Two composts from the same pig slurry SF obtained from a screw press separator were prepared: pig SF compost without a bulking agent (SSFC) and pig SF compost with wood chips as the bulking agent (wood chip compost (WCC)). For each compost type, pellets of two different diameters (6 and 8 mm) were produced. A mesocosm experiment, conducted with maize plants, was used to test the fertilizer value of the considered pellets. In total, three compost fertilizers – SSFC, WCC and nitrogen: phosphorus: potassium mineral fertilizer 15 : 15 : 15, plus one unfertilized control treatment – were applied at the same N rate (equivalent to 200 kg/ha) using two different methods (surface and soil incorporation). After 65 days, above-ground biomass, roots and soil samples were collected and analysed. Subsequently, a second mesocosm study was undertaken to measure NH3 and GHG emissions released from pellet fertilization. Ammonia volatilization was determined immediately after pellet application, while carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions were monitored for 57 days. Study results indicated that both pellet types were effective slow-release fertilizers for maize. Additionally, three actions seemed to make the nutrients contained in pig SF compost pellets more available to plants: addition of a bulking agent before composting, use of small diameter pellets and soil incorporation of the fertilizer.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) might regulate the lipid depots in liver and adipose tissue. As there is an association between maternal nutrition, fat depots and risk of offspring chronic disease, the aim was to investigate the effect of maternal CLA consumption on TAG regulation and some inflammatory parameters in adult male rat offspring receiving or not receiving CLA. Female Wistar rats were fed control (C) or CLA-supplemented (1 %, w/w) diets during 4 weeks before and throughout pregnancy and lactation. After weaning, male offspring of CLA rats were fed C or CLA diets (CLA/C and CLA/CLA groups, respectively), whereas C male rat offspring were fed a C diet (C/C group) for 9 weeks. Serum TAG levels were increased in the CLA/CLA and CLA/C groups, associated with a reduction of lipoprotein lipase activity and weights of adipose tissue. The liver TAG levels were decreased in the CLA/CLA group, related to a significant reduction of fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase enzyme activities, as well as to the mRNA levels of FAS, ACC, stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 and sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c. Even though normal TAG levels were found in the liver of CLA/C rats, a reduction of lipogenesis was also observed. Thus, these results demonstrated a programming effect of CLA on the lipid metabolic pathways leading to a preventive effect on the TAG accretion in adipose tissue and the liver of male rat offspring. This knowledge could be important to develop some dietary strategies leading to a reduced incidence of obesity and fatty acid liver disease in humans.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: The purpose of this study is to use the baboon as a novel animal model for breath research and to identify and characterize baboon breath metabolites that reflect cardiometabolic function to inform us in the development of a noninvasive, cost-effective, and repeatable point-of-care diagnostic breath test. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Blood and urine was collected from control and IUGR at the approximate age of 3.5 years. Both groups were then placed on a high fat, high sugar, high salt diet for 7 weeks, after which blood, urine, and breath were collected. The breath samples were then subjected to comprehensive, 2-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Using ChromaTOF software, breath VOCs were identified with at least an 80% spectral match against the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) chemical reference library. The raw data were then statistically analyzed using MetaboAnalyst. We then interrogated multiple online databases to characterize and identify the role of VOCs that were present in both control and IUGR groups. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Preliminary analyses of the breath VOCs indicate differences in expression between sexes and in control Versus IUGR groups. These results indicate unique “breath signatures.” Further analysis of the breath VOCs reveals the presence of metabolites that are involved in β-oxidation and oxidative stress pathways. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: This breath study, a first of its kind, will develop the baboon as a superior animal model for breath biomarker research. Our observed unique “breath signatures” indicate changes in lipid metabolism and oxidative stress pathways, which we hypothesize are the early metabolic changes at the cellular level that are not yet reflected in clinical lab measures. Future directions include analyzing breath VOCs that did not meet 80% spectral match, validation using SPME technology and commercial standards, and initiating a human pilot study in clinically obese, at-risk children in collaboration with physicians at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio to develop a noninvasive, cost-effective, rapid, and repeatable point-of-care diagnostic breath test.

A latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) prevalence survey was conducted using tuberculin skin test (TST) and Quantiferon test (QFT) in 1218 healthcare workers (HCWs) in Medellín, Colombia. In order to improve the prevalence estimates, a latent class model was built using a Bayesian approach with informative priors on the sensitivity and specificity of the TST. The proportion of concordant results (TST+,QFT+) was 41% and the discordant results contributed 27%. The marginal estimate of the prevalence P(LTBI+) was 62·1% [95% credible interval (CrI) 53·0–68·2]. The probability of LTBI+ given positive results for both tests was 99·6% (95% CrI 98·1–99·9). Sensitivity was 88·5 for TST and 74·3 for QFT, and specificity was 87·8 for TST and 97·6 for QFT. A high LTBI prevalence was found in HCWs with time-accumulated exposure in hospitals that lack control plans. In a context of intermediate tuberculosis (TB) incidence it is recommended to use only one test (either QFT or TST) in prevalence surveys or as pre-employment tests. Results will be useful to help implement TB infection control plans in hospitals where HCWs may be repeatedly exposed to unnoticed TB patients, and to inform the design of TB control policies.

Currently, the research team is systematically studying the oxide compounds present in the ternary system In2O3-TiO2-MgO in order to analyze its thermoluminescent (TL) response. The oxide Mg1.5InTi0.5O4 present in this system was synthesized by a solid state reaction at 1350 °C in air. The X-ray powder diffraction pattern showed a spinel-type structure for this compound. In this work, this spinel, as well as its TL properties when exposed to beta particles, are being reported for the first time. The glow curve is simple and wide with a TL maximum located at 203 °C at 21.33 Gy. The peak shows a shift to lower temperatures and it increases its intensity, as the irradiation dose increases. The lineal behavior was observed between 10.66 to 341 Gy, and no saturation signs were observed. The relative sensitivity variation was 2.7% and standard deviation after ten consecutive irradiation - TL readout cycles was 1 %. The minimum detectable dose was 5.65 Gy for this spinel-type oxide [3]. These results suggest the possible application of Mg1.5InTi0.5O4 in dosimetry.

Protozoan parasites of genus Leishmania are the causative agents of leishmaniasis. Leishmania promastigotes primarily infect macrophages in the host, where they transform into amastigotes and multiply. Lipophosphoglycan (LPG), the most abundant surface molecule of the parasite, is a virulence determinant that regulates the host immune response. Promastigotes are able to modulate this effect through LPG, creating a favourable environment for parasite survival, although the mechanisms underlying this modulation remain unknown. We analysed the participation of TLR2 and TLR4 in the production of cytokines and explored the possible phosphorylation of ERK and/or p38 MAP kinase signalling cascades in human macrophages stimulated with Leishmania mexicana LPG. The results show that LPG induced the production of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-12p40, IL-12p70 and IL-10 and led to phosphorylation of ERK and p38 MAP kinase. Specific inhibitors of ERK or p38 MAP kinases and mAbs against TLR2 and TLR4 reduced cytokine production and phosphorylation of both kinases. Our results suggest that L. mexicana LPG binds TLR2 and TLR4 receptors in human macrophages, leading to ERK and MAP kinase phosphorylation and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.