Browsing by Author "Taylor, Mark"

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    Exploring the Interior Exposome Using Citizen Science: Initial Results From the New DustSafe Initiative
    (Authorea, 2022-11-24) Filippelli, Gabriel; Taylor, Mark; Entwistle, Jane; Frix, Emeline; Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science
    Studies of interior air exposures to various human and non-human components has largely been restricted to industrial exposures for the purpose of regulation. In contrast, little attention has been paid to exposure at the residential scale, where people spend much of their day and may be exposed to particulate sources ranging from known toxins, such as lead, arsenic, and asbestos, to human-produced chemicals of yet unknown toxicity, such as flame retardants. To capitalize on experience with citizen science initiatives as they pertain to environmental health, researchers formed an international network called 360 Dust Analysis, which provides guidance on citizen science and interior dust collection, as well as research tools to examine dust through analysis in regional labs. We present initial results from the July 2018 launch of this program in the USA, called DustSafe USA and operated under approved human subjects protocols by Indiana University (http://www.urbanhealth.iupui.edu/). We launched via multiple media strategies, including an extended television news segment, an article in several Indiana newspapers, appearances in several statewide radio shows, and via a widely distributed press release. As of this abstract submission, well over 300 queries were received, and after only two weeks of the launch the lab has received nearly 100 dust samples. Participants are largely from central Indiana where most of the media play occurred, but samples have also come from all over the country. We will present geochemical and compositional results from the dust analysis, but perhaps more importantly we will discuss how citizens were engaged, how the funding model for such efforts might be developed, and the general approach to research translation and citizen science.
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    New Approaches to Identifying and Reducing the Global Burden of Disease From Pollution
    (Wiley, 2020-03-25) Filippelli, Gabriel; Anenberg, Susan; Taylor, Mark; van Green, Alexander; Khreis, Haneen; Earth Sciences, School of Science
    Pollution from multiple sources causes significant disease and death worldwide. Some sources are legacy, such as heavy metals accumulated in soils, and some are current, such as particulate matter. Because the global burden of disease from pollution is so high, it is important to identify legacy and current sources and to develop and implement effective techniques to reduce human exposure. But many limitations exist in our understanding of the distribution and transport processes of pollutants themselves, as well as the complicated overprint of human behavior and susceptibility. New approaches are being developed to identify and eliminate pollution in multiple environments. Community-scale detection of geogenic arsenic and fluoride in Bangladesh is helping to map the distribution of these harmful elements in drinking water. Biosensors such as bees and their honey are being used to measure heavy metal contamination in cities such as Vancouver and Sydney. Drone-based remote sensors are being used to map metal hot spots in soils from former mining regions in Zambia and Mozambique. The explosion of low-cost air monitors has allowed researchers to build dense air quality sensing networks to capture ephemeral and local releases of harmful materials, building on other developments in personal exposure sensing. And citizen science is helping communities without adequate resources measure their own environments and in this way gain agency in controlling local pollution exposure sources and/or alerting authorities to environmental hazards. The future of GeoHealth will depend on building on these developments and others to protect a growing population from multiple pollution exposure risks.
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    Systemic and cerebrospinal fluid immune and complement activation in Ugandan children and adolescents with long‐standing nodding syndrome: A case‐control study
    (Wiley, 2021-06) Ogwang, Rodney; Muhanguzi, Dennis; Mwikali, Kioko; Anguzu, Ronald; Kubofcik, Joe; Nutman, Thomas B.; Taylor, Mark; Newton, Charles R.; Vincent, Angela; Conroy, Andrea L.; Marsh, Kevin; Idro, Richard; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Objective: Nodding syndrome is a poorly understood epileptic encephalopathy characterized by a unique seizure type-head nodding-and associated with Onchocerca volvulus infection. We hypothesized that altered immune activation in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma of children with nodding syndrome may yield insights into the pathophysiology and progression of this seizure disorder. Method: We conducted a case-control study of 154 children (8 years or older) with long-standing nodding syndrome and 154 healthy age-matched community controls in 3 districts of northern Uganda affected by nodding syndrome. Control CSF samples were obtained from Ugandan children in remission from hematological malignancy during routine follow-up. Markers of immune activation and inflammation (cytokines and chemokines) and complement activation (C5a) were measured in plasma and CSF using ELISA or Multiplex Luminex assays. O volvulus infection was assessed by serology for anti-OV-16 IgG levels. Results: The mean (SD) age of the population was 15.1 (SD: 1.9) years, and the mean duration of nodding syndrome from diagnosis to enrollment was 8.3 (SD: 2.7) years. The majority with nodding syndrome had been exposed to O volvulus (147/154 (95.4%)) compared with community children (86/154 (55.8%)), with an OR of 17.04 (95% CI: 7.33, 45.58), P < .001. C5a was elevated in CSF of children with nodding syndrome compared to controls (P < .0001). The levels of other CSF markers tested were comparable between cases and controls after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Children with nodding syndrome had lower plasma levels of IL-10, APRIL, CCL5 (RANTES), CCL2, CXCL13, and MMP-9 compared with community controls (P < .05 for all; multiple comparisons). Plasma CRP was elevated in children with nodding syndrome compared to community children and correlated with disease severity. Significance: Nodding syndrome is associated with exposure to O. volvulus. Compared to controls, children with long-standing symptoms of nodding syndrome show evidence of complement activation in CSF and altered immune activation in plasma.