Permeable in situ denitrifying barriers can remove nitrate from groundwater. Barriers may be constructed by filling an excavated area with a porous mixture of sand, fine gravel, and substrate or by the injection of a nonaqueous phase substrate into an aquifer. The substrate stimulates the development of a denitrifying microbial community by providing an electron donor. The objective of this stu...

Widespread gene transfer to the retina is challenging as it requires vector systems to overcome physical and biochemical barriers to enter and diffuse throughout retinal tissue. We investigated whether exosome-associated adeno-associated virus, (exo-AAV) enabled broad retinal targeting following intravitreal (IVT) injection, as exosomes have been shown to traverse biological barriers and mediat...

BACKGROUND Access to sterile syringes is a proven means of reducing the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), viral hepatitis, and bacterial infections among injection drug users. In many U.S. states and territories, drug paraphernalia and syringe prescription laws are barriers to syringe access for injection drug users (IDUs): pharmacists may be reluctant to sell syringes to susp...

There is a need for creative, public health-oriented solutions to the increasingly intractable problems associated with the North American opioid epidemic. This epidemic is a fundamentally continental problem, as routes of migration, drug demand, and drug exchange link the USA with Mexico and Canada. The challenges faced throughout North America include entrenched prescribing practices of opioi...

With an increased prevalence and understanding of central nervous system (CNS) injuries and neurological disorders, nucleic acid therapies are gaining promise as a way to regenerate lost neurons or halt disease progression. While more viral vectors have been used clinically as tools for gene delivery, non-viral vectors are gaining interest due to lower safety concerns and the ability to deliver...

INTRODUCTION Improving access to sterile injection equipment is a key component in community-based infectious disease prevention. Implementation of syringe access programs has sometimes been complicated by community opposition and police interference. CASE DESCRIPTION In 2006, the Delaware legislature authorized a pilot syringe exchange program (SEP). A program designed to prevent, monitor, a...

Injection drug use is an ongoing urban health crisis in China and one of the largest drivers of the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Sentinel surveillance sites in Yunnan province show upwards of 20% of injection drug users (IDUs) are HIV positive. Though the Ministry of Health has scaled-up needle exchange programs (NEPs), they have not received official government recognition nor have they been exte...

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon causing parent-of-origin specific differential expression of maternally and paternally inherited alleles. While many imprinted genes have been identified in plants, the functional roles of most of them are unknown. In this study, we systematically examine the functional requirement of paternally expressed imprinted genes (PEGs) during seed developm...