Global biomass fires and infant mortality.

Global outdoor biomass burning is a major contributor to air pollution, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Recent years have witnessed substantial changes in the extent of biomass burning, including large declines in Africa. However, direct evidence of the contribution of biomass burning to global health outcomes remains limited. Here, we use georeferenced data on more than 2 million births matched to satellite-derived burned area exposure to estimate the burden of biomass fires on infant mortality. We find that each additional square kilometer of burning is associated with nearly 2% higher infant mortality in nearby downwind locations. The share of infant deaths attributable to biomass fires has increased over time due to the rapid decline in other important causes of infant death. Applying our model estimates across harmonized district-level data covering 98% of global infant deaths, we find that exposure to outdoor biomass burning was associated with nearly 130,000 additional infant deaths per year globally over our 2004 to 2018 study period. Despite the observed decline in biomass burning in Africa, nearly 75% of global infant deaths due to burning still occur in Africa. While fully eliminating biomass burning is unlikely, we estimate that even achievable reductions-equivalent to the lowest observed annual burning in each location during our study period-could have avoided more than 70,000 infant deaths per year globally since 2004.

SUMO1 depletion prevents lipid droplet accumulation and HCV replication.

Infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public-health problem. Chronic infection often leads to cirrhosis, steatosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The life cycle of HCV depends on the host cell machinery and involves intimate interaction between viral and host proteins. However, the role of host proteins in the life cycle of HCV remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO1) as a key host factor required for HCV replication. We performed a series of cell biology and biochemistry experiments using the HCV JFH-1 (Japanese fulminate hepatitis 1) genotype 2a strain, which produces infectious particles and recapitulates all the steps of the HCV life cycle. We observed that SUMO1 is upregulated in Huh7.5 infected cells. Reciprocally, SUMO1 was found to regulate the expression of viral core protein. Moreover, knockdown of SUMO1 using specific siRNA influenced the accumulation of lipid droplets and reduced HCV replication as measured by qRT-PCR. Thus, we identify SUMO1 as a key host factor required for HCV replication. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing that SUMO1 regulates lipid droplets in the context of viral infection. Our report provides a meaningful insight into how HCV replicates and interacts with host proteins and is of significant importance for the field of HCV and RNA viruses.

The Impact of Cleft Lip/Palate and Surgical Intervention on Adolescent Life Outcomes.

Background: Cleft lip/palate (CLP) is a congenital orofacial anomaly appearing in approximately one in 700 births worldwide. While in high-income countries CLP is normally addressed surgically during infancy, in developing countries CLP is often left unoperated, potentially impacting multiple dimensions of life quality. Previous research has frequently compared CLP outcomes to those of the general population. But because local environmental and genetic factors contribute to the risk of CLP and also may influence life outcomes, such studies may downwardly bias estimates of both CLP status and correction. Objectives: This research represents the first study to use causal econometric methods to estimate the effects of both CLP status and CLP correction on the physical, social, and mental well-being of children. Methods: Data were collected first-hand from 1,118 Indian children, where we obtained first-hand data on height, weight, grip strength, cognitive ability, reading, and math ability. A professional speech therapist reviewed digital recordings of speech taken at the interview to obtain four measures of speech quality. Using this data, the household fixed-effects model we employ jointly estimates effects of CLP status and CLP surgical intervention. Findings: Our results indicate that adolescents with median-level CLP severity show statistically significant losses in indices of speech quality (-1.59σ), physical well-being (0.32σ), academic and cognitive ability (-0.37σ), and social integration (-0.32σ). We find strong evidence that CLP surgery significantly restores speech if performed before five years of age. The first surgeries performed on less-severe CLP cases significantly restore social integration, psychological well-being, academic/cognitive ability, and a general index of human flourishing. Conclusions: Children born with CLP in India face statistically significant losses in speech, physical health, mental health, and social inclusion. CLP surgical intervention significantly restores speech quality if carried out at an early age. Surgeries with the most significant impact on life outcomes are the first surgeries performed on less-severe CLP cases.