Alaska Native children experience high rates of respiratory infections and conditions. Household crowding, indoor smoke, lack of piped water, and poverty have been associated with respiratory infections. We describe the baseline household characteristics of children with severe or chronic lung disease participating in a 2012-2015 indoor air study. We monitored indoor PM2.5, CO , relative humidity %, temperature, and VOCs and interviewed caregivers about children's respiratory symptoms. We evaluated the association between reported children's respiratory symptoms and indoor air quality indicators using multiple logistic regression analysis. Compared with general US households, study households were more likely overcrowded 73% (62%-82%) vs 3.2% (3.1%-3.3%); had higher woodstove use as primary heat source 16% (9%-25%) vs 2.1% (2.0%-2.2%); and higher proportion of children in a household with a smoker 49% (38%-60%) vs 26.2% (25.5%-26.8%). Median PM2.5 was 33 μg/m . Median CO was 1401 ppm. VOCs were detectable in all homes. VOCs, smoker, primary wood heat, and PM2.5>25 μg/m were associated with higher risk for cough between colds; VOCs were associated with higher risk for wheeze between colds and asthma diagnosis. High indoor air pollutant levels were associated with respiratory symptoms in household children, likely related to overcrowding, poor ventilation, woodstove use, and tobacco smoke.

Low vitamin D status is associated with increased risk of pneumonia, greater disease severity and poorer outcome. However, no trials have examined the effect of adjunctive vitamin D therapy on outcomes in adults with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial examining the effects of adjunctive vitamin D in adults hospitalised with CAP. Participants were randomised to either a single oral dose of 200,000 IU vitamin D3 or placebo. The primary outcome was the complete resolution of chest radiograph infiltrate at 6 weeks post-study treatment. Secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay, intensive care admission and return to normal activity. Only participants who completed the study or died within the 6 week period were included in the analysis (n = 60 vitamin D, n = 57 placebo). Adjunctive vitamin D did not have any effect on the primary outcome (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.31 to 1.86, p = 0.548). However, there was evidence it increased the complete resolution of pneumonia in participants with baseline vitamin D levels <25 nmol/L (OR 17.0, 95% CI 1.40–549.45, P = 0.043), but this did not reach statistical significance using exact methods (OR 13.0, 95%CI 0.7–960.4, P = 0.083). There were no significant effects for any secondary outcome.

The effect of the exogenous administration of porcine follicle-stimulating hormone (pFSH) and pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) on ovarian follicular development and oocyte maturation in the southern hairy nosed wombat Lasiorhinus latifrons was investigated. Three experimental groups were administered pFSH at various doses and for different treatment lengths, followed by 25 mg porcine luteinising hormone (pLH) 12 h after the last dose of pFSH. Another group was given PMSG followed 72 h later by 25 mg pLH. Animals were killed 24 h after pLH. The left ovary was fixed for histology and the morphology of the antral follicles was determined, whereas follicular oocytes in the right ovary were aspirated, fixed, stained with 42,62-diamidino-2-phenylindole, and viewed for nuclear maturation. There was no significant difference in the mean number of ovarian follicles >1 mm, or in the size class of follicles assessed between control and experimental groups. However, a trend was observed suggesting a possible increase in follicles >3.0 mm in experimental groups compared with control animals. In all females administered exogenous porcine gonadotrophins, but not controls, some of the mural granulosa cells of large tertiary antral follicles had markedly enlarged nuclei (approximately 14 microm in diameter). All oocytes from the control group remained at the germinal vesicle stage, whereas approximately 40% of oocytes retrieved from the pFSH groups and 82.4% retrieved from the PMSG-primed animals had undergone germinal vesicle break down, with a small number reaching meiosis II. The present study shows that exogenous administration of either pFSH or PMSG to hairy nosed wombats can induce follicular growth and oocyte maturation. Such findings could be useful in the development of reproductive technology in this species.

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