scholarly journals Initial Mapping of the New York City Wastewater Virome

mSystems ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Gulino ◽  
J. Rahman ◽  
M. Badri ◽  
J. Morton ◽  
R. Bonneau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Metagenomic Data ◽  
Functional Importance ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Viral Communities ◽  
Local Sampling

ABSTRACT Bacteriophages are abundant members of all microbiomes studied to date, influencing microbial communities through interactions with their bacterial hosts. Despite their functional importance and ubiquity, phages have been underexplored in urban environments compared to their bacterial counterparts. We profiled the viral communities in New York City (NYC) wastewater using metagenomic data collected in November 2014 from 14 wastewater treatment plants. We show that phages accounted for the largest viral component of the sewage samples and that specific virus communities were associated with local environmental conditions within boroughs. The vast majority of the virus sequences had no homology matches in public databases, forming an average of 1,700 unique virus clusters (putative genera). These new clusters contribute to elucidating the overwhelming proportion of data that frequently goes unidentified in viral metagenomic studies. We assigned potential hosts to these phages, which appear to infect a wide range of bacterial genera, often outside their presumed host. We determined that infection networks form a modular-nested pattern, indicating that phages include a range of host specificities, from generalists to specialists, with most interactions organized into distinct groups. We identified genes in viral contigs involved in carbon and sulfur cycling, suggesting functional importance of viruses in circulating pathways and gene functions in the wastewater environment. In addition, we identified virophage genes as well as a nearly complete novel virophage genome. These findings provide an understanding of phage abundance and diversity in NYC wastewater, previously uncharacterized, and further examine geographic patterns of phage-host association in urban environments. IMPORTANCE Wastewater is a rich source of microbial life and contains bacteria, viruses, and other microbes found in human waste as well as environmental runoff sources. As part of an effort to characterize the New York City wastewater metagenome, we profiled the viral community of sewage samples across all five boroughs of NYC and found that local sampling sites have unique sets of viruses. We focused on bacteriophages, or viruses of bacteria, to understand how they may influence the microbial ecology of this system. We identified several new clusters of phages and successfully associated them with bacterial hosts, providing insight into virus-host interactions in urban wastewater. This study provides a first look into the viral communities present across the wastewater system in NYC and points to their functional importance in this environment.

Implementing Small Theme High Schools in New York City: Great Intentions and Great Tensions

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
JACQUELINE ANCESS ◽  
DAVID ALLEN
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
High Schools ◽  
School Reform ◽  
York City ◽  
Small Schools ◽  
Academic Quality ◽  
Small High Schools ◽  
Wide Range

In this article, Jacqueline Ancess and David Allen use New York City as a case study to examine the promises and the perils of the small high school reform movement that is sweeping the nation. They analyze the varying extent to which New York City's small high schools have implemented curricular themes in order to promote academic quality and equity. After identifying a wide range in the level of theme implementation in the city's small schools, Ancess and Allen suggest that small theme high schools have the potential to boost student engagement and achievement. However, the authors also express concern about the manner in which curricular themes may serve as socioeconomic, academic, or racial codes that threaten to merely repackage old patterns of school stratification and segregation.

‘from a musical point of view, the world is musical at any given moment’: an interview with bill fontana

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
jøran rudi
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
The World ◽  
American Composer ◽  
Brooklyn Bridge

bill fontana is an american composer and artist who has been working with large-scale sound installations since the 1970s. in his installations he recontextualises sounds by transmitting them from one location to another, and uses the transported sounds as acoustical ‘overlay’, masking the sounds naturally occurring in the installation spaces. his installations often occur in central urban environments, and he has, for example, been commissioned in conjunction with the fifty-year anniversary of d-day (1994, paris), and the 100-year anniversary of brooklyn bridge (1983, new york city).

scholarly journals Using Dental Health Care Personnel During a Crisis

2021 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-147
Author(s):  
Victor Badner ◽  
Mana Saraghi
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Health Care Facilities ◽  
Health Care Personnel ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Dental Staff ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Step Down

The first few months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic challenged health care facilities worldwide in many ways. Inpatient and intensive care unit (ICU) beds were at a premium, and personnel shortages occurred during the initial peak of the pandemic. New York State was the hardest hit of all US states, with a high concentration of cases in New York City and, in particular, Bronx County. The governor of New York and leadership of hospitals in New York City called upon all available personnel to provide support and patient care during this health care crisis. This case study highlights the efforts of Jacobi Medical Center, located in the northeast Bronx, from March 1 through May 31, 2020, and its use of nontraditional health care personnel, including Department of Dentistry/OMFS (Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery) staff members, to provide a wide range of health care services. Dental staff members including ancillary personnel, residents, and attendings were redeployed and functioned throughout the facility. Dental anesthesiology residents provided medical services in support of their colleagues in a step-down COVID-19–dedicated ICU, providing intubation, ventilator management, and critical and palliative care. (Step-down units provide an intermediate level of care between ICUs and the general medical–surgical wards.) Clear communication of an acute need, a well-articulated mission, creative use of personnel, and dedicated staff members were evident during this challenging time. Although not routinely called upon to provide support in the medical and surgical inpatient areas, dental staff members may provide additional health care personnel during times of need.

scholarly journals Urban Park Usage During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150008
Author(s):  
Bita Alizadehtazi ◽  
Korin Tangtrakul ◽  
Sloane Woerdeman ◽  
Anna Gussenhoven ◽  
Nariman Mostafavi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Stress Reduction ◽  
York City ◽  
Social Vulnerability ◽  
Urban Residents ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Early Phases

Urban parks and green spaces provide a wide range of ecosystem services, including social interaction and stress reduction. When COVID-19 closed schools and businesses and restricted social gatherings, parks became one of the few places that urban residents were permitted to visit outside their homes. With a focus on Philadelphia, PA and New York City, NY, this paper presents a snapshot of the park usage during the early phases of the pandemic. Forty-three Civic Scientists were employed by the research team to observe usage in 22 different parks selected to represent low and high social vulnerability, and low, medium, and high population density. Despite speculation that parks could contribute to the spread of COVID-19, no strong correlation was found between the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in adjacent zip codes and the number of park users. High social vulnerability neighborhoods were associated with a significantly higher number of COVID-19 cases ([Formula: see text]). In addition, no significant difference in the number of park users was detected between parks in high and low vulnerability neighborhoods. The number of park users did significantly increase with population density in both cities ([Formula: see text]), though usage varied greatly by park. Males were more frequently observed than females in parks in both high vulnerability and high-density neighborhoods. Although high vulnerability neighborhoods reported higher COVID-19 cases, residents of Philadelphia and New York City appear to have been undeterred from visiting parks during this phase of the pandemic. This snapshot study provides no evidence to support closing parks during the pandemic. To the contrary, people continued to visit parks throughout the study, underscoring their evident value as respite for urban residents during the early phases of the pandemic.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Scott MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Natural History ◽  
York City ◽  
American Museum ◽  
Animal Life ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
African Mammals ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World

The introduction creates a context for a wide range of avant-doc films (that is, films that work in the zone between conventional documentary and what has usually been called “avant-garde” filmmaking), locating these films within the tradition established a century ago by the development of the habitat diorama of animal life, specifically the Akeley Hall of African Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The habitat diorama provides precise documentation of the specifics of animal life that is, insofar as possible, devoid of political argument. The aim of the habitat diorama, and of the films discussed throughout the book, is to be as purely educational as cinema can be: the creator of the habitat dioramas and the film documents discussed provide precise visions of what the makers believe we need to see, in order to understand more of the world around us.

scholarly journals Genetic Adaptation in New York City Rats

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arbel Harpak ◽  
Nandita Garud ◽  
Noah A Rosenberg ◽  
Dmitri A Petrov ◽  
Matthew Combs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Ancestral Population ◽  
Genetic Adaptation ◽  
Selective Sweeps ◽  
Locomotory Behavior ◽  
Extended Haplotypes ◽  
Genetic Signatures

Abstract Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) thrive in urban environments by navigating the anthropocentric environment and taking advantage of human resources and by-products. From the human perspective, rats are a chronic problem that causes billions of dollars in damage to agriculture, health and infrastructure. Did genetic adaptation play a role in the spread of rats in cities? To approach this question, we collected whole-genome sequences from 29 brown rats from New York City (NYC) and scanned for genetic signatures of adaptation. We tested for (i) high-frequency, extended haplotypes that could indicate selective sweeps and (ii) loci of extreme genetic differentiation between the NYC sample and a sample from the presumed ancestral range of brown rats in northeast China. We found candidate selective sweeps near or inside genes associated with metabolism, diet, the nervous system and locomotory behavior. Patterns of differentiation between NYC and Chinese rats at putative sweep loci suggest that many sweeps began after the split from the ancestral population. Together, our results suggest several hypotheses on adaptation in rats living in close proximity to humans.

“Ballerinas on the Dole:” Dance and the U.S. Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA), 1974–1982

2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 70-89
Author(s):  
Colleen Hooper
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Public Service ◽  
York City ◽  
Correctional Facility ◽  
The United States ◽  
Employment Training ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Us Federal Government

The Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA) was a program of the US federal government that employed dancers, performers, and other artists to provide public service in municipalities across the country from 1974 to 1982. This article focuses on dancers who participated in the CETA program. It describes this important source of government funding for dance and the arts that has been largely overlooked in scholarship. Through an analysis of one New York City CETA dance community performance site, it reveals the tensions present in the construct of “dance as public service.” This case study is offered as an exemplar of how the largest CETA arts program in the United States served a wide range of artists and communities. Through an analysis of two CETA dance performances at the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in New York City, the article questions who was served by dance as public service.

Martha Wollstein: A pioneer American female clinician-scientist

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 168-174
Author(s):  
Jeanne Abrams ◽  
James R Wright
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Medical Specialty ◽  
Rockefeller Institute ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Medical College ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Clinician Scientist ◽  
Scientific Skills

Martha Wollstein was not only the first fully specialized pediatric perinatal pathologist practicing exclusively in a North America children’s hospital, she also blazed another pathway as a very early pioneer female clinician-scientist. Wollstein provided patient care at Babies Hospital of New York City from 1891 until her retirement in 1935, and also simultaneously worked for many years as a basic scientist at the prestigious Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research. Wollstein published over 65 papers, many frequently cited, during her career on a wide range of topics including pediatric and infectious diseases. Wollstein was a rare female in the field of pathology in an era when just a relatively small number of women became doctors in any medical specialty. Wollstein was born into an affluent Jewish American family in New York City in 1868 and graduated from the Women’s Medical College in 1889. This paper explores her family support and ethnic and religious background, which helped facilitate her professional success. During her time, she was recognized internationally for her research and was respected for her medical and scientific skills; unfortunately today her important career has been largely forgotten.

scholarly journals Viral Diversity of House Mice in New York City

mBio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e01354-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon H. Williams ◽  
Xiaoyu Che ◽  
Joel A. Garcia ◽  
John D. Klena ◽  
Bohyun Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
High Throughput Sequencing ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Invasive Pest ◽  
House Mice ◽  
Human Pathogens ◽  
Wide Range

ABSTRACTThe microbiome of wildMus musculus(house mouse), a globally distributed invasive pest that resides in close contact with humans in urban centers, is largely unexplored. Here, we report analysis of the fecal virome of house mice in residential buildings in New York City, NY. Mice were collected at seven sites in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx over a period of 1 year. Unbiased high-throughput sequencing of feces revealed 36 viruses from 18 families and 21 genera, including at least 6 novel viruses and 3 novel genera. A representative screen of 15 viruses by PCR confirmed the presence of 13 of these viruses in liver. We identified an uneven distribution of diversity, with several viruses being associated with specific locations. Higher mouse weight was associated with an increase in the number of viruses detected per mouse, after adjusting for site, sex, and length. We found neither genetic footprints to known human viral pathogens nor antibodies to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus.IMPORTANCEMice carry a wide range of infectious agents with zoonotic potential. Their proximity to humans in the built environment is therefore a concern for public health. Laboratory mice are also the most common experimental model for investigating the pathobiology of infectious diseases. In this survey of mice trapped in multiple locations within New York City over a period of 1 year, we found a diverse collection of viruses that includes some previously not associated with house mice and others that appear to be novel. Although we found no known human pathogens, our findings provide insights into viral ecology and may yield models that have utility for clinical microbiology.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document