Life Sciences Commons^™

Rudra Interrupts Receptor Signaling Complexes To Negatively Regulate The Imd Pathway, Kamna Aggarwal, Florentina Rus, Christie Vriesema-Magnuson, Deniz Erturk Hasdemir, Nicholas Paquette, Neal S. Silverman

Neal Silverman

Insects rely primarily on innate immune responses to fight pathogens. In Drosophila, antimicrobial peptides are key contributors to host defense. Antimicrobial peptide gene expression is regulated by the IMD and Toll pathways. Bacterial peptidoglycans trigger these pathways, through recognition by peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs). DAP-type peptidoglycan triggers the IMD pathway via PGRP-LC and PGRP-LE, while lysine-type peptidoglycan is an agonist for the Toll pathway through PGRP-SA and PGRP-SD. Recent work has shown that the intensity and duration of the immune responses initiating with these receptors is tightly regulated at multiple levels, by a series of negative regulators. Through two-hybrid screening …

Consent To The Use Of Stored Dna For Genetics Research: A Survey Of Attitudes In The Jewish Population, Marc D. Schwartz, Karen H. Rothenberg, Linda Joseph, Judith Benkendorf, Caryn Lerman

Karen H. Rothenberg

No abstract provided.

Emerging Role Of Micrornas In Liver Diseases, Shashi Bala, Miguel Marcos, Gyongyi Szabo

Gyongyi Szabo

MicroRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that are found in plants, animals, and some viruses. They modulate the gene function at the post-transcriptional level and act as a fine tuner of various processes, such as development, proliferation, cell signaling, and apoptosis. They are associated with different types and stages of cancer. Recent studies have shown the involvement of microRNAs in liver diseases caused by various factors, such as Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, metabolic disorders, and by drug abuse. This review highlights the role of microRNAs in liver diseases and their potential use as therapeutic molecules.

The Mirror Effect, The Law Of Attraction, And "Points Of Attraction" That Can Nurture The Evolution Of Human Consciousness, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

This message has several purposes. First, I want to express my immense joy that Chip Baggett and I are serving as Co-Presidents of AHP since August 16, 2009. In my view, Chip and I are long-time friends, who have a transcendent connection and synergistic energies. My desire and intent is for our co-presidency to mirror the effect(s) of synergistic collaboration as a “point of attraction” that can assist in the evolution of human consciousness across often “perceived personal and societal boundaries” (e.g., race, culture, ethnicity, class, individual and collective belief systems, and dogma). More generally, however, this message is intended …

Multiple Loci Within The Major Histocompatibility Complex Confer Risk Of Psoriasis, Bing-Jian Feng, Liang-Dan Sun, Razieh Soltani-Arabshahi, Anne M. Bowcock, Rajan P. Nair, Philip Stuart, James T. Elder, Steven J. Schrodi, Ann B. Begovich, Goncalo R. Abecasis, Xue-Jun Zhang, Kristina P. Callis Duffin, Gerald G. Krueger, David E. Goldgar

Steven J Schrodi

Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disease characterized by thickened scaly red plaques. Previously we have performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on psoriasis with 1,359 cases and 1,400 controls, which were genotyped for 447,249 SNPs. The most significant finding was for SNP rs12191877, which is in tight linkage disequilibrium with HLA-Cw*0602, the consensus risk allele for psoriasis. However, it is not known whether there are other psoriasis loci within the MHC in addition to HLA-C. In the present study, we searched for additional susceptibility loci within the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region through in-depth analyses of the GWAS data; …

Effect Of Flash-Heat Treatment On Immunoglobulins In Breastmilk, Caroline J. Chantry, Kiersten Israel-Ballard, Zina Moldoveanu, Jan Peerson, Anna Coutsoudis, Lindiwe Sibeko, Barbara Abrams

Lindiwe Sibeko

Background—Heat-treated expressed breastmilk is recommended by WHO as an option to reduce vertical HIV transmission in resource poor regions. Flash-heat (FH) is a low technology pasteurization method developed for home use, but its effect on quantity and quality of breastmilk immunoglobulins is unknown. Objective—To evaluate FH's effect on breastmilk immunoglobulin levels and antigen binding capacity. Design/Methods—Fifty HIV+ mothers in South Africa provided breastmilk. Part of each sample served as an unheated (UH) control; the remainder was Flash-heated. Total and antigen-specific IgA and IgG were measured by ELISA. Paired t-test was performed on log transformed data. Results—FH significantly decreased total IgA …

Low-Cost Hiv-1 Diagnosis And Quantification In Dried Blood Spots By Real Time Pcr, Nishaki Mehta, Sonia Trzmielina, Bareng Nonyane, Melissa Eliot, Rongheng Lin, Andrea Foulkes, Kristina Mcneal, Arthur Ammann, Vindu Eulalievyolo, John Sullivan, Katherine Luzuriaga, Mohan Somasundaran

Rongheng Lin

BACKGROUND: Rapid and cost-effective methods for HIV-1 diagnosis and viral load monitoring would greatly enhance the clinical management of HIV-1 infected adults and children in limited-resource settings. Recent recommendations to treat perinatally infected infants within the first year of life are feasible only if early diagnosis is routinely available. Dried blood spots (DBS) on filter paper are an easy and convenient way to collect and transport blood samples. A rapid and cost effective method to diagnose and quantify HIV-1 from DBS is urgently needed to facilitate early diagnosis of HIV-1 infection and monitoring of antiretroviral therapy.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: We …

Current Dietetic Practices Of Obesity Management In Saudi Arabia And Comparison With Australian Practices And Best Practice Criteria, A. Almajwal, P. Williams, Marijka Batterham

Peter Williams

Objective: To describe the dietetic practices of the treatment of obesity in Saudi Arabia and compare this with best practice criteria and the practice in Australia. Methods: Anonymous questionnaires were completed by dietitians in Saudi Arabia. The topics included barriers to obesity management, demand and level of service and strategies and approaches used for weight management. Best practice scores were based on those used to assess Australian dietitians. Results: 253 dietitians participated in the survey. Of these, 175 (69 %) were involved in the management of obesity. The best practice score for Australian dietitians was slightly but significantly greater than …

Trends In The Affordability Of The Illawarra Healthy Food Basket 2000-2007, P. G. Williams, A. Hull, M. Kontos

Peter Williams

Aims
The Illawarra Healthy Food Basket (IHFB) was developed as one measure to monitor the affordability of healthy eating in Australia. It consists of 57 items selected to meet the nutritional requirements of a reference family of five. The basket was first costed in the Illawarra region of Australia in 2000 and again in 2001 and 2003. This study aimed to repeat the costing of the basket in 2005 and 2007 and to assess the trends in affordability since 2000.
Methods
Costing was carried out in the same five suburbs as previous surveys, utilising a large supermarket, greengrocer and butcher …

Regression When The Predictors Are Images, Philip T. Reiss

Philip T. Reiss

No abstract provided.

Nontraditional Epilepsy Treatment Approaches, Michael A. Rogawski, Gregory L. Holmes

Michael A. Rogawski

Overview of articles published in a special issue of Neurotherapeutics (April 2009) on nontraditional (non-drug) epilepsy treatment approaches. From the Fourth Workshop on New Horizons in the Development of Antiepileptic Drugs: Nontraditional Approaches to Treat Epilepsy, which was held at the Clontarf Castle, Dublin, March 5-7, 2008.

Convection-Enhanced Delivery In The Treatment Of Epilepsy, Michael A. Rogawski

Michael A. Rogawski

Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) is a novel drug-delivery technique that uses positive hydrostatic pressure to deliver a fluid containing a therapeutic substance by bulk flow directly into the interstitial space within a localized region of the brain parenchyma. CED circumvents the blood-brain barrier and provides a wider, more homogenous distribution than bolus deposition (focal injection) or other diffusion-based delivery approaches. A potential use of CED is for the local delivery of antiseizure agents, which would provide an epilepsy treatment approach that avoids the systemic toxicities of orally administered anti-epileptic drugs and bystander effects on nonepileptic brain regions. Recent studies have demonstrated …

In Vitro And In Vivo Models Of Acute Alcohol Exposure, Angela Dolganiuc, Gyongyi Szabo

Gyongyi Szabo

Alcohol abuse is a global problem due to the financial burden on society and the healthcare system. While the harmful health effects of chronic alcohol abuse are well established, more recent data suggest that acute alcohol consumption also affects human wellbeing. Thus, there is a need for research models in order to fully understand the effect of acute alcohol abuse on different body systems and organs. The present manuscript summarizes the interdisciplinary advantages and disadvantages of currently available human and non-human models of acute alcohol abuse, and identifies their suitability for biomedical research.

London City Life: A Call To Service, Mary Ann Colohan

Vivian C. McAlister

Eating Inside: Food Service Experiences In Three Australian Prisons, P. G. Williams, K. Walton, N. Ainsworth, C. Wirtz

Peter Williams

This study evaluated the menus and food service experience of inmates in three correctional centres in Sydney (one minimum security, one high security, and one for women). Menus were evaluated against recommended dietary intakes, dietary guidelines and nutrition policy statements. Menus generally provided a well varied selection of foods which met the majority of individual nutritional requirements and dietary guidelines - assuming all food provided was consumed. Focus groups and interviews with 35 inmates explored their attitudes about and experiences of the foodservice provision. Sixteen key themes of concern were identified, including: • Complaints about food quality, lack of choice, …

Australian Consumer Attitudes To Health Claim - Food Product Compatibility For Functional Foods, P. G. Williams, L. Ridges, M. Batterham, B. Ripper, M. C. Hung

Peter Williams

This study with Australian consumers investigated how appealing different health claims combined with particular food carriers were to Australian consumers, and compared the results of a similar study with Dutch consumers. 149 shoppers considered up to 30 different food concepts, rating how ‘attractive’, ‘believable’, and ‘new and different’ they found each concept and their ‘intention to try’. Each variable was significantly related to intention to try (p<0.001) and together explained 56% of the intention score. Claims and carriers independently had a significant effect on ratings of attractiveness and intention to try but, unlike the Dutch study, the carrier was a more important predictor of intention to purchase than the claim. Implications for regulation of health claims for food are discussed.

Topiramate Reduces Excitability In The Basolateral Amygdala By Selectively Inhibiting Gluk1 (Glur5) Kainate Receptors On Interneurons And Positively Modulating Gaba-A Receptors On Principal Neurons, Maria Braga, Vassiliki Aroniadou-Anderjaska, He Li, Michael Rogawski

Michael A. Rogawski

Topiramate [2,3:4,5-bis-O-(1-methylethylidene)-beta-D-fructopyranose sulfamate] is a structurally novel antiepileptic drug that has broad efficacy in epilepsy, but the mechanisms underlying its therapeutic activity are not fully understood. We have found that topiramate selectively inhibits GluK1 (GluR5) kainate receptor-mediated excitatory postsynaptic responses in rat basolateral amygdala (BLA) principal neurons and protects against seizures induced by the GluK1 kainate receptor agonist (R,S)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-tert-butylisoxazol-4-yl)propanoic acid (ATPA). Here, we demonstrate that topiramate also modulates inhibitory function in the BLA. Using whole-cell recordings in rat amygdala slices, we found that 0.3 to 10 microM topiramate 1) inhibited ATPA-evoked postsynaptic currents recorded from BLA interneurons; 2) suppressed ATPA-induced …

Nerve, Muscle, Blood, Toil, Tears, And Sweat: England’S Pioneering Biophysicist, Soldier, And Statesman, Arshad M. Khan

Arshad M. Khan, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Pathological Alterations In Gabaergic Interneurons And Reduced Tonic Inhibition In The Basolateral Amygdala During Epileptogenesis, Michael A. Rogawski, Brita Fritsch, Felicia Qashu, T. H. Figueiredo, Vicki Aroniadou-Anderjaska, Maria F.M. Braga

Michael A. Rogawski

An acute brain insult such as traumatic head/brain injury, stroke, or an episode of status epilepticus can trigger epileptogenesis, which, after a latent, seizure-free period, leads to epilepsy. The discovery of effective pharmacological interventions that can prevent the development of epilepsy requires knowledge of the alterations that occur during epileptogenesis in brain regions that play a central role in the induction and expression of epilepsy. In the present study, we investigated pathological alterations in GABAergic interneurons in the rat basolateral amygdala (BLA), and the functional impact of these alterations on inhibitory synaptic transmission, on days 7 to 10 after status …

Sustainability And Changing University Culture And Curriculum: A Grand Valley State University Case Study, Stephen C. Glass, Elena Lioubimtseva, Norman Christopher, Wendy Wenner

Stephen C Glass

The past two decades have shown significant changes in the understanding of the role of sustainability in the higher education culture of many countries. While many American universities and colleges have embraced this concept as the major driver of environmental, social, economic, and technological progress, only a few programs in the United States offer today undergraduate or graduate degrees in sustainability studies or sustainable development. Interdisciplinary scholarship on the role of sustainability in the higher education has been boosted recently by research and public debate on global climate change, globalization, and free-trade. Yet, not many US universities consider sustainability as …

Lactobacilli Facilitate Maintenance Of Intestinal Membrane Integrity During Shigella Dysenteriae 1 Infection In Rats, Moorthy G, Murali Mr, Devaraj Sn

Murali Malliga Raman

OBJECTIVE: Lactobacilli are used in various dairy products and fermented foods for their potential health beneficial effects. Recently we reported the protective role of Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus acidophilus during Shigella dysenteriae 1 infection. Nevertheless, investigations on the membrane-stabilizing effect of L. rhamnosus and L. acidophilus have not been done. Hence, the present study evaluated the effect of L. rhamnosus and L. acidophilus on the maintenance of intestinal membrane integrity during S. dysenteriae 1-induced diarrhea in rats. METHODS: Rats were divided into eight groups (n = 6 in each group). Induced rats received single oral dose of S. dysenteriae (12 …

Controlled Language - Does My Company Need It?, Uwe Muegge

Uwe Muegge

Genome-Wide Scan Reveals Association Of Psoriasis With Il-23 And Nf-B Pathways, Rajan P. Nair, Kristina C. Duffin, Cynthia Helms, Jun Ding, Philip E. Stuart, David Goldgar, Johann E. Gudjonsson, Yun Li, Trilokraj Tejasvi, Bing-Jiag Feng, Andreas Ruether, Stefan Schreiber, Michael Weichenthal, Dafna Gladman, Proton Rahman, Steven J. Schrodi, Sampath Prahalad, Stephen L. Guthery, Judith Fischer, Wilson Liao, Pui-Yan Kwok, Alan Menter, G Mark Lathrop, Carol A. Wise, Ann B. Begovich, John J. Voorhees, James T. Elder, Gerald G. Krueger, Anne M. Bowcock, Goncalo R. Abecasis

Steven J Schrodi

Psoriasis is a common immune-mediated disorder that affects the skin, nails and joints. To identify psoriasis susceptibility loci, we genotyped 438,670 SNPs in 1,409 psoriasis cases and 1,436 controls of European ancestry. We followed up 21 promising SNPs in 5,048 psoriasis cases and 5,041 controls. Our results provide strong support for the association of at least seven genetic loci and psoriasis (each with combined P < 5 10-8). Loci with confirmed association include HLA-C, three genes involved in IL-23 signaling (IL23A, IL23R, IL12B), two genes that act downstream of TNF- and regulate NF-B signaling (TNIP1, TNFAIP3) and two genes involved in the modulation of Th2 immune responses (IL4, IL13). Although the proteins encoded in these loci are known to interact biologically, we found no evidence for epistasis between associated SNPs. Our results expand the catalog of genetic loci implicated in psoriasis susceptibility and suggest priority targets for study in other auto-immune disorders.

A Photovoice Participatory Evaluation Of A School Gardening Program Through The Eyes Of Fifth Graders, Catherine Sands, Krista Harper, Lee Ellen Reed, Maggie Shar

Catherine Sands

In the springtime, fifth grade students at the Williamsburg Elementary School in rural Western Massachusetts ask to snack on sorrel and chives from the school garden, between planting potatoes and building a shade structure for their outdoor classroom. They are members of the first cohort of the curriculum-integrated program initiated by Fertile Ground, a grassroots organization in western Massachusetts. The children’s delight in the fresh greens they have grown marks a national phenomenon: the farm-to-school movement. With limited resources, parents, teachers, students, administrators, and community activists are developing inroads to better school food and food education, by constructing school teaching …

Bayesian Statistics, Joseph F. Lucke

Joseph Lucke

No abstract provided.

Who Owns Your Body? A Study In Literature And Law, Lori B. Andrews

Lori B. Andrews

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Unknown Genetic Modifications Using High Throughput Sequencing And Computational Subtraction, Torstein Tengs

Dr. Torstein Tengs

Background

When generating a genetically modified organism (GMO), the primary goal is to give a target organism one or several novel traits by using biotechnology techniques. A GMO will differ from its parental strain in that its pool of transcripts will be altered. Currently, there are no methods that are reliably able to determine if an organism has been genetically altered if the nature of the modification is unknown.

Results

We show that the concept of computational subtraction can be used to identify transgenic cDNA sequences from genetically modified plants. Our datasets include 454-type sequences from a transgenic line of …

Peer Education For Hepatitis C Prevention, Donna M. Zucker

Donna M. Zucker

The purpose of this article is to describe a model of education about hepatitis C virus prevention tested in a county correctional facility. The Teach One Method and Relational Communication models inform this work. Using a one-group pretest–posttest prospective design our aims were to (1) convey education about prevention, protection, and safety; (2) provide this information through relationship-centered communication; (3) test the reliability and validity of the instruments; and (4) measure changes in behavior, knowledge, and relationship in the learner. A convenience sample of 25 men was recruited at a Massachusetts county jail. Subscale reliability was 0.78 and 0.79 for …