Digital Commons Network^™

H-Ipse Is A Pathogen-Secreted Host Nucleus Infiltrating Protein (Infiltrin) 3 Expressed Exclusively By The Schistosoma Haematobium Egg Stage, Luke Pennington, Abdulaziz Alouffi, Evaristus Mbanefo, Debalina Ray, David Heery, Theodore Jardetzky, Michael Hsieh, Franco Falcone

Urology Faculty Publications

Urogenital schistosomiasis, caused by the parasitic trematode Schistosoma haematobium, affects over 112 million people worldwide. As with S. mansoniinfections, the pathology in urogenital schistosomiasis is mainly related to the egg stage, which induces granulomatous inflammation of affected tissues. Schistosoma eggs and their secretions have been studied extensively for the related S. mansoniorganism which is more amenable to laboratory studies. Indeed, we have shown that IPSE/alpha-1 (M-IPSE herein), a major protein secreted from S .mansoni eggs, can infiltrate host cells. Although M-IPSE function is unknown, its ability to translocate to their nucleus and bind DNA suggests a possible …

Singapore : Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), Dexter Lipps

Global Public Health

Singapore ranks as one of the healthiest countries in the world and its healthcare system has been regarded as one of the most efficient. While a minority of the population experience any chronic diseases such as diabetes or asthma, one illness, severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS has been prevalent in the country since the global outbreak in 2003. SARS is a virus causing disease that is easily transmitted through the air. In 2003, Singapore, along with much of the world, saw a high rate of infection for the disease. An in depth look revealed that three women traveling home …

Afghanistan : Tuberculosis, Emily Fulk

Global Public Health

Afghanistan, a country in the Middle East, faces the epidemic of an infectious bacterial lung disease called Tuberculosis, or TB. Tuberculosis is fairly easy to spread, as the bacteria that causes it are spread from one person to another through tiny droplets released into the air via coughs and sneezes. Despite the widespread amounts of individuals affected with TB, it is known to be easily curable using a six month treatment. And so public health officials have implemented a program called DOTS, or Directly Observed Treatment Short Course in Kabul City to test the effectiveness of this treatment. The DOTS …

Guam : Mumps, Taylor Covert

Global Public Health

In the years of 2009-2010, Guam experienced an outbreak of mumps that was widespread throughout the country. Mumps is a disease in which the parotid gland located in the face and neck region swells and can cause inflammation in the brain. Though a majority of the citizens were vaccinated for MMR, there was still a problem throughout the nation. The vaccine is provided in a number of doses, three being the optimal amount. It was later revealed that citizens who were vaccinated only received two doses, not fully protecting them from the illness. 505 cases were reported overall for this …

Zimbabwe : Malaria, Ashton Hutcheson

Global Public Health

Zimbabwe, a developing country in southeastern Africa, has a population of over 15 million people. The large majority of this population is at risk for various prevalent infectious disease including the significant threat that is Malaria. Zimbabwe is a country within what the World Health Organization determines as the “WHO African Region.” This region is where 90% of Malaria deaths occur worldwide. This brief provides reasons why malaria is such a major problem including the country’s general lack of clinics and key risk factors associated with contracting malaria. It was found that those most at-risk for malaria live in houses …

Pseudomembranous Tracheitis Caused By Aspergillus Fumigatus In The Setting Of High Grade T-Cell Lymphoma, Prashant Malhotra, Karan Singh, Paul Gill, Sonu Sahni, Mina Makaryus, Arunabh Talwar

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine (New York) Publications and Research

Pseudomembranous tracheitis (PMT) is a rare condition most commonly caused by fungal or bacterial infection that is characterized by a pseudomembrane that partially or completely covers the tracheobronchial tree. PMT is most commonly found in immunocompromised patient populations, such as post-chemotherapy, AIDS, post-transplant and hematological malignancies. Due to its rarity, PMT is often not included in the differential diagnosis. This case describes a 65 year old male with persistent fever and refractory cough despite high dose empiric antibiotics. Subsequent bronchoscopy with biopsy revealed pseudomembranous tracheitis due to Aspergillus fumigatus in the setting of T-cell lymphoma. PMT should be considered in …

Hiv-Care Access Among People With Incarceration Experience In St. Petersburg, Russia, Monica S. Ruiz, Robert Heimer, Olga Levina, N. Badosova, V. Rassokhin, A. Belyakov, N. Belyakov

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background: Little is known about the clinical care experiences of HIV-infected persons in St. Petersburg who have experience with incarceration. To address this question, we conducted a capture-recapture study to identify individuals who had been diagnosed with HIV infection while incarcerated and who subsequently presented for medical care in St. Petersburg, Russia following release from prison.

Methods: We matched 292 HIV-positive prisoners tested by the prison system in 2010 to the medical records at the St. Petersburg AIDS Center in the following 4 years.

Results: The data analysis shows that as many as half of HIV+ prisoners fail to seek …

The Effect Of Hiv Infection And Hcv Viremia On Inflammatory Mediators And Hepatic Injury-The Women's Interagency Hiv Study., Sheila M Keating, Jennifer L Dodge, Philip J Norris, John Heitman, Stephen J Gange, Audrey L French, Marshall J Glesby, Brian R Edlin, Patricia S Latham, Maria C Villacres, Ruth M Greenblatt, Marion G Peters

Pathology Faculty Publications

Hepatitis C virus infection induces inflammation and while it is believed that HIV co-infection enhances this response, HIV control may reduce inflammation and liver fibrosis in resolved or viremic HCV infection. Measurement of systemic biomarkers in co-infection could help define the mechanism of inflammation on fibrosis and determine if HIV control reduces liver pathology. A nested case-control study was performed to explore the relationship of systemic biomarkers of inflammation with liver fibrosis in HCV viremic and/or seropositive women with and without HIV infection. Serum cytokines, chemokines, growth factors and cell adhesion molecules were measured in HIV uninfected (HIV-, n = …

Development Of Cellular Assays To Monitor Enzymatic And Biological Activity Of Cd73: A Key Modulator Of Anti-Tumor Immune Response, Alexandra Fanuka

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Ecto-5’-nucleotidase, known as CD73, is an extracellular enzyme that converts adenosine monophosphate (AMP) to adenosine and has recently been identified as a potential drug target for cancer immunotherapy. Its immunosuppressive effects, mediated by the activity of adenosine, are associated with higher rates of tumor invasion and metastasis, as well as poorer prognoses overall in many cancer types. CD73 is often co-expressed with ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (CD39), which catalyzes the conversion of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and ADP to AMP on the surface of tumor cells. Dual expression further propagates immunosuppressive effects of adenosine in the tumor microenvironment. …

Israel : Translocation Of Rabies, Sarah Baker

Global Public Health

Israel is now faced with a steady growing public health threat as canine rabies has reemerged in the northern region of Israel. While the steady increase in cases is of notable alarm, moreover the close contact most often shared between dog and human populations is of much more concern from a public health prospective. Rabies is a vaccine-preventable disease. Vaccinating dogs has proven to be the most cost-effective strategy for preventing rabies in people. Additionally, education on bite prevention and rabid animal behaviors for both children and adults is an essential extension of the long term rabies vaccination program that …

Madagascar : Plague In Madagascar, Matthew Donald Hesch

Global Public Health

This public health brief calls attention to a disease issue in the country Madagascar. We show reasons as to why Madagascar has such a problem with the plague and what they should do to solve the issue. Madagascar has many areas that are high poverty because of a political crisis and this results in the easy spread of the plague. We show that Madagascar needs an increase in funds so that they can get out of the political crisis and begin fixing the plague issue. I offer ideas on how Madagascar could use the extra funds to overcome the plague …

A Fashi Lymphoproliferative Phenotype Reveals Non-Apoptotic Fas Signalling In Htlv-1-Associated Neuroinflammation., Soraya Maria Menezes, Fabio E Leal, Tim Dierckx, Ricardo Khouri, Daniele Decanine, Gilvaneia Silva-Santos, +Several Additional Authors

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-1 was the first human retrovirus to be associated to cancer, namely Adult T-cell Leukemia (ATL), but its pathogenesis remains enigmatic, since only a minority of infected individuals develops either ATL or the neuroinflammatory disorder HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). A functional FAS -670 polymorphism in an interferon (IFN)-regulated STAT1-binding site has been associated to both ATL and HAM/TSP susceptibility. Fashi T stem cell memory (Tscm) cells have been identified as the hierarchical apex of ATL, but have not been investigated in HAM/TSP. In addition, both FAS and STAT1 have been identified in an IFN-inducible HAM/TSP …

Nasopharyngeal Microbiome Diversity Changes Over Time In Children With Asthma, Marcos Pérez-Losada, Lamia Alamri, Keith Crandall, Robert J. Freishtat

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Background

The nasopharynx is a reservoir for pathogens associated with respiratory illnesses such as asthma. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been used to characterize the nasopharyngeal microbiome of infants and adults during health and disease; less is known, however, about the composition and temporal dynamics (i.e., longitudinal variation) of microbiotas from children and adolescents. Here we use NGS technology to characterize the nasopharyngeal microbiomes of asthmatic children and adolescents (6 to 18 years) and determine their stability over time.

Methods

Two nasopharyngeal washes collected 5.5 to 6.5 months apart were taken from 40 children and adolescents with asthma living in the …

Perspectives On Model Forecasts Of The 2014–2015 Ebola Epidemic In West Africa: Lessons And The Way Forward, Gerardo Chowell, Cecile Viboud, Lone Simonsen, Stefano Merler, Alessandro Vespignani

Global Health Faculty Publications

The unprecedented impact and modeling efforts associated with the 2014–2015 Ebola epidemic in West Africa provides a unique opportunity to document the performances and caveats of forecasting approaches used in near-real time for generating evidence and to guide policy. A number of international academic groups have developed and parameterized mathematical models of disease spread to forecast the trajectory of the outbreak. These modeling efforts often relied on limited epidemiological data to derive key transmission and severity parameters, which are needed to calibrate mechanistic models. Here, we provide a perspective on some of the challenges and lessons drawn from these efforts, …

Clinical And Mucosal Immune Correlates Of Hiv-1 Semen Levels In Antiretroviral-Naive Men., Brendan J W Osborne, Angie K Marsh, Sanja Huibner, Kamnoosh Shahabi, Cindy Liu, Tania Contente, Nico J D Nagelkerke, Colin Kovacs, Erika Benko, Lance Price, Kelly S Macdonald, Rupert Kaul

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background.

This study was done to characterize parameters associated with semen human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 ribonucleic acid (RNA) viral load (VL) variability in HIV-infected, therapy-naive men. Methods.

Paired blood and semen samples were collected from 30 HIV-infected, therapy-naive men who have sex with men, and 13 participants were observed longitudinally for up to 1 year. Human immunodeficiency virus RNA, bacterial load by 16S RNA, herpesvirus (Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus [CMV]) shedding, and semen cytokines/chemokines were quantified, and semen T-cell subsets were assessed by multiparameter flow cytometry. Results.

Semen HIV RNA was detected at 93% of visits, with >50% of men …

Orientia Tsutsugamushi Secretes Two Ankyrin Repeat-Containing Effectors Via A Type 1 Secretion System To Inhibit Host Nf-Κb Function, Sean M. Evans

Theses and Dissertations

Scrub typhus is a potentially fatal infection that threatens one billion persons in the Asia-Pacific region and is caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium, Orientia tsutsugamushi. How this organism facilitates its intracellular survival and pathogenesis is poorly understood. Intracellular bacterial pathogens utilize the Type 1 (T1SS) or Type 4 secretion system (T4SS) to translocate ankyrin repeat-containing proteins (Anks) into the host cell to modulate host cell processes. The O. tsutsugamushi genome encodes one of the largest known bacterial Ank libraries as well as Type 1 and Type 4 secretion systems (T1SS and T4SS), which are expressed during infection. In …

Understanding The Effect Of Bvdv On Innate Immune Response Of Neutrophils, Neelu Singh Thakur

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is one of the highly prevalent and economically important diseases of cattle industry worldwide. The two major consequences of this disease are persistent infection and immunosuppression. Several studies have been done to determine the underline mechanisms of BVDV-induced immunosuppression targeting antigen presenting cells, adaptive immune system cells and cytokine gene expression. However, very little research has been done to determine the effect of BVDV on neutrophils. Neutrophils are one of the most abundant while blood cells (WBC) in the peripheral blood, which play a critical role in the innate as well as adaptive immune response. …

Determining The Effects Of Methanol, Ethanol, Isopropanol, And Glycerol On Both Thermal Stability And Catalytic Activity Of Rv0045c, An Enzyme From M. Tuberculosis, Katelyn Baumer

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Tuberculosis (TB) is a highly infectious respiratory disease contracted through the inhalation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Serine hydrolases are abundant in M. tuberculosis and serve as a model for studying the inhibition of TB. Rv0045c is an example of such with little known regarding its biological function. Rv0045c was exposed to methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, or glycerol and the effects of varying concentration of these alcohols on the catalytic efficiency and thermal stability of the enzyme was determined. The thermal stability of Rv0045c was found to decrease with concentration of methanol, ethanol, or isopropanol. The opposite was true of the thermal stability …

Nitrosative Stress Sensing In Porphyromonas Gingivalis: Structure And Function Of The Heme Binding Transcriptional Regulator Hcpr, Benjamin R. Belvin

Theses and Dissertations

Porphyromonas gingivalis, a Gram negative anaerobe implicated in the progression of periodontal disease, is capable of surviving and causing infection despite high levels of reactive nitrogen species found in the oral cavity due to its efficient nitrosative stress response. HcpR is an important sensor-regulator that plays a vital step in the initiation of the nitrosative stress response in many Gram negative anaerobic bacteria. We employ a combination of X-ray crystallography, SAXS, resonance Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and molecular biology techniques to better understand this key regulator. Knockout of the hcpR gene in W83 P. gingivalis results in the inability of …

Possible Causes Of Alzheimer’S Disease Related Amyloid-Β Plaques And Neurofibrillary Tangles, Rochelle Rubenstein

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Alzheimer’s disease is a major cause of dementia in the elderly and is a global health concern. However, researchers are not sure what causes the characteristic amyloid-β plaque accumulation and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. Several model mechanisms have been proposed to answer this question. This paper examines three of these possibilities. Research suggests that a particular allele of the apoE gene is responsible for the neurodegeneration found in Alzheimer’s disease. Another hypothesis is that the mechanism of Alzheimer’s is related to prion-mediated protein misfolding. Other studies indicate that certain environmental factors can cause the neuropathology of Alzheimer’s. Specifically, this …

Defining The Risk Of Zika And Chikungunya Virus Transmission In Human Population Centers Of The Eastern United States, Carrie A. Manore, Richard S. Ostfeld, Folashade B. Agusto, Holly Gaff, Shannon L. Ladeau

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The recent spread of mosquito-transmitted viruses and associated disease to the Americas motivates a new, data-driven evaluation of risk in temperate population centers. Temperate regions are generally expected to pose low risk for significant mosquito-borne disease; however, the spread of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) across densely populated urban areas has established a new landscape of risk. We use a model informed by field data to assess the conditions likely to facilitate local transmission of chikungunya and Zika viruses from an infected traveler to Ae. albopictus and then to other humans in USA cities with variable human …

Remote Sensing Observation Of Annual Dust Cycles And Possible Causality Of Kawasaki Disease Outbreaks In Japan, Hesham El-Askary, Nick Lahaye, Erik J. Linstead, William A. Sprigg, Magdi Yacoub

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a rare vascular disease that, if left untreated, can result in irreparable cardiac damage in children. While the symptoms of KD are well-known, as are best practices for treatment, the etiology of the disease and the factors contributing to KD outbreaks remain puzzling to both medical practitioners and scientists alike. Recently, a fungus known as Candida, originating in the farmlands of China, has been blamed for outbreaks in China and Japan, with the hypothesis that it can be transported over long ranges via different wind mechanisms. This paper provides evidence to understand the transport mechanisms …

Analysis Of Humoral Immune Responses In Horses With Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis, Catherine-Jane Angwin

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), caused by the protozoan parasite Sarcocystis neurona, is one of the most important neurological diseases of horses in the Americas. While seroprevalence of S. neurona in horses is high, clinical manifestation of EPM occurs in less than 1% of infected horses. Factors governing the occurrence and severity of EPM are largely unknown, although horse immunity might play an important role in clinical outcome. We hypothesize that EPM occurs due to an aberrant immune response, which will be discernable in the equine IgG subisotypes a, b, and (T) that recognize S. neurona in infected diseased horses versus …

All-Cause Mortality In Hiv-Positive Adults Starting Combination Antiretroviral Therapy: Correcting For Loss To Follow-Up, Nanina Anderegg, Leigh F. Johnson, Elizabeth Zaniewski, Keri N. Althoff, Eric Balestre, Matthew Law, Denis Nash, Bryan E. Shepherd, Constantin T. Yiannoutsos, Matthias Egger

Publications and Research

Objective: To estimate mortality in HIV-positive patients starting combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to discuss different approaches to calculating correction factors to account for loss to follow-up.

Methods: A total of 222 096 adult HIV-positive patients who started ART 2009–2014 in clinics participating in the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS collaboration in 43 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and North America were included. To allow for underascertainment of deaths due to loss to follow-up, two correction factors (one for the period 0–6 months on ART and one for later periods) or 168 correction factors (combinations of …

Anti-Inflammatory And Immune-Modulating Effects Of Rice Callus Suspension Culture And Blueberry Extract On An In-Vitro Inflammatory Bowel Disease Model, Kyle Michael Driscoll

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Rice Callus Suspension Culture (RCSC) has been shown to exhibit potent anticancer activity in vitro. In this study we aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating properties of RCSC on three inflamed normal colon epithelial cell lines, InEpC, NCM 356, and CCD 841 CoN. As a comparative, we additionally analyzed the anti-inflammatory effects of Highbush blueberries on two inflamed colon cell cultures, NCM 356 and CCD 841 CoN. Furthermore, we sought to characterize the bioactive compounds in RCSC responsible for anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and immune-modulating effects. This work will be an essential starting point for understanding and identifying possible bioactive …

Development And Characterization Of Histidine-Tagged Hpv16 L2 And Ms2-Arginine-Tagged Recombinant Proteins For Downstream Processes, Tahiyat Alothaim

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the most common sexually transmitted infections. Persistent infection with HPV can lead to anogenital cancers including head and neck cancers. Three prophylactic vaccines have been approved to prevent against some types of HPV infection. However, the vaccines are HPV-type specific and protect mostly against the HPV types included in the vaccines. To offer broader protection against more HPV types, studies in the field are developing candidate vaccines targeting a conserved minor capsid protein, L2. Nevertheless, reagents for developing and assessing L2 vaccines are limited. For example, antibodies to assess the antigenicity of some L2 epitopes are …

Development Of Health Education Materials To Prevent Sexually Transmitted Infections Among University Of Southern Maine Students, Lily Parenteau

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to develop health education materials that can be used to educate college students about the risks, symptoms, and prevention measures associated with chlamydia and gonorrhea infections, as well as provide information about current disease information in the state of Maine.

Biomarkers Of Sepsis: A Retrospective Approach, Jose M. Roberts

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Background: Biomarkers are taking the spotlight in becoming the norm for early diagnoses. Sepsis is an inflammatory disease that increases metabolic rate in children. The first biomarker is hyponatremia. Hyponatremia is a frequent electrolyte imbalance in clinical practice, often observed in children with inflammatory disease and infection. Presence of hyponatremia is associated with electrical signaling imbalances, inflammation and renal dysfunction. The clinical value of hyponatremia in pediatric patients is unknown. The C-reactive protein is a second biomarker. Its presence signifies that necrotic cells and inflammation are present.

Objectives: To evaluate the use of biomarkers in children seen in the Emergency …

Type 2 Immune Responses In The Context Of Helminth Infection, Asthma, Dendritic Cells, And Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cell Function, Sheela Ruby Damle

Theses and Dissertations

Type 2 (T_H2) immune responses evolved to respond to helminth parasite infections by the production of T_H2 cytokines, which stimulate anti-helminth immunity. Macrophage migration inhibitor factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine, which is produced by many cell types. We demonstrate that mice deficient in MIF have enhanced clearance of a helminth parasite. MIF deficiency in CD4⁺ T cells was found to be the most important for mediating parasite clearance. We mimicked MIF deficiency by administering an inhibitor of the MIF tautomerase activity, sulforaphane, and this also increased parasite clearance (Section I).

T_H2 immune …

Epidemiological Investigation Of Candida Species Causing Bloodstream Infection In Pediatric Small Bowel Transplant Recipients, Mallory J. Suhr, João Carlos Gomes-Neto, Nabaraj Banjara, Diana F. Florescu, David F. Mercer, Peter C. Iwen, Heather E. Hallen-Adams

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Small bowel transplantation (SBT) can be a life-saving medical procedure. However, these recipients experience high risk of bloodstream infections caused by Candida. This research aims to characterize the SBT recipient gut microbiota over time following transplantation and investigate the epidemiology of candidemia in seven pediatric patients. Candida species from the recipients’ ileum and bloodstream were identified by internal transcribed spacer sequence and distinguished to strain by multilocus sequence typing and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA. Antifungal susceptibility of bloodstream isolates was determined against nine antifungals. Twenty-two ileostomy samples harbored at least one Candida species. Fungemia were caused by Candida parapsilosis …