Digital Commons Network^™

An Insight Into The Microbiome Of The Amblyomma Maculatum(Acari: Ixodidae), Khemraj Budachetri, Rebecca E. Browning, Steven W. Adamson, Scot E. Dowd, Chien-Chung Chao, Wei-Mei Ching, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

The aim of this study was to survey the bacterial diversity of Amblyomma maculatum Koch, 1844, and characterize its infection with Rickettsia parkeri. Pyrosequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA was used to determine the total bacterial population in A. maculatum. Pyrosequencing analysis identified Rickettsia in A. maculatum midguts, salivary glands, and saliva, which indicates successful trafficking in the arthropod vector. The identity of Rickettsia spp. was determined based on sequencing the rickettsial outer membrane protein A (rompA) gene. The sequence homology search revealed the presence of R. parkeri, Rickettsia amblyommii, and Rickettsia endosymbiont of …

Interspecific Competition Of A New Invasive Mosquito, Culex Coronator, And Two Container Mosquitoes, Aedes Albopictus And Cx. Quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae), Across Different Detritus Environments, D. A. Yee, J. F. Skiff

Faculty Publications

The mosquito Culex coronator (Dyar and Knab) (Diptera: Culicidae) has undergone rapid range expansion in the United States since 2003, with its historical distribution in the southwest expanding eastward to the Atlantic coast. Although Cx. coronator nominally use small natural aquatic habitats for development, the use of containers (e.g., tires) makes it potentially important as container invasive. To determine the potential ecological effects of Cx. coronator on resident container species, we conducted a laboratory experiment to assess its competitive ability with two common tire-inhabiting species, Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae). Larvae were reared under a factorial …

Prison Health Care After The Affordable Care Act: Envisioning An End To The Policy Of Neglect, Evelyn Malavé

Faculty Publications

Inadequate prison health care has created a health crisis for reentering prisoners and their communities—a crisis that is exacerbated by barriers to employment and other collateral consequences of release. This Note will first examine how current Eighth Amendment doctrine has failed to sufficiently regulate prison health care so as to have any significant effect on the crisis. Next, it will argue that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) alters the Eighth Amendment analysis by triggering a change in the “evolving standards of decency” that guide the doctrine. Specifically, this Note will argue that, after the passage of the ACA, releasing sick, …

Lineage Ii Of Southeast Asian/American Denv-2 Is Associated With A Severe Dengue Outbreak In The Peruvian Amazon, Maya Williams, Sandra V. Mayer, William L. Johnson, Rubing Chen, Evgeniya Volkova, Stalin Vilcarromeor, Steven G. Widen, Thomas G. Wood, Luis Suarez-Ognio, Kanya C. Long, Katherine A. Hanley, Amy C. Morrison, Nikos Vasilakis, Eric S. Halsey

Faculty Publications

During 2010 and 2011, the Loreto region of Peru experienced a dengue outbreak of unprecedented magnitude and severity for the region. This outbreak coincided with the reappearance of dengue virus-2 (DENV-2) in Loreto after almost 8 years. Whole-genome sequence indicated that DENV-2 from the outbreak belonged to lineage II of the southeast Asian/American genotype and was most closely related to viruses circulating in Brazil during 2007 and 2008, whereas DENV-2 previously circulating in Loreto grouped with lineage I (DENV-2 strains circulating in South America since 1990). One amino acid substitution (NS5 A811V) in the 2010 and 2011 isolates resulted from …

Informal–Formal Sector Interactions In Automotive Engineering, Kampala, Dick Kawooya

Faculty Publications

This chapter provides findings from a Ugandan case study that examined innovation transfers between informal-sector automotive artisans and formally employed researchers at Makerere University’s College of Engineering, Design, Art and Technology (CEDAT). Th e primary site studied was CEDAT’s Gatsby Garage, an automotive workshop where it was found that the informal-sector artisans were central to innovative processes but were at the same time driven more by sharing impulses than by concern for the intellectual property (IP) implications of their work. Based on these findings, it is argued that Ugandan policy-makers need to seek policy tools to support innovation transfers between …

The Relationship Between Select Demographic Characteristics And Body Mass Index Among Native Hawaiian And Other Pacific Islander Caregiving Adults, Jane Lassetter Phd, Rn, Lauren Clark Phd, Rn, Faan, Sharla E. Morgan Fnp, Lora Beth Brown Phd, Gwen Vanservellen Phd, Rn, Faan, Katrina Duncan Fnp, Betsy S. Hopkins

Faculty Publications

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) are people with genetic origins in Hawaii, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands (Hixson, Hepler, & Kim, 2012). NHOPI prevalence of overweight or obesity is among the highest in the world. Nauru, a Pacific Island nation, is considered the most obese country in the world with an overweight and obesity prevalence of 93% (WHO, 2011). Hawaii’s overall prevalence of overweight or obesity is 52.1%, but the prevalence for Native Hawaiian residents is 69.6% (Hawaii Department of Health, 2011). Inasmuch as NHOPIs are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the U.S. (Hixson et …

Area-Wide Management Of Aedes Albopictus. Part 2: Gauging The Efficacy Of Traditional Integrated Pest Control Measures Against Urban Container Mosquitoes, Dina M. Fonseca, Isik Unlu, Taryn Crepeau, Ary Farajollahi, Sean P. Healy, Kristen Bartlett-Healy, Daniel Strickman, Randy Gaugler, George Hamilton, Daniel Kline, Gary G. Clark

Faculty Publications

Background: Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse) is an important disease vector and biting nuisance. During the 2009 active season, six ∼1000-parcel sites were studied, three in urban and three in suburban areas of New Jersey, United States, to examine the efficacy of standard integrated urban mosquito control strategies applied area wide. Active source reduction, larviciding, adulticiding and public education (source reduction through education) were implemented in one site in each county, an education-only approach was developed in a second site and a third site was used as an untreated experimental control. Populations were surveyed weekly with BG-Sentinel traps and ovitraps. Results: …

The Eps Matrix As An Adaptive Bastion For Biofilms: Introduction To Special Issue, Alan W. Decho

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Knockdown Of Selenocysteine-Specific Elongation Factor In Amblyomma Maculatum Alters The Pathogen Burden Of Rickettsia Parkeri With Epigenetic Control By The Sin3 Histone Deacetylase Corepressor Complex, Steven W. Adamson, Rebecca E. Browning, Khemraj Budachetri, José M.C. Ribeiro, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Selenocysteine is the 21st naturally-occurring amino acid. Selenoproteins have diverse functions and many remain uncharacterized, but they are typically associated with antioxidant activity. The incorporation of selenocysteine into the nascent polypeptide chain recodes the TGA stop codon and this process depends upon a number of essential factors including the selenocysteine elongation factor (SEF). The transcriptional expression of SEF did not change significantly in tick midguts throughout the blood meal, but decreased in salivary glands to 20% at the end of the fast feeding phase. Since selenoprotein translation requires this specialized elongation factor, we targeted this gene for knockdown by RNAi …

Emergency Department Utilization Among Recently Released Prisoners: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Suyanpeng Zhang, Allie Silverman, Sze Chaun Suen, Christina Andrews, Brian Chen

Faculty Publications

Background: The population of ex-prisoners returning to their communities is large. Morbidity and mortality is increased during the period following release. Understanding utilization of emergency services by this population may inform interventions to reduce adverse outcomes. We examined Emergency Department utilization among a cohort of recently released prisoners.

Methods: We linked Rhode Island Department of Corrections records with electronic health record data from a large hospital system from 2007 to 2009 to analyze emergency department utilization for mental health disorders, substance use disorders and ambulatory care sensitive conditions by ex-prisoners in the year after release from prison in comparison to …

Single Dose Of Glycoprotein K (Gk)-Deleted Hsv-1 Live-Attenuated Virus Protects Mice Against Lethal Vaginal Challenge With Hsv-1 And Hsv-2 And Induces Lasting T Cell Memory Immune Responses, Arun V. Iyer, Bapi Pahar, Vladimir N. Chouljenko, Jason D. Walker, Brent Stanfield, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

Background: Herpes simplex virus type-1(HSV-1) and HSV-2 are important human pathogens that cause significant ocular and urogenital complications, respectively. We have previously shown that HSV-1 virions lacking glycoprotein K (gK) are unable to enter into neurons via synaptic axonal membranes and be transported in either retrograde or anterograde manner. Here, we tested the ability of HSV-1 (F) gK-null to protect against lethal challenge with either highly virulent ocular HSV-1 (McKrae strain), or genital HSV-2 (G strain). The gK-null virus vaccine efficiently protected mice against lethal vaginal infection with either HSV-1(McKrae) or HSV-2 (G). Results: Female mice were immunized via a …

Trauma History And Depression Predict Incomplete Adherence To Antiretroviral Therapies In A Low Income Country, Kathryn Whetten, Kristen Shirey, Brian Wells Pence, Jia Yao, Nathan Thielman, Rachel Whetten, Julie Adams, Bernard Agala, Jan Ostermann, Karen O'Donnell, Amy Hobbie, Venance Maro, Dafrosa Itemba, Elizabeth Reddy, Chat Research Team

Faculty Publications

Background: As antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV becomes increasingly available in low and middle income countries (LMICs), understanding reasons for lack of adherence is critical to stemming the tide of infections and improving health. Understanding the effect of psychosocial experiences and mental health symptomatology on ART adherence can help maximize the benefit of expanded ART programs by indicating types of services, which could be offered in combination with HIV care. Methodology: The Coping with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania (CHAT) study is a longitudinal cohort study in the Kilimanjaro Region that included randomly selected HIV-infected (HIV+) participants from two local hospital-based HIV …

A Review Of Vaccine Approaches For West Nile Virus, Arun V. Iyer, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

The West Nile virus (WNC) first appeared in North America in 1999. The North American lineages of WNV were characterized by the presence of neuroinvasive and neurovirulent strains causing disease and death in humans, birds and horses. The 2012 WNV season in the United States saw a massive spike in the number of neuroinvasive cases and deaths similar to what was seen in the 2002-2003 season, according to the West Nile virus disease cases and deaths reported to the CDC by year and clinical presentation, 1999-2012, by ArboNET (Arboviral Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In addition, the …

Induced Plant Defenses, Host-Pathogen Interactions, And Forest Insect Outbreaks, Bret D. Elderd, Brian J. Rehill, Kyle J. Haynes, Greg Dwyer

Faculty Publications

Cyclic outbreaks of defoliating insects devastate forests, but their causes are poorly understood. Outbreak cycles are often assumed to be driven by density-dependent mortality due to natural enemies, because pathogens and predators cause high mortality and because natural-enemy models reproduce fluctuations in defoliation data. The role of induced defenses is in contrast often dismissed, because toxic effects of defenses are often weak and because induced-defense models explain defoliation data no better than naturalenemy models. Natural-enemy models, however, fail to explain gypsy moth outbreaks in North America, in which outbreaks in forests with a higher percentage of oaks have alternated between …

Multitargeting By Turmeric, The Golden Spice: From Kitchen To Clinic (Abstract), Subash C. Gupta, Bokyung Sung, Ji Hye Kim, Sahdeo Prasad, Shiyou Li, Bharat Aggarwal

Faculty Publications

Abstract attached

Molecular Characterization Of Tick Salivary Gland Glutaminyl Cyclase, Steven W. Adamson, Rebecca E. Browning, Chien-Chung Chao, Robert C. Bateman Jr., Wei-Mei Ching, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Glutaminyl cyclase (QC) catalyzes the cyclization of N-terminal glutamine residues into pyroglutamate. This post-translational modification extends the half-life of peptides and, in some cases, is essential in binding to their cognate receptor. Due to its potential role in the post-translational modification of tick neuropeptides, we report the molecular, biochemical and physiological characterization of salivary gland QC during the prolonged blood feeding of the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the gulf-coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum). QC sequences from I. scapularis and A. maculatum showed a high degree of amino acid identity to each other and other arthropods and …

A Supramolecular Strategy To Assemble Multifunctional Viral Nanoparticles, Limin Chen, Xia Zhao, Yuan Lin, Yubin Huang, Qian Wang

Faculty Publications

Using a one-pot approach driven by the supramolecular interaction between β-cyclodextrin and adamantyl moieties, multifunctional viral nanoparticles can be facilely formulated for biomedical applications.

Initial Epidemic Area Is Strongly Associated With The Yearly Extent Of Soybean Rust Spread In North America, Christopher C. Mundt, La Rae D. Wallace, Tom W. Allen, Clayton A. Hollier, Robert C. Kemerait, Edward J. Sikora

Faculty Publications

Hosts of soybean rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi) are sensitive to low temperatures, limiting this obligate parasite in the United States to overwintering sites in a restricted area along the Gulf Coast. This temperature sensitivity of soybean rust hosts allowed us to study spatial spread of epidemic invasions over similar territory for seven sequential years, 2005-2011. The epidemic front expanded slowly from early April through July, with the majority of expansion occurring from August through November. There was a 7.4-fold range of final epidemic extent (0.4-3.0 million km2) from the year of smallest final disease extent (2011) to that of the largest …

An Introduction To California's Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Program, Tseming Yang

Faculty Publications

Even though climate change will require a global solution, the efforts of individual nations and sub-national governmental units have become increasingly important for demonstrating leadership in creating effective regulatory programs and possible solutions. California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also referred to as A.B. 32, and the associated greenhouse gas emission trading program are one set of such efforts. With A.B. 32, the state of California has created one of the most comprehensive and complex climate change programs in the world – a legally binding set of mandates for the state government to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to …

Il-4rα On Cd4+ T Cells Plays A Pathogenic Role In Respiratory Syncytial Virus Reinfection In Mice Infected Initially As Neonates, Dahui You, Nico Marr, Jordy Saravia, Bishwas Shrestha, Greg I. Lee, Stuart E. Turvey, Frank Brombacher, De'broski R. Herbert, Stephania A. Cormier

Faculty Publications

RSV is the major cause of severe bronchiolitis in infants, and severe bronchiolitis as a result of RSV is associated with subsequent asthma development. A biased Th2 immune response is thought to be responsible for neonatal RSV pathogenesis; however, molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Our data demonstrate, for the first time, that IL-4Rα is up-regulated in vitro on human CD4+ T cells from cord blood following RSV stimulation and in vivo on mouse pulmonary CD4+ T cells upon reinfection of mice, initially infected as neonates. Th cell-specific deletion of Il4ra attenuated Th2 responses and abolished the immunopathophysiology upon reinfection, including airway …

Developing Models Of Disease Transmission: Insights From Ecological Studies Of Insects And Their Baculoviruses, Bret D. Elderd

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Correlates Of Diarrhoea Among Children Below The Age Of 5 Years In Sudan, Seter Siziya, Adamson S. Muula, Emmanuel Rudatsikira

Faculty Publications

Background

The Millennium Development Goals recognise child health and survival as an important socio-development issue.

Objectives

To determine the correlates of diarrhoea among children aged below 5 years in north Sudan.

Methods

We conducted secondary data analysis of the Sudan Multiple Cluster Indicators Survey II.

Results

Altogether, 23,295 children were included in the survey. Half (50.0%) of the children were males, and 22.5% of them were of age less than one year. Boys were 3% (p=0.044) more likely to have diarrhoea compared to girls. Compared with the oldest age group (48–59 months), children less than 6 months of age and …

Dissemination Of Bloodmeal Acquired Rickettsia Felis In Cat Fleas, Ctenocephalides Felis, Chutima Thepparit, Supanee Hirunkanokpun, Vsevolod L. Popov, Lane D. Foil, Kevin R. Macaluso

Faculty Publications

Background: Cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis, are known biological vectors for Rickettsia felis. Rickettsial transmission can be vertical via transovarial transmission within a flea population, as well as horizontal between fleas through a bloodmeal. The previously undescribed infection kinetics of bloodmeal-acquired R. felis in cat fleas provides insight into the R. felis-flea interaction. Findings. In the present study, dissemination of R. felis in previously uninfected cat fleas fed an R. felis-infected bloodmeal was investigated. At weekly intervals for 28 days, rickettsial propagation, accumulation, and dissemination in gut epithelial cells, specifically in the hindgut and the specialized cells in the neck region …

Physician Participation In Executions, The Morality Of Capital Punishment, And The Practical Implications Of Their Relationship, Paul J. Litton

Faculty Publications

Evidence that some executed prisoners suffered excruciating pain has reinvigorated the ethical debate about physician participation in lethal injections. In widely publicized litigation, death row inmates argue that the participation of anesthesiologists in their execution is constitutionally required to minimize the risk of unnecessary suffering. For many years, commentators supported the ethical ban on physician participation reflected in codes of professional medical organizations. However, a recent wave of scholarship concurs with inmate advocates, urging the law to require or at least permit physician participation.

The Urban Health Transition Hypothesis: Empirical Evidence Of An Avian Influenza Kuznets Curve In Vietnam?, James Herbert Spencer

Faculty Publications

The literature on development has focused on the concept of transition in understanding the emergent challenges facing poor but rapidly developing countries. Scholars have focused extensively on the health and urban transitions associated with this change and, in particular, its use for understanding emerging infectious diseases. However, few have developed explicit empirical measures to quantify the extent to which a transitions focus is useful for theory, policy, and practice. Using open source data on avian influenza in 2004 and 2005 and the Vietnam Census of Population and Housing, this paper introduces the Kuznets curve as a tool for empirically estimating …

Effects Of Biogents Sentinel Trap Field Placement On Capture Rates Of Adult Asian Tiger Mosquitoes, Aedes Albopictus, Taryn N. Crepeau, Sean P. Healy, Kristen Bartlett-Healy, Isik Unlu, Ary Farajollahi, Dina M. Fonseca

Faculty Publications

The Biogents® Sentinel (BGS) trap is the standard tool to monitor adult Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae), the Asian tiger mosquito. BGS traps are commonly placed in residential properties during surveillance operations, but locations within properties may have significant differences in ambient light, temperature, and humidity (e.g. between a sunlit lawn and shady underbrush). We examined the effect of BGS trap placement on Ae. albopictus capture rates in three residential properties in Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA. In each property we visually selected locations as shade, partial shade, and sun. Traps in "partial shade" locations were under vegetation and …

Vitronectin Inhibits Efferocytosis Through Interactions With Apoptotic Cells As Well As With Macrophages, Hong Beom Bae, Jean Marc Tadie, Shaoning Jiang, Dae Won Park, Celeste P. Bell, Lawrence C. Thompson, Cynthia B. Peterson, Victor J. Thannickal, Edward Abraham, Jaroslaw W. Zmijewski

Faculty Publications

Effective removal of apoptotic cells, particularly apoptotic neutrophils, is essential for the successful resolution of acute inflammatory conditions. In these experiments, we found that whereas interaction between vitronectin and integrins diminished the ability of macrophages to ingest apoptotic cells, interaction between vitronectin with urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) on the surface of apoptotic cells also had equally important inhibitory effects on efferocytosis. Preincubation of vitronectin with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 eliminated its ability to inhibit phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. Similarly, incubation of apoptotic cells with soluble uPAR or Abs to uPAR significantly diminished efferocytosis. In the setting of LPSinduced ALI, enhanced …

The Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Orf34 Protein Binds To Hif-1Α And Causes Its Degradation Via The Proteasome Pathway, Muzammel Haque, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the causative agent for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) and two other lymphoproliferative disorders, primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD). Kaposi's sarcoma is a highly vascular tumor, and recently both hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and HIF-2α were detected in KS samples, indicating a role of HIFs in the KSHV life cycle. Previously, we showed that ORF34, a lytic gene of unassigned function, was activated by hypoxia and that ORF34 transcription was upregulated by both HIFs (M. Haque, D. A. Davis, V. Wang, I. Widmer, and R. Yarchoan, J Virol. 77:6761- 6768, 2003). In the …

The Use And Misuse Of Biomedical Data: Is Bigger Really Better?”, Sharona Hoffman, Andy Podgurski

Faculty Publications

Very large biomedical research databases, containing electronic health records (HER) and genomic data from millions of patients, have been heralded recently for their potential to accelerate scientific discovery and produce dramatic improvements in medical treatments. Research enabled by these databases may also lead to profound changes in law, regulation, social policy, and even litigation strategies. Yet, is “big data” necessarily better data?

This paper makes an original contribution to the legal literature by focusing on what can go wrong in the process of biomedical database research and what precautions are necessary to avoid critical mistakes. We address three main reasons …

Physiological Effects Of Tourism And Associated Food Provisioning In An Endangered Iguana, Charles R. Knapp, Kirsten N. Hines, Trevor T. Zachariah, Caro Perez-Heydrich, John B. Iverson, Sandra D. Buckner, Shelley C. Halach, Christine R. Lattin, L. Michael Romero

Faculty Publications

© The Author 2013. Deliberately feeding wildlife is an increasingly popular tourism-related activity despite a limited understanding of long-term impacts on the species being fed. As a result, tourist behaviours that may have adverse impacts on imperiled species have often been encouraged without the necessary evaluation or oversight. Here, we report the responses of Northern Bahamian Rock Iguanas (Cyclura cychlura) to human-visitation pressure and associated food provisioning. We compared a variety of blood chemistry parameters of iguanas subjected to supplemental feeding at popular tourist destinations with iguanas occurring on islands where supplemental feeding does not take place. We demonstrate that …