Digital Commons Network^™

Intracellular Glucocorticoid Receptors Inspleen, But Not Skin, Vary Seasonally Inwild House Sparrows (Passer Domesticus), Christine R. Lattin, K. Waldron-Francis, L. Michael Romero

Faculty Publications

Over the short-term and at physiological doses, acute increases in corticosterone (CORT) titres can enhance immune function. There are predictable seasonal patterns in both circulating CORT and immune function across many animal species, but whether CORT receptor density in immune tissues varies seasonally is currently unknown. Using radioligand binding assays, we examined changes in concentrations of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) in spleen and skin in wild-caught house sparrows in Massachusetts during six different life-history stages: moult, early winter, late winter, pre-egg-laying, breeding and late breeding. Splenic GR and MR binding were highest during the pre-laying period. This …

Particulate Matter Containing Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals And Adverse Infant Respiratory Health Effects: A Review, Jordy Saravia, Greg I. Lee, Slawo Lomnicki, Barry Dellinger, Stephania A. Cormier

Faculty Publications

The health impacts of airborne particulate matter (PM) are of global concern, and the direct implications to the development/exacerbation of lung disease are immediately obvious. Most studies to date have sought to understand mechanisms associated with PM exposure in adults/adult animal models; however, infants are also at significant risk for exposure. Infants are affected differently than adults due to drastic immaturities, both physiologically and immunologically, and it is becoming apparent that they represent a critically understudied population. Highlighting our work funded by the ONES award, in this review we argue the understated importance of utilizing infant models to truly understand …

Sex And Statutory Uniformity: Harmonizing The Legal Treatment Of Semen, Myrisha S. Lewis

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Alcohol Consumption And Its Correlates Among Residents Of Mining Town, Kitwe, Zambia: 2011 Population Based Survey, Cosmas Zyaambo, Olesegun Babaniyi, Peter Songolo, Adamson S. Muula, Emmanuel Rudatsikira, Seter Siziya

Faculty Publications

Alcohol consumption is a risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, liver cirrhosis and cancers. It has also been associated with risky sexual behaviors, hence, attributed as a factor in the increase of HIV incidence and prevalence. A cross sectional study was conducted using a modified World Health Organizations Global Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) Surveillance Initiative NCD-STEPs 1and 2. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the determinants of alcohol consumption. A total of 1627 individuals participated in the survey, of which 42.3% were males. Some 22.3% (36.2% of male and 12.1% of female; p<0.001) participants reported to have consumed alcohol during the 30 days preceding the survey. The factors considered to be associated with alcohol consumption were age, sex and smoking. Compared to respondents age 25-34 years, respondents of age 35-44 years were 38% (AOR = 1.38, 95%CI [1.11, 1.70]) more likely to report having consumed alcohol and those aged 45 years or older were 26% (AOR = 0.74, 95%CI [0.60, 0.93]) less likely to report having consumed alcohol. Female respondents were 47% (AOR = 0.53, 95%CI [0.46, 0.60]) less likely to report consuming alcohol compared to male respondents. Compared to respondents who reported smoking cigarettes, those who did not smoke cigarettes were 51% (AOR = 0.49, 95%CI [0.40, 0.59]) less likely to consume alcohol. The rate of alcohol consumption is high in this mining town. Factors identified in this study as associated with alcohol consumption, i.e., male sex, age, cigarette smoking, should be considered in designing interventions to curtail the level of alcohol consumption.

Modeling The Influence Of Peromyscus Leucopus Body Mass, Sex, And Habitat On Immature Dermacentor Variabilis Burden, Tad A. Dallas, Stephanie A. Foré, Hyun Joo Kim

Faculty Publications

mmature (larvae and nymph) tick burden on rodents is an important determinant of adult tick population size and understanding infectious disease dynamics. The objective of this research was to build a descriptive model for immature Dermacentor variabilis burden on Peromyscus leucopus. Mice were live-trapped on two permanent grids in an old field and an early successional forest every other month between April and October, 2006-2009. Negative binomial regression was used to examine the association between immature D. variabilis burden and the host related variables of host habitat, body mass, and/or sex. The model containing all three variables had the lowest …

Hsv-1 Latent Rabbits Shed Viral Dna Into Their Saliva, James M. Hill, Nicole M. Nolan, Harris E. Mcferrin, Christian Clement, Timothy P. Foster, William P. Halford, Konstantin G. Kousoulas, Walter J. Lukiw, Hilary W. Thompson, Ethan M. Stern, Partha S. Bhattacharjee

Faculty Publications

Background: Rabbits latent with HSV-1 strain McKrae spontaneously shed infectious virus and viral DNA into their tears and develop recurrent herpetic-specific corneal lesions. The rabbit eye model has been used for many years to assess acute ocular infections and pathogenesis, antiviral efficacy, as well as latency, reactivation, and recurrent eye diseases. This study used real-time PCR to quantify HSV-1 DNA in the saliva and tears of rabbits latent with HSV-1 McKrae. Methods. New Zealand white rabbits used were latent with HSV-1 strain McKrae and had no ocular or oral pathology. Scarified corneas were topically inoculated with HSV-1. Eye swabs and …

Ecology Of Vibrio Parahaemolyticus And Vibrio Vulnificus In The Coastal And Estuarine Waters Of Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, And Washington (United States), Crystal N. Johnson, John C. Bowers, Kimberly J. Griffitt, Vanessa Molina, Rachel W. Clostio, Shaofeng Pei, Edward Laws, Rohinee N. Paranjpye, Mark S. Strom, Arlene Chen, Nur A. Hasan, Anwar Huq, Nicholas F. Noriea Iii, D. Jay Grimes, Rita R. Colwell

Faculty Publications

Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus, which are native to estuaries globally, are agents of seafood-borne or wound infections, both potentially fatal. Like all vibrios autochthonous to coastal regions, their abundance varies with changes in environmental parameters. Sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height (SSH), and chlorophyll have been shown to be predictors of zooplankton and thus factors linked to vibrio populations. The contribution of salinity, conductivity, turbidity, and dissolved organic carbon to the incidence and distribution of Vibrio spp. has also been reported. Here, a multicoastal, 21-month study was conducted to determine relationships between environmental parameters and V. parahaemolyticus …

Benefits And Barriers In Mining The Healthcare Industry Data, John Wang, Bin Zhou, Ruiliang Yan

Faculty Publications

The authors’ paper addresses the applications of data mining within the healthcare industry. Healthcare data are seen as one of the more rewarding and most difficult of all data to analyze. Proper data mining techniques provide the methodology and technology to transform the voluminous amounts of data into useful information for decision making. Data mining can be utilized to help find cures for existing diseases, uncovering patterns for genetic diseases and the causes of new diseases across the globe. By implementing data mining techniques the industry is finally gaining control over the inadequacy of readily available records. Data mining has …

A Novel Allosteric Inhibitor Of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (Mif), Fengwei Bai, Oluwatoyin A. Asojo, Pier Cirillo, Mihai Ciustea, Michel Ledzidet, Paul A. Aristoff, Lin Leng, Raymond A. Koski, Thomas J. Powell, Richard Bucala, Karen G. Anthony

Faculty Publications

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a catalytic cytokine and an upstream mediator of the inflammatory pathway. MIF has broad regulatory properties, dysregulation of which has been implicated in the pathology of multiple immunological diseases. Inhibition of MIF activity with small molecules has proven beneficial in a number of disease models. Known small molecule MIF inhibitors typically bind in the tautomerase site of the MIF trimer, often covalently modifying the catalytic proline. Allosteric MIF inhibitors, particularly those that associate with the protein by noncovalent interactions, could reveal novel ways to block MIF activity for therapeutic benefit and serve as chemical …

Il-22 Signaling Contributes To West Nile Encephalitis Pathogenesis, Fengwei Bai, Penghua Wang, Lauren A. Zenewicz, Jianfeng Dai, David Gate, Gong Cheng, Long Yang, Feng Qian, Xiaoling Yuan, Ruth R. Montgomery, Richard A. Flavell, Terrence Town, Erol Fikrig

Faculty Publications

The Th17 cytokine, IL-22, regulates host immune responses to extracellular pathogens. Whether IL-22 plays a role in viral infection, however, is poorly understood. We report here that Il22^-/- mice were more resistant to lethal West Nile virus (WNV) encephalitis, but had similar viral loads in the periphery compared to wild type (WT) mice. Viral loads, leukocyte infiltrates, proinflammatory cytokines and apoptotic cells in the central nervous system (CNS) of Il22^-/- mice were also strikingly reduced. Further examination showed that Cxcr2, a chemokine receptor that plays a non-redundant role in mediating neutrophil migration, was significantly reduced in Il22^{-/- …}

Analysis Of Drug Resistance Determinants In Klebsiella Pneumoniae Isolates From A Tertiary-Care Hospital In Beijing, China, Bin Li, Yong Yi, Qi Wang, Patrick C.Y. Woo, Lin Tan, Hua Jing, George F. Gao, Cui Hua Liu

Faculty Publications

Background: The rates of multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR) and pandrug-resistant (PDR) isolates among Enterobacteriaceae isolates, particularly Klebsiella pneumoniae, have risen substantially worldwide. Methodology/Principal Findings: To better understand the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in K. pneumoniae, we analyzed the drug resistance determinants for K. pneumoniae isolates collected from the 306 Hospital, a tertiary-care hospital in Beijing, China, for the period of September 1, 2010-October 31, 2011. Drug susceptibility testing, PCR amplification and sequencing of the drug resistance determinants were performed. Conjugation experiments were conducted to examine the natural ability of drug resistance to disseminate among Enterobacteriaceae strains using a …

An Actor-Based Model Of Social Network Influence On Adolescent Body Size, Screen Time, And Playing Sports, David A. Shoham, Liping Tong, Peter J. Lamberson, Amy H. Auchincloss, Jun Zhang, Lara Dugas, Jay S. Kaufman, Richard S. Cooper, Amy Luke

Faculty Publications

Recent studies suggest that obesity may be "contagious" between individuals in social networks. Social contagion (influence), however, may not be identifiable using traditional statistical approaches because they cannot distinguish contagion from homophily (the propensity for individuals to select friends who are similar to themselves) or from shared environmental influences. In this paper, we apply the stochastic actor-based model (SABM) framework developed by Snijders and colleagues to data on adolescent body mass index (BMI), screen time, and playing active sports. Our primary hypothesis was that social influences on adolescent body size and related behaviors are independent of friend selection. Employing the …

Correlates Of Poor Health Among Orphans And Abandoned Children In Less Wealthy Countries: The Importance Of Caregiver Health, Nathan Thielman, Jan Ostermann, Kathryn Whetten, Rachel Whetten, Karen O’Donnell, Positive Outcomes For Orphans (Pofo) Research Team

Faculty Publications

Background: More than 153 million children worldwide have been orphaned by the loss of one or both parents, and millions more have been abandoned. We investigated relationships between the health of orphaned and abandoned children (OAC) and child, caregiver, and household characteristics among randomly selected OAC in five countries.

Methodology: Using a two-stage random sampling strategy in 6 study areas in Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, and Tanzania, the Positive Outcomes for Orphans (POFO) study identified 1,480 community-living OAC ages 6 to 12. Detailed interviews were conducted with 1,305 primary caregivers at baseline and after 6 and 12 months. Multivariable logistic …

A Two-Stage Cluster Sampling Method Using Gridded Population Data, A Gis, And Google Earth(Tm) Imagery In A Population-Based Mortality Survey In Iraq, Lp Galway, Nathaniel Bell, Al Shatari Sae, Amy Hagopian, Gilbert Burnham, Abraham Flaxman, Wiliam M. Weiss, Julie Rajaratnam, Tim K. Takaro

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

Mortality estimates can measure and monitor the impacts of conflict on a population, guide humanitarian efforts, and help to better understand the public health impacts of conflict. Vital statistics registration and surveillance systems are rarely functional in conflict settings, posing a challenge of estimating mortality using retrospective population-based surveys.

RESULTS:

We present a two-stage cluster sampling method for application in population-based mortality surveys. The sampling method utilizes gridded population data and a geographic information system (GIS) to select clusters in the first sampling stage and Google Earth TM imagery and sampling grids to select households in the second sampling …

Role Of Raltegravir In Hiv-1 Management, Kristina E. Rokas, P Brandon Bookstaver, Caitlin L. Shamroe, S Scott Sutton, Vanessa E. Millisor, Jacquelyn E. Bryant, Sharon B. Weissman

Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature concerning the role of raltegravir in the treatment of HIV-1 in antiretroviral (ARV)-experienced and ARV-naïve patients. DATA SOURCES: A PubMed search was conducted for published data through March 2012 using the search terms raltegravir, MK-0518, and integrase strand transfer inhibitor. An additional search of International Pharmaceutical Abstracts for unpublished data, including data from the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, the International AIDS Society, and the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, was conducted using similar search terms. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: In vitro and in vivo …

Buffalo, Bush Meat, And The Zoonotic Threat Of Brucellosis In Botswana, Kathleen Anne Alexander, Jason Kenna Blackburn, Mark Eric Vandewalle, Risa Pesapane, Eddie Kekgonne Baipoledi, Phil H. Elzer

Faculty Publications

Background: Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease of global importance infecting humans, domestic animals, and wildlife. Little is known about the epidemiology and persistence of brucellosis in wildlife in Southern Africa, particularly in Botswana. Methods: Archived wildlife samples from Botswana (1995-2000) were screened with the Rose Bengal Test (RBT) and fluorescence polarization assay (FPA) and included the African buffalo (247), bushbuck (1), eland (5), elephant (25), gemsbok (1), giraffe (9), hartebeest (12), impala (171), kudu (27), red lechwe (10), reedbuck (1), rhino (2), springbok (5), steenbok (2), warthog (24), waterbuck (1), wildebeest (33), honey badger (1), lion (43), and zebra (21). …

Impact Of The Red Imported Fire Ant, Solenopsis Invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), On Biological Control Of Salvinia Minima (Hydropteridales: Salviniaceae) By Cyrtobagous Salviniae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Katherine A. Parys, Seth J. Johnson

Faculty Publications

A 2-yr study of the impacts of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, on the success of Cyrtobagous salviniae Calder & Sands as a biological control agent of common salvinia, Salvinia minima Baker, was undertaken in southern Louisiana. Floating moats were constructed around 8 release sites where C. salviniae was introduced as a biological control agent. These moats were used to restrict access to the release site by red imported fire ants in half the quadrats. Moating was successful in limiting the number of red imported fire ants in the release sites over the course of the study …

Life, Transferable: Questioning The Commodity-Based Approach To Transplantation Ethics, David Dillard-Wright

Faculty Publications

Some bioethicists have proposed a legalized market in human organs as a solution to transplant waiting lists and global poverty. Solutions to organ procurement problems that are solely market-based would unfairly shift the burdens of medical procedures onto developing nations. Market advocates base their claims on the understanding of organs as property, a position that should be problematized. Instrumentalizing people in this way is made part of the broader commodification of animals and the environment. Combating the market mentality requires a return to the holistic view of bioethics that led to the founding of the field.

Hiv Testing In Women: Missed Opportunities, Wayne A. Duffus, Harley T. Davis, Michael D. Byrd, Khosrow Heidari, Terri G. Stephens, James J. Gibson

Faculty Publications

Objective: To investigate opportunities for early human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing on women.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study design linked case reports from HIV surveillance to several statewide health-care databases. Medical encounters occurring before the first positive HIV test (missed opportunities) were categorized by diagnosis/procedure codes to distinguish visits that were likely to have prompted an HIV test. Women were categorized as late testers (AIDS diagnosis < 12 months from first HIV test date), non-late testers (no AIDS diagnosis during study period or diagnosis of AIDS > 12 months of HIV diagnosis), of reproductive age (13-44 years old), and not of reproductive age (> 44 years old). Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to estimate risk …

Human Rights, Emergencies, And The Rule Of Law, Evan J. Criddle, Evan Fox-Decent

Faculty Publications

This article illuminates the normative basis for international law’s regulation of public emergencies by arguing that human rights are best conceived as norms arising from a fiduciary relationship between states (or state-like actors) and persons subject to their power. States bear a fiduciary duty to guarantee subjects’ secure and equal freedom, a duty that flows from their institutional assumption of sovereign powers. The fiduciary theory disarms Carl Schmitt’s critique of constitutionalism by explaining how emergency powers can be reconciled with the rule of law.

Systematic Review Of Peer Support For Breastfeeding Continuation: Metaregression Analysis Of The Effect Of Setting, Intensity, And Timing, Kate Jolly, Lucy Annang Ingram Phd, Khalid S. Khan, Jonathan J. Deeks, Nick Freemantle, Christine Macarthur

Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of setting, intensity, and timing of peer support on breast feeding. DESIGN: Systematic review and metaregression analysis of randomised controlled trials. DATA SOURCES: Cochrane Library, Medline, CINAHL, the National Research Register, and British Nursing Index were searched from inception or from 1980 to 2011. Review methods Study selection, data abstraction, and quality assessment were carried out independently and in duplicate. Risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for individual studies and pooled. Effects were estimated for studies grouped according to setting (high income countries, low or middle income countries, and the United Kingdom), intensity …

Professional Power And The Standard Of Care In Medicine, Maxwell J. Mehlman

Faculty Publications

Since before the founding of the Republic, American medicine has been fighting a war to control the standard of care that physicians are expected to provide to their patients. It has waged battles on two fronts: against internal disagreements within the profession over what constitutes proper care, and against attempts to delineate the standard of care by forces outside the profession, such as private health insurers, the government, and the judicial system.

Mystery Behind Hitchcock's Birds, Sibel Bargu, Mary W. Silver, Mark D. Ohman, Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson, David L. Garrison

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

All For One And One For All: Informed Consent And Public Health, Jessica Wilen Berg

Faculty Publications

The concept of informed consent is well established in the field of bioethics, but its application is unclear in the area of public health. The increasing prevalence of public health interventions creates a need to analyze the scope of government power as it relates to individual choice. This Article explores three different types of public health measures in which individual choice has been limited: (1) environmental interventions; (2) classic public health interventions to prevent contagious disease; and (3) public health information reporting or use. The reasons for limiting informed consent vary depending on the context, and the implications for the …

Balancing Privacy, Autonomy, And Scientific Needs In Electronic Health Records Research, Sharona Hoffman, Andy Podgurski

Faculty Publications

The ongoing transition from paper medical files to electronic health records will provide unprecedented amounts of data for biomedical research, with the potential to catalyze significant advances in medical knowledge. But this potential can be fully realized only if the data available to researchers is representative of the patient population as a whole. Thus, allowing individual patients to exclude their health information, in keeping with traditional notions of informed consent, may compromise the research enterprise and the medical benefits it produces.

This Article analyzes the tension between realizing societal benefits from medical research and granting individual preferences for privacy. It …

Medical Decision Making By And On Behalf Of Adolescents: Reconsidering First Principles, B. Jessie Hill

Faculty Publications

The school nurse cannot give your teenage daughter an aspirin for her headache without your permission, but that same daughter can get an abortion without even informing you. Or can she? The obligations on medical personnel providing care to adolescents are famously indeterminate.

Two common-law presumptions have long lurked in the background, but, far from elucidating matters, those presumptions have contributed to the state of confusion. The first presumption is that, absent any special rule, children lack the legal authority to consent to medical treatment on their own. A parallel and corresponding presumption is that parents have a legal entitlement …

Amino Acid Differences In Glycoproteins B (Gb), C (Gc), H (Gh) And L(Gl) Are Associated With Enhanced Herpes Simplex Virus Type-1 (Mckrae) Entry Via The Paired Immunoglobulin-Like Type-2 Receptor Α, Sona Chowdhury, Misagh Naderi, Vladimir N. Chouljenko, Jason D. Walker, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

© 2012 Chowdhury et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Background: Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) enters into cells via membrane fusion of the viral envelope with plasma or endosomal membranes mediated by viral glycoproteins. HSV-1 virions attach to cell surfaces by binding of viral glycoproteins gC, gD and gB to specific cellular receptors. Here we show that the human ocular and highly neurovirulent HSV-1 strain McKrae enters substantially more efficiently into cells via the gB-specific human paired immunoglobulin-like type-2 receptor-a (hPILR-α). Comparison of the predicted amino acid sequences between HSV-1(F) and McKrae strains indicates that amino acid changes within gB, …

A Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (Mckrae) Mutant Lacking The Glycoprotein K Gene Is Unable To Infect Via Neuronal Axons And Egress From Neuronal Cell Bodies, Andrew T. David, Ahmad Saied, Anu Charles, Ramesh Subramanian, Vladimir N. Chouljenko, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

We have shown that the herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) gK gene is essential for efficient replication and spread in the corneal epithelium and trigeminal ganglion neuroinvasion in mice (A. T. David, A. Baghian, T. P. Foster, V. N. Chouljenko, and K. G. Kousoulas, Curr. Eye Res. 33:455-467, 2008). To further investigate the role of gK in neuronal infection, we utilized a microfluidic chamber system separating neuronal cell bodies and axonal termini. HSV-1 (McKrae) engineered virus constitutively expressing enhanced green fluorescence protein (GFP) was efficiently transmitted in both a retrograde and an anterograde manner. These results were corroborated by expression …

Psychological Pathways Linking Social Support To Health Outcomes: A Visit With The “Ghosts” Of Research Past, Present, And Future, Wendy C. Birmingham, Bert N. Uchino, Kimberly Bowen, Mckenzie Carlisle

Faculty Publications

Contemporary models postulate the importance of psychological mechanisms linking perceived and received social support to physical health outcomes. In this review, we examine studies that directly tested the potential psychological mechanisms responsible for links between social support and health-relevant physiological processes (1980s to 2010). Inconsistent with existing theoretical models, no evidence was found that psychological mechanisms such as depression, perceived stress, and other affective processes are directly responsible for links between support and health. We discuss the importance of considering statistical/design issues, emerging conceptual perspectives, and limitations of our existing models for future research aimed at elucidating the psychological mechanisms …

Prevalence And Determinants For Overweight And Obesity Among Residents Of A Mining Township In Kitwe, Zambia, In 2011: A Population-Based Survey, Cosmas Zyaambo, Olesegun Babaniyi, Peter Songolo, Adamson S. Muula, Emmanuel Rudatsikira, Victor M. Mukonka, Seter Siziya

Faculty Publications

Background: Obesity and overweight in Africa have been attributed to demogra- phic and nutritional changes that have resulted from urbanization and sedentary lifestyles and increased caloric intake without much physical activities. This has put populations at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, Diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, dyslipidemia, and cancer. The objective of this study was to deter- mine the prevalence and associated factors for combined overweight and obesity among residents of a mining town, Kitwe, in Zambia.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted using a modified WHO glo- bal Non Communicable Diseases Surveillance Initiative STEPs 1 and 2 method of …