Digital Commons Network^™

A Dominant Ev71-Specific Cd4+ T Cell Epitope Is Highly Conserved Among Human Enteroviruses, Ruicheng Wei, Chunfu Yang, Mei Zeng, Frances Terry, Kai Zhu, Chunhui Yang, Ralf Altmeyer, William Martin, Anne S. De Groot, Qibin Leng

Institute for Immunology and Informatics Faculty Publications

CD4+ T cell-mediated immunity plays a central role in determining the immunopathogenesis of viral infections. However, the role of CD4+ T cells in EV71 infection, which causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), has yet to be elucidated. We applied a sophisticated method to identify promiscuous CD4+ T cell epitopes contained within the sequence of the EV71 polyprotein. Fifteen epitopes were identified, and three of them are dominant ones. The most dominant epitope is highly conserved among enterovirus species, including HFMD-related coxsackieviruses, HFMD-unrelated echoviruses and polioviruses. Furthermore, the CD4+ T cells specific to the epitope indeed cross-reacted with the homolog …

Stream-Associated Amphibian Habitat Assessment In The Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Region, Andrew Evans Dietrich

Dissertations and Theses

This study assessed the influence of landscape development on stream-associated amphibians in forested riparian areas within the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan region. Human alteration of landscapes may dramatically affect the ecology of neighboring aquatic systems. It was hypothesized that lotic amphibians would be negatively associated with greater amounts of landscape development and positively associated with forested area within the surrounding watershed. Thirty-seven 1st-3rd order streams were sampled between June 21st and September 21st in 2011. Streams potentially providing adequate habitat for stream-obligate amphibians were randomly selected. Amphibians were surveyed along 30-meter stream transects using an active-cover search (ACS). Environmental variables associated with …

Treatment Of Klebsiella Pneumoniae Carbapenemase (Kpc) Infections: A Review Of Published Case Series And Case Reports, Grace C. Lee, David S. Burgess

Pharmacy Practice and Science Faculty Publications

The emergence of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemases (KPCs) producing bacteria has become a significant global public health challenge while the optimal treatment remains undefined. We performed a systematic review of published studies and reports of treatment outcomes of KPC infections using MEDLINE (2001-2011). Articles or cases were excluded if one of the following was fulfilled: no individual patient data provided, no treatment regimen specified, no treatment outcome specified, report of colonization, or greater than three antibiotics were used to treat the KPC infection. Data extracted included patient demographics, site of infection, organism, KPC subtype, antimicrobial therapy directed at KPC-infection, and treatment …

Adenosine Deaminase Enhances The Immunogenicity Of Human Dendritic Cells From Healthy And Hiv-Infected Individuals, Víctor Casanova, Isaac Isaac Naval-Macabuhay, Marta Massanella, Marta Rodríguez-García

Dartmouth Scholarship

ADA is an enzyme implicated in purine metabolism, and is critical to ensure normal immune function. Its congenital deficit leads to severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). ADA binding to adenosine receptors on dendritic cell surface enables T-cell costimulation through CD26 crosslinking, which enhances T-cell activation and proliferation. Despite a large body of work on the actions of the ecto-enzyme ADA on T-cell activation, questions arise on whether ADA can also modulate dendritic cell maturation. To this end we investigated the effects of ADA on human monocyte derived dendritic cell biology. Our results show that both the enzymatic and non-enzymatic activities of …

The Echo: December 7, 2012, Taylor University

2012-2013 (Volume 100)

Silent Night Special Edition

The cost of being elite – Study shows Lighthouse trips increase cultural consciousness – All-nighters: Your GPA’s worst nightmare – America’s fiscal cliff – Stigmas stink – Praising soldiers: response to ‘Inglorious Soldiers’ – Brotherly love – Trojans ground Pilots, bounce back after first loss – Men’s basketball drops close battle on the road – Crossroads League – Scoreboard – Preparing for Silence – Top 5 News Events of the Week – Paper towels vs. hand dryers: the dry facts – A do-it-yourself Christmas – Mayor Seybold continues business partnership – Weekly Forecast – Yuletide Spectacular …

Medication-Related Problems Experienced By Patients During Transitions To Assisted Living, Deanna Flora

Theses and Dissertations

Medication reconciliation is a systematic and comprehensive review of medication regimens during care transitions aiming to prevent adverse drug events. Poorly executed transitions negatively impact patient welfare and cause financial burden. Medication-related problems (MRPs) experienced during transitions to an assisted living facility (ALF) were evaluated. Data was collected from pharmacy records for transitions to an ALF over three months, including demographics, medications, potentially inappropriate medications, and MRPs. MRPs were categorized and summarized using descriptive statistics. Forty-five patients (71% female) experienced 59 transitions. Average age was 85.6 years. Median length of stay away from the ALF was three days. There were …

Molecular Characterization Of A Tetraspanin From The Human Liver Fluke, Opisthorchis Viverrini, Supawadee Piratae, Smarn Tesana, Malcolm K. Jones, Paul J. Brindley, Alex Loukas, Erica Lovas, Veerachai Eursitthichai, Banchob Sripa, Sirikanda Thanasuwan, Thewarach Laha

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

Background

The human liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, is designated as a group 1 carcinogen, and is the major risk factor for cholangiocarcinoma in endemic countries throughout Southeast Asia. Proteins in the excretory-secretory products and tegumental surface membranes of the fluke have been proposed to play pivotal roles in parasite survival in the host, and subsequent pathogenesis. These macromolecules are therefore valid targets for the development of vaccines and new drugs to control the infection. Tetraspanins (TSP) are prominent components of the tegument of blood flukes where they are essential for tegument formation, are directly exposed to the immune system, …

The Daily Egyptian, December 05, 2012, Daily Egyptian Staff

December 2012

No abstract provided.

Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells In Murine Retrovirus-Induced Aids Inhibit T- And B-Cell Responses In Vitro That Are Used To Define The Immunodeficiency, Kathy A. Green, W. James Cook, William R. Green

Dartmouth Scholarship

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) have been characterized in several disease settings, especially in many tumor systems. Compared to their involvement in tumor microenvironments, however, MDSCs have been less well studied in their responses to infectious disease processes, in particular to retroviruses that induce immunodeficiency. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the development of a highly immunosuppressive MDSC population that is dependent on infection by the LP-BM5 retrovirus, which causes murine acquired immunodeficiency. These MDSCs express a cell surface marker signature (CD11b Gr-1 Ly6C ) characteristic of monocyte-type MDSCs. Such MDSCs profoundly inhibit immune responsiveness by a cell dose- and …

Fluoroquinolone And Macrolide Co-Resistance In Clinical Isolates Of Campylobacter Species: A 15-Year Study In Karachi, Pakistan, Seema Irfan, A Ahmad, D Guhar, E Khan, Fasial Malik, Syed Mahmood, Afia Zafar

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Fluoroquinolone and macrolide antibiotics are generally considered as first-line drugs for the treatment of severe campylobacteriosis. This study was conducted to analyse the trend of erythromycin and ofloxacin resistance among Campylobacter spp. isolated from stool specimens over a period of 15 years (1992-2007) at The Aga Khan University clinical laboratory in Karachi, Pakistan. A total of 83 396 stool specimens were processed, with a 14% isolation rate for enteric pathogens. The isolation rate of Campylobacter spp. was low during 1992-93 (6%-13%), peaked in 1996 (46%), then ranged from 20% to 40%. We report a rising trend in ofloxacin resistance, re-emergence …

The Daily Egyptian, December 03, 2012, Daily Egyptian Staff

December 2012

No abstract provided.

Bjc Today

BJC Today

No abstract provided.

Four Events Of Host Switching In Aspidoderidae (Nematoda) Involve Convergent Lineages Of Mammals, F Agustin Jimenez-Ruiz, Scott L Gardner, Graciela Navone, Guillermo Ortí

Publications

The Great American Interchange resulted in the mixing of faunistic groups with different origins and evolutionary trajectories that underwent rapid diversification in North and South America. As a result, groups of animals of recent arrival converged into similar habits and formed ecological guilds with some of the endemics. We present a reconstruction of the evolutionary events in Aspidoderidae, a family of nematodes that infect mammals that are part of this interchange, i.e., dasypodids, opossums, and sigmodontine, geomyid, and hystricognath rodents. By treating hosts as discrete states of character and using parsimony and Bayesian inferences to optimize these traits into the …

An Opportunity For Diagonal Development In Global Surgery: Cleft Lip And Palate Care In Resource-Limited Settings, Christopher D. Hughes

Articles - Patient Care

Global cleft surgery missions have provided much-needed care to millions of poor patients worldwide. Still, surgical capacity in low- and middle-income countries is generally inadequate. Through surgical missions, global cleft care has largely ascribed to a vertical model of healthcare delivery, which is disease specific, and tends to deliver services parallel to, but not necessarily within, the local healthcare system. The vertical model has been used to address infectious diseases as well as humanitarian emergencies. By contrast, a horizontal model for healthcare delivery tends to focus on long-term investments in public health infrastructure and human capital and has less often …

Distinct Mechanisms Mediate Naïve And Memory Cd8 T-Cell Tolerance, Evan R. Jellison, Elizabeth G. Lingenheld, Li Zu, Lynn Puddington, Leo Lefrancois

UCHC Articles - Research

Peripheral tolerance to developmentally regulated antigens is necessary to sustain tissue homeostasis. We have now devised an inducible and reversible system that allows interrogation of T-cell tolerance induction in endogenous naïve and memory CD8 T cells. Our data show that peripheral CD8 T-cell tolerance can be preserved through two distinct mechanisms, antigen addiction leading to anergy for naïve T cells and ignorance for memory T cells. Induction of antigen in dendritic cells resulted in substantial expansion and maintenance of endogenous antigen-specific CD8 T cells. The self-reactive cells initially exhibited effector activity but eventually became unresponsive. Upon antigen removal, the antigen-specific …

Health Professionals’ Challenges In Managing Hiv/Aids In South Africa, Lynette Louw, Claude-Helene Mayer

Organization Management Journal

The unprecedented human immune deficiency virus and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) crisis worldwide, and specifically in Africa, requires new thinking, new practices, and new research into health management. Identifying the challenges in managing HIV/AIDS from a health professional’s perspective would bring new opportunities and uncertainties to health management. Being able to use the opportunities and to better cope with the uncertainties would require a fundamental change and transformation in organizational health management, thinking, and practices. This case study presents selected research findings from a more comprehensive qualitative research study conducted in a selected health organization in South Africa. The …

Vol. 4 No. 1, Fall 2012; Beyond The Womb: An Argument For Fundamental Rights In Vaccination Exemption Law, Samantha Hardt

Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement

This Comment analyzes jurisprudence from the areas of abortion law and family autonomy rights, blending principles from both to suggest that a parent's right to decline vaccinations for his/her child should be deemed fundamental and, thus, should be statutorily protected by philosophical exemptions.

Insights From Characterizing Extinct Human Gut Microbiomes, Raul Y. Tito, Dan Knights, Jessica Metcalf, Alexandra J. Obregon-Tito, Lauren M. Cleeland, Fares Najar, Bruce Roe, Karl Reinhard, Kristin D. Sobolik, Samuel L. Belknap, Morris Foster, Paul Spicer, Rob Knight, Cecil M. Lewis Jr.

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Publications

In an effort to better understand the ancestral state of the human distal gut microbiome, we examine feces retrieved from archaeological contexts (coprolites). To accomplish this, we pyrosequenced the 16S rDNA V3 region from duplicate coprolite samples recovered from three archaeological sites, each representing a different depositional environment: Hinds Cave (~8000 years B.P.) in the southern United States, Caserones (1600 years B.P.) in northern Chile, and Rio Zape in northern Mexico (1400 years B.P.). Clustering algorithms grouped samples from the same site. Phyletic representation was more similar within sites than between them. A Bayesian approach to source-tracking was used to …

Progression Magazine, 2012-2013, Coastal Carolina University

Progression Magazine

Magazine of the College of Science at Coastal Carolina University.

Neuropsychological Outcomes In Adults Commencing Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatment In South Africa: A Prospective Study, John Joska, John Joska, Jennifer Westgarth-Taylor, Jacqueline Hoare, Kevin Thomas, Robert Paul, Landon Myer, Dan Stein

Psychology Faculty Works

BackgroundInfection with HIV may result in significant neuropsychological impairment, especially in late stage disease. To date, there have been no cohort studies of the impact of highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART) in South Africa where clade C HIV is predominant.MethodsParticipants in the current study were recruited from a larger study of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) and included a group of individuals commencing HAART (n = 82). Baseline and one-year neuropsychological function was assessed using a detailed battery, and summary global deficit scores (GDS) obtained. Associations with change in GDS were calculated.ResultsParticipants had a median CD4 cell count of 166 at …

Host Selection And Parasite Infection In Aedes Taeniorhynchus, Endemic Disease Vector In The Galápagos Islands, Arnaud Bataille, Guillaume Fournié, Marilyn Cruz, Virna Cedeño, Patricia G. Parker, Andrew A. Cunningham, Simon J. Goodman

Biology Department Faculty Works

Host selection in blood-sucking arthropods has important evolutionary and ecological implications for the transmission dynamics, distribution and host-specificity of the parasites they transmit. The black salt-marsh mosquito (Aedes taeniorhynchus Wiedemann) is distributed throughout tropical to temperate coastal zones in the Americas, and continental populations are primarily mammalphilic. It is the only indigenous mosquito in the Galápagos Islands, having colonised the archipelago around 200,000. years ago, potentially adapting its host selection, and in the process, altering the dynamics of vector mediated pathogen interactions in the archipelago. Here, we use blood-meal analysis and PCR-based parasite screening approach to determine the blood-feeding patterns …

Mercury, Polychlorinated Biphenyls, And Immune Response Indicators In The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (Nhanes), Carolyn Michele Gallagher

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Autoimmune diseases are among the leading causes of death among young and middle-aged women, and prevalence is increasing; however, autoimmune etiology is poorly understood. The need to investigate relationships between environmental factors and human autoimmune responses has been prioritized by the World Health Organization and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), yet epidemiologic research is sparse. Mercury (Hg) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous and persistent environmental contaminants with early evidence of immunotoxic associations. Immunotoxic responses fall on a continuum, with the normal range of immune responses at the center, immunostimulation and autoimmunity at one end, and immunosuppression and infection …

Inhibition Of Mammalian T Cells By Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhimurium, Amy Laura Kullas

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Bacterial pathogens must avoid clearance by the immune system to establish infection, yet many processes of bacterial immune subversion remain undefined. T cells are a key component of the mammalian immune system and are required for protective immunity against many bacterial pathogens. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium avoid clearance by the host immune system by suppressing T cell responses, yet the mechanisms mediating this immunosuppression are still unknown. We show that S. Typhimurium inhibit T cell responses by producing L-asparaginase II, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of L-asparagine to aspartic acid and ammonia. L-asparaginase II is necessary and sufficient to suppress T …

Assessing The Nutritional Health Outcomes Of African American Women With Hiv And Substance Abuse Disorders Using A Socioecological Approach, Meena Mahadevan, John Ruzsilla

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies Scholarship and Creative Works

It is well established that poor nutritional status leaves HIV-positive substance abusers especially vulnerable to an increased risk of opportunistic infections and other illnesses. Socioecological frameworks have been useful for identifying multiple influences on health risks, leading to the development and evaluation of promising community-based interventions for diseases such as cancer and diabetes. This article presents a conceptual model, based on the socioecological approach, to examine the mechanisms and pathways by which the various contextual factors unique to HIV-positive African American women with substance abuse disorders intersect to impact their nutritional health outcomes. The mediating effects of the interpersonal, environmental, …

Cues Used By The Black Fly, Simulium Annulus, For Attraction To The Common Loon (Gavia Immer), Meggin L. Weinandt, Michael W. Meyer, R. Mac Strand, Alec R. Lindsay Ph. D.

Faculty Works

The parasitic relationship between a black fly, Simulium annulus, and the common loon (Gavia immer) has been considered one of the most exclusive relationships between any host species and a black fly species. To test the host specificity of this blood-feeding insect, we made a series of bird decoy presentations to black flies on loon-inhabited lakes in northern Wisconsin, U.S.A. To examine the importance of chemical and visual cues for black fly detection of and attraction to hosts, we made decoy presentations with and without chemical cues. Flies attracted to the decoys were collected, identified to species, and quantified. Results …

Twice-Daily Application Of Hiv Microbicides Alters The Vaginal Microbiota, Jacques Ravel, Pawel Gajer, Li Fu, Christine K. Mauck, Sara S.K. Koenig, Joyce Sakamoto, Alison A. Motsinger-Reif, Gustavo F. Doncel, Steven L. Zeichner

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Vaginal HIV microbicides offer great promise in preventing HIV transmission, but failures of phase 3 clinical trials, in which microbicide-treated subjects had an increased risk of HIV transmission, raised concerns about endpoints used to evaluate microbicide safety. A possible explanation for the increased transmission risk is that the agents shifted the vaginal bacterial community, resulting in loss of natural protection and enhanced HIV transmission susceptibility. We characterized vaginal microbiota, using pyrosequencing of bar-coded 16S rRNA gene fragments, in samples from 35 healthy, sexually abstinent female volunteer subjects (ages 18 to 50 years) with regular menses in a repeat phase 1 …

Cd4+ Regulatory And Effector/Memory T Cell Subsets Profile Motor Dysfunction In Parkinson’S Disease, Jessica A. Hutter Saunders, Katherine A. Estes, Lisa M. Kosloski, Heather E. Allen, Kathryn Dempsey Cooper, Diego R. Torres-Russotto, Jane L. Meza, Pamela M. Santamaria, John M. Bertoni, Daniel L. Murman, Hesham Ali, David G. Standaert, R. Lee Mosley, Howard E. Gendelman

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Publications

Animal models and clinical studies have linked the innate and adaptive immune system to the pathology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Despite such progress, the specific immune responses that influence disease progression have eluded investigators. Herein, we assessed relationships between T cell phenotype and function with PD progression. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from two separate cohorts, a discovery cohort and a validation cohort, totaling 113 PD patients and 96 age- and environment-matched caregivers were examined by flow cytometric analysis and T cell proliferation assays. Increased effector/memory T cells (Tem), defined as CD45RO+ and FAS+ CD4+ T cells and decreased CD31+ and α4β7+ …

Ecology Of Zoonoses: Natural And Unnatural Histories, William B. Karesh, Andy Dobson, James O. Lloyd-Smith, Juan Lubroth, Matthew A. Dixon, Malcolm Bennett, Stephen Aldrich, Todd Harrington, Pierre Formenty, Elizabeth H. Loh, Catherine C. Machalaba, Mathew Jason Thomas, David L. Heymann

United States Public Health Resources

More than 60% of human infectious diseases are caused by pathogens shared with wild or domestic animals. Zoonotic disease organisms include those that are endemic in human populations or enzootic in animal populations with frequent cross-species transmission to people. Some of these diseases have only emerged recently. Together, these organisms are responsible for a substantial burden of disease, with endemic and enzootic zoonoses causing about a billion cases of illness in people and millions of deaths every year. Emerging zoonoses are a growing threat to global health and have caused hundreds of billions of US dollars of economic damage in …

Screening For Steroid-Derived Immunomodulatory Metabolites Biosynthesized By Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (M. Tuberculosis), Xiaoqian Jin

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Tuberculosis (Tb) is a serious worldwide threat to human health killing 1.4 million people every year. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), the causative agent for Tb, has infected 30% of the world's population. The emergence of multidrug, extensively drug, and total drug resistant organisms (MDR/XDR/TDR TB) creates an urgent demand to develop new drugs with novel mechanisms to be effective against both sensitive and drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. The cholesterol metabolism pathway in M. tuberculosis is important for mycobacterial survival in the host macrophage. We proposed that cholesterol serves as a starting material for biosynthesis of steroid-derived immunomodulators that down-regulate …

Benchmarks 2012, December 14, The Rockefeller University

BenchMarks 2012

BenchMarks. Friday, December 14, 2012

The community newsletter of The Rockefeller University

BenchMarks is published monthly and is distributed on the campus of The Rockefeller University. It produced by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs