Digital Commons Network^™

Parasite Manipulation Of The Invariant Chain And The Peptide Editor H2-Dm Affects Major Histocompatibility Complex Class Ii Antigen Presentation During Toxoplasma Gondii Infection, Louis-Philippe Leroux, Manami Nishi, Sandy El-Hage, Barbara A. Fox, David I Bzik, Florence Dzierszinsk

Dartmouth Scholarship

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite. This apicomplexan is the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, a leading cause of central nervous system disease in AIDS. It has long been known that T. gondii interferes with major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) antigen presentation to attenuate CD4(+) T cell responses and establish persisting infections. Transcriptional downregulation of MHC-II genes by T. gondii was previously established, but the precise mechanisms inhibiting MHC-II function are currently unknown. Here, we show that, in addition to transcriptional regulation of MHC-II, the parasite modulates the expression of key components of the MHC-II antigen presentation pathway, …

Metaphorical Framing Of Obesity, Ryan Paul Hofer

Dissertations and Theses

The study of metaphor has moved from abstraction and poetics into the realms of cognitive science and cultural studies. Rather than being seen as purely figurative and secondary to literal meaning, investigation of metaphors reveals a close relationship to our processes of reasoning, a capacity to both reveal and cover, and a plasticity that forms within surrounding cultural values. I reviewed current metaphor theory, including its concerns and justifications, and designed a simple survey experiment through the Qualtrix webpage. The survey was distributed via the Amazon Mechanical TURK system. The experiment, in two different versions, briefly described obesity and then …

Knowledge Gained From Good Agricultural Practices Courses For Iowa Growers, Angela M. Shaw, Catherine H. Strohbehn, Linda L. Naeve, Paul A. Domoto, Lester A. Wilson

Journal of Extension

Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) educational courses provide produce growers with the fundamental information for producing and processing safe produce. To determine the effectiveness of the current 7-hour GAP course provided in Iowa, growers were surveyed before and 7-14 days after the course to determine changes in knowledge and opinions. Results show that growers positively changed their knowledge and opinions on key food safety principles and regulations, which provides evidence that Extension programming is an effective method to educate small growers. Food safety educators should focus their training on practical methods for documentation, sanitation, and facilities.

Mutations In The Plasmodium Falciparum Chloroquine Resistance Transporter, Pfcrt, Enlarge The Parasite's Food Vacuole And Alter Drug Sensitivities, Serena Pulcini, Henry M. Staines, Andrew H. Lee, Sarah H. Shafik, Guillaume Bouyer, Catherine M. Moore, Daniel A. Daley, Matthew J. Hoke, Lindsey M. Altenhofen, Heather J. Painter, Jianbing Mu, David J. P. Ferguson, Manuel Llinas, Rowen E. Martin, David A. Fidock, Roland Cooper, Sanjeev Krishna

Collected Faculty Scholarship

Mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter, PfCRT, are the major determinant of chloroquine resistance in this lethal human malaria parasite. Here, we describe P. falciparum lines subjected to selection by amantadine or blasticidin that carry PfCRT mutations (C101F or L272F), causing the development of enlarged food vacuoles. These parasites also have increased sensitivity to chloroquine and some other quinoline antimalarials, but exhibit no or minimal change in sensitivity to artemisinins, when compared with parental strains. A transgenic parasite line expressing the L272F variant of PfCRT confirmed this increased chloroquine sensitivity and enlarged food vacuole phenotype. Furthermore, the introduction …

Ecological Networks In Stored Grain: Key Postharvest Nodes For Emerging Pests, Pathogens, And Mycotoxins, John F. Hernandez Nopsa, Gregory J. Daglish, David W. Hagstrum, John F. Leslie, Thomas W. Phillips, Caterina Scoglio, Sara Thomas-Sharma, Gimme H. Walter, Karen A. Garrett

Faculty Publications

Wheat is at peak quality soon after harvest. Subsequently, diverse biota use wheat as a resource in storage, including insects and mycotoxin-producing fungi. Transportation networks for stored grain are crucial to food security and provide a model system for an analysis of the population structure, evolution, and dispersal of biota in networks. We evaluated the structure of rail networks for grain transport in the United States and Eastern Australia to identify the shortest paths for the anthropogenic dispersal of pests and mycotoxins, as well as the major sources, sinks, and bridges for movement. We found important differences in the risk …

Human Polyclonal Antibodies Produced Through Dna Vaccination Of Transchromosomal Cattle Provide Mice With Post-Exposure Protection Against Lethal Zaire And Sudan Ebolaviruses., Callie E Bounds, Steven A Kwilas, Ana I Kuehne, Jennifer M Brannan, Russell R Bakken, John M Dye, Jay W Hooper, Lesley C Dupuy, Barry Ellefsen, Drew Hannaman, Hua Wu, Jin-An Jiao, Eddie J Sullivan, Connie S Schmaljohn, Matthias J. Schnell

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

DNA vaccination of transchromosomal bovines (TcBs) with DNA vaccines expressing the codon-optimized (co) glycoprotein (GP) genes of Ebola virus (EBOV) and Sudan virus (SUDV) produce fully human polyclonal antibodies (pAbs) that recognize both viruses and demonstrate robust neutralizing activity. Each TcB was vaccinated by intramuscular electroporation (IM-EP) a total of four times and at each administration received 10 mg of the EBOV-GPco DNA vaccine and 10 mg of the SUDV-GPco DNA vaccine at two sites on the left and right sides, respectively. After two vaccinations, robust antibody responses (titers > 1000) were detected by ELISA against whole irradiated EBOV or SUDV …

Traumatic Brain Injuries Among Adolescent Inmates In Rikers Island, Nyc Jail: A Mixed Methods Study, Cassandra Ramdath

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is a higher prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among incarcerated population than in the general population. It is possible that head injuries can lead to behavioral difficulties, increasing the risk of criminal justice involvement and custodial difficulties. Principles of bio-social criminology put forth that the interaction between people's environment and their biological makeup that can lead to maladaptive behaviors. One of the main domains within the bio-social criminology approach is neurocriminology; neurocriminology uses principles of neuroscience to better understand delinquent and antisocial behaviours and suggests that brain injury can interact with environmental factors to produce seemingly aggressive and …

Studies Toward A General Synthesis Of Poly-Substituted Alpha-Hydroxytropolones, Christine Marie Meck

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chapter 1: This chapter gives a brief history of α-hydroxytropolones, how they were discovered and unique properties of these substrates. Included is a background on the bioactivity of these substrates in cellular targets such as bacteria, fungi, parasites, tumors and toxicity, as well as their ability to inhibit various metallo-based enzymes. Structure activity relationships studies are reviewed on important metalloenzymes HIV-Reverse Transcriptase (RT) and Inositol monophosphatase (IMPase). Finally the chapter finishes with a synthetic overview of α-hydroxytropolones including natural product targets such as puberulic acid, puberulonic acid, β-thujaplicinol, and β-hydroxytropolone.

Chapter 2: A brief review on β-hydroxy-γ-pyrone based oxidopyrylium cycloadditions …

Whole-Genome Sequencing Of Kshv From Zambian Kaposi’S Sarcoma Biopsies Reveals Unique Viral Diversity, Landon N. Olp, Adrien Jeanniard, Clemence Marimo, John T. West, Charles Wood

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiological agent for Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). Both KSHV and KS are endemic in sub-Saharan Africa where approximately 84% of global KS cases occur. Nevertheless, whole-genome sequencing of KSHV has only been completed using isolates from Western countries—where KS is not endemic. The lack of whole-genome KSHV sequence data from the most clinically important geographical region, sub-Saharan Africa, represents an important gap as it remains unclear whether genomic diversity has a role on KSHV pathogenesis. We hypothesized that distinct KSHV genotypes might be present in sub-Saharan Africa compared to Western countries. Using a KSHV-targeted enrichment …

Assessing The Impact Of Restrictions To Medicaid Coverage Of Methadone And Buprenorphine On Opioid Users' Access To And Utilization Of Substance Use Treatment, Courtney Mcknight

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Opioid use and dependence have increased dramatically since the early 2000s. As of 2013, an estimated 2.4 million people were considered to be dependent on opioids. Medication assisted treatment (MAT), such as methadone and buprenorphine, is the most effective form of treatment for opioid dependence; yet, since 2002, MAT use has decreased steadily.

Medicaid is the largest purchaser of MAT in the United States; however, Medicaid coverage of MAT varies by state. As of 2008, fourteen states did not cover either methadone or buprenorphine, or both. This dissertation examines the factors associated with Medicaid coverage of methadone and buprenorphine, and …

Medical Staff Directory For St. Luke's South Shore, 2005 March, Advocate Aurora Health

Aurora St. Luke’s South Shore Medical Center Books, Documents, and Pamphlets

St. Luke's Medical Center Milwaukee, WI and St. Luke's South Shore, Cudahy, WI: Medical staff directory for St. Luke's South Shore and St. Luke's Medical Center for March 2005.

Religion And Ethical Attitudes Toward Accepting A Bribe: A Comparative Study, Robert W. Mcgee, Serkan Benk, Bahad?R Yüzba??

College of Business and Economics

This study presents the results of an empirical study of ethical attitudes toward bribe taking in six religions—Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, the Baha’i faith, Hinduism, and Judaism. The paper begins with a discussion of the theoretical and empirical literature on the subject. The empirical part of the study examines attitudes toward accepting bribes in 57 countries from the perspectives of six religions using the data from Wave 6 (2010–2014) of the World Values Survey. The sample population is more than 52,000. More than a dozen demographic variables were examined. The study found that attitude toward bribe taking does differ by religion.

Satellite Based Assessment Of Hydroclimatic Conditions Related To Cholera In Zimbabwe, Antarpreet Jutla, Haidar Aldaach, Hannah Billian, Ali S. Akanda, Anwar Huq, Rita Colwell

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Introduction:

Cholera, an infectious diarrheal disease, has been shown to be associated with large scale hydroclimatic processes. The sudden and sporadic occurrence of epidemic cholera is linked with high mortality rates, in part, due to uncertainty in timing and location of outbreaks. Improved understanding of the relationship between pathogenic abundance and climatic processes allows prediction of disease outbreak to be an achievable goal. In this study, we show association of large scale hydroclimatic processes with the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe reported to have begun in Chitungwiza, a city in Mashonaland East province, in August, 2008.

Principal Findings:

Climatic factors in …

Continuing Education News Online, Georgia Southern University

Division of Continuing & Professional Education

• Georgia Southern Conference inspires H.O.P.E. in HIV/AIDS care to Rural Communities

Missed Opportunities: Public Health Disaster Management In Canada, Lisa Gorman, Christopher Stoney

Journal of Public Management & Social Policy

Three recent Canadian public health crises present an illustration of both the opportunities for reform and the challenges that may impede progress and public health renewal in federalist nations. While the three crises examined exposed serious flaws in emergency preparedness and fuelled demands for vital public health reform, evidence indicates that fundamental challenges have not been addressed and may have even heightened over the last decade given a move to “open federalism” and the significant fiscal impacts of ongoing austerity measures. With future pandemics inevitable, we identify the missed opportunities to optimize Canada’s emergency response capacity and procedures and examine …

Water And Sanitation Hygiene Knowledge, Attitude, And Practices Among Household Members Living In Rural Setting Of India, Anjana Kuberan, Awnish Kumar Singh, Jyoti Bala Kasav, Satish Prasad, Krishna Mohan Surapaneni, Vandana Upadhyay, Ashish Joshi

Publications and Research

Background: Rural population in developing countries face water, sanitation, and hygiene-related health issues. To objectively highlight these issues, we studied the knowledge, attitude, and practices-related to drinking water and sanitation facilities among the rural population of Chennai, India.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed involving individuals over 18 years of age living in Thandalam village, Chennai, India. Basic information about sociodemographic profile and existing drinking water and sanitation related knowledge, attitude, and practices was collected using a modified version of previously validated questionnaire and analyzed.

Results: Forty-five percent of the participants were not following any methods of water …

An Evolutionary Vaccination Game In The Modified Activity Driven Network By Considering The Closeness, Dun Han, Mei Sun

Publications and Research

In this paper, we explore an evolutionary vaccination game in the modified activity driven network by considering the closeness. We set a closeness parameter p which is used to describe the way of connection between two individuals. The simulation results show that the closeness p may have an active role in weakening both the spreading of epidemic and the vaccination. Besides, when vaccination is not allowed, the final recovered density increases with the value of the ratio of the infection rate to the recovery rate λ/μ. However, when vaccination is allowed the final density of recovered individual first increases and …

Whalesong 2015-09-28, N/A N/A

Whalesong

No abstract provided.

Translating The News: A Grounded Theory Of Care Initiation Byindividuals Living With Hiv, Joseph Perazzo, Donna Martsolf, Tracy Pritchard, Rebecca Tehan

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this research study was to develop a theoretical framework to explain the psychosocial process of care initiation in individuals living with HIV, and to identify the critical junctures that influence individuals living with HIV in their decision to initiate HIV care. Grounded theory method was used to identify the psychosocial process of care initiation by individuals living with HIV. Thirty individuals living with HIV (28 men, 2 women) shared their stories about initiating HIV care. Participants described a process in which they progressed through five distinct stages following diagnosis: a) receiving the news, b) interpreting the news, …

The Controversy Of Vaccinations, Nicholas G. Aboreden

The Kabod

Recently vaccination has become a controversial topic. There is a growing number of people who believe that vaccines carry great health risks to patients and therefore refuse to be vaccinated or to vaccinate their children. This ill-informed view of immunizations is beginning to cause serious problems in the United States as growing numbers of disease cases are being seen. A closer look into the science of vaccines and the benefits they have brought, clearly show that not only do vaccines carry very little risk to patients, but they are responsible for the eradication and reduction of multiple debilitating diseases.

Successes, Challenges And Needs Regarding Rural Health Medical Education In Continental Central America: A Literature Review And Narrative Synthesis, Maria C. Colon-Gonzalez, F. El Rayess, S. Guevara, G. Anandarajah

School of Medicine Publications

Introduction: Central American countries, like many others, face a shortage of rural health physicians. Most medical schools in this region are located in urban areas and focus on tertiary care training rather than on community health or primary care, which are better suited for rural practice. However, many countries require young physicians to do community service in rural communities to address healthcare provider shortages. This study aimed to: (a) synthesize what is known about the current state of medical education preparing physicians for rural practice in this region, and (b) identify common needs, challenges and opportunities for improving medical education …

The Tiger Vol. 109 Issue 36 2015-09-24, Clemson University

Tiger Newspapers 2015

No abstract provided.

Study Demonstrates T2candida Panel Is More Sensitive And Rapid Than Blood Culture At Identifying Invasive Infections, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Evidence For The Convergence Model: The Emergence Of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5n1) In Viet Nam, Sumeet Saksena, Jefferson Fox, Michael Epprecht, Chinh C. Tran, Duong H. Nong, James H. Spencer, Lam Nguyen, Melissa L. Finucane, Vien D. Tran, Bruce A. Wilcox

Faculty Publications

Building on a series of ground breaking reviews that first defined and drew attention to emerging infectious diseases (EID), the 'convergence model' was proposed to explain the multifactorial causality of disease emergence. The model broadly hypothesizes disease emergence is driven by the co-incidence of genetic, physical environmental, ecological, and social factors. We developed and tested a model of the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 based on suspected convergence factors that are mainly associated with land-use change. Building on previous geospatial statistical studies that identified natural and human risk factors associated with urbanization, we added new factors to …

Elongation Factor-P At The Crossroads Of The Host-Endosymbiont Interface, Andrei Rajkovic, Anne Witzky, William Navarre, Andrew J. Darwin, Michael Ibba

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Elongation factor P (EF-P) is an ancient bacterial translational factor that aids the ribosome in polymerizing oligo-prolines. EF-P structurally resembles tRNA and binds in-between the exit and peptidyl sites of the ribosome to accelerate the intrinsically slow reaction of peptidyl-prolyl bond formation. Recent studies have identified in separate organisms, two evolutionarily convergent EF-P post-translational modification systems (EPMS), split predominantly between gammaproteobacteria, and betaproteobacteria. In both cases EF-P receives a post-translational modification, critical for its function, on a highly conserved residue that protrudes into the peptidyl-transfer center of the ribosome. EPMSs are comprised of a gene(s) that synthesizes the precursor molecule …

Addressing Parental Vaccination Questions In The School Setting: An Integrative Literature Review, Karlen Beth Luthy, Jana Burningham, Lacey M. Eden, Janelle L B Macintosh, Renea L. Beckstrand

Faculty Publications

School nurses work in a unique environment with key opportunities to address parental concerns and questions regarding their child’s health. A common concern for parents during school enrollment is childhood vaccination safety and efficacy. As public health leaders, school nurses are well respected among parents, therefore school nurses are in a prime position to educate parents and promote childhood vaccinations while also dispelling common vaccination myths. The purpose of this integrative literature review is to synthesize evidence-based answers to common parental questions regarding childhood vaccinations.

International Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis Identifies New Primary Biliary Cirrhosis Risk Loci And Targetable Pathogenic Pathways, Heather J. Cordell, Younghun Han, George F. Mells, Y Li, Gideon M. Hirschfield, Casey S. Greene, Gang Xie, Brian D. Juran, Dakai Zhu, David C. Qian, James A.B. Floyd, Katherine I. Morley, Daniele Prati, Ana Lleo, Daniele Cusi, Erik M. Schlicht, Craig Lammert, Elizabeth J. Atkinson, Ll Chan, Andrade M De, Tobias Balschun, Andrew L. Mason, Robert P. Myers, Jinyi Zhang, Piotr Milkiewicz, Jia Qu, Joseph A. Odin, Velimir A. Luketic, Bruce R. Bacon, Henry C. Bodenheimer

Peninsula Medical School

AbstractPrimary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (Pcombined<5 × 10−8) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine–cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist.

International Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis Identifies New Primary Biliary Cirrhosis Risk Loci And Targetable Pathogenic Pathways, Heather J. Cordell, Younghun Han, George F. Mells, Yafang Li, Gideon M. Hirschfield, Casey S. Greene, Gang Xie, Brian D. Juran, Dakai Zhu, David C. Qian, James A.B Floyd, Katherine I. Morley, Daniele Prati, Ana Lleo, Daniele Cusi, Canadian–Us Pbc Consortium, Italian Pbc Genetics Study Group, Uk-Pbc Consortium, M. Eric Gershwin, Carl A. Anderson, Konstantinos N. Lazaridis, Pietro Invernizzi, Michael F. Seldin, Richard N. Sandford, Christopher I. Amos, Katherine A. Siminovitch

Dartmouth Scholarship

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a classical autoimmune liver disease for which effective immunomodulatory therapy is lacking. Here we perform meta-analyses of discovery data sets from genome-wide association studies of European subjects (n=2,764 cases and 10,475 controls) followed by validation genotyping in an independent cohort (n=3,716 cases and 4,261 controls). We discover and validate six previously unknown risk loci for PBC (P_combined<5 × 10⁻⁸) and used pathway analysis to identify JAK-STAT/IL12/IL27 signalling and cytokine–cytokine pathways, for which relevant therapies exist.

September 21, 2015, James Madison University

The Breeze, 2010-2019

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Clinically Available Medicines Demonstrating Anti-Toxoplasma Activity, Andrew J. Neville, Sydney J. Zach, Xiaofang Wang, Joshua L. Larson, Abigail K. Judge, Lisa A. Davis, Jonathan L. Vennerstrom, Paul H. Davis

Biology Faculty Publications

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan parasite of humans and other mammals, including livestock and companion animals. While chemotherapeutic regimens, including pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine regimens, ameliorate acute or recrudescent disease such as toxoplasmic encephalitis or ocular toxoplasmosis, these drugs are often toxic to the host. Moreover, no approved options are available to treat infected women who are pregnant. Lastly, no drug regimen has shown the ability to eradicate the chronic stage of infection, which is characterized by chemoresistant intracellular cysts that persist for the life of the host. In an effort to promote additional chemotherapeutic options, we now evaluate clinically available …