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Analysis Of Johne's Disease Elisa Status And Associated Performance Parameters In Irish Dairy Cows, A. E. Kennedy, N. Byrne, A. B. Garcia, Jim O'Mahony, R. G. Sayers

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Background

Infection with Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) has been associated with reductions in milk production in dairy cows and sub optimal fertility. The aim of this study was to highlight the production losses associated with testing MAP ELISA positive in Irish dairy cows. Secondary objectives included investigation of risk factors associated with testing MAP ELISA positive. A survey of management practices on study farms was also conducted, with examination of associations between management practices and herd MAP status.

Blood samples were collected from 4188 breeding animals on 22 farms. Samples were ELISA tested using the ID Screen Paratuberculosis Indirect …

Rbdb, A Rhomboid Protease Critical For Srebp Activation And Virulence In Aspergillus Fumigatus, Sourabh Dhingra, Caitlin H. Kowlaski, Arsa Thammahong, Sarah R. Beattie, Katherine M. Bultman, Robert A. Cramer

Dartmouth Scholarship

SREBP transcription factors play a critical role in fungal virulence; however, the mechanisms of sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) activation in pathogenic fungi remains ill-defined. Screening of the Neurospora crassa whole-genome deletion collection for genes involved in hypoxia responses identified a gene for an uncharacterized rhomboid protease homolog, rbdB, required for growth under hypoxic conditions. Loss of rbdB in Aspergillus fumigatus also inhibited growth under hypoxic conditions. In addition, the A. fumigatus ΔrbdB strain also displayed phenotypes consistent with defective SREBP activity, including increased azole drug susceptibility, reduced siderophore production, and full loss of virulence. Expression of …

Spectator 2016-03-02, Editors Of The Spectator

The Spectator

No abstract provided.

Animal Suffering And Human Bias, Stijn Bruers

Animal Sentience

Ng proposes concrete ways to decrease animal suffering on the basis of commonsense economic logic and research in welfare biology. But to reduce animal suffering effectively in livestock farming, animal experimentation or the natural environment we have to become more aware of our pervasive and spontaneous but unreliable intuitive moral judgments. These can generate biases that prevent us from decreasing animal suffering effectively.

The Engaged Microbiologist: Bringing The Microbiological Sciences To The K-12 Community, David J. Westenberg

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Exposing K-12 students to cutting edge science that impacts their daily lives can bring classroom lessons to life. Citizen-science projects are an excellent way to bring high-level science to the classroom and help satisfy one of the cornerstone concepts of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), "engaging in practices that scientists and engineers actually use." This can be a daunting task for teachers who may lack the background or resources to integrate these projects into the classroom. This is where scientific societies such as the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) can play a critical role. ASM encourages its members to …

The Association Between Vitamin A Status Or Supplementation And Hiv/Aids, Mikaela Kathleen Curtis

Food Science and Nutrition

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected millions of people since the start of the epidemic in the early 1980s. HIV is the etiologic agent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which has taken millions of lives. It is extremely difficult for particular populations to receive medication to treat HIV infection and prevent the progression of HIV to AIDS. Multiple studies have examined the effect of vitamin A on HIV infection, due to its immune stimulating effects. It is unclear whether an association exists between vitamin A and different aspects of HIV. This review examined the effect of vitamin A …

A Residual Power Series Technique For Solving Systems Of Initial Value Problems, Shaher Momani, Omar Abu Arqub, Ma’Mon Abu Hammad, Zaer S. Abo-Hammour

Applied Mathematics & Information Sciences

In this article, a residual power series technique for the power series solution of systems of initial value problems is introduced. The new approach provides the solution in the form of a rapidly convergent series with easily computable components using symbolic computation software. The proposed technique obtains Taylor expansion of the solution of a system and reproduces the exact solution when the solution is polynomial. Numerical examples are included to demonstrate the efficiency, accuracy, and applicability of the presented technique. The results reveal that the technique is very effective, straightforward, and simple.

Bioethics: Preparing For The Unknown- Abstracts, The Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society, Western Michigan University

Bioethics: Preparing for the Unknown

Abstracts from the March 17-18, 2016 conference on Bioethics: Preparing for the Unknown. This was the 30th anniversary conference for The Center for the Study of Ethics in Society at Western Michigan University.

Full Disclosure: Herpes Stigma And Communication Practices Among Hsv+ Individuals, Mikayla Bobrow

Sustainability and Social Justice

The stigma associated with genital herpes (HSV) often leads those living with this sexually transmitted infection (STI) to conceal their status to others in order to avoid possible negative social repercussions. I interviewed eighteen individuals living with HSV and surveyed 354 more in order to understand the impact that sex and STI shaming has on an individual’s life. The data from both the surveys and the interviews indicate that the shame perpetuated in both school and clinical settings augments the emotional devastation experienced following a diagnosis. In order to change the paradigm that only individuals who violate societal norms contract …

Research News Newsletter, Spring 2016, Research News Newsletter, Stony Brook University.

Research News

Quarterly newsletter from the Office of the Vice President for Research

College Of Health Sciences Newsletter, March 2016, Irvin B. Harrell (Ed.)

Ellmer College of Health Sciences Newsletters

March 2016 issue of Old Dominion University's College of Health Sciences Newsletter.

Ceftaroline Fosamil For Treatment Of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia And Health Care–Associated Pneumonia: A 5-Year Matched Case-Control Evaluation Of Epidemiology And Outcomes, Samia Arshad, Pamela Hartman, Mary B. Perri, Daniela Moreno, Marcus J. Zervos

Infectious Diseases Articles

Purpose: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia patients treated with current antibiotic therapies have exhibited poor outcomes, increased hospital length of stay, and higher costs of care. Twenty-eight-day mortality rate of 32% was reported with vancomycin therapy for MRSA hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) and MRSA health care-associated pneumonia (HCAP) from the same institution. The purpose of this study was to compare the epidemiology and effectiveness of ceftaroline versus alternative antibiotic therapies: linezolid, vancomycin, and/or cefepime, in hospitalized patients with MRSA HAP or HCAP based on clinical outcomes.

Methods: Through retrospective matched case-control study design, the Infectious Diseases Society of America- and Centers …

Most Frequently Downloaded Items In February 2016, Unl Digital Commons, Paul Royster

Institutional Repository Information

Taking advantage of a 29th day this leap year, the UNL Digital Commons supplied 580,677 downloads for the month. The 250 most frequently downloaded are listed below.

Overall, the repository supplied 123,646 downloads of those 250 items, plus another 457,031 downloads of 46,975 other items not among the top 250. There were 23,017 items that were not downloaded during the month. This represents an average of 8.3 downloads per available item; and 67.5% of available items were downloaded at least once.

February's total was an increase of 15.9% over February 2015 and a 26.2% increase over February 2014 (helped in …

Communicable Disease Outbreak Control Policy

Emergency Operations Policies

The Communicable Disease Outbreak Control Policy is designed to:

• Inform, educate, and advise the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis community on communicable disease prevention

• Outline actions and processes to protect the health and well-being of faculty, staff, students, visitors, and contracted employees

• Establish communication channels of reporting communicable diseases among faculty, staff, and students to appropriate personnel

In the event that a communicable disease significantly impacts the UHSP community, the Incident Management Team will activate to implement necessary practices outlined in this policy to cease continued spread of disease.

Micro-Rna And Mrna Profiles Associated With Ectopic Germinal Center Formation In Thymus Samples Of Patients With Autoimmune Myas, Manjistha Sengupta, Bi-Dar Wang, Norman H. Lee, Gary Cutter, Linda Louise Kusner, Henry J. Kaminski

GW Research Days 2016 - 2020

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder caused by antibodies directed against proteins present at the post-synaptic surface of neuromuscular junction (NMJ). A characteristic pathology of patients with early onset MG is thymic hyperplasia with ectopic germinal centers (GC). However, mechanisms that trigger and maintain thymic hyperplasia are poorly characterized. Micro-RNAs (miRNA) are small, non-coding RNAs that are increasingly appreciated to be involved in the pathology of several autoimmune diseases. In order to determine the central mechanisms involved in the pathology, thymus samples from MG patients were assessed by histology and grouped based on appearance of GC compared to …

Challenges And Opportunities In The Culture Of Giant Freshwater Prawn In The Philippines, Janice A. Ragaza

Biology Faculty Publications

Amid the irremediable decline of capture fisheries, the Philippine government has identified aquaculture as a sector that will ensure food security and generate new job opportunities geared toward the country’s goal of economic development (Nagothu and Ortiz 2007). Aquaculture of giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii (Fig. 1) is an emerging program that is intended to expand and vary the aquatic species used in freshwater aquaculture, which is still predominantly based on tilapia (Rosario and Tayamen 2004). Attractive characteristics of freshwater prawn culture include ease of breeding, high hatching rate, superior quality of meat and high market value (Keysami and Mohammadpour …

Combined Effects Of Pesticides And Trematode Infections On Hourglass Tree Frog Polypedates Cruciger., Uthpala A. Jayawardena, Jason R. Rohr, Ayanthi N. Navaratne, Priyanie H. Amerasinghe, Rupika S. Rajakaruna

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

The impact of widespread and common environmental factors, such as chemical contaminants, on infectious disease risk in amphibians is particularly important because both chemical contaminants and infectious disease have been implicated in worldwide amphibian declines. Here we report on the lone and combined effects of exposure to parasitic cercariae (larval stage) of the digenetic trematode, Acanthostomum burminis, and four commonly used pesticides (insecticides: chlorpyrifos, dimethoate; herbicides: glyphosate, propanil) at ecologically relevant concentrations on the survival, growth, and development of the common hourglass tree frog, Polypedates cruciger Blyth 1852. There was no evidence of any pesticide-induced mortality on cercariae because all …

Flight Physician - March, 2016, Civil Aviation Medical Association

Browse all Civil Aviation Medical Association Newsletters

A twenty-five page newsletter of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. The newsletter provided news about civil aviation medicine and information related to the organization.

Competition-Mediated Feedbacks In Experimental Multispecies Epizootics, Tad Dallas, Richard J. Hall, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

© 2016 by the Ecological Society of America. Competition structures ecological communities and alters host-pathogen interactions. In environmentally transmitted pathogens, an infection-resistant competitor may influence infection dynamics in a susceptible species through the negative impacts of competition (e.g., by reducing host density or causing nutritional stress that increases susceptibility to infection) and/or the positive impacts of reducing transmission efficiency (e.g., by removing environmental pathogen stages). Thus, a non-susceptible competitor may enhance, reduce, or have no net effect on susceptible host density and infection prevalence. Here, we couple an epidemiological model with experimental epidemics to test how resource competition with a …

Costs Of Resistance And Infection By A Generalist Pathogen, Tad Dallas, Mathieu Holtackers, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Pathogen infection is typically costly to hosts, resulting in reduced fitness. However, pathogen exposure may also come at a cost even if the host does not become infected. These fitness reductions, referred to as "resistance costs", are inducible physiological costs expressed as a result of a trade-off between resistance to a pathogen and aspects of host fitness (e.g., reproduction). Here, we examine resistance and infection costs of a generalist fungal pathogen (Metschnikowia bicuspidata) capable of infecting a number of host species. Costs were quantified as reductions in host lifespan, total reproduction, …

Sialomes And Mialomes: A Systems-Biology View Of Tick Tissues And Tick-Host Interactions, Jindrich Chmelar, Jan Kotal, Shahid Karim, Petr Kopacek, Ivo M.B. Francischetti, Joao H.F. Pedra, Michail Kotsyfakis

Faculty Publications

Tick saliva facilitates tick feeding and infection of the host. Gene expression analysis of tick salivary glands and other tissues involved in host-pathogen interactions has revealed a wide range of bioactive tick proteins. Transcriptomic analysis has been a milestone in the field and has recently been enhanced by next-generation sequencing (NGS). Furthermore, the application of quantitative proteomics to ticks with unknown genomes has provided deeper insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying tick hematophagy, pathogen transmission, and tick-host-pathogen interactions. We review current knowledge on the transcriptomics and proteomics of tick tissues from a systems-biology perspective and discuss future challenges in the …

Using Information Technology To Model Hand-Washing Behavior And To Improve Policies Impacting Elementary School Absenteeism Due To Influenza, Galina V. Miller

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation revealed several problems on the analysis of in?uenza propagation by indicating how agent-based modeling can be employed to measure the e?ectiveness of control measures and assist in improving health policy to decrease absenteeism among elementary students. The primary question posed was as following: “What is the e?ect of hand hygiene on the possible incidence rates among school children?” After creating an agent-based model representing the in?uenza transmission dynamic, the incidence rates were calculated based on the hand-washing success rates. The statistical results from the simulation model were displayed in graphical format.

Finally, the author addressed the issue of …

Marine Disease Impacts, Diagnosis, Forecasting, Management And Policy, Kevin D. Lafferty, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

(First paragraph) As Australians were spending millions of dollars in 2014 to remove the coraleating crown of thorns sea star from the Great Barrier Reef, sea stars started washing up dead for free along North America’s Pacific Coast. Because North American sea stars are important and iconic predators in marine communities, locals and marine scientists alike were alarmed by what proved to be the world’s most widespread marine mass mortality in geographical extent and species affected, especially given its mysterious cause. Investigative research using modern diagnostic techniques implicated a never-before-seen virus [1]. The virus inspired international attention to marine diseases, …

Iron Deficiency Anemia Among Women Of Reproductive Age, An Important Public Health Problem: Situation Analysis, Minaz Mawani, Savera Aziz Ali, Gulshan Bano, Sumera Aziz Ali

Section of Internal Medicine

Background: Iron deficiency is a major cause of anemia and is more prevalent in developing countries, posing additional burden on health care systems, in the presence of scarcity of resources. The high-risk group consists of females and children but comparatively it is higher in females due to physiological reasons. Multiple factors can predict anemia, which in turn leads to various adverse outcomes.

Objective: The purpose of this literature review was to review and synthesize the findings from literature about the burden, causes, outcomes and important interventions of iron deficiency anemia for developing countries.

Methods: An extensive literature review was carried …

The Legalities Of Caring For Homeless Youth, Audrey Frone

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

Homelessness is an ever-present social and economic issue worldwide that affects the healthcare field. The United States Housing and Urban Development (U.S. HUD) (2015) reported that there were 578,424 homeless people in the United States during the 2014 Point in Time count. Almost one quarter of that number was children under the age of 18 and 10% were ages 18-24 years (National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), 2015). Alaska has a higher rate of homelessness at 24.3 per 10,000 people compared to the national average of 18.3 per 10,000 people (NAEH, 2015). Although there is a decreasing rate of homelessness …

Engagement With E-Learning Resources Is Associated With Greater Academic Performance Of Medical Students, Chen-Hung Hsu, Kevin Sheu, Shang-Hung Chang, Ji-Tseng Fang, Han-Pin Kuo, Chien-Da Huang

Journal of Medical Education

Background: As the use of e-learning continues to grow at higher education institutes, it is increasingly important to examine the impact that this educational method has on the students’ academic performance. Behavioral engagement is thought to be an important factor influencing this performance. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the behavioral dimensions of engagement of medical students with an e-learning resource were associated with better academic performance. Methods: We recruited 151 fi fth-year medical students in the clerk program of Internal Medicine in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. We used an e-learning resource (AccessMedicine) to enhance asynchronous learning, …

Unintended Pregnancies In Brazil - A Challenge For The Recommendation To Delay Pregnancy Due To Zika, Cynthia Schuck-Paim, Daniel Lopez, Lone Simonsen, Wladimir Alonso

Global Health Faculty Publications

Because of the potential link between the ongoing Zika virus outbreak and a surge in the number of cases of congenital microcephaly, officials in Latin America have recommended that women postpone pregnancy until this association is firmly established or the outbreak subsides. However, in all these countries a large proportion of babies are still born out of unplanned pregnancies. Teenage girls are particularly at high risk, as they often lack access to preventive contraception methods, or the knowledge to use them appropriately. To gauge the magnitude of the barriers preventing the implementation of such a recommendation in Brazil, the country …

Chlamydial Antibiotic Resistance And Treatment Failure In Veterinary And Human Medicine, Nicole Borel, Cory Leonard, Jessica Slade, Robert V. Schoborg

ETSU Faculty Works

The Chlamydiaceae are widespread pathogens of both humans and animals. Chlamydia trachomatis infection causes blinding trachoma and reproductive complications in humans. Chlamydia pneumoniae causes human respiratory tract infections and atypical pneumonia. Chlamydia suis infection is associated with conjunctivitis, diarrhea, and failure to gain weight in domestic swine. Chlamydial infections in humans and domesticated animals are generally controlled by antibiotic treatment—particularly macrolides (usually azithromycin) and tetracyclines (tetracycline and doxycycline). Tetracycline-containing feed has also been used to limit infections and promote growth in livestock populations, although its use has decreased because of growing concerns about antimicrobial resistance development. Because Sandoz and Rockey …

Immunization Status Of Nicu Graduates At A Tertiary Care Children's Hospital, Leslie Jane Huggins

Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this study were to determine the current rates of immunization and identify variables associated with immunizations of NICU graduates who were 60 days of age or older at time of discharge. This is a descriptive pilot study utilizing retrospective paper chart review. The relationships between immunization status and study variables were examined using logistic regression. Of 43 infants discharged at least 60 days of age or older from the NICU, 74.4% were up to date for immunizations in accordance with AAP recommendations. Additional variables were not significant. Immunization needs to be a priority in order to give …

Therapeutic Evaluation Of Homoeopathic Drug Crotalus Horridus 200c Against Ehrlichiosis-Infected Dogs In Mizoram, Isaac Tungnunga, Kalyan Sarma, Parimal Roychoudhury, Sonjoy Borthakur, Gunjan Das, H Prasad, Subendu Behera

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Objective: To study, the effect of a homoeopathic medicine Crotalus horridus 200C on ehrlichiosis in dogs in an endemic area of Aizawl district of Mizoram state of India. Materials and Methods: To evaluate the efficacy of Crotalus horridus 200C against ehrlichiosis dogs. 12 positive cases confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were divided into two groups comprising six dogs in each group. One group was treated with standard therapy (doxycycline) and other group was treated with Crotalus horridus 200C at 4 pills orally for 20 days. Clinical improvement of affected dogs was recorded after therapy. Important haemato-biochemical parameters before and …