Abigail Pemberton, Israel Pemberton, March 17, 1702

Letter dated March 16, 1702 (March 6, 1701 Old Style) from Abigail Pemberton to her brother, Israel Pemberton

Abigail Pemberton, Israel Pemberton, May 10, 1702

Letter dated May 10, 1702 (April 29, 1702 Old Style) from Abigail Pemberton to her brother, Israel Pemberton. It concerns a recent bout of dysentery and Abigail\u27s recent poor health. She also reports the death of James Howard

Abigail Pemberton, Phineas Pemberton, December 16, 1697

Letter dated December 16, 1697 (December 6, 1697 Old Style) from Abigail Pemberton to her father, Phineas Pemberton. The letter discusses an illness that has visited Abigail and Israel Pemberton, and a treatment provided by Robert Hoskins

Abigail Pemberton, Phineas Pemberton, December 20, 1697

Letter dated December 20, 1697 (December 10, 1697 Old Style) from Abigail Pemberton to her father, Phineas Pemberton

Abigail Pemberton, Israel Pemberton, March 17, 1702

Letter dated March 17, 1702 (March 6, 1701 Old Style) from Abigail Pemberton to her brother, Israel Pemberton. She asks his help in stopping a rumor about her

The impact of obesity and bariatric surgery on the immune microenvironment of the endometrium

BACKGROUND: The incidence of endometrial cancer is rising in parallel with the obesity epidemic. Obesity increases endometrial cancer risk and weight loss is protective, but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. We hypothesise that the immune microenvironment may influence susceptibility to malignant transformation in the endometrium. The aim of this study was to measure the impact of obesity and weight loss on the immunological landscape of the endometrium. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of women with class III obesity (body mass index, BMI ≥ 40 kg/m(2)) undergoing bariatric surgery or medically-supervised low-calorie diet. We collected blood and endometrial samples at baseline, and two and 12 months after weight loss intervention. Serum was analysed for inflammatory markers CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α. Multiplex immunofluorescence was used to simultaneously identify cells positive for immune markers CD68, CD56, CD3, CD8, FOXP3 and PD-1 in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded endometrial tissue sections. Kruskal–Wallis tests were used to determine whether changes in inflammatory and immune biomarkers were associated with weight loss. RESULTS: Forty-three women with matched serum and tissue samples at all three time points were included in the analysis. Their median age and BMI were 44 years and 52 kg/m(2), respectively. Weight loss at 12 months was greater in women who received bariatric surgery (n = 37, median 63.3 kg) than low-calorie diet (n = 6, median 12.8 kg). There were significant reductions in serum CRP (p = 3.62 × 10(−6), r = 0.570) and IL-6 (p = 0.0003, r = 0.459), but not TNF-α levels, with weight loss. Tissue immune cell densities were unchanged except for CD8+ cells, which increased significantly with weight loss (p = 0.0097, r = −0.323). Tissue CD3+ cell density correlated negatively with systemic IL-6 levels (p = 0.0376; r = −0.318). CONCLUSION: Weight loss is associated with reduced systemic inflammation and a recruitment of protective immune cell types to the endometrium, supporting the concept that immune surveillance may play a role in endometrial cancer prevention

Multivariate immune defences and fitness in the wild:complex but ecologically important associations among plasma antibodies, health and survival

Despite our rapidly advancing mechanistic understanding of vertebrate immunity under controlled laboratory conditions, the links between immunity, infection and fitness under natural conditions remain poorly understood. Antibodies are central to acquired immune responses, and antibody levels circulating in vivo reflect a composite of constitutive and induced functional variants of diverse specificities (e.g. binding antigens from prevalent parasites, self tissues or novel non-self sources). Here, we measured plasma concentrations of 11 different antibody types in adult females from an unmanaged population of Soay sheep on St Kilda. Correlations among antibody measures were generally positive but weak, and eight of the measures independently predicted body mass, strongyle parasite egg count or survival over the subsequent winter. These independent and, in some cases, antagonistic relationships point to important multivariate immunological heterogeneities affecting organismal health and fitness in natural systems. Notably, we identified a strong positive association between anti-nematode immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies in summer and subsequent over-winter survival, providing rare evidence for a fitness benefit of helminth-specific immunity under natural conditions. Our results highlight both the evolutionary and ecological importance and the complex nature of the immune phenotype in the wild

Food Insecurity Prevalence Across Diverse Sites During COVID-19: A Year of Comprehensive Data

Key Findings NFACT includes 18 study sites in 15 states as well as a national poll, collectively representing a sample size of more than 26,000 people. Some sites have implemented multiple survey rounds, here we report results from 22 separate surveys conducted during the year since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. 18 out of 19 surveys in 14 sites with data for before and since the pandemic began found an increase in food insecurity since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to before the pandemic. In nearly all surveys (18/19) that measured food insecurity both before and during the pandemic, more Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) were classified as food insecure during the pandemic as compared to before it began. Prevalence of food insecurity for BIPOC respondents was higher than the overall population in the majority of surveys (19/20) sampling a general population. In almost all surveys (21/22), the prevalence of food insecurity for households with children was higher than the overall prevalence of food insecurity. Food insecurity prevalence was higher for households experiencing a negative job impact during the pandemic (i.e. job loss, furlough, reduction in hours) in nearly all surveys and study sites (21/22). Food insecurity prevalence in most sites was significantly higher before COVID-19 than estimates from that time period. Reporting a percent change between pre and during COVID-19 prevalence may provide additional information about the rate of change in food insecurity since the start of the pandemic, which absolute prevalence of food insecurity may not capture. Results highlight consistent trends in food insecurity outcomes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, across diverse study sites, methodological approaches, and time