Organic feed makes the immune system more alert (Summary)

Most studies on organic food are dealing with differences in nutrient contents of organic versus conventional products. Much less studies have focussed on potential differences in health effects. The presented study is the first experimental study in the Netherlands in which the effects of feed derived from organic or conventional origin were studied, using animals as a model for humans. Two generations of chicken as well as the feed, especially composed out of organically or conventionally produced ingredients, were extensively studied, using several most modern techniques. Various differences in nutrient content were observed in the ingredients. Most consistent finding was a difference in protein content, resulting on average in a 10% higher protein content in the conventionally produced feeds. Results also revealed biomarkers for future research: body weight gain, responsiveness of the immune system, metabolic reactions in blood and liver and genetic regulation in the gut. With these biomarkers, clear differences between the two groups of chicken were found. For research on health effects in humans, which is the ultimate goal, it is important to have appropriate biomarkers which can measure health effects in healthy individuals

The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's Tropical Disease Research Program: A 25-Year Retrospective Review 1976-1999

Documents and details the foundation's commitment to the program from its inception, and provides an analysis of its successes until the completion of the program in 1999

Annual Report 2013

The 2013 Annual Report includes a review of the year, research highlights and activities across the School's three Faculties, and key facts and figures. The financial review provides an overview of the School's finances and activities during 2012-13

Livestock abundance predicts vampire bat demography, immune profiles, and bacterial infection risk

Human activities create novel food resources that can alter wildlife–pathogen interactions. If resources amplify or dampen, pathogen transmission probably depends on both host ecology and pathogen biology, but studies that measure responses to provisioning across both scales are rare. We tested these relationships with a 4-year study of 369 common vampire bats across 10 sites in Peru and Belize that differ in the abundance of livestock, an important anthropogenic food source. We quantified innate and adaptive immunity from bats and assessed infection with two common bacteria. We predicted that abundant livestock could reduce starvation and foraging effort, allowing for greater investments in immunity. Bats from high-livestock sites had higher microbicidal activity and proportions of neutrophils but lower immunoglobulin G and proportions of lymphocytes, suggesting more investment in innate relative to adaptive immunity and either greater chronic stress or pathogen exposure. This relationship was most pronounced in reproductive bats, which were also more common in high-livestock sites, suggesting feedbacks between demographic correlates of provisioning and immunity. Infection with both Bartonella and haemoplasmas were correlated with similar immune profiles, and both pathogens tended to be less prevalent in high-livestock sites, although effects were weaker for haemoplasmas. These differing responses to provisioning might therefore reflect distinct transmission processes. Predicting how provisioning alters host–pathogen interactions requires considering how both within-host processes and transmission modes respond to resource shifts

Use of electronic medical records and biomarkers to manage risk and resource efficiencies

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Time for change: a new training programme for morpho-molecular pathologists?

The evolution of cellular pathology as a specialty has always been driven by technological developments and the clinical relevance of incorporating novel investigations into diagnostic practice. In recent years, the molecular characterisation of cancer has become of crucial relevance in patient treatment both for predictive testing and subclassification of certain tumours. Much of this has become possible due to the availability of next-generation sequencing technologies and the whole-genome sequencing of tumours is now being rolled out into clinical practice in England via the 100 000 Genome Project. The effective integration of cellular pathology reporting and genomic characterisation is crucial to ensure the morphological and genomic data are interpreted in the relevant context, though despite this, in many UK centres molecular testing is entirely detached from cellular pathology departments. The CM-Path initiative recognises there is a genomics knowledge and skills gap within cellular pathology that needs to be bridged through an upskilling of the current workforce and a redesign of pathology training. Bridging this gap will allow the development of an integrated 'morphomolecular pathology' specialty, which can maintain the relevance of cellular pathology at the centre of cancer patient management and allow the pathology community to continue to be a major influence in cancer discovery as well as playing a driving role in the delivery of precision medicine approaches. Here, several alternative models of pathology training, designed to address this challenge, are presented and appraised

Florida marine biotechnology: research, development and training capabilities to advance science and commerce

The level of activity and interest in “marine biotechnology” among Florida university faculty and allied laboratory scientists is reported in this document. The information will be used to (1) promote networking and collaboration in research and education, (2) inform industry of possible academic partners, (3) identify contacts interested in potential new sources of funding, and (4) assist development of funding for a statewide marine biotechnology research, training and development program. This document is the first of its kind. Institutions of higher learning were given the opportunity to contribute both an overview of campus capabilities and individual faculty Expressions of Scientific Interest. They are listed in the table of contents. (104pp.

Graduate Catalog, 1963

https://scholar.valpo.edu/gradcatalogs/1000/thumbnail.jp