Exploratory Analysis of Dengue Fever Niche Variables within the Río Magdalena Watershed

Previous research on Dengue Fever have involved laboratory tests or study areas with less diverse temperature and elevation ranges than is found in Colombia; therefore, preliminary research was needed to identify location specific attributes of Dengue Fever transmission. Environmental variables derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellites were combined with population variables to be statistically compared against reported cases of Dengue Fever in the Río Magdalena watershed, Colombia. Three-factor analysis models were investigated to analyze variable patterns, including a population, population density, and empirical Bayesian estimation model. Results identified varying levels of Dengue Fever transmission risk, and environmental characteristics which support, and advance, the research literature. Multiple temperature metrics, elevation, and vegetation composition were among the more contributory variables found to identify future potential outbreak locations

Niche Modeling of Dengue Fever Using Remotely Sensed Environmental Factors and Boosted Regression Trees

Dengue fever (DF), a vector-borne flavivirus, is endemic to the tropical countries of the world with nearly 400 million people becoming infected each year and roughly one-third of the world’s population living in areas of risk. The main vector for DF is the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also the same vector of yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. To gain an understanding of the spatial aspects that can affect the epidemiological processes across the disease’s geographical range, and the spatial interactions involved, we created and compared Bernoulli and Poisson family Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) models to quantify the overall annual risk of DF incidence by municipality, using the Magdalena River watershed of Colombia as a study site during the time period between 2012 and 2014. A wide range of environmental conditions make this site ideal to develop models that, with minor adjustments, could be applied in many other geographical areas. Our results show that these BRT methods can be successfully used to identify areas at risk and presents great potential for implementation in surveillance programs

A barnavirus sequence mined from a transcriptome of the Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis.

Because so few viruses in the family Barnaviridae have been reported, we searched for more of them in public sequence databases. Here, we report the complete coding sequence of Colobanthus quitensis associated barnavirus 1, mined from a transcriptome of the Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis. The 4.2-kb plus-strand sequence of this virus encompasses four main open reading frames (ORFs), as expected for barnaviruses, including ORFs for a protease-containing polyprotein, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase whose translation appears to rely on - 1 ribosomal frameshifting, and a capsid protein that is likely to be translated from a subgenomic RNA. The possible derivation of this virus from a fungus associated with C. quitensis is discussed

Tumour-infiltrating regulatory T cell density before neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer does not predict treatment response

Neoadjuvant (preoperative) chemoradiotherapy (CRT) decreases the risk of rectal cancer recurrence and reduces tumour volume prior to surgery. However, response to CRT varies considerably between individuals and factors associated with response are poorly understood. Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) inhibit anti-tumour immunity and may limit any response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We have previously reported that a low density of Tregs in the tumour stroma following neoadjuvant CRT for rectal cancer is associated with improved tumour regression. Here we have examined the association between Treg density in pre-treatment diagnostic biopsy specimens and treatment response, in this same patient cohort. We aimed to determine whether pre-treatment tumour-infiltrating Treg density predicts subsequent response to neoadjuvant CRT. Foxp3+, CD8+ and CD3+ cell densities in biopsy samples from 106 patients were assessed by standard immunohistochemistry (IHC) and evaluated for their association with tumour regression grade and survival. We found no association between the density of any T cell subset pre-treatment and clinical outcome, indicating that tumour-infiltrating Treg density does not predict response to neoadjuvant CRT in rectal cancer. Taken together with the findings of the previous study, these data suggest that in the context of neoadjuvant CRT for rectal cancer, the impact of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy on anti-tumour immunity may be more important than the state of the pre-existing local immune response

Essential elements of an early intervention service for psychosis: the opinions of expert clinicians

BACKGROUND: Early intervention teams attempt to improve outcome in schizophrenia through earlier detection and the provision of phase-specific treatments. Whilst the number of early intervention teams is growing, there is a lack of clarity over their essential structural and functional elements. METHODS: A 'Delphi' exercise was carried out to identify how far there was consensus on the essential elements of early intervention teams in a group of 21 UK expert clinicians. Using published guidelines, an initial list was constructed containing 151 elements from ten categories of team structure and function. RESULTS: Overall there was expert consensus on the importance of 136 (90%) of these elements. Of the items on which there was consensus, 106 (70.2%) were rated essential, meaning that in their absence the functioning of the team would be severely impaired. CONCLUSION: This degree of consensus over essential elements suggests that it is reasonable to define a model for UK early intervention teams, from which a measure of fidelity could be derived

Is pelvic radiation beneficial in the postoperative management of stage Ib squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix with pelvic node metastasis treated by radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy? : A report from the presidential panel at the 1979 Annual Meeting of the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23177/1/0000104.pd

Natural Variation in Fc Glycosylation of HIV-Specific Antibodies Impacts Antiviral Activity

While the induction of a neutralizing antibody response against HIV remains a daunting goal, data from both natural infection and vaccine-induced immune responses suggest that it may be possible to induce antibodies with enhanced Fc effector activity and improved antiviral control via vaccination. However, the specific features of naturally induced HIV-specific antibodies that allow for the potent recruitment of antiviral activity and the means by which these functions are regulated are poorly defined. Because antibody effector functions are critically dependent on antibody Fc domain glycosylation, we aimed to define the natural glycoforms associated with robust Fc-mediated antiviral activity. We demonstrate that spontaneous control of HIV and improved antiviral activity are associated with a dramatic shift in the global antibody-glycosylation profile toward agalactosylated glycoforms. HIV-specific antibodies exhibited an even greater frequency of agalactosylated, afucosylated, and asialylated glycans. These glycoforms were associated with enhanced Fc-mediated reduction of viral replication and enhanced Fc receptor binding and were consistent with transcriptional profiling of glycosyltransferases in peripheral B cells. These data suggest that B cell programs tune antibody glycosylation actively in an antigen-specific manner, potentially contributing to antiviral control during HIV infection

The effect of malnutrition on patients undergoing elective joint arthroplasty.

Malnutrition has been linked to serious complications in patients undergoing elective total joint arthroplasty (TJA). This study prospectively evaluated 2,161 patients undergoing elective TJA for malnutrition as defined by either an abnormal serum albumin or transferrin. The overall incidence of malnutrition was 8.5% (184 of 2,161) and the rate of overall complications in the malnourished group was 12% as compared to 2.9% in patients with normal parameters (P55years-old undergoing TJA and is associated with a significant increase in post-operative complications