A spot check of the status of music education of grades four, five and six in the elementary schools of Massachusetts as of the year 1956-57.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli colonization of human colonic epithelium in vitro and ex vivo

Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) are important foodborne pathogens causing gastroenteritis and more severe complications such as hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. Pathology is most pronounced in the colon, but to date there is no direct clinical evidence showing EHEC binding to colonic epithelium in patients. In this study, we investigated EHEC adherence to the human colon by using in vitro organ culture (IVOC) of colonic biopsies and polarized T84 colon carcinoma cells. We showed for the first time that EHEC colonized human colonic biopsies by forming typical attaching/effacing (A/E) lesions which were dependent on EHEC type III secretion (T3S) and binding of the outer membrane protein intimin to the Translocated intimin receptor (Tir). A/E lesion formation was dependent on oxygen levels and suppressed under oxygen-rich culture conditions routinely used for IVOC. In contrast, EHEC adherence to polarized T84 cells occurred independently of T3S and intimin and did not involve Tir translocation into the host cell membrane. Neither colonization of biopsies nor T84 cells was significantly affected by expression of Shiga toxins. Our study suggests that EHEC colonize and form stable A/E lesions on the human colon which is likely to contribute to intestinal pathology during infection. Furthermore, care needs to be taken when using cell culture models as they might not reflect the in vivo situation

The importance of clinical importance when determining the target difference in sample size calculations

Recently, it was argued that clinically important differences should play no role in sample size calculations. Instead, it was proposed that sample size calculations should focus on setting realistic estimates of treatment benefit. We disagree, and argue in this article that considering the importance of a target difference is necessary in the context of randomised controlled trials of effectiveness, particularly definitive phase III trials. Ignoring clinical importance could have serious ethical and practical consequences

TB120: Alternative Assessment of Individual Dietary Intake--A Pilot Study

In an initial effort to devise a rapid assessment alternative that would provide a reliable estimate of an individual\u27s usual dietary pattern, a Predicted Food List (estimated, abbreviated food frequency), an Actual Food List (recorded, truncated food frequency), and a Typical Diet Day (foods perceived as commonly consumed in a 24-hour period) were compared with a 75-day food record. Overall, the Predicted Food List appeared to be the best tool for depicting an individual\u27s usual food intake. It was concluded that a shortened list of food items characterizing an individual\u27s normal nutrient intake level may be a useful instrument allowing rapid screening of selected at risk nutrients.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1080/thumbnail.jp

Pacific Ocean Forcing and Atmospheric Variability are the Dominant Causes of Spatially Widespread Droughts in the Contiguous United States

The contributions of oceanic and atmospheric variability to spatially widespread summer droughts in the contiguous United States (hereafter, pan-CONUS droughts) are investigated using 16-member ensembles of the Community Climate Model version 3 (CCM3) forced with observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) from 1856 to 2012. The employed SST forcing fields are either (i) global or restricted to the (ii) tropical Pacific or (iii) tropical Atlantic to isolate the impacts of these two ocean regions on pan-CONUS droughts. Model results show that SST forcing of pan-CONUS droughts originates almost entirely from the tropical Pacific because of atmospheric highs from the northern Pacific to eastern North America established by La Nia conditions, with little contribution from the tropical Atlantic. Notably, in all three model configurations, internal atmospheric variability influences pan-CONUS drought occurrence by as much or more than the ocean forcing and can alone cause pan-CONUS droughts by establishing a dominant high centered over the US montane West. Similar results are found for the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 (CAM5). Model results are compared to the observational record, which supports model-inferred contributions to pan-CONUS droughts from La Nias and internal atmospheric variability. While there may be an additional association with warm Atlantic SSTs in the observational record, this association is ambiguous due to the limited number of observed pan-CONUS. The ambiguity thus opens the possibility that the observational results are limited by sampling over the 20th-century and not at odds with the suggested dominance of Pacific Ocean forcing in the model ensembles

AN ANALYSIS OF HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION OF FRESH POTATOES IN DELAWARE

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Ritual and the origins of first impressions

When encountering a stranger for the first time, adults spontaneously attribute to them a wide variety of character traits based solely on their physical appearance, most notably from their face. While these trait inferences exert a pervasive influence over our behaviour, their origins remain unclear. Whereas nativist accounts hold that first impressions are a product of gene-based natural selection, the Trait Inference Mapping framework (TIM) posits that we learn face-trait mappings ontogenetically as a result of correlated face-trait experience. Here, we examine the available anthropological evidence on ritual in order to better understand the mechanism by which first impressions from faces are acquired. Consistent with the TIM framework, we argue that examination of ritual body modification performed by communities around the world demonstrates far greater cross-cultural variability in face-trait mappings than currently appreciated. Furthermore, rituals of this type may be a powerful mechanism through which face-trait associations are transmitted from one generation to the next

Virulence Factors of Escherichia coli Isolated From Female Reproductive Tract Infections and Neonatal Sepsis

Objective: The presence of enterobacteria such as Escherichia coli in the vagina of normal women is not synonymous with infection. However, vaginal E. coli may also cause symptomatic infections. We examined bacterial virulenceproperties that may promote symptomatic female reproductive tract infections (RTI) and neonatal sepsis. Methods: E. coli isolated as the causative agent from cases of vaginitis (n = 50), tubo-ovarian abscess (n = 45) and neonatal sepsis (n = 45) was examined for selected phenotypic and genetic virulence properties. Results were compared with the frequency of the same properties among fecal E. coli not associated with disease. Results: A significantly greater proportion of infection E. coli exhibited D-mannose resistant hemagglutination compared with fecal E. coli (p < 0.01). This adherence phenotype was associated with the presence of P fimbriae (pap) genes which were also significantly more prevalent among isolates from all three infection sites (p < 0.01). The majority of pap(+) isolates contained the papG3 allele (Class II) regardless of infection type. Increased frequency of Type 1C genes among vaginitis and abscess isolates was also noted. No significant differences in frequency of other bacterial adherence genes, fim, sfa, uca (gaf) or dra were observed. E. coli associated with vaginitis was significantly more likely to be hemolytic ( HIy(+)) than were fecal isolates (p < 0.05). The HIy(+) phenotype was also more prevalent among tubo-ovarian abscess and neonatal sepsis isolates (p < 0.08). Conclusions: E. coli isolated from female RTI and neonatal sepses possess unique properties that may enhance their virulence. These properties are similar to those associated with other E. coli extra-intestinal infections, indicating that strategies such as vaccination or bacterial interference that may be developed against urinary tract infections (UTI) and other E. coli extra-intestinal infections may also prevent selected female RTI

TB38: Utilization of Amino Acids from Protein by the Growing Rat: Efficiency of Carcass Protein Formation

Ten experiment stations in the Northeast have cooperated in investigating three sources of amino acids (pure amino acids, milk protein and wheat gluten) at two levels (1.2% and 1.6% dietary nitrogen) with different subjects (humans, rats, pigs and protozoa) under different conditions (growth, maintenance and stress) in order to study availability of amino acids in protein. The publication describes the effect of the three nitrogen sources containing equal amounts of essential amino acids and nitrogen on the growth of rats over two and four weeks.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1155/thumbnail.jp