Nonrandom Distribution of Vector Ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) Infected by Francisella tularensis

The island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, is the site of a sustained outbreak of tularemia due to Francisella tularensis tularensis. Dog ticks, Dermacentor variabilis, appear to be critical in the perpetuation of the agent there. Tularemia has long been characterized as an agent of natural focality, stably persisting in characteristic sites of transmission, but this suggestion has never been rigorously tested. Accordingly, we sought to identify a natural focus of transmission of the agent of tularemia by mapping the distribution of PCR-positive ticks. From 2004 to 2007, questing D. variabilis were collected from 85 individual waypoints along a 1.5 km transect in a field site on Martha's Vineyard. The positions of PCR-positive ticks were then mapped using ArcGIS. Cluster analysis identified an area approximately 290 meters in diameter, 9 waypoints, that was significantly more likely to yield PCR-positive ticks (relative risk 3.3, P = 0.001) than the rest of the field site. Genotyping of F. tularensis using variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis on PCR-positive ticks yielded 13 different haplotypes, the vast majority of which was one dominant haplotype. Positive ticks collected in the cluster were 3.4 times (relative risk = 3.4, P<0.0001) more likely to have an uncommon haplotype than those collected elsewhere from the transect. We conclude that we have identified a microfocus where the agent of tularemia stably perpetuates and that this area is where genetic diversity is generated

<i>Listeria monocytogenes</i>cross-contamination of cheese: risk throughout the food supply chain

SUMMARYListeria monocytogeneshas been the most common microbial cause of cheese-related recalls in both the United States and Canada in recent years. SinceL. monocytogenesis inactivated by pasteurization, the majority of these cases have been linked to environmental and cross-contamination of fresh-soft, soft-ripened, and semi-soft cheeses. Cross-contamination of foods withL. monocytogenesis a continuous risk throughout the food supply chain and presents unique challenges for subsequent illness and outbreak investigations. Reports on outbreaks of listeriosis attributed to cross-contamination downstream from primary processing help highlight the critical role of epidemiological investigation coupled with coordinated molecular subtyping and surveillance in the recognition and investigation of complex foodborne outbreaks. Despite their complexity, environmental sampling throughout the supply chain coupled with improved genotyping approaches and concomitant analysis of foodborne illness epidemiological exposure data are needed to help resolve these and similar cases more rapidly and with greater confidence.</jats:p

Paper Session 3-A

Through the Lens of The Four Loves: The Concept of Love in The Screwtape Letters - Paulette Sauders It is my contention that when C.S. Lewis wrote his non-fiction book The Four Loves and published it in 1960, he had not been thinking about love in all of its manifestations for just a short time before it was written. All of the fictional works he wrote over the years, beginning in at least 1938, reflect his definitions and descriptions of the various kinds of love and their perversions that he systematically desctibes so well in The Four Loves. He does this in his fiction through his various characters and their actions. In Out of the Silent Planet (1938), Perelandra (1943), That Hideous Strength (1945), The Screwtape Letters (1942), The Great Divorce (1945), and Till We Have Faces (1956), Lewis demonstrates each kind of love he discusses in The Four Loves. For the 2014 Colloquium, I would like to focus on The Screwtape Letters in order to reveal the ways C.S. Lewis shows the reader the four kinds of love and their perversions instead of just refining and discussing the kinds of love as he does in The Four Loves. Lisa Tetzner\u27s Translation of C.S. Lewis\u27s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - Betsy Susan Morgan According to UNESCO\u27s website, Index Translationum, C.S. Lewis\u27s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been translated 127 times. The first person to translate the novel was Lisa Tetzner and it is this translation, which has run through the most editions. This paper proposes to look at that translation in terms of accuracy and to examine the changes that were made in terms of purpose. Were they caused by differences between the languages or were they motivated by other concerns? This paper will be an abridgment of a master\u27s thesis written for the Children\u27s Literature program at Hollins University. Once A Queen of Glome, Always a Queen of Narnia: Orual and Susan\u27s Denial of the Divine and Salvation through Grace - Kat D. Coffin Susan Pevensie is one of the most misunderstood characters in C.S. Lewis\u27 classic series, The Chronicles of Narnia. Writers such as Neil Gaiman, J.K. Rowling, and Philip Pullman have declared the character\u27s face as a reflection of Lewis\u27 sexism and misogyny, further claiming that Susan\u27s exclusion from the final book of the series was due to her penchant for lipstick and nylons. Feminist criticism has found Susan\u27s treatment pointedly gendered, displaying Lewis\u27 supposedly negative attitude towards traditional forms of femininity. While the problem of Susan has garnered critical response, little thought has been given to Susan in relation to Orual, from Lewis\u27 masterpiece Till We Have Faces. Orual is undoubtedly the most well-developed of Lewis\u27 female characters, an ugly queen whose selfish love consumes everyone around her. At first glance, Orual and Susan seem polar opposites, yet a closer look reveals striking parallels between both characters\u27 denial of divinity and espousal of the worldly. I propose that thoroughly examining Orual provides not only further illumination towards the character of Susan, but of her redemption. This paper will examine these parallels, Lewis\u27 conception of these characters, and ultimately suggest an alternate motivation for the character of Susan

Paper Session 2-C: The Ransom Trilogy

Being Hnau ; The Imago Dei as Explored in Gulliver\u27s Travels and the Space Trilogy - Abby Palmisano Through the Lens of The Four Loves: The Concept of Love in Perelandra - Paulette Sauders It is my contention that when C.S. Lewis wrote his non-fiction book The Four Loves and published it in 1960, he had not been thinking about love in all of its manifestations except for just a short time before it was written. All of the fictional works he wrote over the years, beginning in at least 1938, reflect his definitions and descriptions of the various kinds of love and their perversions that he systematically describes so well in The Four Loves. He does this in his fiction through his various characters and their actions. I will focus on Perelandra in order to reveal the ways Lewis shows the reader the four kinds of love and their perversions instead of just defining and discussing love as he does in The Four Loves. Separation from the King: Tinidril and Susan\u27s Temptation in the Desert - Kat D. Coffin Temptation is a recurring theme in Lewis\u27s works--particularly in the second book of the Cosmic Trilogy, Perelandra. Temptation frames the novel, the choices Ransom makes, and danger Tinidril faces. In Perelandra, Maleldil sends Ransom as an envoy to Venus, to help protect Tinidril from disobeying God. But there was no such savior for Susan Pevensie, in the Chronicles of Narnia, when she succumbed to earthly temptations instead of her Narnian destiny. She is given a few brief lines that explain her absence from the final battle. Her interest is now for lipsticks and nylons and party invitations . This paper will be a continuation of work shared at the last Colloquium, where I considered the redemptive themes between Susan and Orual (Till We Have Faces). In continuing my study of Susan Pevensie, a much maligned and underrated character, I intend to shift to the theme of Christian temptation. This paper will seek to examine parallels between two female leaders of fantastic worlds, their varying temptations, and what Lewis might be attempting to convey about Christian temptation. Perhaps the idea of Christian temptation is not a gendered fate towards women in particular, but something all Christians must overcome

Modeling of Spatially Referenced Environmental and Meteorological Factors Influencing the Probability of Listeria Species Isolation from Natural Environments ▿

Many pathogens have the ability to survive and multiply in abiotic environments, representing a possible reservoir and source of human and animal exposure. Our objective was to develop a methodological framework to study spatially explicit environmental and meteorological factors affecting the probability of pathogen isolation from a location. Isolation of Listeria spp. from the natural environment was used as a model system. Logistic regression and classification tree methods were applied, and their predictive performances were compared. Analyses revealed that precipitation and occurrence of alternating freezing and thawing temperatures prior to sample collection, loam soil, water storage to a soil depth of 50 cm, slope gradient, and cardinal direction to the north are key predictors for isolation of Listeria spp. from a spatial location. Different combinations of factors affected the probability of isolation of Listeria spp. from the soil, vegetation, and water layers of a location, indicating that the three layers represent different ecological niches for Listeria spp. The predictive power of classification trees was comparable to that of logistic regression. However, the former were easier to interpret, making them more appealing for field applications. Our study demonstrates how the analysis of a pathogen's spatial distribution improves understanding of the predictors of the pathogen's presence in a particular location and could be used to propose novel control strategies to reduce human and animal environmental exposure