Koinonia

Best Practices FeaturesStudents of Concern Committee: Coordinating Care, Connie Horton and Mark Davis Want to Change Student Culture on Your Campus? Do the CORE!, Eric Lowdermilk Spotlight FeaturesYou Only Get 1 Up, Justin Heth and Caleb Farmer The Season, Sharon Virkler Book ReviewsThe Future of Christian Learning: An Evangelical and Catholic Dialogue (by Mark Noll and James Turner), reviewed by Philip D. Byers Restoring Rebecca: A Story of Traumatic Stress, Caregiving and the Unmasking of a Superhero (by Christopher Marchand), reviewed by David M. Johnstone A Review of Culture Making: Recovering our Creative Calling (by Andy Crouch), reviewed by Jeff Rioux Revisiting How Minority Students Experience College: Implications for Planning and Policy (by LKemuel Watson, Melvin Terrell, Doris Wright, Fred Bonner II, Michael Cuyjet, James Gold, Donna Rudy and Dawn Person), reviewed by Joshua Canada Excerpts from Breathe: Finding Freedom to Thrive in Relationships after Childhood Sexual Abuse, Nicole Braddock Bromley ReflectionsMy Journey into Student Affairs, Kim Stave FeaturesThe President\u27s Corner Editor\u27s Deskhttps://pillars.taylor.edu/acsd_koinonia/1079/thumbnail.jp

Surface reservoirs dominate dynamic gas-surface partitioning of many indoor air constituents

Human health is affected by indoor air quality. One distinctive aspect of the indoor environment is its very large surface area that acts as a poorly characterized sink and source of gas-phase chemicals. In this work, air-surface interactions of 19 common indoor air contaminants with diverse properties and sources were monitored in a house using fast-response, on-line mass spectrometric and spectroscopic methods. Enhanced-ventilation experiments demonstrate that most of the contaminants reside in the surface reservoirs and not, as expected, in the gas phase. They participate in rapid air-surface partitioning that is much faster than air exchange. Phase distribution calculations are consistent with the observations when assuming simultaneous equilibria between air and large weakly polar and polar absorptive surface reservoirs, with acid-base dissociation in the polar reservoir. Chemical exposure assessments must account for the finding that contaminants that are fully volatile under outdoor air conditions instead behave as semivolatile compounds indoors

Implementation of the Ebola Virus Persistence in Ocular Tissues and Fluids (EVICT) study: Lessons learned for vision health systems strengthening in Sierra Leone.

BACKGROUND: Following the West African Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak of 2013-2016 and more recent EVD outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands of EVD survivors are at-risk for sequelae including uveitis, which can lead to unremitting inflammation and vision loss from cataract. Because of the known risk of Ebola virus persistence in ocular fluid and the need to provide vision-restorative, safe cataract surgery, the Ebola Virus Persistence in Ocular Tissues and Fluids (EVICT) Study was implemented in Sierra Leone. During implementation of this multi-national study, challenges included regulatory approvals, mobilization, community engagement, infection prevention and control, and collaboration between multiple disciplines. In this report, we address the multifacted approach to address these challenges and the impact of implementation science research to address an urgent clinical subspecialty need in an outbreak setting. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Given the patient care need to develop a protocol to evaluate ocular fluid for Ebola virus RNA persistence prior to cataract surgery, as well as protocols to provide reassurance to ophthalmologists caring for EVD survivors with cataracts, the EVICT study was designed and implemented through the work of the Ministry of Health, Sierra Leone National Eye Programme, and international partnerships. The EVICT study showed that all 50 patients who underwent ocular fluid sampling at 19 and 34 months, respectively, tested negative for Ebola virus RNA. Thirty-four patients underwent successful cataract surgery with visual acuity improvement. Here we describe the methodology for study implementation, challenges encountered, and key issues that impacted EVD vision care in the immediate aftermath of the EVD outbreak. Key aspects of the EVICT study included defining the pertinent questions and clinical need, partnership alignment with key stakeholders, community engagement with EVD survivor associations, in-country and international regulatory approvals, study site design for infection prevention and control, and thorough plans for EVD survivor follow-up care and monitoring. Challenges encountered included patient mobilization owing to transportation routes and distance of patients in rural districts. Strong in-country partnerships and multiple international organizations overcame these challenges so that lessons learned could be applied for future EVD outbreaks in West and Central Africa including EVD outbreaks that are ongoing in Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The EVICT Study showed that cataract surgery with a protocol-driven approach was safe and vision-restorative for EVD survivors, which provided guidance for EVD ophthalmic surgical care. Ophthalmologic care remains a key aspect of the public health response for EVD outbreaks but requires a meticulous, yet partnered approach with international and local in-country partners. Future efforts may build on this framework for clinical care and to improve our understanding of ophthalmic sequelae, develop treatment paradigms for EVD survivors, and strengthen vision health systems in resource-limited settings

CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 attenuates microglial proliferation and neurodegeneration in P301S mice

Neuroinflammation and microglial activation are significant processes in Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Recent genome-wide association studies have highlighted multiple immune-related genes in association with Alzheimer’s disease, and experimental data have demonstrated microglial proliferation as a significant component of the neuropathology. In this study, we tested the efficacy of the selective CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 (JNJ-527) in the P301S mouse tauopathy model. We first demonstrated the anti-proliferative effects of JNJ-527 on microglia in the ME7 prion model, and its impact on the inflammatory profile, and provided potential CNS biomarkers for clinical investigation with the compound, including pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics and efficacy assessment by TSPO autoradiography and CSF proteomics. Then, we showed for the first time that blockade of microglial proliferation and modification of microglial phenotype leads to an attenuation of tau-induced neurodegeneration and results in functional improvement in P301S mice. Overall, this work strongly supports the potential for inhibition of CSF1R as a target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other tau-mediated neurodegenerative diseases

Population dynamics and spatial structure of the grey rockcod (Lepidonotothen squamifrons) in the vicinity of Heard Island and the McDonald Islands

International audienceThe grey rockcod, Lepidonotothen squamifrons is an important prey species for seals, penguins and Patagonian toothfish ( Dissostichus eleginoides ) in the Southern Ocean. Across the Kerguelen Plateau, the species was fished to commercial extinction ( ca . 152 000 tonnes between 1971 and 1978) prior to the declaration of the French Exclusive Economic Zone in 1979 and the Australian Fishing Zone in 1981. In this study we estimate; age, growth, maturity, sex ratio, body condition (weight-at-length), and population density of grey rockcod using data from 19 trawl surveys from 1990 to 2014. There appeared to be three distinct geographical populations, with differences in biological parameters within each population. This study has identified separate metapopulations within the southern region of the Kerguelen Plateau and we recommend that management should take into account the different characteristics of these populations, and that this meta-population structure may be a factor in why this species required several decades to show signs of recovery

Breast Cancer Genomics: Primary and Most Common Metastases

Specific genomic alterations have been found in primary breast cancer involving driver mutations that result in tumorigenesis. Metastatic breast cancer, which is uncommon at the time of disease onset, variably impacts patients throughout the course of their disease. Both the molecular profiles and diverse genomic pathways vary in the development and progression of metastatic breast cancer. From the most common metastatic site (bone), to the rare sites such as orbital, gynecologic, or pancreatic metastases, different levels of gene expression indicate the potential involvement of numerous genes in the development and spread of breast cancer. Knowledge of these alterations can, not only help predict future disease, but also lead to advancement in breast cancer treatments. This review discusses the somatic landscape of breast primary and metastatic tumors