Jackknife test of individual variable importance in the development of the final Maxent model relative to overall model quality or “total gain” (yellow bar).

<p>For each environmental variable the blue bar shows how much the total gain is diminished if that specific variable is excluded from analysis. In contrast the red bar shows the gain achieved if a single variable is used alone and the remaining variables are excluded from analysis. evi = enhanced vegetation index; ndvi = normalized difference vegetation index; SDV = standard deviation. The date range associated with each vegetation index corresponds to the specific 16-day interval over which the composite value was collected.</p

Influenza vaccination status and absences due to fever or cough among FERPA-consented students at exposed and non-exposed schools.

<p>Vaccination status was determined by an immunization registry; students who were partially vaccinated were excluded.</p

Predicted potential geography of <i>B. dermatitidis</i> in Wisconsin based on maximum entropy modeling using all occurrence points.

<p>Low values (white and light red shades) represent habitats that have low suitability to support the fungus. Darker shades of red indicate favorable habitats, and are clustered around waterways in northern Wisconsin and along the Lake Michigan shoreline in the south.</p

Influenza vaccination status for students with and without FERPA consent to monitor absences.

*<p>students with parental FERPA consent.</p><p>Vaccination status and enrollment was determined as of January 3, 2011.</p

A. Blastomycosis cases reported to the Wisconsin Division of Health and Family Services by county from 2000–2006.

<p>Darker shades of gray indicate higher number of cases and lighter shades correspond to fewer cases. Stars are present at sites of reported blastomycosis outbreaks and the hatched area corresponds to the endemic region depicted in the map from Panel B. B. Distribution map of blastomycosis in the United States and Canada. The state of Wisconsin is outlined by the dark line. Note that northcentral Wisconsin is not included as an endemic area in this map published in 2007. Reprinted with permission from the New England Journal of Medicine <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0002034#pone.0002034-Watts1" target="_blank">[9]</a>.</p

Pro-inflammatory immune responses are associated with clinical signs and symptoms of human anaplasmosis

<div><p>Human anaplasmosis (HA) is an emerging tick-borne disease that may present as a mild flu-like illness or a life threatening, sepsis-like condition. Although disease severity is hypothesized to relate to immunopathology and immune dysfunction in humans, studies to directly measure immune responses in infected humans have been very limited. We quantified cytokines in 80 confirmed HA patients using a multiplex chemiluminescence immunoassay system and compared similarly measured responses in 1000 control subjects. Pro-inflammatory cytokines were significantly elevated in HA patients (all seven p<0.0001). Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) concentrations were particularly high, with average concentrations 7.8 times higher in the HA patients than the controls. A subset of cytokines consisting of IL-1β, IL-8, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-10 was also coordinately high and significantly associated with severity of thrombocytopenia in HA patients. Patients with infections in the very acute stage (≤ 4 days ill) tended to have the highest IFN-γ, IL-12p70, and IL-2 levels. Higher concentrations of IL-13 and IL-5 were associated with diarrhea and vomiting. Our findings support a pathophysiological role for a pro-inflammatory response in HA, especially with regard to the modulation of hematopoiesis and subsequent hematopoietic complications.</p></div

Comparisons of cytokines between HA patients and controls.

<p>Logarithmic concentrations (pg/mL) of cytokines measured in the HA patients (n = 80) compared to controls (n = 1000) for the Th1/pro-inflammatory cytokines (A) and the Th2 cytokines measured in 41 of the HA patients (B). Boxplots representing the 25%, 50%, and 75% quartiles and the 95% confidence intervals of the medians for each sample group are displayed.</p

Averages (1 S.D.) and comparisons of the log-transformed cytokine concentrations (pg/mL) detected in the HA patients and controls included in the study.

<p>Averages (1 S.D.) and comparisons of the log-transformed cytokine concentrations (pg/mL) detected in the HA patients and controls included in the study.</p

Ordination of patients.

<p>Ordination of HA patients (n = 80) and controls (n = 1000) based on the component 1 and component 2 scores obtained from the PCA done on the seven Th1/pro-inflammatory cytokines measured in the study.</p

Demographics and clinical characteristics of patients with human anaplasmosis.

<p>Demographics and clinical characteristics of patients with human anaplasmosis.</p