Show Me St. Louis: Risk Assessment Through an 80-20 Framework

Researchers of crime and place have long explored the uneven distribution of crime within the built environment and repeatedly identified where crime is concentrated. The longstanding question pertaining to crime at the micro-level, is why crime concentrates. This study operates within environmental criminology, through an 80-20 framework, to explore the spatial distribution of crime across streets with crime generators and attractors in St. Louis, Missouri to fill this gap in the literature. A conjunctive analysis of case configurations is used to identify unique high and low-crime street profiles. Crime data from 2018 – 2019 are used from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to explore crime’s distribution, along with crime generators and attractors’ unique combinations, across streets. The findings of this study support literature on the 80-20 rule and law of crime concentration with implications for environmental criminology, policing, practitioners, and future studies. Keywords: crime and place, 80-20, conjunctive analysis of case configuratio

Influenza Virus–induced Dendritic Cell Maturation Is Associated with the Induction of Strong T Cell Immunity to a Coadministered, Normally Nonimmunogenic Protein

We evaluated the proposal that during microbial infection, dendritic cells (DCs) undergo maturation and present a mixture of peptides derived from the microbe as well as harmless environmental antigens. Mice were exposed to an aerosol of endotoxin free ovalbumin (OVA) in the absence or presence of influenza virus. In its absence, OVA failed to induce B and T cell responses and even tolerized, but with influenza, OVA-specific antibodies and CD8+ cytolytic T lymphocytes developed. With or without infection, OVA was presented selectively in the draining mediastinal lymph nodes, as assessed by the comparable proliferation of infused, CD8+ and CD4+, TCR transgenic T cells. In the absence of influenza, these OVA-specific T cells produced little IL-2, IL-4, IL-10, and IFN-γ, but with infection, both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells made high levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ. The OVA plus influenza-treated mice also showed accelerated recovery to a challenge with recombinant vaccinia OVA virus. CD11c+ DCs from the mediastinal lymph nodes of infected mice selectively stimulated both OVA- and influenza-specific T cells and underwent maturation, with higher levels of MHC class II, CD80, and CD86 molecules. The relatively slow (2–3 d) kinetics of maturation correlated closely to the time at which OVA inhalation elicited specific antibodies. Therefore respiratory infection can induce DC maturation and simultaneously B and T cell immunity to an innocuous antigen inhaled concurrently

Variation in the carotid bifurcation geometry of young versus older adults: Implications for geometric risk of atherosclerosis

Background and Purpose - Retrospective analysis of clinical data has demonstrated major variations in carotid bifurcation geometry, in support of the notion that an individual\u27s vascular anatomy or local hemodynamics may influence the development of atherosclerosis. On the other hand, anecdotal evidence suggests that vessel geometry is more homogenous in youth, which would tend to undermine this geometric risk hypothesis. The purpose of our study was to test whether the latter is indeed the case. Methods - Cross-sectional images of the carotid bifurcations of 25 young adults (24±4 years) and a control group of 25 older subjects (63±10 years) were acquired via MRI. Robust and objective techniques were developed to automatically characterize the 3D geometry of the bifurcation and the relative dimensions of the internal, external, and common carotid arteries (ICA, ECA, and CCA, respectively). Results - Young vessels exhibited significantly less interindividual variation in the following geometric parameters: bifurcation angle (48.5±6.3° versus 63.6±15.4°); ICA angle (21.6±6.7° versus 29.2±11.3°); CCA tortuosity (0.010±0.003 versus 0.014±0.011); ICA tortuosity (0.025±0.013 versus 0.086±0.105); ECA/CCA diameter ratio (0.81±0.06 versus 0.75±0.13), ICA/CCA (0.81 ±0.06 versus 0.77±0.12) diameter ratio, and bifurcation area ratio (1.32±0.15 versus 1.19±0.35). Conclusions - The finding of more modest interindividual variations in young adults suggests that, if there is a geometric risk for atherosclerosis, its early detection may prove challenging. Taken together with the major interindividual variations seen in older vessels, it suggests a more complex interrelationship between vascular geometry, local hemodynamics, vascular aging, and atherosclerosis, the elucidation of which now calls for prospective studies. © 2005 American Heart Association, Inc

An antigen-independent contact mechanism as an early step in T cell-proliferative responses to dendritic cells.

The administration ofan antigen to the immune system can lead to the selection and expansion of clones precommitted to respond to that antigen. Antigens are not presented directly to T lymphocytes. Instead, antigens are processed and complexed to transmembrane products of genes in the MHC. The antigen-MHC complexes then are presented on the surface of APC (1-4). How might antigen-MHC complexes on the surface ofAPC find and select clones of T cells that are specific to that antigen, since neither the ligand nor the TCR are free to diffuse in solution? Also, the amount of peptide/MHC complex and the frequency of antigen-specificTcell clones both may be small. Nonetheless, it is evident that antigens on dendritic cells are capable of selecting specificTlymphocytes from a pool of lymphocytes in culture. For example, on the first day of a primary MLR, most of the antigen-specific T cells have formed clusters with dendritic cells (5, 6). The clustered lymphocytes then proliferate and release lymphokines. The specificity of the dendriticT cell binding is evident by the facts that (a) the nonclustered population is selectively depleted of antigen-reactive T cells; and (b) th

Beyond Tryptophan Synthase: Identification of Genes That Contribute to Chlamydia trachomatis Survival during Gamma Interferon-Induced Persistence and Reactivation

Chlamydia trachomatis can enter a viable but nonculturable state in vitro termed persistence. A common feature of C. trachomatis persistence models is that reticulate bodies fail to divide and make few infectious progeny until the persistence-inducing stressor is removed. One model of persistence that has relevance to human disease involves tryptophan limitation mediated by the host enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, which converts l-tryptophan to N-formylkynurenine. Genital C. trachomatis strains can counter tryptophan limitation because they encode a tryptophan-synthesizing enzyme. Tryptophan synthase is the only enzyme that has been confirmed to play a role in interferon gamma (IFN-γ)-induced persistence, although profound changes in chlamydial physiology and gene expression occur in the presence of persistence-inducing stressors. Thus, we screened a population of mutagenized C. trachomatis strains for mutants that failed to reactivate from IFN-γ-induced persistence. Six mutants were identified, and the mutations linked to the persistence phenotype in three of these were successfully mapped. One mutant had a missense mutation in tryptophan synthase; however, this mutant behaved differently from previously described synthase null mutants. Two hypothetical genes of unknown function, ctl0225 and ctl0694, were also identified and may be involved in amino acid transport and DNA damage repair, respectively. Our results indicate that C. trachomatis utilizes functionally diverse genes to mediate survival during and reactivation from persistence in HeLa cells

A Practical Approach for Wall Shear Stress Topological Skeleton Analysis Applied to Intracranial Aneurysm Hemodynamics

The physiopathological role of Wall Shear Stress (WSS) in intracranial aneurysm development/rupture and the action of contraction/expansion played by shear forces on vessel wall make topological skeleton analysis of the WSS vector field of great interest. Here we present a practical way to analyze WSS topological skeleton through the identification and classification of WSS fixed points and manifolds. The method is based on the calculation of the WSS vector field divergence and Poincarè index, and it is here successfully applied to a dataset computational hemodynamic models of intracranial aneurysms

A Eulerian method to analyze wall shear stress fixed points and manifolds in cardiovascular flows

Based upon dynamical systems theory, a fixed point of a vector field such as the wall shear stress (WSS) at the luminal surface of a vessel is a point where the vector field vanishes. Unstable/stable manifolds identify contraction/expansion regions linking fixed points. The significance of such WSS topological features lies in their strong link with “disturbed” flow features like flow stagnation, separation and reversal, deemed responsible for vascular dysfunction initiation and progression. Here, we present a Eulerian method to analyze WSS topological skeleton through the identification and classification of WSS fixed points and manifolds in complex vascular geometries. The method rests on the volume contraction theory and analyzes the WSS topological skeleton through the WSS vector field divergence and Poincare´ index. The method is here applied to computational hemodynamics models of carotid bifurcation and intracranial aneurysm. An in-depth analysis of the time dependence of the WSS topological skeleton along the cardiac cycle is provided, enriching the information obtained from cycle-average WSS. Among the main findings, it emerges that on the carotid bifurcation, instantaneous WSS fixed points co-localize with cycle-average WSS fixed points for a fraction of the cardiac cycle ranging from 0 to 14.5 % ; a persistent instantaneous WSS fixed point confined on the aneurysm dome does not co-localize with the cycle-average low-WSS region. In conclusion, the here presented approach shows the potential to speed up studies on the physiological significance of WSS topological skeleton in cardiovascular flows, ultimately increasing the chance of finding mechanistic explanations to clinical observations

Using Downhole Probes to Locate and Characterize Buried Transuranic and Mixed Low Level Waste

Borehole logging probes were developed and tested to locate and quantify transuranic elements in subsurface disposal areas and in contaminated sites at USDOE Weapons Complex sites. A new method of measuring very high levels of chlroine in the subsurface was developed using pulsed neutron technology from oilfield applications. The probes were demonstrated at the Hanford site in wells containing plutonium and other contaminants