Bordetella holmesii-like organisms isolated from Massachusetts patients with pertussis-like symptoms.

We isolated Bordetella holmesii, generally associated with septicemia in patients with underlying conditions, from nasopharyngeal specimens of otherwise healthy young persons with a cough. The proportion of B. holmesii-positive specimens submitted to the Massachusetts State Laboratory Institute increased from 1995 to 1998

Genome-wide association identifies nine common variants associated with fasting proinsulin levels and provides new insights into the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Proinsulin is a precursor of mature insulin and C-peptide. Higher circulating proinsulin levels are associated with impaired β-cell function, raised glucose levels, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Studies of the insulin processing pathway could provide new insights about T2D pathophysiology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We have conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association tests of ∼2.5 million genotyped or imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and fasting proinsulin levels in 10,701 nondiabetic adults of European ancestry, with follow-up of 23 loci in up to 16,378 individuals, using additive genetic models adjusted for age, sex, fasting insulin, and study-specific covariates. RESULTS: Nine SNPs at eight loci were associated with proinsulin levels (P < 5 × 10(-8)). Two loci (LARP6 and SGSM2) have not been previously related to metabolic traits, one (MADD) has been associated with fasting glucose, one (PCSK1) has been implicated in obesity, and four (TCF7L2, SLC30A8, VPS13C/C2CD4A/B, and ARAP1, formerly CENTD2) increase T2D risk. The proinsulin-raising allele of ARAP1 was associated with a lower fasting glucose (P = 1.7 × 10(-4)), improved β-cell function (P = 1.1 × 10(-5)), and lower risk of T2D (odds ratio 0.88; P = 7.8 × 10(-6)). Notably, PCSK1 encodes the protein prohormone convertase 1/3, the first enzyme in the insulin processing pathway. A genotype score composed of the nine proinsulin-raising alleles was not associated with coronary disease in two large case-control datasets. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified nine genetic variants associated with fasting proinsulin. Our findings illuminate the biology underlying glucose homeostasis and T2D development in humans and argue against a direct role of proinsulin in coronary artery disease pathogenesis

Exploring the Divides Among Students, Educators, and Practitioners in the Use of Digital Media as a Pedagogical Tool

Digital technologies pervade the higher education landscape as a way to build student engagement and enhance student learning and teaching. In practice, however, the ways in which these tools are implemented in marketing education appear to be ad hoc, rather than using a systematic approach to build engagement and provide students with the skill sets needed for 21st-century employment (including meta-skills, e.g., communication skills, critical thinking, technical skills in analytics, and understanding of connected consumer behavior). The research to date has built on the educator–student dyad. This article argues that an industry practitioner perspective also adds insight into how digital technology can rationally and purposefully be integrated into the marketing classroom. Using exploratory depth interviews with undergraduate students, educators, and industry practitioners, this article seeks to explore the emerging pedagogical challenges of representing these tripartite views in marketing module development and to provide recommendations for higher education institutions as to how best to do so. </jats:p