CD4 T cells are both protective and pathologic in mice following ocular herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection

A major challenge to combating ocular herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection lies in controlling the protective and immunopathological potential of the immune system. Numerous studies have shown that the immune system, especially CD8 T cells, plays an integral role in the establishment and maintenance of viral latency. In contrast, CD4 T cells mediate an immunoinflammatory response in the infected cornea termed herpes stromal keratitis (HSK) that leads to scarring and blindness. Here we address several hypotheses related to the role of CD4 T cells following ocular HSV-1 infection.First, we asked if stimulation through the costimulatory pair CD134/OX40L is required for the activation of CD4 T cells within the infected cornea and subsequent inflammation. Our findings established that both CD134 and OX40L are expressed in the cornea during HSK. However, blocking CD134/OX40L interactions did not alleviate HSK. Our second hypothesis was that HSV-specific CD4 T cells are required to initiate HSK, but bystander activation becomes important during the later, chronic stages of disease. To address this hypothesis we isolated and cloned CD4 T cells from infected corneas, demonstrated their reactivity to viral antigens, and confirmed their capacity to mediate HSK in nude mice. These cells will be used in future studies to investigate the relative role of antigen-specific and bystander activated CD4 T cells in HSK. Next, we tested the hypothesis that while CD4 T cells are the primary mediators of inflammation in the cornea, CD8 T cells can also mediate inflammation in their absence. Our findings established that CD8 T cells can mediate HSK, but CD8 T cell-mediated HSK is transient and only induced when high doses of virus are used to infect the cornea. We also tested our hypothesis that CD4 T cell help is required for the proper generation and maintenance of memory CD8 T cells at the site of viral latency. Our findings demonstrate that CD4 T cells control the contraction phase of the effector CD8 T cell response within the TG, the generation of CD8 memory precursors, and directly or indirectly influence viral genome burden within sensory neurons following ocular infection

Improved Calibration for the Analysis of Emerging Contaminants in Wastewater Using Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

The focus of this paper is to present techniques to overcome certain difficulties in quantitative analysis with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOF-MS). The method is based on conventional solid-phase extraction, followed by reversed-phase ultra high performance liquid chromatography of the extract, and mass spectrometric analysis. The target compounds included atenolol, atrazine, caffeine, carbamazepine, diclofenac, estrone, ibuprofen, naproxen, simazine, sucralose, sulfamethoxazole, and triclosan. The matrix effects caused by high concentrations of organic compounds in wastewater are especially significant in electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy. Internal-standard calibration with isotopically labeled standards corrects the results for many matrix effects, but some peculiarities were observed. The problems encountered in quantitation of carbamazepine and triclosan, due to nonlinear calibration were solved by changing the internal standard and using a narrower mass window. With simazine, the use of a quadratic calibration curve was the best solution.Peer reviewe

Identity Work within and beyond the Professions: Toward a Theoretical Integration and Extension

Chapter from Desilva, A. and M. Aparicio (Eds.), International Handbook of Professional Identities. Rosemead, CA: Scientific & Academic Publishing. Our chapter examines identity work within and beyond the professions. To lend structure to this emerging perspective, we being by forwarding a general theoretical model of identity work. We then reexamine and extend this model by examining identity work amongst professionals. To do so, we first depend connections with literature on the professions to highlight salient and unique dynamics facing this occupational group. We then assess these dynamics in light of our model. Specifically, we show how an examination of professionals can advance theories of identity work by highlighting new motives and triggers, and recasting identity work as a relational process

Reason for Being: Exploring the Formation and Members' Acceptance of Organizational Purpose in an Athletic Footwear and Apparel Company

Thesis advisor: Michael G. PrattThrough two inductive qualitative studies, this dissertation explores the surprising emergence, and members’ subsequent responses, to value-laden claims regarding “why we exist” – what members themselves and scholarship refers to as organizational purpose. Study One finds that, although unintended, the implementation of specific practices within this organization generated powerful emotional energy amongst members. Leaders subsequently grafted this energy into organizational symbols and engaged in meaning-making to articulate what this energy meant for why the organization existed. This study advances theories of organizational identity formation and Selznick’s institutionalism by highlighting an alternative unit of analysis focused on features of shared experiences rather than discourse, documenting an alternative generative mechanism focused on emotional energy, and recasting leaders not as ideological visionaries engaged in sensegiving, but by setting in place conditions to build, harvest, and articulate emotional energy. Study Two examines members subsequent responses to these value-laden claims, finding that members either broadly rejected claims finding them akin to a desired projected image or broadly accepted claims finding them to be real and implicating of the organization itself. These responses varied depending on various ways members construed the credibility of the organization, as well as the plausibility of the organization’s claims. This study advances theories of how members accept or reject organizational meanings by highlighting the ways in which members anthropomorphize organizations – treating them as if they were human beings – and evaluating claims in light of what they see as organizational traits, motives, and intentions. I addition, this study advances theory by identifying the critical importance of perceiving how products and services – “what we do” – is linked to claims regarding “why we exist.”Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015.Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management.Discipline: Management and Organization

Long-term survival among colorectal cancer patients in Finland, 1991-2015 : a nationwide population-based registry study

Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence in Finland has risen steadily. Given development in cancer treatments in recent decades, disease-specific data on the long-term prognosis of patients may be obsolete. Thus, this study aimed to report 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) and relative survival based on tumour spread and site among CRC patients diagnosed between 1991 and 2015 in Finland. Material and methods We conducted a population-based registry study among 59 465 CRC patients identified from the Finnish Cancer Registry. Results The 5-year DSS for all CRC patients was 56.7% [95% confidence interval (CI) 56.3-57.1%] for 1991 through 2015. Tumour site-specific survival has improved for the period 2006-2015 versus 1991-2005 for right-sided colon cancer from 54.8% (95% CI 53.8-55.8%) to 59.9% (95% CI 58.7-61.1%), for left-sided colon cancer from 54.1% (95% CI 52.9-55.3%) to 61.0% (95% CI 59.8-62.2%) and for rectal cancer from 53.6% (95% CI 52.2-55.0%) to 62.3% (95% CI 61.3-63.3%). The 5-year relative survival for the period 2006 through 2015 was 93.6% for localised disease (stage I); 84.2% for locally advanced tumour invading adjacent structures (stage II); 68.2% for regional disease with regional lymph node metastases (stage III); and 14.0% for metastatic disease (stage IV). Conclusions This study confirms that survival for CRC has improved in recent decades in Finland, mirroring observations from other Western countries. However, the classification of tumour spread within the Finnish Cancer Registry differs slightly from the TNM classification, thereby limiting the generalisability of these results.Peer reviewe

Impaired neural discrimination of emotional speech prosody in children with autism spectrum disorder and language impairment

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by deficient social and communication skills, including difficulties in perceiving speech prosody. The present study addressed processing of emotional prosodic changes (sad, scornful and commanding) in natural word stimuli in typically developed school aged children and in children with ASD and language impairment. We found that the responses to a repetitive word were diminished in amplitude in the children with ASD, reflecting impaired speech encoding. Furthermore, the amplitude of the MMN/LDN component, reflecting cortical discrimination of sound changes, was diminished in the children with ASD for the scornful deviant. In addition, the amplitude of the P3a, reflecting involuntary orienting to attention-catching changes, was diminished in the children with ASD for the scornful deviant and tended to be smaller for the sad deviant. These results suggest that prosody processing in ASD is impaired at various levels of neural processing, including deficient pre-attentive discrimination and involuntary orientation to speech prosody. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Coordination of Plastid and Light Signaling Pathways upon Development of Arabidopsis Leaves under Various Photoperiods

Plants synchronize their cellular and physiological functions according to the photoperiod ( the length of the light period) in the cycle of 24 h. Photoperiod adjusts several traits in the plant life cycle, including flowering and senescence in annuals and seasonal growth cessation in perennials. Photoperiodic development is controlled by the coordinated action of photoreceptors and the circadian clock. During the past 10 years, remarkable progress has been made in understanding the molecular mechanism of the circadian clock, especially with regard to the transition of Arabidopsis from the vegetative growth to the reproductive phase. Besides flowering photoperiod also modifies plant photosynthetic structures and traits. Light signals controlling biogenesis of chloroplasts and development of leaf photosynthetic structures are perceived both by photoreceptors and in chloroplasts. In this review, we provide evidence suggesting that the photoperiodic development of Arabidopsis leaves mimics the acclimation of plant to various light intensities. Furthermore, the chloroplast-to-nucleus retrograde signals that adjust acclimation to light intensity are proposed to contribute also to the signaling pathways that control photoperiodic acclimation of leaves.</p

A differential diagnosis of a head and neck bony lesion : Review of a case series with 18 patients with extraintestinal features of familial adenomatous polyposis

Peer reviewe

Nutrient loads from agricultural and forested areas in Finland from 1981 up to 2010-can the efficiency of undertaken water protection measures seen?

Long-term data from a network of intensively monitored research catchments in Finland was analysed. We studied temporal (1981-2010) and spatial variability in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), from 1987 losses, both from agricultural and forestry land. Based on trend analysis, total nitrogen (TN) concentrations increased in two of the four agricultural sites and in most of the forested sites. In agricultural catchments, the total phosphorus (TP) trends were decreasing in two of the four catchments studied. Dissolved P (DRP) concentrations increased in two catchments and decreased in one. The increase in DRP concentration can be a result of reducing erosion by increased non-plough cultivation and direct sowing. In forested catchments, the TP trends in 1987-2011 were significantly decreasing in three of the six catchments, while DRP concentrations decreased significantly in all sites. At the same time, P fertilisation in Finnish forests has decreased significantly, thus contributing to these changes. The mean annual specific loss for agricultural land was on average 15.5 kg ha(-1) year(-1) for N and 1.1 kg ha(-1) year(-1) for P. In the national scale, total TN loading from agriculture varied between 34,000-37,000 t year(-1) and total P loading 2400-2700 t year(-1) These new load estimates are of the same order than those reported earlier, emphasising the need for more efforts with wide-ranging and carefully targeted implementation of water protection measures.Peer reviewe

Space power distribution system technology. Volume 2: Autonomous power management

Electrical power subsystem requirements, power management system functional requirements, algorithms, power management subsystem, hardware development, and trade studies and analyses are discussed