The roles of resident, central and effector memory CD4 T cells in protective immunity following infection or vaccination

Immunological memory provides rapid protection to pathogens previously encountered through infection or vaccination. CD4 T cells play a central role in all adaptive immune responses. Vaccines must, therefore, activate CD4 T cells if they are to generate protective immunity. For many diseases, we do not have effective vaccines. These include HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, which are responsible for many millions of deaths each year across the globe. CD4 T cells play many different roles during the immune response coordinating the actions of many other cells. In order to harness the diverse protective effects of memory CD4 T cells we need to understand how memory CD4 T cells are generated and how they protect the host. Here we review recent findings on the location of different subsets of memory CD4 T cells that are found in peripheral tissues (tissue resident memory T cells) and in the circulation (central and effector memory T cells). We discuss the generation of these cells and the evidence that demonstrates how they provide immune protection in animal and human challenge models

A Straining in the Text: Women Writers and the Deconstruction of the Sentimental Plot 1845-1900

In the nineteenth century, most sentimental marriage-plot novels by women include a female bildungsroman that terminates with the heroines containment in marriage. The tension between this bildungsroman and the expectations of the marriage-plot novel are examined as a deconstructive gap through which women interrogated the cultural and social realities of their lives under cover of the socially accepted form of the marriage-plot novel. A discussion of the historical realities of women's lives is presented and an embedded interrogation of this reality in the novels is exposed. This examination is Anglo-American in nature including studies of Charlotte Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell, Louisa May Alcott and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. At the heart of this deconstructive gap is the experimentation with female relationships, relationships that progressively emerge as the focus of these novels and the decentering force of the marriage-plot. Specifically, female mentoring relationships, which educate the heroine in the ways of the marriage market and, by implication, in the ways of survival in patriarchy, are the source of experimentation. In addition, the psycho-social underpinnings of female development are explored to facilitate an understanding of the nature of these relationships. All of the authors considered in this study have a self-consciousness about their participation in the sentimental tradition and an irony about the expectations the form contains and the reality that their characters experience. Bronte's Shirley, Gaskell's Wives and Daughters, Alcott's Little Women and Work: A story of Experience, and Phelps's Silent Partner demonstrate the power of female relationships to facilitate private survival in a world marked by separate spheres and limited opportunity. A recurring theme in all these novels is the idleness imposed on middle-class women and the heroine's desire for meaningful work. In a chronological progression, the resolution in marriage becomes increasingly less tolerable and/or satisfying, a progression that culminates in the deconstruction of the marriage closure in alternative communities of women (post-marriage) or single alternatives

Adipose Tissue\u27s Potential Role as a Reproductive or Lactation Endocrine Gland

While adipose tissue secretes hormones related to nutrition and metabolism, a few studies have provided evidence suggesting a direct reproductive role from adipose-derived products. The goal of this study was to determine if adipose tissue serves as a reproductive or lactation endocrine gland. Adipose tissue was associated with the reproductive tract of mature female cows in two locations, mesosalpinx and mesometrium (tissues supporting the oviduct and uterus, respectively), in varying amounts. Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction on a non-descript pool of cows, LHβ, CGA, PRL, FST, and LEP transcripts were demonstrated to be present in mesosalpinx, subcutaneous, visceral, and peri-renal adipose depots. Subsequent efforts aimed to determine the influence of adiposity on transcript abundance. Body condition score was used to separate cows into two adiposity groups, which were confirmed by adipocyte size. Adiposity did not influence the abundance of LHβ, but the CGA transcript was influenced by the adiposity by depot interaction. The PRL transcript was also not influenced by adiposity. The FST transcript was more abundant in BCS 3 cows, while LEP was more abundant in BCS 6 cows. Protein efforts utilizing an RIA revealed the presence of luteinizing hormone in all four adipose depots. Using an antibody against purified pituitary-derived prolactin, a band was detected in 6/9 mesosalpinx adipose depots similar in size to that observed in the pituitary. Presence of transcripts and hormones in adipose tissue provides the framework necessary for adipose to be a reproductive or lactation endocrine gland, though secretion would also be required. Secretion of such hormones by specific adipose depots could provide local effects to nearby tissues

Mapping Gettysburg: Baltimore Street in 1910

In 1910, the town of Gettysburg was a thriving, bustling place. The Civil War was long over, and the town had begun to profit from tourists who wished to see the site of the famous battle. Business boomed. Merchants moved in and out of buildings and young families set up housekeeping in their own homes, raising their children and getting off to a running start in their chosen professions. There were cars in the streets next to the old horse-drawn buggies and electricity had begun to replace the gas lamps and candles of the Victorian era. For all that the town was growing rapidly, however, it was still subject to turn of the century problems. Tuberculosis was still widespread and killed many people every year - indeed, lung diseases in general seem to have plagued the country. Kidney disease was another concern, as were rats and other pests. On the whole, Gettysburg was a town in transition -not yet firmly in the twentieth century, but no longer a part of the nineteenth century either. [excerpt

There’s a standard for that: Aligning academic aspirations, professional standards, and ALA accreditation

The Syracuse University library and information science (LIS) program has committed to a new focus on INformation Justice, Equity, and Community EngagemenT (INJECT) that will guide a redesign of our program and redefine our commitment to our students, our coursework, and our impact on the information profession and broader community. While INJECT concepts form the bedrock of our new curriculum, our program is committed to being responsive to library professional standards as well as the ALA Standards for Accreditation of Master’s Programs in Library and Information Studies. Professional standards produced by library associations including ALA, IFLA, ACRL, SLA, RUSA, and YALSA reflect the needs of the library profession and impact the knowledge, skills, abilities, and dispositions librarians need to learn. In designing professional curriculum, LIS faculty must respond to and design for existing standards and competency lists in order to create a program that correlates with the ideals held by various library organizations. At the same time, LIS programs must demonstrate alignment with ALA Standards for Accreditation. So, how do the various competency lists compare to accreditation standards? How do the competencies and standards support INJECT topics, including critical librarianship, social justice, and equity and where do they fall short? This poster reveals an analysis and alignment of professional standards, accreditation standards, and our aspirations to better represent information justice, equity, and community engagement in LIS. This work can enable faculty to transform LIS curricula and create a resilient future for our programs, our student, and the broader LIS profession

Nesting Behavior of Palila, as Assessed from Video Recordings

We quantified nesting behavior of Palila (Loxioides bailleui), an endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper, by recording at nests during three breeding seasons using a black-and-white video camera connected to a videocassette recorder. A total of seven nests was observed. We measured the following factors for daylight hours: percentage of time the female was on the nest (attendance), length of attendance bouts by the female, length of nest recesses, and adult provisioning rates. Comparisons were made between three stages of the 40-day nesting cycle: incubation (day 1–day 16), early nestling stage (day 17–day 30 [i.e., nestlings ≤ 14 days old]), and late nestling stage (day 31–day 40 [i.e., nestlings \u3e 14 days old]). Of seven nests observed, four fledged at least one nestling and three failed. One of these failed nests was filmed being depredated by a feral cat (Felis catus). Female nest attendance was near 82% during the incubation stage and decreased to 21% as nestlings aged. We did not detect a difference in attendance bout length between stages of the nesting cycle. Mean length of nest recesses increased from 4.5 min during the incubation stage to over 45 min during the late nestling stage. Mean number of nest recesses per hour ranged from 1.6 to 2.0. Food was delivered to nestlings by adults an average of 1.8 times per hour for the early nestling stage and 1.5 times per hour during the late nestling stage and did not change over time. Characterization of parental behavior by video had similarities to but also key differences from findings taken from blind observations. Results from this study will facilitate greater understanding of Palila reproductive strategies

Long-Term Outcomes of an Abstinence-Based, Small-Group Pregnancy Prevention Program in New York City Schools

Context: Despite drops in U.S. teenage birthrates, questions continue to arise about how best to reduce the country\u27s adolescent birthrate. School-based programs continue to be considered one of the best ways to reach adolescents at risk of early sexual activity. Methods: A total of 312 students completed a pretest, a posttest and a follow-up one year after the posttest: 125 who had participated in a 3-4-month-long abstinence-based small-group intervention led by trained social workers, and 187 in a comparison group that received no special services. Results: There were few significant differences between the intervention and comparison groups at posttest. At the one-year follow-up, however, intervention students had significantly better scores on locus of control, their relationship with their parents and (among males only) their attitudes about the appropriateness of teenage sex. Measures of depression, self-esteem, intentions to have sex, attitudes toward teenage pregnancy and various behaviors did not differ significantly between groups. By the time of the one-year follow-up, there was no difference between study groups among females in the initiation of sexual intercourse. Among the males, initiation of sexual intercourse appeared to be higher in the intervention group than in the comparison group, but the difference was not statistically significant. Positive outcomes were especially limited among students who were already sexually active at the start of the study, a finding that emphasizes the difficulties of reaching adolescents who are already at high risk for pregnancy. Conclusions: A small-group abstinence-based intervention focusing on mental health can have some impact on adolescents\u27 attitudes and relationships (particularly with their parents). Long-term evaluations are important for determining the effects of an intervention, as it is difficult to change adolescent risk behavior

Microhematuria in Postmenopausal Women: Adherence to Guidelines in a Tertiary Care Setting

In 2012, the American Urological Association released a revision of their asymptomatic microscopic hematuria (AMH) guidelines. Our objectives were to assess adherence to these guidelines and to describe the prevalence of urinary tract malignancy in postmenopausal women at our institution

GLARE: A Dataset for Traffic Sign Detection in Sun Glare

Real-time machine learning detection algorithms are often found within autonomous vehicle technology and depend on quality datasets. It is essential that these algorithms work correctly in everyday conditions as well as under strong sun glare. Reports indicate glare is one of the two most prominent environment-related reasons for crashes. However, existing datasets, such as LISA and the German Traffic Sign Recognition Benchmark, do not reflect the existence of sun glare at all. This paper presents the GLARE traffic sign dataset: a collection of images with U.S based traffic signs under heavy visual interference by sunlight. GLARE contains 2,157 images of traffic signs with sun glare, pulled from 33 videos of dashcam footage of roads in the United States. It provides an essential enrichment to the widely used LISA Traffic Sign dataset. Our experimental study shows that although several state-of-the-art baseline methods demonstrate superior performance when trained and tested against traffic sign datasets without sun glare, they greatly suffer when tested against GLARE (e.g., ranging from 9% to 21% mean mAP, which is significantly lower than the performances on LISA dataset). We also notice that current architectures have better detection accuracy (e.g., on average 42% mean mAP gain for mainstream algorithms) when trained on images of traffic signs in sun glare

Adjustment for survey non-participation using record linkage and multiple imputation: A validity assessment exercise using the Health 2000 survey

Aims: It is becoming increasingly possible to obtain additional information about health survey participants, though not usually non-participants, via record linkage. We aimed to assess the validity of an assumption underpinning a method developed to mitigate non-participation bias. We use a survey in Finland where it is possible to link both participants and non-participants to administrative registers. Survey-derived alcohol consumption is used as the exemplar outcome. Methods: Data on participants (85.5%) and true non-participants of the Finnish Health 2000 survey (invited survey sample N=7167 aged 30-79 years) and a contemporaneous register-based population sample (N=496,079) were individually linked to alcohol-related hospitalisation and death records. Applying the methodology to create synthetic observations on non-participants, we created 'inferred samples' (participants and inferred non-participants). Relative differences (RDs) between the inferred sample and the invited survey sample were estimated overall and by education. Five per cent limits were used to define acceptable RDs. Results: Average weekly consumption estimates for men were 129 g and 131 g of alcohol in inferred and invited survey samples, respectively (RD -1.6%; 95% confidence interval (CI) -2.2 to -0.04%) and 35 g for women in both samples (RD -1.1%; 95% CI -2.4 to -0.8%). Estimates for men with secondary levels of education had the greatest RD (-2.4%; 95% CI -3.7 to -1.1%). Conclusions: The sufficiently small RDs between inferred and invited survey samples support the assumption validity and use of our methodology for adjusting for non-participation. However, the presence of some significant differences means caution is required.Peer reviewe