SkinSafe: Comparing Staphylococcus aureus Growth Across Liner Types in Kenya

The interface between an amputee’s residual limb and prosthetic liner is at risk for high levels of bacterial growth which can lead to infection. Silicone liners have the advantage of patient comfort, but they may have a sealing effect that could exacerbate bacterial growth, which is particularly a concern in places lacking clean water such as Kijabe, Kenya. To investigate this concern, the SkinSafe team has conducted a prosthetic liner study using a bacterial skin model which suspends a liner and a layer of agar above a self-regulating heat and water source to capture the dynamic behavior of the skin–liner interface. Staphylococcus aureus was grown on this model using three different liners: the Ossur Iceross silicone liner, the Namaste silicone liner, and the sock–EVA liner. Final growth concentrations will be compared between the three liner types to determine whether silicone liners require additional hygiene protocols for use in Kenya. Funding for this work provided by The Collaboratory for Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research.https://mosaic.messiah.edu/engr2022/1015/thumbnail.jp

Podocalyxin in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer

Kelly M. McNagny, Michael R. Hughes, Marcia L. Graves, Erin J. DeBruin, Kimberly Snyder, Jane Cipollone, Michelle Turvey, Poh C. Tan, Shaun McColl and Calvin D. Roskelle

Pan-viral serology implicates enteroviruses in acute flaccid myelitis.

Since 2012, the United States of America has experienced a biennial spike in pediatric acute flaccid myelitis (AFM)1-6. Epidemiologic evidence suggests non-polio enteroviruses (EVs) are a potential etiology, yet EV RNA is rarely detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)2. CSF from children with AFM (n = 42) and other pediatric neurologic disease controls (n = 58) were investigated for intrathecal antiviral antibodies, using a phage display library expressing 481,966 overlapping peptides derived from all known vertebrate and arboviruses (VirScan). Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of AFM CSF RNA (n = 20 cases) was also performed, both unbiased sequencing and with targeted enrichment for EVs. Using VirScan, the viral family significantly enriched by the CSF of AFM cases relative to controls was Picornaviridae, with the most enriched Picornaviridae peptides belonging to the genus Enterovirus (n = 29/42 cases versus 4/58 controls). EV VP1 ELISA confirmed this finding (n = 22/26 cases versus 7/50 controls). mNGS did not detect additional EV RNA. Despite rare detection of EV RNA, pan-viral serology frequently identified high levels of CSF EV-specific antibodies in AFM compared with controls, providing further evidence for a causal role of non-polio EVs in AFM

Impact of Experience Corps® Participation on Children’s Academic Achievement and School Behavior

This article reports on the impact of the Experience Corps® (EC) Baltimore program, an intergenerational, school-based program aimed at improving academic achievement and reducing disruptive school behavior in urban, elementary school students in Kindergarten through third grade (K-3). Teams of adult volunteers aged 60 and older were placed in public schools, serving 15 h or more per week, to perform meaningful and important roles to improve the educational outcomes of children and the health and well-being of volunteers. Findings indicate no significant impact of the EC program on standardized reading or mathematical achievement test scores among children in grades 1–3 exposed to the program. K-1st grade students in EC schools had fewer principal office referrals compared to K-1st grade students in matched control schools during their second year in the EC program; second graders in EC schools had fewer suspensions and expulsions than second graders in non-EC schools during their first year in the EC program. In general, both boys and girls appeared to benefit from the EC program in school behavior. The results suggest that a volunteer engagement program for older adults can be modestly effective for improving selective aspects of classroom behavior among elementary school students in under-resourced, urban schools, but there were no significant improvements in academic achievement. More work is needed to identify individual- and school-level factors that may help account for these results

Attachment of Salmonella strains to a plant cell wall model is modulated by surface characteristics and not by specific carbohydrate interactions

Background: Processing of fresh produce exposes cut surfaces of plant cell walls that then become vulnerable to human foodborne pathogen attachment and contamination, particularly by Salmonella enterica. Plant cell walls are mainly composed of the polysaccharides cellulose, pectin and hemicelluloses (predominantly xyloglucan). Our previous work used bacterial cellulose-based plant cell wall models to study the interaction between Salmonella and the various plant cell wall components. We demonstrated that Salmonella attachment was favoured in the presence of pectin while xyloglucan had no effect on its attachment. Xyloglucan significantly increased the attachment of Salmonella cells to the plant cell wall model only when it was in association with pectin. In this study, we investigate whether the plant cell wall polysaccharides mediate Salmonella attachment to the bacterial cellulose-based plant cell wall models through specific carbohydrate interactions or through the effects of carbohydrates on the physical characteristics of the attachment surface. Results: We found that none of the monosaccharides that make up the plant cell wall polysaccharides specifically inhibit Salmonella attachment to the bacterial cellulose-based plant cell wall models. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed that Salmonella cells can penetrate and attach within the tightly arranged bacterial cellulose network. Analysis of images obtained from atomic force microscopy revealed that the bacterial cellulose-pectin-xyloglucan composite with 0.3 % (w/v) xyloglucan, previously shown to have the highest number of Salmonella cells attached to it, had significantly thicker cellulose fibrils compared to other composites. Scanning electron microscopy images also showed that the bacterial cellulose and bacterial cellulose-xyloglucan composites were more porous when compared to the other composites containing pectin. Conclusions: Our study found that the attachment of Salmonella cells to cut plant cell walls was not mediated by specific carbohydrate interactions. This suggests that the attachment of Salmonella strains to the plant cell wall models were more dependent on the structural characteristics of the attachment surface. Pectin reduces the porosity and space between cellulose fibrils, which then forms a matrix that is able to retain Salmonella cells within the bacterial cellulose network. When present with pectin, xyloglucan provides a greater surface for Salmonella cells to attach through the thickening of cellulose fibrils

'You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink': Exploring children's engagement and resistance in family therapy

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10591-012-9220-8Children’s engagement and disengagement, adherence and non-adherence, compliance and non-compliance in healthcare have important implications for services. In family therapy mere attendance to the appointments is no guarantee of engaging in the treatment process and as children are not the main initiators of attendance engaging them through the process can be a complex activity for professionals. Through a conversation analysis of naturally occurring family therapy sessions we explore the main discursive strategies that children employ in this context to passively and actively disengage from the therapeutic process and investigate how the therapists manage and attend to this. We note that children competently remove themselves from therapy through passive resistance, active disengagement, and by expressing their autonomy. Analysis reveals that siblings of the constructed ‘problem’ child are given greater liberty in involvement. We conclude by demonstrating how therapists manage the delicate endeavour of including all family members in the process and how engagement and re-engagement are essential for meeting goals and discuss broader implications for healthcare and other settings where children may disengage

Determinants of multimorbidity in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review of longitudinal studies and discovery of evidence gaps

Summary: Multimorbidity—the coexistence of at least two chronic health conditions within the same individual—is an important global health challenge. In high‐income countries (HICs), multimorbidity is dominated by non‐communicable diseases (NCDs); whereas, the situation may be different in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs), where chronic communicable diseases remain prominent. The aim of this systematic review was to identify determinants (including risk and protective factors) and potential mechanisms underlying multimorbidity from published longitudinal studies across diverse population‐based or community‐dwelling populations in LMICs. We systematically searched three electronic databases (Medline, Embase, and Global Health) using pre‐defined search terms and selection criteria, complemented by hand‐searching. All titles, abstracts, and full texts were independently screened by two reviewers from a pool of four researchers. Data extraction and reporting were according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Methodological quality and risk of bias assessment was performed using the Newcastle‐Ottawa Scale for cohort studies. Data were summarized using narrative synthesis. The search yielded 1782 records. Of the 52 full‐text articles included for review, 8 longitudinal population‐based studies were included for final data synthesis. Almost all studies were conducted in Asia, with only one from South America and none from Africa. All studies were published in the last decade, with half published in the year 2021. The definitions used for multimorbidity were heterogeneous, including 3–16 chronic conditions per study. The leading chronic conditions were heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, and there was a lack of consideration of mental health conditions (MHCs), infectious diseases, and undernutrition. Prospectively evaluated determinants included socio‐economic status, markers of social inequities, childhood adversity, lifestyle behaviors, obesity, dyslipidemia, and disability. This review revealed a paucity of evidence from LMICs and a geographical bias in the distribution of multimorbidity research. Longitudinal research into epidemiological aspects of multimorbidity is warranted to build up scientific evidence in regions beyond Asia. Such evidence can provide a detailed picture of disease development, with important implications for community, clinical, and interventions in LMICs. The heterogeneity in study designs, exposures, outcomes, and statistical methods observed in the present review calls for greater methodological standardisation while conducting epidemiological studies on multimorbidity. The limited evidence for MHCs, infectious diseases, and undernutrition as components of multimorbidity calls for a more comprehensive definition of multimorbidity globally

Progressive Activation of CD127+132− Recent Thymic Emigrants into Terminally Differentiated CD127−132+ T-Cells in HIV-1 Infection

AIM: HIV infection is associated with distortion of T-cell homeostasis and the IL-7/IL7R axis. Progressive infection results in loss of CD127+132- and gains in CD127-132+ CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. We investigated the correlates of loss of CD127 from the T-cell surface to understand mechanisms underlying this homeostatic dysregulation. METHODS: Peripheral and cord blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs; CBMC) from healthy volunteers and PBMC from patients with HIV infection were studied. CD127+132-, CD127+132+ and CD127-132+ T-cells were phenotyped by activation, differentiation, proliferation and survival markers. Cellular HIV-DNA content and signal-joint T-cell receptor excision circles (sjTRECs) were measured. RESULTS: CD127+132- T-cells were enriched for naïve cells while CD127-132+ T-cells were enriched for activated/terminally differentiated T-cells in CD4+ and CD8+ subsets in health and HIV infection. HIV was associated with increased proportions of activated/terminally differentiated CD127-132+ T-cells. In contrast to CD127+132- T-cells, CD127-132+ T-cells were Ki-67+Bcl-2(low) and contained increased levels of HIV-DNA. Naïve CD127+132- T-cells contained a higher proportion of sjTRECs. CONCLUSION: The loss of CD127 from the T-cell surface in HIV infection is driven by activation of CD127+132- recent thymic emigrants into CD127-132+ activated/terminally differentiated cells. This process likely results in an irreversible loss of CD127 and permanent distortion of T-cell homeostasis

VIP Enhances Phagocytosis of Fibrillar Beta-Amyloid by Microglia and Attenuates Amyloid Deposition in the Brain of APP/PS1 Mice

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a multifunctional neuropeptide with demonstrated immunosuppressive and neuroprotective activities. It has been shown to inhibit Amyloid beta (Aβ)-induced neurodegeneration by indirectly suppressing the production and release of a variety of inflammatory and neurotoxic factors by activated microglia. We demonstrated that VIP markedly increased microglial phagocytosis of fibrillar Aβ42 and that this enhanced phagocytotic activity depended on activation of the Protein kinase C (PKC) signaling pathway. In addition, VIP suppressed the release of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and nitric oxide(NO) from microglia activated by combined treatment with fibrillar Aβ42 and low dose interferon-γ (IFN-γ). We utilized an adenovirus-mediated gene delivery method to overexpress VIP constitutively in the hippocampus of APPswPS1 transgenic mice. The Aβ load was significantly reduced in the hippocampus of this animal model of Alzheimer's disease, possibly due to the accumulation and activation of cd11b-immunoactive microglial cells. The modulation of microglial activation, phagocytosis, and secretion by VIP is a promising therapeutic option for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease(AD)