Effects of Clostridium difficile on the human immune response

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that is rapidly becoming a large issue in the medical community due to its tendency to infect hospital patients and its resistance to antibiotics. By studying the way in which the pathogen interacts with the human immune system, it is possible to better understand how the body naturally fights off the disease. This knowledge can allow medical professionals to develop treatments that can help curtail the infection before serious symptoms occur. Working under a grant program alongside Professors Kirsten Hokeness and Chris Reid, I was able to research the effects that exposure to the C. difficile bacteria has on healthy human immune cells. Our findings show that there is a heightened level of chemokine production in these cells, which is indicative of an immune response to combat the C. difficile infection

Life during wartime: aspirational kinship and the management of insecurity

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94521/1/jrai1789.pd

Ebola: How a People’s Science Helped End an Epidemic. Paul Richards. London: Zed Books, 2016. 192 pp.

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144251/1/amet12640.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144251/2/amet12640_am.pd

Landscapes of Settlement in Northern Iceland: Historical Ecology of Human Impact and Climate Fluctuation on the Millennial Scale

Early settlement in the North Atlantic produced complex interactions of culture and nature. The sustained program of interdisciplinary collaboration is intended to focus on ninth- to 13th-century sites and landscapes in the highland interior lake basin of M´yvatn in Iceland and to contribute a long-term perspective to larger issues of sustainable resource use, soil erosion, and the historical ecology of global change

Development of Coastal Marine Services for Tackling Coastal Risks in the Atlantic Area: the value of regional cooperation

The MyCOAST project (http://mycoast-project.org/) is an INTERREG Atlantic Area project designed to demonstrate that marine services for tackling coastal risks can be jointly developed. The main innovation and originality of the project stems from the implementation of transferable tools able to improve the risk management systems operated in the Atlantic Area. A successful outcome was achieved by identifying mature existing tools and selecting those that could be further developed by partners during the project duration. Demonstration of the tools in pilot actions showed that they are effective in supporting end users and relocatable among different regions in the Atlantic Area.Le projet MyCOAST (http://mycoast-project.org/) est un projet INTERREG de l'Espace Atlantique destiné à démontrer que les services maritimes pour faire face aux risques côtiers peuvent être développés conjointement. La principale innovation et originalité du projet réside dans la mise en œuvre d'outils transférables capables d'améliorer les systèmes de gestion des risques exploités dans l'Espace Atlantique. L'identification d'outils matures existants et la sélection de ceux qui pourraient être développés par les partenaires pendant la durée du projet ont permis d'atteindre un résultat positif. La démonstration des outils dans des actions pilotes a montré qu'ils sont efficaces pour soutenir les utilisateurs finaux et qu'ils peuvent être transférés dans différentes régions de l'Espace Atlantique.En prens

The Grizzly, November 19, 1997

British Nanny\u27s Sentence Reduced to Time Served • Lights, Camera, Incest! • Reimert Suite Beat • And the Show Went on • Exam Schedule • Dorm Improvements • Opinion: Help Yourself, Help Others; Ursinus Humanities Survive; Are Greeks Scapegoats?; Dry Spell; Don\u27t Complain, Do Something • Baseball Getting into the Swing of Things • Men\u27s Soccer Drops Final Game to Mules • Player Profile: Andrew Bauer; Chris Lakatoshhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1410/thumbnail.jp

Puffins, Pigs, Cod, and Barley: Palaeoeconomy at Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy, Faroe Islands

This paper reports on the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from the initial season of excavations at the Norse period site at Undir Junkarinsfløtti in the Faroe islands. These remains represent the first zooarchaeological analysis undertaken for the Faroes and only the third archaeobotanical assemblage published from the islands. The excavated deposits are described and the key findings from the palaeoenvironmental remains highlighted within the context of the wider North Atlantic environmental archaeology of the Norse period

Puffins, Pigs, Cod, and Barley: Palaeoeconomy at Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy, Faroe Islands

This paper reports on the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from the initial season of excavations at the Norse period site at Undir Junkarinsfløtti in the Faroe islands. These remains represent the first zooarchaeological analysis undertaken for the Faroes and only the third archaeobotanical assemblage published from the islands. The excavated deposits are described and the key findings from the palaeoenvironmental remains highlighted within the context of the wider North Atlantic environmental archaeology of the Norse period

The Effectiveness of Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention in Emergency Departments: A Multicentre Pragmatic Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Alcohol misuse is common in people attending emergency departments (EDs) and there is some evidence of efficacy of alcohol screening and brief interventions (SBI). This study investigated the effectiveness of SBI approaches of different intensities delivered by ED staff in nine typical EDs in England: the SIPS ED trial. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Pragmatic multicentre cluster randomized controlled trial of SBI for hazardous and harmful drinkers presenting to ED. Nine EDs were randomized to three conditions: a patient information leaflet (PIL), 5 minutes of brief advice (BA), and referral to an alcohol health worker who provided 20 minutes of brief lifestyle counseling (BLC). The primary outcome measure was the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) status at 6 months. Of 5899 patients aged 18 or more presenting to EDs, 3737 (63·3%) were eligible to participate and 1497 (40·1%) screened positive for hazardous or harmful drinking, of whom 1204 (80·4%) gave consent to participate in the trial. Follow up rates were 72% (n?=?863) at six, and 67% (n?=?810) at 12 months. There was no evidence of any differences between intervention conditions for AUDIT status or any other outcome measures at months 6 or 12 in an intention to treat analysis. At month 6, compared to the PIL group, the odds ratio of being AUDIT negative for brief advice was 1·103 (95% CI 0·328 to 3·715). The odds ratio comparing BLC to PIL was 1·247 (95% CI 0·315 to 4·939). A per protocol analysis confirmed these findings. CONCLUSIONS: SBI is difficult to implement in typical EDs. The results do not support widespread implementation of alcohol SBI in ED beyond screening followed by simple clinical feedback and alcohol information, which is likely to be easier and less expensive to implement than more complex interventions

Risk factors for genital infections in people initiating SGLT2 inhibitors and their impact on discontinuation

Introduction: To identify risk factors, absolute risk, and impact on treatment discontinuation of genital infections with sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i). Research design and methods: We assessed the relationship between baseline characteristics and genital infection in 21 004 people with type 2 diabetes initiating SGLT2i and 55 471 controls initiating dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i) in a UK primary care database. We assessed absolute risk of infection in those with key risk factors and the association between early genital infection and treatment discontinuation. Results: Genital infection was substantially more common in those treated with SGLT2i (8.1% within 1 year) than DPP4i (1.8%). Key predictors of infection with SGLT2i were female sex (HR 3.64; 95% CI 3.23 to 4.11) and history of genital infection; <1 year before initiation (HR 4.38; 3.73 to 5.13), 1–5 years (HR 3.04; 2.64 to 3.51), and >5 years (HR 1.79; 1.55 to 2.07). Baseline HbA1c was not associated with infection risk for SGLT2i, in contrast to DPP4i where risk increased with higher HbA1c. One-year absolute risk of genital infection with SGLT2i was highest for those with a history of prior infection (females 23.7%, males 12.1%), compared with those without (females 10.8%, males 2.7%). Early genital infection was associated with a similar discontinuation risk for SGLT2i (HR 1.48; 1.21–1.80) and DPP4i (HR 1.58; 1.21–2.07). Conclusions: Female sex and history of prior infection are simple features that can identify subgroups at greatly increased risk of genital infections with SGLT2i therapy. These data can be used to risk-stratify patients. High HbA1c is not a risk factor for genital infections with SGLT2i