Prevention of diabetes by FTY720-mediated stabilization of peri-islet tertiary lymphoid organs.

ObjectiveThe nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse is a well-established mouse model of spontaneous type 1 diabetes, which is characterized by an autoimmune destruction of the insulin-secreting pancreatic beta-cells. In this study, we address the role of tertiary lymphoid organs (TLOs) that form in the pancreas of NOD mice during disease progression.MethodsWe developed a model designed to "lock" lymphocytes in the pancreatic lymph node (PLN) and pancreas by the use of FTY720, which blocks the exit of lymphocytes from lymph nodes. A combination of flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and analysis of clinical scores was used to study the effects of long-term FTY720 treatment on TLO development and development of diabetes.ResultsContinuous treatment of NOD mice with FTY720 prevented diabetes development even at a time of significant insulitis. Treatment withdrawal led to accelerated disease independent of the PLN. Interestingly, naive T-cells trafficked to and proliferated in the TLOs. In addition, morphological changes were observed that occurred during the development of the disease. Remarkably, although the infiltrates are not organized into T/B-cell compartments in 8-week-old mice, by 20 weeks of age, and in age-matched mice undergoing FTY720 treatment, the infiltrates showed a high degree of organization. However, in naturally and FTY720-induced diabetic mice, T/B-cell compartmentalization was lost.ConclusionOur data show that TLOs are established during diabetes development and suggest that islet destruction is due to a loss of TLO integrity, which may be prevented by FTY720 treatment

Youth Service and Elder Service in Comparative Perspective

Youth Service and Elder Service in Comparative Perspectiv

Hosting Early Study Abroad Students in Ontario: Internationalization of Education Dynamics in Secondary Schooling

This study illuminates the current policy and practice dynamics and tensions of school internationalization in the province of Ontario generated by the increasing presence of international students at the secondary school level, identified as early study abroad (ESA) students. It conducts a comparative thematic analysis of a set of interviews with school- and board-level stakeholders of internationalization alongside a critical policy analysis of a key provincial policy text. We find that ESA-based internationalization is largely run out of internationalization offices resourced to focus on student recruitment and administrative support, with oversight of homestay and custodianship being significant components. The more idealistic visions of school internationalization emphasized in provincial policy and some school discourse occur in a more reactive fashion. On-the-ground educational support of these newcomer ESA students is shouldered by schools and educators within their existing and limited capacities, while the intercultural dimensions and benefits remain largely aspirational

Institutional Capacity for Elder Service

Given the demographic changes in our society and the positive effects of volunteering on older adults and on service recipients, service opportunities for older adults should be expanded. The development of institutions is a potentially powerful route to maximizing this potential. We propose five dimensions of institutional capacity, including expectation, access, information, incentive, and facilitation. Pilot data indicates that organizations offering service opportunities to older adults vary on these dimensions

An Agenda on Productive Aging: Research, Policy, and Practice

The Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis is advancing an agenda on productive aging, focusing on three primary forms of productive engagement: employment, volunteerism/civic engagement, and caregiving. These are activities that produce goods and services, whether paid for or not, and that have effects beyond individuals to families, communities, and society. Older adults who engage in these activities make important economic and social contributions, though these contributions are often undervalued. This agenda on productive aging builds on the results of a CSD-sponsored symposium where leading gerontologists from many academic disciplines discussed older adults as a resource

Deterministic single-photon source in the ultrastrong coupling regime

Deterministic single-photon sources are important and ubiquitous in quantum information protocols. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of them work in the ultrastrong light-matter coupling regime, and each excitation process can only emit one photon. We propose a deterministic single-photon source in circuit QED which can work in the ultrastrong coupling regime. Here, two qubits are excited simultaneously in one process and two deterministic single photons can be sequentially emitted with an arbitrary time separation. This happens through two consecutive adiabatic transfers along the one-photon solutions of the two-qubit Rabi and Jaynes-Cummings model, which has constant eigenenergy in the whole coupling regime. Unlike the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage, the system goes back to the initial state of another period automatically after photon emission. Our scheme can approach unity single-photon efficiency, indistinguishability, and purity simultaneously. With the assistance of the Stark shift, a deterministic single photon can be generated within a time proportional to the inverse of the resonator frequency.Comment: 7 +4 pages, 5 figure

A Population-Based Investigation of Parkinson's Disease with and without Dementia: Relationship to Age and Gender

Because the prevalence of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) with or without dementia remains controversial, we initiated a population-based investigation in the Washington Heights—Inwood section of New York, NY, so that nearly complete case ascertainment could be achieved. A "registry" was developed for the study, and we advertised in periodicals and on radio and television. Subjects, or their records, were examined by experienced neurologists, and most underwent a battery of neuropsychological tests specifically designed for assessment in this community. All data were reviewed by a team of clinicians to achieve a consensus diagnosis. The crude prevalence of idiopathic PD, with and without dementia, was 99.4 per 100 000, increasing from 2.3 per 100 000 for those younger than 50 years to 1144.9 per 100 000 for those aged 80 years and older. The crude prevalence for PD with dementia alone was 41.1 per 100 000 and also increased with age from zero for those younger than 50 years to 787.1 per 100 000 for those aged 80 years and older. Prevalence ratios were comparable with those of other published population-based studies in similar settings. After standardization, men had PD with and without dementia more frequently than did women. The major difference between patients with and without dementia was a later estimated age at onset of motor manifestations. We conclude that PD is a frequent disorder in the elderly population that affects men and whites more frequently than women and nonwhites. Moreover, dementia in patients with PD is more frequent than previously recognized and is strongly related to the age at onset of motor manifestations