The human ehrlichioses in the United States.

The emerging tick-borne zoonoses human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME) and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) are under reported in the United States. From 1986 through 1997, 1,223 cases (742 HME, 449 HGE, and 32 not ascribed to a specific ehrlichial agent) were reported by state health departments. HME was most commonly reported from southeastern and southcentral states, while HGE was most often reported from northeastern and upper midwestern states. The annual number of reported cases increased sharply, from 69 in 1994 to 364 in 1997, coincident with an increase in the number of states making these conditions notifiable. From 1986 through 1997, 827 probable and confirmed cases were diagnosed by serologic testing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although how many of these cases were also reported by states is not known. Improved national surveillance would provide a better assessment of the public health importance of ehrlichiosis

GUI Interfacing of DICOM images including 3D Model Creation

The purpose of this project is to create a simple method for viewing DICOM images taken during a medical scan such as CT or MRI. To perform this, Matlab programming was used to create a graphical user interface. This interface shows the user the image and attached information with subsequent images accessible via a slider bar. Furthermore, the user has the option to view a three-dimensional model of the object scanned which can then be rotated and viewed at multiple angles. This modeling was achieved using custom edge detection algorithms which locate and exclude exterior edges to allow viewing of the targeted objects. For testing purposes, a DICOM set of lung images was used to reconstruct the interior lung structure

Ehrlichia chaffeensis Infections among HIV-infected Patients in Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis–Endemic Area

Manifestations of human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME), a tick-borne infection caused by Ehrlichia chaffeensis, range from asymptomatic disease to fulminant infection and may be particularly severe in persons infected with HIV. We conducted a serologic study to determine the epidemiology of HME in HIV-positive patients residing in an HME-endemic area. We reviewed charts from a cohort of 133 HIV-positive patients who were seen during the 1999 tick season with symptoms compatible with HME (n=36) or who were asymptomatic (n=97). When available, paired plasma samples obtained before and after the tick season were tested by using an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) to detect antibodies reactive to E. chaffeensis. Two symptomatic incident cases were identified by IFA, resulting in a seroincidence of 6.67% among symptomatic HIV-positive participants with paired samples available for testing and 1.64% overall. The baseline seroprevalence of HME was 0%. In contrast to infection in immunocompetent patients, E. chaffeensis infection in HIV-positive persons typically causes symptomatic disease

Rickettsia parkeri Rickettsiosis, Argentina

Rickettsia parkeri, a recently identified cause of spotted fever rickettsiosis in the United States, has been found in Amblyomma triste ticks in several countries of South America, including Argentina, where it is believed to cause disease in humans. We describe the clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of 2 patients in Argentina with confirmed R. parkeri infection and 7 additional patients with suspected R. parkeri rickettsiosis identified at 1 hospital during 2004–2009. The frequency and character of clinical signs and symptoms among these 9 patients closely resembled those described for patients in the United States (presence of an inoculation eschar, maculopapular rash often associated with pustules or vesicles, infrequent gastrointestinal manifestations, and relatively benign clinical course). Many R. parkeri infections in South America are likely to be misdiagnosed as other infectious diseases, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, dengue, or leptospirosis

Rickettsia parkeri in Amblyomma americanum Ticks, Tennessee and Georgia, USA

To determine the geographic distribution of the newly recognized human pathogen Rickettsia parkeri, we looked for this organism in ticks from Tennessee and Georgia, USA. Using PCR and sequence analysis, we identified R. parkeri in 2 Amblyomma americanum ticks. This rickettsiosis may be underdiagnosed in the eastern United States

Фрагменти до біографії І. Мазепи

Мета цієї статті увести до наукового обігу три документи, які стосуються життя й діяльності І. Мазепи. Перший з них нами було виявлено у польських архівосховищах. Автором цього листа, адресованого, очевидно, королеві Яну III Собеському, був учасник посольства Речі Посполитої до Москви, яке очолював вармінський біскуп і коронний канцлер Августин Міхал Радзейовський. Лист важливий тим, що проливає світло на малознаний період біографії Івана Мазепи, коли той був генеральним осавулом на лівобічній Гетьманщині. Другий і третій документи мають меншу цінність. Один з них - це типова рукописна газета - “новина”, у якій повідомляється про польсько-російські переговори у Варшаві у 1695 р. у зв’язку з азово-дніпровськими походами, у котрих визначну роль відіграли українські війська на чолі з гетьманом Іваном Мазепою. Автором наступного документа був Лаврентій Крщонович, визначний церковний діяч, ігумен деяких православних монастирів Гетьманщини, зокрема Свято-Троїцького Іллінського у Чернігові

Optimizing Egg Recovery From Wild Northern Corn Rootworm Beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

The northern corn rootworm, Diabrotica barberi Smith & Lawrence (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is one of the most important insect pests in the U.S. Corn Belt. Efforts to obtain eggs from wild northern corn rootworm populations using techniques developed for other rootworm species have been unsuccessful due to lack of oviposition. In 2016, we evaluated four oviposition media in choice tests within each of three female densities in 30.5 × 30.5 × 30.5 cm BugDorm cages. The number of eggs laid per female was significantly affected by female density and the interaction of female density × oviposition media, but oviposition was relatively poor in all oviposition media (1.2 eggs per female when averaging the three female densities and all oviposition media). Single females were also evaluated in nonchoice assays in 6 cm × 6 cm × 8 cm clear plastic boxes and averaged up to 108 eggs per female depending on the oviposition media. In 2017, the cumulative number of eggs laid per female in boxes with one female was not significantly different from the number of eggs laid per female in boxes with 3 females. In 2018, the cumulative number of eggs laid per female was not significantly different between female densities of 1, 3, 5, or 10 females per box. Total egg production per box therefore increased as female density increased. More than 27,000 wild northern corn rootworm eggs were collected from just 190 females when collected relatively early in the field season. We now have an efficient and robust system for obtaining eggs from wild northern corn rootworm females

Engineering the Redox Potential over a Wide Range within a New Class of FeS Proteins

Abstract: MitoNEET is a newly discovered mitochondrial protein and a target of the TZD class of antidiabetes drugs. MitoNEET is homodimeric with each protomer binding a [2Fe-2S] center through a rare 3-Cys and 1-His coordination geometry. Both the fold and the coordination of the [2Fe-2S] centers suggest that it could have novel properties compared to other known [2Fe-2S] proteins. We tested the robustness of mitoNEET to mutation and the range over which the redox potential (EM) could be tuned. We found that the protein could tolerate an array of mutations that modified the EM of the [2Fe-2S] center over a range of ∼700 mV, which is the largest EM range engineered in an FeS protein and, importantly, spans the cellular redox range (+200 to-300 mV). These properties make mitoNEET potentially useful for both physiological studies and industrial applications as a stable, water-soluble, redox agent

Transmission of Methicillin‐Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infection Through Solid Organ Transplantation: Confirmation Via Whole Genome Sequencing

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109324/1/ajt12898.pd