Liver Fibrosis Linked to Cognitive Performance in HIV and Hepatitis C

Since HIV impairs gut barriers to pathogens, HIV-infected adults may be vulnerable to Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy (MHE) in the absence of cirrhosis

Rhodococcus Bacteremia in Cancer Patients Is Mostly Catheter Related and Associated with Biofilm Formation

Rhodococcus is an emerging cause of opportunistic infection in immunocompromised patients, most commonly causing cavitary pneumonia. It has rarely been reported as a cause of isolated bacteremia. However, the relationship between bacteremia and central venous catheter is unknown. Between 2002 and 2010, the characteristics and outcomes of seventeen cancer patients with Rhodococcus bacteremia and indwelling central venous catheters were evaluated. Rhodococcus bacteremias were for the most part (94%) central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI). Most of the bacteremia isolates were Rhodococcus equi (82%). Rhodococcus isolates formed heavy microbial biofilm on the surface of polyurethane catheters, which was reduced completely or partially by antimicrobial lock solution. All CLABSI patients had successful response to catheter removal and antimicrobial therapy. Rhodococcus species should be added to the list of biofilm forming organisms in immunocompromised hosts and most of the Rhodococcus bacteremias in cancer patients are central line associated

Methicillin Resistance Alters the Biofilm Phenotype and Attenuates Virulence in Staphylococcus aureus Device-Associated Infections

Clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus can express biofilm phenotypes promoted by the major cell wall autolysin and the fibronectin-binding proteins or the icaADBC-encoded polysaccharide intercellular adhesin/poly-N-acetylglucosamine (PIA/PNAG). Biofilm production in methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) strains is typically dependent on PIA/PNAG whereas methicillin-resistant isolates express an Atl/FnBP-mediated biofilm phenotype suggesting a relationship between susceptibility to β-lactam antibiotics and biofilm. By introducing the methicillin resistance gene mecA into the PNAG-producing laboratory strain 8325-4 we generated a heterogeneously resistant (HeR) strain, from which a homogeneous, high-level resistant (HoR) derivative was isolated following exposure to oxacillin. The HoR phenotype was associated with a R602H substitution in the DHHA1 domain of GdpP, a recently identified c-di-AMP phosphodiesterase with roles in resistance/tolerance to β-lactam antibiotics and cell envelope stress. Transcription of icaADBC and PNAG production were impaired in the 8325-4 HoR derivative, which instead produced a proteinaceous biofilm that was significantly inhibited by antibodies against the mecA-encoded penicillin binding protein 2a (PBP2a). Conversely excision of the SCCmec element in the MRSA strain BH1CC resulted in oxacillin susceptibility and reduced biofilm production, both of which were complemented by mecA alone. Transcriptional activity of the accessory gene regulator locus was also repressed in the 8325-4 HoR strain, which in turn was accompanied by reduced protease production and significantly reduced virulence in a mouse model of device infection. Thus, homogeneous methicillin resistance has the potential to affect agr- and icaADBC-mediated phenotypes, including altered biofilm expression and virulence, which together are consistent with the adaptation of healthcare-associated MRSA strains to the antibiotic-rich hospital environment in which they are frequently responsible for device-related infections in immuno-compromised patients

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Technical Summary

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) will provide the data to support detailed investigations of the distribution of luminous and non- luminous matter in the Universe: a photometrically and astrometrically calibrated digital imaging survey of pi steradians above about Galactic latitude 30 degrees in five broad optical bands to a depth of g' about 23 magnitudes, and a spectroscopic survey of the approximately one million brightest galaxies and 10^5 brightest quasars found in the photometric object catalog produced by the imaging survey. This paper summarizes the observational parameters and data products of the SDSS, and serves as an introduction to extensive technical on-line documentation.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, AAS Latex. To appear in AJ, Sept 200

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Discutindo a educação ambiental no cotidiano escolar: desenvolvimento de projetos na escola formação inicial e continuada de professores

A presente pesquisa buscou discutir como a Educação Ambiental (EA) vem sendo trabalhada, no Ensino Fundamental e como os docentes desta escola compreendem e vem inserindo a EA no cotidiano escolar., em uma escola estadual do município de Tangará da Serra/MT, Brasil. Para tanto, realizou-se entrevistas com os professores que fazem parte de um projeto interdisciplinar de EA na escola pesquisada. Verificou-se que o projeto da escola não vem conseguindo alcançar os objetivos propostos por: desconhecimento do mesmo, pelos professores; formação deficiente dos professores, não entendimento da EA como processo de ensino-aprendizagem, falta de recursos didáticos, planejamento inadequado das atividades. A partir dessa constatação, procurou-se debater a impossibilidade de tratar do tema fora do trabalho interdisciplinar, bem como, e principalmente, a importância de um estudo mais aprofundado de EA, vinculando teoria e prática, tanto na formação docente, como em projetos escolares, a fim de fugir do tradicional vínculo “EA e ecologia, lixo e horta”.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Multimedia comprehension skill predicts differential outcomes of web-based and lecture courses

College students (134 women and 55 men) participated in introductory psychology courses that were offered largely online (on the World Wide Web) or in a lecture format. Student comprehension skills were inferred from their scores on a multimedia comprehension battery. The learning of content knowledge was affected interactively by comprehension skill level and course format. Differences between format increased with comprehension skill such that the Web-based course advantage became greater as comprehension skill increased. This same pattern was not seen when self-reports of comprehension ability were used as the predictor. Furthermore, comprehension skill did not predict course satisfaction. Generally, students of all skill levels preferred the lecture courses. As online college courses using the World Wide Web (Web) become more common, questions about their effectiveness become more important. At present, the literature is mixed with respect to the relative effectiveness of Web-based courses. Some studies show differences favoring lecture courses, some show differences favoring Web-based courses, and many show no differences at all. Moreover, other than for methodological problems in some o