Novel approaches for immune reconstitution and adaptive immune modeling with human pluripotent stem cells

Pluripotent stem cells have the capacity to generate all cell lineages, and substantial progress has been made in realizing this potential. One fascinating but as yet unrealized possibility is the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into thymic epithelial cells. The thymus is a primary lymphoid organ essential for naïve T-cell generation. T cells play an important role in adaptive immunity, and their loss or dysfunction underlies in a wide range of autoimmune and infectious diseases. T cells are generated and selected through interaction with thymic epithelial cells, the functionally essential element of thymus. The ability to generate functional thymic epithelial cells from pluripotent stem cells would have applications in modeling human immune responses in mice, in tissue transplantation, and in modulating autoimmune and infectious disease

Taenia solium Infections in a Rural Area of Eastern Zambia-A Community Based Study

Taenia solium taeniosis/cysticercosis is a zoonotic infection endemic in many developing countries, with humans as the definitive host (taeniosis) and pigs and humans as the intermediate hosts (cysticercosis). When humans act as the intermediate host, the result can be neurocysticercosis, which is associated with acquired epilepsy, considerable morbidity and even mortality. In Africa, most studies have been carried out in pigs with little or no data in humans available. In this human study, conducted in a rural community in Eastern Zambia, prevalences for taeniosis and cysticercosis were determined at 6.3% and 5.8% respectively, indicating the hyperendemicity of the area. Cysticercosis infection was strongly related with age, with a significant increase in prevalence occurring in individuals from the age of 30 onward. A collected tapeworm was confirmed to be T. solium. Risk factors associated with the transmission and maintenance of the parasite such as free roaming pigs, households without latrines, backyard slaughter of pigs without inspection and consumption of undercooked pork were also present. The findings of this work have identified the need for further research in the transmission dynamics and the burden that this infection has on the resources of poor local people

The state of HRM in the Middle East:Challenges and future research agenda

Based on a robust structured literature analysis, this paper highlights the key developments in the field of human resource management (HRM) in the Middle East. Utilizing the institutional perspective, the analysis contributes to the literature on HRM in the Middle East by focusing on four key themes. First, it highlights the topical need to analyze the context-specific nature of HRM in the region. Second, via the adoption of a systematic review, it highlights state of development in HRM in the research analysis set-up. Third, the analysis also helps to reveal the challenges facing the HRM function in the Middle East. Fourth, it presents an agenda for future research in the form of research directions. While doing the above, it revisits the notions of “universalistic” and “best practice” HRM (convergence) versus “best-fit” or context distinctive (divergence) and also alternate models/diffusion of HRM (crossvergence) in the Middle Eastern context. The analysis, based on the framework of cross-national HRM comparisons, helps to make both theoretical and practical implications

Fatores de atraso na alta hospitalar em hospitais de ensino

OBJETIVO Analisar os motivos de atraso na alta hospitalar de pacientes internados em enfermarias de clínica médica. MÉTODOS Foram analisados 395 prontuários de pacientes consecutivos das enfermarias de clínica médica de dois hospitais públicos de ensino: Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais e Hospital Odilon Behrens. Foi utilizado o Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol para definir o momento a partir do qual as anotações do prontuário permitiam concluir que a permanência no hospital não mais era adequada. O intervalo entre esse momento e a data da alta hospitalar efetivada definiu o total de dias de atraso na alta hospitalar. Foi utilizado, sistematicamente, instrumento para categorizar os motivos de atraso da alta hospitalar, tendo sido realizada análise de frequências. RESULTADOS O atraso na alta hospitalar ocorreu em 60,0% das 207 internações do Hospital das Clínicas e em 58,0% das 188 internações do Hospital Odilon Behrens. O atraso por paciente foi em média de 4,5 dias no primeiro e 4,1 dias no segundo, o que corresponde à taxa de ocupação de 23,0% e 28,0% em cada hospital, respectivamente. Os principais motivos de atraso nos dois hospitais foram, respectivamente: espera para realização de exames complementares (30,6% e 34,7%) ou para liberação dos laudos dos exames (22,4% e 11,9%) e os relacionados à responsabilidade médica (36,2% e 26,1%), compreendendo a demora na discussão do caso clínico e na tomada de decisão clínica e dificuldades nas interconsultas, respectivamente (20,4% e 9,1%). CONCLUSÕES Foi constatado percentual elevado de atraso na alta hospitalar nos dois hospitais. O atraso foi devido principalmente a fatores relacionados a processos, que podem ser melhorados por intervenções da equipe assistencial e dos gestores. O impacto na média de permanência hospitalar e na taxa de ocupação foi expressivo e preocupante, num cenário de relativa escassez de leitos e longas esperas por internação

Sexual and postmating reproductive isolation between allopatric Drosophila montana populations suggest speciation potential

This work was funded by a European Commission Research Training Grant RTN2-2001-00049, the Centre of Excellence for Evolutionary Research at the University of Jyväskylä and a Marie Curie Initial Training Network, ‘Understanding the evolutionary origin of biological diversity’ (ITN-2008-213780 SPECIATION)Background: Widely distributed species with populations adapted to different environmental conditions can provide valuable opportunities for tracing the onset of reproductive incompatibilities and their role in the speciation process. Drosophila montana, a D. virilis group species found in high latitude boreal forests in Nearctic and Palearctic regions around the globe, could be an excellent model system for studying the early stages of speciation, as a wealth of information concerning this species' ecology, mating system, life history, genetics and phylogeography is available. However, reproductive barriers between populations have hereto not been investigated. Results: We report both pre- and postmating barriers to reproduction between flies from European (Finnish) and North American (Canadian) populations of Drosophila montana. Using a series of mate-choice designs, we show that flies from these two populations mate assortatively (i.e., exhibit significant sexual isolation) while emphasizing the importance of experimental design in these kinds of studies. We also assessed potential postmating isolation by quantifying egg and progeny production in intra-and interpopulation crosses and show a significant one-way reduction in progeny production, affecting both male and female offspring equally. Conclusion: We provide evidence that allopatric D. montana populations exhibit reproductive isolation and we discuss the potential mechanisms involved. Our data emphasize the importance of experimental design in studies on premating isolation between recently diverged taxa and suggest that postmating barriers may be due to postcopulatory-prezygotic mechanisms. D. montana populations seem to be evolving multiple barriers to gene flow in allopatry and our study lays the groundwork for future investigations of the genetic and phenotypic mechanisms underlying these barriers.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe