Ursinus College Alumni Journal, August 1964

President\u27s page • The liberal arts curriculum • Commencement 1964 • Dining hall construction • Capital funds campaign contributions total $356,225 • American Alumni Council award • Campus round-up • Sturgis retires • Staiger heads Chem. Dept. • Track team undefeated • Results of 1964 Loyalty Fund campaign • The second mile • Alumni who have paid their pledges in full • Contributors to the 1964 Loyalty Fund • Alumni album: Irwin S. Leinbach, \u2729; Blanch Shirey Wentzel, \u2743; Clarence A. Paine, \u2722; Loretta Podolak Finnegan, \u2760; Jean Bonkoski, \u2768; Jean Ewen Trend, \u2743 • 1914-1964 • Class Notes • Valedictory • Weddings • Births • Necrology • Oldest alumnus dies • The face of the new alumnushttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/alumnijournal/1080/thumbnail.jp

Cellular Immune Responses to Nine Mycobacterium tuberculosis Vaccine Candidates following Intranasal Vaccination

BACKGROUND: The identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccines that elicit a protective immune response in the lungs is important for the development of an effective vaccine against tuberculosis. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, a comparison of intranasal (i.n.) and subcutaneous (s.c.) vaccination with the BCG vaccine demonstrated that a single moderate dose delivered intranasally induced a stronger and sustained M. tuberculosis-specific T-cell response in lung parenchyma and cervical lymph nodes of BALB/c mice than vaccine delivered subcutaneously. Both BCG and a multicomponent subunit vaccine composed of nine M. tuberculosis recombinant proteins induced strong antigen-specific T-cell responses in various local and peripheral immune compartments. Among the nine recombinant proteins evaluated, the alanine proline rich antigen (Apa, Rv1860) was highly antigenic following i.n. BCG and immunogenic after vaccination with a combination of the nine recombinant antigens. The Apa-induced responses included induction of both type 1 and type 2 cytokines in the lungs as evaluated by ELISPOT and a multiplexed microsphere-based cytokine immunoassay. Of importance, i.n. subunit vaccination with Apa imparted significant protection in the lungs and spleen of mice against M. tuberculosis challenge. Despite observed differences in the frequencies and location of specific cytokine secreting T cells both BCG vaccination routes afforded comparable levels of protection in our study. CONCLUSION AND SIGNIFICANCE: Overall, our findings support consideration and further evaluation of an intranasally targeted Apa-based vaccine to prevent tuberculosis

Researching COVID to enhance recovery (RECOVER) tissue pathology study protocol: Rationale, objectives, and design.

ImportanceSARS-CoV-2 infection can result in ongoing, relapsing, or new symptoms or organ dysfunction after the acute phase of infection, termed Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), or long COVID. The characteristics, prevalence, trajectory and mechanisms of PASC are poorly understood. The objectives of the Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) tissue pathology study (RECOVER-Pathology) are to: (1) characterize prevalence and types of organ injury/disease and pathology occurring with PASC; (2) characterize the association of pathologic findings with clinical and other characteristics; (3) define the pathophysiology and mechanisms of PASC, and possible mediation via viral persistence; and (4) establish a post-mortem tissue biobank and post-mortem brain imaging biorepository.MethodsRECOVER-Pathology is a cross-sectional study of decedents dying at least 15 days following initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. Eligible decedents must meet WHO criteria for suspected, probable, or confirmed infection and must be aged 18 years or more at the time of death. Enrollment occurs at 7 sites in four U.S. states and Washington, DC. Comprehensive autopsies are conducted according to a standardized protocol within 24 hours of death; tissue samples are sent to the PASC Biorepository for later analyses. Data on clinical history are collected from the medical records and/or next of kin. The primary study outcomes include an array of pathologic features organized by organ system. Causal inference methods will be employed to investigate associations between risk factors and pathologic outcomes.DiscussionRECOVER-Pathology is the largest autopsy study addressing PASC among US adults. Results of this study are intended to elucidate mechanisms of organ injury and disease and enhance our understanding of the pathophysiology of PASC

Updating the approaches to define susceptibility and resistance to anti-tuberculosis agents: implications for diagnosis and treatment

11 páginas, 2 figuras, 1 tablaInappropriately high breakpoints have resulted in systematic false-susceptible AST results to anti-TB drugs. MIC, PK/PD and clinical outcome data should be combined when setting breakpoints to minimise the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance.I. Comas was supported by PID2019-104477RB-I00 from the Spanish Science Ministry and by ERC (CoG 101001038)Peer reviewe

Mutations at embB Codon 306 Are an Important Molecular Indicator of Ethambutol Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis▿

Ethambutol resistance in clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates is associated primarily with missense mutations in the embB gene. However, recent reports have described the presence of embB mutations, especially those at embB codon 306, in isolates susceptible to ethambutol. To clarify the role of embB mutations in ethambutol resistance, we sequenced the ethambutol resistance-determining region in spontaneous ethambutol-resistant mutants. In our study, 66% of spontaneous mutants contained a single point mutation in embB, with 55% of these occurring at embB 306. The MIC of ethambutol for spontaneous mutants was increased two- to eightfold relative to the pansusceptible M. tuberculosis strains from which the mutants were generated. To further characterize the role of embB 306 mutations, we directly introduced mutant alleles, embB(M306V) or embB(M306I), into pansusceptible M. tuberculosis strains and conversely reverted mutant alleles in spontaneous ethambutol-resistant mutants back to those of the wild type via allelic exchange using specialized linkage transduction. We determined that the MIC of ethambutol was reduced fourfold for three of the four spontaneous ethambutol-resistant embB 306 mutants when the mutant allele was replaced with the wild-type embB allele. The MIC for one of the spontaneous mutants genetically reverted to wild-type embB was reduced by only twofold. When the wild-type embB allele was converted to the mutant allele embB(M306V), the ethambutol MIC was increased fourfold, and when the allele was changed to M306I, the ethambutol MIC increased twofold. Our data indicate that embB 306 mutations are sufficient to confer ethambutol resistance, and detection of these mutations should be considered in the development of rapid molecular tests

A prospective cohort study examining the preferred learning styles of acute care registered nurses

Objectives This paper reports on the preferred learning styles of Registered Nurses practicing in acute care environments and relationships between gender, age, post-graduate experience and the identified preferred learning styles. Methods A prospective cohort study design was used. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and the Felder-Silverman Index of Learning Styles (ILS) questionnaire to determine preferred learning styles. Results Most of the Registered Nurse participants were balanced across the Active-Reflective (n = 77, 54%), and Sequential-Global (n = 96, 68%) scales. Across the other scales, sensing (n = 97, 68%) and visual (n = 76, 53%) were the most common preferred learning style. There were only a small proportion who had a preferred learning style of reflective (n = 21, 15%), intuitive (n = 5, 4%), verbal (n = 11, 8%) or global learning (n = 15, 11%). Results indicated that gender, age and years since undergraduate education were not related to the identified preferred learning styles. Conclusions The identification of Registered Nurses’ learning style provides information that nurse educators and others can use to make informed choices about modification, development and strengthening of professional hospital-based educational programs. The use of the Index of Learning Styles questionnaire and its ability to identify ‘balanced’ learning style preferences may potentially yield additional preferred learning style information for other health-related disciplines