Adolescent Immunizations: Can School-Based Programs Increase Immunization Coverage Rates?

Adolescent immunization rates in North Carolina fall below the state average and in Brunswick County the rates fall significantly lower than those of North Carolina. In an effort to improve the adolescent immunization rates within the county, the health department researched efforts based on previous evidence-based school immunization initiatives to determine if utilization of these resources would improve the rates of adolescent immunizations. Significant collaborative efforts were necessary in order to achieve this goal within the community. The demonstrated leadership within the health department and school system made this program successful through community building and collaboration.Master of Public Healt

Q & A: A Nation at a Crossroads

Furman professors Cynthia King, J. Aaron Simmons and Savita Nair address civics education in the context of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capital

A Rod-Sparing Retinopathy in Bardet-Biedl Syndrome

Bardet-Biedl syndrome is a continuum of disorders characterized by systemic and ocular findings. Retinal abnormalities typically present as diffuse photoreceptor degeneration. Here, we report a novel case that suggests a rod-sparing variant of Bardet-Biedl syndrome

WNT5A Expression in Ameloblastoma and Its Roles in Regulating Enamel Epithelium Tumorigenic Behaviors

Odontogenic tumors originate from the remains of migrating enamel epithelium after the completion of normal tooth genesis. These enamel epithelium remnants exhibit the ability to recapitulate the events that occur during tooth formation. Several lines of evidence suggest that aberrance in the signaling pathways similar to the ones that are used during tooth development, including the WNT pathway, might be the cause of odontogenic tumorigenesis and maintenance. In this study we demonstrated that WNT5A expression was intense in both the epithelial component of ameloblastomas, the most common epithelial odontogenic tumor, and in this tumor's likely precursor cell, the enamel epithelium located at the cervical loop of normal developing human tooth buds. Additionally, when WNT5A was overexpressed in enamel epithelium cells (LS-8), the clones expressing high levels of WNT5A (S) exhibited characteristics of tumorigenic cells, including growth factor independence, loss of anchorage dependence, loss of contact inhibition, and tumor formation in immunocompromised mice. Moreover, overexpression of WNT5A drastically increased LS-8 cell migration and actin reorganization when compared with controls. Suppression of endogenous WNT5A in LS-8 cells (AS) greatly impaired their migration and AS cells failed to form significant actin reorganization and membrane protrusion was rarely seen. Taken together, our data indicate that WNT5A signaling is important in modulating tumorigenic behaviors of enamel epithelium cells in ameloblastomas

Exile Vol. XXV No. 2

POETRY In the Cave by Reid Bandeen Leningrad, December 1978 by Howard Fencl untitled by Pearlene Scott Bleach by Lisa Minacci Seating eyes by Lisa Minacci untitled by Ellen Cox Two Poems by Melissa Simmons Daddy by Amy L. Shafer PROSE Night Ride by Jon Krantz Waiting by Cynthia Hohn Father by A. Page Spiegel Waiting Up for Mom and Dad by Susan Harrison PHOTOGRAPHY Front Cover by Del Bogart Back Cover by Bill Lesser Virginia Rocks by Bill Lesser Untitled by Mary Jo Rhodes Untitled 1, 2, 3 by Del Bogart Pet Pigs by Kathy Schilbe ART Etching by Scott Tryon We were very glad to see the enthusiasm expressed by both the volume and the variety of contributions to the Summer Issue. Special thanks go to Jonathan Krant, a student at Johns Hopkins University, for his contribution, and Lisa Minacci, for her help. -the editor

Exile Vol. XXV No. 1

PROSE Friend by John Marshall Visiting Relatives by Cynthia Lanning Hahn The Mud Lane by Eloise Haveman The Petrification of a Wild Sweet William Blossom by Melissa Simmons ART Three views of Granville by Scott Tryon (front cover) untitled photos by Bogart and Jerry Brown Landscape by Scott Tryon Submissive Defiance by Bogart Three things that Remain by Jerry Brown back cover by Lindy Davies POETRY A Photographer Documents Her Death by Chris Gjessing three Haiku by Eloise Haveman Morning by Melissa Simmons Granite Travel by Lisa Minacci did you year? by Bob McLaughlin he\u27s coming home again by Bob McLaughlin David by Betsy Bates Le Cafe de \u27lUnivers by Ann Leopard untitled by John Marshall The Last Ramona Poem (fat chance) by Lindy Davies Mother Told Me not to Play Next Door by Ellen Cox Poems of the Inconsequentials by Eloise Havema

The Antiviral Efficacy of HIV-Specific CD8+ T-Cells to a Conserved Epitope Is Heavily Dependent on the Infecting HIV-1 Isolate

A major challenge to developing a successful HIV vaccine is the vast diversity of viral sequences, yet it is generally assumed that an epitope conserved between different strains will be recognised by responding T-cells. We examined whether an invariant HLA-B8 restricted Nef90–97 epitope FL8 shared between five high titre viruses and eight recombinant vaccinia viruses expressing Nef from different viral isolates (clades A–H) could activate antiviral activity in FL8-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL). Surprisingly, despite epitope conservation, we found that CTL antiviral efficacy is dependent on the infecting viral isolate. Only 23% of Nef proteins, expressed by HIV-1 isolates or as recombinant vaccinia-Nef, were optimally recognised by CTL. Recognition of the HIV-1 isolates by CTL was independent of clade-grouping but correlated with virus-specific polymorphisms in the epitope flanking region, which altered immunoproteasomal cleavage resulting in enhanced or impaired epitope generation. The finding that the majority of virus isolates failed to present this conserved epitope highlights the importance of viral variance in CTL epitope flanking regions on the efficiency of antigen processing, which has been considerably underestimated previously. This has important implications for future vaccine design strategies since efficient presentation of conserved viral epitopes is necessary to promote enhanced anti-viral immune responses