Maps of 2015 Individual Exchange Enrollment by Zip Code

This report presents a tool to examine exchange enrollment information by zip code with additional geographic boundaries

Proposed U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement: Background and Issues for Congress

This report discusses the offshore areas of the Gulf of Mexico that provide a setting for domestic and international energy production, U.S. military training and border operations, trade and commerce, fishing, tourist attractions, and recreation

Prevalence of trypanosomes, salivary gland hypertrophy virus and Wolbachia in wild populations of tsetse flies from West Africa

Background: Tsetse flies are vectors of African trypanosomes, protozoan parasites that cause sleeping sickness (or human African trypanosomosis) in humans and nagana (or animal African trypanosomosis) in livestock. In addition to trypanosomes, four symbiotic bacteria Wigglesworthia glossinidia, Sodalis glossinidius, Wolbachia, Spiroplasma and one pathogen, the salivary gland hypertrophy virus (SGHV), have been reported in different tsetse species. We evaluated the prevalence and coinfection dynamics between Wolbachia, trypanosomes, and SGHV in four tsetse species (Glossina palpalis gambiensis, G. tachinoides, G. morsitans submorsitans, and G. medicorum) that were collected between 2008 and 2015 from 46 geographical locations in West Africa, i.e. Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Guinea, and Senegal. Results: The results indicated an overall low prevalence of SGHV and Wolbachia and a high prevalence of trypanosomes in the sampled wild tsetse populations. The prevalence of all three infections varied among tsetse species and sample origin. The highest trypanosome prevalence was found in Glossina tachinoides (61.1%) from Ghana and in Glossina palpalis gambiensis (43.7%) from Senegal. The trypanosome prevalence in the four species from Burkina Faso was lower, i.e. 39.6% in Glossina medicorum, 18.08%; in Glossina morsitans submorsitans, 16.8%; in Glossina tachinoides and 10.5% in Glossina palpalis gambiensis. The trypanosome prevalence in Glossina palpalis gambiensis was lowest in Mali (6.9%) and Guinea (2.2%). The prevalence of SGHV and Wolbachia was very low irrespective of location or tsetse species with an average of 1.7% for SGHV and 1.0% for Wolbachia. In some cases, mixed infections with different trypanosome species were detected. The highest prevalence of coinfection was Trypanosoma vivax and other Trypanosoma species (9.5%) followed by coinfection of T. congolense with other trypanosomes (7.5%). The prevalence of coinfection of T. vivax and T. congolense was (1.0%) and no mixed infection of trypanosomes, SGHV and Wolbachia was detected. Conclusion: The results indicated a high rate of trypanosome infection in tsetse wild populations in West African countries but lower infection rate of both Wolbachia and SGHV. Double or triple mixed trypanosome infections were found. In addition, mixed trypanosome and SGHV infections existed however no mixed infections of trypanosome and/or SGHV with Wolbachia were found

Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Patients With Primary Immune Regulatory Disorders (PIRD): A Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium (PIDTC) Survey.

Primary Immune Regulatory Disorders (PIRD) are an expanding group of diseases caused by gene defects in several different immune pathways, such as regulatory T cell function. Patients with PIRD develop clinical manifestations associated with diminished and exaggerated immune responses. Management of these patients is complicated; oftentimes immunosuppressive therapies are insufficient, and patients may require hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) for treatment. Analysis of HCT data in PIRD patients have previously focused on a single gene defect. This study surveyed transplanted patients with a phenotypic clinical picture consistent with PIRD treated in 33 Primary Immune Deficiency Treatment Consortium centers and European centers. Our data showed that PIRD patients often had immunodeficient and autoimmune features affecting multiple organ systems. Transplantation resulted in resolution of disease manifestations in more than half of the patients with an overall 5-years survival of 67%. This study, the first to encompass disorders across the PIRD spectrum, highlights the need for further research in PIRD management

Recombinant Lysyl Oxidase Propeptide Protein Inhibits Growth and Promotes Apoptosis of Pre-Existing Murine Breast Cancer Xenografts

Lysyl oxidase propeptide (LOX-PP) ectopic overexpression inhibits the growth of cancer xenografts. Here the ability and mode of action of purified recombinant LOX-PP (rLOX-PP) protein to inhibit the growth of pre-existing xenografts was determined. Experimental approaches employed were direct intratumoral injection (i.t.) of rLOX-PP protein into murine breast cancer NF639 xenografts, and application of a slow release formulation of rLOX-PP implanted adjacent to tumors in NCR nu/nu mice (n = 10). Tumors were monitored for growth, and after sacrifice were subjected to immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses for several markers of proliferation, apoptosis, and for rLOX-PP itself. Direct i.t. injection of rLOX-PP significantly reduced tumor volume on days 20, 22 and 25 and tumor weight at harvest on day 25 by 30% compared to control. Implantation of beads preloaded with 35 micrograms rLOX-PP (n = 10) in vivo reduced tumor volume and weight at sacrifice when compared to empty beads (p<0.05). A 30% reduction of tumor volume on days 22 and 25 (p<0.05) and final tumor weight on day 25 (p<0.05) were observed with a reduced tumor growth rate of 60% after implantation. rLOX-PP significantly reduced the expression of proliferation markers and Erk1/2 MAP kinase activation, while prominent increases in apoptosis markers were observed. rLOX-PP was detected by immunohistochemistry in harvested rLOX-PP tumors, but not in controls. Data provide pre-clinical findings that support proof of principle for the therapeutic anti-cancer potential of rLOX-PP protein formulations

Fatal CTLA-4 Heterozygosity With Autoimmunity and Recurrent Infections: a De Novo Mutation

Primary immunodeficiency disorders are rarely diagnosed in adults but must be considered in the differential diagnosis of combined recurrent infections and autoimmune disease. We describe a patient with CTLA-4 haploinsufficiency and an abnormal regulatory T-cell phenotype. Unusually, infections were more severe than autoimmunity, illustrating therapeutic challenges in disease course.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mycobacterium tuberculosis monoarthritis in a child

A child with isolated Mycobacterium tuberculosis monoarthritis, with features initially suggesting oligoarthritis subtype of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, is presented. This patient illustrates the need to consider the possibility of tuberculosis as the cause of oligoarthritis in high-risk pediatric populations even in the absence of a tuberculosis contact history and without evidence of overt pulmonary disease

Lysyl oxidase drives tumour progression by trapping EGF receptors at the cell surface

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) remodels the tumour microenvironment by cross-linking the extracellular matrix. LOX overexpression is associated with poor cancer outcomes. Here, we find that LOX regulates the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to drive tumour progression. We show that LOX regulates EGFR by suppressing TGFβ1 signalling through the secreted protease HTRA1. This increases the expression of Matrilin2 (MATN2), an EGF-like domain-containing protein that traps EGFR at the cell surface to facilitate its activation by EGF. We describe a pharmacological inhibitor of LOX, CCT365623, which disrupts EGFR cell surface retention and delays the growth of primary and metastatic tumour cells in vivo. Thus, we show that LOX regulates EGFR cell surface retention to drive tumour progression, and we validate the therapeutic potential of inhibiting this pathway with the small molecule inhibitor CCT365623

Naive and memory human B cells have distinct requirements for STAT3 activation to differentiate into antibody-secreting plasma cells

Long-lived antibody memory is mediated by the combined effects of long-lived plasma cells (PCs) and memory B cells generated in response to T cell–dependent antigens (Ags). IL-10 and IL-21 can activate multiple signaling pathways, including STAT1, STAT3, and STAT5; ERK; PI3K/Akt, and potently promote human B cell differentiation. We previously showed that loss-of-function mutations in STAT3, but not STAT1, abrogate IL-10– and IL-21–mediated differentiation of human naive B cells into plasmablasts. We report here that, in contrast to naive B cells, STAT3-deficient memory B cells responded to these STAT3-activating cytokines, differentiating into plasmablasts and secreting high levels of IgM, IgG, and IgA, as well as Ag-specific IgG. This was associated with the induction of the molecular machinery necessary for PC formation. Mutations in IL21R, however, abolished IL-21–induced responses of both naive and memory human B cells and compromised memory B cell formation in vivo. These findings reveal a key role for IL-21R/STAT3 signaling in regulating human B cell function. Furthermore, our results indicate that the threshold of STAT3 activation required for differentiation is lower in memory compared with naive B cells, thereby identifying an intrinsic difference in the mechanism underlying differentiation of naive versus memory B cells.This work was funded by project and program grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia (to E.K. Deenick, C.S. Ma, D.A. Fulcher, M.C. Cook, and S.G. Tangye) and the Rockefeller University Center for 541 Clinical and Translational science (5UL1RR024143 to J.L. Casanova). C.S. Ma is a recipient of a Career Development Fellowship, L.J. Berglund is a recipient of a Medical Postgraduate Scholarship, and S.G. Tangye is a recipient of a Principal Research Fellowship from the NHMRC of Australia. L. Moens is the recipient of a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO), Belgium