A case of DRESS syndrome due to Vancomycin

Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome is a severe systemic reaction that usually begins 2-6 weeks after the introduction of the inciting agent. It is mostcommonly characterized by fever, rash, hematologic abnormalities (eosinophilia, atypical lymphocytosis), lymphadenopathy, HHV-6 reactivation and internal organ involvement

Identity Negotiation of Young Arab Muslim Women Attending College in the United States and France

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how young Arab Muslim women attending college, in the United States and France, negotiate their identity vis-à-vis multiple contexts of citizenship in secular state, gender, religion, culture, and race. Sixteen interviews were conducted, eight in Paris and eight in Chicago. Using the theoretical frameworks of social identity, cultural studies, and critical race feminism, this study approached identity negotiation in terms of integration and differentiation from others; influence of dominant culture and attempt to redefine identity; gender and specificity of the experience of women of color as well as interrelation of multiple identities. The following themes were identified: hijab is central to the experience of being a young Arab Muslim woman in college; being Muslim is a way of life; there are strong similarities in college experience across sample; there are contextual differences in college experience between French and American samples. Based on these findings, this study supports a moderate secularism that takes religion into account as a minority identity with specific rights and protection. It objects to French bans on the veil, which single out veiling women and penalize them by politicizing an intention to be modest. This study also supports alternative approaches to Western dominant discourse on women\u27s rights, as such values are not necessarily compatible with young Arab Muslim women\u27s self-perception and personal context. Finally, this study finds that, as imperfect as it may be, the American model of multiculturalism initiatives offers young Arab Muslim women in college better opportunities in terms of identity negotiation, than the French model of assimilation does

Effects of pro-inflamatory cytokines on polarized rat parotid Par-C10 monolayers [abstract]

Abstract only availableSjögren's syndrome (SS), an autoimmune disorder, is distinguished by inflammation and salivary gland cell death, leading to xerostomia (dry mouth). The G protein-coupled P2Y2 receptor (P2Y2R) is up-regulated in response to damage or stress in salivary epithelium. Pro-inflammatory cytokines associated with SS can be produced by infiltrating lymphocytes or salivary epithelium. Correlations have been found between lymphocytic infiltration and increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-Éø (TNFα) and interferon-γ (IFNγ) and decreased function of exocrine glands in SS. Recent data has shown that P2Y2R activation enhances the activity of metalloproteases that release TNFα. OBJECTIVES: To study the effects of cytokines on polarized salivary epithelium. METHODS: Polarized rat parotid (Par-C10) monolayers were used to perform these studies. Cytokines released by UTP-induced P2Y2R activation were identified by ELISA. To evaluate the role of cytokines associated with SS on epithelial integrity, epithelial resistance was determined and correlated with the expression and distribution of tight junction (TJ) proteins by immunofluorescence and Western analysis, respectively. RESULTS: Activation of P2Y2Rs in Par-C10 monolayers induced the release of TNFα. The cytokines TNFα and IFNγ, but not IL-6 or IL1β, decreased the resistance of Par-C10 cells. However, the expression/distribution of the TJ protein ZO-1 was unaffected. CONCLUSIONS: The data support a hypothesis that P2Y2R expression and activation in salivary gland cells contribute to epithelial dysfunction in SS by generating pro-inflammatory cytokines that regulate ion transport and epithelial integrity in salivary glands. Future studies will determine the role of cytokines on the expression and distribution of other TJ molecules including occludin, claudins and junctional adhesion molecules. These studies may lead to better therapeutic strategies for minimizing autoimmune-associated dysfunction of salivary gland that contributes to xerostomia in SS patient.Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Opportunity Progra

Prospectus, September 29, 1999

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1999/1023/thumbnail.jp

“I felt like I had been put on the shelf and forgotten about” – lasting lessons about the impact of COVID-19 on people affected by rarer dementias

Background: The public health measures imposed in many countries to contain the spread of COVID-19 resulted in significant suspensions in the provision of support and care for people with dementia. The negative effects of these measures have been extensively reported. However, little is known about the specific impact on people with young onset, non-memory-led and inherited dementias. This group may have experienced different challenges compared to those with late onset dementia given their non-memory phenotypes and younger age. We explored the impact of the first COVID-19 lockdown on people living with familial Alzheimer’s disease, behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, familial frontotemporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, posterior cortical atrophy and primary progressive aphasia and their carers in the UK and their self-reported strategies for coping.// Methods: This was a mixed methods study. An online survey was administered to people with dementia and family carers recruited via Rare Dementia Support. Free-text responses were analysed using framework analysis to identify key issues and themes.// Results: 184 carers and 24 people with dementia completed the survey. Overall, people with dementia experienced worsening of cognitive symptoms (70%), ability to do things (62%), well-being (57%) and changes to medication (26%) during lockdown. Carers reported a reduction in the support they received (55%) which impacted their own mental health negatively. Qualitative analysis of free-text responses shed light on how the disruption to routines, changes to roles and responsibilities, and widespread disconnection from friends, family and health and social care support varied according to phenotype. These impacts were exacerbated by a more general sense that precious time was being lost, given the progressive nature of dementia. Despite significant challenges, respondents demonstrated resilience and resourcefulness in reporting unexpected positives and strategies for adapting to confinement.// Conclusions: This study has highlighted the specific impacts of the COVID-19 restrictions on people with young onset, non-memory-led and inherited dementias, including behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia, primary progressive aphasia and posterior cortical atrophy, and their carers. The specific challenges faced according to diagnosis and the self-reported strategies speak to the importance of – and may inform the development of – tailored support for these underrepresented groups more generally

Differential Patterns of Infection and Disease with P. falciparum and P. vivax in Young Papua New Guinean Children

BACKGROUND: Where P. vivax and P. falciparum occur in the same population, the peak burden of P. vivax infection and illness is often concentrated in younger age groups. Experiences from malaria therapy patients indicate that immunity is acquired faster to P. vivax than to P. falciparum challenge. There is however little prospective data on the comparative risk of infection and disease from both species in young children living in co-endemic areas. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A cohort of 264 Papua New Guinean children aged 1-3 years (at enrolment) were actively followed-up for Plasmodium infection and febrile illness for 16 months. Infection status was determined by light microscopy and PCR every 8 weeks and at each febrile episode. A generalised estimating equation (GEE) approach was used to analyse both prevalence of infection and incidence of clinical episodes. A more pronounced rise in prevalence of P. falciparum compared to P. vivax infection was evident with increasing age. Although the overall incidence of clinical episodes was comparable (P. falciparum: 2.56, P. vivax 2.46 episodes / child / yr), P. falciparum and P. vivax infectious episodes showed strong but opposing age trends: P. falciparum incidence increased until the age of 30 months with little change thereafter, but incidence of P. vivax decreased significantly with age throughout the entire age range. For P. falciparum, both prevalence and incidence of P. falciparum showed marked seasonality, whereas only P. vivax incidence but not prevalence decreased in the dry season. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Under high, perennial exposure, children in PNG begin acquiring significant clinical immunity, characterized by an increasing ability to control parasite densities below the pyrogenic threshold to P. vivax, but not to P. falciparum, in the 2(nd) and 3(rd) year of life. The ability to relapse from long-lasting liver-stages restricts the seasonal variation in prevalence of P. vivax infections

Middle and Late Pleistocene environmental history of the Marsworth area, south-central England

To elucidate the Middle and Late Pleistocene environmental history of south-central England, we report the stratigraphy, sedimentology, palaeoecology and geochronology of some deposits near the foot of the Chiltern Hills scarp at Marsworth, Buckinghamshire. The Marsworth site is important because its sedimentary sequences contain a rich record of warm stages and cold stages, and it lies close to the Anglian glacial limit. Critical to its history are the origin and age of a brown pebbly silty clay (diamicton) previously interpreted as weathered till. The deposits described infill a river channel incised into chalk bedrock. They comprise clayey, silty and gravelly sediments, many containing locally derived chalk and some with molluscan, ostracod and vertebrate remains. Most of the deposits are readily attributed to periglacial and fluvial processes, and some are dated by optically stimulated luminescence to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6. Although our sedimentological data do not discriminate between a glacial or periglacial interpretation of the diamicton, amino-acid dating of three molluscan taxa from beneath it indicates that it is younger than MIS 9 and older than MIS 5e. This makes a glacial interpretation unlikely, and we interpret the diamicton as a periglacial slope deposit. The Pleistocene history reconstructed for Marsworth identifies four key elements: (1) Anglian glaciation during MIS 12 closely approached Marsworth, introducing far-travelled pebbles such as Rhaxella chert and possibly some fine sand minerals into the area. (2) Interglacial environments inferred from fluvial sediments during MIS 7 varied from fully interglacial conditions during sub-stages 7e and 7c, cool temperate conditions during sub-stage 7b or 7a, temperate conditions similar to those today in central England towards the end of the interglacial, and cool temperate conditions during sub-stage 7a. (3) Periglacial activity during MIS 6 involved thermal contraction cracking, permafrost development, fracturing of chalk bedrock, fluvial activity, slopewash, mass movement and deposition of loess and coversand. (4) Fully interglacial conditions during sub-stage 5e led to renewed fluvial activity, soil formation and acidic weathering

Awareness of vaccination status and its predictors among working people in Switzerland

BACKGROUND: Adult vaccination status may be difficult to obtain, often requiring providers to rely on individual patient recall. To determine vaccination status awareness and the sociodemographic predictors of awareness for tetanus, hepatitis A and B, tick born encephalitis (TBE) and influenza vaccination. METHODS: Multivariate analyses were used to evaluate a questionnaire survey of 10 321 employees (4070 women and 6251 men aged 15–72 years) of two companies in Switzerland. RESULTS: Among 10 321 respondents, 75.5% reported knowing their tetanus vaccination status, 64.1% hepatitis A, 61.1% hepatitis B, 64.3% TBE and 71.9% influenza. Between 1 in 4 and 1 in 3 employees were not aware of their vaccination status. Differences in awareness for the five vaccinations considered correlated with gender and language. These differences persisted in multivariate analyses. CONCLUSION: Women employees, German-speaking employees and employees who paid more attention to their diet were more often aware of their vaccination status. A more reliable and readily accessible data source for vaccination status is needed in order to capitalize on opportunities to update vaccinations among Swiss employees