Malaria-filaria coinfection in mice makes malarial disease more severe unless filarial infection achieves patency

Coinfections are common in natural populations, and the literature suggests that helminth coinfection readily affects how the immune system manages malaria. For example, type 1–dependent control of malaria parasitemia might be impaired by the type 2 milieu of preexisting helminth infection. Alternatively, immunomodulatory effects of helminths might affect the likelihood of malarial immunopathology. Using rodent models of lymphatic filariasis (Litomosoides sigmodontis) and noncerebral malaria (clone AS Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi), we quantified disease severity, parasitemia, and polyclonal splenic immune responses in BALB/c mice. We found that coinfected mice, particularly those that did not have microfilaremia (Mf), had more severe anemia and loss of body mass than did mice with malaria alone. Even when controlling for parasitemia, malaria was most severe in Mf coinfected mice, and this was associated with increased interferon-g responsiveness. Thus, in Mf mice, filariasis upset a delicate immunological balance in malaria infection and exacerbated malaria-induced immunopathology. Helminth infections are prevalent throughout tropical regions where malaria is transmitted [1–5]. Interactions among infections commonly alter disease severity [6, 7], and malaria-helminth coinfection can either exac

Development of theory-based health messages: three-phase programme of formative research

Online health behaviour interventions have great potential but their effectiveness may be hindered by a lack of formative and theoretical work. This paper describes the process of formative research to develop theoretically and empirically based health messages that are culturally relevant and can be used in an online intervention to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours among new university students. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, a three-phase programme of formative research was conducted with prospective and current undergraduate students to identify (i) modal salient beliefs (the most commonly held beliefs) about fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, binge drinking and smoking, (ii) which beliefs predicted intentions/behaviour and (iii) reasons underlying each of the beliefs that could be targeted in health messages. Phase 1, conducted with 96 pre-university college students, elicited 56 beliefs about the behaviours. Phase 2, conducted with 3026 incoming university students, identified 32 of these beliefs that predicted intentions/behaviour. Phase 3, conducted with 627 current university students, elicited 102 reasons underlying the 32 beliefs to be used to construct health messages to bolster or challenge these beliefs. The three-phase programme of formative research provides researchers with an example of how to develop health messages with a strong theoretical- and empirical base for use in health behaviour change interventions

Mandibular Attachment Device Effects on African American Veterans with Heart Failure

Heart failure is a growing epidemic that affects people nationwide and is disproportionate to African Americans. The purpose of this quantitative repeated measures study was to determine whether mandibular attachment device (MAD) therapy impacts symptoms of heart failure in African American male veterans diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The oxidative stress theory was applied in this study to assess whether MAD therapy received from Veterans Affairs (VA) dental clinics impacted heart failure symptoms, after controlling for patient body mass index (BMI) levels and smoking status. Research questions examined whether MAD had a significant effect on symptoms of heart failure in male African American veterans with OSA and whether BMI and smoking caused a moderating effect on MAD therapy treating efficacy on symptoms of heart failure. Secondary data from the VA was captured through the VA informatics and computing infrastructure. Data obtained from 29 records were analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences. The repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance and the repeated measures multivariate analysis of covariance were used to assess the magnitude of change in heart failure symptoms (ejection fraction, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, oxygen saturation, brain natriuretic peptide, n-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide, and troponins levels) while controlling for the 2 covariates. Results showed a positive mean change in systolic blood pressure while using the MAD and a negative moderated effect after controlling for BMI at 4-months on oxygen saturation. This study will aid positive social change by providing new data that can be used by the public health field towards an alternative treatment

Civil society, second society and the breakdown of communist regimes in central and Eastern Europe: Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania

This thesis proceeds from the premise that the demise of the Communist systems of rule in Eastern Europe is not fully explicable using ''traditional" theories of transition or democratisation. This thesis is, therefore, concerned initially with the limitations of existing theoretical frameworks. It proposes a line of enquiry that accounts for the breakdown of Communism through an analysis of a domestic variable: second society. In particular, it addresses the question of why the former European Communist regimes experienced differing modes of breakdown in 1989. The thesis adopts a comparative approach and focuses on the three different cases of Poland, Czechoslovakia and Romania. By comparing them, it analyses the extent to which variations in the modes of breakdown can be explained by the second society variable. The case studies are divided into three sections. The first considers the historical issues and factors that conditioned the nature of the Communist regime and of emerging opposition. The second analyses the development of second society within each country and the third section considers the impact of second society on the mode of regime breakdown in 1989. The thesis concludes that the case studies , demonstrate a causal relationship between the second society variable and the mode of breakdown experienced by the Communist regimes

Real-time quality assurance testing using photonic techniques: Application to iodine water system

A feasibility study of the use of inspection systems incorporating photonic sensors and multivariate analyses to provide an instrumentation system that in real-time assures quality and that the system in control has been conducted. A system is in control when the near future of the product quality is predictable. Off-line chemical analyses can be used for a chemical process when slow kinetics allows time to take a sample to the laboratory and the system provides a recovery mechanism that returns the system to statistical control without intervention of the operator. The objective for this study has been the implementation of do-it-right-the-first-time and just-in-time philosophies. The Environment Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) water reclamation system that adds iodine for biocidal control is an ideal candidate for the study and implementation of do-it-right-the-first-time technologies

Anatomy of a Community-Level Fiscal Impact Model: FIT-4-NH.

Abstract: This paper describes the development of a fiscal impact tool for New Hampshire communities (HT -4-NH). FIT -4-NH belongs to a family of computergenerated fiscal impact assessment models designed to estimate the impacts to local government revenues and expenditures that result from economic changes. In the past, work in this area has centered on the completion of countylevel models for the midwestern states. FIT-4-NH is unique in that it was designed for rural community-level use in the northern New England region of the country

Reassignment Under the Americans with Disabilities Act: Reasonable Accommodation, Affirmative Action, or Both?

One of Congress\u27s principal motivations for enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1 was to help disabled individuals enter into and remain in the American workplace. In the ADA\u27s findings and purposes section, Congress stated that the Nation\u27s proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals. 2 The legislative history is filled with the statements of senators and representatives supporting the Act as a vehicle for bringing individuals with disabilities into the economic and social mainstream of American life. 3 Legislators viewed the ADA as a win/win situation: Decreased federal government expenditures for supporting unemployed, disabled citizens and increased opportunities for the disabled to enter the workforce and to acquire the independence, self-sufficiency, and dignity they rightly deserve.

Reassignment Under the Americans with Disabilities Act: Reasonable Accommodation, Affirmative Action, or Both?

One of Congress\u27s principal motivations for enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1 was to help disabled individuals enter into and remain in the American workplace. In the ADA\u27s findings and purposes section, Congress stated that the Nation\u27s proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals. 2 The legislative history is filled with the statements of senators and representatives supporting the Act as a vehicle for bringing individuals with disabilities into the economic and social mainstream of American life. 3 Legislators viewed the ADA as a win/win situation: Decreased federal government expenditures for supporting unemployed, disabled citizens and increased opportunities for the disabled to enter the workforce and to acquire the independence, self-sufficiency, and dignity they rightly deserve.