Eimeria maxima recombinant Gam82 gametocyte antigen vaccine protects against coccidiosis and augments humoral and cell-mediated immunity (46.19)

Intestinal infection with Eimeria, the etiologic agent of avian coccidiosis, stimulates protective immunity to subsequent colonization by the homologous parasite, whilst cross-protection against heterologous species is poor. This study was designed to assess a purified recombinant protein from E. maxima gametocytes (Gam82) in stimulating immunity against experimental infection with live parasites. Following Gam82 intramuscular immunization and oral parasite challenge, body weight gain, fecal oocyst output, gut lesions, serum antibody response, cytokine production, and lymphoproliferation were assessed to evaluate vaccination efficacy. Animals vaccinated with Gam82 and challenged with E. maxima showed lower oocyst shedding and reduced intestinal pathology compared with non-vaccinated and parasite-challenged animals. Gam82 vaccination also stimulated the production of antigen-specific serum antibodies, induced greater levels of IL-2 and IL-15 mRNAs, and increased splenic lymphoproliferation compared with non-vaccinated controls. These results demonstrate that the Gam82 recombinant protein protects against coccidiosis and augments humoral and cell-mediated immunity.

Embryo vaccination using novel adjuvant formulation and Eimeria profilin-induced protective immunity against E. maxima infection (43.4)

Due to increasing concerns on the use of antibiotics in animal production system, development of alternative strategies for disease control in livestock and poultry is becoming important. Avian coccidiosis is caused by several distinct species of Eimeria which undergo intracellular development in different parts of gut reducing significant nutrient absorption. Our previous studies have shown significant protection against coccidiosis using recombinant Eimeria vaccines in laboratory models. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of immunizing 18-day-old embryos with Eimeria profilin protein in novel adjuvant formulation which is composed of Quil A, cholesterol, DDA, and carbopol (QCDC). Chickens which were immunized in ovo with Eimeria profilin/QCDC vaccine produced significantly higher antibody and cytokine responses, and showed better protection against live challenge infection with E. maxima compared to the control chickens which were immunized with Eimeria profilin protein alone. This study demonstrates the first immunological evidence to show immunoenhancing role of QCDC in poultry.

Establishment of a reference interval for natural killer cell activity through flow cytometry and its clinical application in the diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis

Recently, the Histiocyte Society revised the diagnostic criteria for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) to include low or absent natural killer (NK) cell activity, according to local laboratory reference. The aim of this study was to establish reference interval for functional NK-cell activity in 63 healthy Korean individuals using a flow-cytometric assay. We used peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) as effector cells and Fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled K562 cells as target cells. NK-cell activity was calculated using the following equation: NK-cell activity (%) = (test lysis - spontaneous lysis) x 100/(maximum lysis - spontaneous lysis). NK-cell activity was analyzed in 13 known HLH patients and 16 suspected non-HLH patients using a flow-cytometric assay. The mean (+/-SD) cytotoxicity of PBMCs from healthy individuals was 20.9 +/- 5.3% and the reference interval was 11.8-31.9%. The mean NK-cell activity of HLH patients (8.3 +/- 8.9%) was significantly lower (P = 0.001) than that of non-HLH patients (20.1 +/- 7.8%). The sequential changes in NK-cell activity in the HLH group corresponded to clinical and laboratory findings following treatment. We successfully developed a functional NK-cell activity test for use in the clinical laboratory and obtained a reference interval of NK-cell activity from healthy donors. This assay, and associated reference interval, was used to analyze 30 clinically relevant specimens and the results were shown to be well correlated.

Smoking and quality of life among elderly survivors of non-smoking related cancers in a prospective cohort study

9600

Background: Although the effect of smoking on quality of life (QOL) has been examined among survivors of lung or head and neck cancers, little is known about how smoking affects QOL among elderly survivors of non-smoking related cancers. Methods: The Iowa Women's Health Study (IWHS), a prospective cohort study initiated in 1986, collected self-reported QOL using the SF-36 in 2004. Cancer diagnosis and treatment among cohort participants were obtained from Iowa's cancer registry. Behavioral and health characteristics, including smoking status, were collected from periodic follow-up questionnaires between 1986 and 2004. We included 1,920 women, aged 55 to 69 years at baseline, who developed breast, colorectal, or endometrial cancers and responded to the 2004 questionnaire. We compared age-adjusted and multivariate-adjusted mean scores for eight SF-36 scales between nonsmokers (no reported smoking in 1986 or 2004), quitters (reported smoking in 1986 but not 2004), and persistent smokers (reported smoking in 1986 and 2004). Results: Among 1,920 cancer survivors, 1,720 (89.6%) were nonsmokers, 141 (7.3%) were quitters, and 59 (3.1%) were persistent smokers. After age adjustment, quitters had lower scores for vitality, physical functioning, mental health, social functioning, and general health scales compared to nonsmokers. Persistent smokers scored worse on the physical functioning, mental health, role emotional, and social functioning scales compared to nonsmokers. Except for mental health, these differences in QOL scores were attenuated after further adjustment for physical activity. Accounting for other factors, including baseline general health perception and education, cancer type, surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and length of survival, or occurrence of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, stroke or fracture by 2004 did not change the differences observed between survivors who had ever reported smoking versus nonsmokers. Conclusions: Quitters and persistent smokers tended to fare worse than nonsmokers on many QOL scales. In most instances, these differences were explained by lower levels of physical activity which may have been a consequence of smoking.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Deformation of a LCD glass-panel by alignment process in nanoimprint lithography

Deformation of a LCD glass-panel during the alignment is analyzed for a UV-nanoimprint lithography process. In UV-nanoimprint processes for manufacturing LCD panels, a glass-panel should be aligned with respect to the position of fiducial marks on imprint mold and the target glass. The alignment process will place the nano-patterns on the mold into the designated position in the glass-panel. Usually, viscoelastic resin is laminated between the mold and glass-panel. The resin is solidified by ultra-violet light and is designed to be nano-patterns. Thus, shear force would be induced on the panel during alignment process. The shear force can cause deformation of glass-panel, which ultimately causes misalignment of nano-patterns. Thus, deformation analysis for the glass-panel in the alignment process is essential to enhance the accuracy and to reduce alignment cost in nano-imprint. In this work, deformation of the glass panel from the viscous force is calculated by using 'ALGOR' package. The mechanism of misalignment of nano-patterns due to the deformation is analyzed. Finally, the effect of misalignment is discussed, and the experimental results are also presented.

Prevalence and characterization of Salmonella spp. among marine animals in the Channel Islands, California

Salmonella enterica is a zoonotic pathogen that has been isolated from free-ranging marine mammals throughout the world, with animals in the Channel Islands of California (USA) showing the highest prevalence. The goal of this study was to determine prevalence, antimicrobial sensitivity and genetic similarity using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of Salmonella in several non-domestic animal species on San Miguel and San Nicolas Islands. Fecal samples were collected from 90 California sea lion Zalophus californianus pups, 30 northern elephant seal Mirounga angustirostris pups and 87 western gulls Larus occidentalis in the Channel Islands and 59 adult male sea lions in Puget Sound, WA (USA). Salmonella were isolated, identified and serotyped, followed by antimicrobial susceptibility testing and PFGE. Of the California sea lion pups that were sampled on the islands, 21% (n = 19) were positive for Salmonella, whereas no adults males in Puget Sound were positive. Of the northern elephant seal pups sampled, 87% (n = 26) were harboring Salmonella. Only 9% (n = 8) of western gulls were shedding Salmonella, with one of these gulls harboring the only antimicrobial resistant isolate. The serotypes found in these animals were Enteritidis, Montevideo, Newport, Reading, and Saint Paul. The only serotype that showed variation on PFGE was Newport. The pinnipeds of the Channel Islands harbor Salmonella at a higher prevalence than pinnipeds from other geographic areas observed in previous studies. Researchers and veterinarians should exercise increased caution when working with these animals due to the zoonotic potential of Salmonella.

The value of FACT-G in screening cancer patients for depression

19557

Background: The prevalence of depression in cancer patients varies greatly, reported in the range of 5–50% depending upon the population studied. Several tools have been used to screen for depression, but it remains uncertain which tool is most valuable. The Zung self-rating depression scale (ZSDS) is one of the commonly used screening tools for depression. Using a cutoff value of ≥ 40, one study reported sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 55% in diagnosing depression. This study was designed (1) to investigate the prevalence of major depression in our population of outpatients receiving chemotherapy, (2) to determine the correlation between the ZSDS score and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - General version (FACT-G) score and (3) to examine whether statements from the FACT-G can be used as a screening tool for major depression. Methods: Sixty-two chemotherapy patients completed both ZSDS and FACT-G. Median age was 62 years (range 22–81); 55% were female. Patients with ZSDS scores ≥ 40 were interviewed, using standard DSM-IV criteria to evaluate for major depression. Pearson’s correlation was used to examine the correlation between ZSDS and FACT-G scores. We then analyzed responses to FACT-G statements to evaluate if certain questions from the FACT-G could be used as a screening tool for major depression. Results: Thirty patients had ZSDS score < 40, and were considered to not have major depression. Among the 32 patients with ZSDS score = 40, 30 underwent clinical interviews. Seven of these 30 were diagnosed with major depression. The prevalence of major depression was 7/60, or 12% (95% CI: 5% - 23%). The ZSDS score and FACT-G score had strong correlation (R= -0.75). If the total score (range 0–24) of six statements from FACT-G were ≤12, then these six FACT-G statements had sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 81% in predicting major depression. Conclusions: The prevalence of major depression was 12% in our population of chemotherapy patients. The ZSDS and FACT-G scores showed strong correlation. Patient responses to six selected statements from the FACT-G appear to be useful as a screening tool for depression. A confirmatory study with larger numbers of patients is planned.

No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Automated Individual Prescription of Exercise with an XML-based Expert System

Continuously motivating people to exercise regularly is more important than finding a barriers such as lack of time, cost of equipment or gym membership, lack of nearby facilities and poor weather or night-time lighting. Our proposed system presents practicable methods of motivation through a web-based exercise prescription service. Users are instructed to exercise according to their physical ability by means of an automated individual prescription of exercise checked and approved by a personal trainer or exercise specialist after being tested with the HIMS, fitness assessment system. Furthermore, utilizing BIOFIT exercise prescriptions scheduled by an expert system can help users exercise systematically. Automated individual prescriptions are built in XML based documents because the data needs to be flexible, expansible and convertible structures to process diverse exercise templates. Web-based exercise prescription service makes users stay interested in exercise even if they live in many different environments.

Analysis of relation between coronary perfusion pressure and the extracted parameters from a ventricular fibrillation ECG signal

This work presents an alternative return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) estimate using indirectly induced presumption that coronary perfusion pressure (CPP) correlates with the extracted parameter from the ventricular fibrillation (VF) ECG signal. In past studies, it is revealed that successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) needs at least 30 approximately 40 mmHg CPP during the aortic diastolic period. In 360 segments derived from 18 test dogs with experimental cardiac arrest of cardiac cause, we analyzed the ability of 4 spectral features of VF before countershock to discriminate or not between segments that correspond to CPP. The median frequency (MF), peak frequency (PF), average segment amplitude (ASA) and maximum segment amplitude (MSA) were studied. After preprocessing the raw data acquired from the specific experimental setup and protocol, we verified CPP is a serious estimate of ROSC, and then we analyzed the extracted parameters corresponding to CPP by multiple regression. In the specific conditional frequency domain (MF: 9.42 approximately 12.42 Hz, PF: 8.71 approximately 13.08 Hz, ASA: > 0.19 mV), CPP is correlated to the extracted parameter with 0.71 +/- 0.05 coefficient of multiple determination (R(2)). The combination of MF, PF, and ASA achieved a 79.47 +/- 3% sensitivity and 41.67 +/- 4% specificity in testing.

Aging sensitizes mice to behavioral deficits induced by central HIV-1 gp120

The number of older adults with HIV-1 disease is increasing but little is known about how age influences behavioral deficits associated with HIV-1 infection. The purpose of this study was to determine in a murine model if aging influenced sickness behavior following central injection of HIV-1 gp120. In initial studies, behavioral deficits induced by acute and repeated intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of gp120 were greater in aged mice than in adults. Furthermore, repeated ICV injection of gp120 increased hippocampal levels of IL-1 beta and IL-6 mRNA in aged mice but not in adults. To determine if IL-6, which is elevated in aged brain, affects expression of the gp120-binding target, CCR5, microglia (BV-2 cell line) were incubated with increasing concentrations of IL-6. Cell surface expression of CCR5 was increased by IL-6 in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, IL-6 increased gp120-dependent chemotaxis. These results suggest that aging increases the sensitivity of mice to behavioral deficits caused by ICV gp120, perhaps by increasing expression of CCR5 and augmenting production of cytokines.

Salmonella spp., Vibrio spp., Clostridium perfringens, and Plesiomonas shigelloides in marine and freshwater invertebrates from coastal California ecosystems

The coastal ecosystems of California are highly utilized by humans and animals, but the ecology of fecal bacteria at the land-sea interface is not well understood. This study evaluated the distribution of potentially pathogenic bacteria in invertebrates from linked marine, estuarine, and freshwater ecosystems in central California. A variety of filter-feeding clams, mussels, worms, and crab tissues were selectively cultured for Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli-O157, Clostridium perfringens, Plesiomonas shigelloides, and Vibrio spp. A longitudinal study assessed environmental risk factors for detecting these bacterial species in sentinel mussel batches. Putative risk factors included mussel collection near higher risk areas for livestock or human sewage exposure, adjacent human population density, season, recent precipitation, water temperature, water type, bivalve type, and freshwater outflow exposure. Bacteria detected in invertebrates included Salmonella spp., C. perfringens, P. shigelloides, Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio alginolyticus. Overall, 80% of mussel batches were culture positive for at least one of the bacterial species, although the pathogens Campylobacter, E. coli-O157, and Salmonella were not detected. Many of the same bacterial species were also cultured from upstream estuarine and riverine invertebrates. Exposure to human sewage sources, recent precipitation, and water temperature were significant risk factors for bacterial detection in sentinel mussel batches. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that filter-feeding invertebrates along the coast concentrate fecal bacteria flowing from land to sea and show that the relationships between anthropogenic effects on coastal ecosystems and the environmental niches of fecal bacteria are complex and dynamic.

Model Systems for Evaluating Factors Affecting Acrylamide Formation in Deep Fried Foods

Simulated food pieces constructed from fiberglass pads (models for French fries and chips) were used as carriers for defined aqueous solutions, dispersions of test substances and ingredients to evaluate acrylamide formation. The pads were loaded with a solution containing asparagine and glucose (10 mM each) plus selected reaction modulators before deep fat frying and analysis for acrylamide. Data from fiberglass models along with companion sliced potato samples were used in developing hypotheses for the mechanisms involved in the suppression of acrylamide formation by polyvalent cations, polyanionic compounds, pH, and altered food polymer states in fried potato products.