An automated system for public health surveillance of school absenteeism.

Public Health-Seattle & King County established an automated system for monitoring school absenteeism data from 18 of 19 public school districts in King County, Washington. The system receives a daily aggregate count of the number of students enrolled and absent, stratified by school district, school name, and grade. A name and unique identifier are provided for each school and district, as well as the level (eg, elementary, middle, high, alternative, other) and zip code of each school.

Reliability and sensitivity of the self-report of physician-diagnosed gout in the campaign against cancer and heart disease and the atherosclerosis risk in the community cohorts.

Objective: gout is often defined by self-report in epidemiologic studies. Yet the validity of self-reported gout is uncertain. We evaluated the reliability and sensitivity of the self-report of physician-diagnosed gout in the Campaign Against Cancer and Heart Disease (CLUE II) and the Atherosclerosis Risk in the Community (ARIC) cohorts.

Efficient expression from one CMV enhancer controlling two core promoters.

The human CMV promoter/enhancer is one of the strongest promoters for recombinant protein expression in mammalian cells, making the promoter very popular for production of recombinant antibodies. We used an antibody vector design where the antibody heavy and light chain genes were transcribed from a promoter complex consisting of two promoters arranged divergently with the 5' ends of the promoters in close proximity. However, when two identical CMV promoters constituted this promoter complex, the antibody expression observed was lower than expected based on the strength of the individual promoters.

Issues surrounding biospecimen collection and use in clinical trials.

As the need for patient participation in biospecimen and correlative research increases, challenging ethical and potentially legal questions are emerging.

Determining the molecular interactions of perfluorinated carboxylic acids with human sera and isolated human serum albumin using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) is ubiquitous in North American human sera and has a serum half-life of 3.5 years in humans. The molecular interactions that lead to the bioaccumulation of these hydrophobic and lipophobic molecules in human blood are not well understood.

Developing syndrome definitions based on consensus and current use.

Objective: Standardized surveillance syndromes do not exist but would facilitate sharing data among surveillance systems and comparing the accuracy of existing systems. The objective of this study was to create reference syndrome definitions from a consensus of investigators who currently have or are building syndromic surveillance systems.

Design: Clinical condition-syndrome pairs were catalogued for 10 surveillance systems across the United States and the representatives of these systems were brought together for a workshop to discuss consensus syndrome definitions.

Cancer genomics: conducting exemplary trials with biospecimen and biomarker components.

Translating research on genomic changes into novel interventions for patients with cancer requires increased analysis of biospecimens and biomarkers in cancer clinical trials, which involve certain procedural requirements.

Challenges to National Cancer Institute-Supported Cooperative Group Clinical Trial Participation: An ASCO Survey of Cooperative Group Sites.

Anecdotal information regarding clinical research sites limiting participation in NCI-funded cooperative group studies prompted ASCO to collect data on and investigate the reasons behind this trend.

Short-term treatment with high-dose atorvastatin reduces LDL cholesterol but shows no anti-inflammatory effects in normolipidemic subjects with normal CRP levels.

The benefit in reducing cardiovascular risk with statins has been attributed both to cholesterol lowering and pleiotropic effects. These pleiotropic effects are thought to include attenuation of the inflammatory response due to reduced prenylation of proteins in the inflammatory cascade. We conducted studies in normolipidemic subjects to determine if treatment with high-dose (80 mg) atorvastatin could reduce circulating levels of inflammatory markers.

Accuracy and cost-effectiveness of cervical cancer screening by high-risk human papillomavirus DNA testing of self-collected vaginal samples.

Objective: Estimate the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of cervical cancer screening strategies based on high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing of self-collected vaginal samples.

Materials And Methods: A subset of 1,665 women (age range, 18-50 y) participating in a cervical cancer screening study were screened by liquid-based cytology and by high-risk HPV DNA testing of both self-collected vaginal swab samples and clinician-collected cervical samples. Women with positive/abnormal screening test results and a subset of women with negative screening test results were triaged to colposcopy.

Primary deficiency of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein in human abetalipoproteinemia is associated with loss of CD1 function.

Abetalipoproteinemia (ABL) is a rare Mendelian disorder of lipid metabolism due to genetic deficiency in microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP). It is associated with defects in MTP-mediated lipid transfer onto apolipoprotein B (APOB) and impaired secretion of APOB-containing lipoproteins. Recently, MTP was shown to regulate the CD1 family of lipid antigen-presenting molecules, but little is known about immune function in ABL patients.

Basic steps to building a research program.

Establishing a clinical trial infrastructure is an important step when developing a successful research program. Two areas required for success include financial oversight and a qualified research team.

Secondary Sjogren's syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus defines a distinct disease subset.

Objective: Sjögren's syndrome (SS) may occur in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We sought to determine whether the presence of SS in a large cohort of patients with SLE defines a subset with distinctive sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory features.

Methods: The Johns Hopkins Lupus Cohort was divided into 2 groups, based on the presence or absence of SS, defined by the presence of an objective measure of sicca or an abnormal minor salivary gland biopsy in a patient with sicca symptoms.

Single-batch production of recombinant human polyclonal antibodies.

We have previously described the development and implementation of a strategy for production of recombinant polyclonal antibodies (rpAb) in single batches employing CHO cells generated by site-specific integration, the Sympress I technology. The Sympress I technology is implemented at industrial scale, supporting a phase II clinical development program. Production of recombinant proteins by site-specific integration, which is based on incorporation of a single copy of the gene of interest, makes the Sympress I technology best suited to support niche indications.

Recombinant protein expression by targeting pre-selected chromosomal loci.

Background: Recombinant protein expression in mammalian cells is mostly achieved by stable integration of transgenes into the chromosomal DNA of established cell lines. The chromosomal surroundings have strong influences on the expression of transgenes. The exploitation of defined loci by targeting expression constructs with different regulatory elements is an approach to design high level expression systems.

Spring 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak in King County, Washington.

Background: In April 2009, King County, Washington, experienced a sustained outbreak of 2009 H1N1 influenza A. This report describes the epidemiology of that outbreak in King County, home to a diverse population of 1.9 million people.

Association between school closure and subsequent absenteeism during a seasonal influenza epidemic.

Background: Mathematical models suggest that social distancing measures, such as school closures, may mitigate community transmission during an influenza pandemic. Because closures are disruptive to schools and families, they are rarely employed during seasonal influenza outbreaks. A rare circumstance enabled us to examine the association between school closure and absenteeism during a seasonal influenza outbreak when half of King County, Washington public schools closed for a winter recess 19-23 February 2007, while half remained open for all or part of the week.

Assessing fuel treatment effectiveness using satellite imagery and spatial statistics.

Understanding the influences of forest management practices on wildfire severity is critical in fire-prone ecosystems of the western United States. Newly available geospatial data sets characterizing vegetation, fuels, topography, and burn severity offer new opportunities for studying fuel treatment effectiveness at regional to national scales. In this study, we used ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression and sequential autoregression (SAR) to analyze fuel treatment effects on burn severity for three recent wildfires: the Camp 32 fire in western Montana, the School fire in southeastern Washington, and the Warm fire in northern Arizona.

Carbon monoxide epidemic among immigrant populations: King County, Washington, 2006.

Objectives: We investigated an outbreak of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning after a power outage to determine its extent, identify risk factors, and develop prevention measures.

Methods: We reviewed medical records and medical examiner reports of patients with CO poisoning or related symptoms during December 15 to 24, 2006. We grouped patients into households exposed concurrently to a single source of CO.

Retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis: case report and review of the literature.

Objectives: Retropharyngeal calcific tendinitis (RCT) is an under-recognized benign condition that results in significant neck pain and may mimic a retropharyngeal abscess (RPA). We describe the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of RCT as well as features that differentiate it from RPA.

Methods: We present a case report and analyze the clinical features, diagnosis, and treatment of 71 additional patients with RCT identified through a PubMed literature review between 1964 and early 2008.