Undernutrition can affect the invading microorganism.

Undernutrition or malnutrition adversely affects host defenses against many invading microorganisms, thereby increasing the severity of infection. Studies of RNA viruses (e.g.

Elevated blood lead concentrations and vitamin D deficiency in winter and summer in young urban children.

Background: It is widely recognized that blood lead concentrations are higher in the summer than in winter. Although the effects of some environmental factors such as lead in dust on this phenomenon have been studied, relationships to sunlight-induced vitamin D synthesis have not been adequately investigated. Vitamin D status is influenced by the diet, sunlight exposure, age, skin pigmentation, and other factors, and may modify gastrointestinal lead absorption or release of lead stored in bones into the bloodstream.

Baseline behavioral assessment for the new Jersey Health Wellness Promotion Act.

Purpose: To determine baseline use rates for health-promoting behaviors of the recently adopted New Jersey Health Wellness Promotion Act and to examine the effects of demographic and socioeconomic factors on the use of preventive services included in the Act.

Design: A random telephone survey of 3094 households was conducted using questions from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System supplemented by questions related to provisions of the Act.

Setting: All New Jersey households.

Extraordinary longevity: individual and societal issues.

The likelihood of substantial increases in average life spans and the potential for profound longevity increases (to 100, 110, or 120 years on average) raises a host of societal issues. These include huge increases in the number of old and very old persons, the likelihood of a massive increase in health expenditures for the population aged 65 and older, the potential for outliving financial resources, challenges to the viability of Social Security and pensions, concerns about quality of life, and possible intergenerational antagonisms. If marked increases occur in average life spans worldwide, several billions could be added to world population at eventual stability, and that could become a sustainability issue.

Lead exposure potentiates predatory attack behavior in the cat.

Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that environmental lead exposure is associated with aggressive behavior in children; however, numerous confounding variables limit the ability of these studies to establish a causal relationship. The study of aggressive behavior using a validated animal model was used to test the hypothesis that there is a causal relationship between lead exposure and aggression in the absence of confounding variables. We studied the effects of lead exposure on a feline model of aggression: predatory (quiet biting) attack of an anesthetized rat.

Dendritic cell amplification of HIV type 1-specific CD8+ T cell responses in exposed, seronegative heterosexual women.

In the Heterosexual AIDS Transmission Study (HATS), the frequency of high-risk sexual activity and viral load in the seropositive partner were shown to correlate with HIV-1 transmission. However, these parameters could not account for the status of some exposed, seronegative (ESN) individuals who remained uninfected despite years of exposure. To test the hypothesis that antiviral immune responses are a correlate of nontransmission in this cohort, we developed two sensitive methods for assessing HIV-1-specific humoral and cell-mediated responses.

Correlates of nontransmission in US women at high risk of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection through sexual exposure.

Seventeen women who were persistently uninfected by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), despite repeated sexual exposure, and 12 of their HIV-positive male partners were studied for antiviral correlates of non-transmission. Thirteen women had > or = 1 immune response in the form of CD8 cell noncytotoxic HIV-1 suppressive activity, proliferative CD4 cell response to HIV antigens, CD8 cell production of macrophage inflammatory protein-1 beta, or ELISPOT assay for HIV-1-specific interferon-gamma secretion. The male HIV-positive partners without AIDS had extremely high CD8 cell counts.