Tailoring science outreach through E-matching using a community-based participatory approach.

In an effort to increase science exposure for pre-college (K-12) students and as part of the science education reform agenda, many biomedical research institutions have established university-community partnerships. Typically, these science outreach programs consist of pre-structured, generic exposure for students, with little community engagement. However, the use of a medium that is accessible to both teachers and scientists, electronic web-based matchmaking (E-matching) provides an opportunity for tailored outreach utilizing a community-based participatory approach (CBPA), which involves all stakeholders in the planning and implementation of the science outreach based on the interests of teachers/students and scientists.

The relationship between prematurely ruptured membranes and fetal immunoglobulin production.

Cord blood and maternal sera were studied in a series of 227 cases of prematurely ruptured membranes (PRM) with respect to: (1) fetal immunoglobulin (lg) synthesis associated with PRM, (2) the interrelationship between different lg classes during infection, and (3) the relationship between lg values and the duration of PRM prior to the onset of labor. A preliminary report from this laboratory, which indicated that a humorla fetal immune response occurred in some but not all cases of PRM, and that significant increases in either IgA or IgM could be found, was confirmed. There was both clinical and immunologic evidence of one peak of infection one to 12 hours after onset of PRM and another after 72 hours after onset of PRM, suggesting that some patients were infected before the clinical onset of PRM symptomatology.

The effect of fetal age, birth weight, and sex on cord blood immunoglobulin values.

In order to determine the role played by fetal "factors" in fetal immunoglobulin levels, cord blood samples from 176 normal infants were analyzed for the relationship between immunoglobulin concentration and the gestational age, birth weight, and the sex of the fetus. Cord blood IgM and IgG both increased with gestational age until term, while IgA, its subclasses IgA, and IgA2, and IgD were unaffected by gestational age. IgM and IgG were higher in fetuses weighing 2,000 grams or more, while IgA, IgA, and IgA2 were not influenced by birth weight.

Detectability and pattern of immunoglobulins in normal amniotic fluid throughout gestation.

Immunoglobulin (Ig) M, IgA, and IgD class and IgA, and IgA2 subclass levels were detected in normal amniotic fluid throughout gestation with a hemagglutination-inhibition assay: IgG was measured by single radial immunodiffusion. In 161 tested samples, IgA, IgA, IgA2, and IgG were measurable in all cases; IgM was measurable in 99.4 per cent and IgD, in 90.

Fetal immune response following congenital toxoplasmosis.

Serum concentrations of IgA, its subgroups IgA1 and IgA2, IgM, IgG, and IgD were determined in a group of 14 mothers who contracted toxoplasmosis during pregnancy and their 14 offspring. Four newborns developed toxoplasmosis, 10 did not. The 4 infants with congenital toxoplasmosis had evidence of increased immunoglobulin synthesis in utero in sharp contrast to the 10 offspring of toxoplasmosis-infected mothers who failed to develop the disease.

IgD and the fetal immune response.

IgD was detected in 84% of cord sera at term by an inhibition-of-hemagglutination test, in contrast to low incidences reported earlier. Cord blood IgD and maternal serum IgD values were unrelated to each other, consistent with a fetal origin of the IgD. The cord blood IgD failed to correlate, either directly or inversely, with cord blood IgA or IgM, suggesting that its presence does not reflect fetal synthesis of specific antibody but rather may be developmental.