Recombinant Aspergillus fumigatus antigens Asp f 3 and Asp f 9 in liposomal vaccine protect mice against invasive pulmonary aspergillosis.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis caused by the ubiquitous mold Aspergillus fumigatus is a major threat to immunocompromised patients, causing unacceptably high mortality despite standard of care treatment, and costing an estimated $1.2 billion annually. Treatment for this disease has been complicated by the emergence of azole resistant strains of A.

Barriers to concussion reporting in collegiate athletes: an analysis of a peer-led worksheet activity.

To determine if a peer-led concussion reporting worksheet activity could elucidate barriers to reporting in collegiate athletes. Five hundred and three athletes from 7 universities across all three NCAA divisions. A supplementary qualitative analysis of responses to a concussion reporting worksheet completed during an RCT of a novel peer concussion education program.

An exploratory study of the convergent validity of the Test of Effort (TOE) in adults with acquired brain injury.

Primary Objective: To examine the convergent validity of the Test of Effort (TOE), a performance validity test (PVT) currently under development that employs a two-subtest (one verbal, one visual), forced-choice recognition memory format.

Research Design: A descriptive, correlational design was employed to describe performance on the TOE and examine the convergent validity between the TOE and comparison measures.

Methods And Procedures: A sample of 53 individuals with chronic acquired brain injury (ABI) were administered the TOE and three well-validated PVTs (Reliable Digit Span [RDS], Test of Memory Malingering [TOMM] and Dot Counting Test [DCT]).

Cognitions That Support Concussion Reporting in Collegiate Athletes: An Analysis of a Worksheet Activity.

Background: Sports related concussions continue to be a public health concern and improving reporting behavior a focus of educational programs. While educational programs have addressed changes in knowledge of concussion symptoms, it has been challenging to design educational programs which have lasting effects on reporting behavior.

Aims: The current analysis describes an intervention in which thoughts about reporting behavior are actively written down in a worksheet exercise to "pre-arm" athletes with cognitions designed to enhance reporting behavior prior to the injury event.

Psychometric properties of concussion knowledge and cognitive mediators of reporting measures.

: Concussion education and prevention programs require reliable and valid instruments to evaluate the theory, mechanisms, and outcome of these interventions : To assess the psychometric properties of measures evaluating concussion education and prevention programs: Descriptive epidemiological Setting: 10 NCAA-member universities : 841 student-athletes in an RCT control group testing an ecological, peer-led concussion education program : Instruments adapted for assessing concussion knowledge and Theory of Planned Behavior/Theory of Reasoned Action (TPB/TRA) cognitive mediators of reporting behavior (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, and intentions to report concussion). Participants completed measures at baseline, after one hour, and after one month : Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were moderate for both the concussion knowledge and cognitive mediator measures. TPB/TRA was supported subscale intercorrelation and item factor analysis in the cognitive mediator scale.

Moderating Effects of Gender Among Collegiate Student-Athletes Receiving a Novel Peer Concussion Education Program.

Background: More than 460,000 female and male student-athletes compete in college sports each year, with 5.5 concussions reported per 1,000 athlete exposures. The majority of these concussions occurred during competition and are somewhat more likely to be reported by female athletes.

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Novel Peer Concussion-Education Program for Collegiate Athletes.

Context: The National Collegiate Athletic Association and US Department of Defense have called for educational programs to change the culture of concussion reporting, increase reporting behavior, and enhance the safety of players and service members.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a novel peer concussion-education program (PCEP) in changing knowledge, attitudes, and norms about concussion reporting among collegiate student-athletes and assess program implementation.

Design: Randomized controlled trial and qualitative analysis of interviews.

Development of a Peer Education Program to Improve Concussion Knowledge and Reporting in Collegiate Athletes.

Context: A novel peer concussion-education program (PCEP) was developed to enhance concussion knowledge and reporting among collegiate student-athletes.

Objective: To describe the PCEP and its development and implementation.

Design: Program development consisting of a literature review, focus group, and pilot implementation.

Collegiate athletes' perceptions of the culture of concussion reporting.

The current study was designed to understand the culture of concussion among college student-athletes. Eight men's lacrosse and seven women's soccer players. A focus group was conducted to understand thoughts, barriers, team culture, and what was needed to feel safe reporting symptoms.

Distribution, Identification, and Quantification of Residues after Treatment of Ready-To-Eat Salami with Cl-Labeled or Nonlabeled Chlorine Dioxide Gas.

When ready-to-eat salami was treated in a closed system with Cl-labeled ClO (5.5 mg/100 g of salami), essentially all radioactivity was deposited onto the salami. Administered ClO was converted to Cl-chloride ion (>97%), trace levels of chlorate (<2%), and detectable levels of chlorite.

Assessment of free fatty acids and cholesteryl esters delivered in liposomes as novel class of antibiotic.

Background: Healthcare associated infections (HAI) with multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria continue to be a global threat, highlighting an urgent need for novel antibiotics. In this study, we assessed the potential of free fatty acids and cholesteryl esters that form part of the innate host defense as novel antibacterial agents for use against MDR bacteria.

Methods: Liposomes of six different phospholipid mixtures were employed as carrier for six different fatty acids and four different cholesteryl esters.

Formaldehyde concentration in discharge from land based aquaculture facilities in Atlantic Canada.

Formaldehyde is used in freshwater aquaculture facilities in the Maritimes region of Canada to prevent external parasites and is discharged without treatment to freshwater receiving environments. In this study, formaldehyde was measured at effluent outfalls and 100 m downstream of four land based aquaculture facilities at various post-treatment time intervals. Concentrations of formaldehyde ranged from 0.

Measurement of oxytetracycline and emamectin benzoate in freshwater sediments downstream of land based aquaculture facilities in the Atlantic Region of Canada.

This study investigated the occurrence of oxytetracycline (OTC) and emamectin benzoate (EB) in sediments located near the effluent outfall from four freshwater aquaculture facilities in Atlantic Canada. While two facilities had no detectable concentrations of EB or OTC, two facilities had detectable concentrations of one or both of these chemicals. Concentrations ranged from <0.

Haemocytic leukemia in Prince Edward Island (PEI) soft shell clam (Mya arenaria): spatial distribution in agriculturally impacted estuaries.

Intensive farming of potatoes in Prince Edward Island (PEI) relies on the repeated and widespread application of fertilizers and pesticides. In PEI the main potato farming areas are in close proximity and drain directly to estuaries. Runoff from high agricultural activity watersheds could impact benthic organism health in the depositional zone of downstream estuaries.

Analysis of benthic invertebrate communities as a function of distance from two fish-processing plant effluent discharges in New Brunswick, Canada.

Benthic invertebrate communities have been known to change due to impacts from nutrient-rich industrial outputs, such as those from pulp and paper, sewage-treatment plants, or aquaculture. Fish-processing plants have been recognized as contributors of large volumes of nutrient rich effluent to marine and estuarine environments, but their effect on benthic invertebrate communities is unknown. Benthic invertebrates and sediment samples were obtained from marine sampling stations at 0-, 10-, 30-, and 100-m distances from two fish-processing outfalls in Atlantic Canada.

Occurrence of glyphosate and acidic herbicides in select urban rivers and streams in Canada, 2007.

Introduction: Public and scientific concern has grown over the last decade in Canada over the cosmetic use of pesticides in urban centers. With this in mind, a national survey was designed to monitor eight commonly used herbicides in urban rivers and streams across Canada.

Materials And Methods: To coordinate sample collections across the country, samples were collected monthly on one of two predetermined dates from April to September, 2007 from 19 sites within 16 watersheds, including 15 sites downstream of urban lands and two reference sites.

Assessing the genotoxic potential of chlorothalonil drift from potato fields in Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Chlorothalonil, a broad-spectrum nonsystemic foliar fungicide, is one of the most extensively used pesticide active ingredients on Prince Edward Island, Canada, for blight control on potatoes. In ambient air-sampling programs conducted in 1998 and 1999 and from 2002 to 2004, chlorothalonil was measured in 97% of air samples collected. It is known to produce severe eye and skin irritation, is cytogenic and is considered a possible human carcinogen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Characterization of the murine Th2 response to immunization with liposomal M2e influenza vaccine.

While the current influenza vaccine strategy is dependent on eliciting neutralizing antibodies to the hemagglutinin (H or HA) surface glycoprotein, antigenic drifts and occasional antigenic shifts necessitate constant surveillance and annual updates to the vaccine components. The ectodomain of the matrix 2 (M2e) channel protein has been proposed as a universal vaccine candidate, although it has not yet been shown to elicit neutralizing antibodies. Utilizing a liposome-based vaccine technology, an M2e vaccine (L-M2e-HD/MPL) was tested and shown to stimulate the production of anti-M2e antibodies which precipitated with whole virus and inhibited viral cell lysis by multiple type A strains of influenza virus using a novel in vitro assay.

A comparative toxicity assessment of materials used in aquatic construction.

Comparative toxicity testing was performed on selected materials that may be used in aquatic construction projects. The tests were conducted on the following materials: (1) untreated wood species (hemlock [Tsuga ssp], Western red cedar (Thuja plicata), red oak [Quercus rubra], Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii], red pine [Pinus resinosa], and tamarack [Larix ssp]); (2) plastic wood; (3) Ecothermo wood hemlock stakes treated with preservatives (e.g.

Trace metal concentrations in sediments and fish in the vicinity of ash lagoon discharges from coal-combustion plants in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada.

Metals that originate from coal-combustion residue (ash) deposited in water-filled lagoons are eventually released into the environment. This study measured metal concentrations in sediment and fish obtained in the vicinity of two coal-combustion ash-lagoon outfalls on the East River (Nova Scotia) and Grand Lake (New Brunswick), Canada. Of the 34 metals analysed, this study demonstrated that sediment in the immediate vicinity of the ash lagoon discharge in New Brunswick had statistically significant greater concentrations of thallium, arsenic, and antimony than did the sediment obtained from background areas.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers concentrations in fish processing plant effluent.

The total concentration of PBDEs in the wastewater from fish plants ranged from 82 to 35,055 pg/L which was higher than ambient concentrations measured in surface water samples in North America (6-158 pg/L). Based on the concentration of PDBES in the effluent, calculated daily discharge of PBDEs into the environment ranged from 0.03 to 13.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) concentration in sediments located in the vicinity of fish plant effluent outfalls in the maritimes.

Since polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are known to be present in various species of fish, it is likely that fish processing effluent would contain significant amount of PBDEs. The purpose of this study was to determine the PBDE concentrations in sediments located near fish plant effluent outfalls. The range of concentrations of PBDEs in marine sediments in Canada published in the literature was very similar to the results obtained in this study (0.

Misconceptions about traumatic brain injury and recovery among nursing students.

Objective: To identify potential misconceptions that nursing students have regarding traumatic brain injury (TBI) and recovery.

Design: Descriptive questionnaire.

Setting: University.

Near-field air concentrations of pesticides in potato agriculture in Prince Edward Island.

Background: Pesticides in air have become of increasing concern in recent years. This study examined downwind air concentrations of carbofuran, methamidophos, mancozeb and diquat dibromide resulting from spray drift within 24 h of application, within 100 m of potato fields.

Results: Concentrations ranged from less than 0.

Lipids including cholesteryl linoleate and cholesteryl arachidonate contribute to the inherent antibacterial activity of human nasal fluid.

Mucosal surfaces provide first-line defense against microbial invasion through their complex secretions. The antimicrobial activities of proteins in these secretions have been well delineated, but the contributions of lipids to mucosal defense have not been defined. We found that normal human nasal fluid contains all major lipid classes (in micrograms per milliliter), as well as lipoproteins and apolipoprotein A-I.