Evaluating sense of community in the residential environment from the perspectives of symbolic interactionism and architectural design

The paper fills the gap between the design and the actuality of how buildings, and its surroundings, urban design, and the built environment influence its occupants’ behavior and interactions. We assess how the built environments can be influenced by humans and their control, both physical and symbolically, of the urban landscapes. In this regard, our paper merges symbolic interactionism, sense of community, and architectural design to aid our understanding of the man–environment relationship. Specifically, we assess qualitative data on Ekbatan Residential Complex in Tehran. We use Ekbatan as a case study to see how a sense of community among residents reflects both physical features of the complex and the symbolic meaning attached to these features by residents and those living outside the community. We conclude by suggesting that combining the interests of urban sociologist, community psychology, and architects via symbolic interactionist concepts may be a fruitful avenue for studying factors affecting sense of community and larger urban processes.     

Helminths products directly modulate T cells that mediate experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Infection with helminths can protect against the development of autoimmune diseases and this has been associated with induction of anti‐inflammatory innate immune responses and Tregs. Here, we demonstrate that helminth‐derived products can directly target T cells, especially IL‐17‐secreting γδ T cells that play a key pathogenic role in CNS autoimmune disease.     

Variable sources of Bk virus in renal allograft recipients

BK virus is the causative agent of polyomavirus-associated nephropathy, a major cause of kidney transplant failure affecting 1%-10% of recipients. Previous studies that investigated the viral source on the kidney recipient pointed that the donor is implicated in the origin of human polyomavirus BK (BKPyV) infection in recipients, but giving the low genetic variability of BKPyV this subject is still controversial. The aim of this study was to determine if BKPyV replicating in kidney recipients after transplantation is always originated from the donor. Urine and blood samples from 68 pairs of living donors and kidney recipients who underwent renal transplantation from August 2010-September 2011 were screened for BKPyV by real time polymerase chain reaction. Only three recipients presented viremia. When both donors and recipients were BKPyV positive, a larger fragment of VP1 region was obtained and sequenced to determine the level of similarity between them. A phylogenetic tree was built for the 12 pairs of sequences obtained from urine and high level of similarity among all sequences was observed, indicating that homology inferences for donor and recipient viruses must be cautiously interpreted. However, a close inspection on the donor-recipient pairs sequences revealed that 3 of 12 pairs presented considerably different viruses and 4 of 12 presented mixed infection, indicating that the source of BKPyV infection is not exclusively derived from the donor. We report that about 60% of the renal recipients shed BKPyV genetically distinct from the donor, confronting the accepted concept that the donor is the main source of recipients’ infection.     

Identification of human parvovirus B19 among measles and rubella suspected patients from Cuba

Between September 2014 and December 2015, 298 sera from rash and fever patients from all over Cuba were investigated for specific IgM antibodies against measles, rubella, dengue, human parvovirus B19 (B19V) and human herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. B19V IgM positive and equivocal samples were investigated by a polymerase chain reaction and genotyping. No measles, rubella or dengue cases were detected. HHV6-IgM antibodies were confirmed in 5.7% and B19V-IgM antibodies in 10.7% of the patients. A total of 31.3% of the B19V cases were between 5 and 9 years old and 34.4% were 20 years and older. The only B19V sequence obtained belonged to genotype 1a. Diagnosis was established for only 16% of the rash and fever patients, suggesting that other diseases such as Zika or Chikungunya may play a role.