Bed Bugs (Cimex lectularius) as Vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi

Populations of the common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, have recently undergone explosive growth. Bed bugs share many important traits with triatomine insects, but it remains unclear whether these similarities include the ability to transmit Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease. Here, we show efficient and bidirectional transmission of T. cruzi between hosts and bed bugs in a laboratory environment. Most bed bugs that fed on experimentally infected mice acquired the parasite. A majority of previously uninfected mice became infected after a period of cohabitation with exposed bed bugs. T. cruzi was also transmitted to mice after the feces of infected bed bugs were applied directly to broken host skin. Quantitative bed bug defecation measures were similar to those of important triatomine vectors. Our findings suggest that the common bed bug may be a competent vector of T. cruzi and could pose a risk for vector-borne transmission of Chagas disease.     

Natural killer cell enumeration and function in HIV-infected and high-risk uninfected adolescents

This is the first report of natural killer cell enumeration and function in HIV-infected and high-risk uninfected adolescents. We examined the association of demographic characteristics of this cohort with three outcomes: CD16+ cell absolute count, lytic units per peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC), and lytic units per natural killer (NK) cell. We also examined the association of CD4, CD38, and antiretroviral therapy (ART) use with these outcomes in the subset of HIV-infected adolescents. Adolescents participating in an on-going longitudinal study (the REACH study) were sampled for CD16+ cell count and NK function. This cross-sectional analysis was performed on 412 subjects with NK cell data available. HIV-positive males had higher numbers of CD3-/CD16+/CD56+ NK cells than HIV-positive females. However, for the HIV-negative subjects, we did not observe a gender-related effect for absolute NK cell numbers. Gender, however, was a significant covariate for the analysis, using lytic units per PBMC as the unit of measurement, with males showing higher values than females. Age was not a predictive covariate for any of the three assessments of NK cell number and function examined. Our observations concerning the HIV-positive individuals indicate that reduced CD4+ T cell counts were associated with decreased circulating CD3-/CD16+/CD56+ NK cells. We also observed an association between elevation of CD8+/CD38+/DR+ lymphocytes and lower NK lytic units per PBMC. The results of our multivariate models indicate that there is a reduced number of NK cells and reduced lytic units per PBMC in patients receiving single or multidrug antiretroviral therapy. There are changes in circulating NK cell number and function in HIV-infected adolescents, in comparison with high-risk HIV-negative adolescents. The data suggest that these changes may occur early in the course of HIV disease but that quantitative changes continue to occur with advancing depletion of the CD4+ T cell pool.     

The use of immediate postoperative instillations of intravesical chemotherapy after TURBT of NMIBC among European countries

Purpose

The aim of this study was to assess the use of immediate postoperative instillation of intravesical chemotherapy (IPOIC) after transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT) of nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) in Europe.

Methods

Urologists based in five European Union nations were asked to extract information from the records of patients with NMIBC–urothelial carcinoma who received at least one TURBT. Multivariate logistic regression models were developed to determine the significant predictors of IPOIC usage. Data were weighted to control for country-to-country and other differences.

Results

Overall, 324 urologists (58 France, 72 Germany, 62 Italy, 65 Spain, 67 United Kingdom) were involved; the participation rate was 55 %. Overall, 771 patients received 954 TURBTs (mean—1.2/patient), of which 413 of the TURBTs (43.3 %) were administered IPOIC . Sixty-six of the 413 IPOICs (16.0 %) were for a recurrent tumour. Five of the tested variables were significantly associated with a patient’s likelihood of receiving IPOIC after TURBT. Variables in the order of significance are as follows: (1) country (United Kingdom, patients most likely to receive IPOIC; France, least likely); (2) progression risk (physician assessed) [lower-risk conditions (no CIS, tumour < 3 cm) or intermediate risk—more likely]; (3) whether urologist completed a uro-oncology fellowship (completed—more likely); (4) recurrence risk (physician assessed) [higher-risk conditions (≥T2, ≥3 cm, CIS)—more likely]; and (5) physician’s NMIBC patients volume (higher volume—more likely).

Conclusions

This study revealed wide practice variation and substantial noncompliance with European Association of Urology Guidelines on the use of IPOIC after TURBT for NMIBC.     

Input that contradicts young children's strategy for mapping novel words affects their phonological and semantic interpretation of other novel words.

Children tend to choose an entity they cannot already label, rather than one they can, as the likely referent of a novel noun. The effect of input that contradicts this strategy on the interpretation of other novel nouns was investigated. In pre- and posttests, 4-year-olds were asked to judge whether novel nouns referred to "name-similar" familiar objects or novel objects (e.g., whether japple referred to an apple or a binder clip). During an intervening treatment phase, they were asked to pick the referents of novel nouns from pairs of familiar objects (Experiments 1 and 3) or were taught subordinate names for familiar objects (Experiment 2). Most resisted the lure of phonological similarity in the pretest but increased selection of name-similar familiar objects over novel ones in the posttest. In Experiment 3, which involved monosyllables that differed in initial phoneme from the familiar words, treatment produced this effect only when accompanied by a rhyme-sensitization procedure. Experiment 2 included two other age groups: 2-year-olds, who were less resistant to phonological similarity in the pretest and responded to the treatment like the 4-year-olds; and adults, who nearly always selected the novel objects in the pretest and posttest. For children, the impact of treatment was positively associated with ability to detect phonological similarity and negatively associated with vocabulary size.