University of Kansas

About: University of Kansas is a education organization based out in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 38183 authors who have published 81381 publications receiving 2986312 citations. The organization is also known as: KU & Univ of Kansas.

Prevalence of Obesity among Adults from Rural and Urban Areas of the United States: Findings from NHANES (2005-2008).

Abstract: Purpose: Rural residents have higher rates of chronic diseases compared to their urban counterparts, and obesity may be a major contributor to this disparity. This study is the first analysis of obesity prevalence in rural and urban adults using body mass index classification with measured height and weight. In addition, demographic, diet, and physical activity correlates of obesity across rural and urban residence are examined. Methods: Analysis of body mass index (BMI), diet, and physical activity from 7,325 urban and 1,490 rural adults in the 2005-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Findings: The obesity prevalence was 39.6% (SE = 1.5) among rural adults compared to 33.4% (SE = 1.1) among urban adults (P= .006). Prevalence of obesity remained significantly higher among rural compared to urban adults controlling for demographic, diet, and physical activity variables (odds ratio = 1.18, P= .03). Race/ethnicity and percent kcal from fat were significant correlates of obesity among both rural and urban adults. Being married was associated with obesity only among rural residents, whereas older age, less education, and being inactive was associated with obesity only among urban residents. Conclusions: Obesity is markedly higher among adults from rural versus urban areas of the United States, with estimates that are much higher than the rates suggested by studies with self-reported data. Obesity deserves greater attention in rural America.

OBSERVATION and CHARACTERIZATION of A COSMIC MUON NEUTRINO FLUX from the NORTHERN HEMISPHERE USING SIX YEARS of ICECUBE DATA

Abstract: The IceCube Collaboration has previously discovered a high-energy astrophysical neutrino flux using neutrino events with interaction vertices contained within the instrumented volume of the IceCube detector. We present a complementary measurement using charged current muon neutrino events where the interaction vertex can be outside this volume. As a consequence of the large muon range the effective area is significantly larger but the field of view is restricted to the Northern Hemisphere. IceCube data from 2009 through 2015 have been analyzed using a likelihood approach based on the reconstructed muon energy and zenith angle. At the highest neutrino energies between 194 TeV and 7.8 PeV a significant astrophysical contribution is observed, excluding a purely atmospheric origin of these events at 5.6s significance. The data are well described by an isotropic, unbroken power-law flux with a normalization at 100 TeV neutrino energy of (0.90 -0.27 +0.30) × 10-18 Gev-1 cm-2 s-1 sr-1and a hard spectral index of γ = 2.13 ± 0.13. The observed spectrum is harder in comparison to previous IceCube analyses with lower energy thresholds which may indicate a break in the astrophysical neutrino spectrum of unknown origin. The highest-energy event observed has a reconstructed muon energy of (4.5 ± 1.2) PeV which implies a probability of less than 0.005% for this event to be of atmospheric origin. Analyzing the arrival directions of all events with reconstructed muon energies above 200 TeV no correlation with known γ-ray sources was found. Using the high statistics of atmospheric neutrinos we report the current best constraints on a prompt atmospheric muon neutrino flux originating from charmed meson decays which is below 1.06 in units of the flux normalization of the model in Enberg et al.

Antibody-dependent enhancement and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and therapies.

Abstract: Antibody-based drugs and vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are being expedited through preclinical and clinical development. Data from the study of SARS-CoV and other respiratory viruses suggest that anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies could exacerbate COVID-19 through antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). Previous respiratory syncytial virus and dengue virus vaccine studies revealed human clinical safety risks related to ADE, resulting in failed vaccine trials. Here, we describe key ADE mechanisms and discuss mitigation strategies for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and therapies in development. We also outline recently published data to evaluate the risks and opportunities for antibody-based protection against SARS-CoV-2.

Rituximab in the Treatment of Refractory Adult and Juvenile Dermatomyositis and Adult Polymyositis: A Randomized, Placebo-phase Trial

Abstract: The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are a heterogeneous group of acquired disorders characterized by chronic inflammation of striated muscle leading to predominantly proximal muscle weakness. The most common subsets of IIM include adult polymyositis (PM), adult and juvenile dermatomyositis (DM), myositis in overlap with cancer or another connective tissue disease and inclusion body myositis (IBM). The IIM are frequently associated with constitutional symptoms and commonly involve other organ systems including the skin, joints, lungs, gastrointestinal tract and heart. They are rare with an estimated incidence of 4-10 cases/million population per year and a bimodal incidence pattern reflecting childhood onset of juvenile DM (JDM) and a later peak in adulthood [1]. Although the precise pathogenesis is unknown, the IIM likely result from immune-mediated processes initiated by environmental factors in genetically susceptible individuals [2]. Factors strongly supporting their autoimmune basis include: the association of myositis with other autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto thyroiditis, Grave’s disease and various connective tissue diseases, the high frequency of circulating serum autoantibodies, and their response to immunosuppressive (IS) or immunomodulatory therapy. The treatment of IIM is challenging, complicated by its rarity and heterogeneity as well as the lack of controlled trials and partially validated outcome measures. Most studies involve single referral centers using cross-sectional and retrospective analyses of small numbers of treatmentrefractory patients observed for relatively short time periods. In addition, widely disparate inclusion criteria have complicated the assessment of treatment response, as disease damage and the inclusion of misdiagnosed patients contribute to suboptimal therapeutic outcomes. Although glucocorticoids have not been formally tested in controlled trials, expert consensus is that they are the primary therapy to be followed by a variety of immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory agents alone or in combination [2]. Rituximab, a B cell depleting agent long recognized as an effective therapy for B cell lymphomas, has gained increased favor in the treatment of many autoimmune diseases and is FDA-approved for use in rheumatoid arthritis [3] as well as granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis [4]. The effectiveness of rituximab in PM and DM has been suggested by case reports and case series in adult and pediatric patients with refractory disease [5-9]. B cells play a critical role in the initiation and propagation of the immune response and are implicated in the pathogenesis of myositis. They localize to the perivascular region of DM muscle and are found in the inflammatory infiltrates of both PM and DM [10]. In addition to functioning as the precursor of autoantibody-producing plasma cells, B cells present antigen to T cells and secrete proinflammatory cytokines [10]. Therefore, based on the autoimmune characteristics of myositis and the aforementioned immunopathogenic role of the B cell, the Rituximab in Myositis (RIM) trial assessed the effectiveness of rituximab in refractory adult PM and adult and juvenile DM using validated measures of myositis disease activity and damage, a consensus-driven definition of improvement [11-13] and a unique randomized placebo-phase trial design [14, 15].

Interferon‐α/β–mediated innate immune mechanisms in dermatomyositis

Abstract: Dermatomyositis has been modeled as an autoimmune disease largely mediated by the adaptive immune system, including a local humorally mediated response with B and T helper cell muscle infiltration, antibody and complement-mediated injury of capillaries, and perifascicular atrophy of muscle fibers caused by ischemia. To further understand the pathophysiology of dermatomyositis, we used microarrays, computational methods, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy to study muscle specimens from 67 patients, 54 with inflammatory myopathies, 14 with dermatomyositis. In dermatomyositis, genes induced by interferon-alpha/beta were highly overexpressed, and immunohistochemistry for the interferon-alpha/beta inducible protein MxA showed dense staining of perifascicular, and, sometimes all myofibers in 8/14 patients and on capillaries in 13/14 patients. Of 36 patients with other inflammatory myopathies, 1 patient had faint MxA staining of myofibers and 3 of capillaries. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells, potent CD4+ cellular sources of interferon-alpha, are present in substantial numbers in dermatomyositis and may account for most of the cells previously identified as T helper cells. In addition to an adaptive immune response, an innate immune response characterized by plasmacytoid dendritic cell infiltration and interferon-alpha/beta inducible gene and protein expression may be an important part of the pathogenesis of dermatomyositis, as it appears to be in systemic lupus erythematosus.