Audit report on the Black Hawk County Criminal Justice Information System for the year ended June 30, 2012

Audit report on the Black Hawk County Criminal Justice Information System for the year ended June 30, 2012

Physical activity in free-living, overweight white and black women: divergent responses by race to diet-induced weight loss.

BACKGROUND: Black women are at greater risk of obesity than are white women, perhaps because of their lower levels of physical activity. OBJECTIVE: We compared free-living activity energy expenditure (AEE) in sedentary white and black women (in overweight and normal-weight states) and in never-overweight control subjects. DESIGN: Subjects included 46 women (23 white, 23 black) studied while overweight and after reaching a normal weight and 38 female control subjects (23 white, 15 black). Diet, without exercise training, resulted in a mean weight loss of 13 kg and a body mass index (in kg/m(2)) < 25. Body composition, sleeping energy expenditure, free-living total energy expenditure, and the energy cost of activity and aerobic capacity were assessed before and after weight loss under 4-wk, diet-controlled, weight-stable conditions and in the control subjects. AEE was defined as above-sleep energy expenditure. RESULTS: No significant racial differences in body composition, before or after weight loss, were found. After weight loss, AEE and aerobic capacity increased in the white women and decreased in the black women (P < 0.05 and P < 0.02, respectively). After weight loss, but not before, the white women had a significantly higher mean AEE than did the black women (2448 +/- 979 and 1728 +/- 1373 kJ/d, respectively; P < 0.05), approximating AEEs in the white (2314 +/- 1105) and black (2310 +/- 1251) control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Relative to the responses of the white women to diet-induced weight loss, the black women became less fit and less physically active. Induction of a normal body weight in overweight black women appeared to produce a more obesity-prone state, favoring weight relapse.

Audit report on the Black Hawk County Criminal Justice Information System for the year ended June 30, 2013

Audit report on the Black Hawk County Criminal Justice Information System for the year ended June 30, 2013

Evaluation of Recycled Rubber in Asphalt Concrete - Black Hawk County, HR-330D, 1992

The disposal of discarded tires has become a major problem. Different methods of recycling have been researched. Currently, Iowa is researching the use of ground recycled crumb rubber from discarded tires in asphalt rubber cement. Six projects have been completed in Iowa using asphalt rubber cement. This project is located on IA 947 (University Avenue) in Cedar Falls/Waterloo. The project contains one section with asphalt rubber cement used in both the binder and surface courses and one section using asphalt rubber cement in the surface course with a conventional binder. There are two control sections where conventional asphalt pavement was placed.

CD160-Associated CD8 T-Cell Functional Impairment Is Independent of PD-1 Expression.

Expression of co-inhibitory molecules is generally associated with T-cell dysfunction in chronic viral infections such as HIV or HCV. However, their relative contribution in the T-cell impairment remains unclear. In the present study, we have evaluated the impact of the expression of co-inhibitory molecules such as 2B4, PD-1 and CD160 on the functions of CD8 T-cells specific to influenza, EBV and CMV. We show that CD8 T-cell populations expressing CD160, but not PD-1, had reduced proliferation capacity and perforin expression, thus indicating that the functional impairment in CD160+ CD8 T cells may be independent of PD-1 expression. The blockade of CD160/CD160-ligand interaction restored CD8 T-cell proliferation capacity, and the extent of restoration directly correlated with the ex vivo proportion of CD160+ CD8 T cells suggesting that CD160 negatively regulates TCR-mediated signaling. Furthermore, CD160 expression was not up-regulated upon T-cell activation or proliferation as compared to PD-1. Taken together, these results provide evidence that CD160-associated CD8 T-cell functional impairment is independent of PD-1 expression.

PD-1 and Tim-3 regulate the expansion of tumor antigen-specific CD8⁺ T cells induced by melanoma vaccines.

Although melanoma vaccines stimulate tumor antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells, objective clinical responses are rarely observed. To investigate this discrepancy, we evaluated the character of vaccine-induced CD8(+) T cells with regard to the inhibitory T-cell coreceptors PD-1 and Tim-3 in patients with metastatic melanoma who were administered tumor vaccines. The vaccines included incomplete Freund's adjuvant, CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG), and the HLA-A2-restricted analog peptide NY-ESO-1 157-165V, either by itself or in combination with the pan-DR epitope NY-ESO-1 119-143. Both vaccines stimulated rapid tumor antigen-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses detected ex vivo, however, tumor antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells produced more IFN-γ and exhibited higher lytic function upon immunization with MHC class I and class II epitopes. Notably, the vast majority of vaccine-induced CD8(+) T cells upregulated PD-1 and a minority also upregulated Tim-3. Levels of PD-1 and Tim-3 expression by vaccine-induced CD8(+) T cells at the time of vaccine administration correlated inversely with their expansion in vivo. Dual blockade of PD-1 and Tim-3 enhanced the expansion and cytokine production of vaccine-induced CD8(+) T cells in vitro. Collectively, our findings support the use of PD-1 and Tim-3 blockades with cancer vaccines to stimulate potent antitumor T-cell responses and increase the likelihood of clinical responses in patients with advanced melanoma.

Body fat distribution in white and black women: different patterns of intraabdominal and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue utilization with weight loss.

BACKGROUND: Intraabdominal adipose tissue (IAAT) is the body fat depot most strongly related to disease risk. Weight reduction is advocated for overweight people to reduce total body fat and IAAT, although little is known about the effect of weight loss on abdominal fat distribution in different races. OBJECTIVE: We compared the effects of diet-induced weight loss on changes in abdominal fat distribution in white and black women. DESIGN: We studied 23 white and 23 black women, similar in age and body composition, in the overweight state [mean body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)): 28.8] and the normal-weight state (mean BMI: 24.0) and 38 never-overweight control women (mean BMI: 23.4). We measured total body fat by using a 4-compartment model, trunk fat by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and cross-sectional areas of IAAT (at the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae) and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT) by using computed tomography. RESULTS: Weight loss was similar in white and black women (13.1 and 12.6 kg, respectively), as were losses of total fat, trunk fat, and waist circumference. However, white women lost more IAAT (P < 0.001) and less SAAT (P < 0.03) than did black women. Fat patterns regressed toward those of their respective control groups. Changes in waist circumference correlated with changes in IAAT in white women (r = 0.54, P < 0.05) but not in black women (r = 0.19, NS). CONCLUSIONS: Despite comparable decreases in total and trunk fat, white women lost more IAAT and less SAAT than did black women. Waist circumference was not a suitable surrogate marker for tracking changes in the visceral fat compartment in black women.

CD8(+) T cells specific for tumor antigens can be rendered dysfunctional by the tumor microenvironment through upregulation of the inhibitory receptors BTLA and PD-1.

Cytotoxic T cells that are present in tumors and capable of recognizing tumor epitopes are nevertheless generally impotent in eliciting tumor rejection. Thus, identifying the immune escape mechanisms responsible for inducing tumor-specific CD8(+) T-cell dysfunction may reveal effective strategies for immune therapy. The inhibitory receptors PD-1 and Tim-3 are known to negatively regulate CD8(+) T-cell responses directed against the well-characterized tumor antigen NY-ESO-1. Here, we report that the upregulation of the inhibitory molecule BTLA also plays a critical role in restricting NY-ESO-1-specific CD8(+) T-cell expansion and function in melanoma. BTLA-expressing PD-1(+)Tim-3(-) CD8(+) T cells represented the largest subset of NY-ESO-1-specific CD8(+) T cells in patients with melanoma. These cells were partially dysfunctional, producing less IFN-γ than BTLA(-) T cells but more IFN-γ, TNF, and interleukin-2 than the highly dysfunctional subset expressing all three receptors. Expression of BTLA did not increase with higher T-cell dysfunction or upon cognate antigen stimulation, as it does with PD-1, suggesting that BTLA upregulation occurs independently of functional exhaustion driven by high antigen load. Added with PD-1 and Tim-3 blockades, BTLA blockade enhanced the expansion, proliferation, and cytokine production of NY-ESO-1-specific CD8(+) T cells. Collectively, our findings indicate that targeting BTLA along with the PD-1 and Tim-3 pathways is critical to reverse an important mechanism of immune escape in patients with advanced melanoma.

Combination of lentivector immunization and low-dose chemotherapy or PD-1/PD-L1 blocking primes self-reactive T cells and induces anti-tumor immunity.

In the last two decades, anti-cancer vaccines have yielded disappointing clinical results despite the fact that high numbers of self/tumor-specific T cells can be elicited in immunized patients. Understanding the reasons behind this lack of efficacy is critical in order to design better treatment regimes. Recombinant lentivectors (rLVs) have been successfully used to induce antigen-specific T cells to foreign or mutated tumor antigens. Here, we show that rLV expressing a murine nonmutated self/tumor antigen efficiently primes large numbers of self/tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells. In spite of the large number of tumor-specific T cells, however, no anti-tumor activity could be measured in a therapeutic setting, in mice vaccinated with rLV. Accumulating evidence shows that, in the presence of malignancies, inhibition of T-cell activity may predominate overstimulation. Analysis of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes revealed that specific anti-tumor CD8(+) T cells fail to produce cytokines and express high levels of inhibitory receptors such as programmed death (PD)-1. Association of active immunization with chemotherapy or antibodies that block inhibitory pathways often leads to better anti-tumor effects. We show here that combining rLV vaccination with either cyclophosphamide or PD-1 and PD-L1 blocking antibodies enhances rLV vaccination efficacy and improves anti-tumor immunity.

Audit report on the Black Hawk County Criminal Justice Information System for the year ended June 30, 2014

Audit report on the Black Hawk County Criminal Justice Information System for the year ended June 30, 2014

Black culture, white youth: la tradició cultural jamaicana al Regne Unit

Amb aquest projecte es pretén documentar tres dècades d'influència jamaicana en la cultura britànica, a partir de l’arribada del vaixell Empire Windrush al 1948, de la independència de Jamaica al 1962 i fins a finals dels anys setanta, coincidint amb l’arribada del rastafarisme. Es tracta de posar de manifest la contribució cultural i social dels jamaicans que, en gran part, ha ajudat al desenvolupament del Regne Unit.Els sound systems, els segells discogràfics i les seves subsidiàries, les gires i concerts d’artistes jamaicans... són una clara mostra de les aportacions de la comunitat jamaicana al país i que molts cops es posen de manifest amb celebracions tan populars com el famós Carnaval de Notting Hill. I és que la música i la cultura jamaicana és quelcom més del que molts es pensen, no només és Bob Marley i el consum de marihuana.

White under Black. Works from the imperceptible / 1. Blanca Casas Brullet: Make Say

White under Black. Works from the imperceptible / 1. Blanca Casas Brullet: Make Say The large photographs of Espacespages (2009) work to transform the creative space of the blank page toward the enabled space of openness to the world. The image gives prominence to the emptiness of the room, almost a cell, in which an action takes place, dimly illuminated by a pair of windows that makes me think of two eyes that attentively contemplate the interior of a process of creation.