Interleukin 7 from Maternal Milk Crosses the Intestinal Barrier and Modulates T- Cell Development in Offspring

Background Breastfeeding protects against illnesses and death in hazardous environments, an effect partly mediated by improved immune function. One hypothesis suggests that factors within milk supplement the inadequate immune response of the offspring, but this has not been able to account for a series of observations showing that factors within maternally derived milk may supplement the development of the immune system through a direct effect on the primary lymphoid organs. In a previous human study we reported evidence suggesting a link between IL-7 in breast milk and the thymic output of infants. Here we report evidence in mice of direct action of maternally-derived IL-7 on T cell development in the offspring. Methods and Findings  We have used recombinant IL-7 labelled with a fluorescent dye to trace the movement in live mice of IL-7 from the stomach across the gut and into the lymphoid tissues. To validate the functional ability of maternally derived IL- 7 we cross fostered IL-7 knock-out mice onto normal wild type mothers. Subsets of thymocytes and populations of peripheral T cells were significantly higher than those found in knock-out mice receiving milk from IL-7 knock-out mothers. Conclusions/Significance Our study provides direct evidence that interleukin 7, a factor which is critical in the development of T lymphocytes, when maternally derived can transfer across the intestine of the offspring, increase T cell production in the thymus and support the survival of T cells in the peripheral secondary lymphoid tissue

Evaluating the Effects of Literacy-Embedded Play Centers on the Academic Success and Social Emotional Learning Behavior of Kindergarteners

This study investigates the impact of literacy-embedded play centers (LEPCs) on kindergarten students academic and social emotional achievement, demonstrating the need for play in the educational setting. This research is significant as previous studies have not explored the connection between LEPCs and academic achievement or social-emotional learning. A month-long study using a control and experimental group was conducted in one kindergarten classroom. The experimental group participated in 15 minutes a day of LEPCs. Pre-test and posttest data were collected and analyzed. The results indicated that LEPCs had a considerable impact on students’ academic achievement, and no significant impact on their social-emotional growth scores. The findings from this study suggest that teachers and administrators should build in time for play and LEPCs to improve students’ academic achievement

Implementing the Fast Track Improvement Bundle: A Total Joint Replacement Quality Improvement Project

The Fast Track program is a patient-centered and evidence-based intervention for post-surgical patients. It is widely used in many hospitals today because it has proven to promote early recovery, reduce postoperative complications, and decrease both length of stay and medical costs. Within a non-profit, Magnet community based hospital, the Fast Track program was implemented in April 2019. Currently, the success rate of the program is at 74%, which has warranted the initiation of a Quality Improvement (QI) project. This project began with a microsystem assessment, root cause analysis (RCA), and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis. Four main barriers were identified as contributing factors to this program’s lack of success. These barriers were as follows: 1) lack of a uniform location on the checklist to write the patient’s discharge time and/or reasons they went off-track, 2) lack of patient education on Fast Track criteria, 3) lack of nursing education on the program, 4) lack of preoperative education on patient\u27s Fast Track status. The recommended intervention is the Fast Track Improvement Bundle. This bundle includes an updated checklist requested by nurses, bedside patient checklist, talking points and in-service to educate nurses, and a Fast Track educational powerpoint slide to be utilized during the preoperative class. The future steps of this project include a formal implementation of the bundle and evaluation of its success. The expected result is \u3e95% success rate of on-time Fast Track discharges

Early postnatal ozone exposure alters rat nodose and jugular sensory neuron development

Sensory neurons originating in nodose and jugular ganglia that innervate airway epithelium (airway neurons) play a role in inflammation observed following exposure to inhaled environmental irritants such as ozone (O3). Airway neurons can mediate airway inflammation through the release of the neuropeptide substance P (SP). While susceptibility to airway irritants is increased in early life, the developmental dynamics of afferent airway neurons are not well characterized. The hypothesis of this study was that airway neuron number might increase with increasing age, and that an acute, early postnatal O3 exposure might increase both the number of sensory airway neurons as well as the number SP-containing airway neurons. Studies using Fischer 344 rat pups were conducted to determine if age or acute O3 exposure might alter airway neuron number. Airway neurons in nodose and jugular ganglia were retrogradely labeled, removed, dissociated, and counted by means of a novel technique employing flow cytometry. In Study 1, neuron counts were conducted on postnatal days (PD) 6, 10, 15, 21, and 28. Numbers of total and airway neurons increased significantly between PD6 and PD10, then generally stabilized. In Study 2, animals were exposed to O3 (2 ppm) or filtered air (FA) on PD5 and neurons were counted on PD10, 15, 21, and 28. O3-exposed animals displayed significantly less total neurons on PD21 than FA controls. This study shows that age-related changes in neuron number occur, and that an acute, early postnatal O3 exposure significantly alters sensory neuron development