Getting the Facts Straight: NCCD Questions the "Impending Crime Wave" Report by Third Way

In February, 2008, the Third Way, which defines itself as a "nonprofit, nonpartisan strategy center for progressives," released a signifi cant policy statement entitled, The Impending Crime Wave. This paper describes the convergence of what the Third Way conceives of as four new and menacing sociological trends, which, together with recent federal disengagement from crime fighting, allegedly threaten a new and devastating wave of crime in America. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) reviewed the Third Way report and identified troubling flaws with its arguments and with the data used to support them. To begin with, NCCD found that the described "trends" are based on incorrect data, much of which was drawn from news stories or outdated data reports. In addition, the threatening tone of the report's title and language is a deliberate attempt to foster fear through the use of false statements. Also, the Third Way fails to indentify the precise age group they refer to throughout their arguments. This is an analysis of the Third Way report; it provides evidence from published studies and national data, and in some cases California data, and which highlights the inaccuracies of the Third Way's reasoning

The Declining Number of Youth in Custody in the Juvenile Justice System

During the last decade, custody rates for youth in the US have declined significantly. This Focus describes this trend by race/ethnicity, gender, and state. Measured by arrest rates, juvenile crime, especially serious crime, has also decreased during this period, contrary to a prevalent misconception that young people pose a growing threat to society

Immunoregulatory effects triggered by immunobiotic Lactobacillus jensenii TL2937 strain involve efficient phagocytosis in porcine antigen presenting cells

Background: Immunobiotic Lactobacillus jensenii TL2937 modulates porcine mononuclear phagocytes from Peyer?s patches (PPMPs) and induces a differential production of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in response to Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 activation. Objective: In view of the important role played by phagocytosis in the activation of antigen presenting cells (APCs), the aim of the present work was to examine the interaction of TL2937 with porcine PPMPs focusing on phagocytosis. In addition, this study aimed to investigate whether the effects of L. jensenii TL2937 in porcine blood monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs) are similar to those found in PPMPs considering that MoDCs do not recapitulate all functions of mucosal APCs. Results: studies showed a high ability of porcine CD172a+ PPMPs to phagocytose L. jensenii TL2937. Interestingly, our results also revealed a reduced capacity of the non-immunomodulatory L. plantarum TL2766 to be phagocytosed by those immune cells. Phagocytosis of L. jensenii TL2937 by porcine PPMPs was partially dependent on TLR2. In addition, we demonstrated that TL2937 strain was able to improve the expression of IL-1, IL-12 and IL-10 in immature MoDCs resembling the effect of this immunobiotic bacterium on PPMPs. Moreover, similarly to PPMPs those immunomodulatory effects were related to the higher capacity of TL2937 to be phagocytosed by immature MoDCs. Conclusions: Microbial recognition in APCs could be effectively mediated through ligand-receptor interactions that then mediate phagocytosis and signaling. For the immunobiotic strain TL2937, TLR2 has a partial role for its interaction with porcine APCs and it is necessary to investigate the role of other receptors. A challenge for future research will be advance in the full understanding of the molecular interactions of immunobiotic L. jensenii TL2937 with porcine APCs that will be crucial for the successful development of functional feeds for the porcine host. This study is a step in that direction.Fil: Tsukida, Kohichiro. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Takahashi, Takuya. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Iida, Hikaru. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Kanmani, Paulraj. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Suda, Yoshihito. Miyagi University; JapónFil: Nochi, Tomonori. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Ohwada, Shuichi. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Aso, Hisashi. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Ohkawara, Sou. Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd. Agricultural & Veterinary Division; JapónFil: Makino, Seiya. Meiji Co., Ltd. Division of Research and Development; JapónFil: Kano, Hiroshi. Meiji Co., Ltd. Division of Research and Development; JapónFil: Saito, Tadao. Tohoku University; JapónFil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University; Japó

Biochemical characterization and selective inhibition of β-carotene cis-trans isomerase D27 and carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase CCD8 on the strigolactone biosynthetic pathway

The first three enzymatic steps of the strigolactone biosynthetic pathway catalysed by β-carotene cis-trans isomerase Dwarf27 (D27) from Oryza sativa and carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases CCD7 and CCD8 from Arabidopsis thaliana have been reconstituted in vitro, and kinetic assays have been developed for each enzyme, in order to develop selective enzyme inhibitors. Recombinant OsD27 shows a UV-visible λ at 422 nm and is inactivated by silver(I) acetate, consistent with the presence of an iron-sulfur cluster that is used in catalysis. OsD27 and AtCCD7 are not inhibited by hydroxamic acids that cause shoot branching in planta, but OsD27 is partially inhibited by terpene-like hydroxamic acids. The reaction catalysed by AtCCD8 is shown to be a two-step kinetic mechanism using pre-steady-state kinetic analysis. Kinetic evidence is presented for acid-base catalysis in the CCD8 catalytic cycle and the existence of an essential cysteine residue in the CCD8 active site. AtCCD8 is inhibited in a time-dependent fashion by hydroxamic acids D2, D4, D5 and D6 (> 95% inhibition at 100 μm) that cause a shoot branching phenotype in A. thaliana, and selective inhibition of CCD8 is observed using hydroxamic acids D13H and D15 (82%, 71% inhibition at 10 μm). The enzyme inhibition data imply that the biochemical basis of the shoot branching phenotype is due to inhibition of CCD8

Nasally administered Lactobacillus rhamnosus strains differentially modulate respiratory antiviral immune responses and induce protection against respiratory syncytial virus infection

Some studies have shown that nasally administered immunobiotics had the potential to improve the outcome of influenza virus infection. However, the capacity of immunobiotics to improve protection against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection was not investigated before. Objective: the aims of this study were: a) to evaluate whether the nasal administration of Lactobacillus rhamnosus CRL1505 (Lr05) and L. rhamnosus CRL1506 (Lr06) are able to improve respiratory antiviral defenses and beneficially modulate the immune response triggered by TLR3/RIG-I activation; b) to investigate whether viability of Lr05 or Lr06 is indispensable to modulate respiratory immunity and; c) to evaluate the capacity of Lr05 and Lr06 to improve the resistance of infant mice against RSV infection. Results: nasally administered Lr05 and Lr06 differentially modulated the TLR3/RIG-I-triggered antiviral respiratory immune response. Lr06 administration significantly modulated the production of IFN-α, IFN-β and IL-6 in the response to poly(I:C) challenge, while nasal priming with Lr05 was more effective to improve levels of IFN-γ and IL-10. Both viable Lr05 and Lr06 strains increased the resistance of infant mice to RSV infection while only heat-killed Lr05 showed a protective effect similar to those observed with viable strains. Conclusions: the present work demonstrated that nasal administration of immunobiotics is able to beneficially modulate the immune response triggered by TLR3/RIG-I activation in the respiratory tract and to increase the resistance of mice to the challenge with RSV. Comparative studies using two Lactobacillus rhamnosus strains of the same origin and with similar technological properties showed that each strain has an specific immunoregulatory effect in the respiratory tract and that they differentially modulate the immune response after poly(I:C) or RSV challenges, conferring different degree of protection and using distinct immune mechanisms. We also demonstrated in this work that it is possible to beneficially modulate the respiratory defenses against RSV by using heat-killed immunobiotics.Fil: Tomosada, Yohsuke. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Food and Feed Immunology Group; Japon;Fil: Chiba, Eriko. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Food and Feed Immunology Group; Japon;Fil: Zelaya, María Hortensia del Rosario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (i); Argentina;Fil: Takahashi, Takuya. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Food and Feed Immunology Group; Japon;Fil: Tsukida, Koichiro. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Food and Feed Immunology Group; Japon;Fil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Food and Feed Immunology Group; Japon;Fil: Alvarez, Gladis Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (i); Argentina;Fil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos (i); Argentina; Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Food and Feed Immunology Group; Japon

Immunobiotic Lactobacillus jensenii as immune-health promoting factor to improve growth performance and productivity in post-weaning pigs

Background: Immunoregulatory probiotics (immunobiotics) have been proposed to improve piglets' immune system to avoid intestinal infections and reduce unproductive inflammation after weaning. Previously, it was demonstrated that Lactobacillus jensenii TL2937 (LjTL2937) attenuated the inflammatory response triggered by activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) in porcine intestinal epithelial (PIE) cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs) from porcine Peyer's patches (PP).Objective: In view of the critical importance of PIE-APCs interactions in the regulation of intestinal immune responses, we aimed to examine the effect of LjTL2937 on activation patterns of APCs from swine PPs in co-cultures with PIE cells. In addition, we investigated whether LjTL2937 was able to beneficially modulate intestinal immunity of piglets after weaning to improve immune-health status.Results: Stimulation of PIE-APCs co-cultures with LjTL2937 increased the expression of MHC-II, CD80/86, IL-10, and Bcl-3 in CD172a+CD11R1- and CD172a+CD11R1high APCs. In addition, the TL2937 strain caused the upregulation of three negative regulators of TLR4 in PIE cells: MKP-1, Bcl-3 and A20. These changes significantly reduced the inflammatory response triggered by TLR4 activation in PIE-APCs co-cultures. The in vivo experiments using castrated male piglets (crossbreeding (LWD) with Landrace (L), Large Yorkshire (W) and Duroc (D))of 3 weeks of age demonstrated that feeding with LjTL2937 significantly reduced blood complement activity and C reactive protein concentrations while no changes were observed in blood leukocytes, ratio of granulocytes to lymphocyte numbers, macrophages' activity and antibody levels. In addition, treatment with LjTL2937 significantly improved growth performance and productivity, and increased carcass quality.Conclusions: We demonstrated that the use of immunobiotics strains like LjTL2937, as supplemental additives for piglets feedings, could be used as a strategy to maintain and improve intestinal homeostasis; that is important for the development of the pig and for health and performance throughout the productive life of the animal.Fil: Suda, Yoshihito. Miyagi University. Department of Food, Agriculture and Environment; JapónFil: Villena, Julio Cesar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Centro de Referencia para Lactobacilos; ArgentinaFil: Takahashi, Yu. Miyagi University. Department of Food, Agriculture and Environment; JapónFil: Hosoya, Shoichi. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Products Chemistry. Food and Feed Immunology Group; JapónFil: Tomosada, Yohsuke. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Products Chemistry. Food and Feed Immunology Group; JapónFil: Tsukida, Kohichiro. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Products Chemistry. Food and Feed Immunology Group; JapónFil: Shimazu, Tomoyuki. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Breading and Genetics ; JapónFil: Aso, Hisashi. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Cell Biology Laboratory; JapónFil: Tohno, Masanori. National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science; JapónFil: Ishida, Mitsuharu. Miyagi University. Department of Food, Agriculture and Environment; JapónFil: Makino, Seiya. No especifíca;Fil: Ikegami, Shuji. No especifíca;Fil: Kitazawa, Haruki. Tohoku University. Graduate School of Agricultural Science. Laboratory of Animal Products Chemistry. Food and Feed Immunology Group; Japó

Accelerated Release: A Literature Review (FOCUS)

A review of 13 major studies in the US and Canada on the accelerated release of prisoners and its impact on public safety

Goal Voice and Conveyance Voice of Seediq

departmental bulletin pape