Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 1998. / Spine title: Control of E. histolytica lectin. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-105). Also available online through Digital Dissertations.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1958. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-100).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2006 Sep 19

The number of tissue eosinophils were counted and phospholiphase B activity was assayed in the intestines of nonsensitized and sensitized and sensitized mice infected with Trichinella spiralis.

Type 2 (TH2) immune responses evolved to respond to helminth parasite infections by the production of TH2 cytokines, which stimulate anti-helminth immunity. Macrophage migration inhibitor factor (MIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine, which is produced by many cell types. We demonstrate that mice deficient in MIF have enhanced clearance of a helminth parasite. MIF deficiency in CD4+ T cells was found to be the most important for mediating parasite clearance. We mimicked MIF deficiency by administering an inhibitor of the MIF tautomerase activity, sulforaphane, and this also increased parasite clearance (Section I). TH2 immune responses underlie allergy and allergic asthma, in which the same cytokines that help expel parasites are released in response to innocuous substances. Integral to the initiation of adaptive TH2 immunity are dendritic cells (DCs), which take up antigen and stimulate antigen-specific CD4+ T cell responses. We found that DC expression of ADAM10, a zinc-dependent metalloproteinase, is critical for the development of TH2 immune responses and IgE production from B cells. This effect is demonstrated in both allergic airway inflammation and anaphylaxis models. ADAM10-deficient DCs are unable to cleave Notch1 receptors, resulting in reduced IL-6 production and this ultimately results in decreased TH2 activity. ADAM17 is closely related to ADAM10 in both structure and function. Interestingly, mice from which ADAM10 and 17 are removed from DCs (ADAM10/17DC-/-) have a distinct phenotype from both ADAM10DC-/- and ADAM17DC-/- mice in models of allergic airway inflammation (Section I). We also examined another effect of TH2 cytokines on the interaction between mast cells and myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). We sought to understand how histamine and IL-13, mediators made by mast cells, affect the immunoregulatory function of MDSCs. MDSCs in IL-13-deficient mice with tumor are more prevalent in circulation rather than in tumor or organs, which could be due to changes in CCL2/CCR2 chemotaxis. In addition, MDSC function after treatment with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, decitabine was examined. This treatment reduced their suppressive function and increased the expression of molecules needed for antigen presentation. Overall, TH2 immunity has multifaceted roles in anti-parasite immunity, allergic asthma, and MDSC function (Section II).

This thesis examines the Influenza A/H5N1 virus in action through an ethnographic study focused on the entwined concepts of risk and modernity. The objective is to explain why the response to the virus has been challenged in Indonesia. Concerned with policy formulation, and everyday practice, the thesis argues that assemblages of historical, political, institutional and knowledge‐power processes create multiple hybrid constructions of risk and modernity, which challenge technical responses based on epistemological positions and institutional arrangements that do not allow for such hybridity. The thesis is organised into four sections. The first section (chapters 1 – 3) introduces the virus and its terrain, outlines a constructivist position, and argues that conceptually risk and modernity have multiple, dynamic, power‐laden forms. The second section (chapters 4 – 6) contrasts constructions of risk and modernity among the actors and networks responding to the emergence, spread and persistence of the H5N1 virus, with the constructions of affected people in Indonesia. The third section (chapters 7 – 9) investigates the multi‐directional processes that occur when ‘global' policies and practices encounter ‘local' social and political settings, and vice versa, through three empirical case studies of the response to H5N1 in Indonesia between 2005 and 2010. The final section (chapter 10) provides a set of reflections and conclusions. Given the conceptual plurality of risk and modernity, and the multiple overlapping interacting hybrid constructions that have been empirically demonstrated in the case of H5N1, it is concluded that reductive, science‐based, governmentally‐orientated responses which treat nature as a matter of separate, fixed identity do not allow for such hybridity. The virus in action in Indonesia shows that any divide between nature and society is artificial and deceiving. Technical disease control responses need to incorporate understandings which accept the dynamics of culture, politics, and power.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 483-494).

Some parasites may modify the behavior of their hosts. Altered behaviors may: 1) benefit the host in that they defend against the pathogen, 2) benefit the pathogen and represent manipulations of the host response, and 3) benefit neither the host or the pathogen and simply be a product of the host response to infection. In this thesis I examine four host/parasite systems. For each system, I explore host/parasite behavioral interactions, and examine them with regard to selective pressures that may be acting on both the host and the parasite. I test the Hamilton and Zuk hypothese in 26 species of lizards. I find an inverse relationship between a lizard species' brightness and parasite prevalence. My result lend credence to criticisms of the Hamilton and Zuk Hypothesis. If infection does occur, animals may alter their behavior to impair the growth and reproduction of the parasite. To test this prediction, I examine behavioral thermoregulation in two strains of the snail Biomphalaria glabrata, one resistant to, and one susceptible to, the parasite Schistosoma mansoni. The preferred temperature of infected snails drops five weeks after exposure to the parasite. I propose the hypothesis that pathogen-induced host defense responses result in altered host behaviors and enhanced predation. In particular, I examine the effects of the acute phase response (a physiological response whose symptoms include fever, reduced activity and malaise) on antipredatory behavior in bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) tadpoles. This host response is associated with the preliminary stages of infection with many pathogens yet its behavioral effects have received little attention. I find that the stereotypical effects of the acute phase response can lead to increased predation. I suggest that altered behaviors may afford some parasites a potential pathway to their next host. I examine the behavioral effects of a yeast, Candida spp., a single-host parasite species in its natural host, the red-legged frog (Rana aurora). Infected tadpoles exhibit the same behavioral modifications that are noted in bacteria injected bullfrog tadpoles. These results suggest that some altered behaviors may occur due to a host response to infection and not due to parasitic manipulation. / Graduation date: 1993

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2007. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:28:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:56:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP