Running Away

Probationers held on technical violations represent a substantial part of the jail population; yet, they are typically not considered in jail reform programming. Jail stays can have collateral consequences for individual employment, social ties, and overall well-being. Existing research suggests that even short periods of incarceration can have criminogenic effects. Incarcerating probation violators in the short term may be a quick fix for problem behavior, but this type of programming has the potential to exacerbate mental health challenges, create substantial barriers to employment, and strain family and other social support linkages. The chapter outlines the needs of individuals remanded to jail for a probation technical violation. We also detail an innovative program designed to mitigate the costs of jail incarceration for individuals incarcerated for a new technical violation while addressing the root causes of recidivism, including inadequate housing, employment needs, substance abuse, and mental illness.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing outbreak in a school in Marseille, France, 2012

Between January and September 2012, a teacher and four students at a technical college in Marseille, France, developed pulmonary tuberculosis. All Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from these cases were identical and belonged to the Beijing strain family, multispacer sequence type 72, a rare genotype identified only once in our laboratory in the previous two years. This report highlights once more the potential for M. tuberculosis Beijing strains to cause outbreaks, this time in a school setting.

PspA Family Fusion Proteins Delivered by Attenuated Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Extend and Enhance Protection against Streptococcus pneumoniae

ABSTRACTPneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is highly immunogenic and can induce a protective immune response against pneumococcal infection. PspA is divided into two major families based on serological variability: family 1 and family 2. To provide broad protection, PspA proteins from pneumococcal strains Rx1 (family 1) and EF5668 (family 2) were combined to form two PspA fusion proteins, PspA/Rx1-EF5668 and PspA/EF5668-Rx1. Each protein was fused to a type II secretion signal and delivered by a recombinant attenuatedSalmonellavaccine (RASV). Both PspA/Rx1-EF5668 and PspA/EF5668-Rx1 were synthesized in the RASV and secreted into the periplasm and supernatant. The fusion proteins reacted strongly with both anti-PspA/Rx1 and anti-PspA/EF5668 antisera. Oral immunization of BALB/c mice with RASV synthesizing either PspA fusion protein elicited serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and mucosal IgA responses against both families of PspA. Analysis of IgG isotypes (IgG2a and IgG1) indicated a strong Th1 bias to the immune responses to both proteins. Sera from mice immunized with RASV synthesizing PspA/Rx1-EF5668 bound to the surface and directed C3 complement deposition on representative strains from all five PspA clades. Immunization with RASV synthesizing either protein protected mice against intraperitoneal challenge withStreptococcus pneumoniaeWU2 strain (family 1), intravenous challenge withS. pneumoniae3JYP2670 strain (family 2), and intranasal challenge withS. pneumoniaeA66.1 (family 1). The PspA/Rx1-EF5668 protein elicited significantly greater protection than PspA/EF5668-Rx1, PspA/Rx1, or PspA/EF5668. These results indicate an RASV synthesizing a PspA fusion protein representing both PspA families constitutes an effective antipneumococcal vaccine, extending and enhancing protection against multiple strains ofS. pneumoniae.

The W-Beijing Lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Overproduces Triglycerides and Has the DosR Dormancy Regulon Constitutively Upregulated

ABSTRACT The Beijing family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains has been associated with epidemic spread and an increased likelihood of developing drug resistance. The characteristics that predispose this family to such clinical outcomes have not been identified, although one potential candidate, the phenolic glycolipid PGL-tb, has been shown to mediate a fulminant lethal disease in mice and rabbits due to lipid-mediated immunosuppression. However, PGL-tb is not uniformly expressed throughout the Beijing lineage and may not be the only unique virulence trait associated with this family. In an attempt to define phenotypes common to all Beijing strains, we interrogated a carefully selected set of isolates representing the five extant lineages of the Beijing family. Comparison of lipid production in this set revealed that all Beijing strains accumulated large quantities of triacylglycerides in in vitro aerobic culture. This accumulation was found to be coincident with upregulation of Rv3130c, whose product was previously characterized as a triacylglyceride synthase. Rv3130c is a member of the DosR-controlled regulon of M. tuberculosis, and further examination revealed that several members of this regulon were upregulated throughout this strain family. The upregulation of the DosR regulon may confer an adaptive advantage for growth in microaerophilic or anaerobic environments encountered by the bacillus during infection and thus may be related to the epidemiological phenomena associated with this important strain lineage.