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Volume 15, Number 9—September 2009

Clinical Assessment and Improved Diagnosis of Bocavirus-induced Wheezing in Children, Finland

Maria Söderlund-VenermoComments to Author , Anne Lahtinen, Tuomas Jartti, Lea Hedman, Kaisa Kemppainen, Pasi Lehtinen, Tobias Allander, Olli Ruuskanen, and Klaus Hedman
Author affiliations: University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland (M. Söderlund-Venermo, A. Lahtinen, L. Hedman, K. Kemppainen, K. Hedman); Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki (L. Hedman, K. Hedman) Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland (T. Jartti, P. Lehtinen, O. Ruuskanen); Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden (T. Allander); Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm (T. Allander)

Suggested citation for this article

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a widespread respiratory virus. To improve diagnostic methods, we conducted immunoglobulin (Ig) G and IgM enzyme immunoassays with recombinant virus–like particles of HBoV as antigen. Acute-phase and follow-up serum samples from 258 wheezing children and single serum samples from 115 healthy adults in Finland were examined. Our assays had a sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 99.5%. Of adults, 96% had immunity; none had an acute infection. Of 48 children with serologically diagnosed acute HBoV infections, 45 were viremic and 35 had virus in nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs). Of 39 HBoV NPA PCR–positive children co-infected with another virus, 64% had a serologically verified HBoV infection. HBoV caused illness of longer duration than rhinovirus and of equal severity to that of respiratory syncytial virus. Among children with bronchiolitis, >25% had acute HBoV infections. Accurate HBoV diagnosis requires serologic analysis or PCR of serum; PCR of NPAs alone is insufficient.

A new parvovirus, human bocavirus (HBoV), was discovered during sequencing of respiratory tract samples from children. It has been detected worldwide in the nasopharyngeal tract, mainly in small children with lower respiratory tract infections (1,2). HBoV has been associated with upper and lower respiratory tract infections and shown to be a cause of pneumonia in children (38). Prolonged shedding of virus has been reported; >26% of children shed virus for 2 months, 4% for 3 months, and 2% for 4 months (9). Diagnosis of HBoV respiratory tract infections has been PCR based, leading to overrepresentation of HBoV co-infections with other respiratory viruses (911).

Along with others, we have shown that respiratory infections with HBoV elicit B-cell immune responses (1115) and can be diagnosed serologically by using prokaryotic virus protein 2 (VP2) antigens in immunoblots (11). We report production in insect cells of VP2 of virus-like particles (VLPs) and their use in enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for detection of HBoV-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG in paired serum samples of pediatric patients with acute wheezing and in single serum samples of young healthy adults. Serologic results were compared with those of HBoV quantitative PCR (qPCR) of nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) and paired serum samples of 258 children with complete sample sets. Clinical signs and symptoms of wheezing children with serologically verified acute HBoV infections with or without other respiratory virus infections (15 other viruses studied [10]) were compared with those of children infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or rhinovirus.

Materials and Methods

Patients and Samples

Acute-phase (at the time of admission) and convalescent-phase (2 weeks later) serum samples and NPA samples at the time of admission were obtained from 259 children (age range 3 months to 15 years, median 1.6 years) with acute expiratory wheezing (10,16). These children were tested by NPA PCR for 16 respiratory viruses (10); 117 of these children were tested by HBoV IgM and IgG immunoblots and HBoV serum qPCR (10,11). All remaining serum samples, except 1 convalescent-phase serum sample that was depleted, were tested by HBoV qPCR specific for the nucleoprotein 1 gene as described (11); all serum samples were tested by EIA. For 93 of these 258 children, follow-up serum samples were obtained 5–8 years later. In addition, 115 serum samples from healthy medical students were collected after informed consent was obtained. The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committees of Turku and Helsinki University hospitals.

Expression of VP2

Figure 1

Thumbnail of Recombinant human bocavirus virus protein 2 virus-like particles. Scale bar = 100 nm.

Figure 1. Recombinant human bocavirus virus protein 2 virus-like particles. Scale bar = 100 nm.

The putative major virus capsid protein VP2 gene (nt 3443–5071) of the HBoV St 2 isolate (GenBank accession no. DQ000496) was cloned into a baculovirus vector pAcSG2 (Becton Dickinson Biosciences, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) by standard procedures and confirmed by sequencing. The VP2-containing vector was transfected into Sf9 insect cells by using FuGENE 6 Transfection reagent (Roche, Basel, Switzerland). Two million adherent cells in T25 bottles were transfected in 1 mL of Insect Express media (Lonza, Basel, Switzerland) with a mixture of 2 μg plasmid, 250 ng linearized baculoGold DNA (Becton Dickinson Biosciences), and 15 μL FuGENE reagent. Fresh cells were infected 3 times every third day by using virus medium collected from the previous infection. VP2-containing Sf9 cells were harvested on day 3, and cell pellets were resuspended in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.5, at a concentration of 2.1 × 107 cells/mL. Protease inhibitor (complete EDTA-free; Roche) was added (≈75 μL/mL), and cells were lysed by sonication (4 × 20 s). After subsequent centrifugation at 13,200 rpm for 3 min, VLPs were purified by 48-h CsCl gradient ultracentrifugation at 24,200 rpm (L-70 Ultracentrifuge; Beckman, Fullerton, CA, USA) at 4°C after fraction collection and dialysis against PBS. The product was concentrated in columns (Amicon Ultra-15 50,000 MWCO; Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA). Expressed HBoV VP2 was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to have a molecular mass of ≈60 kDa and by electron microscopy to be spherical symmetric parvovirus-like particles ≈20 nm in diameter (Figure 1). Before use as antigen, VLPs were biotinylated as described (17) .

Serologic Analysis

The HBoV IgG EIA was conducted as described for parvovirus B19 (18) except that biotinylated VLPs were used at concentrations of 60 ng/well. Cutoff values were calculated from IgG EIA absorbances of the first serum sample obtained at admission of 34 children who had no IgM or maternal (waning) IgG against HBoV and showed a >4-fold increase of IgG against HBoV during follow-up testing. Cutoff absorbances for negative and positive IgG EIA results were 0.154 (mean + 3 SD) and 0.188 (mean + 4 SD), respectively.

For IgM EIA, a μ-capture format was used (19). Serum samples diluted 1:200 in PBS and 0.05% Tween (PBST) were applied in duplicate into wells of plates coated with goat anti-human IgM (Cappel/ICN Biomedicals, Costa Mesa, CA, USA) for 60 min at room temperature. After being rinsed 5 times with PBST, biotinylated HBoV VLPs were applied at a concentration of 25 ng/well and incubated for 45 min at 37°C. Bound antigen was visualized by using horseradish peroxidase–conjugated streptavidin (Dako, Glostrup, Denmark) at 1:12,000 in PBST plus 0.5% bovine serum albumin for 45 min at 37°C, followed by o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride (Dako) and H2O2 for 15 min at 37°C. Cutoff values were calculated from IgM EIA absorbances of 5-year follow-up samples of 61 children who were IgG positive 5 years earlier. Cutoff absorbances for negative and positive IgM EIA results were 0.136 (mean + 3 SD) and 0.167 (mean + 4 SD), respectively. Parvovirus B19 serologic analysis was conducted by using commercial (Biotrin, Dublin, Ireland) and in-house EIAs (18,20).

Statistical Analysis

Because most continuous data were skewed (by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test), they were analyzed by using regression analysis and generalized linear models after logarithmic transformation. Logistic regression analysis was used for categoric data. Statistical analyses were conducted by using SAS/STAT(r) software version 9.1.3 SP4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA).

Complete sets of HBoV qPCR results for NPAs and serum samples were available for 258 children (Table 1). Among these children, 49 (19%) showed viremia in the first serum sample (29/49 [59%]), the second sample (12/49 [24%]), or both samples (8/49 [16%]). Most children who showed viremia in the first sample (62%) or both samples (87%) had a high (>104 copies/mL) HBoV-DNA load in NPAs; most children who showed viremia only in the second sample (58%) had DNA-negative NPAs. These findings suggest a very recent infection. HBoV DNA loads in serum samples ranged from 112 copies/mL to 600,000 copies/mL and did not correlate with NPA DNA loads. Forty-nine (19%) of 258 children had NPAs that were PCR positive, but only 34 (13%) had both NPAs and serum samples that were PCR positive; 194 (75%) children had negative PCR results for both sample types (Table 1). Of long-term follow-up serum samples, only 1/93 was PCR positive; this sample was from a child who was seronegative 5 years earlier and seroconverted during follow-up. All 115 adult serum samples were HBoV PCR negative.

Antibody EIAs

Figure 2

Thumbnail of Scatter plots of individual absorbance values at 492 nm (A492) of immunoglobulin (Ig) G (×) and IgM (red dots) against human bocavirus (HBoV) in enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for acute-phase (I), convalescence-phase (II), and 5-year follow-up (III) serum samples from wheezing children and single serum samples from young healthy adults, Finland. The 45 children with confirmed acute HBoV infections (by viremia and serodiagnosis) were divided into 3 groups according to the degree of acute

Figure 2. Scatter plots of individual absorbance values at 492 nm (A492) of immunoglobulin (Ig) G (×) and IgM (red dots) against human bocavirus (HBoV) in enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for acute-phase (I), convalescence-phase...

Of 258 wheezing children, 111 (43%) had serologic evidence of past infection; 48 (19%) of acute primary HBoV infection (Table 1; Figure 2). Of the latter group, 32 had detectable IgM with either IgG conversion (27/48) or a diagnostic increase (5/48); a total of 15 had IgM with no IgG (5/48) or with a constant IgG (10/48) absorbance value. A girl 1 year of age showed seroconversion in a convalescent-phase serum sample weakly positive for IgG but she had no IgM in either sample (Table 1). All other children who showed seroconversion or an increase in IgG were IgM positive. Incidence rates of serologically verified, acute, primary HBoV infection among wheezing children varied with age, with a peak of 28% in children 1–<2 years of age (Table 2). Prevalence of HBoV immunity increased with age, reaching 100% at 7 years of age (Table 2). This study included 27 (10%) of 258 children <6 months of age (median 4.8 months, mean 4.7 months). Eight (30%) of 27 children were IgG positive; IgG in 7 of these children was presumably of maternal origin. One infant (3.7%), a 3.6-month-old boy, had a serologically verified acute HBoV infection.

Comparison of qPCR and EIA results for 258 children is shown in Table 1. Among 49 children who showed viremia, 45 (92%) had a serodiagnosis of HBoV infection: i.e., had IgM or an increase in IgG. Of the remaining 4 viremic children, 1 was seropositive and 3 were seronegative; 2 of the seronegative children showed viremia in a second sample, possibly indicating a very acute infection (their NPA samples at the time of admission had been PCR negative). Among 209 nonviremic children, 206 (99%) showed nondiagnostic serologic results (Table 1). Only 3 (1.4%) of 209 children had a serodiagnosis: the 1-year-old girl with an apparent false seroconversion described above and 2 children with PCR-positive NPAs and a positive result for IgM but a constant IgG level, which suggests a subacute infection.

Of 49 (19%) of 258 HBoV NPA PCR-positive children, 35 (71%) had a serodiagnosis, 33 of whom were also viremic (Table 1). Of 28 patients with a high load of HBoV DNA in NPAs, 27 (96%) had an HBoV serodiagnosis, compared with only 8 (38%) of 21 with a low DNA load. Conversely, among 209 children without HBoV DNA in NPAs, 13 (6%) had a serodiagnosis, of whom 12 were also viremic.

Among 34 (13%) of 258 children who were HBoV PCR positive by both NPAs and serum samples, 33 (97%) had a serodiagnosis; the remaining child (a girl 6 months of age) was seronegative and viremic only in the second sample, which indicated a very acute infection. In contrast, of 194 (75%) of 258 children who were HBoV PCR negative in both NPAs and serum, only 1 (0.5%) had a serodiagnosis (the IgM-negative 1-year-old girl). Conversely, of 48 (19%) of 258 children who had a serologically diagnosed acute HBoV infection, 35 (73%) were PCR positive for NPAs, 45 (94%) were viremic, and 47 (98%) were PCR positive for NPAs or serum (Table 1). If one considers a positive PCR result for serum as the standard for diagnosis (n = 258), our EIA had a sensitivity of 92%, a specificity of 99%, and a positive predictive value of 94%. If PCR positivity for NPAs and serum is the standard for diagnosis (n = 128), the sensitivity is 97%, the specificity is 99.5%, and the positive predictive value is 97%.

All 258 children had been tested for 16 respiratory viruses (10). Of 12 (4.6%) with a serologically diagnosed acute HBoV single infection, 12 were viremic and 10 (83%) were HBoV DNA positive in NPAs (all with high DNA loads). Among 39 HBoV NPA PCR-positive children co-infected with 1 or 2 other respiratory viruses (rhinovirus, enterovirus, RSV, adenovirus, influenza A virus, or parainfluenza virus), 25 (64%) had a serologically diagnosed primary HBoV infection; 17 (94%) of 18 with a high HBoV DNA load and 8 (38%) of 21 with a low HBoV DNA load had primary infections. Among viremic children with serologically confirmed acute HBoV infections, 33 (73%) of 45 had co-infections compared with 12 (92%) of 13 children with HBoV DNA in NPAs but without serodiagnosis or viremia; this difference was not significant (p = 0.26).

Follow-up serum samples obtained 5–8 years later were available for 93 of 258 children. Of 41 IgG-negative children, 38 (93%) had seroconverted, and all 21 acutely infected and all initially IgG-positive children were still IgG positive and had no IgM or HBoV DNA. Of 115 young adults, none had IgM, 110 (96%) had IgG (including 2 with borderline results), and none were viremic. Absorbance values are shown in Figure 2.

Serodiagnostic findings for infection with parvovirus B19 (IgM positive or low epitope-type specificity index) (18,20) were not observed among children with a serodiagnosis of HBoV infection. Among other children, 3 were IgM positive for parvovirus B19, of whom 1 was seronegative for HBoV and 2 were seropositive for HBoV.

Clinical Characteristics

The 258 children tested for 16 viruses were analyzed for clinical characteristics. Median age of 46 children with acute HBoV infection diagnosed by serologic analysis and PCR of serum was 1.3 years (range 0.3–6.1 years), median age of 91 of 258 nonexposed seronegative children was 1.1 years (range 0.2–4.2 years), and median age of 110 of 258 children with HBoV immunity was 2.8 years (range 0.5–5.2 years) (p<0.0001).

Clinical data were compared among children infected only with HBoV (n = 12), rhinovirus (n = 56), RSV (n = 36), and HBoV and any other virus (n = 34) (Table 3), HBoV and rhinovirus (n = 14), and HBoV and RSV (n = 7). Among single infections, RSV induced wheezing earliest in life (median 0.8 years), followed by HBoV (1.4 years) and rhinovirus (2.1 years; p<0.0001). Age-adjusted comparison of single infections showed longer duration of hospitalization (p = 0.0069), longer duration of cough (p = 0.0012), and longer duration of cough before admission (p<0.0001) for patients with acute HBoV infections than for patients with rhinovirus infections. However, children infected with rhinovirus had a higher leukocyte count at the time of admission (p = 0.0002). When compared with patients infected with RSV, patients infected with HBoV showed longer duration of cough before admission (p = 0.019). Differences in clinical variables were not observed for rhinovirus or RSV, whether in children with single infections or those co-infected with HBoV. We found no differences between children co-infected with HBoV and 1 or 2 other viruses. Nonrespiratory symptoms, including diarrhea, were rare (Table 3).

Acute HBoV infection was found in children with bronchiolitis. Among children <2 years of age, acute HBoV infection was detected in 26 (27%) of 95 children having their first wheezing episode and in 35 (25%) of 141 children having their first or recurrent wheezing episode, excluding asthmatic children (defined as children considered for initiation of daily long-term control therapy according to the recent US guidelines for diagnosis and management of asthma [21]). Children with HBoV and RSV single infections showed a similar overall severity of illness (median 7, range 4–10 on a scale of 0–12), whereas acute otitis media (AOM) was more frequent among children with RSV single infections (p = 0.0005) (Table 3).

HBoV infections have been commonly diagnosed by PCR of respiratory tract samples. Only a few serologic studies have been reported; these studies have addressed mainly epidemiologic issues (1115). However, Endo et al. documented seroconversions by immunofluorescent analysis in 4 HBoV PCR-positive patients (12), and Lindner et al. detected IgM against HBoV by EIA in 12 patients, 10 of whom were viremic children (15). In a study of 117 wheezing children, we showed by using immunoblotting and prokaryotically expressed HBoV VP2 capsid antigens that HBoV infections can be diagnosed serologically (11). We also showed that the unique region in VP1 is are less immunogenic than the major virus capsid protein VP2. We have now expressed HBoV VP2 VLPs in insect cells for use in IgM and IgG EIAs that are superior to immunoblots in diagnostic performance. We diagnosed acute primary HBoV infections in 48 (19%) of 258 children with expiratory wheezing. Consistent with other reports, no cross-reactivity between 2 human pathogenic parvoviruses (B19 and HBoV), was detected (1113,15). Prevalence rates of immunity increased with age from 5% in infants to >64% in children 2–4 years of age and continued to increase until a maximum of 100% was reached in children 7 years of age. Seroprevalence among young adults was 96%. Furthermore, IgG levels of adults were as diverse as those of children (Figure 2). These results contrast sharply with our previous immunoblot results with denatured VP2 antigen (11), which showed decreased seropositivity among children >2 years of age. This difference is likely caused by a time-related conformational dependence of the antibody, similar to immunity to B19 virus (18,20,22,23). In other HBoV seroprevalence studies, similar rates were reported (12,13,15), which validate the accuracy of our results.

HBoV infection has been shown (by PCR of NPA samples) to be most prevalent in children 6 months to 3 years of age; adults are less affected (8,2430). Consistent with this finding, the incidence of serologically verified acute HBoV infections in our study was highest (28%) during the second year of life; median age of children with acute HBoV infections was 1.3 years. Only 2 children were infected at >4 years of age; 1 of them was seronegative. Children <6 months of age might be protected from infection by maternal antibodies. Rapidly decreasing seroprevalence rates from ≈90% in infants <3 months of age to ≈5% in infants 6 months of age were reported (12,13). In our study, 26% of 27 children <6 months of age (including 1 infant <3 months of age) had maternal antibodies, and 1 child in this age group had an acute HBoV infection.

When we compared serologic results with those of PCR, we found a profound difference between NPA PCR results and serum PCR results. Although results of serodiagnosis were identical to results of serum analysis by PCR, only 71% of NPA-positive children and 6% of NPA-negative children had an HBoV serodiagnosis. However, all but 1 (96%) of the children with a high load of HBoV DNA in NPAs had a serodiagnosis, compared with only 38% of those with a low DNA load. This finding supports the view that a low HBoV DNA load is not evidence of acute primary infection (10,11,31,32). Studies of consecutive NPA samples have shown that HBoV DNA can persist in the nasopharynx for several months (9,33). We also noted that 22% of children with HBoV DNA in their first serum sample continued to show viremia (with 2 logs less DNA) in the second serum sample obtained an average of 19 days later. That HBoV does not often persist in serum indicates that regardless of its magnitude, viremia is an excellent marker of acute HBoV infection.

The clinical role of codetection of HBoV and other viruses in NPAs has been questioned. It is not easy to determine whether such co-infections are sequential infections or simultaneous viral infections. Serologic analysis is a more precise approach for diagnosis of HBoV infections. When compared with PCR-positive results in serum and NPAs, diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of our antibody EIAs were as high as 97% and 99.5%, respectively; positive predictive value was 97%. We showed by using EIAs that among wheezing children, >60% of co-infections in children with HBoV NPA PCR-positive results, particularly in children with a high HBoV DNA load, are acute primary HBoV infections and should be considered in the diagnosis of respiratory disease. No differences in occurrence of co-infections were observed in children with a serologically confirmed diagnosis of infection with HBoV compared with children positive for HBoV by only PCR of NPAs.

Several groups have compared clinical features of HBoV infections with those of other respiratory virus infections. In those studies, diagnoses of infection with HBoV were based only on PCR positivity of NPAs, which as we showed, is not an ideal marker for detection of acute HBoV infection. We assessed clinical findings of our patients with serologically verified acute HBoV infections. Comparison of HBoV-induced wheezing with that induced by rhinovirus is notable because rhinovirus is commonly associated with wheezing in older children and has been recognized as a risk factor for recurrent wheezing and asthma in young children (3436). Also notable is a comparison of HBoV and RSV because RSV is the dominant cause of bronchiolitis in infants (37,38). Our data showed that wheezing induced by RSV occurred at the youngest age (median 10 months), followed by that induced by HBoV (17 months), and rhinovirus (25 months). Age-adjusted comparisons showed that HBoV-infected children were hospitalized longer than rhinovirus-infected children. Illnesses after HBoV infection lasted longer than illnesses after rhinovirus infection. However, we did not demonstrate that co-infection with HBoV would increase illness duration or severity, as has been reported for rhinovirus- and RSV-induced bronchiolitis (39).

Children with HBoV co-infections seemed to have more AOM (47%) than those with single HBoV infections (33%), but this difference could be explained by inclusion of 7 RSV-positive children in this group. The highest rate of AOM (72%) was in children with RSV-induced wheezing. Alper et al. reported differences in frequencies of various respiratory viruses associated with AOM (HBoV was not included), but statistical significance was not achieved (40). We found a difference in the frequency of AOM between children with RSV-induced wheezing and those with HBoV-induced wheezing.

Serologically confirmed primary HBoV infections detected in 12 symptomatic children with no signs of other respiratory virus infections (by PCR, culture, antigen detection, or serologic analysis) demonstrate that HBoV is a cause of acute wheezing in young children. Moreover, the fact that acute HBoV infection was detected in 27% of hospitalized children who were <2 years of age when they had their first episode of wheezing indicates that HBoV is a causative agent of bronchiolitis with clinical severity comparable with that of RSV. HBoV respiratory infections can be diagnosed with moderate accuracy by qPCR of NPAs. However, the most reliable methods for diagnosis of acute symptomatic HBoV infection are PCR of serum samples and serologic analysis for IgM and IgG.

Dr Söderlund-Venermo is a scientist in the Department of Virology at the Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki. Her research interests include the molecular and clinical virology of parvoviruses, anelloviruses, and polyomaviruses.

We thank Kaisu Kaistinen for technical assistance, Päivi Norja for help with the PCR, Hannimari Kallio-Kokko for assistance with the IgM EIA, and Kalle Kantola for preparing the figures.

This study was supported by the Academy of Finland (project 1122539); the Helsinki University Central Hospital Research and Education, and Research and Development funds; the Medical Society of Finland and the Sigrid Jusélius Foundation (M.S.-V., A.L., L.H., K.K., K.H.); the Swedish Research Council; the Swedish Cancer Foundation and the Torsten and Ragnar Söderberg Foundation (T.A.); the Academy of Finland (project 114034); and the Paulo Foundation (T.J.).

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  30. Weissbrich B, Neske F, Schubert J, Tollmann F, Blath K, Blessing K, Frequent detection of bocavirus DNA in German children with respiratory tract infections. BMC Infect Dis. 2006;6:109. DOIPubMed
  31. Gerna G, Piralla A, Campanini G, Marchi A, Stronati M, Rovida F. The human bocavirus role in acute respiratory tract infections of pediatric patients as defined by viral load quantification. New Microbiol. 2007;30:38392.PubMed
  32. Jacques J, Moret H, Renois F, Léveque N, Motte J, Andréoletti L. Human bocavirus quantitative DNA detection in French children hospitalized for acute bronchiolitis. J Clin Virol. 2008;43:1427. DOIPubMed
  33. Brieu N, Guyon G, Rodiére M, Segondy M, Foulongne V. Human bocavirus infection in children with respiratory tract disease. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2008;27:96973. DOIPubMed
  34. Jackson DJ, Gangnon RE, Evans MD, Roberg KA, Anderson EL, Pappas TE, Wheezing rhinovirus illnesses in early life predict asthma development in high-risk children. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2008;178:66772. DOIPubMed
  35. Kotaniemi-Syrjänen A, Vainionpää R, Reijonen T, Waris M, Korhonen K, Korppi M. Rhinovirus-induced wheezing in infancy: the first sign of childhood asthma? J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003;111:6671. DOIPubMed
  36. Lehtinen P, Ruohola A, Vanto T, Vuorinen T, Ruuskanen O, Jartti T. Prednisolone reduces recurrent wheezing after a first wheezing episode associated with rhinovirus infection or eczema. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007;119:5705. DOIPubMed
  37. Papadopoulos NG, Tsolia M, Bossios A, Astra E, Prezerakou A, Gourgiotis D, Association of rhinovirus infection with increased disease severity in acute bronchiolitis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2002;165:12859. DOIPubMed
  38. Rakes GP, Arruda E, Ingram J, Hoover GE, Zambrano JC, Hayden FG, Rhinovirus and respiratory syncytial virus in wheezing children requiring emergency care. IgE and eosinophil analyses. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1999;159:78590.PubMed
  39. Richard N, Komurian-Pradel F, Javouhey E, Perret M, Rajoharison A, Bagnaud A, The impact of dual viral infection in infants admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit associated with severe bronchiolitis. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2008;27:2137. DOIPubMed
  40. Alper CM, Winther B, Mandel E, Hendley J, Doyle W. Rate of concurrent otitis media in upper respiratory tract infections with specific viruses. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2009;135:1721. DOIPubMed

Suggested citation for this article: Söderlund-Venermo M, Lahtinen A, Jartti T, Hedman L, Kemppainen K, Lehtinen P, et al. Clinical assessment and improved diagnosis of bocavirus-induced wheezing in children, Finland. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2009 Sep [date cited]. Available from

DOI: 10.3201/eid1509.090204

Table of Contents – Volume 15, Number 9—September 2009

Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Maria Söderlund-Venermo, Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, Box 21, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;

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Volume 18, Number 11—November 2012

Call to Action on World Pneumonia Day

Rana HajjehComments to Author  and Cynthia G. Whitney
Author affiliations: Author affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Suggested citation for this article

This month, on November 12, the world will recognize the fourth annual World Pneumonia Day. First launched in 2009 by a coalition of global health leaders (1), World Pneumonia Day aims to raise awareness about pneumonia’s toll on the world’s children and to promote interventions to protect against, treat, and prevent the disease. Pneumonia continues to be the leading killer of young children around the world, causing ≈14% of all deaths in children 1 month to 5 years of age (2). It is a critical disease for countries to conquer in order to reach Millennium Development Goal 4: reducing the child mortality rate by two thirds from 1990 to 2015 (3). Most children who die from pneumonia live in developing countries, where such factors as malnutrition, crowding, and lack of access to quality health care increase the risk for death. Pneumonia kills few children in industrialized countries, although it remains among the top 10 causes of deaths in the United States, for example, because of deaths in older adults (4).

Fortunately, many interventions are now available to reduce deaths due to pneumonia among children throughout the world. On the first World Pneumonia Day in 2009, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, together with many global experts and partners, launched the Global Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia (GAPP) (5). GAPP recommends a strategy of prevention, protection, and treatment that is designed to implement readily available interventions that can reduce pneumonia deaths in children. GAPP focuses on improving nutrition (through measures such as exclusive breastfeeding), increasing access to vaccines that protect from agents that cause pneumonia (such as Haemphilus influenzae type b and pneumococcal vaccines), reducing exposure to indoor air pollution, and increasing access to antimicrobial drugs that can treat pneumonia.

In 2010, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution recognizing the role of pneumonia as the leading cause of deaths in children, setting out the goal of reducing pneumonia deaths as a global health priority (6), and the World Health Organization began tracking implementation of GAPP. One notable area of success has been the introduction of new vaccines to prevent pneumonia. During the last few years, because of funding and technical support from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations and various partners, the introduction of new vaccines in developing countries has had unprecedented momentum. Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines have been introduced or are ready to be introduced in all countries eligible for Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations funding by 2013, and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines are expected to be introduced in 54 countries by 2015 (7).

Despite recent progress in the effort to decrease the number of pneumonia cases, pneumonia is still an urgent problem. This month’s issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases presents results of recent research on pneumonia conducted around the world. The work, mostly from high-income settings, highlights some of the remaining difficulties involving pneumonia prevention, treatment, and control. For example, although van Deursen et al. show the remarkable benefits of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccination program in the Netherlands (8), Fleming-Dutra et al. report how pneumococcal pneumonia outbreaks can occur even in a highly vaccinated population if crowding and poor health are common, because currently available vaccines do not cover all pneumococcal serotypes (9). By describing cases of pneumonia that occurred after the megaquake in Japan in 2011, Takahashi et al. show how natural disasters might lead to increases in pneumonia risk or create large shifts in needed health care (10).

Many challenging research questions remain. A recent priority-setting exercise outlined the most urgent studies needed to reduce pneumonia deaths in low-income countries (11). Priority items ranged from assessments of vaccine effects on disease in low-income settings to evaluation of measures to improve community management of pneumonia. In addition, a large, multicenter study to identify the etiologic agents of pneumonia in developing countries, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was launched in 2011 (12). This study is expected to generate data that will better guide prevention and treatment strategies, particularly in countries that are already using new vaccines.

This November 12, World Pneumonia Day, we urge the global community to consider the massive problems of pneumonia. Better yet, take a moment to consider what you can do to solve this problem. Health care providers, researchers, policy makers, and the greater public health community all need to contribute if we are to make rapid, substantial progress toward reducing disease and deaths due to pneumonia. Progress is being made, but much more can be done.

Dr Hajjeh is director, Division of Bacterial Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her research interests are the prevention and control of pneumonia and meningitis, surveillance systems and use of surveillance data, improving child health, and global infectious diseases epidemiology and control.

Dr Whitney is chief, Respiratory Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her research interests are pneumonia prevention and control, pneumococcal epidemiology, and vaccine evaluation.

  1. Global Coalition Against Child Pneumonia. World Pneumonia Day: fight pneumonia; save a child; November 12 [cited 2012 Aug 7].
  2. Liu L, Johnson HL, Cousens S, Perin J, Scott S, Lawn JE, Global, regional and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis of 2010 with time trends since 2000. Lancet. 2012;379:215161. DOIPubMed
  3. United Nations Development Programme. The Millennium Development Goals: eight goals for 2015 [cited 2012 Aug 8].
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Leading causes of death, United States, 2009 [cited 2012 Aug 10].
  5. World Health Organization; United Nations Childrens Fund. Global action plan for prevention and control of pneumonia (GAPP). Geneva: The Organization; 2009.
  6. World Health Organization. WHA63.24. Accelerated progress towards achievement of Millennium Development Goal 4 to reduce child mortality: prevention and treatment of pneumonia. Sixty-third World Health Assembly, Geneva, Switzerland, May 17–21, 2010, resolutions and decisions annexes. Geneva: The Organization; 2010. p. 51–2.
  7. Hajjeh R. Accelerating introduction of new vaccines: barriers to introduction and lessons learned from the recent Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine experience. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2011;366:282732. DOIPubMed
  8. van Deursen AMM, van Mends SP, Sanders EAM, Vlaminckx BJM, de Melker HE, Schouls LM, Invasive pneumococcal disease and 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, the Netherlands. Emerg Infect Dis. 2012;18:172937. DOI
  9. Fleming-Dutra K, Mbaeyi C, Link-Gelles R, Alexander N, Guh A, Forbes E, Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 15A outbreak in a psychiatric unit, Rhode Island, USA, 2011. Emerg Infect Dis. 2012;18:188993.
  10. Takahashi H, Fujimura S, Ubukata S, Sato E, Shoji M, Utagawa M, Pneumonia after earthquake, Japan, 2011. Emerg Infect Dis. 2012;18:190911. DOI
  11. Rudan I, El Arifeen S, Bhutta ZA, Black RE, Brooks A, Chan KY, Setting research priorities to reduce global mortality from childhood pneumonia by 2015. PLoS Med. 2011;8:e1001099. DOIPubMed
  12. Levine OS, O’Brien KL, Deloria-Knoll M, Murdoch DR, Filkin DR, DeLuca AN, The pneumonia etiology research for child health project: a 21st century childhood pneumonia etiology study. Clin Infect Dis. 2012;54(Suppl 2):S93101. DOIPubMed

Suggested citation for this article: Hajjeh R, Whitney CG. Call to action on World Pneumonia Day. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2012 Nov [date cited].

DOI: 10.3201/eid1811.121217

Table of Contents – Volume 18, Number 11—November 2012

Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Rana Hajjeh, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd NE, Mailstop C09, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA

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A Note from the Long Island South Shore History Wiki Curator:

The Long Island South Shore History Project was initially based on the organization and presentation of holdings within the Library’s Archives and Special Collections. Thus, this Wiki currently has an emphasis of content weighted towards history that has occurred since the beginning of the Gilded Age (circa 1860). As the site grows, earlier local history will be included, but such coverage may be spotty for some time to come. The information is also currently centered on the geographic local history of Oakdale, NY and its surrounding communities. Once again, as the site grows we hope to include a greater part of the South Shore geography.

The librarians at the Dowling College Library Archives and Special Collections are working to digitize and make public the content of its collections. This process will take years, so this web site will be constantly changing and growing. The first page of this web site is deceptively simple, dig deeper and you’ll discover something new about your community every time you visit!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, the LISSH Wiki Curator, Diane Holliday.

Do you have information to add? Then please contact Diane Holliday.

Last Modified on May 11, 2012, at 03:30 PM by LPR

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text:
Jun 4, 2014
Originally published on June 4, 2014 7:32 am

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning, I'm David Greene.

And I'm Steve Inskeep. President Obama's former point man on Syria resigned because he can no longer defend U.S. policy there. Ambassador Robert Ford was once known for dramatic gestures supporting Syria's opposition. But Ford says, as the uprising became a civil war he was frustrated by limited U.S. support for rebels. And even now, Ford told the "PBS NewsHour" he is not sure the Obama administration is doing enough.

ROBERT FORD: It's not clear to me yet if they are prepared to ramp it up in such a way that will be meaningful on the ground. And that's really what matters. This is a civil war. And we can't get to a political negotiation until the balance on the ground compels - and I use that word precisely - compels Assad not to run sham elections, but rather to negotiate a political deal. But the situation on the ground is key.

INSKEEP: That's former U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford. NPR's Deborah Amos has interviewed Ford over the years and joins us now from a town on the border with Syria and Turkey. Hi Deb.

DEBORAH AMOS, BYLINE: Hi, good morning.

INSKEEP: How significant a voice is Robert Ford?

AMOS: He was the point man for Syrian policy through this revolt. For him to speak out now, this close to the moment where he left the administration, is important. He did not voice any of those frustrations as a diplomat. He did defend the policy when he was a diplomat. And now that he's quit, he is remarkably speaking out. There have been others - Fred Hoff, also from the State Department, also resigned, said that he was frustrated by the policy and has been writing regularly. So now we have two senior diplomats who are saying publicly that they are frustrated.

INSKEEP: Saying that the U.S. should be doing more now. In our interview with President Obama last week, he tried to explain why he's been reluctant to get too involved in Syria. Let's listen to some of that, Deb Amos.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Ultimately, I did not think then and I still do not believe that American military actions can resolve what is increasingly a sectarian civil war. And I also believe that, ultimately, the only way you're going to get a resolution that works for the Syrian people in the region is going to require some sort of political accommodation between the various groups there.

INSKEEP: Deb Amos, they're both talking about a political solution - Robert Ford and President Obama. So what is the difference here?

AMOS: I did notice that. And I think the difference is how you get there. Ex-ambassador Ford is saying how you get there is you support moderate rebels. You put pressure on the regime. They are not going to come to any negotiating table without that kind of pressure. And there is not enough. We just saw yesterday an election in Damascus. Many Western governments, certainly the opposition, called it a shameful sham. But nevertheless, it demonstrated the resilience of the regime. There is no diplomatic solution in sight. And so, this war is likely to go on for some time to come until there is some reason for the Assad regime to negotiate with the opposition.

INSKEEP: Deb Amos, just to underline the stakes here - would you remind us just where you are?

AMOS: I am in a town called Kilis. It is a Turkish border town. Here - I haven't been here in a while, and I noticed that many of the shop signs are in Arabic now. This town is 50-50 - half Syrian refugees. Many thousands have arrived just since January from the Syrian town of Aleppo, where there has been a hellacious campaign of barrel bombs. Regime helicopters have been dropping them on civilian areas. You see kids begging on the streets. It is a town that has been awash with Syrian refugees. This is the spillover of the war in Syria.

INSKEEP: Reminder of the human stakes. From NPR's Deborah Amos. Deb, thanks very much.

AMOS: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
Monday, May 10, 2004 --

Wyoming –

Topic: Bob Beck speaks with Health Department Director Deb Fleming about health care issues around the state

Topic: A German Fulbright scholar studying at U-W says the state continues to have a problem with poverty even though there are very few people collecting welfare; Guest: Annette Tezli


text:
Nebraska Imposes Brucellosis Restrictions

Cheyenne, WY – Another state is placing import restrictions on Wyoming cattle, following the discovery of brucellosis near Pinedale. Nebraska is now the third state to impose restrictions, joining Colorado and California. Wyoming still has its brucellosis-free status. 3,400 head from herds near the infected cows have all tested negative. If the state were to lose its status, that would subject the state to automatic restrictions for exporting cattle anywhere in the nation. Wyoming would no longer be considered brucellosis-free if a seperate positive test is found anywhere in the state in the next two years.


text:
Wade Goodwyn

Wade Goodwyn is a NPR National Desk Correspondent covering Texas and the surrounding states.

Reporting for NPR since 1991, Goodwyn covers a wide range of issues from politics and music to breaking news and crime and punishment. His reports have ranged from weather calamities, religion, and corruption, to immigration, obituaries, business, and high profile court cases. Texas has it all, and Goodwyn has covered it.

Over the last 15 years, Goodwyn has reported on many of the nation's top stories. He's covered the implosion of Enron, the trials of Jeff Skilling and Kenneth Lay, and the prosecution of polygamist Warren Jeffs. Goodwyn's reporting has included the siege of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, and the trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in Denver. He covered the Olympic Games in Atlanta and the school shootings in Paducah Ky., Jonesboro, Ark., and Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Among his most recent work has been the wrongful prosecution and conviction of black and Hispanic citizens in Texas and Louisiana. With American and Southwest Airlines headquartered in his backyard, coverage of the airline industry is also a constant for Goodwyn.

As Texas has moved to the vanguard in national Republican politics, Goodwyn has been at the front line as what happens politically in Texas, which is often a bellwether of the coming national political debate. He has covered the state's politicians dominating the national stage, including George W. Bush, Tom Delay and rising GOP star Texas Governor Rick Perry

Before coming to NPR, Goodwyn was a political consultant in New York City.

Goodwyn graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in history.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

This month brought two more exonerations based on new DNA evidence. Henry Lee McCollum was 19 years old and his half-brother, Leon Brown, was 15 when they were arrested. The two black, intellectually disabled half brothers were convicted of the rape and murder of an 11-year-old Sabrina Buie and spent 30 years on death row.

In a Brownsville family clinic, a powerfully built, bald doctor treats a never-ending line of sick and injured patients. He has been practicing for nearly four decades, but family medicine is not his calling.

"For 35 years I had a clinic where I saw women and took care of their reproductive needs, but mostly terminating pregnancies," Dr. Lester Minto says.

The day he was booked, Texas Gov. Rick Perry gave a big smile for his mug shot — which was then printed up on t-shirts to demonstrate just what a farce he thought the indictment was. In a press conference, the scorn dripped from Perry's voice as he took up the sword — defender, not of himself, but of the state's constitution.

"We don't settle political differences with indictments in this country," he said. "It is outrageous that some would use partisan political theatrics to rip away at the very fabric of our state's constitution."

A number of major airlines have suspended service to and from Tel Aviv as the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza intensifies. That's leaving passengers to find other arrangements.

Like any ugly, long-running confrontation between a husband and wife or next-door neighbors — or between anybody, really — it's hard to know exactly when the dispute between University of Texas President Bill Powers and Texas GOP Gov. Rick Perry truly began.

But in the end, when the dust settled, one thing was clear: When powerful university presidents and powerful governors tangle, the politician usually ends up on top.

Texas Republican Greg Abbott, who's been cruising toward easy victory in the governor's race against Democrat Wendy Davis, is making some campaign news this week — and not the good kind.

His actions and comments have brought his relationship to the state's chemical industry under scrutiny.

Texas Democrats are holding their convention this weekend in Dallas. Supporters are hoping it will give Wendy Davis a chance to reboot her campaign for governor and come out with some much-needed momentum.

A question posed in the San Antonio Express-News is typical of the kind of media she's been getting: "What's Wrong With Wendy?" With the Democratic candidate for governor running far behind her Republican challenger, Greg Abbott, it's not necessarily an unfair question.


text:
New Hampshire in the Morning

Bob Marley 3/11/14
Bob Marley 3/11/14

Comedian Bob Marley will be at The Palace Theatre in Manchester, April 18th and 19th.

Contact Neal & Tracy

Email Neal at

Email Tracy at

Coming Up

More tickets to see Ed Sheeran at Gillette Stadium, just pass the WZID Drug Test to win. Plus, in honor of National Dog Week, the top 10 dog names, see if your pup’s name is on the list.

On Demand

America’s Got Talent Judge Howie Mandel [INTERVIEW]

Once again the number one television show over the summer is America’s Got Talent. A fan favorite judge, Howie Mandel…

Juston McKinney

Juston McKinney Comedy [INTERVIEW]

Juston McKinney visited the New Hampshire in the Morning studio, to talk about his two shows on October 10th, at…

We Are Market Basket Book [INTERVIEW]

Grant Welker has been following the story of Market Basket for more than a year and he now has a…

Dr. Salvatore Talks Back To School [AUDIO]

School is in session for some, others are headed back to school soon. We spoke with Dr. Don Salvatore about…

Mike O’Malley [INTERVIEW]

Nashua native Mike O’Malley is still hard at work making us laugh and his latest show Survivors Remorse is back…


text:
Posted by: angel

Yvette Brown, and Retta-they both need to stop hitting the crack pipe,look at how the look so shocked! It's obviously not working, see they're not even loosing those pounds, instead they are gaining them, oh I forgot thats because they have the munchies, shouldn't mix, drugs,; it never turns out right.lol ahf


text:
Sunday, February 12, 2012

Linky Followers- I love it!

Hi Everyone! I hope your Sunday morning is going well so far.
I had been trying to ignore this for a while, but I know many of us bloggers have been feeling apprehensive about losing Google Friend Connect next month. Google wants everyone to Google+ in lieu of GFC. I don't personally have a Google+ account and am leery about making one.

 There is also another new/additional option to consider... it's called Linky Followers. Brent Riggs is the guy behind the Linky parties. Here's how Linky Followers works:
  • People visit your blog and like it... they want to "follow" you.
  • They "follow" your blog by adding themselves to your Linky Followers widget that is displayed on your blog.
  • They can then use their own Linky Followers account to see when you've posted something and click a link to come back to your blog to read the post.
  • The person who has followed you, can follow other blogs. They can organize and monitor those blogs from their Linky Followers Dashboard.

(from linkyfollowers.com)

    I think this is a great way to organize my followers and to be able to connect with blogs I love that don't have the GFC anymore.

    I would love it if you followed along if you join Linky Followers.

    Have a great day and a great week!!

    Signature 2

    Paula said...

    I am now following you with the new linky follower. I've got it on my blog, too, if you want to follow me back.

    Kei said...

    Following you on linky followers :) I'm not keen on making a Google+ account either! (I have too many accounts everywhere as it is, lol)

    Amy said...

    I now a Linky Follower, and I've added it to my new vintage craft blog, if you'd like to follow. Threadsinthenest.blogspot.com

    Michala said...

    I am your newest linky follower! Thanks for the post- I have read some conflicting info at different places, and your post has made the most sense. I added it to my blog too.. so come on over :)

    Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...


text:
Form Type:  8-K
Filing Date:  6/30/2014
CIK:  0001272754
Address:  16200 DALLAS PARKWAY
City, State, Zip:  DALLAS, Texas 75248
Telephone:  (972) 720-9000
Fiscal Year:  12/31
Last Trade
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Trade Time:
Aug 31
Market Cap:
Trade TBNC now with

Description of Business
T Bancshares, Inc. (the "Company," "we," "us," or "our," hereafter) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Texas on December 23, 2002 to serve as the bank holding company for T Bank, N.A., a national association (the "Bank"), which opened on November 2, 2004. The Bank operates through a main office located at 16200 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, Texas. Other than its ownership of the Bank, the Company conducts no material business. As of December 31, 2014, the Company had, on a consolidated basis, approximately $163.1 million in assets, $124.4 million in total loans and $125.7 million in deposits. The Bank is a full-service commercial bank offering a broad range of commercial and consumer banking services to small- to medium-sized businesses, single-family residential and commercial contractors and consumers. Lending services include commercial loans to small to medium-sized businesses and professional concerns as well as consumers.
Register and access this filing in:
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      Item 5.07 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders


text:
Reason for drop in early apps unclear

While the number of early applicants to Yale this fall dropped by 13 percent from last year, Harvard and Princeton Universities saw slight increases in the size of their early application pools.

Yale administrators, college admissions experts, and high school college counselors said they are unsure why Yale experienced the dramatic drop, and few were able to pinpoint specific factors with confidence. High school seniors cited a variety of individual factors — such as Yale’s downscaled mailing campaign and specific academic or cultural differences between Yale and other schools — that influenced their decision-making processes.

In contrast with Yale’s decline, Harvard reported a 3.5 percent increase in early action applications, while Princeton received two percent more applications than last year to its early decision program. Other schools, including Stanford and Northwestern Universities, also saw slight increases in their early applications.

Yale College Dean of Admissions Jeff Brenzel attributed the 13 percent decrease to a number of factors, including Yale’s extremely low acceptance rate last year, the publicity Harvard and Princeton received recently after announcing the elimination of their early options starting next year, and Yale’s decision not to include hard copies of applications in its mailings this year.

Last year, 4,084 students applied early to Yale’s class of 2010 under the single-choice early action policy, and an Ivy League record-low 17.7 percent were accepted. The University received 3,541 applications for the Class of 2011 through its single-choice early action program this year, to which students applied by the Nov. 1 deadline.

Amy Sack, president of the college admissions consulting firm Admissions Accomplished, said she is unable to isolate any specific reasons for the decrease in Yale’s numbers. While an unusually low number of her clients are applying to Yale early or regular decision this year, she said fewer of her students are applying to Harvard and Princeton as well. Sack said she is surprised by Yale’s marked decline, though she considers the generally low acceptance rate of the most selective schools to be a deterrent for many students.

“Most of my students who would have applied to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton in the past have said ‘Forget it, I have a better shot at Cornell [University],’” she said. “But I’m not sure why [Yale’s numbers] changed so much, since nothing has drastically changed there.”

High school college counselors said they were also surprised by the nationwide drop in early applications to Yale, since they had not experienced a decline among students they advise.

Beth Slattery, a former University of Southern California admissions representative and current dean at Harvard-Westlake School, a private high school in Los Angeles, Calif., said she has not noticed any change in Yale’s reputation. Just as many seniors from Harvard-Westlake are applying to Yale as have in previous years, she said.

“Yale has in no way gone down in anyone’s estimation,” Slattery said.

Kevin Newman, associate director of college counseling at the private Brentwood School in Los Angeles, said Brentwood has not experienced a shift in applications to Ivies either. He said he does not think Yale’s record-low acceptance rate last year affected his students’ decisions. When Brentwood students are considering where to apply, he said, counselors try to focus on which school will be the best fit for the individual. With respect to national trends, Newman said, he believes application numbers are cyclical and that too much significance should not be placed on year-to-year statistics.

The public Berkeley High School in Berkeley, Calif. also had a similar number apply to Yale as last year, college advisor Ilene Abrams said. Students consider the merits of each specific college in their decision-making process, she said.

“I don’t think [Berkeley High students] see the difference between Harvard and Yale in terms of acceptance rates when deciding where to apply,” Abrams said.

Students who chose not to apply to Yale said there were a number of individual reasons behind their decisions, but failed to identify any broader causes.

Alex Andrews, a senior at the Hopkins School in New Haven, said she did not think about Yale’s low acceptance rate when applying to college. Instead, she said, she considered Yale and Harvard both to be attractive and ultimately made the decision to apply early to Harvard based on differences between the universities’ athletics programs.

Scout Sanders, a senior at Hopkins who did not apply to any colleges early, said there might be merit to arguments that the decrease in Yale’s numbers was due to the omission of the hard-copy application in mailings.

“I don’t think it really affects much, but I noticed that Yale was pretty stingy with mailings compared to other schools,” she said. “Other schools would send something in the mail every day, like big glossy viewbooks, but Yale didn’t send much.”

Sanders disagreed with the view that the change in Yale’s numbers resulted from the publicity and media attention given to Harvard and Princeton’s eliminations of their early admissions programs.

“I think all three of the schools — Yale, Harvard, and Princeton — are such big names and such good places that I don’t think one publicity instance would really change things,” she said.

Students who did apply early to Yale said they did so because of a strong desire to attend, and that their decisions were unaffected by fears of intense selectivity. Both Alexandra Espinoza, a senior at Fort Worth Country Day School in Texas, and Daniel Lao, who attends Notre Dame Catholic High School in Fairfield, Conn., said they were unaware of Yale’s low acceptance rate last year.

“When I was researching Yale, I really liked the facilities and how everything is focused on undergrads,” Lao said. “By applying early I can find out my admission and financial aid status and know before the new year how much money I can get and how much I need.”

Brenzel said he does not place much significance on year-to-year variances in numbers due to the great increase in applications to all of the Ivy League schools over the past 10 years.

“The landscape will change significantly next fall whether or not we retain our own early admissions program, so this fall’s outcomes are unlikely to yield useful information about what will happen next year,” he said.

Yale is expected to come out with a decision concerning its early admissions program in January.

Brown University experienced a 2.6 percent decrease in its number of early decision applications this fall. Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania have not yet released their early admissions figures.


text:
Law School aims for faculty diversity

Photo by Joy Chen.

At a town hall on faculty diversity held Tuesday afternoon, more than 140 Yale Law School students gathered to learn about the school’s faculty hiring process.

But early in the hourlong meeting, Dean Robert Post LAW ’77 made an announcement: a Hispanic woman had been offered tenure. Six attendees of the meeting, who requested anonymity because the session was closed to the press, identified Cristina Rodriguez ’95 LAW ’00 as the potential hire.

If Rodriguez — who was a visiting faculty member in fall 2009 — accepts the offer, she will become the first Hispanic professor to whom Law School has awarded tenure.

Rudolph Aragon LAW ’79, who served as a co-chair of the Latino Asian Native American law students association (LANA) during his years as a student at the Law School, said the announcement was “long coming.”

His classmate and fellow LANA co-chair, Sonia Sotomayor LAW ’79, had already become the first Hispanic justice on the U.S. Supreme Court in 2009. The Law School — ranked number one by U.S. News & World Report since the publication began evaluating law schools in 1987 — has diversified its tenured faculty ranks in recent decades, but has not yet given tenure to a Hispanic professor.

“How can it be that the Supreme Court has a Latina justice, and YLS has never had a tenured Latino faculty member?” said Carel Alé LAW ’11, who served as a co-chair of the Latino Law Student Association while at the Law School.

But even as Rodriguez decides whether to take an office at 127 Wall St., students, alumni and faculty interviewed said they hope the Law School’s efforts to diversify its faculty will not end with Rodriguez’s offer.

When Aragon was a student, he said LANA encouraged administrators to increase the Law School’s faculty diversity.

The student body at the time was itself far from its current diversity. Today, according to data from the American Bar Association and Law School Admissions Council, Yale Law School’s student body of 629 full-time students includes 46 Hispanic students, 1 Native American student, 83 Asian students and 41 black students.

But when Aragon was a student, he said, the school required groups to have 10 initial members in order to be formally recognized. There were too few minority students of each ethnicity to form group to exist separately, so Aragon said three minority backgrounds had to band together in order to create LANA.

Aragon, who identifies as Hispanic, recalled questioning Harry Wellington, the Law School dean at the time, about what he perceived as a shortage of people of color on the faculty.

“His words to us were, ‘We have to be patient, we have to wait, things will change,’ ” Aragon said.

More than 30 years later, law students interviewed said many of their peers remain dissatisfied with the level of diversity in the school’s faculty. Of the 104 professors listed as tenured, adjunct, visiting, clinical or emeritus faculty on the Law School’s website, eight are black, two are Hispanic and seven are Asian, according to data from the Association of American Law Schools, individual interviews with professors and biographical research conducted by the News.

When Cynthia Liao LAW ’14, who identifies as Asian, came to the Law School last fall, she said she quickly noticed a lack of faculty members of her own racial background.

As the first person in her family to attend law school, Liao said she looked to the faculty for mentorship. But the shortage of professors of color at the Law School, she said, “inhibits her imagination” about her future career prospects in law.

When asked whether she felt she could enter a career in legal academia, she said she found the idea intimidating.

“I know that, theoretically, if I worked really hard and broke barriers, it could happen, but I don’t imagine it would be an easy thing,” Liao said.

Marbre Stahly-Butts LAW ’13, who identifies as black and is the political action chair for the Black Law Students’ Association, said professors could bridge the gap between a student’s background and the legal profession. But professors and students are naturally inclined to approach those who remind them most of themselves, she said.

Lani Guinier LAW ’74, a professor at Harvard Law School who was a visiting faculty member at Yale last fall and identifies as black, said studies conducted at three law schools suggest that many female students as well as students of color are hesitant to approach faculty who do not exhibit clear “friendliness cues.”

“They await a direct invitation or at least a clear signal that they are welcome to come see a professor during office hours or after class,” Guinier said.

Viviane Scott LAW ’14, a student of mixed racial descent who identifies as black, said the number of professors who make efforts to be “proactive mentors” is small throughout the tenured faculty. Finding a minority professor to serve as a mentor is all the more difficult, she said, as there are already relatively few minority professors in the first place.

Scott said she has not yet found a mentor among Yale’s tenured faculty.

Twenty-five years after he graduated, Aragon returned to the Law School to serve on its executive committee, which he said is a group of interested alumni that the dean asks to work with the school on fundraising and boosting alumni involvement in the school. While the student body had become more diverse than it was when he was a student, he said little had changed in the way of faculty diversity.

The Law School had hired an openly homosexual professor, several Asian professors and more African-Americans and women since Aragon’s time, but the school still had a gap in its growing diversity profile: it continued to lack a tenured Hispanic faculty member.

Aragon said he appreciated the increased diversity across several minority groups, but noticed the school still had not given tenure to a Hispanic professor. Aragon took this issue to then-Law School Dean Anthony Kronman GRD ’72 LAW ’75, and said received the same response as he had when broaching the issue with Wellington a quarter of a century earlier — that he should be patient. Aragon said he continued to raise the same questions with Kronman’s successors, Harold Koh and Post, who still serves as dean of the Law School, and all gave the same response.

“I’ve had three successive deans look me straight in the eye and say that this was one of their top priorities,” Aragon said. “I don’t think they were really committed to getting a tenured Hispanic professor — if they were, it would have happened long ago.”

When asked to describe the criteria for hiring new professors, Law School spokeswoman Janet Conroy said the school’s faculty hiring committee seeks candidates with “scholarly excellence no matter the field of expertise.” She added that the school adheres “rigorously” to the University’s non-discrimination policies in its hiring.

Post could not be reached for comment this week.

In a paper presented at the 2009 Conference on Empirical Legal Studies, Ming Zhu, a graduate of Harvard Law School, investigated whether race plays any role in faculty hiring. While her study noted that identification with a minority group increased a candidate’s chance of being hired, this minority status correlated with hires at less prestigious institutions. Zhu’s study also noted that of the top 16 law schools, none had given tenure to a minority professor in the 2004-’05 hiring year, the year the study examined.

Though alumni and students interviewed questioned whether hiring processes at elite law schools might have unintentional biases against minority candidates, deans and chairs of faculty appointment committees at other law schools said the pool of minority legal scholars remains small.

Kevin Johnson, the dean of the University of California, Davis School of Law, said many hiring committees give preference to alumni from a small group of elite institutions, namely Harvard, Stanford and Yale. Because such institutions have historically been less diverse than others, minority alumni are scarce.

In an effort to increase diversity, Mark West, associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Michigan Law School, said schools could increase the size of the pools from which they draw candidates. Simply increasing the size of the pool, he said, is bound to increase the number of strong minority scholars considered for positions.

As Aragon’s frustration with the lack of a tenured Hispanic faculty member at the Law School escalated, he said he stopped donating to the Law School four years ago in an effort to make his frustrations known to the school.

The thought of refusing to donate to their alma mater because of a lack of racial diversity in the faculty has crossed the minds of other Law School alumni.

When Rodriguez taught at Yale three years ago, many students lobbied for her to be offered tenure, said Elisabeth Centeno LAW ’11, who co-chaired the Latino Law Students Association when she was at Yale. She said a student put up a sign-up sheet in a central Law School hallway urging signees to refuse to donate to the school until a Hispanic professor was given tenure. Centeno said the sheet, which she recalled had a heading similar to “Would YLS hire Sonia Sotomayor?”, drew few signatures but was emblematic of broader student frustrations shared by students of color and white students alike.

Centeno said the offer to Rodriguez was “a wonderful thing,” adding that current students had told her about it within an hour after the town hall. She took Rodriguez’s “Immigration Law and Policy” course in 2009 and said Rodriguez was one of the two best professors she had at Yale.

Still, while all students interviewed said they were happy with the Law School’s offer of tenure to Rodriguez, they expressed concern that the Law School might not continue to build faculty diversity if she accepts.

“Just because you have a black person doesn’t mean you have enough black people,” Stahly-Butts said. “Just because you have a Latino face, doesn’t mean you have enough perspectives.”

Roberto Saldaña LAW ’14, who identifies as Latino and said he was happy a Hispanic woman was given an offer of tenure, said the offer was not necessarily a sign of “broader structural change,” which he said many are looking for. He said such disciplines as critical race theory, which examines race and racism from a legal perspective, continue to be underrepresented in the faculty’s academic interests. Saldaña and Stahly-Butts both said they hope Rodriguez will accept the Law School’s tenure offer.

One source who attended the town hall meeting said the faculty hiring committee announced at the meeting that it currently has five standing offers of tenure, three of which are to women and two of which are to people of color. Conroy, the Law School spokeswoman, declined to comment on current hiring offers.


text:
NBC Thursday: Trust the new guys

If you’re ever asked what you think of an unfamiliar comedian or TV comedy, there’s a simple answer that will always make you sound smart: “I think the earlier stuff was better.” Cliched or not, the sentiment is true too often and perhaps best exemplified by television’s premiere comedy lineup: NBC Thursday nights.

The four NBC Thursday-night comedies — each halfway through the 20+ episode season — can be broken into two clear groups: new and old. “Parks and Recreation” and “Community” are essentially in their first season (“Parks” had a tepid six-episode first season last spring), while now-classics “30 Rock” and “The Office” are in their fourth and sixth season respectively.

“Parks and Recreation” has quickly established itself as the best comedy on television — providing the “Seinfeld”-esque relatability of “Modern Family” with the brilliant (but elitist) wit of “Arrested Development.” Amy Poehler stars as the endearingly hapless, yet sneakily competent Leslie Knope, a director of the parks and recreation department in a highly bureaucratic small-town government. In the short first season, Knope was simply a watered-down version of Michael Scott, Steve Carrell’s character in “The Office.” But right from the start of season two, Knope (who’s ideal man has the brains of George Clooney in the body of Joe Biden) has become perhaps the most nuanced, loveable character on TV.

Buoyed by Knope’s charm, the supporting cast has blossomed as well, propelling incredibly unique (and hilarious) love stories. Aziz Ansari (who, of course, is headlining tomorrow’s Winter Show) plays the crass, warm-hearted Tom Haverford, who is secretly pining over his too-hot Canadian wife, who married him so she could stay in the country. The burgeoning romance between Andy (Chris Pratt) and April (Aubrey Plaza) is utterly delightful, as well, as clueless airhead Andy (“Anything is a toy if you play with it”) charms the snarkily cynical April. It’s the kind of romance that would be too grounded (and thus relatable) for “30 Rock” and too whimsical for “The Office.”

As “Parks” creatively thrives, so does fellow newcomer “Community,” although it hasn’t quite found its tone yet. Sometimes the ever quotable one-liners are better suited for a David Letterman monologue than situation comedy (“To me, religion is like Paul Rudd. I see the appeal, and I wouldn’t take it away from anyone, but I also would never stand in line for it”). Nobody in real life speaks like the characters in “Community,” but the world would be a much funnier place if they did.

“Community” follows a band of six community college students who come from vastly different backgrounds. Joel McHale (of lazy Sunday staple, “The Soup”) stars as Jeff Winger, once hotshot lawyer, now jaded student. The show is a true ensemble — it’s rare to find chemistry as potent as that between Abed and Troy or Jeff and Pierce (Chevy Chase). But while the dialogue snaps and the relationships make you smile, the show has yet to establish any sort of stakes or reality. Jeff and Annie hook up for one episode with no consequence, grades move the plot forward but don’t really matter and there’s little continuity in the classes they’re taking (one week Annie’s working in a psych lab, the next she’s on the debate team, the next she’s a journalist). “Community” clearly has an absurdly talented team of writers — they just need to learn to translate their comedic chops into a more understated sense of reality.

With “Parks” and “Community,” every episode is a revelation. Episodes of “Parks” show us Leslie’s (“Hoarders”-worthy) house for the first time, providing fresh insight on the characters, while “Community” is still only beginning to explore the show’s central romance between Jeff and Britta. This is sharply contrasted with the increasingly stale repetition of their Thursday night companions.

“30 Rock” and “The Office” have both earned their place (alongside “Arrested Development,” “The Comeback” and, frankly, “The Hills”) among the best modern American sitcoms, yet both shows lack a certain oomph this season. The gags and the quips are clever as ever, but the situations feel stale. Whereas each episode of “Community” reveals new facets of the characters, “The Office” has weird standalone episodes about Michael’s mishaps with a group of third graders 10 years ago. Whereas “Parks” uses big-name guest stars like Justin Theroux to show how Leslie handles the excitement of a new relationship, “30 Rock” uses Julianne Moore to allow Alec Baldwin to break into houses and spew dated jokes about Facebook.

“The Office” has remained fresh for years through its willingness to completely revitalize its premise. Last season, Michael, Pam and Ryan broke off from Dunder Mifflin to start a new company, and the show felt young again. This season, both “30 Rock” and “The Office” have missed opportunities to refresh and revamp. “30 Rock” explored Liz Lemon’s nascent fame thanks to a best-selling book. Episode seven focused on Liz’s attempt to start a spin-off talkshow called “Dealbreakers.” Instead of allowing the show to spin off in this new direction (which would completely transform Liz’s character), the writers killed off the story in one inconsistent, annoying episode. Similarly, “The Office” misguidedly ended its bankruptcy storyline in the Christmas episode.

Both shows are at their best at their freshest. This season of “The Office” has only been notable for the emergence of Erin Hannon, the new secretary, who stars in the revelatory “Subtle Sexuality” webisodes (www.subtlesexuality.com) and has a romance brewing with Andy that harkens back to the early days of Jim and Pam. “30 Rock” is self-aware about its predicament — the season premiere had the meta title “Season 4,” as Liz tries to find new talent for TGS that will appeal to Middle America. It’s frustrating to realize that the team behind “30 Rock” is aware of the problem, yet refuses to find a solution. The only new character this season is the hopelessly boring Danny (Cheyenne Jackson).

As they enter the second half of the season, “30 Rock” and “Office” need to look to their Thursday night companions for inspiration. Otherwise, they will end up as tired as a “that’s what she said” joke.


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By: Brian Sciaretta
Published: Tuesday, February 15, 2011
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Contact Us

Speeches By EPA Administrator

Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies, Washington, D.C.

Remarks of Governor Christine Todd Whitman,

Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

to the

Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies

Washington, D.C.

April 17, 2002

Thank you. I= m delighted to be with you today.

I came here today straight from a workshop on risk communications B a topic no EPA official can afford to ignore. I have to admit, in my job, there are days when just getting out of bed seems overly risky.

Today, of course, is not one of those days, because I = ve been looking forward to the opportunity to speak with you about how we can work together to advance this Administration's belief that environmental protection and economic prosperity can and must go hand in hand.

Over the past 30 years, we have seen a growing awareness that responsible corporate environmental stewardship is also smart business practice. The corporate landscape is filled with examples of positive environmental action yielding positive results on the bottom line.

I = m pleased to note that there is a strong connection between the commitment of your members to managing and reporting on environmental performance and EPA = s new focus on environmental results. That = s why we are developing tools to actually measure the condition of the air, water, and land in America B so people can see whether things are getting better or not.

The true measure of environmental success is not how many fines we = ve levied or law suits we = ve filed, although enforcement has its role. It = s being able to answer A yes @ when a mother says, A I = m worried about my child = s asthma B is the air getting cleaner? @ It = s being able to give assurance when someone wants to know, A Do I have to worry about what my family drinks, or is our water getting purer? @ And it = s being able to tell a father, A Yes, there will still be places to take your kids camping, because we are doing a better job protecting our land. @

Of course, achieving these results requires us to rethink the approaches of the past. The environmental challenges we face today are more difficult to fix. For example, we= re no longer just looking at stopping direct discharges into rivers from the end of a pipe. Now we also have to address the pollution that is carried into our waterways by run-off from farms and parking lots and front lawns.

In addition, the enormous growth in the widespread availability of information B coupled with the ways in which globalization has made the world smaller B presents a much broader set of challenges. Since pollution doesn = t recognize political boundaries B and laws made in one country can = t be enforced in another B the need for broad-based environmental cooperation B and innovative new approaches B is becoming greater every day.

This is something this organizations knows very well. That is why I have chosen this forum to talk about a new strategy we = ve been working on at EPA to help address the challenges we face. It = s called Innovating for Better Environmental Results, and it is the result of over a year of ongoing collaboration between us and our outside stakeholders.

The basic underpinnings of this strategy are straightforward:

- Focus on environmental performance and results,

- Emphasize greater environmental responsibility, not just pollution control,

- Integrate environmental management across facilities, problems and media,

- Use market-based incentives and other tools to achieve environmental goals, and

- Emphasize partnership with others who share our goals.

Of course, putting this strategy into place B taking it from concept to reality B will require that we make some changes and refinements in how we approach our mission at EPA.

First, it will involve strengthening our innovation partnerships with States and Tribes. That means giving our partners latitude to try new methods and techniques without constantly looking over their shoulders.

Next, it will require us to focus on priority environmental problems, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and smog, restoring water quality, and revitalizing our water and wastewater infrastructure.

Third, it will necessitate the use of diversified tools, including information and environmental technology, market based incentives, environmental management systems, and measurable performance goals.

And finally, it will require a more innovative Agency culture B one that encourages broader application of successful experiments, more A innovation-friendly @ planning and budgeting, more rewards for innovation leaders, and planning strategically for the future.

Let me give you a few real world examples of work now underway to make the strategy a reality.

This month we launched two important new initiatives related to a focus area of the strategy -- the air we breathe and the atmosphere that protects our planet. I= d like to begin by telling you about Clear Skies.

President Bush = s Clear Skies Initiative will dramatically cut air pollution from power plants, bringing America much closer to reaching the National Ambient Air Quality Standards over the next decade than the current Clean Air Act.

Clear Skies will reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide nitrogen oxides, and mercury by 70 percent over today = s levels. It will achieve these reductions more quickly and with greater certainty than would occur under the Clean Air Act and will do it using a proven, market-based approach.

In addition, Clear Skies= stringent caps will improve air quality in every region affected by pollution from power plants, preventing tens of thousands of asthma attacks, save thousands of lives, and it will again reveal the scenic vistas in our national parks.

Coupled with Clear Skies is EPA = s new Climate Leaders program. The President has announced an aggressive new climate change policy that will reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the U.S. economy by 18% in the next 10 years.

We will lower our rate of emissions from an estimated 183 metric tons per million dollars of GDP in 2002, to 151 metric tons per million dollars of GDP in 2012. We will achieve this goal through a combination of current and new efforts.

Meeting this commitment will prevent over 500 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere over the next ten years B the equivalent of taking 70 million (or 1 out of 3) cars off the road.

I am pleased that nineteen major companies from a variety of industrial sectors have joined with EPA as Climate Leaders. But I believe we can do better B and I hope you = ll help us.

Your support and involvement could help convince companies to make even stronger commitments to greenhouse gas reductions in the Climate Leaders program. You can persuade a greater number of companies to do even more than we are asking of them to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I hope you will consider doing that with us.

On another front, next Wednesday we will announce the third round of new members to our National Environmental Performance Track. The idea is that strong environmental performance and management should be recognized and rewarded.

Facilities that qualify for the Performance Track program work with their communities and manage their environmental activities responsibly. They commit to improve their environmental performance in measurable ways and to explain to the public how well they are meeting their goals.

Some 280 facilities, public and private, have qualified for the Performance Track program. Like the companies that endorse the CERES principles, they are doing more than just meeting their legal obligations. They are demonstrating leadership -- by improving energy efficiency, producing less waste, using less water, and reducing the adverse environmental impacts from their products, among other efforts.

It is clear that both the interest in and the exercise of corporate environmental responsibility worldwide have increased over the last twenty five years. Fortunately many companies B particularly many American companies B have not only responded to this but set even higher goals and standards.

Accompanying this increase in good corporate citizenship has been an increased expectation that corporations, governments, investors, and civil society groups be more open and transparent about their operations and impacts. We believe that improving the quality and availability of information is key to strong markets and strong democracy.

EPA believes strongly in the principles of reporting contained in your Global Reporting Initiative and is working to make sure that the information the Agency collects and disseminates is in line with those criteria. Some direct spinoffs of this effort include developing a common set of data standards, and leveraging information technology for better information exchange between facilities and regulatory agencies.

As we look back over the past 10 to 15 years, I think it = s clear that we have come a long way from the time when business thought that environmental measures were simply a cost. Most now recognize that there are many financial, economic, and environmental benefits to cutting waste and pollution.

So as we face the next generation of environmental challenges, we must do so together. We must engage the many minds and listen to the many voices that share our determination to discover the best solutions to our complex problems. We must ensure that every passing year extends the benefits of environmental protection and economic prosperity to more of our nation and of the world.

This is something that CERES has been pursuing for a long time, and I look forward to exploring ways that we can work with you to advance toward our common goals.

Thank you.