This is dietary intervention trial that will examine the impact of consuming three different types of resistant starch on the gut microbiome and butyrate levels in normal weight and obese individuals. Participants will consume starch samples daily for 24 weeks, collecting weekly fecal samples that will be returned to the lab. Researchers will analyze the bacterial fermentation products in these samples, particularly butyrate and analyze the microbiome composition. This will allow identification of differences in resistant starch (a dietary fiber) processing between normal weight and obese individuals and will also determine if the three resistant starches tested have differing impacts on the microbiome and butyrate levels.

We are evaluating patients who have been infected with Babesia. Babesia is a blood parasite that is acquired from ticks. The number of cases seen in Pennsylvania every year has been increasing. We intend to evaluate the blood of patients acutely infected with Babesiosis and review for possible simultaneous co-infections. We will compare those infected patients with the blood of healthy individuals. The goal is to identify proteins in the blood of acutely infected patients that are specific for Babesia and also evaluate the prevalence of patient's who have contracted a co-infection from the tick vector that transmitted the Babesia infection. The identification of the specific bacterial/parasitic antigens could then be used to create rapid diagnostic tests and help clinicians increase awareness of these tick-borne diseases.

We will obtain basic demographic information and past medical history. We will obtain two 10ml samples of blood. The blood will then be stored and ultimately sent to Antigen Discovery, Inc for proteomic array screening.