Exploring computational approaches to design mRNA Vaccine against vaccinia and Mpox viruses

Background: Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines emerged as a powerful tool in the fight against infections. Unlike traditional vaccines, this unique type of vaccine elicits robust and persistent innate and humoral immune response with a unique host cell‐mediated pathogen gene expression and antigen presentation. Methods: This offers a novel approach to combat poxviridae infections. From the genome of vaccinia and Mpox viruses, three key genes (E8L, E7R, and H3L) responsible for virus attachment and virulence were selected and employed for designing the candidate mRNA vaccine against vaccinia and Mpox viral infection. Various bioinformatics tools were employed to generate (B cell, CTL, and HTL) epitopes, of which 28 antigenic and immunogenic epitopes were selected and are linked to form the mRNA vaccine construct. Additional components, including a 5′ cap, 5′ UTR, adjuvant, 3′ UTR, and poly(A) tail, were incorporated to enhance stability and effectiveness. Safety measures such as testing for human homology and in silico immune simulations were implemented to avoid autoimmunity and to mimics the immune response of human host to the designed mRNA vaccine, respectively. The mRNA vaccine's binding affinity was evaluated by docking it with TLR‐2, TLR‐3, TLR‐4, and TLR‐9 receptors which are subsequently followed by molecular dynamics simulations for the highest binding one to predict the stability of the binding complex. Results: With a 73% population coverage, the mRNA vaccine looks promising, boasting a molecular weight of 198 kDa and a molecular formula of C8901H13609N2431O2611S48 and it is said to be antigenic, nontoxic and nonallergic, making it safe and effective in preventing infections with Mpox and vaccinia viruses, in comparison with other insilico‐designed vaccine for vaccinia and Mpox viruses. Conclusions: However, further validation through in vivo and in vitro techniques is underway to fully assess its potential

Effect of climate change on social development programmes in Kosofe Local Government Area, Lagos State, Nigeria

Climate change is a significant global threat to humanity and its effect cannot be over emphasized. It requires social development solutions and action. The ability of local communities to adapt to the numerous and varied effects of climate change is a pressing concern on the global agenda. Thus, this study assessed the climate change effect and social development programmes in Kosofe Local Government Area, Lagos State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design while a proportional simple random sample was used to select the 250respondents. A standardized questionnaire was used for data collection with a reliability coefficient of .86. Analysis of data was done using descriptive statistics, and regression analysis fixed at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed a significant influence of climate change effect on social development programmes, economic support programmes, and self-help project support. It is therefore concluded that the challenges of climate have equally paved ways to various economic and social development programmes in order to alleviate the problem created as a result of climate change. There is the need to prevent the effects of climate change in our community through conscientious efforts and serious adaptation measures