History of Academic Neurology in Latvia

Peer reviewe

Renewable energy, social disruption and formalising the social licence to operate in South Africa

A social licence to operate and corporate social responsibility are often applied voluntarily to ensure a positive relationship between businesses and communities. But South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme makes investment in local socio-economic development a contractual obligation. To assess the implications of this legalised approach to CSR and the social licence to operate, between September 2019 and January 2020 we conducted seven focus group discussions and 24 key informant interviews in two towns in South Africa's Northern Cape province. The data were analysed thematically and triangulated with data on crime, municipal finance and house prices. Our concerns about the legalised approach are that it does not require local consent; it reduces local development to a needs analysis; it does not require local collaborative planning, despite adverse consequences such as social disruption; it bypasses local organisation and accountability; it does not provide cheaper local electricity; and it offers no guidelines for decommissioning

Animal models for COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the aetiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an emerging respiratory infection caused by the introduction of a novel coronavirus into humans late in 2019 (frst detected in Hubei province, China). As of 18 September 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has spread to 215 countries, has infected more than 30 million people and has caused more than 950,000 deaths. As humans do not have pre-existing immunity to SARS-CoV-2, there is an urgent need to develop therapeutic agents and vaccines to mitigate the current pandemic and to prevent the re-emergence of COVID-19. In February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) assembled an international panel to develop animal models for COVID-19 to accelerate the testing of vaccines and therapeutic agents. Here we summarize the fndings to date and provides relevant information for preclinical testing of vaccine candidates and therapeutic agents for COVID-19.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a Vero cell culture-derived whole-virus H7N9 vaccine in mice and guinea pigs.

A novel avian H7N9 virus with a high case fatality rate in humans emerged in China in 2013. We evaluated the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a candidate Vero cell culture-derived whole-virus H7N9 vaccine in small animal models.Antibody responses induced in immunized DBA/2J mice and guinea pigs were evaluated by hemagglutination inhibition (HI), microneutralization (MN), and neuraminidase inhibition (NAi) assays. T-helper cell responses and IgG subclass responses in mice were analyzed by ELISPOT and ELISA, respectively. Vaccine efficacy against lethal challenge with wild-type H7N9 virus was evaluated in immunized mice. H7N9-specific antibody responses induced in mice and guinea pigs were compared to those induced by a licensed whole-virus pandemic H1N1 (H1N1pdm09) vaccine.The whole-virus H7N9 vaccine induced dose-dependent H7N9-specific HI, MN and NAi antibodies in mice and guinea pigs. Evaluation of T-helper cell responses and IgG subclasses indicated the induction of a balanced Th1/Th2 response. Immunized mice were protected against lethal H7N9 challenge in a dose-dependent manner. H7N9 and H1N1pdm09 vaccines were similarly immunogenic.The induction of H7N9-specific antibody and T cell responses and protection against lethal challenge suggest that the Vero cell culture-derived whole-virus vaccine would provide an effective intervention against the H7N9 virus

HA and NA antibody responses induced by H7N9 and H1N1pdm09 vaccines in DBA/2J mice.

<p>^a20 animals per dose group for both vaccines.</p><p>^b10 animals per dose group for both vaccines.</p><p>^c20 animals per dose group for H7N9 vaccine; 10 animals per dose group for H1N1 pdm09 vaccine.</p><p>^dGeometric mean titer</p><p>^eSeroconversion (≥4-fold increase in antibody titer and antibody titer ≥ 1:40)</p><p>n.d., not done; n.a., not applicable.</p><p>HA and NA antibody responses induced by H7N9 and H1N1pdm09 vaccines in DBA/2J mice.</p

Dose-dependent protection against disease symptoms and death in H7N9-challenged DBA/2J mice immunized with whole-virus H7N9 vaccine.

<p>(A) Kaplan-Meier survival curves, (B) Severity and duration of disease symptoms</p

HA and NA antibody responses induced by H7N9 and H1N1pdm09 vaccines in guinea pigs.

<p>^a10 animals per dose group for both vaccines.</p><p>^bGeometric mean titer</p><p>^cSeroconversion (≥4-fold increase in antibody titer and antibody titer ≥ 1:40)</p><p>n.d., not done; n.a., not applicable</p><p>HA and NA antibody responses induced by H7N9 and H1N1pdm09 vaccines in guinea pigs.</p

Th-1 and Th-2 cytokine and IgG subclass responses in mice immunized with pandemic H7N9.

<p>DBA/2J mice were immunized with whole-virus (WV) H7N9 vaccine or buffer as control on days 0 and 21. Spleen cells were collected 7 days after the first, or 21 days after the booster immunization (i.e. 42 days after the first), and stimulated with whole-virus (WV) H7N9 vaccine or recombinant H7 HA (rHA) for the determination of cells responding to the antigens by secretion of either IFN-γ (A) or IL-4 (B) using an ELISPOT assay. Statistically significant differences of comparisons between T cell responses in mice receiving H7N9 vaccine or buffer are shown. H7 HA-specific IgG subclass responses were analyzed by ELISA using sera collected on day 42 (C). IgG subclass responses on day 42 were compared by ANOVA. ***, p<0.0001; ns, not significant.</p

Animal models for COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the aetiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an emerging respiratory infection caused by the introduction of a novel coronavirus into humans late in 2019 (first detected in Hubei province, China). As of 18 September 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has spread to 215 countries, has infected more than 30 million people and has caused more than 950,000 deaths. As humans do not have pre-existing immunity to SARS-CoV-2, there is an urgent need to develop therapeutic agents and vaccines to mitigate the current pandemic and to prevent the re-emergence of COVID-19. In February 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) assembled an international panel to develop animal models for COVID-19 to accelerate the testing of vaccines and therapeutic agents. Here we summarize the findings to date and provides relevant information for preclinical testing of vaccine candidates and therapeutic agents for COVID-19