Human papillomavirus-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted cervical cancer vaccine: Immunogenicity and safety in healthy Chinese women from Hong Kong

Objective To assess the immunogenicity and safety of human papillomavirus-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted cervical cancer vaccine in Chinese women aged 18 to 35 years enrolled from Hong Kong. Design Double-blind, randomised controlled trial with vaccine and placebo groups. Setting Single-centre study in Hong Kong. Participants Three hundred women enrolled (150 per group) between March 2006 and June 2007. Interventions Subjects received three doses of human papillomavirus-16/18 vaccine or placebo (aluminium hydroxide), administered intramuscularly at 0, 1, and 6 months. Main outcome measures Human papillomavirus-16/18 seroconversion rates and geometric mean titres at month 7 (in human papillomavirus-16/18 recipients); reactogenicity and safety (in all subjects). Results A total of 294 women completed the study (148 in the vaccine group, 146 in placebo group). All initially seronegative subjects in the vaccine group had seroconverted for human papillomavirus-16/18 antibodies by month 7. Anti-human papillomavirus-16 and anti-human papillomavirus-18 antibody geometric mean titres were 10 422 (95% confidence interval, 8730-12 442) EL.U/mL and 4649 (3975-5437) EL.U/mL, respectively. High compliance (99% in both groups) was observed for the three-vaccination course. The frequencies of local injection site reactions were higher in the vaccine than placebo group; pain being the most common symptom in both groups. Regarding solicited symptoms, fatigue and myalgia were the most frequent in both groups. Five serious adverse events (four in vaccine group, one in placebo group) were reported, but all were considered unrelated to the vaccinations. Conclusion The human papillomavirus-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine was highly immunogenic, safe, and generally well tolerated in Chinese women from Hong Kong.published_or_final_versio

De novo mutations in SMCHD1 cause Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome and abrogate nasal development

Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome (BAMS) is an extremely rare and striking condition characterized by complete absence of the nose with or without ocular defects. We report here that missense mutations in the epigenetic regulator SMCHD1 mapping to the extended ATPase domain of the encoded protein cause BAMS in all 14 cases studied. All mutations were de novo where parental DNA was available. Biochemical tests and in vivo assays in Xenopus laevis embryos suggest that these mutations may behave as gain-of-function alleles. This finding is in contrast to the loss-of-function mutations in SMCHD1 that have been associated with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) type 2. Our results establish SMCHD1 as a key player in nasal development and provide biochemical insight into its enzymatic function that may be exploited for development of therapeutics for FSHD

Research and Client-Based Projects

This chapter will:; ; ; Show how to develop a needs analysis based on sound research principles;; ; ; Examine a number of different client-based projects that have taken a business discourse approach to teaching;; ; ; Discuss different ways in which business discourse research can be used in the classroom;; ; ; Present a case study that illustrates how business discourse projects can be incorporated into teaching practices together with a set of tasks related to the use of business discourse research in the classroom and a set of further readings

Characterization of a membrane-bound C-glucosyltransferase responsible for carminic acid biosynthesis in Dactylopius coccus Costa

Carminic acid is a widely applied red colorant that is still harvested from insects because its biosynthesis is not fully understood. Here, the authors identify and characterize a membrane-bound C-glucosyltransferase catalyzing the final step during carminic acid biosynthesis

Allergy from infancy to adolescence. A population-based 18-year follow-up cohort

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Anxious parents have many concerns about the future health of their atopic infants. Paediatricians and primary care practitioners need to seek knowledge on long-term outcomes in order to cope with the increasing caseload of suspected allergy and the concerns of parents. The aim of the study was to assess suspected and diagnosed allergy in infancy as predictors of allergy and asthma in adolescence.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Families expecting their first baby and making their first visit to a maternity health care clinic in 1986 were selected as the study population in a random sample. There were 1278 eligible study families. The data were provided of the children at the ages of 9 and 18 months and 3, 5, 12, 15 and 18 years by health care professionals, parents, and adolescents (themselves).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At the age of 9 months, the prevalence of allergy suspicions was distinctly higher than that of allergy diagnoses. At the age of five years suspected allergy approaches were nil, and the prevalence of diagnosed allergy was about 9%. During the adolescence, the prevalence of self-reported allergy increases steadily up to the age of 18 years, and that of asthma remains at approximately 5%. Suspected allergy at the age of 9 or 18 months and at the 5 years of age does not predict allergy at adolescence. Compared with non-allergic children, children with definite allergy at the age of 5 were over 8 times more likely to have allergy and nearly 7 times more likely to have asthma in adolescence.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>An early ascertained diagnosis of allergy, but not suspicions of allergy, predicts prevailing allergy in adolescence. Efforts need to be focused on accurate diagnosis of early childhood allergies.</p

Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube

We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV

Search for pair-produced long-lived neutral particles decaying to jets in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter in ppcollisions at √s=8TeV

The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is used to search for the decay of a scalar boson to a pair of long-lived particles, neutral under the Standard Model gauge group, in 20.3fb−1of data collected in proton–proton collisions at √s=8TeV. This search is sensitive to long-lived particles that decay to Standard Model particles producing jets at the outer edge of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter or inside the hadronic calorimeter. No significant excess of events is observed. Limits are reported on the product of the scalar boson production cross section times branching ratio into long-lived neutral particles as a function of the proper lifetime of the particles. Limits are reported for boson masses from 100 GeVto 900 GeV, and a long-lived neutral particle mass from 10 GeVto 150 GeV