Relationship between vaccination and nutritional status in children: Analysis of recent demographic and health surveys

BACKGROUND A body of evidence suggests that vaccines support the development of the immune system and also improve overall health. OBJECTIVE To study the effect of the complete basic vaccination schedule (Bacille Calmette-Guerin, i.e., BCG; measles; polio 3; and Diphtheria, Tetanus toxoids, and Pertussis, i.e., DTP3) on nutritional status of children under 2 years of age. METHODS Recent DHS data from 16 countries conducted after 2013 were used. After a bivariate descriptive analysis, a logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict the likelihood of underweight, stunting, and wasting by immunization status. A combined odds ratio was computed and adjusted for background variables. RESULTS A significantly higher prevalence of underweight was found among children with incomplete vaccination schedules in seven countries. Similarly, wasting and stunting were frequently observed in under-vaccinated children in four countries. Moreover, logistic regression adjusted for background variables revealed a relation between incomplete vaccination and underweight in Angola, Chad, and Guatemala (95% CI lower bound > 1). Combining data of all countries, underweight (adjusted Odds Ratio, aOR 1.21, 95% CI 1.11-1.31), wasting (aOR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05-1.33), and stunting (aOR 1.07, 95% CI 1.00-1.14) were associated with poor vaccination status. The overall effect was consistent with both sexes except the results for wasting for females and stunting for males, though insignificant. CONTRIBUTION To our knowledge, this is the first paper assessing the relation between vaccination and nutritional status at a multi-country level with a huge dataset. Our analysis suggests a poor nutritional status in children with an incomplete vaccination schedule

Mammalian tumor xenografts induce neovascularization in zebrafish embryos.

The zebrafish (Danio rerio)/tumor xenograft model represents a powerful new model system in cancer. Here, we describe a novel exploitation of the zebrafish model to investigate tumor angiogenesis, a pivotal step in cancer progression and target for antitumor therapies. Human and murine tumor cell lines that express the angiogenic fibroblast growth factor (FGF) 2 and/or vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induce the rapid formation of a new microvasculature when grafted close to the developing subintestinal vessels of zebrafish embryos at 48 h postfertilization. Instead, no angiogenic response was exerted by related cell clones defective in the production of these angiogenic growth factors. The newly formed blood vessels sprout from the subintestinal plexus of the zebrafish embryo, penetrate the tumor graft, and express the transcripts for the zebrafish orthologues of the early endothelial markers Fli-1, VEGF receptor-2 (VEGFR2/KDR), and VE-cadherin. Accordingly, green fluorescent protein–positive neovessels infiltrate the graft when tumor cells are injected in transgenic VEGFR2:G-RCFP zebrafish embryos that express green fluorescent protein under the control of the VEGFR2/KDR promoter. Systemic exposure of zebrafish embryos immediately after tumor cell injection to prototypic antiangiogenic inhibitors, including the FGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor SU5402 and the VEGFR2/KDR tyrosine kinase inhibitor SU5416, suppresses tumor-induced angiogenesis without affecting normal blood vessel development. Accordingly, VE-cadherin gene inactivation by antisense morpholino oligonucleotide injection inhibits tumor neovascularization without affecting the development of intersegmental and subintestinal vessels. These data show that the zebrafish/ tumor xenograft model represents a novel tool for investigating the neovascularization process exploitable for drug discovery and gene targeting in tumor angiogenesis

Not so far east? The impact of Central-Eastern European imports on the Brexit referendum

We explore the effect of the UK’s economic links with Central-Eastern Europe and China in the case of the Brexit referendum. First, we replicate and independently verify the Colantone and Stanig findings (2018a) on the effect of globalization on Brexit. Then, we extend their original analysis and demonstrate that although both Chinese and Central-Eastern European imports were significant causal determinants of the referendum’s outcome, exposure to Central-Eastern European imports was up to three times more important than exposure to Chinese imports. This may be due to cultural correlates of trade. Our analysis reveals that differences in media coverage between Central-Eastern European and Chinese economic news, as well as migrant population shares from these two regions, might have played a decisive role. Overall, the article also suggests that the import-shock method, as currently applied in the literature, is ill-suited to compare shocks with diverse origins

Which Energy Security Union?:An experiment on public preferences for energy union alternatives in 5 western European countries.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine caught the European Union (EU) off-balance, leading some to propose a relaunch of the EU's Energy Union. However, the political feasibility of such programmes remains disputed, and any such policy design is inherently multidimensional with respect to scope, governance, source of financing and other dimensions. To determine public support for energy security cooperation, we conduct a (first ever) conjoint experiment on public support for alternative energy union designs, fielded among a highly representative sample of the French, German, Italian, Dutch and Spanish populations in November 2022. This multidimensional conjoint experiment allows us to determine the causal link between (hypothetical) policy features of potential energy solidarity pacts, and public support or opposition to such policy. Our results show that policy packages receiving the most support have higher levels of ambition, joint EU-level governance, joint purchases and procurement. All-in-all our results reveal considerable cross-border support for energy solidarity, indicating that a compromise policy is feasible and publicly supported. Furthermore, our results suggest that European citizens are willing to support the creation of joint institutions to face issues of common concern, suggesting that major crises open windows of opportunity to re-shape European integration

Enantiomeric methadone quantitation on real post-mortem dried matrix spots samples: Comparison of liquid chromatography and supercritical fluid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.

This study describes two bioanalytical methods for the quantitation of the two methadone enantiomers in dried matrix spots using high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) and high performance supercritical chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPSFC-MS/MS). Dried matrix spots were obtained by spotting 10 µL of each sample fluid on a Whatman paper. Methadone and its main metabolite, EDDP, were extracted with 100 µL methanol and subsequently injected into the LC-MS/MS and SFC-MS/MS systems. Enantiomeric separation was achieved with AGP-column for the LC conditions and with Chiralpak IH-3 in SFC. The two methods were fully validated and 93 post-mortem samples were analysed with both analytical methods. Results from validation parameters and results obtained for all post-mortem samples were compared with a significant spearman correlation of r <sub>s</sub> = 0.9978 for R-methadone and r <sub>s</sub> = 0.9981 for S-methadone. The LC method provided better results in terms of uncertainty, retention factor and resolution, whereas SFC provides better sensitivity, with lower LOD. Median R-/S-methadone ratio in peripheral blood was found equal to 1.60 (N = 32), varying from 0.79 to 4.23. The reported values were in good agreement with previously published results. Based on the results obtained here, SFC-MS/MS can be considered a reliable alternative to the widely used LC-MS/MS for the quantitation of methadone enantiomers in bioanalysis and should be evaluated for other bioanalytical methods. Both methods can be easily and quickly used in toxicological routine analysis for the methadone quantitation in human fluids matrices, even if considering that the polysaccharide coated column IH-3 used in SFC does not allow the enantiomeric EDDP separation

Risk Sharing When Unemployment Hits: How Policy Design Influences Citizen Support For European Unemployment Risk Sharing (EURS):Policy report

In the aftermath of the Eurozone crisis, proposals to share the risk of unemployment shocks have been high on the political agenda. Welfare states have built-in automatic stabilisers to cushion economic shocks, notably unemployment insurance. The argument with regard to the Eurozone is that a monetary union needs mechanisms to buttress or complement the automatic stabilizers of its member states; support for national unemployment insurance might achieve this. However, are European citizens ready to share the risk of unemployment crises hitting their countries? This report sheds light on that crucial, yet unresolved question by conducting a conjoint survey experiment on public support for European unemployment risk sharing (EURS) among a representative sample of 19641 respondents in 13 European member states in October and November 2018. The conjoint experiment studies citizen preferences for policy proposals, implementing EURS, that vary on six dimensions: (1) generosity, (2) education and training conditions, (3) between-country redistribution, (4) national versus European administration, (5) impact on taxes, and (6) conditions with regard to individual job search effort. Our results show that policy design matters for public support. They also highlight variation across countries and socio-economic and ideological differences among citizens. Most importantly, fundamental opposition to EURS is confined to a small segment of the European population. In all countries in the sample, there are potential majorities for specific policy packages that organize EURS. A summary of the report (15 pp.) is available in German, French, Italian and Dutch. Click EURS Report and you will find, under the heading Materials, these summaries

Age-related decline of de novo T cell responsiveness as a cause of COVID-19 severity

To the Editor, So far, little attention has been paid to the link between immunosenescence and the dramatic mortality rate of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in older age groups. Indeed, the number of cases of COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is very low among children and teenagers, in contrast to the increased frequency in adults and the elderly, who are also more at risk of developing very serious symptoms and death (Guan et al. 2020; Wu and McGoogan 2020). As shown in Fig. 1, a similar epidemiological profile was observed during previous coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1, SARS-CoV-1, and Middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus, MERS-CoV) outbreaks (Jia et al. 2009; Salamatbakhsh et al. 2019). Notably, the same trend was also noted during West Nile virus and, with some exceptions in very young children, Ebolavirus outbreaks (Bower et al. 2016; Hayes et al. 2005). Likely this phenomenon is multifactorial. For instance, in elderly individuals with severe COVID-19, associated comorbidities are much more prevalent (Guan et al. 2020). In addition, the progressive accumulation of senescent cells during life may play a role in the vulnerability of old people to COVID-19, resulting in reduced functionality of the organs, such as the lungs, and facilitating conditions for the development of fibrosis. Moreover, senescent cells can generate a pro-inflammatory environment, referred to as SASP (for senescence-associated secretory phenotype), which includes many inflammatory cytokines (e.g., interleukin-6) and contributes to the basal hyperinflammatory status characteristic of the old person. This hyperinflammatory status might influence the expression of ACE2, CD147, cyclophilins, CD26, and other CoV-associated molecules in human tissues, thus favoring viral entry (Radzikowska et al. 2020). It likely also constitutes an already unbalanced pro-inflammatory background, on which the development of an exacerbated inflammatory response and acute respiratory distress syndrome may be facilitated upon SARS-CoV-2 infection

Self-tuning of the cosmological constant

Here, I discuss the cosmological constant (CC) problems, in particular paying attention to the vanishing cosmological constant. There are three cosmological constant problems in particle physics. Hawking's idea of calculating the probability amplitude for our Universe is peaked at CC = 0 which I try to obtain after the initial inflationary period using a self-tuning model. I review what has been discussed on the Hawking type calculation, and present a (probably) correct way to calculate the amplitude, and show that the Kim-Kyae-Lee self-tuning model allows a finite range of parameters for the CC = 0 to have a singularly large probability, approached from the AdS side.Comment: 12 pages with 8 figure

Airy-like patterns in heavy ion elastic scattering

A semiclassical analysis of an optical potential cross section is presented. The cross section considered is characterized by the appearance of an Airy-like pattern. This pattern is similar to that which is present in many cross sections, which fit the recent measurements of light heavy ion elastic scattering, and is considered as a manifestation of a rainbow phenomenon. The semiclassical analysis shows that, in the case considered, the oscillations arise from the interference between the contributions from two different terms of a multi-reflection expansion of the scattering function, and, therefore, cannot be associated with the rainbow phenomenon.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure