Therapy of cancer by insect cells containing recombinant baculovirus encoding genes

Provided are compositions and methods of use for insect cells comprising baculovirus encoding non-surface expressed proteins and peptides. The claimed invention particularly relates to compositions comprising insect cells containing baculovirus that express cytokines. Such compositions may be administered by, for example, direct intratumoral injection into tumors in mammals, resulting in tumor reduction or recission. Another aspect of the claimed invention concerns methods of promoting resistance to the reoccurence of tumors in mammals who have undergone such tumor recission. In a specific aspect of the claimed invention, the mammals are human subjects presenting with various forms of cancer.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Assessing smoking status in children, adolescents and adults: cotinine cut-points revisited

Aims To reassess saliva cotinine cut-points to discriminate smoking status. Cotinine cut-points that are in use were derived from relatively small samples of smokers and non-smokers 20 or more years ago. It is possible that optimal cut-points may have changed as prevalence and exposure to passive smoking have declined. Design Cross-sectional survey of the general population, with assessment of self-reported smoking and saliva cotinine. Participants A total of 58 791 respondents aged 4 years and older in the Health Survey for England for the years 1996-2004 who provided valid saliva cotinine specimens. Measures Saliva cotinine concentrations, demographic variables, self-reported smoking, presence or absence of smoking in the home, a composite index of social disadvantage derived from occupation, housing tenure and access to a car. Findigns A cut-point of 12 ng/ml performed best overall, with specificity of 96.9% and sensitivity of 96.7% in discriminating confirmed cigarette smokers from never regular smokers. This cut-point also identified correctly 95.8% of children aged 8-15 years smoking six or more cigarettes a week. There was evidence of substantial misreport in claimed ex-smokers, especially adolescents (specificity 72.3%) and young adults aged 16-24 years (77.5%). Optimal cut-points varied by presence (18 ng/ml) or absence (5 ng/ml) of smoking in the home, and there was a gradient from 8 ng/ml to 18 ng/ml with increasing social disadvantage. Conclusions The extent of non-smokers' exposure to other people's tobacco smoke is the principal factor driving optimal cotinine cut-points. A cut-point of 12 ng/ml can be recommended for general use across the whole age range, although different cut-points may be appropriate for population subgroups and in societies with differing levels of exposure to secondhand smoke

Spin-torque switching: Fokker-Planck rate calculation

We describe a new approach to understanding and calculating magnetization switching rates and noise in the recently observed phenomenon of "spin-torque switching". In this phenomenon, which has possible applications to information storage, a large current passing from a pinned ferromagnetic (FM) layer to a free FM layer switches the free layer. Our main result is that the spin-torque effect increases the Arrhenius factor $\exp(-E/kT)$ in the switching rate, not by lowering the barrier $E$, but by raising the effective spin temperature $T$. To calculate this effect quantitatively, we extend Kramers' 1940 treatment of reaction rates, deriving and solving a Fokker-Planck equation for the energy distribution including a current-induced spin torque of the Slonczewski type. This method can be used to calculate slow switching rates without long-time simulations; in this Letter we calculate rates for telegraph noise that are in good qualitative agreement with recent experiments. The method also allows the calculation of current-induced magnetic noise in CPP (current perpendicular to plane) spin valve read heads.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 appendix Original version in Nature format, replaced by Phys. Rev. Letters format. No substantive change

Virus Sharing, Genetic Sequencing, and Global Health Security

The WHO’s Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework was a milestone global agreement designed to promote the international sharing of biological samples to develop vaccines, while that ensuring poorer countries would have access to those vaccines. Since the PIP Framework was negotiated, scientists have developed the capacity to use genetic sequencing data (GSD) to develop synthetic viruses rapidly for product development of life-saving technologies in a time-sensitive global emergency—threatening to unravel the Framework. Access to GSD may also have major implications for biosecurity, biosafety, and intellectual property (IP). By rendering the physical transfer of viruses antiquated, GSD may also undermine the effectiveness of the PIP Framework itself, with disproportionate impacts on poorer countries. We examine the changes that need to be made to the PIP Framework to address the growing likelihood that GSD might be shared instead of physical virus samples. We also propose that the international community harness this opportunity to expand the scope of the PIP Framework beyond only influenza viruses with pandemic potential. In light of non-influenza pandemic threats such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Ebola, we call for an international agreement on the sharing of the benefits of research – such as vaccines and treatments – for other infectious diseases to ensure not only a more secure and healthy world, but also a more just world, for humanity