Recommendation for the use of newly introduced Tdap vaccine in Korea

Pertussis is an acute respiratory infection characterized by paroxysmal cough and inspiratory whoop for over 2 weeks. The incidence of pertussis has decreased markedly after the introduction of DTwP/DTaP vaccine, but the incidence of pertussis has increased steadily among young infant and among adolescents and adults in many countries. Td vaccine was used in this age group but the increase in pertussis has lead to the development of a Tdap vaccine. The Tdap vaccine is a Td vaccine with a pertussis vaccine added and is thought to decrease the incidence and transmission of pertussis in the respective age group. In Korea, two products are approved by the KOREA FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION, which are ADACEL™ (Sanofi-Pasteur, Totonto, Ontario, Canada) and BOOSTRIX® (GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Rixensart, Belgium) for those aged between 11-64. This report summarizes the recommendations approved by the Committee on Infectious Diseases, the Korean Pediatric Society

Perinatal Outcome in Twin Pregnancies Complicated by Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Comparative Study

The purpose of this study is to compare perinatal outcomes of twin pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes (GDM) with those unaffected by GDM. A total of 1,154 twin pregnancies who delivered at Cheil General Hospital, between January 1998 and December 2002 were recruited to participate in a retrospective analysis. Out of these twin pregnancies, 37 women were had GDM. Four pregnancies exposed to GDM were excluded due to the loss of medical records; therefore 33 twin pregnancies exposed to GDM were enrolled. We matched the GDM pregnancies with pregnancies unaffected by GDM in a 1:2 ratio; therefore there were 33 GDM/66 without GDM who delivered during the study period. Our findings show that there were no significant differences including birth weight, Apgar score, respiratory distress syndrome, meconium aspiration pneumonia, transient tachypnea of new born, hyperbilirubinemia, hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia and congenital anomalies. Therefore, well controlled GDM may not increase perinatal complications in twin pregnancies. Careful pregnancy management and fetal surveillance in twin pregnancies is important to decrease perinatal complications and maintain a sound pregnancy and healthy offspring

Outer Membrane Vesicles Derived From Escherichia coli Regulate Neutrophil Migration by Induction of Endothelial IL-8

Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are spherical, proteolipid nanostructures that are constitutively released by Gram-negative bacteria including Escherichia coli. Although it has been shown that administration of E. coli OMVs stimulates a strong pulmonary inflammatory response with infiltration of neutrophils into the lungs in vivo, the mechanism of E. coli OMV-mediated neutrophil recruitment is poorly characterized. In this study, we observed significant infiltration of neutrophils into the mouse lung tissues in vivo, with increased expression of the neutrophil chemoattractant CXCL1, a murine functional homolog of human IL-8, on intraperitoneal administration of E. coli OMVs. In addition, OMVs and CD31-positive endothelial cells colocalized in the mouse lungs. Moreover, in vitro results showed that E. coli OMVs significantly increased IL-8 release from human microvascular endothelial cells and toll-like receptor (TLR)4 was found to be the main component for recognizing E. coli OMVs among human endothelial cell-associated TLRs. Furthermore, the transmigration of neutrophils was suppressed in the lung tissues obtained from TLR4 knockout mice treated with E. coli OMVs. Taken together, our data demonstrated that E. coli OMVs potently recruit neutrophils into the lung via the release of IL-8/CXCL1 from endothelial cells in TLR4- and NF-κB-dependent manners

Recommendation for use of the newly introduced pneumococcal protein conjugate vaccines in Korea

Streptococcus pneumoniae remains a leading cause of invasive infections including bacteremia and meningitis, as well as mucosal infections such as otitis media and pneumonia among children and adults. The 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was licensed for use among infants and young children in many countries including Korea. The routine use of PCV7 has resulted in a decreased incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) by the vaccine serotypes among the vaccinees and substantial declines in IPD among unvaccinated populations such as older children and adults as well. In addition, there are increasing evidences to suggest that routine immunization with PCV7 is changing the epidemiology of pneumococcal diseases such as serotype distribution of IPD, nasopharyngeal colonization, and antibiotic resistance patterns. In contrast, there is an increase in the number of IPDs caused by nonvaccine serotypes, though it is much smaller than overall declines of vaccine serotype diseases. Several vaccines containing additional serotypes have been developed and tested clinically in order to expand the range of serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Recently two new pneumococcal protein conjugate vaccines, 10-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV10) and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13), have been approved for use in several countries including Korea. This report summarizes the recommendations approved by the Committee on Infectious Diseases, the Korean Pediatric Society

Mesenchymal Stem Cells Transfer Mitochondria to the Cells with Virtually No Mitochondrial Function but Not with Pathogenic mtDNA Mutations

It has been reported that human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can transfer mitochondria to the cells with severely compromised mitochondrial function. We tested whether the reported intercellular mitochondrial transfer could be replicated in different types of cells or under different experimental conditions, and tried to elucidate possible mechanism. Using biochemical selection methods, we found exponentially growing cells in restrictive media (uridine− and bromodeoxyuridine [BrdU]+) during the coculture of MSCs (uridine-independent and BrdU-sensitive) and 143B-derived cells with severe mitochondrial dysfunction induced by either long-term ethidium bromide treatment or short-term rhodamine 6G (R6G) treatment (uridine-dependent but BrdU-resistant). The exponentially growing cells had nuclear DNA fingerprint patterns identical to 143B, and a sequence of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) identical to the MSCs. Since R6G causes rapid and irreversible damage to mitochondria without the removal of mtDNA, the mitochondrial function appears to be restored through a direct transfer of mitochondria rather than mtDNA alone. Conditioned media, which were prepared by treating mtDNA-less 143B ρ0 cells under uridine-free condition, induced increased chemotaxis in MSC, which was also supported by transcriptome analysis. Cytochalasin B, an inhibitor of chemotaxis and cytoskeletal assembly, blocked mitochondrial transfer phenomenon in the above condition. However, we could not find any evidence of mitochondrial transfer to the cells harboring human pathogenic mtDNA mutations (A3243G mutation or 4,977 bp deletion). Thus, the mitochondrial transfer is limited to the condition of a near total absence of mitochondrial function. Elucidation of the mechanism of mitochondrial transfer will help us create a potential cell therapy-based mitochondrial restoration or mitochondrial gene therapy for human diseases caused by mitochondrial dysfunction

Outer Membrane Vesicles Derived from Escherichia coli Induce Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome

Sepsis, characterized by a systemic inflammatory state that is usually related to Gram-negative bacterial infection, is a leading cause of death worldwide. Although the annual incidence of sepsis is still rising, the exact cause of Gram-negative bacteria-associated sepsis is not clear. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), constitutively secreted from Gram-negative bacteria, are nano-sized spherical bilayered proteolipids. Using a mouse model, we showed that intraperitoneal injection of OMVs derived from intestinal Escherichia coli induced lethality. Furthermore, OMVs induced host responses which resemble a clinically relevant condition like sepsis that was characterized by piloerection, eye exudates, hypothermia, tachypnea, leukopenia, disseminated intravascular coagulation, dysfunction of the lungs, hypotension, and systemic induction of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6. Our study revealed a previously unidentified causative microbial signal in the pathogenesis of sepsis, suggesting OMVs as a new therapeutic target to prevent and/or treat severe sepsis caused by Gram-negative bacterial infection

Вихретоковый анизотропный термоэлектрический первичный преобразователь лучистого потока

Представлена оригинальная конструкция первичного преобразователя лучистого потока, который может служить основой для создания приемника неселективного излучения с повышенной чувствительностью

The 5p15.33 Locus Is Associated with Risk of Lung Adenocarcinoma in Never-Smoking Females in Asia

Genome-wide association studies of lung cancer reported in populations of European background have identified three regions on chromosomes 5p15.33, 6p21.33, and 15q25 that have achieved genome-wide significance with p-values of 10−7 or lower. These studies have been performed primarily in cigarette smokers, raising the possibility that the observed associations could be related to tobacco use, lung carcinogenesis, or both. Since most women in Asia do not smoke, we conducted a genome-wide association study of lung adenocarcinoma in never-smoking females (584 cases, 585 controls) among Han Chinese in Taiwan and found that the most significant association was for rs2736100 on chromosome 5p15.33 (p = 1.30×10−11). This finding was independently replicated in seven studies from East Asia totaling 1,164 lung adenocarcinomas and 1,736 controls (p = 5.38×10−11). A pooled analysis achieved genome-wide significance for rs2736100. This SNP marker localizes to the CLPTM1L-TERT locus on chromosome 5p15.33 (p = 2.60×10−20, allelic risk = 1.54, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.41–1.68). Risks for heterozygote and homozygote carriers of the minor allele were 1.62 (95% CI; 1.40–1.87), and 2.35 (95% CI: 1.95–2.83), respectively. In summary, our results show that genetic variation in the CLPTM1L-TERT locus of chromosome 5p15.33 is directly associated with the risk of lung cancer, most notably adenocarcinoma

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe

Кераміка «terra sigillata» з с. Зимне на Волині

Стаття присвячена публікації чотирьох керамічних посудин типу «terra sigillata», знайдених на дні р. Луги у с. Зимне Володимир-Волинського району Волинської області. Попередній аналіз цих знахідок дозволяє віднести їх до Понтійського центру виробництва такого посуду. Вірогідним шляхом потрапляння цієї колекції на Волинь була готська експансія у Північне Причорномор’я