Efficacy of Combined Therapy with Amantadine, Oseltamivir, and Ribavirin In Vivo against Susceptible and Amantadine-Resistant Influenza A Viruses

The limited efficacy of existing antiviral therapies for influenza – coupled with widespread baseline antiviral resistance – highlights the urgent need for more effective therapy. We describe a triple combination antiviral drug (TCAD) regimen composed of amantadine, oseltamivir, and ribavirin that is highly efficacious at reducing mortality and weight loss in mouse models of influenza infection. TCAD therapy was superior to dual and single drug regimens in mice infected with drug-susceptible, low pathogenic A/H5N1 (A/Duck/MN/1525/81) and amantadine-resistant 2009 A/H1N1 influenza (A/California/04/09). Treatment with TCAD afforded >90% survival in mice infected with both viruses, whereas treatment with dual and single drug regimens resulted in 0% to 60% survival. Importantly, amantadine had no activity as monotherapy against the amantadine-resistant virus, but demonstrated dose-dependent protection in combination with oseltamivir and ribavirin, indicative that amantadine's activity had been restored in the context of TCAD therapy. Furthermore, TCAD therapy provided survival benefit when treatment was delayed until 72 hours post-infection, whereas oseltamivir monotherapy was not protective after 24 hours post-infection. These findings demonstrate in vivo efficacy of TCAD therapy and confirm previous reports of the synergy and broad spectrum activity of TCAD therapy against susceptible and resistant influenza strains in vitro

Hyperbaric treatment for children with autism: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several uncontrolled studies of hyperbaric treatment in children with autism have reported clinical improvements; however, this treatment has not been evaluated to date with a controlled study. We performed a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial to assess the efficacy of hyperbaric treatment in children with autism.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>62 children with autism recruited from 6 centers, ages 2–7 years (mean 4.92 ± 1.21), were randomly assigned to 40 hourly treatments of either hyperbaric treatment at 1.3 atmosphere (atm) and 24% oxygen ("treatment group", n = 33) or slightly pressurized room air at 1.03 atm and 21% oxygen ("control group", n = 29). Outcome measures included Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale, Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC), and Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After 40 sessions, mean physician CGI scores significantly improved in the treatment group compared to controls in overall functioning (p = 0.0008), receptive language (p < 0.0001), social interaction (p = 0.0473), and eye contact (p = 0.0102); 9/30 children (30%) in the treatment group were rated as "very much improved" or "much improved" compared to 2/26 (8%) of controls (p = 0.0471); 24/30 (80%) in the treatment group improved compared to 10/26 (38%) of controls (p = 0.0024). Mean parental CGI scores significantly improved in the treatment group compared to controls in overall functioning (p = 0.0336), receptive language (p = 0.0168), and eye contact (p = 0.0322). On the ABC, significant improvements were observed in the treatment group in total score, irritability, stereotypy, hyperactivity, and speech (p < 0.03 for each), but not in the control group. In the treatment group compared to the control group, mean changes on the ABC total score and subscales were similar except a greater number of children improved in irritability (p = 0.0311). On the ATEC, sensory/cognitive awareness significantly improved (p = 0.0367) in the treatment group compared to the control group. Post-hoc analysis indicated that children over age 5 and children with lower initial autism severity had the most robust improvements. Hyperbaric treatment was safe and well-tolerated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Children with autism who received hyperbaric treatment at 1.3 atm and 24% oxygen for 40 hourly sessions had significant improvements in overall functioning, receptive language, social interaction, eye contact, and sensory/cognitive awareness compared to children who received slightly pressurized room air.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>clinicaltrials.gov NCT00335790</p

Optimized granularity analysis of maximum power point trackers in low power applications

Increasing energy consumption through the growing use of low-power electric devices in the U.S. military makes augmentation with solar energy an attractive solution due to its versatility, sustainability, and relatively low cost. In variable environmental conditions, solar panels generate unpredictable voltages and currents, however, which often results in power loss. Employing a maximum-power point tracker (MPPT) decouples the source and load, resulting in maximum power generation and transfer. Using Simulink, we modeled three solar array configurations and tested for the Puma AE II Small Unmanned Aerial System (SUAS) to determine optimum MPPT granularity. Distributing three MPPTs on the main wing and another on the horizontal stabilizer permitted solar panel coverage on all of the available surface area. The MPPT model tracked within 99% of theoretical power generation and transferred approximately 95% of generated power to the battery during peak environmental conditions. This configuration provided the maximum power augmentation to the SUAS battery and can extend the endurance of the Puma SUAS significantly dependent on environmental conditions, electrical load requirements, and other factors. Another conclusion is that more power can be generated with higher-efficiency cells, but the 15% Copper Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) cells modeled proved to be an economical approach to augmenting electrical demands on SUAS.http://archive.org/details/optimizedgranula1094555646Captain, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Generalized Additive Mixed-Models for Pharmacology Using Integrated Discrete Multiple Organ Co-Culture

<div><p>Integrated Discrete Multiple Organ Co-culture (IDMOC) is emerging as an in-vitro alternative to in-vivo animal models for pharmacology studies. IDMOC allows dose-response relationships to be investigated at the tissue and organoid levels, yet, these relationships often exhibit responses that are far more complex than the binary responses often measured in whole animals. To accommodate departure from binary endpoints, IDMOC requires an expansion of analytic techniques beyond simple linear probit and logistic models familiar in toxicology. IDMOC dose-responses may be measured at continuous scales, exhibit significant non-linearity such as local maxima or minima, and may include non-independent measures. Generalized additive mixed-modeling (GAMM) provides an alternative description of dose-response that relaxes assumptions of independence and linearity. We compared GAMMs to traditional linear models for describing dose-response in IDMOC pharmacology studies.</p></div