Determining whether adsorption state is a critical attribute in aluminum adjuvanted vaccines

Aluminum based adjuvants have a long history of safe and effective use in vaccine products. When developing vaccine formulations incorporating aluminum adjuvants it is important to understand whether adsorption state is a critical attribute of the vaccine. Investigations initiate with obtaining an understanding of how the antigen of interest interacts with aluminum adjuvant surfaces. The balance of attractive versus repulsive interaction forces (including electrostatic, ligand exchange, and hydrophobic interactions) determines the resulting adsorption state of the antigen. Once the interaction of aluminum adjuvant and antigen is understood, formulations can be prepared along the spectrum of aluminum adjuvant surfaces to obtain various levels of adsorption. These formulations are evaluated in a relevant animal model to determine the impact of adsorption state on potency of the vaccine. The impact of adsorption state on potency determines whether antigen adsorption state is a critical attribute of the vaccine formulation. Further development can then optimize the formulation to maintain safety, stability, and efficacy over the desired shelf life of the vaccine product. Assessment of the criticality of adsorption state was evaluated for the development of a vaccine targeting Streptococcus pyogenes (group A strep) to determine that adsorption to an aluminum containing adjuvant was critical to optimize potency of the vaccine. Process and analytical techniques used to determine antigen/adjuvant interactions, produce variable aluminum surfaces, as well as vaccine formulation for in vivo potency determination will be discussed. Understanding how to determine the criticality of antigen adsorption state early in the development process allows for rapid development of a robust vaccine formulation

Impacts of parental health on children's development of personality traits and problem behavior: Evidence from parental health shocks

In this paper, we examine how parental health affects children's development of personality traits and problem behavior. Based on a German mother-and-child data base, we draw on observed parental health shocks as a more exogenous source of health variation to identify these effects and control for child and family characteristics including variables reflecting initial endowments observed at birth. At the age of six, we observe that maternal health shocks in early childhood have significant impacts on children's emotional symptoms, hyperactivity and neuroticism. Paternal health seems to be less relevant for the development of these non-cognitive characteristics. However, we observe that paternal health shocks cause children to be more extraverted. --Human capital,health,personality traits,non-cognitive skills

Occupational Status and Health Transitions

We use longitudinal data from the 1984 through 2007 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine how occupational status is related to the health transitions of 30 to 59 year-old U.S. males. A recent history of blue-collar employment predicts a substantial increase in the probability of transitioning from very good into bad self-assessed health, relative to white-collar employment, but with no evidence of occupational differences in movements from bad to very good health. These findings are robust to a series of sensitivity analyses. The results suggest that blue-collar workers "wear out" faster with age because they are more likely, than their white-collar counterparts, to experience negative health shocks. This partly reflects differences in the physical demands of blue-collar and white-collar jobs.occupations, physical demands, health

Hub-And-Spoke Airlines Versus Low-Cost Airlines And Price Discrimination

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the continuing trend in the U.S. Airline industry away from hub-and-spoke (network) airlines and toward low-cost airlines. The model of this study examines the level of success which the network carriers may experience by using market segmentation and price discrimination to sustain profitability in the face of the growth in market share held by low-cost carrier airlines

Installation, operation and maintenance instructions for Acoustic Spectra Comparator Recorder /ASCOR/ Final report

Manual for installation, operation and maintenance of acoustic spectra comparator and recorde

Charter Cities And The Aerotropolis In Colombia

Based on its income per capita, Colombia meets the World Bank criteria for classification as an upper middle income country, but it still has many of the earmarks of a developing country, including its high poverty rate (45%), high infant mortality (16 deaths per 1000 live births), and lower life expectancy (74 years) than most developed countries. The capital city, Bogota, contains one-fifth of Colombia’s population, which is typical of the “urban giantism” of developing countries. Colombia’s income inequality is acute, with the lowest decile of households receiving 0.8% of household incomes, while the highest decile receives 45%. This results in a Gini coefficient of 58 - the ninth highest in the world. The paradox is that while Colombia’s per-capita GDP and GNI indicate that it is an upper-middle income country, its poverty, income inequality, infant mortality rate, and other socioeconomic indicators look very much like those of a low-income country. This raises an interesting question: “How can Colombia continue its development, presumably toward becoming a high-income country, while it is addressing its disproportionate poverty levels and income inequality?” This paper investigates the prospects and challenges of implementing two relatively new ideas in economic development. The first is the use of Paul Romer’s idea of charter cities to enhance economic development in Colombia. Charter cities could be used to create more dynamic enterprise zones than now exist in Colombia. Romer advocates that countries set aside currently uninhabited city-size special reform zones to be charter cities. These cities would have a charter or constitution which specifies the governing rules - good rules (or institutions) - which would be supportive of entrepreneurial activity and a robust business climate. Charter cities could presumably be like a “clean slate” without all the developing-country plethora of rules and regulations that hinder development in established cities such as Cairo and Mumbai. Romer cites the example of Hong Kong as an extraordinarily successful early type of charter city which was governed by different rules for 99 years before it was ceded back to the People’s Republic of China by Great Britain in 1997. The second type of development tool for Colombia explored in this paper is John Kasarda’s “aerotropolis.” An aerotropolis is a city built around an airport. Traditional cities sprang up around existing trade routes along navigable waterways or where road and railroads met and crossed. The twenty-first century equivalent of that, according to Kasarda, is where “highways in the sky” interact with productive facilities on the ground at or near airports to be part of an ever-growing global supply chain. In this paper, some possible locations for charter cities and aerotropolises in Colombia are explored and their economic impact is assessed. The paper concludes that both can assist Colombia in reducing poverty and income inequality, but with certain qualifications. It also suggests that a hybrid of the two, an aerotropolis that is also a charter city, can significantly contribute to Colombia’s economic development

Using Learning Management Systems to Provide 4-H Programming During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Using a learning management system (LMS), such as Canvas, to provide 4-H programming can support program growth. With the onset in 2020 of the COVID-19 pandemic, 4-H professionals have been forced to move face-to-face activities online and challenged to work differently and in innovative ways to continue offering youth development opportunities. Responding to this challenge, Missouri 4-H created an online resource using the Canvas LMS to offer 4-H volunteers and families project opportunities and research-based project materials in one easily accessible and affordable platform