On the role of different Skyrme forces and surface corrections in exotic cluster-decay

We present cluster decay studies of $^{56}$Ni$^*$ formed in heavy-ion collisions using different Skyrme forces. Our study reveals that different Skyrme forces do not alter the transfer structure of fractional yields significantly. The cluster decay half-lives of different clusters lies within \pm 10% for PCM and \pm 15% for UFM.Comment: 13 pages,6 figures and 1 table; in press Pramana Journal of Physics (2010

Vaccinomics and Personalized Vaccinology: Is Science Leading Us Toward a New Path of Directed Vaccine Development and Discovery?

As is apparent in many fields of science and medicine, the new biology, and particularly new high-throughput genetic sequencing and transcriptomic and epigenetic technologies, are radically altering our understanding and views of science. In this article, we make the case that while mostly ignored thus far in the vaccine field, these changes will revolutionize vaccinology from development to manufacture to administration. Such advances will address a current major barrier in vaccinology—that of empiric vaccine discovery and development, and the subsequent low yield of viable vaccine candidates, particularly for hyper-variable viruses. While our laboratory's data and thinking (and hence also for this paper) has been directed toward viruses and viral vaccines, generalization to other pathogens and disease entities (i.e., anti-cancer vaccines) may be appropriate

Variations in killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor and human leukocyte antigen genes and immunity to malaria

Malaria is one of the deadliest infectious diseases in the world. Immune responses to Plasmodium falciparum malaria vary among individuals and between populations. Human genetic variation in immune system genes is likely to play a role in this heterogeneity. Natural killer (NK) cells produce inflammatory cytokines in response to malaria infection, kill intraerythrocytic Plasmodium falciparum parasites by cytolysis, and participate in the initiation and development of adaptive immune responses to plasmodial infection. These functions are modulated by interactions between killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) and human leukocyte antigens (HLA). Therefore, variations in KIR and HLA genes can have a direct impact on NK cell functions. Understanding the role of KIR and HLA in immunity to malaria can help to better characterize antimalarial immune responses. In this review, we summarize the different KIR and HLA so far associated with immunity to malaria.This work was supported through the DELTAS Africa Initiative (Grant no. 107743), that funded Stephen Tukwasibwe through PhD fellowship award, and Annettee Nakimuli through group leader award. The DELTAS Africa Initiative is an independent funding scheme of the African Academy of Science (AAS), Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA) and supported by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) with funding from the Wellcome Trust (Grant no. 107743) and the UK government. Francesco Colucci is funded by Wellcome Trust grant 200841/Z/16/Z. The project received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 695551) for James Traherne and John Trowsdale. Jyothi Jayaraman is a recipient of fellowship from the Centre for Trophoblast Research

A global comparison of implementation and effectiveness of materiovigilance program: overview of regulations.

Medical devices, being life-saving tools, are considered to be a boon for healthcare system. However, in addition to their therapeutic effects, there are several ill consequences that are caused by these devices. An effective cohort vigilant system was needed to manage such adverse effects. This had led to the introduction of materiovigilance. Materiovigilance is the study and follow-up of occurrences that arise as a result from the usage of the medical equipment. It not only manages adverse events (AE) but also creates harmonization among countries. Keeping these objectives in focus, the principles, perspectives, and practices with regard to materiovigilance that are followed in the USA, Europe, China, Japan, Australia, Canada, and India are being compared. Such a comparison is essential, which will help us to understand the gaps in the current regulatory systems in the above-mentioned countries and furthermore will provide a comprehensive picture to the regulatory authorities to amend any existing laws if required. These amendments may ensure optimal patient safety by providing them a benign experience from the use of medical devices

Modification of drug delivery to improve antibiotic targeting to the stomach

The obstacles to the successful eradication of Helicobacter pylori infections include the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and therapy requiring multiple drugs with complicated dosing schedules. Other obstacles include bacterial residence in an environment where high antibiotic concentrations are difficult to achieve. Biofilm production by the bacteria is an additional challenge to the effective treatment of this infection. Conventional oral formulations used in the treatment of this infection have a short gastric residence time, thus limiting the duration of exposure of drug to the bacteria. This review summarizes the current research in the development of gastroretentive formulations and the prospective future applications of this approach in the targeted delivery of drugs such as antibiotics to the stomach

Finding quark content of neutron stars in light of GW170817

The detection of gravitational waves from GW170817 has provided a new opportunity to constrain the equation of state (EOS) of neutron stars. In this article, we investigate the possible existence of quarks inside the neutron star core in the context of GW170817. The nucleon phase is treated within the relativistic nuclear mean-field approach where we have employed a fully comprehensive set of available models, and the quark phase is described in the Bag model. We show that the nucleonic EOSs which are inconsistent with the tidal deformability bound become consistent when phase transition to quark matter via Gibbs construction is allowed. We find that several nucleonic EOSs support the presence of pure quark matter core with a small mass not more than $$0.17M_\odot$$ confined within a radius of 0.9 km. We also find that the strong correlation between tidal deformability and neutron star radii observed for pure nucleonic stars does persist even with a nucleon-quark phase transition and provides an upper limit on the radius of $$R_{1.4} \lesssim 12.9$$ km for a $$1.4M_\odot$$ neutron star