Characterization of the humoral and cellular immunity induced by a recombinant BCG vaccine for the respiratory syncytial virus in healthy adults

IntroductionThe human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) is responsible for most respiratory tract infections in infants. Even though currently there are no approved hRSV vaccines for newborns or infants, several candidates are being developed. rBCG-N-hRSV is a vaccine candidate previously shown to be safe in a phase I clinical trial in adults (clinicaltrials.gov identifier #NCT03213405). Here, secondary immunogenicity analyses were performed on these samples.MethodsPBMCs isolated from immunized volunteers were stimulated with hRSV or mycobacterial antigens to evaluate cytokines and cytotoxic T cell-derived molecules and the expansion of memory T cell subsets. Complement C1q binding and IgG subclass composition of serum antibodies were assessed.ResultsCompared to levels detected prior to vaccination, perforin-, granzyme B-, and IFN-γ-producing PBMCs responding to stimulus increased after immunization, along with their effector memory response. N-hRSV- and mycobacterial-specific antibodies from rBCG-N-hRSV-immunized subjects bound C1q.ConclusionImmunization with rBCG-N-hRSV induces cellular and humoral immune responses, supporting that rBCG-N-hRSV is immunogenic and safe in healthy individuals.Clinical trial registrationhttps://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/, identifier NCT03213405

Ecological quality of Azorean coastal waters.

International Conference on Coastal Conservation and Management in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Estoril, Portugal, 12-17 de Abril de 2010

Differences in the immune response elicited by two immunization schedules with an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in a randomized phase 3 clinical trial

BACKGROUND: The development of vaccines to control the COVID-19 pandemic progression is a worldwide priority. CoronaVac® is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine approved for emergency use with robust efficacy and immunogenicity data reported in trials in China, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, and Chile. METHODS: This study is a randomized, multicenter, and controlled phase 3 trial in healthy Chilean adults aged ≥18 years. Volunteers received two doses of CoronaVac® separated by two (0-14 schedule) or four weeks (0-28 schedule). 2,302 volunteers were enrolled, 440 were part of the immunogenicity arm, and blood samples were obtained at different times. Samples from a single center are reported. Humoral immune responses were evaluated by measuring the neutralizing capacities of circulating antibodies. Cellular immune responses were assessed by ELISPOT and flow cytometry. Correlation matrixes were performed to evaluate correlations in the data measured. RESULTS: Both schedules exhibited robust neutralizing capacities with the response induced by the 0-28 schedule being better. No differences were found in the concentration of antibodies against the virus and different variants of concern between schedules. Stimulation of PBMCs with MPs induced the secretion of IFN-g and the expression of activation induced markers for both schedules. Correlation matrixes showed strong correlations between neutralizing antibodies and IFN-g secretion. CONCLUSIONS: Immunization with CoronaVac® in Chilean adults promotes robust cellular and humoral immune responses. The 0-28 schedule induced a stronger humoral immune response than the 0-14 schedule. FUNDING: Ministry of Health, Government of Chile, Confederation of Production and Commerce & Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Chile. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: NCT04651790

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Parenting Culture(s): Ideal-Parent Beliefs Across 37 Countries

What is it to be “an ideal parent”? Does the answer differ across countries and social classes? To answer these questions in a way that minimizes bias and ethnocentrism, we used open-ended questions to explore ideal-parent beliefs among 8,357 mothers and 3,517 fathers from 37 countries. Leximancer Semantic Network Analysis was utilized to first determine parenting culture zones (i.e., countries with shared ideal-parent beliefs) and then extract the predominant themes and concepts in each culture zone. The results yielded specific types of ideal-parent beliefs in five parenting culture zones: being “responsible and children/family-focused” for Asian parents, being “responsible and proper demeanor-focused” for African parents, and being “loving and responsible” for Hispanic-Italian parents. Although the most important themes and concepts were the same in the final two zones—being “loving and patient,” there were subtle differences: English-speaking, European Union, and Russian parents emphasized “being caring,” while French-speaking parents valued “listening” or being “present.” Ideal-parent beliefs also differed by education levels within culture zones, but no general pattern was discerned across culture zones. These findings suggest that the country in which parents were born cannot fully explain their differences in ideal-parent beliefs and that differences arising from social class or education level cannot be dismissed. Future research should consider how these differences affect the validity of the measurements in question and how they can be incorporated into parenting intervention research within and across cultures

Parenting Culture(s): Ideal-Parent Beliefs Across 37 Countries

What is it to be “an ideal parent”? Does the answer differ across countries and social classes? To answer these questions in a way that minimizes bias and ethnocentrism, we used open-ended questions to explore ideal-parent beliefs among 8,357 mothers and 3,517 fathers from 37 countries. Leximancer Semantic Network Analysis was utilized to first determine parenting culture zones (i.e., countries with shared ideal-parent beliefs) and then extract the predominant themes and concepts in each culture zone. The results yielded specific types of ideal-parent beliefs in five parenting culture zones: being “responsible and children/family-focused” for Asian parents, being “responsible and proper demeanor-focused” for African parents, and being “loving and responsible” for Hispanic-Italian parents. Although the most important themes and concepts were the same in the final two zones—being “loving and patient,” there were subtle differences: English-speaking, European Union, and Russian parents emphasized “being caring,” while French-speaking parents valued “listening” or being “present.” Ideal-parent beliefs also differed by education levels within culture zones, but no general pattern was discerned across culture zones. These findings suggest that the country in which parents were born cannot fully explain their differences in ideal-parent beliefs and that differences arising from social class or education level cannot be dismissed. Future research should consider how these differences affect the validity of the measurements in question and how they can be incorporated into parenting intervention research within and across cultures

Parental Burnout Around the Globe: a 42-Country Study

High levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children. It is not yet clear, however, whether parental burnout varies by culture, and if so, why it might do so. In this study, we examined the prevalence of parental burnout in 42 countries (17,409 parents; 71% mothers; M_{age} = 39.20) and showed that the prevalence of parental burnout varies dramatically across countries. Analyses of cultural values revealed that individualistic cultures, in particular, displayed a noticeably higher prevalence and mean level of parental burnout. Indeed, individualism plays a larger role in parental burnout than either economic inequalities across countries, or any other individual and family characteristic examined so far, including the number and age of children and the number of hours spent with them. These results suggest that cultural values in Western countries may put parents under heightened levels of stress

Gene therapy for primary immune deficiencies: a Canadian perspective

The use of gene therapy (GT) for the treatment of primary immune deficiencies (PID) including severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) has progressed significantly in the recent years. In particular, long-term studies have shown that adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene delivery into ADA-deficient hematopoietic stem cells that are then transplanted into the patients corrects the abnormal function of the ADA enzyme, which leads to immune reconstitution. In contrast, the outcome was disappointing for patients with X-linked SCID, Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome and chronic granulomatous disease who received GT followed by autologous gene corrected transplantations, as many developed hematological malignancies. The malignancies were attributed to the predilection of the viruses used for gene delivery to integrated at oncogenic areas. The availability of safer and more efficient self-inactivating lentiviruses for gene delivery has reignited the interest in GT for many PID that are now in various stages of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials. Moreover, advances in early diagnosis of PID and gene editing technology coupled with enhanced abilities to generate and manipulate stem cells ex vivo are expected to further contribute to the benefit of GT for PID. Here we review the past, the present and the future of GT for PID, with particular emphasis on the Canadian perspective

Combination of the W boson polarization measurements in top quark decays using ATLAS and CMS data at root s=8 TeV

The combination of measurements of the W boson polarization in top quark decays performed by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations is presented. The measurements are based on proton-proton collision data produced at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 20 fb(-1)for each experiment. The measurements used events containing one lepton and having different jet multiplicities in the final state. The results are quoted as fractions of W bosons with longitudinal (F-0), left-handed (F-L), or right-handed (F-R) polarizations. The resulting combined measurements of the polarization fractions are F-0= 0.693 +/- 0.014 and F-L= 0.315 +/- 0.011. The fractionF(R)is calculated from the unitarity constraint to be F-R=-0.008 +/- 0.007. These results are in agreement with the standard model predictions at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics and represent an improvement in precision of 25 (29)% for F-0(F-L) with respect to the most precise single measurement. A limit on anomalous right-handed vector (V-R), and left- and right-handed tensor (g(L), g(R)) tWb couplings is set while fixing all others to their standard model values. The allowed regions are [-0.11,0.16] for V-R, [-0.08,0.05] for g(L), and [-0.04,0.02] for g(R), at 95% confidence level. Limits on the corresponding Wilson coefficients are also derived.Peer reviewe

A search for the dimuon decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector

A search for the dimuon decay of the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson is performed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1) collected with the ATLAS detector in Run 2 pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed (expected) significance over the background-only hypothesis for a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.09 GeV is 2.0 sigma (1.7 sigma). The observed upper limit on the cross section times branching ratio for pp -> H -> mu mu is 2.2 times the SM prediction at 95% confidence level, while the expected limit on a H -> mu mu signal assuming the absence (presence) of a SM signal is 1.1(2.0). The best-fit value of the signal strength parameter, defined as the ratio of the observed signal yield to the one expected in the SM, is mu = 1.2 +/- 0.6. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V