Accelerating Development of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines — The Role for Controlled Human Infection Models

The third coronavirus outbreak in the past 20 years, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused unprecedented morbidity, mortality, and economic disruption. Safe, effective, and deployable SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are urgently needed to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic and protect from future outbreaks. The accelerated response to Covid-19 includes investments in preclinical and clinical testing and manufacture of multiple vaccine candidates, with efficacy trials in the United States anticipated to start in July 2020

Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2)

BACKGROUND: Worldwide data for cancer survival are scarce. We aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, and to inform global policy on cancer control. METHODS: Individual tumour records were submitted by 279 population-based cancer registries in 67 countries for 25·7 million adults (age 15-99 years) and 75,000 children (age 0-14 years) diagnosed with cancer during 1995-2009 and followed up to Dec 31, 2009, or later. We looked at cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, liver, lung, breast (women), cervix, ovary, and prostate in adults, and adult and childhood leukaemia. Standardised quality control procedures were applied; errors were corrected by the registry concerned. We estimated 5-year net survival, adjusted for background mortality in every country or region by age (single year), sex, and calendar year, and by race or ethnic origin in some countries. Estimates were age-standardised with the International Cancer Survival Standard weights. FINDINGS: 5-year survival from colon, rectal, and breast cancers has increased steadily in most developed countries. For patients diagnosed during 2005-09, survival for colon and rectal cancer reached 60% or more in 22 countries around the world; for breast cancer, 5-year survival rose to 85% or higher in 17 countries worldwide. Liver and lung cancer remain lethal in all nations: for both cancers, 5-year survival is below 20% everywhere in Europe, in the range 15-19% in North America, and as low as 7-9% in Mongolia and Thailand. Striking rises in 5-year survival from prostate cancer have occurred in many countries: survival rose by 10-20% between 1995-99 and 2005-09 in 22 countries in South America, Asia, and Europe, but survival still varies widely around the world, from less than 60% in Bulgaria and Thailand to 95% or more in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the USA. For cervical cancer, national estimates of 5-year survival range from less than 50% to more than 70%; regional variations are much wider, and improvements between 1995-99 and 2005-09 have generally been slight. For women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005-09, 5-year survival was 40% or higher only in Ecuador, the USA, and 17 countries in Asia and Europe. 5-year survival for stomach cancer in 2005-09 was high (54-58%) in Japan and South Korea, compared with less than 40% in other countries. By contrast, 5-year survival from adult leukaemia in Japan and South Korea (18-23%) is lower than in most other countries. 5-year survival from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is less than 60% in several countries, but as high as 90% in Canada and four European countries, which suggests major deficiencies in the management of a largely curable disease. INTERPRETATION: International comparison of survival trends reveals very wide differences that are likely to be attributable to differences in access to early diagnosis and optimum treatment. Continuous worldwide surveillance of cancer survival should become an indispensable source of information for cancer patients and researchers and a stimulus for politicians to improve health policy and health-care systems

The Cholecystectomy As A Day Case (CAAD) Score: A Validated Score of Preoperative Predictors of Successful Day-Case Cholecystectomy Using the CholeS Data Set

Background Day-case surgery is associated with significant patient and cost benefits. However, only 43% of cholecystectomy patients are discharged home the same day. One hypothesis is day-case cholecystectomy rates, defined as patients discharged the same day as their operation, may be improved by better assessment of patients using standard preoperative variables. Methods Data were extracted from a prospectively collected data set of cholecystectomy patients from 166 UK and Irish hospitals (CholeS). Cholecystectomies performed as elective procedures were divided into main (75%) and validation (25%) data sets. Preoperative predictors were identified, and a risk score of failed day case was devised using multivariate logistic regression. Receiver operating curve analysis was used to validate the score in the validation data set. Results Of the 7426 elective cholecystectomies performed, 49% of these were discharged home the same day. Same-day discharge following cholecystectomy was less likely with older patients (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), higher ASA scores (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), complicated cholelithiasis (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.48), male gender (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74), previous acute gallstone-related admissions (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60) and preoperative endoscopic intervention (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.34–0.47). The CAAD score was developed using these variables. When applied to the validation subgroup, a CAAD score of ≤5 was associated with 80.8% successful day-case cholecystectomy compared with 19.2% associated with a CAAD score >5 (p < 0.001). Conclusions The CAAD score which utilises data readily available from clinic letters and electronic sources can predict same-day discharges following cholecystectomy

Events, Social Memories, and Community in a Final Bronze Age Building’s Biography at Sant’Aniceto, Calabria, Italy

Archaeologists investigating Middle Bronze to Early Iron Age periods (1600–900 b.c.) in southern Italy often explore linkages between emerging inequality and foreign trade connections, establishing a coupled trope of “change emerges from external forces” and “waiting for civilization to arrive”. Based on excavations at the Recent/Final Bronze and Early Iron Ages (RFBA/IA, 1200–900 b.c.) site of Sant’Aniceto in Calabria, we offer an alternative narrative in which hierarchy and institutionalized inequality held little sway in this community. By employing a building biography approach, we examine the variety of ways people sustain their communities through the creation and value of difference (e.g., age, knowledge, or skill) that characterize daily life, even when political hierarchy is absent. Our research at Sant’Aniceto centers on understanding the locally-grounded experiences and lives of people by approaching social difference through the lens of the materialities of everyday life

Selección de progenitores en espárrago Parent selection in asparagus

<abstract language="por">O objetivo principal deste trabalho foi determinar as variáveis que melhor explicam a variação entre indivíduos dentro da população de aspargos originária da cultivar Argenteüil e selecionar plantas superiores para compor novas populações. O ensaio, composto por 1280 plantas, foi instalado no campo experimental da Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, em 1996. Durante os anos de 1997 e 1998, foram avaliadas as variáveis: número de turiões por planta (TU); peso médio do turião (PM); diâmetro do turião (DI); produção total por planta (RE); produção comercial por planta (RM); número de dias para início da colheita (DAC); número de hastes por planta (NUTA); altura da haste principal (ALT) e peso fresco da massa verde (MASAV). De acordo com a análise de componentes principais, as variáveis RE, RM, PM, DI e TU, são responsáveis por 60% da variação existente dentro da população avaliada. A análise de agrupamento baseada nestas variáveis, permitiu a identificação de cinco grupos distintos para os dois sexos. Os grupos G5 de plantas estaminadas e G5 de plantas pistiladas (7,51% da população total) apresentaram as melhores características de RE e qualidade. Destes grupos, foram selecionadas 6 plantas estaminadas e 8 plantas pistiladas para serem utilizadas como genitores no programa de melhoramento de aspargos.<br>The principal aim of this experiment was to ascertain what the variables are which best explain the variations among individuals within the populations of asparagus which originates from the cultivar Argenteüil and as a result select better plants to form new populations. The test, using 1,280 plants, was carried out at he experimental farm in the Facultad Ciencias Agrarias de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Santa Fé, Argentina, in 1996. During 1997 and 1998 the number of spears per plant (TU), the mean weight of spears (PM), mean diameter of spears (DI) total yield (RE), marketable yield (RM), days to first harvest (DAC), number of stalks (NUTA), plant height (ALT) and fresh weight of the fern (MASAV) were measured. According to an analysis of the principal components, the variables RE, RM, PM, DI and TU were responsible for 60% of the variation that exists within the population evaluated

Acoustic analysis and playback experiments do not support the taxonomic revision of the Central and Western Canary Islands subspecies of the Eurasian Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus distinctus

Capsule: Acoustic analysis does not support the elevation of B. o. distinctus to full species. Aims:To verify whether the vocal repertoires of B. o. oedicnemus and B. o. distinctus show biologically significant quantitative and qualitative differences. Methods: Integration of acoustic analysis of some of the most frequently uttered call types recorded in Italy and in Canary Islands with playback experiments. Results: The vocal repertoires of the individuals belonging to the two subspecies were rather similar, but the quantitative analysis of acoustic parameters evidenced some differences between the considered populations. In particular, the three most used call types showed higher frequency and faster utterance rhythm for B. o. distinctus than for B. o. oedicnemus. Playback experiments indicated that individuals from the nominate subspecies responded in the same way to the playback of calls of individuals belonging to both subspecies. Conclusion: Acoustic analysis supports the distinctiveness of Stone-curlew populations from Central and Western Canary Islands, thus confirming the available morphological and genetic data. These results, however, do not suggest the elevation of B. o. distinctus to full species