Development of a highly protective combination monoclonal antibody therapy against Chikungunya virus

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus that causes global epidemics of a debilitating polyarthritis in humans. As there is a pressing need for the development of therapeutic agents, we screened 230 new mouse anti-CHIKV monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) for their ability to inhibit infection of all three CHIKV genotypes. Four of 36 neutralizing MAbs (CHK-102, CHK-152, CHK-166, and CHK-263) provided complete protection against lethality as prophylaxis in highly susceptible immunocompromised mice lacking the type I IFN receptor (Ifnar−/−) and mapped to distinct epitopes on the E1 and E2 structural proteins. CHK-152, the most protective MAb, was humanized, shown to block viral fusion, and require Fc effector function for optimal activity in vivo. In post-exposure therapeutic trials, administration of a single dose of a combination of two neutralizing MAbs (CHK-102+CHK-152 or CHK-166+CHK-152) limited the development of resistance and protected immunocompromised mice against disease when given 24 to 36 hours before CHIKV-induced death. Selected pairs of highly neutralizing MAbs may be a promising treatment option for CHIKV in humans

Towards an international standard on feature structures representation

Colloque avec actes et comité de lecture. internationale.International audienceThis paper describes the preliminary results of a joint initiative of the TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) Consortium and the ISO Committee TC 37SC 4 (language Resource management) to provide a standard for the representation and interchange of feature structures

[[alternative]]「中文健康識能評估量表」簡式量表的發展與效度檢測

[[abstract]]Objectives: A Mandarin Health Literacy Scale (MHLS) has been developed and validated to assess Taiwanese adults’ functional health literacy in terms of their ability to read, comprehend, and utilize basic health information in making personal health decisions. The purpose of this study was to develop a shortened version of the MHLS, the short-form Mandarin Health Literacy Scale (s-MHLS), and to examine the psychometric qualities of the shortened instrument. Methods: The study sample consisted of 3491 Taiwanese adults who were randomly selected using the threestage stratified sampling design with a sampling rate proportional-to-size within each stage. The measurement models were examined using AMOS 19.0. Results: Item selection was determined by the correlation between the question sets and the total scores on the MHLS. The MHLS was reduced from 33 text-reading items to 8 and 17 numerical items to 3. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the unidimensionality of s-MHLS. Measurement model analysis revealed that s-MHLS yielded a better fit than MHLS. The Cronbach’s correlation between the MHLS and s-MHLS was 0.97, and the s-MHLS had satisfactory internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha=0.94). The s-MHLS was significantly correlated with education, reading ability, need for reading assistance, health knowledge, and perceived health status, suggesting that the shortened instrument had good convergent and known-group validity. Conclusions: The s-MHLS is valid and reliable. It could be employed in clinical and research settings to assess functional health literacy in the Mandarinspeaking populatio

Health literacy and women's health-related behaviors in Taiwan

[[abstract]]Extant health literacy research is unclear about the contribution of health literacy to health behaviors and is limited regarding women’s health issues. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the association between health literacy and five health behaviors (Pap smear screening, annual physical checkup, smoking, checking food expiration dates, and monitoring physical changes) in women and to test whether the association is mediated by health knowledge. A national sample of 1,754 female adults in Taiwan was included in the study. Result showed that health literacy was positively and independently related to checking food expiration dates and monitoring physical changes, and that health literacy was not related to physical checkup and Pap smear screening. Interestingly, women with high health literacy were more likely to be a current smoker. Study findings suggest that efforts to improve health promotion behaviors in women should consider health literacy as an important factor and that the effect of health literacy on health prevention behaviors may vary by women’s access to care

The three pillars of ethical research with nonhuman primates ::a work developed in collaboration with the National Anti-Vivisection Society /

The Three Pillars (Harmonization, Replacement, and Justice) describe an ethical path forward and away from the use of nonhuman primates in harmful research and scientific use. Conducting nonhuman primate research in an ethical way that acknowledges their moral importance requires satisfying more rigorous guidelines and regulations modeled on those that apply to similarly vulnerable human subjects, especially children and incarcerated persons. This Element argues for the moral necessity of harmonizing human and nonhuman primate research ethics, regulations, and guidelines in a way that protects all primates, human and nonhuman. The authors call for the replacement of nonhuman primates in research with human-relevant methods that do not simply shift research onto other nonhuman animals, and challenge publics, governments, and scientific communities worldwide to implement justice in the selection and use of all research subjects. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core

Towards an international standard on feature structure representation

Colloque avec actes et comité de lecture. internationale.International audienceThis paper describes the preliminary results of a joint initiative of the TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) Consortium and the ISO Committee TC 37SC 4 (language Resource management) to provide a standard for the representation and interchange of feature structures

Towards an international standard on feature structure representation

This paper describes the preliminary results of a joint initiative of the TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) Consortium and the ISO Committee TC 37SC 4 (Language Resource management) to provide a standard for the representation and interchange of feature structures. 1