Plant-made vaccines in support of the Millennium Development Goals

Vaccines are one of the most successful public health achievements of the last century. Systematic immunisation programs have reduced the burden of infectious diseases on a global scale. However, there are limitations to the current technology, which often requires costly infrastructure and long lead times for production. Furthermore, the requirement to keep vaccines within the cold-chain throughout manufacture, transport and storage is often impractical and prohibitively expensive in developing countries—the very regions where vaccines are most needed. In contrast, plant-made vaccines (PMVs) can be produced at a lower cost using basic greenhouse agricultural methods, and do not need to be kept within such narrow temperature ranges. This increases the feasibility of developing countries producing vaccines locally at a small-scale to target the specific needs of the region. Additionally, the ability of plant-production technologies to rapidly produce large quantities of strain-specific vaccine demonstrates their potential use in combating pandemics. PMVs are a proven technology that has the potential to play an important role in increasing global health, both in the context of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals and beyond

Atmospheric iodine levels influenced by sea surface emissions of inorganic iodine

Naturally occurring bromine- and iodine-containing compounds substantially reduce regional, and possibly even global, tropospheric ozone levels. As such, these halogen gases reduce the global warming effects of ozone in the troposphere, and its capacity to initiate the chemical removal of hydrocarbons such as methane. The majority of halogen-related surface ozone destruction is attributable to iodine chemistry. So far, organic iodine compounds have been assumed to serve as the main source of oceanic iodine emissions. However, known organic sources of atmospheric iodine cannot account for gas-phase iodine oxide concentrations in the lower troposphere over the tropical oceans. Here, we quantify gaseous emissions of inorganic iodine following the reaction of iodide with ozone in a series of laboratory experiments. We show that the reaction of iodide with ozone leads to the formation of both molecular iodine and hypoiodous acid. Using a kinetic box model of the sea surface layer and a one-dimensional model of the marine boundary layer, we show that the reaction of ozone with iodide on the sea surface could account for around 75% of observed iodine oxide levels over the tropical Atlantic Ocean. According to the sea surface model, hypoiodous acid - not previously considered as an oceanic source of iodine - is emitted at a rate ten-fold higher than that of molecular iodine under ambient conditions

Impact of Seasonality on the Prevalence of Dyslipidemia: A Large Population Study

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Assessment of lipid profile parameters has been considered a cornerstone in classifying individuals and populations at risk for cardiovascular disease. Recently, however, preliminary data have raised the possibility of seasonal variations in these parameters, which may cause under- or overestimation. Biological rhythms and seasonal variation of lipid profile was investigated in 227 359 consecutive individuals who underwent health checkups in primary care centers between 2008 and 2010. Plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) >130 mg/dL was 8% more prevalent during winter than summer, with a larger difference among women and middle-aged adults (p150 mg/dL were respectively 9% and 5% more prevalent during the summer (p<0.001). Variation amplitude was 3.4 +/- 0.3 mg/dL for HDL-C (p = 0.005), 7 +/- 2 mg/dL for LDL-C (p = 0.047), and 12 +/- 9 mg/dL for TG (p = 0.058). Based on a large population sample, this study confirms the existence of biological rhythms and seasonal variation in lipid profile. This finding must be particularly accounted for in cross-sectional analyses of relative risk, prevalence, or the rate of goal achievement for lipid parameters.30810111015Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq