Vaccine delivery using nanoparticles

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Vaccination has had a major impact on the control of infectious diseases. However, there are still many infectious diseases for which the development of an effective vaccine has been elusive. In many cases the failure to devise vaccines is a consequence of the inability of vaccine candidates to evoke appropriate immune responses. This is especially true where cellular immunity is required for protective immunity and this problem is compounded by the move toward devising sub-unit vaccines. Over the past decade nanoscale size (<1000 nm) materials such as virus-like particles, liposomes, ISCOMs, polymeric, and non-degradable nanospheres have received attention as potential delivery vehicles for vaccine antigens which can both stabilize vaccine antigens and act as adjuvants. Importantly, some of these nanoparticles (NPs) are able to enter antigen-presenting cells by different pathways, thereby modulating the immune response to the antigen. This may be critical for the induction of protective Th1-type immune responses to intracellular pathogens. Their properties also make them suitable for the delivery of antigens at mucosal surfaces and for intradermal administration. In this review we compare the utilities of different NP systems for the delivery of sub-unit vaccines and evaluate the potential of these delivery systems for the development of new vaccines against a range of pathogens.This work was partly supported by grant number U54 AI057156 from the Western Regional Centre for Excellence, USA. The study performed in the laboratory of RWT was supported by NIH/NIAID grant U54 AI057156 from the Western Regional Center for Excellence. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIAID or NIH

Smoking and Multiple Sclerosis: An Updated Meta-Analysis

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a leading cause of disability in young adults. Susceptibility to MS is determined by environmental exposure on the background of genetic risk factors. A previous meta-analysis suggested that smoking was an important risk factor for MS but many other studies have been published since then.Methods/Principal Findings: We performed a Medline search to identify articles published that investigated MS risk following cigarette smoking. A total of 14 articles were included in this study. This represented data on 3,052 cases and 457,619 controls. We analysed these studies in both a conservative (limiting our analysis to only those where smoking behaviour was described prior to disease onset) and non-conservative manner. Our results show that smoking is associated with MS susceptibility (conservative: risk ratio (RR) 1.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.35-1.63, p<10(-15); non-conservative: RR 1.52, 95% CI 1.39-1.66, p<10(-19)). We also analysed 4 studies reporting risk of secondary progression in MS and found that this fell just short of statistical significance with considerable heterogeneity (RR 1.88, 95% CI 0.98-3.61, p = 0.06).Discussion: Our results demonstrate that cigarette smoking is important in determining MS susceptibility but the effect on the progression of disease is less certain. Further work is needed to understand the mechanism behind this association and how smoking integrates with other established risk factors

Comparing prevalence of chronic kidney disease and its risk factors between population-based surveys in Russia and Norway.

BACKGROUND: Little data exists on the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the Russian population. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of CKD in a population-based study in Russia, compare with a similar study in Norway, and investigate whether differences in risk factors explained between-study differences in CKD. METHODS: We compared age- and sex-standardised prevalence of reduced eGFR (< 60 ml/min/1.73m2 CKD-EPI creatinine equation), albuminuria and or a composite indicator of CKD (one measure of either reduced eGFR or albuminuria) between participants aged 40-69 in the population-based Know Your Heart (KYH) study, Russia (2015-2018 N = 4607) and the seventh Tromsø Study (Tromsø7), Norway (2015-2016 N = 17,646). We assessed the contribution of established CKD risk factors (low education, diabetes, hypertension, antihypertensive use, smoking, obesity) to between-study differences using logistic regression. RESULTS: Prevalence of reduced eGFR or albuminuria was 6.5% (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 5.4, 7.7) in KYH and 4.6% (95% CI 4.0, 5.2) in Tromsø7 standardised for sex and age. Odds of both clinical outcomes were higher in KYH than Tromsø7 (reduced eGFR OR 2.06 95% CI 1.67, 2.54; albuminuria OR 1.54 95% CI 1.16, 2.03) adjusted for sex and age. Risk factor adjustment explained the observed between-study difference in albuminuria (OR 0.92 95% CI 0.68, 1.25) but only partially reduced eGFR (OR 1.42 95% CI 1.11, 1.82). The strongest explanatory factors for the between-study difference was higher use of antihypertensives (Russian sample) for reduced eGFR and mean diastolic blood pressure for albuminuria. CONCLUSIONS: We found evidence of a higher burden of CKD within the sample from the population in Arkhangelsk and Novosibirsk compared to Tromsø, partly explained by between-study population differences in established risk factors. In particular hypertension defined by medication use was an important factor associated with the higher CKD prevalence in the Russian sample

The reporting of statistics in medical educational studies: an observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is confusion in the medical literature as to whether statistics should be reported in survey studies that query an entire population, as is often done in educational studies. Our objective was to determine how often statistical tests have been reported in such articles in two prominent journals that publish these types of studies.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>For this observational study, we used electronic searching to identify all survey studies published in <it>Academic Medicine </it>and the <it>Journal of General Internal Medicine </it>in which an entire population was studied. We tallied whether inferential statistics were used and whether p-values were reported.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eighty-four articles were found: 62 in <it>Academic Medicine </it>and 22 in the <it>Journal of General Internal Medicine</it>. Overall, 38 (45%) of the articles reported or stated that they calculated statistics: 35% in <it>Academic Medicine </it>and 73% in the <it>Journal of General Internal Medicine</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Educational enumeration surveys frequently report statistical tests. Until a better case can be made for doing so, a simple rule can be proffered to researchers. When studying an entire population (e.g., all program directors, all deans, and all medical schools) for factual information, do not perform statistical tests. Reporting percentages is sufficient and proper.</p

Effects of adding Tiotropium or Aclidinium as triple therapy using impulse oscillometry in COPD

INTRODUCTION: Long-acting muscarinic antagonists confer improvements in spirometry when used in addition to inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists (ICS/LABA) in COPD. The dual objectives of this proof of concept study were to evaluate trough effects of tiotropium (TIO) or aclidinium (ACL) when used as triple therapy and to assess if impulse oscillometry (IOS) might be more sensitive than spirometry in detecting subtle differences in bronchodilator response. METHODS: Patients with moderate to severe COPD already taking ICS/LABA were randomized to receive add-on therapy in cross-over fashion with either TIO 18 µg od or ACL 322 µg bid for 2–3 weeks each. Measurements of IOS, spirometry, 6-min walk test, St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and Baseline/Transition Dyspnoea Index (TDI) were made at baseline and after chronic dosing at trough (12 h for ACL and 24 h for TIO), in addition to domiciliary diurnal spirometry. RESULTS: 13 patients were completed: mean age 69 years, FEV(1) 52 % predicted, FEV(1)/FVC 0.48, and R5 202 % predicted. There were no differences in any visit-based trough IOS or spirometry outcomes comparing TIO versus ACL. Resonant frequency but not total airway resistance at 5 Hz (R5) significantly improved from baseline with both treatments while peripheral airway resistance (R5–R20) significantly improved with ACL. Visit-based FEV(1), and forced and relaxed vital capacity were also significantly improved from baseline with both treatments. There were no significant differences in diurnal FEV(1) and FEV(6) profiles between treatments. 6-min walk distance and post-walk fatigue significantly improved from baseline with ACL, while post-walk dyspnea improved with TIO. SGRQ symptom score significantly improved to a similar degree with both treatments. TDI significantly improved with ACL versus TIO by 1.54 units. CONCLUSION: We observed comparable bronchodilator efficacy at trough with TIO and ACL when used as triple therapy in COPD, while IOS was no more sensitive than spirometry

Effect of preoperative thoracic duct drainage on canine kidney transplantation

Chronic drainage of the thoracic duct to the esophagus was developed in dogs, and its efficacy in immunomodulation was tested using kidney transplantation. Compared to 9.7 days in the control, the mean animal survival was prolonged to 9.9 days, 17.8 days, and 18.5 days when TDD was applied preoperatively for 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 9 weeks, respectively. Prolongation was significant after 6 weeks. Patency of the fistula was 93.5, 80.4, and 76.1% at respective weeks. Number of peripheral T-lymphocytes determined by a new monoclonal antibody diminished after 3 weeks. All animals were in normal health, requiring no special care for fluid, electrolyte, or protein replacement

iPrevent

Curso de Especial InterésLa siguiente propuesta, contiene la información necesaria para poder asesorar y brindar una mejor atención a los procesos que son inherentes a la sexualidad del ser humano. El diseño de la creación de una aplicación llamada iPrevent, usada en aparatos tecnológicos como los móviles con sistema Android y Apple. Esta aplicación está encaminada a presentar y a exponer los distintos métodos anticonceptivos que se encuentran en el mercado, así mismo brindar un marco de conocimiento de cada uno, para facilitar la toma de decisiones de los adolescentes; de esta manera teniendo una correlación con la salud pública y mitigar los embarazos no deseados y posibles interrupciones voluntarias del embarazo (IVE) y uso de Métodos Anticonceptivos de emergencia en esta población.101 p.1. Resumen 2. Justificación 3. Marco teórico 4. Objetivos 5. Metodología 6. Estudio de mercadeo 7. Resultados 8. Discusión 9. Conclusiones y recomendaciones 10. Referencias 11. ApéndicesPregradoPsicólog

The effects of tannin-containing ground pine bark diet upon nutrient digestion, nitrogen balance, and mineral retention in meat goats

Background Pine bark is a rich source of phytochemical compounds including tannins, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, and fatty acids. These phytochemicals have potential to significantly impact on animal health and animal production. The goal of this work is to measure the effects of tannins in ground pine bark as a partial feed replacement on feed intake, dietary apparent digestibility, nitrogen balance, and mineral retention in meat goats. Results Eighteen Kiko cross goats (initial BW = 31.8 ± 1.49 kg) were randomly assigned to three treatment groups (n = 6). Dietary treatments were tested: control (0 % pine bark powder (PB) and 30 % wheat straw (WS)); 15 % PB and 15 % WS, and 30 % PB and 0 % WS. Although dry matter (DM) intake and digestibility were not affected (P > 0.10) by feeding PB, neutral detergent fiber (linear; P = 0.01), acid detergent fiber (linear; P = 0.001) and lignin digestibility (linear; P = 0.01) decreased, and crude protein (CP) digestibility tended to decrease (P = 0.09) as PB increased in the diet, apparent retention of Ca (P = 0.09), P (P = 0.03), Mg (P = 0.01), Mn (P = 0.01), Zn (P = 0.01) and Fe (P = 0.09) also increased linearly. Nitrogen intake and fecal N excretion were not affected (P > 0.05) by addition of PB in the diet, but N balance in the body was quadratically increased (P < 0.01) in the 15 % PB diet compared to other diets. This may be due to more rumen escape protein and less excreted N in the urine with the 15 % PB diet. The study showed that a moderate level of tannin-containing pine bark supplementation could improve gastrointestinal nitrogen balance with the aim of improving animal performance. Conclusion These results suggest that tannin-containing PB has negative impact on fiber, lignin, and protein digestibility, but positively impacted on N-balance

Can type of school be used as an alternative indicator of socioeconomic status in dental caries studies? A cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the importance of collecting individual data of socioeconomic status (SES) in epidemiological oral health surveys with children, this procedure relies on the parents as respondents. Therefore, type of school (public or private schools) could be used as an alternative indicator of SES, instead of collecting data individually. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of the variable type of school as an indicator of socioeconomic status as a substitute of individual data in an epidemiological survey about dental caries in Brazilian preschool children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study followed a cross-sectional design, with a random sample of 411 preschool children aged 1 to 5 years, representative of Catalão, Brazil. A calibrated examiner evaluated the prevalence of dental caries and parents or guardians provided information about several individual socioeconomic indicators by means of a semi-structured questionnaire. A multilevel approach was used to investigate the association among individual socioeconomic variables, as well as the type of school, and the outcome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When all significant variables in the univariate analysis were used in the multiple model, only mother's schooling and household income (individual socioeconomic variables) presented significant associations with presence of dental caries, and the type of school was not significantly associated. However, when the type of school was used alone, children of public school presented significantly higher prevalence of dental caries than those enrolled in private schools.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The type of school used as an alternative indicator for socioeconomic status is a feasible predictor for caries experience in epidemiological dental caries studies involving preschool children in Brazilian context.</p

Food safety knowledge and practice by the stages of change model in school children

In this study, 342 grade 4-6 elementary school students in Gyeonggi-do were recruited to determine their readiness to change food safety behavior and to compare their food safety knowledge and practices by the stages of change. The subjects were divided into three stages of change; the percentage of stage 1 (precontemplation) was 10.1%, the percentage of stage 2 (contemplation and preparation) was 62.4%, and that of stage 3 (action and maintenance) was 27.5%. Food safety knowledge scores in stage 3 (4.55) or stage 2 (4.50) children were significantly higher than those in stage 1 children (4.17) (P < 0.05). The two food safety behavior items "hand washing practice" and "avoidance of harmful food" were significantly different among the three groups (P < 0.05). Stages of change were significantly and positively correlated with food safety knowledge and practice. Age was significantly and negatively correlated with the total food safety behavior score (r = -0.142, P < 0.05). The most influential factor on the stage of change was a mother's instruction about food safety (P < 0.01)