Tracking Immunity: An Increased Number of COVID-19 Boosters Increases the Longevity of Anti-RBD and Anti-RBD-Neutralizing Antibodies.

Background/objectives: Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020, the virus has caused multiple waves of infection globally. Arizona State University (ASU), the largest four-year university in the United States, offers a uniquely diverse setting for assessing immunity within a large community. This study aimed to test our hypothesis that an increased number of exposures to SARS-CoV-2 RBD through vaccination/boosters/infection will increase SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence by increasing the longevity of anti-RBD and anti-RBD-neutralizing antibodies.

Outcomes in stage IIA versus stage IIB/III in the PALLAS trial [ABCSG-42/AFT-05/PrE0109/BIG-14-13]).

Background: The PALLAS trial investigated the addition of palbociclib to standard adjuvant endocrine therapy to reduce breast cancer recurrence. This pre-specified analysis was conducted to determine whether adjuvant palbociclib benefited patients diagnosed with lower risk stage IIA disease compared to those with higher stage disease.

Methods: PALLAS was an international, multicenter, randomized, open-label, phase III trial, representing a public-private partnership between Pfizer, the Austrian Breast Cancer Study Group, and the U.

Allogenic Cultured Limbal Epithelial Transplantation and Cultivated Oral Mucosal Epithelial Transplantation in Limbal Stem Cells Deficiency: A Comparative Study.

Introduction: This study compared the clinical outcomes of allogenic cultured limbal epithelial transplantation (ACLET) and cultivated oral mucosal epithelial transplantation (COMET) in the management of limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).

Methods: Forty-one COMET procedures in 40 eyes and 69 ACLET procedures in 54 eyes were performed in the Corneoplastic Unit of Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead. Data were examined for demographics, indications, ocular surface stability, absence of epithelial defect, ocular surface inflammation, visual outcomes, and intra- and postoperative complications.

A method for screening functional anti-Treg antibodies using a Treg-like cell line.

Regulatory T cells can suppress activated T cell proliferation by direct cell-contact, although the exact mechanism is poorly understood. Identification of a Treg-specific cell surface molecule that mediates suppression would offer a unique target for cancer immunotherapy to inhibit Treg immunosuppressive function or deplete Tregs in the tumor microenvironment. In this study, we explored a method of whole cell immunization using a Treg-like cell line (MoT cells) to generate and screen monoclonal antibodies that bound cell surface proteins in their native conformations and functionally reversed Treg-mediated suppression.

Comparing machine learning techniques for neonatal mortality prediction: insights from a modeling competition.

Background: Predicting mortality risk in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) is challenging due to complex, variable clinical and physiological data. Machine learning (ML) offers potential for more accurate risk stratification.

Objective: To compare the performance of various ML models in predicting NICU mortality using a team-based modeling competition.