Self-assembling peptide for co-delivery of HIV-1 CD8+ T cells epitope and Toll-like receptor 7/8 agonists R848 to induce maturation of monocyte derived dendritic cell and augment polyfunctional cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response.

Peptide based vaccine that incorporates one or several highly conserved CD8+ T cells epitopes to induce potent cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response is desirable for some infectious diseases, such as HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus-1), and cancers. However, the CD8+ T cells epitope is often weakly immunogenic, and thus requires a specific adjuvant or delivery system to enhance the efficiency. Here we investigated the use of self-assembling peptide EAK16-II based platform to achieve the co-delivery of CD8+ T cells epitope and TLR7/8 agonists (R848 or R837) for augmenting DCs maturation and HIV-1 specific CTL response.

Health of patients on the waiting list: Opportunity to improve health in Canada?

Introduction: A number of countries have healthcare systems where access to elective surgery is constrained. The inevitable outcome is wait lists for surgery. The objective of this study is to report cross-sectional health data collected from a broad sample of patients awaiting elective surgery and shed light on potential non-surgical treatments to improve health.

Improving hospital quality through payment reforms: A policy impact analysis in British Columbia.

Among the most devastating and costly consequences of fragmented care is unplanned readmissions. This study adapts Medicare's incentive program and applies the policy to hospitals in British Columbia. The financial implications for hospitals affected by these policies would be small and it is questionable whether the disincentive is worth the trade-offs.