Effects of Lower Limb Proprioceptive Training on Balance and Trunk Control Among the Adult Stroke Population.

Background and objective Balance and trunk control are major concerns among older adults during stroke rehabilitation. Loss of proprioception in the affected limb has a greater influence on motor learning and reeducation during balance training. Available studies stress the relevance of strength and functional training in regaining balance and trunk control.

Combined SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification testing and respiratory virus panel RT-PCR on the Hologic Panther Fusion system.

Background: Significant overlap exists between the symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses. This poses a serious challenge to clinical diagnosis, laboratory testing, and infection control programs.

Objectives: To evaluate the performance of the Hologic Panther Fusion Respiratory Assays (RA) compared to the GenMark ePlex Respiratory Pathogen Panel (RPP) and to assess the ability of the Panther Fusion to perform parallel testing of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses from a single sample.

Urine Biomarkers for the Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer - Are We There Yet?

Ovarian cancer affects around 7500 women in the United Kingdom every year. Despite this, there is no effective screening strategy or standard treatment for ovarian cancer. If diagnosed during stage I, ovarian cancer has a 90% 5-year survival rate; however, there is usually a masking of symptoms which leads to an often late-stage diagnosis and correspondingly poor survival rate.

Antigenic Targets for the Immunotherapy of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

One of the most promising approaches to preventing relapse is the stimulation of the body's own immune system to kill residual cancer cells after conventional therapy has destroyed the bulk of the tumour. In acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), the high frequency with which patients achieve first remission, and the diffuse nature of the disease throughout the periphery, makes immunotherapy particularly appealing following induction and consolidation therapy, using chemotherapy, and where possible stem cell transplantation. Immunotherapy could be used to remove residual disease, including leukaemic stem cells from the farthest recesses of the body, reducing, if not eliminating, the prospect of relapse.

Use of Prescription Assistance Programs After the Affordable Health Care Act.

Background: Insurance coverage in the United States seems to be in a state of unrest. The 2010 passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) extended health insurance coverage to roughly 32 million people. An increase in the number of people with health insurance benefits raised the question of whether prescription assistance programs (PAPs) would still be used after ACA implementation.

DIFFERENCES IN CULTURAL YIELD OF MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS ON MEDIA PREPARED USING COMMERCIAL AND HOUSEHOLD EGGS.

Background: Mycobacterial culture is considered as the gold standard for TB diagnosis. It is performed on egg-based media using commercially available eggs to grow Mycobacteria from clinical samples. These eggs are known to contain high concentration of antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones, given to chicken to prevent early mortality.

Application of the pMHC Array to Characterise Tumour Antigen Specific T Cell Populations in Leukaemia Patients at Disease Diagnosis.

Immunotherapy treatments for cancer are becoming increasingly successful, however to further improve our understanding of the T-cell recognition involved in effective responses and to encourage moves towards the development of personalised treatments for leukaemia immunotherapy, precise antigenic targets in individual patients have been identified. Cellular arrays using peptide-MHC (pMHC) tetramers allow the simultaneous detection of different antigen specific T-cell populations naturally circulating in patients and normal donors. We have developed the pMHC array to detect CD8+ T-cell populations in leukaemia patients that recognise epitopes within viral antigens (cytomegalovirus (CMV) and influenza (Flu)) and leukaemia antigens (including Per Arnt Sim domain 1 (PASD1), MelanA, Wilms' Tumour (WT1) and tyrosinase).

Infrequent Expression of the Cancer-Testis Antigen, PASD1, in Ovarian Cancer.

Ovarian cancer is very treatable in the early stages of disease; however, it is usually detected in the later stages, at which time, treatment is no longer as effective. If discovered early (Stage I), there is a 90% chance of five-year survival. Therefore, it is imperative that early-stage biomarkers are identified to enhance the early detection of ovarian cancer.

An analogue peptide from the Cancer/Testis antigen PASD1 induces CD8+ T cell responses against naturally processed peptide.

We have previously identified the novel Cancer/Testis antigen PASD1 by immunoscreening a testis library with pooled acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patient sera. To develop a cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-inducing vaccine, we have now investigated the carboxy-terminal region, known to contain serological determinants, for MHC class I (HLA-A⋆0201)-binding peptides. Algorithm-selected natural peptides failed to show detectable HLA-A⋆0201 binding in T2 assays.