A bivalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccine elicited broad immune responses and protection against Omicron subvariants infection.

Continuously emerging SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants pose a threat thwarting the effectiveness of approved COVID-19 vaccines. Especially, the protection breadth and degree of these vaccines against antigenically distant Omicron subvariants is unclear. Here, we report the immunogenicity and efficacy of a bivalent mRNA vaccine, PTX-COVID19-M1.

A comprehensive analysis framework for evaluating commercial single-cell RNA sequencing technologies.

This study examined nine prominent commercially available single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) kits across four technology groups. Each kit was characterized using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a single donor, which enabled consistent assessment of factors such as analytical performance, protocol duration and cost. The Chromium Fixed RNA Profiling kit from 10× Genomics, with its probe-based RNA detection method, demonstrated the best overall performance.

Comparison of a SARS-CoV-2 mRNA booster immunization containing additional antigens to a spike-based mRNA vaccine against Omicron BA.5 infection in hACE2 mice.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants presents challenges to vaccine effectiveness, underlining the necessity for next-generation vaccines with multiple antigens beyond the spike protein. Here, we investigated a multiantigenic booster containing spike and a chimeric construct composed of nucleoprotein (N) and membrane (M) proteins, comparing its efficacy to a spike-only booster against Omicron BA.5 in K18-hACE2 mice.

Locoregional Therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Several locoregional therapies (LRTs) for nonmetastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are available; however, a global comparison of the relative efficacy of each is needed.

Objective: To conduct a systematic review and direct, pairwise meta-analytic comparison of all identified randomized clinical trials evaluating the treatment of nonmetastatic HCC.

Data Sources: A comprehensive search of PubMed and the proceedings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meetings from January 1, 2010, to November 1, 2023, was performed.

Spectrum of Female Hypospadias: A Case Series.

Female hypospadias is an extremely rare condition characterised by urethral meatus placed within the introitus on the anterior vaginal wall, along with foreshortening of the urethra. It is an often missed anomaly that usually co-exists with other genitourinary conditions like ectopic ureter, renal anomalies, septate vagina and bicornuate uterus. A case series of five girls who had hypospadias is being described.