Background: The humoral and cellular immune responses to SARS-COV-2 vaccination remain to be elucidated in hemodialysis (HD) patients and kidney transplant recipients (KTRs), considering their baseline immunosuppressed status. The aim of our study was to assess the associations of vaccine-induced antibody responses with circulating lymphocytes sub-populations and their respective patterns of alterations in maintenance HD patients and KTRs.
Materials And Methods: We included 34 HD patients and 54 KTRs who received two doses of the mRNA-vaccine BNT162b2.
Neurologic conditions without prenatal optimization can pose anesthetic and obstetrical challenges. We present a case of Currarino syndrome; an autosomal dominant triad of agenesis of the sacrum, anterior sacral meningocele (ASM) with sacral teratomas, and anorectal stenosis; diagnosed during pregnancy; and the subsequent anesthetic considerations. The location, size, and risk of rupture of the ASM can create obstacles to delivery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Obstet Gynecol MFM
January 2021
Background: Distinguishing between true and false preterm labor remains a challenge. The shortening in cervical length throughout a gestation has been theorized to be a possible predictor of spontaneous preterm birth. Although there are some studies evaluating cervical length shortening as a predictor of spontaneous preterm birth, it is not known whether the shortening in cervical length from an asymptomatic to symptomatic state, when a patient presents with preterm labor symptoms, is predictive of spontaneous preterm birth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCell wall mannans of Candida albicans mask β-(1,3)-glucan from recognition by Dectin-1, contributing to innate immune evasion. Glucan exposures are predominantly single receptor-ligand interaction sites of nanoscale dimensions. Candida species vary in basal glucan exposure and molecular complexity of mannans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this retrospective, we first reviewed the synthesis of the oligo(phenylene-ethynylene) electrolytes (OPEs) we created in the past 10 years. Since the general antimicrobial activity of these OPEs had been reported in our previous account in Langmuir, we are focusing only on the unusual spectroscopic and photophysical properties of these OPEs and their complexes with anionic scaffolds and detergents in this Feature Article. We applied classical all-atom MD simulations to study the hydrogen bonding environment in the water surrounding the OPEs with and without detergents present.
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