Despite their safety and widespread use, conventional protein antigen-based subunit vaccines face significant challenges such as low immunogenicity, insufficient long-term immunity, poor CD8 T-cell activation, and poor adaptation to viral variants. To address these issues, an infection-mimicking gel (IM-Gel) is developed that is designed to emulate the spatiotemporal dynamics of immune stimulation in acute viral infections through in situ supramolecular self-assembly of nanoparticulate-TLR7/8a (NP-TLR7/8a) and an antigen with tannic acid (TA). Through collagen-binding properties of TA, the IM-Gel enables sustained delivery and enhanced retention of NP-TLR7/8a and protein antigen in the lymph node subcapsular sinus of mice for over 7 days, prolonging the exposure of vaccine components in both B cell and T cell zones, leading to robust humoral and cellular responses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: The importance of analyzing head impact exposure among football players is well established, yet few studies have explored the differences across position groups in high school athletes. Better understanding of these differences may provide optimized intervention strategies for coaches and healthcare providers.
Objective: To quantify the difference of head impacts per exposure (Imp/E) and impact burden high school football player position groups.
Early mortality after hemodialysis (HD) initiation significantly impacts the longevity of HD patients. This study aimed to quantify the effect sizes of risk factors on mortality using various machine learning approaches. A cohort of 3284 HD patients from the CRC-ESRD (2008-2014) was analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfrican swine fever (ASF), a contagious and lethal haemorrhagic disease of domestic pigs and wild boars, poses a significant threat to the global pig industry. Although experimental vaccine candidates derived from naturally attenuated, genetically engineered, or cell culture-adapted ASF virus have been tested, no commercial vaccine is accepted globally. We developed a safe and effective cell-adapted live attenuated vaccine candidate (ASFV-MEC-01) by serial passage of a field isolate in CA-CAS-01-A cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is frequently observed in patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and a significant risk factor for the development of cardiovascular events in those patients. We hypothesized that the ratio of early diastolic peak mitral flow velocity to early mitral annulus velocity (E/e' ratio), the widely used non-invasive LV diastolic dysfunction index, would show improvements following kidney transplantation (KT).
Materials And Methods: A total of 192 KT recipients who underwent echocardiography before KT and 2 years after KT were included this analysis.
In South Korea, a mandatory nation-wide foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccination policy is in place. However, a major side effect of the current method of intramuscular (IM) administration of oil-adjuvanted FMD vaccines is the formation of granulomas in the muscles of pigs. To address this issue, we assessed the possible application of intradermal (ID) vaccination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFApproximately 30 % of global agricultural land is used to produce food that is ultimately lost or wasted, making it imperative to explore strategies for mitigating this waste. This study explored the potential of chitosan (CS) derivatives as edible coatings to extend food shelf life. Although soluble CS derivatives such as glycol CS are suitable coatings, their antimicrobial properties often diminish with increased solubility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe invention of Light Emitting Diode (LED) revolutionized energy-efficient illumination, but concerns persist regarding the potential harm of blue light to our eyes. In this study, we scrutinized the impact of LED light characteristics on eyes using two cell types: M-1 (rich in mitochondria) and CD-1 (neuronal). Variations in color rendering index (CRI) and correlated color temperature (CCT) were investigated, alongside exposure durations ranging from 0 to 24 hours.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This study aimed to investigate the clinical efficacy of MiSight 1 day soft contact lenses (MiSight CL) in Korean children with mild-to-moderate myopia. In addition, the study compared the effects of MiSight CL in children who had or had not previously used orthokeratology contact lenses (Ortho-K).
Methods: A total of 66 children aged 5 to 16 years, who were prescribed MiSight CL, were included in the study.
The optimal target blood pressure for kidney transplant (KT) patients remains unclear. We included 808 KT patients from the KNOW-KT as a discovery set, and 1,294 KT patients from the KOTRY as a validation set. The main exposures were baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) at 1 year after KT and time-varying SBP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Kidney transplantation (KT) improves the cardiovascular outcomes of patients with end-stage kidney disease. However, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of premature death and graft loss in KT recipients (KTRs) with diabetes. We evaluated the cardioprotective effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in KTRs with diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Recent studies have implicated acetyl-L-carnitine as well as other acylcarnitines in depression. To our knowledge, no untargeted metabolomics studies have been conducted among US mainland Puerto Ricans.
Objectives: We conducted untargeted metabolomic profiling on plasma from 736 participants of the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study.
The substantial waste of perishable foods during transportation significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, intensifying the climate crisis. To mitigate the rapid spoilage of fruits, an eco-friendly bilayer film was developed using natural egg white (EW), amylose (Am), and tannic acid (TA). The EW/Am-TA bilayer film features a primary layer of amphiphilic EW, ensuring a uniform coating on hydrophobic fruit surfaces, and a secondary layer composed of Am and TA, imparting notable tensile strength (5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To evaluate the efficacy of inverted internal limiting membrane (ILM) flap technique in full-thickness macular holes (MHs) with a size of ≤400 μm compared to the ILM peeling technique.
Methods: Related literatures that compared inverted ILM flap and ILM peeling in MHs ≤ 400 μm were reviewed by searching electronic databases including Pubmed, EMbase, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Cochrane Library up to April 2023.
Context: High school football remains a popular, physically demanding sport despite the known risks for acute brain and neck injury. Impacts to the head also raise concerns about their cumulative effects and long-term health consequences.
Objective: To examine the effectiveness of a helmetless tackling training program to reduce head impact exposure in football participants.
Background: Recent studies have identified plasma metabolites associated with cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease; however, little research on this topic has been conducted in Latinos, especially Puerto Ricans.
Objective: This study aims to add to the growing body of metabolomics research in Latinos to better understand and improve the health of this population.
Methods: We assessed the association between plasma metabolites and global cognition over 12 years of follow-up in 736 participants of the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (BPRHS).
Tight control of the type I interferon (IFN) signaling pathway is critical for maintaining host innate immune responses, and the ubiquitination and deubiquitination of signaling molecules are essential for signal transduction. Deubiquitinase ubiquitin-specific protein 19 (USP19) is known to be involved in deubiquitinating Beclin1, TRAF3, and TRIF for downregulation of the type I IFN signaling. Here, we show that SIAH1, a cellular E3 ubiquitin ligase that is involved in multicellular pathway, is a potent positive regulator of virus-mediated type I IFN signaling that maintains homeostasis within the antiviral immune response by targeting USP19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfrican swine fever virus (ASFV) is the causative agent of the highly lethal African swine fever disease that affects domestic pigs and wild boars. In spite of the rapid spread of the virus worldwide, there is no licensed vaccine available. The lack of a suitable cell line for ASFV propagation hinders the development of a safe and effective vaccine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGraefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol
August 2024
Background: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the preoperative flash visual evoked potential (VEP) test in predicting postoperative visual acuity for monocular mature cataract cases when compared to the contralateral normal eye.
Methods: The study included 60 patients, each with a monocular mature cataract diagnosis, who underwent preoperative flash VEP testing showing no pattern VEP response. Subsequently, phacoemulsification was performed.
Introduction: Conventional foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines have been developed to enhance their effectiveness; however, several drawbacks remain, such as slow induction of antibody titers, short-lived immune response, and local side effects at the vaccination site. Therefore, we created a novel FMD vaccine that simultaneously induces cellular and humoral immune responses using the Dectin-2 agonist, D-galacto-D-mannan, as an adjuvant.
Methods: We evaluated the innate and adaptive (cellular and humoral) immune responses elicited by the novel FMD vaccine and elucidated the signaling pathway involved both and using mice and pigs, as well as immune cells derived from these animals.
Objective: Several studies have examined metabolomic profiles in relation to Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (AD/ADRD) risk; however, few studies have focused on minorities, such as Latinos, or examined Magnetic-Resonance Imaging (MRI)-based outcomes.
Methods: We used multiple linear regression, adjusted for covariates, to examine the association between metabolite concentration and MRI-derived brain age deviation. Metabolites were measured at baseline with untargeted metabolomic profiling (Metabolon, Inc).