Evaluation of an RBD-nucleocapsid fusion protein as a booster candidate for COVID-19 vaccine.

Despite successful vaccines and updates, constant mutations of SARS-CoV-2 makes necessary the search for new vaccines. We generated a chimeric protein that comprises the receptor-binding domain from spike and the nucleocapsid antigens (SpiN) from SARS-CoV-2. Once SpiN elicits a protective immune response in rodents, here we show that convalescent and previously vaccinated individuals respond to SpiN.

Newborn Skin Maturity Medical Device Validation for Gestational Age Prediction: Clinical Trial.

Background: Early access to antenatal care and high-cost technologies for pregnancy dating challenge early neonatal risk assessment at birth in resource-constrained settings. To overcome the absence or inaccuracy of postnatal gestational age (GA), we developed a new medical device to assess GA based on the photobiological properties of newborns' skin and predictive models.

Objective: This study aims to validate a device that uses the photobiological model of skin maturity adjusted to the clinical data to detect GA and establish its accuracy in discriminating preterm newborns.

Prematurity detection evaluating interaction between the skin of the newborn and light: protocol for the preemie-test multicentre clinical trial in Brazilian hospitals to validate a new medical device.

Introduction: Recognising prematurity is critical in order to attend to immediate needs in childbirth settings, guiding the extent of medical care provided for newborns. A new medical device has been developed to carry out the preemie-test, an innovative approach to estimate gestational age (GA), based on the photobiological properties of the newborn's skin. First, this study will validate the preemie-test for GA estimation at birth and its accuracy to detect prematurity.

Urinary cytokine profiles according to the site of blockade of the renin-angiotensin system in nephrectomized rats.

Introduction: It is still unknown how the pharmacological inhibition of the Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) impacts the levels of inflammation and fibrosis biomarkers.

Objective: This study sought to evaluate the effect of enalapril, candesartan and aliskiren on urinary levels of cytokines in a model of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: Male Wistar rats were submitted to surgical removal of ¾ of renal parenchyma to induce CKD (¾ nephrectomy), or subjected to sham surgery (control).