Can Dendritic Cell Vaccination Prevent Leukemia Relapse?

Leukemias are clonal proliferative disorders arising from immature leukocytes in the bone marrow. While the advent of targeted therapies has improved survival in certain subtypes, relapse after initial therapy is a major problem. Dendritic cell (DC) vaccination has the potential to induce tumor-specific T cells providing long-lasting, anti-tumor immunity.

Associations between Mental Workload and Sleep Quality in a Sample of Young Adults Recruited from a US College Town.

Objective: To evaluate associations between perceived mental workload (number of hours spent studying and perceived mental intensity) and sleep quality among young adults.

Participants: 656 participants [62% male, median age (IQR) = 20 (19, 21) years] recruited from a US college town.

Methods: As part of an online screener, participants answered questions about perceived workload and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)).

[Mental health and wellbeing: The contribution of trees and forests to diverse populations in Britain].

This paper explores the potential contribution of trees and forest to the mental wellbeing of diverse populations in Britain. We use a conceptual framework that makes a distinction between three different levels of engagement: everyday life; green health promotion; and green therapeutic care. We then use researched and evaluated case studies in Britain to provide examples associated with these three levels of engagement.

An Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis of Maternal Going-to-Sleep Position, Interactions with Fetal Vulnerability, and the Risk of Late Stillbirth.

Background: Maternal supine going-to-sleep position has been associated with increased risk of late stillbirth (≥ 28 weeks), but it is unknown if the risk differs between right and left side, and if some pregnancies are more vulnerable.

Methods: Systematic searches were undertaken for an individual-level participant data (IPD) meta-analysis of case-control studies, prospective cohort studies and randomised trials undertaken up until 26 Jan, 2018, that reported data on maternal going-to-sleep position and stillbirth. Participant inclusion criteria included gestation ≥ 28 weeks', non-anomalous, singleton pregnancies.

Antibody-mediated protection against MERS-CoV in the murine model.

Murine antisera with neutralising activity for the coronavirus causative of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) were induced by immunisation of Balb/c mice with the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the viral Spike protein. The murine antisera induced were fully-neutralising in vitro for two separate clinical strains of the MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV). To test the neutralising capacity of these antisera in vivo, susceptibility to MERS-CoV was induced in naive recipient Balb/c mice by the administration of an adenovirus vector expressing the human DPP4 receptor (Ad5-hDPP4) for MERS-CoV, prior to the passive transfer of the RBD-specific murine antisera to the transduced mice.

Implementing Systematic Screening and Structured Care for Distressed Callers Using Cancer Council's Telephone Services: Protocol for a Randomized Stepped-Wedge Trial.

Background: Structured distress management, comprised a 2-stage screening and referral model, can direct supportive care resources toward individuals who are most likely to benefit. This structured approach has yet to be trialed in Australian community-based services such as Cancer Council New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria Cancer Information and Support (CIS) 13 11 20 lines who care for a large community of cancer patients and caregivers.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of structured screening and referral in (1) increasing the proportion of distressed CIS callers who accept supportive care referrals and (2) reducing distress levels at 6-month follow-up.

Barriers and facilitators to adopting functional maintenance initiatives for acutely hospitalised older adults.

: To determine perceived barriers and facilitators to adopting and sustaining functional maintenance initiatives for acutely hospitalised older adults. A qualitative descriptive study using semi-structured interviews and initiative observations was conducted at five international and four Victorian acute hospitals. Purposive snowball sampling was used to recruit clinical, research, managerial, and volunteer staff who were involved in implementing and/or sustaining the initiatives.

The Ghana PrenaBelt trial: a double-blind, sham-controlled, randomised clinical trial to evaluate the effect of maternal positional therapy during third-trimester sleep on birth weight.

Objective: To evaluate the effect, on birth weight and birth weight centile, of use of the PrenaBelt, a maternal positional therapy device, during sleep in the home setting throughout the third trimester of pregnancy.

Design: A double-blind, sham-controlled, randomised clinical trial.

Setting: Conducted from September 2015 to May 2016, at a single, tertiary-level centre in Accra, Ghana.

A novel counterbalanced implementation study design: methodological description and application to implementation research.

Background: Implementation research is increasingly being recognised for optimising the outcomes of clinical practice. Frequently, the benefits of new evidence are not implemented due to the difficulties applying traditional research methodologies to implementation settings. Randomised controlled trials are not always practical for the implementation phase of knowledge transfer, as differences between individual and organisational readiness for change combined with small sample sizes can lead to imbalances in factors that impede or facilitate change between intervention and control groups.

Efficacy of oral appliance therapy in patients following uvulopalatopharyngoplasty failure.

Objective: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) is the most common surgical procedure performed to treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This surgery, when performed alone, benefits only a minority of patients. This study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of oral appliance (OA) therapy following unsuccessful UPPP and assess for specific patient and polysomnographic characteristics that may identify those patients most likely to benefit from this combined treatment strategy.

An educational intervention to improve women's academic STEM outcomes: Divergent effects on well-represented vs. underrepresented minority women.

Objectives: The aim of this field experiment was to test the effect of a social psychological intervention on an ethnically diverse sample of first-year college women majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We hypothesized that grade point averages in STEM courses would be higher in the intervention condition relative to the control condition. Furthermore, we tested competing hypotheses about the moderating role of belonging to either a well-represented (WR) or underrepresented minority (URM) ethnic group in STEM.

Pursuing use of optimal formulations for paediatric HIV epidemic control - a look at the use of LPV/r oral pellets and oral granules.

Introduction: Despite a significant reduction in mother-to-child transmission of HIV, an estimated 180,000 children were infected with HIV in 2017, and only 52% of children under 15 years of age living with HIV (CLHIV) are on life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Without effective treatment, half of CLHIV die before the age of two years and only one in five survives to five years of age.

Discussion: Over the past four years, the United States Food and Drug Administration tentatively approved new formulations of lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) in the form of oral pellets and oral granules.

Implications of perinatal buprenorphine exposure on infant head circumference at birth.

To determine the potential impact of prenatal buprenorphine exposure on head circumference at birth and analyze whether head circumference may be related to maternal buprenorphine dose at delivery, delayed maternal entry into buprenorphine treatment or exposure to a variety of other medications and substances. A retrospective cohort study was performed of 137 full-term infants exposed to buprenorphine during pregnancy from January 2013 to December 2017. Pearson's correlation was calculated to investigate the potential relationship between head circumference and maternal dose of buprenorphine at delivery.

Dietary Intake and Energy Expenditure Assessed during a Pre-Season Period in Elite Gaelic Football Players.

There is currently a lack of research into the energy demands and associated nutritional intakes of elite Gaelic football players during the pre-season period, which is a crucial time of year for physical development. The aim of the current study was to investigate the dietary intake and energy expenditure (EE) of elite Gaelic football players during a typical pre-season week. Over a seven-day period, which included four training days and three rest days, dietary intake (validated self-reported estimated food diary) and EE (Sensewear Pro armband) were recorded in 18 male players from a single elite inter-county Gaelic football team.

Description and cost-analysis of emergency department attendances for hand and wrist injuries.

Background: Injuries to the hand and wrist are estimated to account for between 10% and 30% of all ED presentations. The economic burden placed on the healthcare system can be extensive and rise sharply with increase in injury severity.

Objectives: This cost-analysis was performed with the aim of estimating the economic implications of ED attendances for hand and wrist injuries from the perspective of one Australian public health network.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus nucleocapsid protein harbors distinct RNA-binding sites in the stalk and head domains.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a tick-borne that causes severe hemorrhagic fever with a mortality rate of up to 30% in certain outbreaks worldwide. The virus has wide endemic distribution. There is no effective antiviral therapeutic or FDA approved vaccine for this zoonotic viral illness.

Maternal sleep practices and stillbirth: Findings from an international case-control study.

Background: Late stillbirth, which occurs ≥28 weeks' gestation, affects 1.3-8.8 per 1000 births in high-income countries.

Low-FODMAP Diet Is Associated With Improved Quality of Life in IBS Patients-A Prospective Observational Study.

Background: The low fermentable oligosaccharide, disaccharide, monosaccharide, and polyol (FODMAP) diet is effectively manages irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms. Long-term low-FODMAP studies rarely report quality of life (QoL). We aimed to determine the effect of low-FODMAP diet on long-term QoL, gastrointestinal (GI) and non-GI symptoms in IBS patients.

Aerosol infection of Balb/c mice with eastern equine encephalitis virus; susceptibility and lethality.

Background: Eastern equine encephalitis virus is an alphavirus that naturally cycles between mosquitoes and birds or rodents in Eastern States of the US. Equine infection occurs by being bitten by cross-feeding mosquitoes, with a case fatality rate of up to 75% in humans during epizootic outbreaks. There are no licensed medical countermeasures, and with an anticipated increase in mortality when exposed by the aerosol route based on anecdotal human data and experimental animal data, it is important to understand the pathogenesis of this disease in pursuit of treatment options.

The use of columns of the zeolite clinoptilolite in the remediation of aqueous nuclear waste streams.

Mud Hills clinoptilolite has been used in an effluent treatment plant (SIXEP) at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site. This material has been used to remove Cs and Sr successfully from effluents for 3 decades. Samples of the zeolite have been tested in column experiments to determine their ability to remove radioactive Cs and Sr ions under increasing concentrations of competing ions, Ca, Mg, Na and K.

Mitochondrial health and muscle plasticity after spinal cord injury.

Mitochondria are responsible for aerobic respiration and large-scale ATP production in almost all cells of the body. Their function is decreased in many neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disease states, in metabolic disorders such as type II diabetes and obesity, and as a normal component of aging. Disuse of skeletal muscle from immobilization or unloading triggers alterations of mitochondrial density and activity.

Wnt11 directs nephron progenitor polarity and motile behavior ultimately determining nephron endowment.

A normal endowment of nephrons in the mammalian kidney requires a balance of nephron progenitor self-renewal and differentiation throughout development. Here, we provide evidence for a novel action of ureteric branch tip-derived Wnt11 in progenitor cell organization and interactions within the nephrogenic niche, ultimately determining nephron endowment. In mutants, nephron progenitors dispersed from their restricted niche, intermixing with interstitial progenitors.