Early Results of an Infant Model of Orthotopic Cardiac Xenotransplantation.

Background: Genetically engineered porcine hearts may have an application for infants in need of a bridge to cardiac allotransplantation. The current animal model that resulted in 2 human applications has been validated in adult non-human primates only. We sought to create an infant animal model of life sustaining cardiac xenotransplantation to understand limitations specific to this age group.

Immunogenicity and safety following a homologous booster dose of a SARS-CoV-2 recombinant spike protein vaccine with Matrix-M adjuvant (NVX-CoV2373) versus a primary series in people living with and without HIV-1 infection in South Africa: A randomized crossover phase 2a/2b trial.

COVID-19 remains a global public health issue and an improved understanding of vaccine performance in immunocompromised individuals, including people living with HIV (PLWH), is needed. Initial data from the present study's pre-crossover/booster phase were previously reported. This phase 2a/b clinical trial in South Africa (2019nCoV-501/NCT04533399) revisits 1:1 randomly assigned HIV-negative adults (18-84 years) and medically stable PLWH (18-64 years) who previously received two NVX-CoV2373 doses (5 μg recombinant Spike protein with 50 μg Matrix-M™ adjuvant) or placebo.

Examining the Relationship Between Social Vulnerability and Animal Shelter Intakes and Outcomes: Patterns and Implications.

(1) Background: This study investigates the impact of social vulnerability, as quantified by the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), on animal shelter intakes and adoptions, and the flow of animals between SVI groups at seven shelters within the United States. Understanding how social vulnerability influences these factors is crucial for developing targeted interventions to improve shelter outcomes and community support programs. (2) Methods: The research analyzed intake and adoption data from multiple animal shelters to assess the relationship between the social vulnerability at intake and adoption locations based on Census Tract obtained from addresses, focusing on comparison across strays, seized animals, and owner surrenders.

ECG Features in Orthotopic Cardiac Xenotransplantation: Comparisons With Published Literature.

Introduction: Although there is a plethora of literature on electrocardiographic changes following cardiac allotransplantation, there is little in the field of cardiac xenotransplantation. The only published literature to date is that of the first pig-to-human cardiac xenotransplantation. Here we take a close look at the electrocardiographic parameters in four non-human primate recipients of orthotopic cardiac xenotransplantation to develop baseline metrics for comparison.

An platform for the enzymatic characterization of the rhomboid protease RHBDL4.

Rhomboid proteases are ubiquitous intramembrane serine proteases that can cleave transmembrane substrates within lipid bilayers. They exhibit many and diverse functions, such as but not limited to, growth factor signaling, immune and inflammatory response, protein quality control, and parasitic invasion. Human rhomboid protease RHBDL4 has been demonstrated to play a critical role in removing misfolded proteins from the Endoplasmic Reticulum and is implicated in severe diseases such as various cancers and Alzheimer's disease.