Supporting People Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Qualitative Study Exploring Oncology Healthcare Professionals' Experiences.

Objectives: Immune checkpoint inhibitors have recently developed successfully in treatment for several advanced cancers, including advanced renal cancer, where options have previously been limited. However, while some are able to tolerate these treatments, others may experience unpredictable and sometimes severe immune-related adverse events. Oncology health care professionals have vital roles in optimizing safety and supporting positive outcomes for people receiving these treatments.

Longitudinal analysis of physical function in older adults: The effects of physical inactivity and exercise training.

Lack of exercise contributes to systemic inflammation and is a major cause of chronic disease. The long-term impact of initiating and sustaining exercise in late life, as opposed to sustaining a sedentary lifestyle, on whole-body health measures such as physical performance is not well known. This is an exploratory study to compare changes in physical performance among older adults initiating exercise late in life versus inactive older adults.

Covid-19 Coping Survey: an In-depth Qualitative Analysis of Free-Text Responses from People With and Without Existing Health Conditions in the UK.

Background: There is currently a lack of qualitative research exploring how cognitive and emotional reactions to the threat of SARS-CoV-2 affected the health behaviours of people living with and without pre-existing mental and physical health conditions. We aimed to investigate how the threat of SARS-CoV-2 influenced the thoughts, feelings and health behaviours of people with and without pre-existing health conditions in the UK.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of UK adults (aged 18 and over).

Experiences of cancer immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ExCIm)-insights of people affected by cancer and healthcare professionals: a qualitative study protocol.

Introduction: There is a global interest in cancer immunotherapy. Clinical trials have found that one group, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), has demonstrated clinical benefits across various cancers. However, research focused on the experiences of people affected by cancer who have undergone this treatment using qualitative methodology is currently limited.

Rapid Transition to Telehealth Group Exercise and Functional Assessments in Response to COVID-19.

Exercise is critical for health maintenance in late life. The COVID-19 shelter in place and social distancing orders resulted in wide-scale interruptions of exercise therapies, placing older adults at risk for the consequences of decreased mobilization. The purpose of this paper is to describe rapid transition of the Gerofit facility-based group exercise program to telehealth delivery.

The Evolution of Dendritic Cell Immunotherapy against HIV-1 Infection: Improvements and Outlook.

Dendritic cells (DC) are key phagocytic cells that play crucial roles in both the innate and adaptive immune responses against the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). By processing and presenting pathogen-derived antigens, dendritic cells initiate a directed response against infected cells. They activate the adaptive immune system upon recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) on infected cells.

Inter-professional practice in the prevention and management of child and adolescent self-harm: foster carers' and residential carers' negotiation of expertise and professional identity.

Inter-professional collaboration remains a significant concern within healthcare and social care. However, there has been scant attention paid to practices at the interface of clinicians and carers, namely foster carers and residential carers. The present study considers child and adolescent self-harm management and prevention practices as a site of empirical interest due to reports that multi-agency teams are not effectively operating.

Modeling the pathology, immune responses, and kinetics of HSV-1 replication in the lip scarification model.

The lip scarification model of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection can be used to study acute infection in the orofacial tissue and the establishment of viral latency. In this study, mice were inoculated with HSV-1 and tissue harvested during the acute phase of infection. Clinical presentation of classical open sores on the lip of infected mice was observed.

Animal models of herpes simplex virus immunity and pathogenesis.

Herpes simplex viruses are ubiquitous human pathogens represented by two distinct serotypes: herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 (HSV-1); and HSV type 2 (HSV-2). In the general population, adult seropositivity rates approach 90% for HSV-1 and 20-25% for HSV-2. These viruses cause significant morbidity, primarily as mucosal membrane lesions in the form of facial cold sores and genital ulcers, with much less common but more severe manifestations causing death from encephalitis.

Monolithic fiber chirped pulse amplification system for millijoule femtosecond pulse generation at 1.55 µm.

A monolithic fiber chirped pulse amplification system that generates sub-500 fs pulses with 913 µJ pulse energy and 4.4 W average power at 1.55 µm wavelength has recently been demonstrated.

High efficiency, monolithic fiber chirped pulse amplification system for high energy femtosecond pulse generation.

A novel monolithic fiber-optic chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system for high energy, femtosecond pulse generation is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. By employing a high gain amplifier comprising merely 20 cm of high efficiency media (HEM) gain fiber, an optimal balance of output pulse energy, optical efficiency, and B-integral is achieved. The HEM amplifier is fabricated from erbium-doped phosphate glass fiber and yields gain of 1.

Root cause analysis and solution to the degradation of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) couplers in high power fiber amplifier system.

In the evaluation a fused biconical taper 1480/1580 nm WDM's ability to handle high power cascaded Raman laser throughput (>100 W) a significant degradation in performance was observed. A systematic root cause investigation was conducted and it is experimentally confirmed that the WDM degradation was caused by an interaction between the high power 1480 nm line, an out-of-band Stokes line, and the -OH content of the glass optical fiber. Slanted fiber Bragg grating (SFBG) was introduced to filter out the 1390 nm out-of-band Stokes line in an attempt to avoid this interaction.

Immunological control of herpes simplex virus infections.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is capable of causing a latent infection in sensory neurons that lasts for the lifetime of the host. The primary infection is resolved following the induction of the innate immune response that controls replication of the virus until the adaptive immune response can clear the active infection. HSV-1-specific CD8(+) T cells survey the ganglionic regions containing latently infected neurons and participate in preventing reactivation of HSV from latency.

Murine FLT3 ligand-derived dendritic cell-mediated early immune responses are critical to controlling cell-free human T cell leukemia virus type 1 infection.

Human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is associated with two immunologically distinct diseases: HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis and adult T cell leukemia. We observed previously that depletion of dendritic cells (DCs) in CD11c-diphtheria toxin receptor transgenic mice followed by infection with cell-free virus led to greater proviral and Tax mRNA loads and diminished cellular immune response compared with mice infected with cell-associated virus. To understand the significance of these in vivo results and explore the host-pathogen interaction between DCs and cell-free HTLV-1, we used FLT3 ligand-cultured mouse bone marrow-derived DCs (FL-DCs) and chimeric HTLV-1.

Cytomegalovirus infection leads to microvascular dysfunction and exacerbates hypercholesterolemia-induced responses.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) persistently infects more than 60% of the worldwide population. In immunocompetent hosts, it has been implicated in several diseases, including cardiovascular disease, possibly through the induction of inflammatory pathways. Cardiovascular risk factors promote an inflammatory phenotype in the microvasculature long before clinical disease is evident.

CD4+ T cells are required for the priming of CD8+ T cells following infection with herpes simplex virus type 1.

The role of CD4(+) helper T cells in modulating the acquired immune response to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) remains ill defined; in particular, it is unclear whether CD4(+) T cells are needed for the generation of the protective HSV-1-specific CD8(+)-T-cell response. This study examined the contribution of CD4(+) T cells in the generation of the primary CD8(+)-T-cell responses following acute infection with HSV-1. The results demonstrate that the CD8(+)-T-cell response generated in the draining lymph nodes of CD4(+)-T-cell-depleted C57BL/6 mice and B6-MHC-II(-/-) mice is quantitatively and qualitatively distinct from the CD8(+) T cells generated in normal C57BL/6 mice.

Dendritic cells are required for optimal activation of natural killer functions following primary infection with herpes simplex virus type 1.

Natural killer (NK) cells play an important role in the optimal clearance of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection in mice. Activated NK cells function via cytokine secretion or direct cytolysis of target cells; dendritic cells (DCs) are thought to make critical contributions in the activation of both of these functions. Yet, the magnitude and physiological relevance of DC-mediated NK cell activation in vivo is not completely understood.

Characterization of age-related changes in natural killer cells during primary influenza infection in mice.

The current investigation examined the importance of natural killer (NK) cells during the innate immune response to primary influenza infection in young and aged mice. Young (6-8 weeks) and aged (22 months) C57BL/6 mice were infected intranasally with influenza A virus, and NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity was determined in lung and spleen during the first 4 days of infection. Aged mice demonstrated both a decrease in influenza-inducible NK activity and a reduction in the percentage and number of NK1.

Memory CD8+ T cells require CD28 costimulation.

CD8(+) T cells are a critical component of the adaptive immune response against infections and tumors. A current paradigm in immunology is that naive CD8(+) T cells require CD28 costimulation, whereas memory CD8(+) T cells do not. We show here, however, that during viral infections of mice, costimulation is required in vivo for the reactivation of memory CD8(+) T cells.

Personal development plans and self-directed learning for healthcare professionals: are they evidence based?

The UK chief medical officer's recommendations for the re-licensing and performance management of doctors will mean a move from a formative towards a summative role for appraisal and its adjunct, the personal development plan. Where does this leave medical educators trying to promote reflective learning? It is taken for granted that self-directed learning is the sine qua non of all adult learning. But is it? This review re-evaluates self-directed learning and its corollary, the personal development plan, in the light of the chief medical officer's report, seeking the evidence behind today's accepted educational practice.

Modulation of dendritic cell maturation and function by the Tax protein of human T cell leukemia virus type 1.

Human T cell leukemia virus type 1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) is characterized by the generation of an intense CTL cell response directed against the viral transactivator protein Tax. In addition, patients diagnosed with HAM/TSP exhibit rapid activation and maturation of dendritic cells (DC), likely contributing to the robust, Tax-specific CTL response. In this study, extracellular Tax has been shown to induce maturation and functional alterations in human monocyte-derived DC, critical observations being confirmed in freshly isolated myeloid DC.

Carcinoma arising in a pharyngeal pouch previously treated by endoscopic stapling.

Objectives: A case is described in which squamous cell carcinoma was found during surgery for a recurrent pharyngeal pouch previously treated by endoscopic stapling. A search of the English language literature suggests this is the first reported case of a carcinoma developing in a pharyngeal pouch previously treated by endoscopic stapling.

Study Design: Case report and literature review.

In vivo ablation of CD11c-positive dendritic cells increases susceptibility to herpes simplex virus type 1 infection and diminishes NK and T-cell responses.

The precise role of each of the seven individual CD11c+ dendritic cell subsets (DCs) identified to date in the response to viral infections is not known. DCs serve as critical links between the innate and adaptive immune responses against many pathogens, including herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). The role of DCs as mediators of resistance to HSV-1 infection was investigated using CD11c-diphtheria toxin (DT) receptor-green fluorescent protein transgenic mice, in which DCs can be transiently depleted in vivo by treatment with low doses of DT.