Effectiveness and efficiency of immunisation strategies to prevent RSV among infants and older adults in Germany: a modelling study.

Background: Recently, several novel RSV immunisation products that protect infants and older adults against RSV disease have been licensed in Europe. We estimated the effectiveness and efficiency of introducing these RSV immunisation strategies in Germany.

Methods: We used a Bayesian framework to fit a deterministic age-structured dynamic transmission model of RSV to sentinel surveillance and RSV-specific hospitalisation data in Germany from 2015 to 2019.

Going "social" to access experimental and potentially life-saving treatment: an assessment of the policy and online patient advocacy environment for expanded access.

Social media is fundamentally altering how we access health information and make decisions about medical treatment, including for terminally ill patients. This specifically includes the growing phenomenon of patients who use online petitions and social media campaigns in an attempt to gain access to experimental drugs through expanded access pathways. Importantly, controversy surrounding expanded access and "compassionate use" involves several disparate stakeholders, including patients, manufacturers, policymakers, and regulatory agencies-all with competing interests and priorities, leading to confusion, frustration, and ultimately advocacy.

Isolation and characterisation of the retinoic acid receptor-alpha gene in the Japanese pufferfish, F. rubripes.

Nuclear hormone receptors (NRs) are ligand-inducible transcription factors that mediate critical functions in many species. The majority of novel NRs have hitherto been cloned from cDNA libraries by virtue of their homology to previously identified receptors. In this study, we validate a genomic DNA-based approach to isolating NRs by cloning the retinoic acid receptor-alpha (RARalpha) gene from the genome of the Japanese pufferfish, Fugu rubripes.

The Tay-Sachs disease gene in North American Jewish populations: geographic variations and origin.

From data collected in a North American Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) heterozygote screening program, the TSD carrier frequency among 46,304 Jewish individuals was found to be .0324 (1 in 31 individuals). This frequency is consistent with earlier estimates based on TSD incidence data.