Recombinant H77C gpE1/gpE2 heterodimer elicits superior HCV cross-neutralisation than H77C gpE2 alone.

Background & Aims: An optimal HCV vaccine requires the induction of antibodies that neutralise the infectivity of many heterogenous viral isolates. In this study, we have focused on determining the optimal recombinant envelope glycoprotein component to elicit cross-neutralising antibodies against global HCV genotypes. We compared the immunoreactivity and antigenicity of the HCV genotype 1a strain H77C-derived envelope glycoprotein heterodimer gpE1/gpE2 with that of recombinant gpE2 alone.

Efficacy and safety of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation in the elderly-The I-70 Study: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: There is conflicting evidence on the efficacy of primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation in the elderly.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of ICD implantation in patients 70 years and older.

Methods: Patients (n = 167) aged 70 years or older and eligible for ICD implantation were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either optimal medical therapy (OMT) (n = 85) or OMT plus ICD (n = 82).

Letter From Vienna.

The EPF 35th Annual Conference will be held in Vienna in July 2022 after it was postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic. All the greater is the pleasure to welcome you to the EPF Congress with the theme of Ideals this summer. The Vienna Psychoanalytical Society (WPV, Wiener Psychoanalytische Vereinigung) and the Vienna Psychoanalytical Association (WAP, Wiener Arbeitskreis für Psychoanalyse) would like to extend a warm invitation and welcome to Vienna, the birthplace of Psychoanalysis.

The SWIFT Model for Lichen Sclerosus Among Premenarchal Girls.

Objective/purpose: Delay in diagnosis of childhood lichen sclerosus (LS) can be ameliorated with an efficient evaluation tool. We sought to create a useful prognostic tool for rapid and accurate risk stratification for LS in premenarchal girls.

Method: We conducted a retrospective chart review at a single institution of premenarchal girls presenting with vulvovaginal complaints at a specialty pediatric and adolescent gynecology clinic at a major academic center.

Influence of Nutrient Intake on 24 Hour Urinary Hydration Biomarkers Using a Clustering-Based Approach.

Previous work focusing on understanding nutrient intake and its association with total body water homeostasis neglects to consider the collinearity of types of nutrients consumed and subsequent associations with hydration biomarkers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze consumption patterns of 23 a priori selected nutrients involved in osmotic homeostasis, as well as their association with 24 h urinary hydration markers among fifty African-American first-year college students through a repeated measures observation in a daily living setting. Through application of hierarchical clustering, we were able to identity four clusters of nutrients based on 24 h dietary recalls: (1) alcohol + pinitol, (2) water + calcium + magnesium + erythritol + inositol + sorbitol + xylitol, (3) total calories + total fat + total protein + potassium + sodium + zinc + phosphorous + arginine, and (4) total carbohydrates + total fiber + soluble fiber + insoluble fiber + mannitol + betaine.

Coparenting Intervention for Expectant Parents Affects Relationship Quality: A Pilot Study.

Research has shown that the transition to parenthood is a particularly challenging period of life which is often associated with a decline in relationship quality and an increase in mental health problems. Emerging parents often experience difficulties in coping with new tasks and challenges in the relationship, resulting in inadequate mutual support, stress, conflicts and even depressive symptoms. To support expectant parents in establishing an effective and strong coparenting alliance, we have employed an educational coparenting intervention to teach important coparenting skills.

Impact of Nutrient Intake on Hydration Biomarkers Following Exercise and Rehydration Using a Clustering-Based Approach.

We investigated the impact of nutrient intake on hydration biomarkers in cyclists before and after a 161 km ride, including one hour after a 650 mL water bolus consumed post-ride. To control for multicollinearity, we chose a clustering-based, machine learning statistical approach. Five hydration biomarkers (urine color, urine specific gravity, plasma osmolality, plasma copeptin, and body mass change) were configured as raw- and percent change.

Models of hydration and nutrition require environmental data.

Objective: To recognize the causality of environmental factors (i.e. temperature, humidity and sun exposure) on nutritional variables, specifically body water balance and water-seeking behaviour.

Unexplained Variance in Hydration Study.

With the collection of water-intake data, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is becoming an increasingly popular resource for large-scale inquiry into human hydration. However, are we leveraging this resource properly? We sought to identify the opportunities and limitations inherent in hydration-related inquiry within a commonly studied database of hydration and nutrition. We also sought to critically review models published from this dataset.

Clustering of Directions Improves Goodness of Fit in Kinematic Data Collected in the Transverse Plane During Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation of Stroke Patients.

The kinematic character of hand trajectory in reaching tasks varies by movement direction. Often, direction is not included as a factor in the analysis of data collected during multi-directional reach tasks; consequently, this directionally insensitive model (DI) may be prone to type-II error due to unexplained variance. On the other hand, directionally specific models (DS) that account separately for each movement direction, may reduce statistical power by increasing the amount of data groupings.

Taxonomy of clinical encounters during the first 90 days post-delivery of an initial lower limb prosthesis.

Background: The incidence and etiology of prosthetic services utilization is poorly understood during the first 90 days post-delivery of the initial lower limb prosthesis. This period is of critical importance, as prevailing policy dictates limits on the reimbursement for certain services provided during this time period. The first step in understanding the financial ramifications of such policy is to examine the taxonomy behind clinical encounters during this tenuous time period.

Role of the E2 Hypervariable Region (HVR1) in the Immunogenicity of a Recombinant Hepatitis C Virus Vaccine.

Current evidence supports a protective role for virus-neutralizing antibodies in immunity against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Many cross-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies have been identified. These antibodies have been shown to provide protection or to clear infection in animal models.

Parent handling of typical infants varies segmentally across development of postural control.

Although trunk muscles extend across multiple vertebral joints, recent motor control studies have shown that a top-down progression of trunk control in typical infants occurs incrementally, one segment at a time, until independent sitting. The current study merges this surprising developmental pattern with parent behavior by exploring the relationship between how parents hold their infant and the segmental level for which the infant exhibits postural control. We measured trunk control of 60 infants (1-8 months) via the segmental assessment of trunk control.

The Geek Perspective: Answering the Call for Advanced Technology in Research Inquiry Related to Pediatric Brain Injury and Motor Disability.

The Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy Research Summit IV issued a Call to Action for community-wide intensification of a research enterprise in inquiries related to pediatric brain injury and motor disability by way of technological integration. But the barriers can seem high, and the pathways to integrative clinical research can seem poorly marked. Here, we answer the Call by providing framework to 3 objectives: (1) instrumentation, (2) biometrics and study design, and (3) data analytics.

Is the Prosthetic Homologue Necessary for Embodiment?

Embodiment is the process by which patients with limb loss come to accept their peripheral device as a natural extension of self. However, there is little guidance as to how exacting the prosthesis must be in order for embodiment to take place: is it necessary for the prosthetic hand to look just like the absent hand? Here, we describe a protocol for testing whether an individual would select a hand that looks like their own from among a selection of five hands, and whether the hand selection (regardless of homology) is consistent across multiple exposures to the same (but reordered) set of candidate hands. Pilot results using healthy volunteers reveals that hand selection is only modestly consistent, and that selection of the prosthetic homologue is atypical (61 of 192 total exposures).

Filtering for productive activity changes outcomes in step-based monitoring among children.

Wearable activity monitors are increasingly prevalent in health research, but there is as yet no data-driven study of artefact removal in datasets collected from typically developing children across childhood. Here, stride count data were collected via a commercially available activity monitor (StepWatch), which employs an internal filter for sub-threshold accelerations, but does not post-process supra-threshold activity data. We observed 428 typically-developing children, ages 2-15, wearing the StepWatch for 5 consecutive days.

Trending autoregulatory indices during treatment for traumatic brain injury.

Our goal is to use automatic data monitoring for reliable prediction of episodes of intracranial hypertension in patients with traumatic brain injury. Here we test the validity of our method on retrospective patient data. We developed the Continuous Hemodynamic Autoregulatory Monitor (CHARM), that siphons and stores signals from existing monitors in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU), efficiently compresses them, and standardizes the search for statistical relationships between any proposed index and adverse events.

Orthotic-Style Off-Loading Wheelchair Seat Cushion Reduces Interface Pressure Under Ischial Tuberosities and Sacrococcygeal Regions.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of an off-loading wheelchair seat cushion in removing pressure from high-risk ischial tuberosities and the coccyx/sacrum in wheelchair sitting.

Design: Repeated-measures design.

Setting: Private research laboratory.

Generation and Characterization of a Bivalent HIV-1 Subtype C gp120 Protein Boost for Proof-of-Concept HIV Vaccine Efficacy Trials in Southern Africa.

The viral envelope glycoprotein (Env) is the major target for antibody (Ab)-mediated vaccine development against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1). Although several recombinant Env antigens have been evaluated in clinical trials, only the surface glycoprotein, gp120, (from HIV-1 subtype B, MN, and subtype CRF_01AE, A244) used in the ALVAC prime-AIDSVAX gp120 boost RV144 Phase III HIV vaccine trial was shown to contribute to protective efficacy, although modest and short-lived. Hence, for clinical trials in southern Africa, a bivalent protein boost of HIV-1 subtype C gp120 antigens composed of two complementary gp120s, from the TV1.