A Randomized, Double-blind, Active-controlled Phase III Trial of a Cell Culture-derived Quadrivalent Inactivated Influenza Vaccine in Healthy South Korean Children and Adolescents 6 Months to 18 Years of Age.

BACKGROUND: Cell culture-derived influenza vaccines have several important advantages over egg-based influenza vaccines. The quadrivalent influenza vaccine may offer broader protection against seasonal influenza than trivalent influenza vaccine by containing 1 more B strain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of NBP607-QIV, a novel cell culture-derived inactivated quadrivalent influenza vaccine (cIIV4), in children and adolescents. METHODS: This phase III, randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial in children/adolescents (6 mo to 18 yr) was conducted in South Korea during 2014-2015 season. Subjects were randomized 4:1 to receive either NBP607-QIV or control inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine. Hemagglutination inhibition antibody titers were assessed in prevaccination and 28 days postvaccination sera. Safety data were collected for up to 6 months postvaccination. RESULTS: A total of 454 participants completed the study. Three-hundred sixty-six subjects received cIIV4 and 88 subjects received inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine. Overall, NBP607-QIV met the immunogenicity criteria of Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use for each of the 4 strains. Between the NBP607-QIV and control groups, immunogenicity endpoints were comparable. Participants younger than 3 years of age had lower immunologic responses to 2 influenza B strains in both NBP607-QIV and control group. No deaths, vaccine-related serious adverse events (AEs) or withdrawals because of AEs were reported. The solicited AEs reported were generally of mild intensity. CONCLUSIONS: NBP607-QIV, a novel cIIV4, showed good immunogenicity to all 4 influenza strains and had tolerable safety profiles in children and adolescents. Moreover, NBP607-QIV was more immunogenic against influenza B compared with the control, an egg-based subunit vaccine.

Effects of laser-assisted thinning versus opening on clinical outcomes according to maternal age in patients with repeated implantation failure.

Laser-assisted thinning (LAT) and laser-assisted opening (LAO) are performed as part of human in vitro fertilization (IVF) to increase the implantation rate in patients with a poor prognosis and in cases of repeated implantation failure. However, an insufficient number of studies have directly compared LAT and LAO using the same methods. Therefore, we compared the effects of LAT and LAO on clinical outcomes according to maternal age in patients with repeated implantation failure. This retrospective study was performed in 509 IVF cycles (458 patients). The cycles were divided based on maternal age and the method used (< 38 years LAT, n = 119 vs. LAO, n = 179 and ≥ 38 years LAT, n = 72 vs. LAO, n = 139). Cleavage-stage embryos before transfer were either thinned or opened using a 1.46-µm noncontact diode laser. We compared the implantation rates and pregnancy outcomes of cycles between LAT and LAO according to maternal age. The characteristics of patients did not differ significantly among the groups (p > 0.05), with the exception of mixed factor infertility, which was more common in the LAT group than in the LAO group among patients < 38 years of age (10.1% vs. 2.8%, p = 0.008). The LAT and LAO groups showed similar rates of biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, abortion, implantation, singleton pregnancy, and twin pregnancy (p > 0.05). In conclusion, LAT and LAO had similar clinical outcomes. Therefore, we did not find any evidence that LAT is superior to LAO. In fact, the patients ≥ 38 years of age who underwent LAO tended to have a lower abortion rate. Further study is necessary to confirm these results in a larger population.

Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Ethylbenzene into Styrene by Fe-Graphitic Catalysts.

Carbon-based catalysts have attracted much attention for the dehydrogenation (DH) of organic molecules, due to their rich active sites, high conversion efficiency, and selectivity. However, because of their poor stability at high operation temperature and relatively high cost, their practical applications have been limited. Here, we report a simple ball-milling-induced mechanochemical reaction which can introduce iron (Fe) and different functional groups (mostly stable aromatic C═O after heat-treatment) along the edges of graphitic nanoplatelets. The resulting Fe-graphitic nanoplatelets (Fe-XGnPs, X = H, C, N, or V) provide active sites for the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethylbenzene into styrene. Among them, Fe-NGnPs (X = N) displayed the highest performance for styrene production at low temperature (∼11.13 mmol g-1 h-1, 450 °C) with high selectivity and durability.

Encapsulating Iridium Nanoparticles Inside a 3D Cage-Like Organic Network as an Efficient and Durable Catalyst for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction.

Developing efficient and durable electrocatalysts is key to optimizing the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), currently one of the cleanest and most sustainable routes for producing hydrogen. Here, a unique and efficient approach to fabricate and embed uniformly dispersed Ir nanoparticles in a 3D cage-like organic network (CON) structure is reported. These uniformly trapped Ir nanoparticles within the 3D CON (Ir@CON) effectively catalyze the HER process. The Ir@CON electrocatalyst exhibits high turnover frequencies of 0.66 and 0.20 H2 s-1 at 25 mV and small overpotentials of 13.6 and 13.5 mV while generating a current density of 10 mA cm-2 in 0.5 m H2 SO4 and 1.0 m KOH aqueous solutions, respectively, as compared to commercial Pt/C (18 and 23 mV) and Ir/C (20.7 and 28.3 mV). More importantly, the catalyst shows superior stability in both acidic and alkaline media. These results highlight a potentially powerful approach for the design and synthesis of efficient and durable electrocatalysts for HER.

Direct Synthesis of a Covalent Triazine-Based Framework from Aromatic Amides.

There have been extensive efforts to synthesize crystalline covalent triazine-based frameworks (CTFs) for practical applications and to realize their potential. The phosphorus pentoxide (P2 O5 )-catalyzed direct condensation of aromatic amide instead of aromatic nitrile to form triazine rings. P2 O5 -catalyzed condensation was applied on terephthalamide to construct a covalent triazine-based framework (pCTF-1). This approach yielded highly crystalline pCTF-1 with high specific surface area (2034.1 m2 g-1 ). At low pressure, the pCTF-1 showed high CO2 (21.9 wt % at 273 K) and H2 (1.75 wt % at 77 K) uptake capacities. The direct formation of a triazine-based COF was also confirmed by model reactions, with the P2 O5 -catalyzed condensation reaction of both benzamide and benzonitrile to form 1,3,5-triphenyl-2,4,6-triazine in high yield.

A Randomized, Double-blind, Active-controlled Clinical Trial of a Cell Culture-derived Inactivated Trivalent Influenza Vaccine (NBP607) in Healthy Children 6 Months Through 18 Years of Age.

BACKGROUND: Although a number of cell culture-derived influenza vaccines have been approved for use in adults, there have been few clinical trials of cell culture-derived seasonal influenza vaccines for young children. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind phase III clinical trial to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a cell culture-derived subunit trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (NBP607, SK Chemicals Co., Ltd., Seongnam, Korea) in healthy children 6 months of age through 18 years. Subjects were randomized to receive either a study vaccine or an egg-based control vaccine. Antibody levels were measured by the hemagglutination inhibition assay, using cell-derived antigens. Solicited adverse events were assessed for 7 days after each injection. Serious adverse events were collected for 6 months after vaccination. RESULTS: A total of 374 participants completed the study. No deaths, vaccine-related serious adverse events or withdrawals resulting from adverse events were reported. Rates of solicited and unsolicited adverse events were similar in 2 groups. Overall, NBP607 met the immunogenicity criteria of the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products for the 3 influenza strains. Between the NBP607 group and the control group, immunogenicity endpoints were comparable. Participants younger than 3 years of age had lower immunologic responses against the influenza B virus in both the NBP607 group and the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The immunogenicity and safety were comparable between the NBP607 group and the control group. NBP607 is well tolerated and immunogenic in children 6 months of age through 18 years.

Seroprevalence of Antibodies to Toxocara Species in the United States and Associated Risk Factors, 2011-2014.

Background: Toxocariasis results from infection with larval stages of a dog and cat intestinal nematode and causes human morbidity. The current United States estimate of Toxocara exposure is 13.9% (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey [NHANES] III [1988-1994]). Methods: We used a multiplex bead-based assay (Tc-CTL-1MBA) with purified Toxocara canis antigen to estimate Toxocara antibody seroprevalence in serum of 13 509 persons aged ≥6 years from NHANES 2011-2014 and identified seropositivity risk factors. We tested a subset of 500 samples with the T. canis enzyme immunoassay used in NHANES III to estimate prior seroprevalence had samples from NHANES III been tested by Tc-CTL-1MBA. Results: The age-standardized estimate of Toxocara seroprevalence was 5.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.2%-5.8%), lower than previously reported even after adjusting for increased Tc-CTL-1MBA specificity. Risk factors for seropositivity from multiple logistic regression were older age, non-Hispanic black/Hispanic origin, male sex, living below poverty level, households with ≥0.5 persons per room, less than college education, and birth outside of the United States. Conclusions: Toxocara seroprevalence estimates in 2011-2014 were lower than in a study from NHANES III (1988-1994), but seropositivity risk factors remained the same and should continue to be the focus of prevention efforts.

Forming a three-dimensional porous organic network via solid-state explosion of organic single crystals.

Solid-state reaction of organic molecules holds a considerable advantage over liquid-phase processes in the manufacturing industry. However, the research progress in exploring this benefit is largely staggering, which leaves few liquid-phase systems to work with. Here, we show a synthetic protocol for the formation of a three-dimensional porous organic network via solid-state explosion of organic single crystals. The explosive reaction is realized by the Bergman reaction (cycloaromatization) of three enediyne groups on 2,3,6,7,14,15-hexaethynyl-9,10-dihydro-9,10-[1,2]benzenoanthracene. The origin of the explosion is systematically studied using single-crystal X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry, along with high-speed camera and density functional theory calculations. The results suggest that the solid-state explosion is triggered by an abrupt change in lattice energy induced by release of primer molecules in the 2,3,6,7,14,15-hexaethynyl-9,10-dihydro-9,10-[1,2]benzenoanthracene crystal lattice.

Efficacy of embryo transfer on day 2 versus day 3 according to maternal age in patients with normal ovarian response.

OBJECTIVE: Delaying embryo transfer (ET) enables us to select among the embryos available for transfer and is associated with positive effects on implantation and pregnancy outcomes. However, the optimal day for ET of human cleavage-stage embryos remains controversial. METHODS: A retrospective study of 3,124 in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles (2,440 patients) was conducted. We compared the effects of day 2 and 3 ET on rates of implantation and pregnancy outcomes between young maternal age (YMA; <38 years old, n=2,295) and old maternal age (OMA; ≥38 years old, n=829) patient groups. RESULTS: The YMA and OMA groups did not differ in terms of patient characteristics except for the proportion of unexplained factor infertility, which was significantly greater in the OMA group, and the proportion of arrested embryos, which was significantly greater in the YMA group. However, the biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, abortion, and implantation rates per cycle were not significantly different between day 2 and 3 ET in the YMA group or the OMA group. CONCLUSION: We suggest that offering patients the opportunity to decide which day would be suitable for ET could be part of a patient-friendly protocol that takes into consideration an infertile woman's circumstances and work schedule by allowing ET to be performed on day 2 instead of the traditional transfer on day 3.

Long Cut Straw Provides Stable the Rates of Survival, Pregnancy and Live Birth for Vitrification of Human Blasotcysts.

Most of the commercial devices for vitrification are directly immersed into the warming solution (WS) for increasing of warming rate. However, the previous modified cut standard straw (MCS) which has reported is difficult to immerse into the WS. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the long cut straw (LCS) could be useful as a stable tool for vitrified-warmed human blastocysts. A total of 138 vitrified-warmed cycles were performed between November 2013 and November 2014 (exclusion criteria: women ≥38 years old, poor responder, surgical retrieval sperm, and severe male factor). The artificial shrinkage was conducted using 29-gauge needles. Ethylene glycol and dimethyl sulfoxide (7.5% and 15% (v/v)) were used as cryoprotectants. Freezing and warming were conducted using the LCS tool. The cap of LCS was removed using the forceps in the liquid nitrogen (LN2) and then directly immersed into the first WS for 1 min at 37℃ (1 M sucrose). Only re-expanded blastocysts were transferred after it was cultured in sequential media for 18-20 h. A total of 294 blastocysts were warmed, and all were recovered (100%). Two hundred eighty-five embryos were survived (96.9%). The vitrifiedwarmed blastocysts of all patients were transferred without any cancellation. We were able to achieve a reasonable implantation (24.2%), following by clinical pregnancy (36.2%), which then continued to ongoing pregnancy (36.2%), and live birth (31.2%). Using LCS is achieved the acceptable rates of survival, pregnancy and live birth. Therefore, the LCS could be considered as a stable and simple tool for human embryo vitrificaton.

Development of Two FhSAP2 Recombinant-Based Assays for Immunodiagnosis of Human Chronic Fascioliasis.

In the United States, infection with Fasciola hepatica has been identified as an emerging disease, primarily in immigrants, refugees, and travelers. The laboratory test of choice for diagnosis of fascioliasis is detection of disease specific antibodies, most commonly uses excretory-secretory antigens for detection of IgG antibodies. Recently, recombinant proteins such as F. hepatica antigen (FhSAP2) have been used to detect IgG antibodies. The glutathione S-transferase (GST)-FhSAP2 recombinant antigen was used to develop Western blot (WB) and fluorescent bead-based (Luminex) assays to detect F. hepatica total IgG and IgG4 antibodies. The sensitivity and specificity of GST-FhSAP2 total IgG and IgG4 WB were similar at 94% and 98%, respectively. For the IgG Luminex assay, the sensitivity and specificity were 94% and 97%, and for the IgG4, the values were 100% and 99%, respectively. In conclusion, the GST-FhSAP2 antigen performs well in several assay formats and can be used for clinical diagnosis.

Development of Ss-NIE-1 recombinant antigen based assays for immunodiagnosis of strongyloidiasis.

Strongyloides stercoralis is a widely distributed parasite that infects 30 to 100 million people worldwide. In the United States strongyloidiasis is recognized as an important infection in immigrants and refugees. Public health and commercial reference laboratories need a simple and reliable method for diagnosis of strongyloidiasis to identify and treat cases and to prevent transmission. The recognized laboratory test of choice for diagnosis of strongyloidiasis is detection of disease specific antibodies, most commonly using a crude parasite extract for detection of IgG antibodies. Recently, a luciferase tagged recombinant protein of S. stercoralis, Ss-NIE-1, has been used in a luciferase immunoprecipitation system (LIPS) to detect IgG and IgG4 specific antibodies. To promote wider adoption of immunoassays for strongyloidiasis, we used the Ss-NIE-1 recombinant antigen without the luciferase tag and developed ELISA and fluorescent bead (Luminex) assays to detect S. stercoralis specific IgG4. We evaluated the assays using well-characterized sera from persons with or without presumed strongyloidiasis. The sensitivity and specificity of Ss-NIE-1 IgG4 ELISA were 95% and 93%, respectively. For the IgG4 Luminex assay, the sensitivity and specificity were 93% and 95%, respectively. Specific IgG4 antibody decreased after treatment in a manner that was similar to the decrease of specific IgG measured in the crude IgG ELISA. The sensitivities of the Ss-NIE-1 IgG4 ELISA and Luminex assays were comparable to the crude IgG ELISA but with improved specificities. However, the Ss-NIE-1 based assays are not dependent on native parasite materials and can be performed using widely available laboratory equipment. In conclusion, these newly developed Ss-NIE-1 based immunoassays can be readily adopted by public health and commercial reference laboratories for routine screening and clinical diagnosis of S. stercoralis infection in refugees and immigrants in the United States.

Pepper, chili (Capsicum annuum).

Pepper is a recalcitrant plant for Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation. Several obstacles to genetic transformation remain such as extremely low transformation rates; the choice of correct genotype is critical; and there is a high frequency of false positives due to direct shoot formation. Here, we report a useful protocol with a suitable selection method. The most important aspect of the pepper transformation protocol is selecting shoots growing from the callus, which is referred to as callus-mediated shoot formation. This protocol is a reproducible and reliable system for pepper transformation.

Additional role of urine output criterion in defining acute kidney injury.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) has been a major concern due to its association with increased morbidity and mortality. However, the clinical implication of the urine output criterion (UOCr) in diagnosing AKI has not been fully established. METHODS: We assessed the incidence of AKI among 1625 critically ill patients and analysed the overall survival rates based on the serum creatinine criterion (CrCr) and UOCr, both of which have been defined by the AKI Network (AKIN). RESULTS: Within 7 days of admission, the risk rate of AKI was 57.0% and the rate determined by UOCr alone was 25.7%. AKI determined by the UOCr alone increased hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality; 1.81 (Stage 1), 2.96 (Stage 2) and 4.17 (Stage 3) compared to non-AKI. However, the difference in mortality between Stages 2 and 3 using the CrCr alone was not significant (P = 0.881). In patients with Stages 2 and 3 by the CrCr, the UOCr further separated the survival rates (P = 0.001 among the four UOCr stages). The diuretic dose did not alter the discriminative function of the UOCr for survival rates. However, 42.1% of non-AKI cases, as determined by the UOCr, were identified as AKI cases by the CrCr. CONCLUSION: Although some AKI cases were not identified by the UOCr alone, the UOCr has an additional role in AKI staging, regardless of diuretic use.

Detection of transgene in early developmental stage by GFP monitoring enhances the efficiency of genetic transformation of pepper.

In order to establish a reliable and highly efficient method for genetic transformation of pepper, a monitoring system featuring GFP (green fluorescent protein) as a report marker was applied to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. A callus-induced transformation (CIT) system was used to transform the GFP gene. GFP expression was observed in all tissues of T(0), T(1) and T(2) peppers, constituting the first instance in which the whole pepper plant has exhibited GFP fluorescence. A total of 38 T(0) peppers were obtained from 4,200 explants. The transformation rate ranged from 0.47 to 1.83% depending on the genotype, which was higher than that obtained by CIT without the GFP monitoring system. This technique could enhance selection power by monitoring GFP expression at the early stage of callus in vitro. The detection of GFP expression in the callus led to successful identification of the shoot that contained the transgene. Thus, this technique saved lots of time and money for conducting the genetic transformation process of pepper. In addition, a co-transformation technique was applied to the target transgene, CaCS (encoding capsaicinoid synthetase of Capsicum) along with GFP. Paprika varieties were transformed by the CaCS::GFP construct, and GFP expression in callus tissues of paprika was monitored to select the right transformant.

Transgenic peppers that are highly tolerant to a new CMV pathotype.

The CMV (cucumber mosaic virus) is the most frequently occurring virus in chili pepper farms. A variety of peppers that are resistant to CMVP0 were developed in the middle of 1990s through a breeding program, and commercial cultivars have since been able to control the spread of CMVP0. However, a new pathotype (CMVP1) that breaks the resistance of CMVP0-resistant peppers has recently appeared and caused a heavy loss in productivity. Since no genetic source of this new pathotype was available, a traditional breeding method cannot be used to generate a CMVP1-resistant pepper variety. Therefore, we set up a transformation system of pepper using Agrobacterium that had been transfected with the coat protein gene, CMVP0-CP, with the aim of developing a new CMVP1-resistant pepper line. A large number of transgenic peppers (T(1), T(2) and T(3)) were screened for CMVP1 tolerance using CMVP1 inoculation. Transgenic peppers tolerant to CMVP1 were selected in a plastic house as well as in the field. Three independent T(3) pepper lines highly tolerant to the CMVP1 pathogen were found to also be tolerant to the CMVP0 pathogen. These selected T(3) pepper lines were phenotypically identical or close to the non-transformed lines. However, after CMVP1 infection, the height and fruit size of the non-transformed lines became shorter and smaller, respectively, while the T(3) pepper lines maintained a normal phenotype.

Comparison of polymerase chain reaction and the indirect particle agglutination antibody test for the diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in children during two outbreaks.

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia is challenging because of the lack of standardized rapid tests. Many serologic tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based methods are used with different diagnostic criteria. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted to compare the diagnostic values of the indirect particle agglutination test and nested PCR of nasopharyngeal aspirates for the diagnosis of M. pneumoniae pneumonia in children. These assays were evaluated in 234 hospitalized children with community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections during 2 outbreaks of M. pneumoniae pneumonia in 2000 and 2003. RESULTS: The cumulative PCR positive rate was 26.7% in patients with maximum antibody titers of < or =1:320 and 78.2% in those with titers of > or =1:640. Based on these data, a positive PCR, a 4-fold increase in antibody titer, or a single titer > or =1:640 were considered to indicate acute M. pneumoniae infection. Overall, 152 children were diagnosed to have M. pneumoniae pneumonia; 27 (18%) by serology only, 26 (17%) by PCR only, and 99 (65%) by both methods. Children who were diagnosed by PCR only were significantly younger (P = 0.003) and were more often immunocompromised (P = 0.019) than those that were PCR negative. Duration of cough before PCR diagnosis was shorter in cases diagnosed by PCR only than those that were PCR negative (P = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, during the 2 outbreaks of M. pneumoniae infection, we found that the PCR test may be useful for the rapid diagnosis of M. pneumoniae pneumonia, particularly in young children and in immunocompromised patients and in early stage disease.