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Rapid detection of infection is essential for stopping the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The Roche SD Biosensor rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2 was evaluated in a nonhospitalized symptomatic population. We rapid-tested a sample onsite and compared results with those from reverse transcription PCR and virus culture. We analyzed date of onset and symptoms using data from a clinical questionnaire. Overall test sensitivity was 84.9% (95% CI 79.1–89.4) and specificity was 99.5% (95% CI 98.7–99.8). Sensitivity increased to 95.8% (95% CI 90.5–98.2) for persons who sought care within 7 days of symptom onset. Test band intensity and time to result correlated strongly with viral load; thus, strong positive results could be read before the recommended time. Approximately 98% of all viable specimens with cycle threshold

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is an ubiquitous herpesvirus that can cause serious morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised or immune-immature individuals. A vaccine that induces immunity to CMV in these target populations is therefore highly needed. Previous attempts to generate efficacious CMV vaccines primarily focused on the induction of humoral immunity by eliciting neutralizing antibodies. Current insights encourage that a protective immune response to HCMV might benefit from the induction of virus-specific T cells. Whether addition of antiviral T cell responses enhances the protection by antibody-eliciting vaccines is however unclear. Here, we assessed this query in mouse CMV (MCMV) infection models by developing synthetic vaccines with humoral immunity potential, and deliberately adding antiviral CD8+ T cells. To induce antibodies against MCMV, we developed a DNA vaccine encoding either full-length, membrane bound glycoprotein B (gB) or a secreted variant lacking the transmembrane and intracellular domain (secreted (s)gB). Intradermal immunization with an increasing dose schedule of sgB and booster immunization provided robust viral-specific IgG responses and viral control. Combined vaccination of the sgB DNA vaccine with synthetic long peptides (SLP)-vaccines encoding MHC class I-restricted CMV epitopes, which elicit exclusively CD8+ T cell responses, significantly enhanced antiviral immunity. Thus, the combination of antibody and CD8+ T cell-eliciting vaccines provides a collaborative improvement of humoral and cellular immunity enabling enhanced protection against CMV.

The combination of immune-stimulating strategies has the potency to improve immunotherapy of cancer. Vaccination against neoepitopes derived from patient tumor material can generate tumor-specific T cell immunity, which could reinforce the efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor therapies such as anti-PD-1 treatment. DNA vaccination is a versatile platform that allows the inclusion of multiple neoantigen-coding sequences in a single formulation and therefore represents an ideal platform for neoantigen vaccination. We developed an anti-tumor vaccine based on a synthetic DNA vector designed to contain multiple cancer-specific epitopes in tandem. The DNA vector encoded a fusion gene consisting of three neoepitopes derived from the mouse colorectal tumor MC38 and their natural flanking sequences as 40 amino acid stretches. In addition, we incorporated as reporter epitopes the helper and CTL epitope sequences of ovalbumin. The poly-neoantigen DNA vaccine elicited T cell responses to all three neoantigens and induced functional CD8 and CD4 T cell responses to the reporter antigen ovalbumin after intradermal injection in mice. The DNA vaccine was effective in preventing outgrowth of B16 melanoma expressing ovalbumin in a prophylactic setting. Moreover, the combination of therapeutic DNA vaccination and anti-PD-1 treatment was synergistic in controlling MC38 tumor growth whereas individual treatments did not succeed. These data demonstrate the potential of DNA vaccination to target multiple neoepitopes in a single formulation and highlight the cooperation between vaccine-based and checkpoint blockade immunotherapies for the successful eradication of established tumors.

This study aimed to determine the effect of the addition of tilapia oil and noni fruit extract to duck feed on egg quality at different storage times. A total of 80 duck eggs were used as research material using the factorial complete randomized design (CRD) method. In this study, there were two types of treatments: factor A was the diet, which included adding tilapia fish oil and noni fruit extract. The treatments were A1 (no added fish oil or noni fruit extract), A2 (0.5 percent fish oil and 0.75 percent noni fruit extract), A3 (0.75% fish oil and 0.75% noni fruit extract), and A4 (1% fish oil and 1% noni fruit extract). Factor B was the length of time the eggs were stored, with B1 (no storage), B2 (storage for 7 days), B3 (storage for 14 days), and B4 (stored for 21 days). The results showed that the Haugh unit value, the egg white index value, and the percentage of egg weight shrinkage in the storage treatment were significantly different at each length of storage time; the yolk index value and the yolk pH value were significantly different at day 14 and day 21 storage; and the egg white pH value at day 0 storage was significantly different from days 7, 14, and 21 storage. This study concludes there was no interaction between the two treatment factors and the egg quality at different storage times.

Tulisan ini berfokus pada representasi gangguan mental yang dialami protagonis Not in Wonderland. Novel Bellaanjni tersebut menggambarkan sindrom yang kerap dialami kalangan remaja, yakni Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS). Dalam psikologi kepribadian perkembangan mental seseorang sangat dipengaruhi oleh faktor internal dan eksteral. Struktur mental (id, ego, superego) merupakan hal yang mendominasi tingkah laku manusia. Berkenaan dengan hal tersebut masalah dalam kajian ini berupa deskripsi dan penjelasan mengenai kondisi kejiwaan tokoh utama yang mengidap AIWS dalam Not In Wonderland yang akan dihubungkan dengan salah satu teori psikoanalisis, yaitu perkembangan kepribadian manusia. Dengan memanfaatkan psikonalisis freudian diketahui terdapat ketidakseimbangan antara id yang memiliki keinginan dominan yang mengakibatkan tindakan impulsif pada tokoh utama, ego yang tidak dapat menyimbangkan, dan norma superego yang mengalami kekalahan. Ketegangan akibat sindrom yang diidap tokoh utama novel gubahan Bellaanjni tersebut terkadang berupa perasaan tubuhnya menjadi lebih besar (makrosomatognosia) dan mendadak lebih kecil (mikrosomatognosia) dari ukuran sebenarnya.