Oral immunization with attenuated Salmonella expressing human sperm antigen induces antibodies in serum and the reproductive tract

Induction of immune responses in the reproductive tract will be crucial for a functional gamete antigen-based antifertility vaccine. Here we describe the construction and development of an avirulent Salmonella as an oral vaccine delivery vector to elicit sperm-specific immune responses in reproductive tract secretions. A cDNA sequence encoding the human sperm antigen SP10 was cloned on an asd+vector and expressed to a high level in an avirulent delta cya, delta crp, and delta asd vaccine strain of Salmonella typhimurium. Oral immunization of female BALB/c mice with this recombinant Salmonella elicited high-titer anti-SP10 IgG antibodies in serum and IgA antibodies in vaginal secretions. Anti-SP10 antibody titers could be increased by secondary and tertiary oral administrations of the recombinant Salmonella. Induction of sperm-specific antibodies in the reproductive tract following oral administration of a recombinant Salmonella could lead to the development of a simple, safe, efficient, and easy-to-use antifertility vaccine.     

Exposure workups

Exposure workups are an important responsibility for infection control personnel. A well-designed plan for investigating exposures, which includes appropriate algorithms, will enable infection control personnel to evaluate exposures rapidly and consistently so that nosocomial transmission is minimized. Infection control personnel should use their own data to develop policies and procedures that suit the needs of their facility. After they have implemented the plan, infection control personnel should continue to collect data on exposures so they can continuously improve their performance.     

Endocrine and behavioural responses to noise stress: comparison of virgin and lactating female rats during non-disrupted maternal activity

The behavioural and endocrine responses to a 10 min white noise stress have been characterized in female virgin and undisturbed lactating Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were continuously video-taped and frequent blood samples were collected using an automated sampling system. Noise stress caused hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) activation, as indicated by a rapid increase in plasma corticosterone and ACTH in the virgins: corticosterone concentrations peaked 20 min after initiation of the stress before declining rapidly back to basal concentrations. In contrast, noise stress had no significant effect on either plasma corticosterone or ACTH concentrations in the lactating animals. However, 72 h after weaning the corticosterone response of the ex-lactating rats was of comparable magnitude, but longer duration to that seen in the virgins. Plasma prolactin concentrations were significantly higher in the lactating animals and declined in response to the noise whereas, a transient but reproducible increase was seen in the virgin group. In situ hybridization revealed a significantly lower basal expression of CRF mRNA in the paraventricular nucleus of lactating rats as compared to the virgins, but noise stress had no further effect. Virgin animals showed behavioural responses to the stress, including an increase in the total activity, exploratory behaviours (rearing) and displacement behaviours (grooming). Lactating animals also showed behavioural responses to the noise, but their activities were principally directed towards the pups. These data show that although lactating rats showed normal behavioural reactivity to a psychological stress they showed no statistically significant activation of the HPA axis, suggesting a dissociation of behavioural and neuroendocrine responses to this mild stress.     

A case for symmetrical bandwidth

The paper discusses one of the significant challenges facing broadband telecommunications service providers, (especially the cable television industry) that is, the issue of symmetrical versus asymmetrical bandwidth deployment for coaxial-based data services to the residential marketplace. Symmetrical networks offer the same bandwidth capacity in both directions, whereas asymmetrical networks offer greater bandwidth capacity in one direction. For anyone who extensively uses information networks (for example, the Internet) the solution is simple: more bandwidth to enable higher performance network access     

Medical technology assessment: economic evaluation of new technologies

Growing expenditures in health care made it necessary to find control mechanisms to evaluate expenditure. Medical technology assessment is becoming a valuable tool to assist policymakers in controlling new medical technologies. This review deals with the increasing importance of economic evaluation as part of medical technology assessment and describes various techniques by which an economic evaluation can be performed.     

Outcome assessment for carpal tunnel surgery: the relative responsiveness of generic, arthritis-specific, disease-specific, and physical examination measures

Clinical evaluation of outcome after treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome has not been standardized. To assess the value of various clinical and questionnaire measures for the assessment of outcome after carpal tunnel surgery, we surveyed 22 patients 1 day before and 3 months after carpal tunnel release with the following measures: the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form health survey, the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale, the Brigham and Women's Hospital carpal tunnel questionnaire, wrist range of motion, power pinch grip strength, pressure sensibility, and dexterity. Significant changes, all in the direction of improved health status postoperatively, were noted in the following scales or measures: the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale pain, satisfaction, health perception, arthritis impact, and symptom scales; the Brigham and Women's Hospital symptom and function scales; the short form health survey's physical role, emotional role, and bodily pain scales; and the measurement of dexterity. In this study, standardized questionnaires were more sensitive to the clinical change produced by carpal tunnel surgery than many commonly performed physical measures of outcome. The condition-specific questionnaire was more sensitive to change than were more generic questionnaires.     

Investigation of the construct validity of a self-report measure of goal commitment.

The purpose of this research was to develop an efficient, construct-valid measure of goal commitment. Drawing from a set of 9 unidimensional items, a 4-item unidimensional scale was developed that exhibited a .71 internal consistency estimate of reliability. This scale showed statistically significant relationships with 3 alternative measures of the same construct: force to attain the goal, self-set goal–assigned-goal discrepancy, and actual goal change. With respect to other constructs in the goal commitment nomological net, the results indicated that the scale was consistently related to performance. Moreover, the pattern of the results with expected antecedents such as goal publicness, monetary incentives, need for achievement, locus of control, and task involvement were statistically significant and in the predicted direction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)