Familial and socioeconomic influences on children''s well-being: An examination of preschool children in Kenya

As patterns of family formation change, it is important to know how children's lives are affected by their parents' marital and socioeconomic circumstances. Using data from the 1993 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, this study shows that children of never married and formerly married mothers have significantly higher probabilities of polio dropout and acute undernutrition than those of monogamously married mothers. The number of male household members of working age greatly enhances the chances of full immunization and the nutritional status of children whose mothers were previously married. For children of never married mothers, the benefits of residing with males of working age are largely a function of ethnicity. The results also show that, although children are not disadvantaged nutritionally when their fathers have more than one wife, polygyny is associated with a higher probability of polio dropout and lower probability of full immunization than monogamy. Higher socioeconomic status is associated with a greater probability of full immunization and a lower probability of malnutrition but socioeconomic factors do not explain the effects of mothers' marital status. The findings underscore the complex realities of family interaction and the importance of the broader social context in accounting for variations in child welfare across diverse marital situations.     

Protective immunity to malaria: studies with cloned lines of Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi in CBA/Ca mice. III. Protective and suppressive responses induced by immunization with purified antigens

The protective effect of affinity purified antigen has been investigated in an experimental model for malaria which shows a well marked recrudescence of parasitaemia, a feature of the disease in man. A monoclonal antibody (MoAb) recognizing an epitope common to two genetically distinct cloned lines of Plasmodium chabaudi (AS and CB), was used to purify a Mr250,000 polymorphic schizont antigen (PSA) from these parasites. The purified preparations were then examined for the presence of specific and cross-reactive epitopes by immunoprecipitation with a panel of MoAb raised against P. chabaudi AS. When tested previously on smears of parasitized blood by immunofluorescence, or against lysates of parasitized erythrocytes by immunoprecipitation, most of these MoAb had been found to be AS specific. When either AS or CB affinity purified Mr250,000 PSA was used as the target, these same MoAb immunoprecipitated both antigens, and in some cases, a number of associated polypeptides (AP) which copurify with the Mr250,000 PSA. Subsequently, mice were immunized with either the purified AS or CB antigens in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA). Prechallenge sera were compared by indirect immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation. Sera from mice immunized with AS antigen reacted strongly with AS and cross-reacted with CB parasite preparations. Pre-challenge serum from CB antigen immunized mice reacted well with CB, but only faintly with AS preparations. In mice immunized with the AS antigen and then challenged with either AS or CB parasites, the initial parasitaemias were delayed in appearance and the height of the peak parasitaemia reduced, an effect which was most pronounced after challenge with homologous parasites. Only homologous challenge of the mice immunized with CB antigen produced statistically significant modification of the initial parasitaemia. In the immunized mice challenged with homologous parasites, the delayed appearance and slightly reduced peak of the primary parasitaemia was associated with delayed resolution of the patent parasitaemia and significant enhancement of the recrudescence.     

Vaccination against the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis felis

Non-chemical control of haematophagous parasites is a desirable goal. We report here on the use of concealed antigens from the major digestive organ of the cat-flea as vaccine components. Rabbits were immunized with various antigens from cat flea midguts, and immunoglobulin from these rabbits was fed to cat fleas in an artifical feeding system. Antibody produced against soluble antigens from the midguts of fed fleas was able to kill fleas in this system. Dogs were then immunized with various antigen preparations, and challenged for a week with live fleas. Significantly fewer live fleas were recovered from dogs immunized with fed midgut supernatant, and recovered live female fleas produced significantly fewer eggs. This study indicates the possibility of vaccination as a means of control of flea, and possibly other blood sucking insect populations.     

空管药物疗法治疗牙髓病和根尖周病疗效观察

用ＳＭＴＤ复合药物对牙髓病和根尖周病实施空管药物疗法。７８例１０３颗获得完整随访资料患牙经两年观察，９２．２％治愈率。文章介绍了治疗方法，讨论了空管药物疗法的愈合机理、优点、失败原因及其预防措施。     

Flow Cytometric Analysis of Lymphocyte Subsets of Mice Maintained on an Ethanol-Containing Liquid Diet

Alcoholic patients often have impaired immune function, yet little is known about the precise mechanism(s) of this impairment. We have previously shown that ethanol consumption by mice alters copolymer-specific humoral and cellular immune responses. In this study, we asked whether alcohol consumption by mice would phenotypically alter lymphocyte populations. Female C57BL/6 mice were fed a nutritionally complete liquid diet containing 35% ethanol-derived calories for up to 8 days. As controls, mice either were fed a liquid control diet that isocalorically substitutes sucrose for ethanol or remained on a standard solid diet and water ad libitum. Although mice fed ethanol-containing liquid or pair-fed control liquid diets have decreased numbers of spleen cells compared with solid diet controls, only the ethanol-containing diet allowed normally nonresponder C57BL/6 spleen cells to make antibody responses to the poly(Glu⁵⁰Tyr⁵⁰) synthetic copolymer antigen. Flow cytometric analysis of splenic lymphocyte populations of mice on the ethanol-containing diet shows an increase in the relative proportion of T-lymphocytes as compared with mice on either solid or liquid control diets. No such change is seen for either B-cell or natural killer cell populations in these same mice. Both liquid control and liquid ethanol diets caused a slight decrease in the CD4:CD8 ratios of splenic T-lymphocytes. We see the relative percentage of T-cells bearing the αβ-cell receptor (TcR) increases in the spleens of liquid ethanol diet mice; a smaller increase TcRαβ usage is seen in the spleens of liquid control mice, compared with solid diet mice. Flow cytometric analysis shows that little, if any, difference exists in TcRγδ expression between the liquid ethanol and either the liquid control or solid diet groups. Preliminary analysis of TcRαβ subsets suggest that ethanol increases the percentage of T-cells expressing Vβ5 and Vβ8, and decreases the percentage of Vβ11 expressing cells. These findings suggest that, in addition to modifying the immune response, ethanol alters the phenotypic expression of lymphocyte subsets.     

免疫接种服务中一次性注射器处理方法及成本分析

利用山东省和陕西省现场调查资料,分析了2省不同层次医疗机构的一次性注射器的处理方式,并通过计算不同处理方式的成本,提出具有成本效果的一次性注射器的处理方式。结果表明:消毒/毁形、焚烧、掩埋和回收是主要的处理方法,在被调查的所有医疗机构中,没有一家医疗机构使用安全盒处理使用过的一次性注射器。由于没有使用规定的焚烧设备,实际调查结果表明,焚烧和掩埋的处理成本相对较低,是目前在村卫生室水平最适合的一次性注射器处理方法,而对于乡级和县级卫生机构而言,消毒/毁形和回收是目前较为适宜的处理一次性注射器的方法。     

Assessment of immunization as a technique to extend the chilled storage life of vacuum‐packaged lamb

The growth at — 1.5°C of Lactobacillus delbrueckii, a meat spoilage organism, was evaluated on vacuum‐packaged lamb legs obtained from animals immunized against that organism. Growth was significantly lower than that on similarly treated legs obtained from non‐immunized lambs. These findings suggest that immunization against spoilage organisms may contribute toward increasing the chilled storage life of fresh meat.     

Induction of antigen-specific isotype switching by in vitro immunization of human naive B lymphocytes

The use of in vitro immunization technology for the generation of human antigen-specific antibodies has essentially resulted in low affinity IgM antibodies, resembling an in vivo primary immune response. We now describe a detailed reproducible protocol for a two-step in vitro immunization, which yields isotype switched, antigen-specific human antibodies. The immunizing antigen was a 30aa synthetic peptide, containing both a B (15aa V3 peptide of the HIV-1) and a T helper cell epitope (15aa peptide from tetanus toxin). The immunization protocol includes: (i) a selection procedure of donors with a memory T cell response against tetatus toxoid; (ii) immunization of mature naive peripheral B lymphocytes in two distinct phases, involving a primary and a secondary step. None of the donors which were examined after primary 7immunization showed at any time an IgG anti-V3 specific antibody response, while all the donors showed an IgM response. After the secondary immunization step, anti-V3 antibodies of both IgM and IgG isotypes were detected. The switch frequency event was high among the tested donors (5/8).     

Open mesh versus non-mesh repair of groin hernia meta-analysis of randomized trials leased on individual patient data

Abstract Background. The EU Hernia Trialists Collaboration was established to provide reliable evaluation of newer methods of groin hernia repair. It involved 70 investigators in 20 countries. Materials and methods. Twenty eligible trials (5016 participants) of open mesh vs. non-mesh groin hernia repair were identified. Meta-analysis was performed using raw individual patient data where possible. Results. Fewer hernia recurrences were reported after mesh repair. There were no clear differences between mesh and non-mesh groups in complications. Overall, those in the mesh groups had a shorter hospital stay, quicker return to usual activities and less frequent persisting pain, but individual trial results varied. Conclusions. The review provides strong evidence that open mesh repair is associated with a reduction in the risk of recurrence of between 50% and 75%. There is also some evidence of quicker recovery and of lower rates of persisting pain following open mesh repair. Electronic Publication     

DNA mediated immunization with encoding the nucleoprotein gene of porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus

The immune response to a naked plasmid DNA encoding the nucleoprotein (N protein) of porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) was investigated in this study. A complementary DNA of the entire N gene was amplified by RT-PCR, and inserted into a mammalian expression vector (pcDNA3.1) to construct a recombinant plasmid (pcDNA/N). To evaluate the immunogenicity of the construct, BALB/c mice were intramuscularly immunized with different doses (50, 100 and 200 μg/mouse) of pcDNA/N twice at a 5-week interval. An optimal antibody response was achieved with 100 μg of pcDNA/N. The response lasted at least 11 weeks after primary immunization. By western blotting analysis, the antibodies specifically recognized a 47 kDa protein corresponding to the viral N protein, but they did not reveal neutralizing activity against infectious TGEV in vitro. Immunoglobulin G2a was predominant among these antibodies, which was indicative of Th1 type cell activation in pcDNA/N immunized mice. Moreover, spleen cells from these mice showed stronger immune responses than those from live vaccine or parental vector immunized mice. These results suggest that the construct can elicit both humoral and cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses against TGEV N protein in mice.