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We conducted a phase 2, observer-blinded, randomized, controlled trial involving Malian children 12 to 16 months of age. Participants were assigned in a 2:2:1 ratio to receive nonadjuvanted NmCV-5, alum-adjuvanted NmCV-5, or the quadrivalent vaccine MenACWY-D, administered intramuscularly in two doses 12 weeks apart. Participants were followed for safety for 169 days. Immunogenicity was assessed with an assay for serum bactericidal antibody (SBA) with rabbit complement on days 0, 28, 84, and 112.A total of 376 participants underwent randomization, with 150 assigned to each NmCV-5 group and 76 to the MenACWY-D group; 362 participants received both doses of vaccine. A total of 1% of the participants in the nonadjuvanted NmCV-5 group, 1% of those in the adjuvanted NmCV-5 group, and 4% of those in the MenACWY-D group reported local solicited adverse events; 6%, 5%, and 7% of the participants, respectively, reported systemic solicited adverse events. An SBA titer of at least 128 was seen in 91 to 100% (for all five serotypes) of the participants in the NmCV-5 groups and in 36 to 99% (excluding serogroup X) of those in the MenACWY-D group at day 84 (before the second dose); the same threshold was met in 99 to 100% (for all five serotypes) of the participants in the NmCV-5 groups and in 92 to 100% (excluding serogroup X) of those in the MenACWY-D group at day 112. Immune responses to the nonadjuvanted and adjuvanted NmCV-5 formulations were similar.No safety concerns were identified with two doses of NmCV-5. A single dose of NmCV-5 elicited immune responses that were similar to those observed with two doses of MenACWY-D. Adjuvanted NmCV-5 provided no discernible benefit over nonadjuvanted NmCV-5. (Funded by the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03295318.).

Purpose of Review The emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has affected lives of billions of individuals, globally. There is an urgent need to develop interventions including vaccines to control the ongoing pandemic. Recent Findings Development of tools for fast-tracked testing including small and large animal models for vaccine efficacy analysis, assays for immunogenicity assessment, critical reagents, international biological standards, and data sharing allowed accelerated development of vaccines. More than 300 vaccines are under development and 9 of them are approved for emergency use in various countries, with impressive efficacy ranging from 50 to 95%. Recently, several new SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged and are circulating globally, and preliminary findings imply that some of them may escape immune responses against previous variants and diminish efficacy of current vaccines. Most of these variants acquired new mutations in their surface protein (Spike) which is the antigen in most of the approved/under development vaccines. Summary In this review, we summarize novel and traditional approaches for COVID-19 vaccine development including inactivated, attenuated, nucleic acid, vector and protein based. Critical assessment of humoral and cell-mediated immune responses induced by vaccines has shown comparative immunogenicity profiles of various vaccines in clinical phases. Recent reports confirmed that some currently available vaccines provide partial to complete protection against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. If more mutated variants emerge, current vaccines might need to be updated accordingly either by developing vaccines matching the circulating strain or designing multivalent vaccines to extend the breadth.

A trivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (Nasovac-S®) was developed and licensed in India. A phase 4 study was conducted to assess safety. This non-randomized, open-label, single-arm study among individuals ≥ 2 years of age involved administration of 0.5 mL of Nasovac-S intranasally, with a 1-month follow-up after vaccination. Adverse events (AEs) were collected via structured diaries. Among 500 vaccinated subjects, 160 were between 2 and 17 years of age, 240 were 18–49 years old and 100 were 50 years and older. A total of 533 solicited reactions were reported. The majority of these reactions were mild, and almost all of them resolved without any sequelae. A total of 20% of subjects reported at least one local solicited reaction, and 23% reported at least one systemic solicited reaction. None of the 45 unsolicited AEs reported by 37 subjects (7.4%) were causally related to the study vaccine. The data from the study adds to the existing safety database of Nasovac-S. Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI/2015/08/006074).

Aim Osseointegration of titanium implants is predictable, but can be improved via surface functionalization. Materials and Methods One hundred and twenty implants were installed in parietal bone of 12 domestic pigs and left to heal for 1 or 3 months. Five groups were defined according surface treatments: immersion in water (H2O), 10% polyphosphoric acid (PPA10), 1% phosphorylated pullulan (PPL1), 10% phosphorylated pullulan (PPL10) or 10% phosphorylated pullulan + 1 μg bone morphogenetic protein-2 (PPL10 BMP). As primary outcome, implant osseointegration was evaluated by quantitative histology, namely peri-implant bone formation (B/T in %) and bone-to-implant contact (BIC in %) for each healing period. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Mann–Whitney U-test with α = 0.05 were performed. Results PPL10 and PPA10 groups showed significantly higher B/T and BIC results than the control (H2O) group at 1-month (p .05). After 3 months, no experimental group showed a significant difference compared to the control group (H2O) for both investigated parameters (B/T and BIC; p > .05). Conclusion Functionalizing titanium implants with inorganic or organic phosphate-containing polymers at 10 wt% concentration may stimulate peri-implant bone formation and implant osseointegration at early healing times.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of coating a titanium implant surface with a phosphorylated exopolysaccharide, pullulan, on the peri-implant bone formation and implant osseointegration. Materials and Methods: Implants were placed in the skull bone of 12 domestic pigs and healed for 1 or 3 months. Osseointegration of (un)coated implants was evaluated by quantitative histology (peri-implant bone fraction [BF] and bone-to-implant-contact [BIC]). The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test with α = .05 was used to statistically compare BF and BIC of the coated and uncoated implants. Results: Significantly more BF was observed surrounding pullulan-coated implants compared with uncoated implants (P < .05) and for both healing periods (P < .05). BIC was positively affected by the exopolysaccharide coating, with significantly more BIC after the 3-month healing period compared with the uncoated implant (P < .05). Furthermore, BIC remained stable over time for the coated implants, while it significantly decreased for the uncoated ones (P < .05). Conclusion: These findings reveal the capacity of functionalizing the titanium implant surface with phosphorylated pullulan to improve the mineralization of the implant-bone interface.

Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) are vaccine preventable viral infections, which cause significant mortality and morbidity globally. Increased incidence rates of these infectious diseases are observed in young adults. Information on seroprevalence data on MMR in India is limited. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of IgG antibodies against MMR among young adults. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 192 healthy college students from Maharshi Dayanand College, Mumbai. The project was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Haffkine Institute. Between December 2012 and September 2013, blood samples were collected from individuals of age 18-23 years after obtaining written informed consent from them. The quantitative determination of IgG antibodies in serum specimens against MMR was determined using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Data on history of vaccination were also collected from participants. Among 192 healthy college students (age 18-23 years), MMR seroprevalence was 91%, 97%, and 88%, respectively. The overall seropositivity of MMR was 79%. The highest level of seronegativity was seen with regards to rubella-specific antibodies in 12% of cases. About 96% of the participants did not know about their vaccination history while none of the participants knew about their history of MMR infections. Despite unknown vaccination status, a majority of college students in our study were found seropositive for all three infections, which indicate natural boosting. However, the proportion of seronegativity for measles and rubella was relatively higher. Especially since the study population belonged to reproductive age group, there is a concern of congenital rubella syndrome in the offspring. Although a larger multicentric study is required to confirm the findings, the results indicate that a dose of measles-rubella (MR) vaccine should be offered to these college students.

Summary Background Invasive meningococcal disease is an important public health problem, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. After introduction of MenAfriVac in 2010, Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A disease has been almost eliminated from the region. However, serogroups C, W, Y, and X continue to cause disease outbreaks. We assessed the NmCV-5 pentavalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine targeting A, C, Y, W, and X serogroups in a first-in-man, phase 1 study. Methods We did a single-centre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial at a research clinic in Baltimore (MD, USA). Participants were healthy adults aged 18–45 years with no history of meningococcal vaccination or previous meningococcal infection. We randomly assigned participants (1:1:1) by an SAS-generated random schedule to a single, 0·5 mL, intramuscular injection of aluminium-phosphate adjuvanted NmCV-5, non-adjuvanted NmCV-5, or control (the quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine Menactra). The randomisation sequence used a permuted block design with randomly chosen block sizes of three and six. The vaccines were prepared, labelled, and administered with procedures to ensure participants and study personnel remained masked to treatment. After vaccination, participants were observed in the clinic for 60 min for adverse reactions. Participants recorded daily temperature and injection site or systemic reactions at home and returned to the clinic for follow-up visits on days 7, 28, and 84 for safety assessments; blood samples were also collected on day 7 for safety laboratory assessment. A phone call contact was made 6 months after vaccination. Serum was collected before vaccination and 28 days after vaccination for immunological assessment with a rabbit complement-dependent serum bactericidal antibody (rSBA) assay. The primary objective was an intention-to-treat assessment of safety, measuring local and systemic reactogenicity over 7 days, unsolicited adverse events through 28 days, and serious adverse events over 6 months. The secondary objective for the assessment of immunogenicity, was a per-protocol analysis of rSBA before and 28 days after vaccination. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT02810340 . Findings Between Aug 17, 2016, and Feb 16, 2017, we assigned 20 participants to each vaccine. All vaccines were well-tolerated. Pain was the most common local reaction, occurring in 12 (60%), ten (50%), and seven (35%) participants in the adjuvanted NmCV-5, non-adjuvanted NmCV-5, and control groups, respectively. Headache was the most common systemic reaction, occurring in five (25%), three (15%), and three (15%), respectively. Most solicited reactogenicity adverse reactions were mild (60 [74%] of 81) and all were self-limiting. None of the differences in proportions of individuals with each solicited reaction was significant (p>0·300 for all comparisons) between the three vaccination groups. There were no serious adverse events and 19 unsolicited non-serious adverse events in 14 (23%) participants. Both adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted NmCV-5 elicited high rSBA titres against all five meningococcal serogroups. The pre-vaccination geometric mean titres (GMTs) ranged from 3·36 to 53·80 for the control, from 6·28 to 187·00 for the adjuvanted vaccine, and from 4·29 to 350·00 for the non-adjuvanted vaccine, and the post-vaccination GMT ranged from 3·14 to 3214 for the control, from 1351 to 8192 for the adjuvanted vaccine, and from 1607 to 11 191 for the non-adjuvanted vaccine. Predicted seroprotective responses (ie, an increase in rSBA titres of eight times or more) for the adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted NmCV-5 were similar to control responses for all five serogroups. Interpretation The adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted NmCV-5 vaccines were well tolerated and did not produce concerning adverse effects and resulted in immune responses that are predicted to confer protection against all five targeted serogroups of invasive meningococcal disease. Further clinical testing of NmCV-5 is ongoing, and additional clinical trials are necessary to confirm the safety and immunogenicity of NmCV-5 in target populations. Funding UK Department for International Development.

There are various systems for tracking the position of a vehicle but there is no such system made for tracking a human being. The main aim of our project is to track an intruder or criminal or a person which can be caught doing illegal job. GPS(Global Positioning System) is used to track the location and time information of the person.

Background Measles is a highly infectious respiratory disease which causes 122,000 deaths annually. Although measles vaccine is extremely safe and effective, vaccine coverage could be improved by a vaccine that is more easily administered and transported. We developed an inhalable dry powder measles vaccine (MVDP) and two delivery devices, and demonstrated safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of the vaccine in preclinical studies. Here we report the first clinical trial of MVDP delivered by inhalation. Methodology Sixty adult males aged 18 to 45 years, seropositive for measles antibody, were enrolled in this controlled Phase I clinical study. Subjects were randomly assigned in 1:1:1 ratio to receive either MVDP by Puffhaler® or by Solovent™ devices or the licensed subcutaneous measles vaccine. Adverse events (AEs) were recorded with diary cards until day 28 post-vaccination and subjects were followed for 180 days post-vaccination to assess potential serious long term adverse events. Measles antibody was measured 7 days before vaccination and at days 21 and 77 after vaccination by ELISA and a plaque reduction neutralization test. Results All subjects completed the study according to protocol. Most subjects had high levels of baseline measles antibody. No adverse events were reported. MVDP produced serologic responses similar to subcutaneous vaccination. Conclusions MVDP was well tolerated in all subjects. Most subjects had high baseline measles antibody titer which limited ability to measure the serologic responses, and may have limited the adverse events following vaccination. Additional studies in subjects without pre-existing measles antibody are needed to further elucidate the safety and immunogenicity of MVDP.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical performance of two dental implant types possessing a different macro-design in the in vivo pig model. Materials and methods Titanium Aadva(TM) implants (GC, Tokyo, Japan) were compared with OsseoSpeed(TM) implants (Astra, Molndal, Sweden), with the Aadva implant displaying significant larger inter-thread dimensions than the OsseoSpeed implant. Implants were installed in the parietal bone of 12 domestic pigs and left for healing for either 1 or 3 months. Implant osseointegration was evaluated by quantitative histology (bone volume relative to the tissue volume [BV/TV]; bone-to-implant contact [BIC]) for distinct implant regions (collar, body, total implant length) with specific implant thread features. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney nonparametric test with α = 0.05 was performed. Results An inferior amount of bone enveloping the Aadva implant compared with the OsseoSpeed implant was observed, in particular at the implant body part with its considerable inter-thread gaps (p Conclusion Although the Aadva implant displayed a clinically acceptable level of osseointegration, the findings demonstrate that implant macro-design features can impact the dynamics of implant osseointegration. Consideration of specific implant macro-design features should be made relative to the biological and mechanical microenvironment.

This paper presents effect of possible integrations of delta derivatives and log energy with MFCC for text-independent speaker identification. MFCC features extracted from speech signal are used to create speaker model using vector quantization. First, the effect of varying MFCC filters and centroids of vector quantization is compared. Next, MFCC scheme is combined with delta derivatives and log energy. The effect of these possible combinations is compared by varying MFCC filters and centroids of vector quantization. Among all experiments carried out on 120 speakers of TIMIT database, average identification rate of 99.58 % is achieved for 29 MFCC filters and 32 centroids of vector quantization.

Objectives Inorganic polyphosphates are said to stimulate the activity of osteoblast-like cells in vitro. The purpose of this study was to evaluate in vivo bone regeneration around implants treated with polyphosphoric acid (PPA) and phosphorylated pullulan (PPL). Material and Methods Two types of implants with different surface roughness (R1: Sa ≈ 0.23 μm; R2: Sa ≈ 1.35 μm) were treated with three solutions (distilled water, 10%wt PPA, or 10%wt PPL) prior to implantation in both tibia of twelve female white rabbits. Each animal received six implants randomly positioned according to their surface roughness and treatment: R1 + water; R1 + PPA; R1 + PPL; R2 + water; R2 + PPA; R2 + PPL. Animals were sacrificed after 1 or 4 weeks, and samples were prepared for histological and histomorphometrical analysis. Bone regeneration areas were evaluated for bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and bone fraction (BF) in areas 100 and 500 μm remote from the implant surface. Data were statistically analyzed by means of Friedman and Wilcoxon matched-pair tests (P 0.05). Surface roughness influenced neither BIC nor BF. Conclusions Implant surface treatment with phosphate-containing polymers may positively influence osseointegration.

Ogawa T, Possemiers T, Zhang X, Naert I, Chaudhari A, Sasaki K, Duyck J. Influence of whole-body vibration time on peri-implant bone healing: a histomorphometrical animal study. J Clin Periodontol 2011; 38: 180–185. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-051X.2010.01637.x. Abstract Purpose: To examine the influence of time of low-magnitude, high-frequency (LMHF) loading, whole-body vibration (WBV) on peri-implant bone healing. Materials and Methods: A custom-made Ti implant was inserted into the medio-proximal site of one tibia of 95 rats and was left to heal for 1 or 4 weeks. The daily WBV consisted of 15 consecutive frequency steps (12, 20, 30, …, 150 Hz) at an acceleration of 0.3 g. The rats were divided into five groups with different loading times: 0 (control/non-loading), 1.25, 2.5, 5 and twice 1.25 min. (with an interim recovery period) of loading. Bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and peri-implant bone fraction were measured. Results: BIC of every test group was significantly higher than that of the control group for both healing periods. In the 4-week healing group, BIC and BFs (in all region of interests) were significantly higher in the case of twice 1.25 min. of loading compared with 1.25 min. of loading. Conclusion: Time of loading significantly influenced the effect of the WBV on peri-implant bone healing. Twice 1.25 min. of loading appears to have the most favourable effect. LMHF loading with a particular time sequence can stimulate peri-implant bone healing and formation.

This paper presents text-independent speaker identification scheme based on the combination of dynamic features with Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC). First, MFCCs are used to extract the speaker specific features and then vector quantization is used to model the speaker. We compare the performance of speaker identification system using number of MFCC filters and centroids of vector quantization. In addition, we also compare the effect of possible combinations of MFCC with log energy, delta and double delta coefficients for number of filters and centroids of vector quantization on recognition rate. The experimental results have been evaluated on the developed database of 75 speakers.

Low-magnitude high-frequency loading, applied by means of whole body vibration (WBV), affects the bone. Deconstructing a WBV loading stimulus into its constituent elements and investigating the effects of frequency and acceleration individually on bone tissue kinetics around titanium implants were aimed for in this study. A titanium implant was inserted in the tibia of 120 rats. The rats were divided into 1 control group (no loading) and 5 test groups with low (L), medium (M) or high (H) frequency ranges and accelerations [12–30 Hz at 0.3×g (F L A H); 70–90 Hz at 0.075×g (F M A M); 70–90 Hz at 0.3×g (F M A H); 130–150 Hz at 0.043×g (F H A L); 130–150 Hz at 0.3×g (F H A H)]. WBV was applied for 1 or 4 weeks. Implant osseointegration was evaluated by quantitative histology (bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and peri-implant bone formation (BV/TV)). A 2-way ANOVA (duration of experimental period; loading mode) with α = 0.05 was performed. BIC significantly increased over time and under load (p < 0.0001). The highest BICs were found for loading regimes at high acceleration with medium or high frequency (F M A H and F H A H), and significantly differing from F L A H and F M A M (p < 0.02 and p < 0.005 respectively). BV/TV significantly decreased over time (p < 0.0001). Loading led to a site-specific BV/TV increase (p < 0.001). The highest BV/TV responses were found for F M A H and F H A H, significantly differing from F M A M (p < 0.005). The findings reveal the potential of high-frequency vibration loading to accelerate and enhance implant osseointegration, in particular when applied at high acceleration. Such mechanical signals hold great, though untapped, potential to be used as non-pharmacologic treatment for improving implant osseointegration in compromised bone. ispartof: Calcified Tissue International vol:95 issue:5 pages:467-475 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Aim To evaluate bone regeneration potential of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) adsorbed on amorphous microporous silica (AMS). Materials & methods Four implants [titanium as control (CTR); AMS-coated titanium (AMS), BMP-2 adsorbed on titanium (CTR+BMP) and AMS (AMS+BMP)] were implanted randomly in the tibiae of 20 New Zealand white rabbits. Bone specimens with implants were retrieved 2/4 weeks post implantation and analysed histologically and histomorphometrically. Bone fraction was measured in initial bone-free area (bone regeneration area, BRA) and in the area with initial bone-implant contact [bone adaptation area (BAA)] (BF(BRA) & BF(BAA) ). Bone-implant contact was measured in BRA (BIC(BRA) ). In vitro BMP-2 release profiles were determined to evaluate the impact of the carrier surface. Mixed models were used for statistical analysis. Results BMP-2 release profiles were different for CTR+BMP and AMS+BMP. BIC(BRA) and BF(BRA) were significantly increased after 4 weeks compared to 2 weeks for AMS, CTR+BMP and AMS+BMP. However, no differences between the implant types were observed within both healing periods. BF(BAA) for CTR+BMP was smaller than that for CTR and AMS+BMP after 4 weeks. Despite slower BMP-2 release, AMS+BMP did not stimulate bone regeneration. CTR+BMP caused bone resorption at the bone-implant interface. Conclusions BMP-2 functionalized implant surfaces failed to stimulate bone regeneration and osseointegration.

BackgroundTopography and presence of bio-mimetic coatings are known to improve osseointegration. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bone regeneration potential of porous and osteogenic coatings.MethodologySix-implants [Control (CTR); porous titanium coatings (T1, T2); thickened titanium (Ti) dioxide layer (TiO(2)); Amorphous Microporous Silica (AMS) and Bio-active Glass (BAG)] were implanted randomly in tibiae of 20-New Zealand white rabbits. The animals were sacrificed after 2 or 4 weeks. The samples were analyzed histologically and histomorphometrically. In the initial bone-free areas (bone regeneration areas (BRAs)), the bone area fraction (BAF) was evaluated in the whole cavity (500 µm, BAF-500), in the implant vicinity (100 µm, BAF-100) and further away (100-500 µm, BAF-400) from the implant. Bone-to-implant contact (BIC-BAA) was measured in the areas where the implants were installed in contact to the host bone (bone adaptation areas (BAAs)) to understand and compare the bone adaptation. Mixed models were used for statistical analysis.Principal findingsAfter 2 weeks, the differences in BAF-500 for different surfaces were not significant (p>0.05). After 4 weeks, a higher BAF-500 was observed for BAG than CTR. BAF-100 for AMS was higher than BAG and BAF-400 for BAG was higher than CTR and AMS. For T1 and AMS, the bone regeneration was faster in the 100-µm compared to the 400-µm zone. BIC-BAA for AMS and BAG was lower after 4 than 2 weeks. After 4 weeks, BIC-BAA for BAG was lower than AMS and CTR.ConclusionsBAG is highly osteogenic at a distance from the implant. The porous titanium coatings didn't stimulate bone regeneration but allowed bone growth into the pores. Although AMS didn't stimulate higher bone response, it has a potential of faster bone growth in the vicinity compared to further away from the surface. BIC-BAA data were inconclusive to understand the bone adaptation.