scholarly journals Therapeutic Advances Against ZIKV: A Quick Response, a Long Way to Go

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan-Carlos Saiz
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Sexual Transmission ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Recombinant Viruses ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Attenuated Viruses ◽  
Natural Target ◽  
Direct Acting

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that spread throughout the American continent in 2015 causing considerable worldwide social and health alarm due to its association with ocular lesions and microcephaly in newborns, and Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) cases in adults. Nowadays, no licensed vaccines or antivirals are available against ZIKV, and thus, in this very short time, the scientific community has conducted enormous efforts to develop vaccines and antivirals. So that, different platforms (purified inactivated and live attenuated viruses, DNA and RNA nucleic acid based candidates, virus-like particles, subunit elements, and recombinant viruses) have been evaluated as vaccine candidates. Overall, these vaccines have shown the induction of vigorous humoral and cellular responses, the decrease of viremia and viral RNA levels in natural target organs, the prevention of vertical and sexual transmission, as well as that of ZIKV-associated malformations, and the protection of experimental animal models. Some of these vaccine candidates have already been assayed in clinical trials. Likewise, the search for antivirals have also been the focus of recent investigations, with dozens of compounds tested in cell culture and a few in animal models. Both direct acting antivirals (DAAs), directed to viral structural proteins and enzymes, and host acting antivirals (HAAs), directed to cellular factors affecting all steps of the viral life cycle (binding, entry, fusion, transcription, translation, replication, maturation, and egress), have been evaluated. It is expected that this huge collaborative effort will produce affordable and effective therapeutic and prophylactic tools to combat ZIKV and other related still unknown or nowadays neglected flaviviruses. Here, a comprehensive overview of the advances made in the development of therapeutic measures against ZIKV and the questions that still have to be faced are summarized.

scholarly journals Animal Models of Zika Virus Infection, Pathogenesis, and Immunity

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Morrison ◽  
Michael S. Diamond
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Virus Infection ◽  
Zika Virus ◽  
Congenital Malformations ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Sexual Transmission ◽  
Rapid Testing ◽  
Zikv Infection ◽  
Male Reproductive Tract

ABSTRACT Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that now causes epidemics affecting millions of people on multiple continents. The virus has received global attention because of some of its unusual epidemiological and clinical features, including persistent infection in the male reproductive tract and sexual transmission, an ability to cross the placenta during pregnancy and infect the developing fetus to cause congenital malformations, and its association with Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults. This past year has witnessed an intensive effort by the global scientific community to understand the biology of ZIKV and to develop pathogenesis models for the rapid testing of possible countermeasures. Here, we review the recent advances in and utility and limitations of newly developed mouse and nonhuman primate models of ZIKV infection and pathogenesis.

scholarly journals Environmental Factors Causing the Development of Microorganisms on the Surfaces of National Cultural Monuments Made of Mineral Building Materials—Review

Coatings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1203
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Stanaszek-Tomal
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Hydrogen Ion Concentration ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Stone Concrete ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cultural Monuments

The ability of microorganisms to degrade building materials depends on several factors. Biological corrosion occurs in close dependence with chemical and physical factors affecting microorganisms. The growth and development of microorganisms is stimulated by external stimuli, i.e., environmental factors. Microorganisms have a relatively large tolerance range for changes in environmental conditions. Under the right conditions, microorganisms thrive very well. The adverse effects may cause the inhibition of cell growth, damage, or lead to the death of the microorganism. Considering the impact of environmental factors on microorganisms, it is not possible to identify the most important of them. The result effect of overlapping factors determines the possibility of the growth of certain microorganisms. The main factors affecting the growth are temperature, humidity, hydrogen ion concentration in the environment, oxidoreductive potential, water activity in the environment, and hydrostatic pressure. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the factors causing biodeterioration. The influence of external/internal environment on the surface of cultural monuments made of mineral building materials, i.e., stone, concrete, mortar, etc., is presented.

scholarly journals Optimization of HIV-1 Envelope DNA Vaccine Candidates within Three Different Animal Models, Guinea Pigs, Rabbits and Cynomolgus Macaques

Vaccines ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Borggren ◽  
Lasse Vinner ◽  
Betina Andresen ◽  
Berit Grevstad ◽  
Johanna Repits ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Dna Vaccine ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Cynomolgus Macaques ◽  
Hiv 1

scholarly journals Mapping Ethics Education in Accounting Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Poje ◽  
Maja Zaman Groff
Keyword(s):  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Ethics Education ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Accounting Education ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Corporate Scandals ◽  
Accounting Scandals

AbstractThe attention being paid to ethics education in accounting has been increasing, especially after the corporate accounting scandals at the turn of the century. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the existing research in the field of ethics education in accounting. To synthesize past research, a bibliometric analysis that references 134 primary studies is performed and three bibliometric methods are applied. First, we visualize the historical evolution of ethics education in accounting research through historiography. Second, we use bibliographic coupling to identify clusters of ethics education in accounting research before, during, and after major corporate scandals. Third, we perform a co-word analysis to connect the identified patterns into a map of a contextual space. The results reveal, in each decade, not only an increasing academic focus on this field of research, but also an increasing number of different research clusters. While the clusters Factors affecting moral judgement, Perception of ethics, and Lack of ethics topics in the last research period develop further from the respective clusters in the previous periods, Accounting beyond technical skills, Integration of ethics in accounting education, Use of developed ethics frameworks, and Professional values on the contrary develop anew in the last decade, as a consequence of a growing demand for teaching ethics. Overall, the paper presents the development patterns of ethics education in accounting research and sets up a research agenda that encourages future research.

scholarly journals New Approaches for Immunization and Therapy against Human Metapneumovirus

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 858-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherry C. Wen ◽  
John V. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Respiratory Illness ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Human Metapneumovirus ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Hmpv Infection ◽  
Current Therapies ◽  
Upper Respiratory

ABSTRACTHuman metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a paramyxovirus discovered in 2001 in the Netherlands. Studies have identified HMPV as an important causative agent of acute respiratory disease in infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Clinical signs of infection range from mild upper respiratory illness to more serious lower respiratory illness, including bronchiolitis and pneumonia. There are currently no licensed therapeutics or vaccines against HMPV. However, several research groups have tested vaccine candidates and monoclonal antibodies in various animal models. Several of these approaches have shown promise in animal models. This minireview summarizes the current therapies used to treat HMPV infection as well as different approaches for immunization.

scholarly journals THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGE GROUPS AND KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF COVID-19 VACCINE

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (08) ◽  
pp. 482-48/6
Author(s):  
Laphatrada Sakunee ◽  
◽  
Nakamon Khorprasert ◽  
Nitit Noumtong ◽  
Tanyaporn Tangguay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Consumption Rate ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
The Third ◽  
Preventative Measures ◽  
The Relationship

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still an ongoing issue in the New Normal world. As COVID-19 is a human-to-human transmission disease, the viruses spread widely, and many people got infected. There are several preventative measures used to protect an individual from this situation, including vaccination. Thus, more vaccine candidates have been provided to generate a specific immune response against the disease-causing agent, and are prepared. Additionally, not all vaccine candidates are suitable for each individual. The main purposes of this study were to evaluate and determine the knowledge and understanding of the COVID-19 vaccines and the relationship between age groups and Thai citizens. To test whether the two aforementioned variables correlate, we conducted a cross-sectional survey through an online platform, Google form. Four hundred and Ten participants completed the survey. To determine the correlation, we used Statistical Product and Service Solution version 22.0 (SPSS) for data analysis. Pearsons correlation test revealed that there is no significant correlation between age groups and knowledge and understanding of COVID-19 vaccines. Although we did not find any correlation, we think that there may be other factors affecting peoples knowledge about the COVID-19 vaccines such as the sudden awareness due to the new pandemic outbreak and the straightforwardness of our online questionnaire. Since most people are now facing the third ripple of COVID-19 crisis, there might be a higher consumption rate of COVID-19 vaccine news and the majority of seniors (aged above 60) tend to reject answering the online questionnaire which significantly reduced our sample size.

scholarly journals Comparison of SHANK3 deficiency in animal models: phenotypes, treatment strategies, and translational implications

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Philipp Delling ◽  
Tobias M. Boeckers
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Regulation Of Gene Expression ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
Fetal Brain ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Therapeutic Strategies ◽  
Clinical Severity ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Increased Risk

Abstract Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition, which is characterized by clinical heterogeneity and high heritability. Core symptoms of ASD include deficits in social communication and interaction, as well as restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. Many genes have been identified that are associated with an increased risk for ASD. Proteins encoded by these ASD risk genes are often involved in processes related to fetal brain development, chromatin modification and regulation of gene expression in general, as well as the structural and functional integrity of synapses. Genes of the SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domains (SHANK) family encode crucial scaffolding proteins (SHANK1-3) of excitatory synapses and other macromolecular complexes. SHANK gene mutations are highly associated with ASD and more specifically the Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMDS), which is caused by heterozygous 22q13.3-deletion resulting in SHANK3-haploinsufficiency, or by SHANK3 missense variants. SHANK3 deficiency and potential treatment options have been extensively studied in animal models, especially in mice, but also in rats and non-human primates. However, few of the proposed therapeutic strategies have translated into clinical practice yet. Main text This review summarizes the literature concerning SHANK3-deficient animal models. In particular, the structural, behavioral, and neurological abnormalities are described and compared, providing a broad and comprehensive overview. Additionally, the underlying pathophysiologies and possible treatments that have been investigated in these models are discussed and evaluated with respect to their effect on ASD- or PMDS-associated phenotypes. Conclusions Animal models of SHANK3 deficiency generated by various genetic strategies, which determine the composition of the residual SHANK3-isoforms and affected cell types, show phenotypes resembling ASD and PMDS. The phenotypic heterogeneity across multiple models and studies resembles the variation of clinical severity in human ASD and PMDS patients. Multiple therapeutic strategies have been proposed and tested in animal models, which might lead to translational implications for human patients with ASD and/or PMDS. Future studies should explore the effects of new therapeutic approaches that target genetic haploinsufficiency, like CRISPR-mediated activation of promotors.

scholarly journals Developmental Landscape of Potential Vaccine Candidates Based on Viral Vector for Prophylaxis of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajashri Bezbaruah ◽  
Pobitra Borah ◽  
Bibhuti Bhushan Kakoti ◽  
Nizar A. Al-Shar’I ◽  
Balakumar Chandrasekaran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Ebola Virus ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Viral Vector ◽  
World Health ◽  
Prolonged Incubation ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Vector Vaccine ◽  
Dna And Rna ◽  
Viral Vector Vaccine

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, arose at the end of 2019 as a zoonotic virus, which is the causative agent of the novel coronavirus outbreak COVID-19. Without any clear indications of abatement, the disease has become a major healthcare threat across the globe, owing to prolonged incubation period, high prevalence, and absence of existing drugs or vaccines. Development of COVID-19 vaccine is being considered as the most efficient strategy to curtail the ongoing pandemic. Following publication of genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2, globally extensive research and development work has been in progress to develop a vaccine against the disease. The use of genetic engineering, recombinant technologies, and other computational tools has led to the expansion of several promising vaccine candidates. The range of technology platforms being evaluated, including virus-like particles, peptides, nucleic acid (DNA and RNA), recombinant proteins, inactivated virus, live attenuated viruses, and viral vectors (replicating and non-replicating) approaches, are striking features of the vaccine development strategies. Viral vectors, the next-generation vaccine platforms, provide a convenient method for delivering vaccine antigens into the host cell to induce antigenic proteins which can be tailored to arouse an assortment of immune responses, as evident from the success of smallpox vaccine and Ervebo vaccine against Ebola virus. As per the World Health Organization, till January 22, 2021, 14 viral vector vaccine candidates are under clinical development including 10 nonreplicating and four replicating types. Moreover, another 39 candidates based on viral vector platform are under preclinical evaluation. This review will outline the current developmental landscape and discuss issues that remain critical to the success or failure of viral vector vaccine candidates against COVID-19.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Basics and Vaccine Development with a Canadian Perspective

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Liu ◽  
Xiongbiao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ◽  
Clinical Evaluation ◽  
Vaccine Development ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Vaccine Candidates ◽  
Preclinical Evaluation ◽  
Canadian Perspective ◽  
Basic Biology

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a rapidly evolving situation. New discoveries about COVID-19 and its causative virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continue to deepen the understanding of this novel disease. As there is currently no COVID-19 specific treatment, isolation is the most effective method to prevent transmission. Moreover, development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine will be instrumental in reinstating pre-COVID-19 conditions. As of July 31, 2020, there are at least 139 vaccine candidates from around the globe are in preclinical evaluation, with another 26 undergoing clinical evaluation. This paper aims to review the basics of COVID-19, including epidemiology, basic biology of SARS-CoV-2, and transmission. We also review COVID-19 vaccine development, including animal models, platforms under development, and vaccine development in Canada.

scholarly journals Recent developments in biomass pelletization – A review

BioResources ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 4451-4490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Stelte ◽  
Anand R. Sanadi ◽  
Lei Shang ◽  
Jens K. Holm ◽  
Jesper Ahrenfeldt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Paper Industry ◽  
Processing Parameters ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Material Base ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Strong Growth ◽  
Pellet Formation ◽  
Pre Treatment

The depletion of fossil fuels and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has resulted in a strong growth of biomass utilization for heat and power production. Attempts to overcome the poor handling properties of biomass, i.e. its low bulk density and inhomogeneous structure, have resulted in an increasing interest in biomass densification technologies, such as pelletization and briquetting. The global pellet market has developed quickly, and strong growth is expected for the coming years. Due to an increase in demand for biomass, the traditionally used wood residues from sawmills and pulp and paper industry are not sufficient to meet future needs. An extended raw material base consisting of a broad variety of fibrous residues from agriculture and food industries, as well as thermal pre-treatment processes, provides new challenges for the pellet industry. Pellet production has been an established process for several decades, but only in the past five years has there been significant progress made to understand the key factors affecting pelletizing processes. A good understanding about the pelletizing process, especially the processing parameters and their effect on pellet formation and bonding are important for process and product optimization. The present review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest insights into the biomass pelletization processes, such as the forces involved in the pelletizing processes, modeling, bonding, and adhesive mechanisms. Furthermore, thermal pretreatment of the biomass, i.e. torrefaction and other thermal treatment to enhance the fuel properties of biomass pellets are discussed.

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