A Vero cell-derived whole-virus H5N1 influenza vaccine has been shown to induce neutralizing antibodies directed against the hemagglutinin (HA) protein of diverse H5N1 strains in animal studies and ...clinical trials.However, neuraminidase-inhibiting (NAi) antibodies can reduce viral spread and may be of particular importance in the event of an H5N1 pandemic, where immunity due to HA antibodies is likely absent in the general population. Here we demonstrate the effective induction of NAi antibody titers after H5N1 vaccination in humans. In contrast to the immune response directed toward HA, a single vaccine dose induced a strong NAi response that was not significantly boosted by a second dose, most probably due to priming by previous vaccination or infection with seasonal influenza viruses. After 2 immunizations, seroconversion rates based on antibody titers against HA and NA were similar, indicating the induction of equally strong immune responses against both proteins by this H5N1 vaccine.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the key project learning points and outcomes as a guideline for the future quality management of demand-led learning and development. ...Design/methodology/approach: The research methodology was based upon a corporate university blueprint architecture and browser toolkit developed by a member of the team to provide depth in practice evidence and a searchable database for comparative case to case practice evaluation. Findings: It was found that the corporate university organisation and business development concept is a subject area which is either well understood by company management and education institutions or there is considerable confusion about its role and purpose. In large part this arises from the very different interpretation in the concept's development and practice across the world, region by region. From a wide and diverse portfolio of companies and organisations who where invited to participate in the action research case studies, those who accepted have one very important characteristic in common: they are all intensively engaged in managing a major innovation, i.e. they already have the commitment to making new ideas work in practice. In addition it also demands serious reflection about the creative nature of the learning leadership role and also the style of its management. Practical implications: The results of the project show that a successful corporate university intervention needs to be founded upon a sustainable commitment by top management who should promote, if not present already, a spirit of curiosity leading to better ways of doing business today and in the future. It requires an in-depth understanding of the organisation's strategic learning needs and good knowledge of the models of corporate university development that are available and reliable. Originality/value: The database of case foundation information, key performance indicators (KPIs) and best practice outcomes will be one of the most comprehensive and world class quality reference sources published to date. The variables that make up the portfolios of emergent best practices--process and management--have originality and value both individually and collectively. The impact of these best practice ways of working will have far reaching consequences for leadership and the future shape of lifelong interdependent learning between employers and employees and policy in government departments and education institutions.
Studies evaluating the immunogenicity of two pediatric tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) vaccines have reported contradictory results. These vaccines are based on two different strains of the ...European TBEV subtype: FSME-Immun Junior is based on the Neudörfl (Nd) strain, whereas Encepur Children is based on the Karlsruhe (K23) strain. The antibody (Ab) response induced by these two vaccines might be influenced by antigenic differences in the envelope (E) protein, which is the major target of neutralizing antibodies. We used an established hybrid virus assay platform to compare the levels of induction of neutralizing antibodies against the two vaccine virus strains in children aged 1 to 11 years who received two immunizations with FSME-Immun Junior or Encepur Children. The influence of amino acid differences between the E proteins of the Nd and K23 vaccine strains was investigated by mutational analyses and three-dimensional computer modeling. FSME-Immun Junior induced 100% seropositivity and similar neutralizing antibody titers against hybrid viruses containing the TBEV E protein of the two vaccine strains. Encepur Children induced 100% seropositivity only against the hybrid virus containing the E protein of the homologous K23 vaccine strain. Antibody responses induced by Encepur Children to the hybrid virus containing the E protein of the heterologous Nd strain were substantially and significantly (P < 0.001) lower than those to the K23 vaccine strain hybrid virus. Structure-based mutational analyses of the TBEV E protein indicated that this is due to a mutation in the DI-DII hinge region of the K23 vaccine strain E protein which may have occurred during production of the vaccine seed virus and which is not present in any wild-type TBE viruses.
Our data suggest that there are major differences in the abilities of two European subtype pediatric TBEV vaccines to induce antibodies capable of neutralizing heterologous TBEV strains. This is a result of a mutation in the DI-DII hinge region of the E protein of the K23 vaccine virus strain used to manufacture Encepur Children which is not present in the Nd strain used to manufacture FSME-Immun Junior or in any other known naturally occurring TBEVs.
This study examined factors that predicted the existence and comprehensiveness of written concussion management policies in secondary schools. A purposeful sample of athletic trainers employed in ...secondary schools was requested to complete an online survey (1,124 of 3,943 28.5% response rate). Most athletic trainers (968 of 1,112 87.1%) reported having a written concussion management policy, which included background information (883 of 968 91.2%), immediate treatment (902 of 968 93.2%), and return to play criteria (933 of 968 96.4%). Strongest predictive variables of an existing concussion policy included athletic trainers who were: primarily paid via school/district (odds ratio OR = 2.1, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.4 to 3.3), hired full-time (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.1 to 2.7), and evaluation of more concussions annually (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.3 to 2.0). Employment characteristics may influence the existence of a concussion management policy; however, additional research is needed to understand athletic trainers' ability to navigate school systems and implement a school-based concussion policy. Athletic Training & Sports Health Care . 2016;8(3):112-120.
The third edition of this popular book has been extensively revised to reflect the changes that have affected student research in higher education in recent years. The ability to carry out research ...successfully has come to be seen as a 'key transferable skill' required of all higher education students - and The Management of a Student Research Project addresses directly the skill element of this. Furthermore the research process, at all levels, is far more systematized than in the past.
An examination of the assumption that Korean music descends from rhythm is overdue. It is almost as if the belief in rhythmic primacy is so deeply embedded in Korea, and in writings about Korean ...music composed both in the peninsula and beyond, that it cannot be questioned. This is convenient, in that it sets up a contrast between Korean and Western music, the former based on rhythm and the latter on harmony. But it relies on a history that must be contested, not least since its very evolutionary nature—that rhythm came first and melody later in human development—was long ago undermined in academic discourse. The ancient history that related to rhythm in Korea starts with the interpretation of a single third-century Chinese historical text, and then requires interpretations of legend, in ways that often seem anachronistic. Centred on SamulNori, a Korean percussion quartet with roots both in local bands and itinerant troupes that first took to the stage in 1978, and comparing contemporary perspectives from elsewhere, this paper explores different facets of the constructions surrounding rhythm.
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