Charles University in Prague

About: Charles University in Prague is a education organization based out in Prague, Czechia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 32392 authors who have published 74435 publications receiving 1804208 citations.

Immunogenicity and Tolerability of Recombinant Serogroup B Meningococcal Vaccine Administered With or Without Routine Infant Vaccinations According to Different Immunization Schedules: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract: Context In the absence of an effective vaccine, serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis (MenB) remains a major cause of invasive disease in early childhood in developed countries. Objective To determine the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of a multicomponent MenB vaccine (4CMenB) and routine infant vaccines when given either concomitantly or separately. Design, Setting, and Participants Phase 2b, multicenter, open-label, parallel-group, randomized controlled study of 1885 infants enrolled at age 2 months from August 2008 to July 2010 in Europe. Intervention Participants were randomized 2:2:1:1 to receive (1) 4CMenB at 2, 4, and 6 months with routine vaccines (7-valent pneumococcal and combined diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, inactivated polio, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines); (2) 4CMenB at 2, 4, and 6 months and routine vaccines at 3, 5, and 7 months; (3) 4CMenB with routine vaccines at 2, 3, and 4 months; or (4) routine vaccines alone at 2, 3, and 4 months. Main Outcome Measures Percentage of participants with human complement serum bactericidal activity (hSBA) titer of 1:5 or greater against 3 MenB strains specific for vaccine antigens (NZ98/254, 44/76-SL, and 5/99). Results After three 4CMenB vaccinations, 99% or more of infants developed hSBA titers of 1:5 or greater against strains 44/76-SL and 5/99. For NZ98/254, this proportion was 79% (95% CI, 75.2%-82.4%) for vaccination at 2, 4, and 6 months with routine vaccines, 86.1% (95% CI, 82.9%-89.0%) for vaccination at 2, 4, and 6 months without routine vaccines, and 81.7% (95% CI, 76.6%-86.2%) for vaccination at 2, 3, and 4 months with routine vaccines. Responses to routine vaccines given with 4CMenB were noninferior to routine vaccines alone for all antigens, except for the responses to pertactin and serotype 6B pneumococcal polysaccharide. Fever was seen following 26% (158/602) to 41% (247/607) of 4CMenB doses when administered alone, compared with 23% (69/304) to 36% (109/306) after routine vaccines given alone and 51% (306/605) to 61% (380/624) after 4CMenB and routine vaccines administered together. Conclusion A 4CMenB vaccine is immunogenic against reference strains when administered with routine vaccines at 2, 4, and 6 or at 2, 3, and 4 months of age, producing minimal interference with the response to routine infant vaccinations. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00721396

Dynamic changes in water ADC, energy metabolism, extracellular space volume, and tortuosity in neonatal rat brain during global ischemia

Abstract: To obtain a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying early changes in the brain water apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) observed in cerebral ischemia, dynamic changes in the ADC of water and in the energy status were measured at postnatal day 8 or 9 in neonatal rat brains after cardiac arrest using 1H MRS/MRI and 31P MRS, respectively. The time courses of the MR parameters were compared with changes in the extracellular space (ECS) volume fraction (alpha) and tortuosity (lambda), determined from concentration-time profiles of tetramethylammonium applied by iontophoresis. The data show a decrease of the ADC of tissue water after induction of global ischemia of which the time course strongly correlates with the time course of the decrease in the ECS volume fraction and the increase in ECS tortuosity. This indicates that cell swelling is an important cause for the ADC decrease of water.

Directed and elliptic flow of charged pions and protons in Pb + Pb collisions at 40A and 158A GeV

Abstract: Directed and elliptic flow measurements for charged pions and protons are reported as a function of transverse momentum, rapidity, and centrality for 40A and 158A GeV Pb+Pb collisions, as recorded by the NA49 detector. Both the standard method of correlating particles with an event plane and the cumulant method of studying multiparticle correlations are used. In the standard method the directed flow is corrected for conservation of momentum. In the cumulant method elliptic flow is reconstructed from genuine four-, six-, and eight-particle correlations, showing the first unequivocal evidence for collective motion in A+A collisions at SPS energies.

Leptin and adiponectin: from energy and metabolic dysbalance to inflammation and autoimmunity

Abstract: There is a growing evidence that both overnutrition and undernutrition negatively interfere with immune system The overnutrition has been found to increase susceptibility to the development of inflammatory or autoimmune diseases On the other hand, starvation or malnutrition has been more associated with increased susceptibility to infections In the regulation of immune and inflammatory processes, white adipose tissue plays a critical role as an endocrine organ which produces number of active peptides, called adipokines The adipokines, leptin and adiponectin represent a critical link among nutritional status, metabolism and immunity Leptin is primarily known as a satiety factor regulating body weight by suppression of appetite and stimulation of energy expenditure, and its serum levels and gene expression in adipocytes strongly correlate with proportion of body fat stores On the other hand, leptin is a pro-inflammatory adipokine inducing T helper 1 cells and may contribute to the development and progression of autoimmune responses Adiponectin plays an important role as an insulin-sensitizing adipokine which production is decreased in obesity and in conditions associated with insulin resistance Adiponectin also acts as an anti-inflammatory factor especially with regard to atherosclerosis, but in some chronic inflammatory/autoimmune diseases adiponectin may have pro-inflammatory effects and its production correlates with inflammatory markers and disease activity This review discusses the main biological activities of leptin and adiponectin as well as their contribution to inflammatory and autoimmune processes with particular focus on rheumatoid arthritis and its experimental models

Quantum biology revisited

Abstract: Photosynthesis is a highly optimized process from which valuable lessons can be learned about the operating principles in nature. Its primary steps involve energy transport operating near theoretical quantum limits in efficiency. Recently, extensive research was motivated by the hypothesis that nature used quantum coherences to direct energy transfer. This body of work, a cornerstone for the field of quantum biology, rests on the interpretation of small-amplitude oscillations in two-dimensional electronic spectra of photosynthetic complexes. This Review discusses recent work reexamining these claims and demonstrates that interexciton coherences are too short lived to have any functional significance in photosynthetic energy transfer. Instead, the observed long-lived coherences originate from impulsively excited vibrations, generally observed in femtosecond spectroscopy. These efforts, collectively, lead to a more detailed understanding of the quantum aspects of dissipation. Nature, rather than trying to avoid dissipation, exploits it via engineering of exciton-bath interaction to create efficient energy flow.