Research Triangle Park

About: Research Triangle Park is a nonprofit organization based out in Durham, North Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Environmental exposure. The organization has 24961 authors who have published 35800 publications receiving 1684504 citations. The organization is also known as: RTP.

Quarantine alone or in combination with other public health measures to control COVID-19: a rapid review.

Abstract: Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a rapidly emerging disease classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). To support the WHO with their recommendations on quarantine, we conducted a rapid review on the effectiveness of quarantine during severe coronavirus outbreaks. Objectives To assess the effects of quarantine (alone or in combination with other measures) of individuals who had contact with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, who travelled from countries with a declared outbreak, or who live in regions with high disease transmission. Search methods An information specialist searched the Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register, and updated the search in PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, WHO Global Index Medicus, Embase, and CINAHL on 23 June 2020. Selection criteria Cohort studies, case-control studies, time series, interrupted time series, case series, and mathematical modelling studies that assessed the effect of any type of quarantine to control COVID-19. We also included studies on SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) as indirect evidence for the current coronavirus outbreak. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently screened abstracts and titles in duplicate. Two review authors then independently screened all potentially relevant full-text publications. One review author extracted data, assessed the risk of bias and assessed the certainty of evidence with GRADE and a second review author checked the assessment. We used three different tools to assess risk of bias, depending on the study design: ROBINS-I for non-randomised studies of interventions, a tool provided by Cochrane Childhood Cancer for non-randomised, non-controlled studies, and recommendations from the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) for modelling studies. We rated the certainty of evidence for the four primary outcomes: incidence, onward transmission, mortality, and costs. Main results We included 51 studies; 4 observational studies and 28 modelling studies on COVID-19, one observational and one modelling study on MERS, three observational and 11 modelling studies on SARS, and three modelling studies on SARS and other infectious diseases. Because of the diverse methods of measurement and analysis across the outcomes of interest, we could not conduct a meta-analysis and undertook a narrative synthesis. We judged risk of bias to be moderate for 2/3 non-randomized studies of interventions (NRSIs) and serious for 1/3 NRSI. We rated risk of bias moderate for 4/5 non-controlled cohort studies, and serious for 1/5. We rated modelling studies as having no concerns for 13 studies, moderate concerns for 17 studies and major concerns for 13 studies. Quarantine for individuals who were in contact with a confirmed/suspected COVID-19 case in comparison to no quarantine Modelling studies consistently reported a benefit of the simulated quarantine measures, for example, quarantine of people exposed to confirmed or suspected cases may have averted 44% to 96% of incident cases and 31% to 76% of deaths compared to no measures based on different scenarios (incident cases: 6 modelling studies on COVID-19, 1 on SARS; mortality: 2 modelling studies on COVID-19, 1 on SARS, low-certainty evidence). Studies also indicated that there may be a reduction in the basic reproduction number ranging from 37% to 88% due to the implementation of quarantine (5 modelling studies on COVID-19, low-certainty evidence). Very low-certainty evidence suggests that the earlier quarantine measures are implemented, the greater the cost savings may be (2 modelling studies on SARS). Quarantine in combination with other measures to contain COVID-19 in comparison to other measures without quarantine or no measures When the models combined quarantine with other prevention and control measures, such as school closures, travel restrictions and social distancing, the models demonstrated that there may be a larger effect on the reduction of new cases, transmissions and deaths than measures without quarantine or no interventions (incident cases: 9 modelling studies on COVID-19; onward transmission: 5 modelling studies on COVID-19; mortality: 5 modelling studies on COVID-19, low-certainty evidence). Studies on SARS and MERS were consistent with findings from the studies on COVID-19. Quarantine for individuals travelling from a country with a declared COVID-19 outbreak compared to no quarantine Very low-certainty evidence indicated that the effect of quarantine of travellers from a country with a declared outbreak on reducing incidence and deaths may be small for SARS, but might be larger for COVID-19 (2 observational studies on COVID-19 and 2 observational studies on SARS). Authors' conclusions The current evidence is limited because most studies on COVID-19 are mathematical modelling studies that make different assumptions on important model parameters. Findings consistently indicate that quarantine is important in reducing incidence and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic, although there is uncertainty over the magnitude of the effect. Early implementation of quarantine and combining quarantine with other public health measures is important to ensure effectiveness. In order to maintain the best possible balance of measures, decision makers must constantly monitor the outbreak and the impact of the measures implemented. This review was originally commissioned by the WHO and supported by Danube-University-Krems. The update was self-initiated by the review authors.

The Effects of the Novel, Reversible Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor/ErbB-2 Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor, GW2016, on the Growth of Human Normal and Tumor-derived Cell Lines in Vitro and in Vivo

Abstract: The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and ErbB-2 transmembrane tyrosine kinases are currently being targeted by various mechanisms in the treatment of cancer. GW2016 is a potent inhibitor of the ErbB-2 and EGFR tyrosine kinase domains with IC50 values against purified EGFR and ErbB-2 of 10.2 and 9.8 nM, respectively. This report describes the efficacy in cell growth assays of GW2016 on human tumor cell lines overexpressing either EGFR or ErbB-2: HN5 (head and neck), A-431 (vulva), BT474 (breast), CaLu-3 (lung), and N87 (gastric). Normal human foreskin fibroblasts, nontumorigenic epithelial cells (HB4a), and nonoverexpressing tumor cells (MCF-7 and T47D) were tested as negative controls. After 3 days of compound exposure, average IC50 values for growth inhibition in the EGFR- and ErbB-2-overexpressing tumor cell lines were < 0.16 microM. The average selectivity for the tumor cells versus the human foreskin fibroblast cell line was 100-fold. Inhibition of EGFR and ErbB-2 receptor autophosphorylation and phosphorylation of the downstream modulator, AKT, was verified by Western blot analysis in the BT474 and HN5 cell lines. As a measure of cytotoxicity versus growth arrest, the HN5 and BT474 cells were assessed in an outgrowth assay after a transient exposure to GW2016. The cells were treated for 3 days in five concentrations of GW2016, and cell growth was monitored for an additional 12 days after removal of the compound. In each of these tumor cell lines, concentrations of GW2016 were reached where outgrowth did not occur. Furthermore, growth arrest and cell death were observed in parallel experiments, as determined by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation and propidium iodide staining. GW2016 treatment inhibited tumor xenograft growth of the HN5 and BT474 cells in a dose-responsive manner at 30 and 100 mg/kg orally, twice daily, with complete inhibition of tumor growth at the higher dose. Together, these results indicate that GW2016 achieves excellent potency on tumor cells with selectivity for tumor versus normal cells and suggest that GW2016 has value as a therapy for patients with tumors overexpressing either EGFR or ErbB-2.

Health literacy: what is it?

Abstract: The concept of health literacy evolved from a history of defining, redefining, and quantifying the functional literacy needs of the adult population. Along with these changes has come the recognition that sophisticated literacy skills are increasingly needed to function in society and that low literacy may have an effect on health and health care. We present a brief history of literacy in the United States, followed by a discussion of the origins and conceptualization of health literacy. Increased attention to this important issue suggests the need to review existing definitions of the term "health literacy," because despite the growing interest in this field, one question that persists is, "What is health literacy?"