Saint Francis University

About: Saint Francis University is a education organization based out in Loretto, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Osteoblast. The organization has 1694 authors who have published 2038 publications receiving 87149 citations.

Humoral immune responses during a malaria vaccine trial in Tanzanian infants.

Abstract: The development of a malaria vaccine is a priority for improved and sustained malaria control. Optimal use of a vaccine in Africa will only be achieved if it can be delivered through the Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI). We have completed a trial of the peptide vaccine SPf66 in Tanzanian infants, given alongside the EPI vaccines. This paper describes the humoral responses to SPf66 and the EPI vaccines. A total of 1207 infants were recruited into a two-arm, double-blind, individually randomized placebo-controlled trial of SPf66. The objectives of the trial were to determine the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of SPf66 and to assess interactions with EPI vaccines when three doses of SPf66 were delivered alongside the EPI vaccines. Cross-sectional surveys were carried out to asses seroconversion rates to the EPI vaccines and the antibody response to SPf66 (NANP)50 and Plasmodium falciparum lysates. Seroconversion rates to EPI vaccines were high and no statistically significant differences in prevalence or titres were found between SPf66 and placebo recipients. IgG antibodies against SPf66 (NANP)50 and whole P. falciparum lysate were present in high titres in mothers of recruited children at the time of birth. Vaccination with SPf66 stimulated a good anti-SPf66 IgG response which declined to preimmunization levels by 2 years of age and which was not associated with protection against clinical malaria. The vaccine induced no IgG antibodies against (NANP)50 or P. falciparum lysates. SPf66 stimulated a humoral immune response when given to very young infants and did not interfere with seroconversion to EPI vaccines. The response to SPf66 was qualitatively different from that seen in older children, in whom SPf66 has been shown to be moderately efficacious. This difference raises concerns about the difficulties of immunizing very young infants who need to be targeted by antimalarial vaccination programs.

Chronic Dieting Among Extremely Obese Bariatric Surgery Candidates

Abstract: Background Extremely obese bariatric surgery candidates report numerous episodes of both successful and unsuccessful dieting attempts, but little is known about the clinical significance of frequent dieting attempts in this patient group.

Stereotactic radiosurgery-radiotherapy: Should Monte Carlo treatment planning be used for all sites?

Abstract: Purpose To evaluate a Monte Carlo (MC) treatment planning system for CyberKnife treatments of cranial and extracranial lesions and determine whether it is necessary for all treatment sites. Dose distributions are compared to those calculated with a ray-tracing algorithm. Maximum doses and dose-volume histograms for the target and selected critical structures are analyzed. Methods and Materials The CyberKnife is used for stereotactic radiosurgery-radiotherapy of intracranial lesions (91) as well as stereotactic body radiotherapy for lesions in the spine (24), lung (58), and pelvis (36). The Multiplan system is an inverse treatment planning system which uses an effective path length (EPL) algorithm (sometimes referred to as ray-trace) for dose calculations. In addition, an MC algorithm became clinically available in late 2007. Results The maximum doses calculated by the EPL to targets in the lung were uniformly larger than the doses calculated by MC by up to a factor of 1.32. In addition, large differences in target and critical organs' dose coverage were observed. In general, more beams traversing larger distances through low density lung are associated with larger differences. For other sites such as brain and pelvis targets the differences in maximum doses and tumor coverage were generally less than 5% between the 2 calculation methods. Conclusions The MC algorithm should be consistently used for treatment plans of lung lesions and lesions near large air cavities, but the faster EPL algorithm is adequate for treatment sites with less tissue heterogeneity.

Octogenarians: noncompliance with breast cancer treatment recommendations.

Abstract: Recent research suggests that women older than 70 years of age with early breast cancer who choose lumpectomy may forgo radiation if they take antihormonal medication. However, many elderly patient...