Host protective immunity and vaccine development studies in lymphatic filariasis

Lymphatic filariasis caused mainly by infection fromWuchereria bancrofti andBrugia malayi remains as the major cause of clinical morbidity in tropical and subtropical countries. Development of vaccine against filarial infection can act as additional measure to the existing therapeutic and vector control methods in the control of this disease. The main hurdles in the development of anti-filarial vaccine are the strict primate specificity ofWuchereria bancrofti, the paucity of parasite material, the diversity of clinical manifestations and their associated complex immune responses, lack of clear understanding on host-parasite interactions and the mechanisms involved in protective immunity. However in the past few years, the information generated in immuno-epidemiological studies, correlated with observations in experimental animals suggests that a filarial vaccine is feasible. Initially live irradiated infective larvae have been successfully used to induce high level of protective immunity in several animal models. Applying diverse strategies, variety of purified or recombinant filarial antigens have been explored for their ability to induce protection in different host-parasite systems. Some of these targeted filarial antigens induced high level of resistance in experimental animals against challenge infections. More focussed studies on thorough characterization of parasitological and immunological changes associated with resistance induced by such candidate protective antigens and on delivery mechanisms and safety aspects will be crucial in their selection for possible use in humans.     

Immunodiagnosis of tuberculosis: An update

Tuberculosis is still a major health problem in most developing countries and its incidence is rising in many developed countries. This resurgence has been attributed to the HIV epidemic and TB has been declared as a global health emergency by WHO in 1993. The diagnosis of tuberculosis mainly depends upon initial clinical suspicion and radiographic findings with subsequent bacteriological confirmation by sputum smear examination and culture. Lack of sensitivity in smear examination, non specificity of radiological findings, extended tum around time ofMycobacterium tuberculosis culture and difficulties in diagnosing paucibacillary, childhood and extrapulmonary tuberculosis has necessitated to explore the utility of immunodiagnosis of tuberculosis as a convenient and cost effective test to supplement clinical information for definite diagnosis. Many commercial tests are available in the market for diagnosis of TB. Most of these tests are based on the detection of IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies to specific mycobacterial antigen or mixture of antigens. Indigenous immunoassay systems have explored excretory-secretory ES-31 mycobacterial antigen for immunodiagnosis of TB. Many a time there is lack of consistent elevation in all the three Ig classes in active infection thus making it more important to determine the ideal antibody isotype assay for reliable diagnosis of tuberculosis and to save the costs of the patient for unnecessary investigations.     

Expertise seeking: A review

Expertise seeking is the activity of selecting people as sources for consultation about an information need. This review of 72 expertise-seeking papers shows that across a range of tasks and contexts people, in particular work-group colleagues and other strong ties, are among the most frequently used sources. Studies repeatedly show the influence of the social network – of friendships and personal dislikes – on the expertise-seeking network of organisations. In addition, people are no less prominent than documentary sources, in work contexts as well as daily-life contexts. The relative influence of source quality and source accessibility on source selection varies across studies. Overall, expertise seekers appear to aim for sufficient quality, composed of reliability and relevance, while also attending to accessibility, composed of access to the source and access to the source information. Earlier claims that seekers disregard quality to minimise effort receive little support. Source selection is also affected by task-related, seeker-related, and contextual factors. For example, task complexity has been found to increase the use of information sources whereas task importance has been found to amplify the influence of quality on source selection. Finally, the reviewed studies identify a number of barriers to expertise seeking.     

Micro-optofluidic Lenses: A review

This review presents a systematic perspective on the development of micro-optofluidic lenses. The progress on the development of micro-optofluidic lenses are illustrated by example from recent literature. The advantage of micro-optofluidic lenses over solid lens systems is their tunability without the use of large actuators such as servo motors. Depending on the relative orientation of light path and the substrate surface, micro-optofluidic lenses can be categorized as in-plane or out-of-plane lenses. However, this review will focus on the tunability of the lenses and categorizes them according to the concept of tunability. Micro-optofluidic lenses can be either tuned by the liquid in use or by the shape of the lens. Micro-optofluidic lenses with tunable shape are categorized according to the actuation schemes. Typical parameters of micro-optofluidic lenses reported recently are compared and discussed. Finally, perspectives are given for future works in this field.     

The biochemical womb of schizophrenia: A review

The conclusive identification of specific etiological factors or pathogenic processes in the illness of schizophrenia has remained elusive despite great technological progress. The convergence of state-of-art scientific studies in molecular genetics, molecular neuropathophysiology, in vivo brain imaging and psychopharmacology, however, indicates that we may be coming much closer to understanding the genesis of schizophrenia. In near future, the diagnosis and assessment of schizophrenia using biochemical markers may become a “dream come true” for the medical community as well as for the general population. An understanding of the biochemistry/ visa vis pathophysiology of schizophrenia is essential to the discovery of preventive measures and therapeutic intervention.     

Natural carriers in bioremediation: A review

Bioremediation of contaminated groundwater or soil is currently the cheapest and the least harmful method of removing xenobiotics from the environment. Immobilization of microorganisms capable of degrading specific contaminants significantly promotes bioremediation processes, reduces their costs, and also allows for the multiple use of biocatalysts. Among the developed methods of immobilization, adsorption on the surface is the most common method in bioremediation, due to the simplicity of the procedure and its non-toxicity. The choice of carrier is an essential element for successful bioremediation. It is also important to consider the type of process (in situ or ex situ), type of pollution, and properties of immobilized microorganisms. For these reasons, the article summarizes recent scientific reports about the use of natural carriers in bioremediation, including efficiency, the impact of the carrier on microorganisms and contamination, and the nature of the conducted research.     

Modulation of cellular immune response by cytokines in bancroftian filariasis

Human lymphatic filariasis is a chronic helminth infection caused byWuchereria bancrofti andBrugia malayi. Wide spectrum of clinical manifestations are seen in different clinical groups of filariasis patients which comprises asymptomatic patients with circulating microfilaria (MF), individuals with chronic lymphatic obstruction (CP), Endemic normals (EN) who are asymptomatic and amicrofilaraemic or the relatively rare tropical pulmonary eosinophilia (TPE). The cellular immune response to this infection varies in different clinical groups of filarial patients. ranging from normal lymphocyte proliferative response in EN individuals to lymphocyte hyporesponsiveness in MF to total parasite antigen [Brugia malayi antigen (BMA)]. But in response to recombinant filarial antigen (pRJ51) the lymphocyte proliferation is restored in MF patients. Interestingly the lymphocytes from MFs responded normally to parasite antigen when EN serum was added in the culture whereas sera from MFs failed to revert the lymphocyte hyporesponsiveness. In order to study the molecular mechanisms responsible for parasite antigen specific lymphocyte hyporesponsiveness, we analysed both the Th1 and Th2 type cytokine gene expression profile in different clinical groups of filarasis patients. MF individuals expressed elevated Th2 type cytokines like IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 and decreased levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ in response to parasite antigen. Chronic patients have elevated levels of both Th1 and Th2 type cytokines in response to parasite antigen. The EN individuals had a purely Th1 type pattern with absence of IL-4 and IL-5 expression. These studies clearly demonstrate the role of Th2 cytokine like IL-10 in antigen specific hyporesponsiveness seen in MF patients. Any methods to arrest the progression of this disease should concentrate on the means to revert the Th2 type into Th1 type response in the MF patients either by Th1 type cytokine therapy or by using recombinant filarial antigen which stimulates the Th1 response. Further the recombinant filarial antigen which induces Th1 type cytokine response could be used for immunoprophylactic studies.     

Cystatin C—A novel marker of glomerular filtration rate: A review

Glomerular filtration rate is routinely assessed by measuring the serum markers such as urea nitrogen and serum creatinine. Although these markers are widely used to assess renal function but they do not perform optimally in certain clinical settings. There is thus a practical need for an easily automated alternative to plasma creatine, which would be more specific, sensitive and reliable from the analytical and clinical view point. Compared with the above endogenous markers, and time consuming laborious tests, Cystatin C facilitates the recognition of abnormal renal function in children, as its reference range is constant beyond the 1^st year of life. This review mainly focuses on the diagnostic performance of Cystatin C against other renal markers in the pediatric population and in specific subpopulations of patients.     

人力资源管理实践与企业绩效关系研究评述

本文总结了近期人力资源管理实践与企业绩效之间的关系的研究概况 ,分别从理论和实证研究的角度总结了研究的成果以及存在的不足 ,并展望了进一步研究的方向和在中国开展此项研究的前景     

战略型创业研究评述

在动态复杂环境下,无论是成熟的大公司还是创业型的中小企业,都需要创业精神的培育与延续,也需要战略思维的指导与实施,于是就产生了战略型创业这一新的研究领域。论文对战略型创业的理论研究进行了梳理和归纳,强调了当今的企业应当同时注重战略管理和创业精神。     

人力资源管理效能研究述评

主要从人力资源管理效能的评价内容、指标、评价方法和评价标准等方面进行相关的文献述评.     

Academic engagement: A review of the literature 2011-2019

We provide a systematic review of the literature on academic engagement from 2011 onwards, which was the cut-off year of a previous review article published in Research Policy. Academic engagement refers to knowledge-related interactions of academic scientists with external organisations. It includes activities such as collaborative research with industry, contract research, consulting and informal ties. We consolidate what is known about the individual, organisational and institutional antecedents of academic engagement, and its consequences for research, commercialisation, and society at large. Our results suggest that individual characteristics associated with academic engagement include being scientifically productive, senior, male, locally trained, and commercially experienced. Academic engagement is also socially conditioned by peer effects and disciplinary characteristics. In terms of consequences, academic engagement is positively associated with academics’ subsequent scientific productivity. We propose new areas of investigation where evidence remains inconclusive, including individual life cycle effects, the role of organisational contexts and incentives, cross-national comparisons, and the impact of academic engagement on the quality of subsequent research as well as the educational, commercial and society-wide impact.