Access to diphtheria antitoxin for therapy and diagnostics.

The most effective treatment for diphtheria is swift administration of diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) with conjunct antibiotic therapy. DAT is an equine immunoglobulin preparation and listed among the World Health Organization Essential Medicines. Essential Medicines should be available in functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality, and at prices individuals and the community can afford. However, DAT is in scarce supply and frequently unavailable to patients because of discontinued production in several countries, low economic viability, and high regulatory requirements for the safe manufacture of blood-derived products. DAT is also a cornerstone of diphtheria diagnostics but several diagnostic reference laboratories across the European Union (EU) and elsewhere routinely face problems in sourcing DAT for toxigenicity testing. Overall, global access to DAT for both therapeutic and diagnostic applications seems inadequate. Therefore--besides efforts to improve the current supply of DAT--accelerated research and development of alternatives including monoclonal antibodies for therapy and molecular-based methods for diagnostics are required. Given the rarity of the disease, it would be useful to organise a small stockpile centrally for all EU countries and to maintain an inventory of DAT availability within and between countries.

Gelation and biocompatibility of injectable alginate-calcium phosphate gels for bone regeneration.

An emerging approach toward development of injectable, self-setting, and fully biodegradable bone substitutes involves the combination of injectable hydrogel matrices with a dispersed phase consisting of nanosized calcium phosphate particles. Here, novel injectable composites for bone regeneration have been developed based on the combination of ultrapure alginate as the matrix phase, crystalline CaP [monetite and poorly crystalline hydroxyapatite (HA)] powders as both a dispersed mineral phase and a source of calcium for cross-linking alginate, glucono-delta-lactone (GDL) as acidifier and glycerol as both plasticizer and temporary sequestrant. The composites were maximized with respect to CaP content to obtain the highest amount of osteoconductive filler. The viscoelastic and physicochemical properties of the precursor compounds and composites were analyzed using rheometry, elemental analysis (for calcium release and uptake), acidity [by measuring pH in simulated body fluid (SBF)], general biocompatibility (subcutaneous implantation in rabbits), and osteocompatibility (implantation in femoral condyle bone defect of rabbits). The gelation of the resulting composites could be controlled from seconds to tens of minutes by varying the solubility of the CaP phase (HA vs. monetite) or amount of GDL. All composites mineralized extensively in SBF for up to 11 days. In vivo, the composites also disintegrated upon implantation in subcutaneous or bone tissue, leaving behind less degradable but osteoconductive CaP particles. Although the composites need to be optimized with respect to the available amount of calcium for cross-linking of alginate, the beneficial bone response as observed in the in vivo studies render these gels promising for minimally invasive applications as bone-filling material.

Measuring disordered personality functioning: to love and to work reprised.

OBJECTIVE: Current limitations to diagnosing and measuring the personality disorders encouraged a set of studies seeking to provide an alternate approach to modeling and measuring disordered personality function. METHOD: A large set of self-reported descriptors of disordered personality function were factor analyzed in a sample of patients with clinician-diagnosed personality dysfunction, generating 11 lower-order and two higher-order constructs. Subjects and non-clinical controls also completed a measure of personality styles underpinning formalized personality disorder groupings. Properties of the refined self-report (SR) measure were assessed in an independent sample of patients with a clinically diagnosed personality disorder. RESULTS: Limitations in 'cooperativeness' and 'coping' formed the higher-order constructs defining disordered personality function, with these constructs relevant to all personality styles. Analyses of SR, corroborative witness (CW) and clinician-rated data in an independent sample supported measuring disordered personality function by our derived 20-item SR measure, and exposed limitations to clinician-based assessment. CONCLUSION: Study findings build to a multi-axial strategy for measuring personality disorder, involving separate dimensional assessment of both disordered personality function and of personality style.

Iris pigmentation and sociability in childhood: a re-examination.

Drawing from Rosenberg and Kagan's (1987) finding of an association between iris pigmentation and behavioral inhibition in early childhood, we sought, in the present investigation, to examine the developmental relation between eye color and social withdrawal in kindergarteners and children in grades 2 and 4. In kindergarten and grade 2, blue-eyed children were found to be overrepresented in groups of extremely withdrawn youngsters. No association was found between eye color and withdrawal in grade 4 or between eye color and extreme sociability at any grade. The results were interpreted as suggestive of the increasing role, with age, of social factors in the determination of extremely inhibited behavior.