PIPDeploy: Development and implementation of a gamified table top simulation exercise to strengthen national pandemic vaccine preparedness and readiness.

Successful emergency vaccination campaigns rely on effective deployment and vaccination plans. This applies to localised outbreaks as well as for pandemics. In the wake of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, analysis of the global Vaccine Deployment Initiative, through which the World Health Organization (WHO) donated pandemic influenza vaccines to countries in need, revealed that an absence of vaccine deployment plans in many countries significantly hindered vaccine deployment. Through the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2011, WHO is engaging in several capacity building activities to improve pandemic influenza preparedness and response and make provisions for access to vaccines and sharing of other benefits. The Framework calls for the development and exercise of operational plans for deployment of influenza vaccines to enhance pandemic preparedness. To this end, WHO has supported the development of PIPDeploy, an interactive, in-person table top simulation exercise to facilitate learning for emergency preparedness. It employs various game design elements including a game board, time pressure, leaderboards and teams to enhance participants' motivation. PIPDeploy formed part of five WHO Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Deployment Workshops attended by national-level managers responsible for pandemic influenza vaccine response predominantly in non-producing countries. The purpose of this study was to describe the features and application of PIPDeploy, and present findings of the evaluation of participants' experiences during the simulation involving a "hot wash" discussion and collection of quantitative data. The simulation's instructional approach was widely accepted by participants, who reported that the format was novel and engaging. They reflected on its utility for identifying gaps in their own vaccine deployment plans and regulatory frameworks for importation of vaccine products. All participants found the simulation relevant to their professional objectives. A range of other potential applications were suggested, including PIPDeploy's adaptation to sub-national contexts and to other epidemic diseases.

α-Glucosidase Inhibitory and Cytotoxic Taxane Diterpenoids from the Stem Bark of Taxus wallichiana.

From a CH2Cl2 extract of the bark of Taxus wallichiana, six new taxoids, wallitaxanes A-F (1-6), were isolated, together with 29 known compounds. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation. Wallitaxane D (4) was identified as an opened oxetane-type taxoid having the first naturally occurring C(H)-20 acetal group, while wallitaxanes E (5) and F (6) are representative of the rare abeo-taxoid class. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and for cytotoxicity against the HeLa human cervical cancer cell line. In the present work, taxanes were found to exhibit α-glucosidase inhibitory activity for the first time, and wallitaxane A (1) showed the most potent effect, with an IC50 value of 3.6 µM. In turn, 7-epi-taxol (16) and 7-epi-10-deacetyltaxol (17) showed IC50 values of 0.05 and 0.085 nM, respectively, against HeLa cells.