The Acute Respiratory Infection Consortium: A Multi-Site, Multi-Disciplinary Clinical Research Network in the Department of Defense.

INTRODUCTION: Acute respiratory infections (ARI) result in substantial annual morbidity among military personnel and decrease operational readiness. Herein, we summarize the research efforts of the Infectious Disease Clinical Research Program (IDCRP) related to ARIs. METHODS: The ARI Research Area of the IDCRP was established in response to the 2009 emergence of pandemic influenza A/H1N1. That year, IDCRP investigators deployed the ARI Consortium Natural History Study (ARIC NHS), a multi-centered, longitudinal observational study to assess etiology, epidemiology, and clinical characteristics of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) in the U.S. military. The success of this initial effort spurred implementation of several new initiatives. These include the FluPlasma trial, designed to evaluate the efficacy of hyperimmune anti-influenza plasma for the treatment of severe influenza; the self-administered live-attenuated influenza vaccine (SNIF) trial, which assessed the immunogenicity and acceptance of a self-administered live-attenuated influenza vaccine in military personnel; the Study to Address Threats of ARI in Congregate Military Populations (ATARI), a prospective study of ILI transmission, etiology and epidemiology in recruits; and the Flu Breath Test (FBT) study, a preliminary study of exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOC) in influenza patients. In addition, the InFLUenza Patient-Reported Outcome (FLU-PRO) survey, a daily diary to measure influenza symptoms during clinical trials, was developed. Lastly, the Pragmatic Assessment of Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in the DoD (PAIVED) study, a two-year randomized trial designed to compare the effectiveness of the three types of licensed vaccines, launched in Fall 2018. RESULTS: The on-going ARIC NHS has enrolled over 2000 ILI and SARI cases since its inception, providing data on burden and clinical manifestations of ARI in military personnel and their families. The FluPlasma 2 trial concluded subject enrollment in 2018. Preliminary results from ATARI study show a high frequency of respiratory viruses circulating during the first two weeks of recruit training. Based on assessment of FLU-PRO responses, which were found to be reliable and reproducible, the survey may be a useful tool in clinical trials and epidemiological studies. The Flu Breath Study will complete enrollment in 2019. Findings from PAIVED are intended to provide evidence needed for assessing influenza vaccination policy in the military. CONCLUSIONS: The ARI burden in the armed services remains significant every year and the threat is dynamic given emergent and evolving threats, such as influenzas. With strong successes to date, future initiatives of the ARI Research Area will focus on interventional studies, ARI transmission dynamics in congregate military settings, and determinants of risk of pandemic influenza and other emergent respiratory viruses.

Karawajew's ant type specimens (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

The collection of W.A. Karawajew is one of the richest and most famous ant collections of the World. Much of this collection consists of dry mounted specimens, including types of about 550 taxa, housed in the Shmalhausen Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kiev). Nevertheless, we located a considerable part of Karawajew's collection, containing about 25,000 specimens in alcohol, that is preserved in the National Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kiev). The latter material was recently examined and we found types of 24 taxa. This type material was partly mounted, re-ordered and catalogued. In this paper we present a catalogue of these type specimens housed in the National Museum of Natural History.

[THE PROFESSORS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY AND THE SOCIETY OF THE FRIENDS OF THE SCIENCES OF WARSAW (1800-1832)]. / LES PROFESSEURS DU MUSEUM NATIONAL D'HISTOIRE NATURELLE ET LA SOCIETE DES AMIS DES SCIENCES DE VARSOVIE (1800-1832).

The National Museum of Natural History played a crucial role in the formation of Polish scientific elites in the 19th century. Many Polish students were attending in Paris natural history, botany, zoology, chemistry and mineralogy courses. The Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning was the largest scientific society and one of the most important scientific institutions in Poland. It had also an impact on the political and cultural life of the country, occupied and deprived of freedom at that time. Amongst its founders and members, could be found listeners to the lectures of Lamarck, Haüy, Vauquelin, Desfontaines, Jussieu. Moreover, seven professors of the National Museum of Natural History were elected foreign members of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning: Cuvier, Desfontaines, Haüy, Jussieu, Latreille, Mirbel, Vauquelin. The article analyses this choice and underlines the relationship between these scientists and Warsaw's scientists. The results of this research allow to confirm that the National Museum of Natural History was the most important foreign institution in the 19th century for Polish science, and more specifically natural sciences.

Criterios de Recidiva Bioquímica tras radioterapia (externa, braquiterapia). Historia natural de la enfermedad después de radioterapia / Biochemical recurrence criteria after radiotherapy (external beam, brachytherapy). Natural history of the disease after radiotherapy

El antígeno prostático específico (PSA) es la principal herramienta en el seguimiento de los pacientes con cáncer de próstata tras un tratamiento definitivo. Es ampliamente empleado como un marcador precoz de respuesta al tratamiento. La recidiva bioquímica predice el desarrollo de metástasis a distancia y la mortalidad cáncer-específica. En 1996, la Sociedad Americana de Oncología Radioterápica (ASTRO) creó una definición de fracaso bioquímico tras Radioterapia, que consistía en 3 elevaciones consecutivas tras el nadir. A medida que se ganó en experiencia y con la maduración de los datos con mayores periodos de seguimiento, surgieron deficiencias y controversias, por lo que se propusieron otras definiciones alternativas con resultados más consistentes. En vista de las críticas recibidas, un segundo consenso tuvo lugar en 2005, con "nadir + 2 ng/ml" aceptada como definición estándar. La historia natural y cinética de PSA así como diferentes definiciones de fracaso bioquímico tras tratamiento de radioterapia externa y/o braquiterapia son revisadas en el siguiente artículo(AU)

Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is the main tool in the follow-up of prostate cancer patients after definitive therapy. It's widely used as an early marker to value treatment success. Biochemical recurrence predicts metastatic disease progression and prostate cancer-specific mortality. In 1996, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) provided a definition of biochemical failure after radiotherapy, based on three consecutive increases in PSA after nadir. As more experience was gained using the proposed definition and follow up duration in the PSA era matured, deficiencies and controversial issues emerged, so more recently proposed candidate definitions have provided consistent outcome. In view of the criticisms, a second consensus conference was held on 2005, with "nadir + 2 ng/ml" accepted as standard definition. The natural history and evidence of PSA kinetic parameters and different definitions of biochemical failure after external beam radiation therapy and/or brachytherapy are reviewed in the following article(AU)

La evolución humana y su difusión en España en el marco de la JAE (1907-1939)) / The diffusion of the human evolution in Spain and the JAE (1907-1939)

Durante las primeras décadas del siglo XX se realizaron importantes hallazgos de restos fósilesde homínidos, que ampliaron el conocimiento sobre la Evolución Humana. Este período coincidiócon el de actividad de la Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (JAE),organismo que contribuyó a la difusión en España de los nuevos datos paleoantropológicos, mediantela dotación de becas de investigación, la creación de la Comisión de Investigaciones Paleontológicasy Prehistóricas (CIPP) y la financiación de las publicaciones de trabajos de PaleontologíaHumana

During the first decades of the 20th Century important findings of hominids fossil remains weremade, enlarging the knowledge on Human Evolution. This period runs parallel to the activity of theJunta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (JAE), an institution that helped tospread the new paleontological facts in Spain by providing funds for further studies and research,by the foundation of the Comisión de Investigaciones Paleontológicas y Prehistóricas (CIPP) andthe promotion of publications on Human Paleontology