Administration routes affect the quality of immune responses:a cross-sectional evaluation of particulate antigen-delivery systems

Particulate delivery systems such as liposomes and polymeric nano- and microparticles are attracting great interest for developing new vaccines. Materials and formulation properties essential for this purpose have been extensively studied, but relatively little is known about the influence of the administration route of such delivery systems on the type and strength of immune response elicited. Thus, the present study aimed at elucidating the influence on the immune response when of immunising mice by different routes, such as the subcutaneous, intradermal, intramuscular, and intralymphatic routes with ovalbumin-loaded liposomes, N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) nanoparticles, and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microparticles, all with and without specifically selected immune-response modifiers. The results showed that the route of administration caused only minor differences in inducing an antibody response of the IgG1 subclass, and any such differences were abolished upon booster immunisation with the various adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted delivery systems. In contrast, the administration route strongly affected both the kinetics and magnitude of the IgG2a response. A single intralymphatic administration of all evaluated delivery systems induced a robust IgG2a response, whereas subcutaneous administration failed to elicit a substantial IgG2a response even after boosting, except with the adjuvanted nanoparticles. The intradermal and intramuscular routes generated intermediate IgG2a titers. The benefit of the intralymphatic administration route for eliciting a Th1-type response was confirmed in terms of IFN-gamma production of isolated and re-stimulated splenocytes from animals previously immunised with adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted liposomes as well as with adjuvanted microparticles. Altogether the results show that the IgG2a associated with Th1-type immune responses are sensitive to the route of administration, whereas IgG1 response associated with Th2-type immune responses were relatively insensitive to the administration route of the particulate delivery systems. The route of administration should therefore be considered when planning and interpreting pre-clinical research or development on vaccine delivery systems.

An enigma still: Poujadism fifty years on

Few names resonate more loudly from the French Fourth Republic than that of Pierre Poujade, and few terms exude such a sulfurous odour as le poujadisme. Between 1953 and 1958, the Poujadists secured their place in modern French history, winning 52 seats in the National Assembly and inscribing a lasting entry in the lexicon of political protest. Taking as its starting point the fiftieth anniversary of Poujade’s movement held in its birthplace of Saint-Céré in July 2003, this article reassesses Poujadism fifty years on from its heyday. It considers Poujadism as the first important anti-globalisation movement in post-war France, a locus for the conflict between ‘stalemate’ traditionalism and socio-economic modernisation. It examines the trajectory of the Poujadists from anti-tax movement to political party, arguing the difficulty of defining Poujadism in classic political terms. In particular, the article takes issue with the perception of Poujadism as an extreme-right ideology and interprets it instead as a form of populist protest lacking a solid doctrinal core and opportunistic in its exploitation of political issues and allies. As such, it is argued, Poujadism represents a complex synthesis of both right-wing and left-wing values and discourses, as impervious to definition today as it was fifty years ago. The article considers the brief alliance of convenience between Poujade and Le Pen, and locates in Le Pen’s early Poujadist experience some of the methods and even some of the arguments used by the FN today. It concludes by discussing Poujade’s political activities after 1958, tracing his long-term conversion from violent opposition to the State under the Fourth Republic to co-operation under the Fifth. The author draws here on correspondence with Pierre Poujade up until his death in August 2003.

The antimicrobial efficacy of copper alloy furnishing in the clinical environment:a crossover study

Objective. To determine whether copper incorporated into hospital ward furnishings and equipment can reduce their surface microbial load. Design. A crossover study. Setting. Acute care medical ward with 19 beds at a large university hospital. Methods. Fourteen types of frequent-touch items made of copper alloy were installed in various locations on an acute care medical ward. These included door handles and push plates, toilet seats and flush handles, grab rails, light switches and pull cord toggles, sockets, overbed tables, dressing trolleys, commodes, taps, and sink fittings. Their surfaces and those of equivalent standard items on the same ward were sampled once weekly for 24 weeks. The copper and standard items were switched over after 12 weeks of sampling to reduce bias in usage patterns. The total aerobic microbial counts and the presence of indicator microorganisms were determined. Results. Eight of the 14 copper item types had microbial counts on their surfaces that were significantly lower than counts on standard materials. The other 6 copper item types had reduced microbial numbers on their surfaces, compared with microbial counts on standard items, but the reduction did not reach statistical significance. Indicator microorganisms were recovered from both types of surfaces; however, significantly fewer copper surfaces were contaminated with vancomycin-resistant enterococci, methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, and coliforms, compared with standard surfaces. Conclusions. Copper alloys (greater than or equal to 58% copper), when incorporated into various hospital furnishings and fittings, reduce the surface microorganisms. The use of copper in combination with optimal infection-prevention strategies may therefore further reduce the risk that patients will acquire infection in healthcare environments.

Comparison of configurations for high-recovery inland desalination systems

Desalination of brackish groundwater (BW) is an effective approach to augment water supply, especially for inland regions that are far from seawater resources. Brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) desalination is still subject to intensive energy consumption compared to the theoretical minimum energy demand. Here, we review some of the BWRO plants with various system arrangements. We look at how to minimize energy demands, as these contribute considerably to the cost of desalinated water. Different configurations of BWRO system have been compared from the view point of normalized specific energy consumption (SEC). Analysis is made at theoretical limits. The SEC reduction of BWRO can be achieved by (i) increasing number of stages, (ii) using an energy recovery device (ERD), or (iii) operating the BWRO in batch mode or closed circuit mode. Application of more stages not only reduces SEC but also improves water recovery. However, this improvement is less pronounced when the number of stages exceeds four. Alternatively and more favourably, the BWRO system can be operated in Closed Circuit Desalination (CCD) mode and gives a comparative SEC to that of the 3-stage system with a recovery ratio of 80%. A further reduction of about 30% in SEC can be achieved through batch-RO operation. Moreover, the costly ERDs and booster pumps are avoided with both CCD and batch-RO, thus furthering the effectiveness of lowering the costs of these innovative approaches. © 2012 by the authors.