Worldwide Universities Network

India, which experiences some of the highest levels of ambient air pollution and associated premature mortality worldwide, launched the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) to reduce ambient PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations by 20–30% across 131 cities between 2017 and 2024, with a subsequent 40% target announced over an additional 2 year period. We present the first comprehensive evaluation of NCAP using high-resolution satellite-based PM2.5 and PM10 concentration fields together with surface measurements and apply the latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) dose–response functions to estimate avoided premature mortality under the proposed reduction scenarios. Satellite-derived data show limited attainment of NCAP goals: 44 cities met the 20% PM2.5 target and one met the PM10 target; six cities achieved the 30% PM2.5 target and one met the 40% target. Average improvements were 12% (8.2 μg m–3) for PM2.5 and 4.9% (5.7 μg m–3) for PM10. Monitoring data indicate similarly modest progress: 7 of 29 cities met the 20% PM2.5 target and 43 of 96 met the PM10 target. Achieving a 40% PM2.5 reduction across NCAP cities would avert ∼36000 annual premature mortalities. Overall, despite modest progress in some NCAP cities, stronger interventions are necessary to achieve widespread air quality and health benefits nationwide.

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch talks to Andrew Glester about what it’s like to play famous scientists

Background: NSCLC is the leading cause of cancer death. Recently, much progress has been made to identify and target specific oncogenic drivers such as EGFR mutations and ALK translocations. Unfortunately, the majority of NSCLCs do not have a single driver, but instead harbor complex systems of molecular alterations. The advent of immunooncology has opened newer avenues for treating these patients, but still, many tumors are resistant. Therefore, selection of precise therapies targeting the appropriate pathways in these tumors is an important area of research. In previously published work, the Worldwide Innovative Network (WIN) Consortium has developed the Simplified Interventional Mapping System (SIMS) algorithm to match patients to a targeted drug triplet. The SIMS algorithm is based on the hypothesis that the use of both genomic as well as transcriptomic data is important in selecting an ideal tri-therapy regimen. Since the transcriptome varies widely between different types of normal tissue, the relative level of transcription of any given gene in a tumor must be normalized against the expected level of transcription of that gene in the analogous normal tissue. The SPRING trial is the first trial assessing a rational, SIMS-based tri-therapy regimen in advanced NSCLC. The drugs utilized for SPRING–avelumab (anti-PDL1), axitinib (VEGFR inhibitor) and palbociclib (CDK4/6 inhibitor)–were chosen because the SIMS genomic/transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that ~10% of NSCLCs have a combination of these targets.Methods: Patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC without EGFR or ALK alterations are being enrolled and treated with avelumab, palbociclib, and axitinib after informed consent. During phase I, any prior treatment is allowed. SPRING will assess the safety of the tri-therapy combination and determine the recommended phase II dose (RP2D) (3+3 dose escalation). Once the RP2D is found, the study will proceed directly to the phase II portion, which will permit only previously untreated patients in the metastatic setting. A biopsy of both tumor and normal tissue (by endobronchial mucosal biopsy) is obtained on all patients, both of which are analysed in a central genomics and transcriptomics platform. The SIMS algorithm is being validated retrospectively by determining the degree of genomic and transcriptomic matching and correlating with outcome.Results: The phase I study is open in USA, Israel, Spain and Luxembourg and has enrolled 12 patients to date and has progressed to cohort 3. The phase II portion is expected to open later in 2019. This research is supported by the EMD Serono/Pfizer alliance and ARC Foundation for cancer research.Citation Format: Benjamin Solomon, Enriqueta Felip, Jair Bar, Guy Berchem, Lyudmila Bazhenova, Pierre Saintigny, Nicolas Girard, Raed Sulaiman, Catherine Bresson, Fanny Wunder, J Jack Lee, Jacques Raynaud, Eitan Rubin, Brandon Young, Vladimir Lazar, Amir Onn, Brian Leyland Jones, Razelle Kurzrock. Survival Prolongation by Rationale INnovative Genomics (SPRING): An international WIN Consortium Phase I/II proof-of-concept study to explore the safety and efficacy of a tri-therapy approach using avelumab, palbociclib and axitinib in advanced/metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with integrated genomic and transcriptomic correlates [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr CT223.

Background and aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the relative importance of individual- and household-level indicators of poverty to the self-reported health of residents and recent migrants in South Africa’s most urbanised province (Gauteng).Subjects and methods: Univariate and multivariable statistical analyses were undertaken on data from the 2014 Quality of Life household survey undertaken by the Gauteng City Regional Observatory. The survey generated data on a representative sample of n = 27 490 respondents.Results: At the individual-level the odds for disability or health-limiting work/social activities was significantly lower amongst younger, better educated and employed respondents, and amongst both transnational and internal migrants. At the household-level, the absence of some basic services and household assets (particularly mains electricity, telecommunications and a television) were significantly associated with a lower odds of health-limiting work/social activities.Conclusions: Variation in sociodemographic and economic predictors of self-reported health at the individual- and household-level partly explain the lower odds of disability and health-limiting work/social activities of migrants, since migrants were less likely to be disabled and tended to be younger, with higher educational attainment and better employment status than residents, yet were also more likely to be living in households with fewer services and assets.

Genetic studies provide clues to how malaria parasites become drug resistant [Also see Reports by Straimer et al. and Mok et al. ]

La principal hipótesis de este capítulo es explicar como se ha logrado en Cuba una ES con equidad y de calidad mediante políticas de inclusión social. El resultado de estas políticas ha sido el desarrollo científico en el estado del arte conforme a estándares internacionales actuales y una de las tasas de matrícula (61%) más altas de la región.