Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death worldwide due to an infectious disease, causing around 1.6 million deaths each year. This situation has become more complicated by the emergence of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) and HIV-TB co-infection, which has significantly worsened TB prognosis and treatment. Despite years of intensive research, Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) remains the only licensed vaccine and has variable efficacy. It provides protection against childhood TB but is not effective in adult pulmonary TB. As a result of intense research in understanding TB vaccinology, there are many new vaccine candidates in clinical development and many more in pre-clinical trials which aim either to replace or boost BCG vaccine. This review discusses the history of BCG vaccine development and summarizes limitations of the current vaccine strategy and recent advances in improving BCG immunization along with other new vaccines in clinical trials which are promising candidates for the future tuberculosis vaccinology program. AIMS Thrombin formation is increased in patients with acute cerebral ischemic stroke, and augments coagulation and inflammation in the brain. Administration of antithrombin (AT) was previously reported to be protective against renal and myocardial ischemic injury. Thus, we hypothesized that treatment with AT would be neuroprotective against cerebral ischemic injury. This study evaluated the effects of AT treatment on ischemic inflammation and brain damage in mice subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). MAIN METHODS A mouse model of 4-hour MCAO was used to induce ischemic brain injury. Recombinant AT gamma was administered intravenously immediately after reperfusion at 4 h after MCAO. Infarct volume, neurological deficit, and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were measured at 24 h after MCAO. To evaluate the effect of AT gamma on ischemic inflammation, we measured the number of Iba1-positive cells (marker of macrophage/microglial activation) and levels of proinflammatory cytokines. Further, we investigated the direct anti-inflammatory effects of rAT in the J774.1 cell line. KEY FINDINGS Treatment with AT gamma (480 U/kg) reduced infarct volume and neurological deficit, and improved rCBF, in MCAO mice. Moreover, AT gamma treatment decreased the number of Iba1-positive cells and levels of proinflammatory cytokines. In vitro, treatment with thrombin significantly increased proinflammatory cytokine levels, which was significantly reduced by pretreatment with AT gamma. SIGNIFICANCE Treatment with AT showed neuroprotective effects via anticoagulation actions, as well as direct anti-inflammatory effects on macrophage/microglial activation. These data suggest that AT may be a useful new therapeutic option for cerebral ischemia. OBJECTIVES To assess the association of public interest in coronavirus infections with the actual number of infected cases for selected countries across the globe. METHODS We performed a Google TrendsTM search for "Coronavirus" and compared Relative Search Volumes (RSV) indices to the number of reported COVID-19 cases by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) using time-lag correlation analysis. RESULTS Worldwide public interest in Coronavirus reached its first peak end of January when numbers of newly infected patients started to increase exponentially in China. The worldwide Google TrendsTM index reached its peak on the 12th of March 2020 at a time when numbers of infected patients started to increase in Europe and COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. At this time the general interest in China but also the Republic of Korea has already been significantly decreased as compared to end of January. Correlations between RSV indices and number of new COVID-19 cases were observed across all investigated countries with highest correlations observed with a time lag of -11.5 days, i.e. highest interest in coronavirus observed 11.5 days before the peak of newly infected cases. This pattern was very consistent across European countries but also holds true for the US. In Brazil and Australia, highest correlations were observed with a time lag of -7 days. In Egypt the highest correlation is given with a time lag of 0, potentially indicating that in this country, numbers of newly infected patients will increase exponentially within the course of April. CONCLUSIONS Public interest indicated by RSV indices can help to monitor the progression of an outbreak such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. Public interest is on average highest 11.5 days before the peak of newly infected cases. OBJECTIVE Exercise is a cornerstone in the management of skeletal muscle insulin-resistance. A well-established benefit of a single bout of exercise is increased insulin sensitivity for hours post-exercise in the previously exercised musculature. Although rodent studies suggest that the insulin-sensitization phenomenon involves enhanced insulin-stimulated GLUT4 cell surface translocation and might involve intramuscular redistribution of GLUT4, the conservation to humans is unknown. METHODS Healthy young males underwent an insulin-sensitizing one-legged kicking exercise bout for 1 hour followed by fatigue bouts to exhaustion. Muscle biopsies were obtained 4h post-exercise before and after a 2h hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. RESULTS A detailed microscopy-based analysis of GLUT4 distribution muscle specimen in 7 different myocellular compartments revealed that prior exercise increased GLUT4 localization in insulin-responsive storage vesicles and T-tubuli. Furthermore, insulin-stimulated GLUT4 localization was augmented at the sarcolemma and in the endosomal compartments. CONCLUSION An intracellular redistribution of GLUT4 post-exercise is proposed as a molecular mechanism contributing to the insulin-sensitizing effect of prior exercise in human skeletal muscle. OBJECTIVE Gut-derived inflammatory factors can impair glucose homeostasis, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we investigated how hepatic gene expression is regulated by gut colonization status through myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MYD88) and how one of the regulated genes, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein (Lbp), affects insulin signaling and systemic glucose homeostasis. METHODS Liver transcriptomics analysis was conducted on four groups of mice fed a chow diet conventionally raised (CONV-R) wild-type, germ-free (GF) wild-type, CONV-R Myd88 KO, and GF Myd88 KO. Primary hepatocytes were exposed to combinations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), LBP, and the LBP-blocking peptide LBPK95A, and the effect on insulin signaling was determined.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/AdipoRon.html  To assess how LBP affects glucose metabolism in vivo, two mouse models were applied treatment with LBPK95A and hepatic knockdown of Lbp using CRISPR-CAS9. RESULTS We showed that the colonization status regulates gene expression in the liver and that a subset of these genes, including Lbp, is regulated through MYD88.