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Background/Objectives: The H7N9 avian influenza virus (AIV) constitutes a novel subtype of influenza virus that has emerged within the past decade. Empirical studies have demonstrated that H7N9 AIV holds the potential to trigger a human pandemic. Vaccines constitute the sole armament available to humanity in combating influenza epidemics. DNA vaccines present numerous merits; however, substantial conundrums persist regarding how to augment their immunogenicity and implement their delivery through mucosal immunization. Methods: In this study; BALB/c mice were utilized as a model to investigate the effect of CCL19 as a molecular adjuvant and to determine the immune response elicited by polyethylene imine (PEI) and chitosan (CS) as adjuvants during the delivery of a DNA vaccine through the nasal mucosal route. Results: Our results revealed that the CCL19 molecular adjuvant exerts a substantial immunomodulatory enhancement effect on the H7N9-HA DNA vaccine, inducing more pronounced cellular and humoral immunity. Additionally, our results indicated that the composite formed by the HA-CCL19 DNA in combination with PEI and CS effectively activates local mucosal immunity as well as systemic humoral and cellular immunity, offering 100% protection against lethal doses of homologous virus challenges. Conclusions: CCL19 conspicuously augments the immunogenicity of the influenza virus HA DNA and conserves the integrity of the vaccine antigen. Simultaneously, CS and PEI proficiently facilitate the mucosal delivery of DNA, thereby eliciting mucosal immunity related to DNA vaccines. This study investigated the feasibility of utilizing nasal mucosa for DNA vaccine immunization, which holds significant implications for the advancement and application of DNA vaccines in public health Full article

In the North Pontic region, bronze greaves appeared among the Scythians and noble members of the tribal world of the eastern European steppe in the middle of the fifth century BC and were used until the end of the fourth. Both the “classic” full-length Greek greaves and greaves without knee pads were in use. Surviving greaves and fragments thereof from different Scythian burials allow for analysis of the peculiarities of their construction. A distinct feature of the greaves from the burial in Barrow 6 near the village Vodoslavka, Ukraine, is a series of large openings made on the inner side of both greaves, in the area where the muscles of the calves protrude most prominently. These holes are covered (both from the inside and from the outside) with sewn-on pads made of thick leather. Similar holes can also be seen on the greaves from Kerch in eastern Crimea and were likely cut to make these greaves more suited for horse riding. The greaves from Soboleva Mogyla were additionally modified for horse riding in that the parts that covered the knees were shortened and the side parts had deep cuts (more than a half-height) on the inside of the calf muscles. Thanks to this cut, the rider’s leg (around the medial gastrocnemius in particular) fitted snugly to the horse’s side. Full article