Nucleic acid vaccine encoding gD2 protects mice from herpes simplex virus type 2 disease.

Journal ArticleNucleic acid vaccinations with plasmids pWW65, containing the sequence for herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) gD2, and pRSVnt, lacking the gD sequence, were studied. Groups of mice were immunized with pWW65 alone, pWW65 plus 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin-D3 (D3), or pRSVnt. Clinical disease (vaginitis), serum and vaginal washing antibody levels, and vaginal washing virus titers were measured intravaginal HSV-2 challenge. No animals (0/10) in the pWW65 + D3 group, 6/10 animals in the pWW65 group, and 10/10 animals in the pRSVnt group developed severe disease by postchallenge day 13 (P<.001, P=.04 vs. pRSVnt). Virus titers in vaginal washings were significantly reduced in the pWW65 and pWW65+D3 groups versus the pRSVnt group (P<.001). Increasing levels of serum anti-gD2 antibodies were measured 2 and 6 days after challenge among animals in the pWW65 and pWW65+D3 groups but not among animals in the pRSVnt group. Vaccinations with a plasmid containing the gD2 gene are immunogenic and provide some protection from HSV-2-induced disease

On the role of shield wires in mitigating lightning-induced overvoltages in overhead lines. Part II: Simulation results for practical configurations

In the companion Part I, the theory relevant to the role of shield wires in mitigating lightning-induced overvoltages in overhead lines has been analyzed and clarified. A more consistent meaning has been assigned to the concept of Shielding Factor by introducing two innovations compared to the current literature: the first one concerning the distinction between internal and external parameters, and the other one concerning the point along the line where to assess the mitigation effect. Thanks to this new approach, uncertainties seen in the literature have been sorted out, and the Shielding Factor has been shown to be a parameter which can be precisely quantified. However, our new contribution was applied to a schematic (unrealistic) configuration: a line with a shield wire grounded at only one point. This Part II is precisely devoted to confirming the results obtained in Part I, by applying the proposed approach to more realistic and practical line configurations, namely a line with multi-grounded shield wire, and a line equipped with laterals too

On the role of shield wires in mitigating lightning-induced overvoltages in overhead lines. Part I: a critical review and a new analysis

The ability of shield wires installed in overhead lines to mitigate lightning-induced overvoltages has been extensively investigated. Unfortunately, these studies came to different results, sometimes contradicting each other: some authors found that shield wires produce a significant overvoltage reduction, while others found the reduction negligible; conflicting results also pertain to the role played by the various parameters involved, such as the relative height of the shield wires compared to the phase conductors. This paper aims to clarify this topic. The paper is organized in two parts: Part I, which starts from the analysis of the theory behind the mitigation effect, is devoted to establishing a more solid base to the topic. Two fundamental improvements are proposed: the first one is the distinction between internal and external of the parameters involved: current literature makes an indiscriminate grouping of all of them; the second one is concerned with the point along the line where the mitigation effect needs to be assessed. Thanks to this new approach, we show that this effect can be precisely quantified. The analysis in this Part I is limited to the basic case of a single grounding point of the shield wire, which represents an unrealistic case. Part II is devoted to completing the study, by applying the proposed approach to more realistic and practical cases

Analysis of metal oxide varistor arresters for protection of multiconductor transmission lines using unconditionally-stable Crank-Nicolson FDTD

Surge arresters may represent an efficient choice for limiting lightning surge effects, significantly reducing the outage rate of power lines. The present work firstly presents an efficient numerical approach suitable for insulation coordination studies based on an implicit Crank-Nicolson finite difference time domain method; then, the IEEE recommended surge arrester model is reviewed and implemented by means of a local implicit scheme, based on a set of non-linear equations, that are recast in a suitable form for efficient solution. The model is proven to ensure robustness and second-order accuracy. The implementation of the arrester model in the implicit Crank-Nicolson scheme represents the added value brought by the present study. Indeed, its preserved stability for larger time steps allows reducing running time by more than 60% compared to the well-known finite difference time domain method based on the explicit leap-frog scheme. The reduced computation time allows faster repeated solutions, which need to be looked for on assessing the lightning performance (randomly changing, parameters such as peak current, rise time, tail time, location of the vertical leader channel, phase conductor voltages, footing resistance, insulator strength, etc. would need to be changed thousands of times)