Hepatitis B and pertussis antibodies in 4- to 5-year-old children previously vaccinated with different hexavalent vaccines

In randomized active-comparator controlled studies, DTaP5-HB-IPV-Hib showed comparable immunogenicity and safety to other licensed vaccines. This study assessed persistence of anti-hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs) and anti-pertussis antibodies, when children were 4 to 5 years of age, 3 to 4 years after initial infant/toddler hexavalent vaccination. This was an extension of 2 European studies in which infants/toddlers received either DTaP5-HB-IPV-Hib or DTaP3-HB-IPV/Hib on a 2 + 1 or 3 + 1 schedule. Primary endpoints included percentages with anti-HBs ≥10 mIU/mL, and anti-pertussis toxin (PT), anti-filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA), anti-pertactin (PRN), and anti-fimbriae types 2 & 3 (FIM) greater than or equal to the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ). One month after 2 + 1 or 3 + 1 dosing, nearly all toddlers had anti-HBs ≥10 mIU/mL, and responded to the received pertussis antigens. Approximately 3 to 4 years later, 65.8%-70.2% in the DTaP5-HB-IPV-Hib and 82.0%-83.7% in the DTaP3-HB-IPV/Hib groups, respectively, had anti-HBs ≥10 mIU/mL. Percentages of children with pertussis antibodies above LLOQ after 2 + 1 dosing were 58.4% and 41.5% (anti-PT), 80.9% and 88.3% (anti-FHA), 66.1% and 72.6% (anti-PRN), and 94.4% and 3.3% (anti-FIM), in the DTaP5-HB-IPV-Hib and DTaP3-HB-IPV/Hib groups, respectively. This study demonstrated, as expected, waning of hepatitis B and pertussis antibodies during the 3 to 4 years after completion of a 3 + 1 or 2 + 1 hexavalent vaccination schedule. Nonetheless, anti-HBs levels ≥10 IU/mL and detectable antibodies against acellular pertussis antigens persisted in most study participants. The implications of these findings for the long-term prevention of hepatitis B and pertussis are further discussed

Vibrational Mode Multiplexing of Ultracold Atoms

Sending multiple messages on qubits encoded in different vibrational modes of cold atoms or ions along a transmission waveguide requires us to merge first and then separate the modes at input and output ends. Similarly, different qubits can be stored in the modes of a trap and be separated later. We design the fast splitting of a harmonic trap into an asymmetric double well so that the initial ground vibrational state becomes the ground state of one of two final wells, and the initial first excited state becomes the ground state of the other well. This might be done adiabatically by slowly deforming the trap. We speed up the process by inverse engineering a double-function trap using dynamical invariants. The separation (demultiplexing) followed by an inversion of the asymmetric bias and then by the reverse process (multiplexing) provides a population inversion protocol based solely on trap reshaping.This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61176118), Grants No. 12QH1400800 IT472-10, No. BFI-2010-255, No. 13PJ1403000, No. FIS2012-36673-C03-01, and the program UFI 11/55. S. M.-G. acknowledges support from a fellowship from UPV/EHU

Atomic-scale Structural and Chemical Characterization of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Layers Synthesized at the Wafer-Scale with Monolayer Thickness Control

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a promising two-dimensional insulator with a large band gap and low density of charged impurities that is isostructural and isoelectronic with graphene. Here we report the chemical and atomic-scale structure of CVD-grown wafer-scale (~25 cm2) h-BN sheets ranging in thickness from 1-20 monolayers. Atomic-scale images of h-BN on Au and graphene/Au substrates obtained by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) reveal high h-BN crystalline quality in monolayer samples. Further characterization of 1-20 monolayer samples indicates uniform thickness for wafer-scale areas; this thickness control is a result of precise control of the precursor flow rate, deposition temperature and pressure. Raman and infrared spectroscopy indicate the presence of B-N bonds and reveal a linear dependence of thickness with growth time. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows the film stoichiometry, and the B/N atom ratio in our films is 1 + 0.6% across the range of thicknesses. Electrical current transport in metal/insulator/metal (Au/h-BN/Au) heterostructures indicates that our CVD-grown h-BN films can act as excellent tunnel barriers with a high hard-breakdown field strength. Our results suggest that large-area h-BN films are structurally, chemically and electronically uniform over the wafer scale, opening the door to pervasive application as a dielectric in layered nanoelectronic and nanophotonic heterostructures.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure

Identification of a CCR5-Expressing T Cell Subset That Is Resistant to R5-Tropic HIV Infection

Infection with HIV-1 perturbs homeostasis of human T cell subsets, leading to accelerated immunologic deterioration. While studying changes in CD4(+) memory and naïve T cells during HIV-1 infection, we found that a subset of CD4(+) effector memory T cells that are CCR7(−)CD45RO(−)CD45RA(+) (referred to as T(EMRA) cells), was significantly increased in some HIV-infected individuals. This T cell subset displayed a differentiated phenotype and skewed Th1-type cytokine production. Despite expressing high levels of CCR5, T(EMRA) cells were strikingly resistant to infection with CCR5 (R5)–tropic HIV-1, but remained highly susceptible to CXCR4 (X4)–tropic HIV-1. The resistance of T(EMRA) cells to R5-tropic viruses was determined to be post-entry of the virus and prior to early viral reverse transcription, suggesting a block at the uncoating stage. Remarkably, in a subset of the HIV-infected individuals, the relatively high proportion of T(EMRA) cells within effector T cells strongly correlated with higher CD4(+) T cell numbers. These data provide compelling evidence for selection of an HIV-1–resistant CD4(+) T cell population during the course of HIV-1 infection. Determining the host factors within T(EMRA) cells that restrict R5-tropic viruses and endow HIV-1–specific CD4(+) T cells with this ability may result in novel therapeutic strategies against HIV-1 infection

SoK: Safer Digital-Safety Research Involving At-Risk Users

Research involving at-risk users -- that is, users who are more likely to experience a digital attack or to be disproportionately affected when harm from such an attack occurs -- can pose significant safety challenges to both users and researchers. Nevertheless, pursuing research in computer security and privacy is crucial to understanding how to meet the digital-safety needs of at-risk users and to design safer technology for all. To standardize and bolster safer research involving such users, we offer an analysis of 196 academic works to elicit 14 research risks and 36 safety practices used by a growing community of researchers. We pair this inconsistent set of reported safety practices with oral histories from 12 domain experts to contribute scaffolded and consolidated pragmatic guidance that researchers can use to plan, execute, and share safer digital-safety research involving at-risk users. We conclude by suggesting areas for future research regarding the reporting, study, and funding of at-risk user researchComment: 13 pages, 3 table

Neurogenetic and genomic approaches reveal roles for Dpr/DIP cell adhesion molecules in Drosophila reproductive behavior

Drosophila reproductive behaviors are directed by fruitless neurons (fru P1 isoforms). A reanalysis of genomic studies shows that genes encoding dpr and DIP Immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) members are expressed in fru P1 neurons. Each fru P1and dpr/DIP (fru P1 ∩ dpr/DIP) overlapping expression pattern is similar in both sexes, with dimorphism in neuronal morphology and cell number. Behavioral studies of fru P1 ∩ dpr/DIP perturbation genotypes point to the mushroom body functioning together with the lateral protocerebral complex. Functionally, we find that perturbations of sex hierarchy genes and DIP-ε changes sex-specific morphology of fru P1 ∩ DIP-α neurons. A single-cell RNA-seq analysis shows that the DIPs have high expression in a restricted set of fru P1 neurons, whereas the dprs are expressed in larger set of neurons at intermediate levels, with a myriad of combinations