978 research outputs found
Co-delivery of human cancer-testis antigens with adjuvant in protein nanoparticles induces higher cell-mediated immune responses.
Nanoparticles have attracted considerable interest as cancer vaccine delivery vehicles for inducing sufficient CD8+ T cell-mediated immune responses to overcome the low immunogenicity of the tumor microenvironment. Our studies described here are the first to examine the effects of clinically-tested human cancer-testis (CT) peptide epitopes within a synthetic nanoparticle. Specifically, we focused on two significant clinical CT targets, the HLA-A2 restricted epitopes of NY-ESO-1 and MAGE-A3, using a viral-mimetic packaging strategy. Our data shows that simultaneous delivery of a NY-ESO-1 epitope (SLLMWITQV) and CpG using the E2 subunit assembly of pyruvate dehydrogenase (E2 nanoparticle), resulted in a 25-fold increase in specific IFN-Îł secretion in HLA-A2 transgenic mice. This translated to a 15-fold increase in lytic activity toward target cancer cells expressing the antigen. Immunization with a MAGE-A3 epitope (FLWGPRALV) delivered with CpG in E2 nanoparticles yielded an increase in specific IFN-Îł secretion and cell lysis by 6-fold and 9-fold, respectively. Furthermore, combined delivery of NY-ESO-1 and MAGE-A3 antigens in E2 nanoparticles yielded an additive effect that increased lytic activity towards cells bearing NY-ESO-1+ and MAGE-A3+. Our investigations demonstrate that formulation of CT antigens within a nanoparticle can significantly enhance antigen-specific cell-mediated responses, and the combination of the two antigens in a vaccine can preserve the increased individual responses that are observed for each antigen alone
Workaholism and Technostress During the COVID-19 Emergency: The Crucial Role of the Leaders on Remote Working
Although remote working can involve positive outcomes both for employees and
organizations, in the case of the sudden and forced remote working situation that came
into place during the COVID-19 crisis there have also been reports of negative aspects,
one of which is technostress. In this context of crisis, leadership is crucial in sustainably
managing and supporting employees, especially employees with workaholic tendencies
who are more prone to developing negative work and health outcomes. However, while
research on the role of the positive aspects of leadership during crises does exist, the
negative aspects of leadership during the COVID-19 crisis have not yet been studied.
The present study aimed to explore the role of authoritarian leadership in a sample of 339
administrative university employees who worked either completely from home or from
home and the workplace. The study examined the moderating effect of a manager on
this relationship and the connections between workaholism and technostress through
conditional process analysis. Results pointed out that high authoritarian leadership had
an enhancing effect, whereas low authoritarian leadership had a protective effect on
the relationship between workaholism and technostress, only in the group of complete
remote workers. Thus, authoritarian leadership should be avoided and training leaders
to be aware of its effect appears to be essential. Limitations, future directions for the
study, and practical implications are also discussed
Workaholism and Technostress During the COVID-19 Emergency: The Crucial Role of the Leaders on Remote Working
Entropic phase separation of linked beads
We study theoretically a model system of a transient network of microemulsion
droplets connected by telechelic polymers and explain recent experimental
findings. Despite the absence of any specific interactions between either the
droplets or polymer chains, we predict that as the number of polymers per drop
is increased, the system undergoes a first order phase separation into a dense,
highly connected phase, in equilibrium with dilute droplets, decorated by
polymer loops. The phase transition is purely entropic and is driven by the
interplay between the translational entropy of the drops and the
configurational entropy of the polymer connections between them. Because it is
dominated by entropic effects, the phase separation mechanism of the system is
extremely robust and does not depend on the particlular physical realization of
the network. The discussed model applies as well to other polymer linked
particle aggregates, such as nano-particles connected with short DNA linkers
The galaxy environment in GAMA G3C groups using the Kilo Degree Survey Data Release 3
We aim to investigate the galaxy environment in GAMA Galaxy Groups Catalogue
(G3C) using a volume-limited galaxy sample from the Kilo Degree Survey Data
Release 3. The k-Nearest Neighbour technique is adapted to take into account
the probability density functions (PDFs) of photometric redshifts in our
calculations. This algorithm was tested on simulated KiDS tiles, showing its
capability of recovering the relation between galaxy colour, luminosity and
local environment. The characterization of the galaxy environment in G3C groups
shows systematically steeper density contrasts for more massive groups. The red
galaxy fraction gradients in these groups is evident for most of group mass
bins. The density contrast of red galaxies is systematically higher at group
centers when compared to blue galaxy ones. In addition, distinct group center
definitions are used to show that our results are insensitive to center
definitions. These results confirm the galaxy evolution scenario which
environmental mechanisms are responsible for a slow quenching process as
galaxies fall into groups and clusters, resulting in a smooth observed colour
gradients in galaxy systems.Comment: 14 pages, Accepted to MNRA
âEverything Will Be Fineâ: A Study on the Relationship between Employeesâ Perception of Sustainable HRM Practices and Positive Organizational Behavior during COVID19
Sustainable human resource management practices represent one of the main organizational
strategy to survive and to prosper within the fast-moving current scenario. According to this view,
sustainability is strictly linked to the consideration of the unique and distinctive value that each
human resource means for organizations. The recent COVID19 pandemic is having a serious
impact on organizations and on their employees, it is profoundly changing the working modalities,
mainly introducing smart working practices that were showed to have significant consequences on
workersâ wellbeing. This study aims to investigate employeesâ perception of sustainable HRM in
the frame of the COVID19 emergency, exploring if and to what extent perceptions of involvement
and organizational support together with individual coping strategies associated with organizational
change could influence positive organizational behaviors, namely organizational engagement and
extra-role behavior. The research involved 549 participants who completed a self-report online
questionnaire encompassing psycho-social measures of the abovementioned variables. Results
confirmed the important role played by sustainable HRM practices both for the capitalization of
human resources and of organizational performance in a time of great uncertainty and global crisis.
Implications for theory and HRM practice development were also discussed
Does the end justify the means? The role of organizational communication among workâfromâhome employees during the covidâ19 pandemic
During the first months of 2020, the world, and Italy at an early stage, went through the Covidâ19 emergency that had a great impact on individual and collective health, but also on working processes. The mandatory remote working and the constant use of technology for employees raised different implications related to technostress and psychoâphysical disorders. This study aimed to detect, in such a period of crisis and changes, the role of organizational communication considering the mediating role of both technostress and selfâefficacy, with psychoâphysical disorders as outcome. The research involved 530 workers working from home. A Structural Equations Model was estimated, revealing that organizational communication is positively associated with selfâefficacy and negatively with technostress and psychoâphysical disorders. As mediators, technostress is positively associated with psychoâphysical disorders, whereas selfâefficacy is negatively associated. As regards mediated effects, results showed negative associations between organizational communication and psychoâphysical disorders through both technostress and selfâefficacy. This study highlighted the potential protective role of organizational communication that could buffer the effect of technostress and enhance a personal resource, selfâefficacy, which is functional to the reduction of psychoâphysical disorders. This study contributed to literature underlying the role of communication in the current crisis and consequent reorganization of the working processes
Ferrimagnetism in sputtered MnxCoGe thin films
Investigations into the magnetic properties of sputtered MnxCoGe films in the
range 0.8 <= x <= 2.5 uncovered ferrimagnetic order, unlike the ferromagnetic
order reported in bulk samples. These films formed hexagonal Ni2In-type
structures in all measured compositions. While the Curie temperatures of the
films are comparable to those of hexagonal bulk MnCoGe, here is a reduction in
the magnetization of the MnxCoGe film relative to bulk MnCoGe, and a
magnetization compensation point is observed in the x < 1 samples. To
understand the behavior, we calculated the magnetic moments of Mn-antisite
defects in MnCoGe with density-function theory calculations. Models constructed
from the calculation suggest that films become ferrimagnetic due to the
presence of Mn on the Co and Ge sites. In the x < 1 samples, these defects
arose from the disorder in the films, whereas for x > 1, the excess Mn was
driven onto the antisites and produced ferrimagnetic order.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
From Atiyah Classes to Homotopy Leibniz Algebras
A celebrated theorem of Kapranov states that the Atiyah class of the tangent
bundle of a complex manifold makes into a Lie algebra object in
, the bounded below derived category of coherent sheaves on .
Furthermore Kapranov proved that, for a K\"ahler manifold , the Dolbeault
resolution of is an
algebra. In this paper, we prove that Kapranov's theorem holds in much wider
generality for vector bundles over Lie pairs. Given a Lie pair , i.e. a
Lie algebroid together with a Lie subalgebroid , we define the Atiyah
class of an -module (relative to ) as the obstruction to
the existence of an -compatible -connection on . We prove that the
Atiyah classes and respectively make and
into a Lie algebra and a Lie algebra module in the bounded below
derived category , where is the abelian
category of left -modules and is the universal
enveloping algebra of . Moreover, we produce a homotopy Leibniz algebra and
a homotopy Leibniz module stemming from the Atiyah classes of and ,
and inducing the aforesaid Lie structures in .Comment: 36 page
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