Differential Regulation of DC Function, Adaptive Immunity, and MyD88 Dependence by Two Squalene Emulsion-Based Vaccine Adjuvants.

MF59 and AS03 are squalene emulsion-based vaccine adjuvants with similar compositions and droplet sizes. Despite their broad use in licensed influenza vaccines, few studies compared their adjuvant effects and action mechanisms side by side. Considering the majority of adjuvants act on dendritic cells (DCs) to achieve their adjuvant effects, this study compared AddaVax and AddaS03 with similar compositions to MF59 and AS03 adjuvants to enhance antigen uptake, DC maturation, ovalbumin (OVA), and seasonal influenza vaccine-induced immune responses. Considering MF59 was reported to activate MyD88 to mediate its adjuvant effects, this study also investigated whether the above-explored adjuvant effects of AddaVax and AddaS03 depended on MyD88. We found AddaVax more potently enhanced antigen uptake at the local injection site, while AddaS03 more potently enhanced antigen uptake in the draining lymph nodes. AddaS03 but not AddaVax stimulated DC maturation. Adjuvant-enhanced antigen uptake was MyD88 independent, while AddaS03-induced DC maturation was MyD88 dependent. AddaVax and AddaS03 similarly enhanced OVA-induced IgG and subtype IgG1 antibody responses as well as influenza vaccine-induced hemagglutination inhibition antibody titers, whileAddaS03 more potently enhanced OVA-specific IgG2c antibody responses. Both adjuvants depended on MyD88 to enhance vaccine-induced antibody responses, while AddaVax depended more on MyD88 to achieve its adjuvant effects. Our study reveals similarities and differences of the two squalene emulsion-based vaccine adjuvants, contributing to our improved understanding of their action mechanisms

Dual roles of in situ generated HSP70 in antigen delivery and immunoregulation

IntroductionExtracellular release of inducible HSP70 spurred interests to explore its potential interactions with innate immune systems. Both pro- and anti-inflammatory roles have been reported though the immunostimulatory roles were largely disputed due to the likely use of contaminated HSP70. The anti-inflammatory roles inspired the exploration of HSP70 to treat autoimmune diseases by suppressing pathological inflammatory responses. Besides immunomodulation, HSP70 has been explored as tumor vaccine carriers to elicit cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses due to its ability to deliver bound peptides to MHC I presentation pathway. With increasing understanding of the potential use of ex vivo prepared HSP70 in vaccination and therapy, the functions and potential applications of in situ induced HSP70 in antigen delivery and immunomodulation remain largely unexplored.MethodsThis study utilizes physical radiofrequency adjuvant (RFA) to induce HSP70 synthesis accompanied with mild inflammation followed by intradermal injection of vaccine antigens into RFA-treated skin in murine models to explore its potential roles in antigen delivery and immunomodulation.ResultsWe found in situ induced HSP70 could bind intradermally injected model antigen ovalbumin and contribute to enhanced antigen uptake in skin and draining lymph nodes. HSP70 failed to induce dendritic cell maturation and rather suppressed RFA-induced TLR4/IRAK/NFκB activation and IL-6 expression.DiscussionThese results indicate dual roles of in situ induced HSP70 in antigen delivery and immunoregulation at physiological conditions. These dual functions highlight opportunities to exploit endogenous HSP70 for both vaccine adjuvantation and immunomodulation

Caractérisation IV impulsionnelle et RF et Modélisation de AlGaN/GaN HEMT et graphène FET

The aim of this work is to assess the potentialities of Graphene Field Effect Transistors (G-FET) as well as to put in evidence dispersive effects of AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs). The main experimental results of this study have been obtained through the development of an advanced characterization set-up. The main objective for characterization of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs was to develop innovative characterization techniques such as very short pulses and electrical history measurements. Dedicated time-domain pulsed I-V measurements have been performed in order to characterize and model the time dependent trapping phenomena in such devices. The current collapse (Kink effect) and drain lag are directly related to quiescent and instantaneous bias points as well as thermal effects which play a prominent role. This method provides an efficient way to assess the different thermal and trapping time constants for the nonlinear modeling. The second aspect of this research work was the characterization of several graphene-based devices in order to assess the potentialities of such transistors and to derive a nonlinear device model. DC and high frequency characterization were performed. Specific test structures fabricated for accurate de-embedding at high frequencies along with the nonlinear model extraction were detailed in this work. This electrical model consistency has been checked through the comparison of measured and simulated multi-bias S-parameters. For this new material with outstanding electrical properties and promising capabilities, material and technological process are still subject to intensive research activities to improve high frequency graphene FET performances.Ces travaux de recherche se rapportent à l’évaluation des potentialités des transistors à base de graphène ainsi que la mise en évidence des effets dispersifs sur les transistors HEMTs en technologie Nitrure de Gallium. Les principaux résultats issus de ces travaux sont obtenus suite au développement d’un banc de caractérisation spécifique. L’objectif principal pour la caractérisation des transistors en technologie AlGaN/GaN a été de développer des techniques innovantes de caractérisation. Des mesures IV et RF impulsionnelles ont été réalisées afin de caractériser et modéliser les phénomènes de pièges. Cette méthode fournit un moyen efficace d’évaluer les constantes de temps thermiques et de pièges pour la modélisation non linéaire. Ces mesures illustrent ainsi l’impact des effets de pièges sur le comportement dynamique grand signal des transistors GaN. Le second aspect de ces travaux de recherche est axé sur la caractérisation de différents composants à base de graphène afin d’extraire un modèle non linéaire. Des caractérisations DC et HF ont été réalisées. Des structures spécifiques de test ont été fabriquées pour la technique de « de-embedding » permettant l’extraction du modèle non linéaire. La cohérence du modèle électrique a été vérifiée via une comparaison des paramètres S mesurés et simulés. Il est primordial de construire des modèles performants prenant en compte les nouvelles caractéristiques de ces dispositifs dans le but d’établir un lien fort entre les aspects technologiques et systèmes afin d’améliorer les performances HF des transistors à base de graphène

An opportunistic cooperative relaying protocol for mobile ad hoc networks

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) have been gaining a great attention for flexible information accessibility and availability over the past decade. MANETs have driven by the potential applications in civil and military environments and become a part of ubiquitous communication infrastructure. Due to nodes' mobility and unreliable wireless medium, however, changes of network topology and frequent link disconnections may significantly reduce the information accessibility and increase the communication latency. In this thesis, we propose an opportunistic cooperative relaying protocol to improve the communication performance in terms of communication latency. In the protocol, a set of neighbor nodes located around a communication pair opportunistically overhears the transmission and initiates the cooperative relay only if the transmission fails. This technique is seamlessly integrated with the IEEE 802.11 power saving mechanism (PSM) in medium access control (MAC) layer. We establish a customized NS-2 based simulation framework and conduct an extensive simulation for design trade-off and multi-dimensional analysis. Extensive simulation results indicate that the proposed technique can reduce the latency around 10% with minor communication overhead in terms of the number of control messages and thus, is a viable approach for adopting in MANETs

Investigating the Role of Cloud Computing in Enabling Digital Transformation in the Automobile Parts Manufacturing Sector

This all-round analysis examines the role of cloud computing in guiding digital transformation across our car parts manufacture industry. The study, intended to help them understand the diverse nature of cloud technologies in terms of how they transform operational processes and fit in with wider digital transformation initiatives. The study takes a systematic approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis methods with the main statistical evaluation method being SPSS. Other important observations include that cloud computing is very helpful for improving operational efficiency, costs and innovation as well as effectively managing the supply chain. However, these ben efits are accompanied by difficulties in adapting manpower and integrating organizations-such is the double face of technological development. In addition to the above, research on cloud computing is trying to shed light onto its strategic significance. The paper emphasizes that cloud characteristics promote service transformation, and suit Industry 4.0 concepts well. The possible policy implications include the pursuit of strategic frameworks covering technological use, workforce training, and data security. Limitations and recommendations The report points out that the first shortcoming of its study is that it has been limited to large Czech companies, while in fact small and medium-sized enterprises form a far more important element. In sum, the study adds fresh perspectives on cloud computing's role in industrial digital transformation that can help researchers and practitioners alike. This highlights the need for a rational perspective on how best to introduce these cloud technologies, which are changing in rapid succession. Both their revolutionary potential and mission critical complexities put them at opposite ends of the scale

Aeroacoustic characteristics of supersonic offset jets

The offset jet configuration is one where the jet is discharged at some distance from a solid surface. Although the geometric configuration may look simple, the flow may involve several complexities. In propulsion systems, the high-speed jet generated from the rear engine of an aircraft, flowing nearby the fuselage, can be treated as an offset jet. In this work, an experimental investigation of the interaction noise due to circular high-speed offset jets is performed in an anechoic environment at different nozzle pressure ratios and offset ratios (height of the jet centerline above the plate per nozzle width). A large horizontal plate placed over a height-adjustable stand is used as the offset plate. Acoustic characteristics such as overall sound pressure level and the directivity pattern of free and offset jets are compared for different nozzle pressure ratios. The effect of offset ratio on noise characteristics is also investigated. Flow visualization is also carried out to understand the shock structure and its noise generation mechanism. Acoustic characteristics reveal that noise levels are higher for an offset jet compared to a free jet. Sound pressure levels for offset ratio 0.5 are lower than those for other offset ratios. The noise levels are higher for offset ratio 1.0 due to the presence of feedback tone. Schlieren visualization studies also corroborate the above characteristics. </jats:p

Semantic mapping of Hindi text-to-image generation using CUB dataset

Abstract Generative Learning enables the generation of unseen data by learning the patterns from existing data. Text-to-Image generation (T2I) is one of the growing areas of generative learning that mainly focuses on creating realistic images from natural language descriptions. Although many models are available for generating images from text, there is a significant gap in regional languages as input, which restricts the capacity to produce realistic visuals based on regional textual descriptions. This paper proposes a semantic mapping of Hindi T2I generation using the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN). The regional T2I generation model, specifically trained on region-specific data, such as a Hindi language dataset, is prepared, pre-processed, and fed to the model. The study utilizes the Caltech-UCSD Birds 200 (CUB) dataset as its primary source. The experiments indicate that the model delivers well and produces robust images. Our model boosts the existing result significantly with an Inception score of 4.65, FID score of 37.17, and a first-of-kind semantic Alignment in Hindi text-image using R-precision score of 75.12