Intratracheal inoculation of human varicella zoster virus (VZV; MAV strain) vaccine successfully induced VZV IgG antibodies in rhesus monkeys

Background The objective of this study was to investigate whether the use of live attenuated varicella zoster virus (VZV) MAV vaccination can efficiently induce VZV antibody production in naive rhesus monkeys as an approach to prevent simian varicella virus (SVV) reactivation in animals immunosuppressed for transplantation studies. Results Clinically available human VZV vaccine was used to induce the production of anti-VZV antibodies in rhesus monkeys. A vial of the vaccine was subcutaneously injected at 0 week, and the second and third vaccination was performed at 5 and 6 weeks by intratracheal inoculation. The titer of anti-VZV IgG was assessed at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 7 weeks. At 2 weeks, 3/16 were seropositive for VZV IgG. At 6 weeks, 9/16 were shown to be seropositive. At 7 weeks, 16/16 were found to be seropositive. Conclusions The VZV vaccine via intratrachael inoculation was shown to induce VZV IgG humoral immunity in rhesus monkeys and may be important immunosuppressed macaques for transplantation studies. Although the humoral immunity produced is an important finding, further studies will be necessary to confirm possible protection and it could protect probably against SVV infection in rhesus monkey.This study was supported by a grant from the Korea Healthcare Technology R&D Project, Ministry for Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (Project No.HI13C0954), the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (Grant No. NRF-2020R1A2C1004557 to Kim JM), and Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development (Project No. PJ01345302) Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea

Effects of Nonuniform Fiber Geometries on the Microstructural Fracture Behavior of Ceramic Matrix Composites

Microstructural fracture behavior of a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) with nonuniformly distributed fibers is studied in the presentation. A comprehensive numerical analysis package to study the effect of nonuniform fiber dimensions and locations on the microstructural fracture behavior is developed. The package starts with an optimization algorithm for generating representative volume element (RVE) models that are statistically equivalent to experimental measurements. Experimentally measured statistical data are used as constraints while the optimization algorithm is running. Virtual springs are utilized between any adjacent fibers to nonuniformly distribute the coated fibers in the RVE model. The virtual spring with the optimization algorithm can efficiently generate multiple RVEs that are statistically identical to each other. Smeared crack approach (SCA) is implemented to consider the fracture behavior of the CMC material in a mesh-objective manner. The RVEs are subjected to tension as well as the shear loading conditions. SCA is capable of predicting different fracture patterns, uniquely defined by not only the fiber arrangement but also the specific loading type. In addition, global stress-strain curves show that the microstructural fracture behavior of the RVEs is highly dependent on the fiber distributions

Linking Authentic Leadership With Employee Initiative Behavior and Task Performance: The Mediating Role of Emotional Sharing and Communication Satisfaction

Our study aims to explore the process through which authentic leadership leads to employees’ initiative behavior and task performance. In particular, we focused on the mediating roles of emotional sharing and communication satisfaction. Based on data collected from 242 employee-supervisor dyads, we found that authentic leadership was significantly related to emotional sharing, which was sequentially significantly related to communication satisfaction. Communication satisfaction was significantly associated with initiative behavior and task performance. In addition, emotional sharing and communication satisfaction played significant mediating roles not only in the relationship between authentic leadership and initiative behavior, but also in the relationship between authentic leadership and task performance. The limitations and implications for future research and practice are discussed

Investigation of Fire Damaged Concrete Using Nonlinear Resonance Vibration Method

Abstract-This paper attempts to evaluate the effect of fire damage on concrete by using nonlinear resonance vibration method, one of the nonlinear nondestructive method. Concrete exhibits not only nonlinear stress-strain relation but also hysteresis and discrete memory effect which are contained in consolidated materials. Hysteretic materials typically show the linear resonance frequency shift. Also, the shift of resonance frequency is changed according to the degree of micro damage. The degree of the shift can be obtained through nonlinear resonance vibration method. Five exposure scenarios were considered in order to make different internal micro damage. Also, the effect of post-fire-curing on fire-damaged concrete was taken into account to conform the change in internal damage. Hysteretic nonlinearity parameter was obtained by amplitudedependent resonance frequency shift after specific curing periods. In addition, splitting tensile strength was measured on each sample to characterize the variation of residual strength. Then, a correlation between the hysteretic nonlinearity parameter and residual strength was proposed from each test result

A Novel Pinkish-White Flower Color Variant Is Caused by a New Allele of Flower Color Gene W1 in Wild Soybean (Glycine soja)

The enzyme flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase (F3'5'H) plays an important role in producing anthocyanin pigments in soybean. Loss of function of the W1 locus encoding F3'5'H always produces white flowers. However, few color variations have been reported in wild soybean. In the present study, we isolated a new color variant of wild soybean accession (IT261811) with pinkish-white flowers. We found that the flower's pinkish-white color is caused by w1-s3, a single recessive allele of W1. The SNP detected in the mutant caused amino acid substitution (A(304)S) in a highly conserved SRS4 domain of F3'5'H proteins. On the basis of the results of the protein variation effect analyzer (PROVEAN) tool, we suggest that this mutation may lead to hypofunctional F3'5'H activity rather than non-functional activity, which thereby results in its pinkish-white color

Validity of gait parameters for hip flexor contracture in patients with cerebral palsy

Background: Psoas contracture is known to cause abnormal hip motion in patients with cerebral palsy. The authors investigated the clinical relevance of hip kinematic and kinetic parameters, and 3D modeled psoas length in terms of discriminant validty, convergent validity, and responsiveness. Methods: Twenty-four patients with cerebral palsy (mean age 6.9 years) and 28 normal children (mean age 7.6 years) were included. Kinematic and kinetic data were obtained by three dimensional gait analysis, and psoas lengths were determined using a musculoskeletal modeling technique. Validity of the hip parameters were evaluated. Results: In discriminant validity, maximum psoas length (effect size r = 0.740), maximum pelvic tilt (0.710), maximum hip flexion in late swing (0.728), maximum hip extension in stance (0.743), and hip flexor index (0.792) showed favorable discriminant ability between the normal controls and the patients. In convergent validity, maximum psoas length was not significantly correlated with maximum hip extension in stance in control group whereas it was correlated with maximum hip extension in stance (r = -0.933, p < 0.001) in the patients group. In responsiveness, maximum pelvic tilt (p = 0.008), maximum hip extension in stance (p = 0.001), maximum psoas length (p < 0.001), and hip flexor index (p < 0.001) showed significant improvement post-operatively. Conclusions: Maximum pelvic tilt, maximum psoas length, hip flexor index, and maximum hip extension in stance were found to be clinically relevant parameters in evaluating hip flexor contracture.Y