Characterization of the binding and neutralizing properties of monoclonal antibodies against JCV

Antibody-based immunity to JC polyomavirus (JCV) is not well understood and monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs) that functionally neutralize the infectivity of JCV have not been documented. (1). Virus Like Particles (VLP)-based ELISAs can detect JCV-binding antibodies that do not necessarily neutralize the infectivity of JCV. Therefore, functional neutralization-based serology will be needed to validate candidate JCV VLP vaccines and therapeutic McAbs. (2). The neutralizing activity of McAbs can be specific for particular genotypes and clinical strains. Hence, VLPs from multiple genotypes may be needed to formulate a vaccine that could protect against diverse JCV strains circulating in patients with progressive multifocal encephalopathy (PML)

A prototypical small-molecule modulator uncouples mitochondria in response to endogenous hydrogen peroxide production

A high membrane potential across the mitochondrial inner membrane leads to the production of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) implicated in aging and age-related diseases. A prototypical drug for the correction of this type of mitochondrial dysfunction is presented. MitoDNP-SUM accumulates in mitochondria in response to the membrane potential due to its mitochondria-targeting alkyltriphenylphosphonium (TPP) cation and is uncaged by endogenous hydrogen peroxide to release the mitochondrial uncoupler, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). DNP is known to reduce the high membrane potential responsible for the production of ROS. The approach potentially represents a general method for the delivery of drugs to the mitochondrial matrix through mitochondria targeting and H2O2-induced uncaging

Distributed Bees Algorithm Parameters Optimization for a Cost Efficient Target Allocation in Swarms of Robots

Swarms of robots can use their sensing abilities to explore unknown environments and deploy on sites of interest. In this task, a large number of robots is more effective than a single unit because of their ability to quickly cover the area. However, the coordination of large teams of robots is not an easy problem, especially when the resources for the deployment are limited. In this paper, the Distributed Bees Algorithm (DBA), previously proposed by the authors, is optimized and applied to distributed target allocation in swarms of robots. Improved target allocation in terms of deployment cost efficiency is achieved through optimization of the DBA’s control parameters by means of a Genetic Algorithm. Experimental results show that with the optimized set of parameters, the deployment cost measured as the average distance traveled by the robots is reduced. The cost-efficient deployment is in some cases achieved at the expense of increased robots’ distribution error. Nevertheless, the proposed approach allows the swarm to adapt to the operating conditions when available resources are scarce

Near-Infrared Thermal Emission from the Hot Jupiter TrES-2b: Ground-Based Detection of the Secondary Eclipse

We present near-infrared Ks-band photometry bracketing the secondary eclipse of the hot Jupiter TrES-2b using the Wide-field Infrared Camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. We detect its thermal emission with an eclipse depth of 0.062 +/- 0.012% (5-sigma). Our best-fit secondary eclipse is consistent with a circular orbit (a 3-sigma upper limit on the eccentricity, e, and argument or periastron, omega, of |ecos(omega)| < 0.0090), in agreement with mid-infrared detections of the secondary eclipse of this planet. A secondary eclipse of this depth corresponds to a day-side Ks-band brightness temperature of TB = 1636 +/- 88 K. Our thermal emission measurement when combined with the thermal emission measurements using Spitzer/IRAC from O'Donovan and collaborators suggest that this planet exhibits relatively efficient day to night-side redistribution of heat and a near isothermal dayside atmospheric temperature structure, with a spectrum that is well approximated by a blackbody. It is unclear if the atmosphere of TrES-2b requires a temperature inversion; if it does it is likely due to chemical species other than TiO/VO as the atmosphere of TrES-2b is too cool to allow TiO/VO to remain in gaseous form. Our secondary eclipse has the smallest depth of any detected from the ground at around 2 micron to date.Comment: ApJ accepted, 8 pages, 9 figures, in emulateapj format

Diverted from landfill: Manufacture and characterisation of composites from waste plastic packaging and waste glass fibres

This work explores the use of low-value packaging film-based waste mixed plastics (wMP) and waste glass fibres (wGF) to produce value-added composites. The study involves producing thermoplastic prepregs with wMP and wGF, manufacturing laminates via compression moulding, optimising wGF content, analysing the interface and assessing the performance of the laminates through mechanical testing. The results indicate that adding 18–26 vol% wGF to unreinforced wMP leads to significant improvements in tensile strength (over 300%), tensile modulus (500%), flexural modulus (over 700%), compressive strength (~350%), and compressive modulus (~700%) compared to unreinforced wMP. The significance of having 2D dispersion of short fibres with partial orientation compared to the more conventionally used 3D dispersion of short fibres is discussed. The research provides valuable scientific insights into the application of mixed waste materials in composites, aiding the creation of a more circular economy for plastic waste and leading to new composite products

Diverted from Landfill: Reuse of Single-Use Plastic Packaging Waste

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) based packaging films mostly end up in landfill after single-use as they are not commonly recycled due to their flexible nature, low strength and low cost. Additionally, the necessity to separate and sort different plastic waste streams is the most costly step in plastics recycling, and is a major barrier to increasing recycling rates. This cost can be reduced through using waste mixed plastics (wMP) as a raw material. This research investigates the properties of PE-based wMP coming from film packaging wastes that constitutes different grades of PE with traces of polypropylene (PP). Their properties are compared with segregated individual recycled polyolefins and virgin LDPE. The plastic plaques are produced directly from the wMP shreds as well as after extruding the wMP shreds into a more uniform material. The effect of different material forms and processing conditions on the mechanical properties are investigated. The results of the investigation show that measured properties of the wMP fall well within the range of properties of various grades of virgin polyethylene, indicating the maximum possible variations between different batches. Addition of an intermediate processing step of extrusion before compression moulding is found to have no effect on the tensile properties but results in a noticeably different failure behaviour. The wMP does not show any thermal degradation during processing that was confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis. The results give a scientific insight into the adoption of wMP in real world products that can divert them from landfill creating a more circular economy

Near-Infrared Thermal Emission from TrES-3b: A Ks-band detection and an H-band upper limit on the depth of the secondary eclipse

We present H and Ks-band photometry bracketing the secondary eclipse of the hot Jupiter TrES-3b using the Wide-field Infrared Camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. We detect the secondary eclipse of TrES-3b with a depth of 0.133+/-0.017% in Ks-band (8-sigma) - a result in sharp contrast to the eclipse depth reported by de Mooij & Snellen. We do not detect its thermal emission in H-band, but place a 3-sigma limit on the depth of the secondary eclipse in this band of 0.051%. A secondary eclipse of this depth in Ks requires very efficient day-to-nightside redistribution of heat and nearly isotropic reradiation, conclusion that is in agreement with longer wavelength, mid-infrared Spitzer observations. Our 3-sigma upper-limit on the depth of our H-band secondary eclipse also argues for very efficient redistribution of heat and suggests that the atmospheric layer probed by these observations may be well homogenized. However, our H-band upper limit is so constraining that it suggests the possibility of a temperature inversion at depth, or an absorbing molecule, such as methane, that further depresses the emitted flux at this wavelength. The combination of our near-infrared measurements and those obtained with Spitzer suggest that TrES-3b displays a near isothermal dayside atmospheric temperature structure, whose spectrum is well approximated by a blackbody. We emphasize that our strict H-band limit is in stark disagreement with the best-fit atmospheric model that results from longer wavelength observations only, thus highlighting the importance of near-infrared observations at multiple wavelengths in addition to those returned by Spitzer in the mid-infrared to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the energy budgets of transiting exoplanets.Comment: ApJ accepted, 8 pages, 7 figures, in EmulateApJ forma

Emergency Meningococcal ACWY Vaccination Program for Teenagers to Control Group W Meningococcal Disease, England, 2015–2016

During the first 12 months of an emergency meningococcal ACWY vaccination program for teenagers in England, coverage among persons who left school in 2015, the first cohort to be vaccinated, was 36.6%. There were 69% fewer group W meningococcal cases than predicted by trend analysis and no cases in vaccinated teenagers

The self-organized critical forest-fire model on large scales

We discuss the scaling behavior of the self-organized critical forest-fire model on large length scales. As indicated in earlier publications, the forest-fire model does not show conventional critical scaling, but has two qualitatively different types of fires that superimpose to give the effective exponents typically measured in simulations. We show that this explains not only why the exponent characterizing the fire-size distribution changes with increasing correlation length, but allows also to predict its asymptotic value. We support our arguments by computer simulations of a coarse-grained model, by scaling arguments and by analyzing states that are created artificially by superimposing the two types of fires.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure