Structural Insights into the Mechanisms of Antibody-Mediated Neutralization of Flavivirus Infection: Implications for Vaccine Development

Flaviviruses are a group of small RNA viruses that cause severe disease in humans worldwide and are the target of several vaccine development programs. A primary goal of these efforts is to elicit a protective humoral response directed against the envelope proteins arrayed on the surface of the flavivirus virion. Advances in the structural biology of these viruses has catalyzed rapid progress toward understanding the complexity of the flavivirus immunogen and the molecular basis of antibody-mediated neutralization. These insights have identified factors that govern the potency of neutralizing antibodies and will inform the design and evaluation of novel vaccines

Delaware Physicians\u27 Behavior Regarding Patient Advice on Tobacco Use

No abstract available

A human antibody against Zika virus crosslinks the E protein to prevent infection

The recent Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic has been linked to unusual and severe clinical manifestations including microcephaly in fetuses of infected pregnant women and Guillian-Barré syndrome in adults. Neutralizing antibodies present a possible therapeutic approach to prevent and control ZIKV infection. Here we present a 6.2 Å resolution three-dimensional cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) structure of an infectious ZIKV (strain H/PF/2013, French Polynesia) in complex with the Fab fragment of a highly therapeutic and neutralizing human monoclonal antibody, ZIKV-117. The antibody had been shown to prevent fetal infection and demise in mice. The structure shows that ZIKV-117 Fabs cross-link the monomers within the surface E glycoprotein dimers as well as between neighbouring dimers, thus preventing the reorganization of E protein monomers into fusogenic trimers in the acidic environment of endosomes

LBNL# 40102 Field Investigation of Duct System Performance in California Light Commercial Buildings 1 of 26 Field Investigation of Duct System Performance in California Light Commercial Buildings Synopsis

Abstract Light commercial buildings, one-and two-story with package roof-top HVAC units, make up approximately 50% of the non-residential building stock in the U.S. Despite this fact little is known about the performance of these package roof-top units and their associated ductwork. These simple systems use similar duct materials and construction techniques as residential systems (which are known to be quite leaky). This paper discusses a study to characterize the buildings, quantify the duct leakage, and analyze the performance of the ductwork in these types of buildings. The study tested fifteen systems in eight different buildings located in northern California. All of these buildings had the ducts located in the cavity between the drop ceiling and the roof deck. In 50% of these buildings, this cavity was functionally outside both the building's air and thermal barriers. The effective leakage area of the ducts in this study was approximately 2.6 times that in residential buildings. This paper looks at the thermal analysis of the ducts, from the viewpoint of efficiency and thermal comfort. This includes the length of a cycle, and whether the fan is always on or if it cycles with the cooling equipment. 66% of the systems had frequent on cycles of less than 10 minutes, resulting in non-steady-state operation