Determinants Of Antibody Immunity In Flavivirus Infections And Immunization

The most significant arthropod-borne viral infections in modern history are caused by species of the Flavivirus (FV) genus due to their global transmission. While immunization is effective at decreasing the burden imposed by some FV, vaccines for other FV such as Dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) are still in development or not widely available. A better understanding of the protective immune response, specifically the antibody response, to DENV and ZIKV will advance the vaccine development endeavors for these viruses. Utilizing longitudinal samples from controlled human immunization/challenge studies and natural infections, we investigated the antibody response to these viruses in both the cellular and serological compartments. Primary DENV or ZIKV infection results in an antibody response specific to the infecting virus with little cross-reactivity to other related FV. This specificity profile is observed in the immune serum, and both the acute plasmablast and convalescent memory B cell sub-populations. Neutralizing antibodies were identified in these compartments of the antibody response, suggesting their functional association with homologous immunity to the infecting virus. In contrast to primary infection, the antibody response induced by immunization with the tetravalent live attenuated vaccine TV003 is cross-reactive in both the serological and cellular compartments. Interpretation of these findings reveals an intimate and complex relationship between B cell sub-populations and serum antibodies, and contributes to our knowledge of various differentiation routes amongst these B cells. Further analysis using monoclonal antibodies reveals structural vulnerabilities of FV. We identified domain III of the viral envelope glycoprotein to be one of the immunodominant and neutralizing targets for DENV- and ZIKV-specific antibodies. Further studies will continue to elucidate the connections between different B cell sub-populations engaged in FV infections, and identify specific subsets that either confer protection or pose a disease risk in the secondary antibody response invoked by multiple infections. Characterization of antibodies produced by these B cell subsets will further define the determinants of antibody-mediated protection. Application of these findings will benefit the endeavor to combat the burden of FV. Better understanding of the structural-functional relationship between viral epitopes and neutralizing antibodies will create avenues for antibody-based therapies as well as vaccine design. Leveraging virus-specific antibodies induced by primary exposures will improve the specificity of DENV or ZIKV diagnosis to differentiate infection by each of these viral species or serotypes. Accurate diagnoses will lead to proper treatments to improve disease outcomes. Furthermore, accurate diagnoses will aid in sero-surveillance efforts to ultimately inform vaccine strategies for endemic populations

Impact of Strategic Management Accounting on Operating Performance: Research in Public Universities of Vietnam

Purpose: The study aims to evaluate the impact of strategic management accounting (SMA) on the operating performance of Vietnamese public universities in terms of autonomy, student size, and number of years of establishment.   Theoretical framework: The paper is based on the theory of strategic management accounting, including the use of strategic management accounting as well as the characteristics of organizations in general and universities in particular.   Design/Methodology/Approach: Survey data were collected from 142 accountants of 102 public higher education institutions, cleaned data, and used regression analysis by SPSS 22 software.   Findings: The results showed that with 07 factors of SMA stands for Strategic Application (AD), Strategic Planning (LKH), Strategic Management Accounting (KT), Financial Measures (TC), Non-Financial Measures (PTC), Reporting strategy (BC), and Strategic Management Decision Making (RQD), there are only 3 factors that have an impact on the performance of quality universities (Application of Strategy, Quality Management Accounting Techniques, and Financial Measures). Considering the control variable, only the degree of autonomy, and the number of students have a positive effect on the impact of quality management accounting information and the performance of universities.   Research, practical & social implications: The results contribute to additional evidence for managers to pay more attention to quality management accounting information, thereby improving the universites' operational performance. In addition, this study complements the literature review documents related to the content of SMA and the impact of using SMA on the performance of universities.   Originality/Value: The study provided an extension on the impact of SMA on the performance of universities as well as the mediating role of the control variable on the relationship between SMA and performance. Research results provide useful references for research on related issues

Synergic Effect of CaI and LiI on Ionic Conductivity of Solution-Based Synthesized Li7P3S11 Solid Electrolyte

Li7P3S11 doped with CaX2 (X = Cl, Br, I) and LiI solid electrolytes were successfully prepared by liquid-phase synthesis using acetonitrile as the reaction medium. Their structure was investigated using XRD, Raman spectroscopy and SEM-EDS. The data obtained from complex impedance spectroscopy was analyzed to study the ionic conductivity and relaxation dynamics in the prepared samples. The XRD results suggested that a part of CaX2 and LiI incorporated into the structure of Li7P3S11, while the remaining part existed at the grain boundary of the Li7P3S11 particle. The Raman peak positions of PS43- and P2S74- ions in samples 90Li7P3S11-5CaI2 and 90Li7P3S11-5CaI2-5LiI had shifted as compared to the Li7P3S11 sample, showing that CaI2 addition affected the vibration of PS43- and P2S74- ions. EDS results indicated that CaI2 and LiI were well dispersed in the prepared powder sample. The ionic conductivity at 25 °C of sample 90Li7P3S11-5CaI2-5LiI reached a very high value of 3.1 mS cm-1 due to the improvement of Li-ion movement at the grain boundary and structural improvement upon CaI2 and LiI doping. This study encouraged the application of Li7P3S11 in all-solid-state Li-ion batteries

A study on multi-criteria decision-making in powder mixed electric discharge machining cylindrical shaped parts

In life as well as in engineering, many times, it is necessary to choose the best option among many different options. That will be more difficult when the criteria given for the selection contradict each other. For example, when external cylindrical grinding, the minimum surface roughness requirement necessitates a small depth of cut and feed rate. The material removal rate will be reduced in this case, and this requirement will conflict with the maximum material removal rate requirement. To solve the above problem, a very useful tool is multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM). In this paper, for the first time, MCDM results for powder mixed discharge machining (PMEDM) cylindrical parts of SKD11 tool steel with copper electrodes have been presented. In this work, eighteen experiments with the L18 (16×53) design using the Taguchi method were conducted. Six main input process parameters include the powder concentration, the pulse current, the servo voltage, the pulse on time, and the pulse off time. To select an alternative that simultaneously ensures two criteria including minimum surface roughness (RS) and maximum material removal speed (MRS), four different MCDM methods including MAIRCA (Multi-Attributive Ideal-Real Comparative Analysis), MARCOS (Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to Compromise Solution), TOPSIS (Technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution), and EAMR (Area-based Method of Ranking) and two methods of criteria weight calculation including MEREC (Method based on the Removal Effects of Criteria) and Entropy methods were selected. The results of MCDM when PMEDM SKD11 tool steel cylindrical parts with two methods for weight determination and four methods for solving MCDM problem were evaluated. In addition, the best alternative to ensure simultaneous minimum RS and maximum MRS was proposed