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Catal-GPT:AI-driven directed efficient design framework for catalysts
No full textThis perspective article proposes and further preliminarily verifies an artificial intelligence assistant (Catal-GPT) that interacts with researchers to optimize catalyst formulations, thereby improving the efficiency of catalyst design.</p
Humoral response induced after intranasal vaccination with heat inactivated Acinetobacter baumannii protects immunodeficient mice against hypervirulent LAC-4 strain.
No full textBACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic bacterium that causes serious nosocomial infections, including pneumonia and bacteremia, especially in immunocompromised individuals. METHODS: Here, we first evaluated the protective efficacy of a vaccination protocol with the heat-killed (HK) A. baumannii strain LAC-4 in various models of immunodeficient C57BL/6 mice challenged with pulmonary infection by LAC-4. We then examined the ability of HK LAC-4 to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy donors in vitro. RESULTS: We observed that mice deficient in Th1 (IL-12p35 -/-, IFN-γ -/-), Th17 (IL-17RA -/-) and T cells (δTCR -/-, TAP1 -/-, CD3 -/-) display higher susceptibility to LAC-4 infection, but that our protocol improves their resistance. In contrast, vaccinated B cell-deficient (MuMT -/-) mice appear unable to control the infection, demonstrating that humoral immunity is essential to vaccine protection. Vaccination of wild-type mice with an HK Δ itrA strain deficient for capsule production failed to induce protection, showing that protective antibodies are mainly directed against the capsule. Our vaccination protocol also confers increased protection in wild-type mice vaccinated and then treated with cyclophosphamide; an immunosuppressive drug described to strongly increase the susceptibility of mice to A. baumannii infection. Finally, we demonstrate that HK LAC-4 can induce the activation of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells and T lymphocytes from PBMCs of healthy donors, suggesting that it may activate the human adaptive immune system and induce a protective memory response against A. baumannii. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our results demonstrate that administration of HK bacteria can induce protective immunity against A. baumannii in both immuno-competent and immuno-compromised mice and that these HK bacteria can activate the human adaptive immune system. </p
An integro-ODE-PDE model for Covid-19 pandemic with vaccination and loss of immunity:Well-posedness, RBF-FD numerical scheme and simulation
No full textDuring an epidemic, the way individuals spread the infection can vary depending on the number of days they have been infected. Vaccination is a key factor in the control of the transmission of the pathogen. We propose an SIR-like model to simulate the propagation of a virus in a closed population. The model presents a continuous structure in age of infectivity and in age of immunity. By using a fixed point theorem, we then prove the well-posedness of the model and properties of its solution. Then we present the radial basis function-generated finite difference method, which we use to numerically solve our problem. Finally, numerical simulations are explored to witness the impact of the parameter values in the model.</p
Correction:Extraction of Ta and Nb from a Coltan Bearing Ore by Means of Ammonium Bifluoride Fluorination and Sulfuric Acid Leaching (Minerals, (2021), 11, 12, (1392), 10.3390/min11121392)
No full textThe contact details of the author Alidor Shikika have been updated. The original publication [1] contained a typographical error in the XRD data collection description (radiation source wavelength), and a mistake in the XRD data itself (ABF/ore mass ratio of 3/1) due to a copy–paste error. A correction has been made to Section 2. Materials and Methods, Subsection 2.2. Ore Characterization, second paragraph: The mineral-phase analysis of the ore was carried out by an X-ray Bruker D8-ECO diffractometer with CuKα radiation (λ = 1.54 Å). The sample was pulverized before being scanned between 3 and 90°2θ at a rate of 0.02°2θ per second. In the original publication, there was a mistake in Figure 13 as published. The XRD pattern (b) corresponding to the ABF/ore mass ratio of 3/1 was incorrectly plotted when importing data from the XY file, leading to data misrepresentation. The corrected Figure 13 appears below. The authors state that the scientific conclusions are unaffected. This correction was approved by the Academic Editor. The original publication has also been updated.</p
Narratives of social democracy’s demise:insights from the Portuguese case
No full textThe Portuguese Socialist Party (PS), often regarded as an exception to the decline of social-democratic (S-D) parties across Western Europe, has recently shown signs of vulnerability. This article explores, from a demand-side perspective, how the profile of its defectors (2002–2024) differs from dominant narratives about the challenges faced by S-D parties. Using original data, we show that the PS’s resilience relies on a stable base of loyal voters, but we also identify two patterns of defection: towards the radical left and, more recently, the radical right, driven, respectively, by cultural and economic concerns. These findings highlight the importance of both cultural and economic dimensions in the strategies of S-D parties, particularly for younger voters, as a path for renewal
Unravelling the disorder-aggregation-properties relationships of the amyloidogenic intrinsically disordered zinc finger proteins DPF3
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