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The results of this work further envisage the uniformly doped silicene as a promising candidate for future nanoelectronic applications.Microbial pathogens bind host complement regulatory proteins to evade the immune system. The bacterial pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, or meningococcus, binds several complement regulators, including human Factor H (FH). FH binding protein (FHbp) is a component of two licensed meningococcal vaccines and in mice FHbp elicits antibodies that inhibit binding of FH to FHbp, which defeat the bacterial evasion mechanism. However, humans vaccinated with FHbp develop antibodies that enhance binding of FH to the bacteria, which could limit the effectiveness of the vaccines. In the present study, we show that two vaccine-elicited antibody fragments (Fabs) isolated from different human subjects increase binding of complement FH to meningococcal FHbp by ELISA. The two Fabs have different effects on the kinetics of FH binding to immobilized FHbp as measured by surface plasmon resonance. The 1.7- and 2.0-Å resolution X-ray crystal structures of the Fabs in complexes with FHbp illustrate that the two Fabs bind to similar epitopes on the amino-terminal domain of FHbp, adjacent to the FH binding site. Superposition models of ternary complexes of each Fab with FHbp and FH show that there is likely minimal contact between the Fabs and FH. Collectively, the structures reveal that the Fabs enhance binding of FH to FHbp by altering the conformations and mobilities of two loops adjacent to the FH binding site of FHbp. In addition, the 1.5 Å-resolution structure of one of the isolated Fabs defines the structural rearrangements associated with binding to FHbp. The FH-enhancing human Fabs, which are mirrored in the human polyclonal antibody responses, have important implications for tuning the effectiveness of FHbp-based vaccines.The exopolysaccharide galactosaminogalactan (GAG) has been well characterized in Aspergilli, especially the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. It has been found that a five-gene cluster is responsible for GAG biosynthesis in Aspergilli to mediate fungal adherence, biofilm formation, immunosuppression or induction of host immune defences. Herein, we report the presence of the conserved GAG biosynthetic gene cluster in the insect pathogenic fungus Metarhizium robertsii to mediate either similar or unique biological functions. Deletion of the gene cluster disabled fungal ability to produce GAG on germ tubes, mycelia and appressoria. Relative to the wild type strain, null mutant was impaired in topical infection but not injection of insect hosts. We found that GAG production by Metarhizium is partially acetylated and could mediate fungal adherence to hydrophobic insect cuticles, biofilm formation, and penetration of insect cuticles. In particular, it was first confirmed that this exopolymer is responsible for the formation of appressorium mucilage, the essential extracellular matrix formed along with the infection structure differentiation to mediate cell attachment and expression of cuticle degrading enzymes. In contrast to its production during A. fumigatus invasive growth, GAG is not produced on the Metarhizium cells harvested from insect hemocoels; however, the polymer can glue germ tubes into aggregates to form mycelium pellets in liquid culture. The results of this study unravel the biosynthesis and unique function of GAG in a fungal system apart from the aspergilli species.The egg parasitoid Trichogramma evanescens Westwood is considered as an efficient biological control agent for managing several lepidopteran pests and it is widely distributed throughout the world. Mass rearing protocols of parasitoids that are currently in use in biocontrol programs require a meticulous quality control plan, in order to optimize their efficacy, but also their progeny production capacity. In this paper, the effect of different factors on the quality control in mass rearing of T. evenescens, using Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) and Galleria mellonella L. [https://www.selleckchem.com/products/shp099-dihydrochloride.html https://www.selleckchem.com/products/shp099-dihydrochloride.html] as host species, were investigated. The impact of egg agewas significant in the rates of parasitism, for both host species tested. Significantly highest percent of parasitoid emergence was noticed in two day-old eggs for both host species, while one day-old eggs day exhibited the maximum emergence when both species were used togetherin the same trials. Age-dependent storage egg preservation at either 4 or 9°C significantly influenced the parasitism percentages on both species. The highest parasitism percentage was recorded in two day-old G. mellonella eggs that are kept for 15 days at 9°C while the lower in one day-old P. interpunctella eggs for 60 d storage. Moreover, the highest parasitoid mortality was recorded in T. evanescens reared either on P. interpunctella or G. mellonella at 20°C. Rearing of the parasitoid on a mixture of eggs of both host species resulted in higher parasitism, but not always in higher rates of parasitoid emergence. The results of the present work provide useful information that can be further utilized in rearing protocols of T. evanescens.The mitochondrial tumor suppressor 1 (MTUS1) gene acts as a crucial tumor suppressor by inhibiting growth and proliferation of eukaryotic cells including tumor cell lines. Down regulation of MTUS1 gene has been implicated in a wide range of cancers as well as various human diseases. Alteration through nsSNPs can potentially damage the structure and/or function of the protein. As characterization of functional SNPs in such disease linked genes is a major challenge, it is feasible to analyze putative functional SNPs prior to performing larger population studies. Hence, in this in silico study we differentiated the potentially harmful nsSNPs of the MTUS1 gene from the neutral ones by using various sequence and structure based bioinformatic tools. In a total of 215 nsSNPs, 9 were found to be most likely to exert deleterious effect using 7 prediction tools. From which, 5nsSNPs (S1259L, E960K, P503T, L1084V and L1143Q) were selected as potentially damaging due to their presence in the highly conserved region and ability to decrease protein stability. In fact, 2 nsSNPs (S1259L and E960K) among these 5 were found to be individually associated with two distinctive cancers named Stomach adenocarcinoma and Uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma. As this is the first comprehensive study analyzing the functional nsSNPs of MTUS1, the results of the current study would certainly be helpful in future prospects concerning large population-based studies as well as drug discovery, especially developing individualized medicine.Geopolymer concrete is an inorganic concrete that uses industrial or agro by-product ashes as the main binder instead of ordinary Portland cement; this leads to the geopolymer concrete being an eco-efficient and environmentally friendly construction material. A variety of ashes used as the binder in geopolymer concrete such as fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag, rice husk ash, metakaolin ash, and Palm oil fuel ash, fly ash was commonly consumed to prepare geopolymer concrete composites. The most important mechanical property for all types of concrete composites, including geopolymer concrete, is the compressive strength. However, in the structural design and construction field, the compressive strength of the concrete at 28 days is essential. Therefore, achieving an authoritative model for predicting the compressive strength of geopolymer concrete is necessary regarding saving time, energy, and cost-effectiveness. It gives guidance regarding scheduling the construction process and removal of formwoicient of determination (R2) were used to evaluate the efficiency of the developed models. link2 The results indicated that the NLR model performed better for predicting the compressive strength of FA-GPC mixtures compared to the other models. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the curing temperature, alkaline liquid to binder ratio, and sodium silicate content are the most affecting parameter for estimating the compressive strength of the FA-GPC.The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a socioeconomic effect, including many people suffering from stress and mental disorders. link3 Health professional students are at risk of health issues as well when compared to their age-matched counterpart in the population. The present study aimed to find out the impact of COVID-19 awareness on the wellness of Thai health professional students. The awareness of COVID-19 and wellness among Thai health professional students, such as medical, physical therapy, nursing, pharmacy, and medical technology students were surveyed during the early "new normal" informing policy. The participants included 1,001 students, aged 17 to 25 years old, who responded to a Google form questionnaire set by request. The results showed that the prominent health risks among the Thai health professional students included sedentary behavior, obesity, and mental symptoms. A positive rating in attitude towards the COVID-19 epidemic was mostly observed. There was a negative influence on anxiety symptoms (standardized coefficient beta = -0.079, p-value = 0.012), but a positive impact on social well-being (standardized coefficient beta = 0.158, p-value less then 0.001) and quality of life (standardized coefficient beta = 0.136, p-value less then 0.001) among the students even when the situation was improving. To relieve the domino effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on students' wellness, an updated policy for enhancing awareness and providing updated information is continuously required. Improvements on self and situational awareness may help prevent health risk behaviors and promote health among Thai health professional students.[This corrects the article DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0231073.].[This corrects the article DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0238478.].<br /><br /> The rapid diagnostic test (RDT) rK39 is currently being used for routine diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in East Africa. However, continuous monitoring of the performance of the assay, in particular its impact on the clinical decision in initiating anti-leishmanial treatment and outcomes remains needed as there are concerns about the diagnostic performance of this test.<br /><br /> VL patients prospectively enrolled in a diagnostic trial and with rK39 RDT were included. We evaluated the effect of rK39 testing in guiding treatment initiation and outcome. On the basis of rK39 RDT test result as well as clinical case definition for VL and microscopy examination, the clinicians decide whether to initiate VL therapy or not. Poisson regression models were used to identify factors associated with a decision to initiate VL therapy. In addition, treatment outcomes of those who received VL therapy were compared to those who received non-VL treatment.<br /><br /> Of 324 VL suspects enrolled, 184 (56.8%) were rK39+ and 140 (43.2%Including an additional simple point-of-care assay in the diagnostic work-up is urgently needed to correctly identify VL cases and to prevent morbidity and mortality associated with the disease.HIV-1 functional cure requires sustained viral suppression without antiretroviral therapy. While effector-memory CD8+ T lymphocytes are essential for viremia control, few vaccines elicit such cellular immunity that could be potently recalled upon viral infection. Here, we investigated a program death-1 (PD1)-based vaccine by fusion of simian immunodeficiency virus capsid antigen to soluble PD1. Homologous vaccinations suppressed setpoint viremia to undetectable levels in vaccinated macaques following a high-dose intravenous challenge by the pathogenic SHIVSF162P3CN. Poly-functional effector-memory CD8+ T cells were not only induced after vaccination, but were also recalled upon viral challenge for viremia control as determined by CD8 depletion. Vaccine-induced effector memory CD8+ subsets displayed high cytotoxicity-related genes by single-cell analysis. Vaccinees with sustained viremia suppression for over two years responded to boost vaccination without viral rebound. These results demonstrated that PD1-based vaccine-induced effector-memory CD8+ T cells were recalled by AIDS virus infection, providing a potential immunotherapy for functional cure.