Herein, we demonstrate that a flexible, air-permeable, thermoelectric (TE) power generator can be prepared by applying a TE polymer (e.g. poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate)) coated commercial fabric and subsequently by linking the coated strips with a conductive connection (e.g. using fine metal wires). The poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) coated fabric shows very stable TE properties from 300 K to 390 K. The fabric device can generate a TE voltage output (V) of 4.3 mV at a temperature difference (ΔT) of 75.2 K. The potential for using fabric TE devices to harvest body temperature energy has been discussed. Fabric-based TE devices may be useful for the development of new power generating clothing and self-powered wearable electronics.

Bi2Te3 based alloy nanosheet (NS)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) composite films were prepared separately by spin coating and drop casting techniques. The drop cast composite film containing 4.10 wt % Bi2Te3 based alloy NSs showed electrical conductivity as high as 1295.21 S/cm, which is higher than that (753.8 S/cm) of a dimethyl sulfoxide doped PEDOT:PSS film prepared under the same condition and that (850-1250 S/cm) of the Bi2Te3 based alloy bulk material. The composite film also showed a very high power factor value, ∼32.26 μWm(-1) K(-2). With the content of Bi2Te3 based alloy NSs increasing from 0 to 4.10 wt %, the electrical conductivity and Seebeck coefficient of the composite films increase simultaneously.

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Efforts to develop a vaccine against HIV have so far met with limited success. Given that CD4(+) T cell activation drives the initial burst of viral replication, we explored in macaques whether an oral vaccine comprised of Lactobacillus plantarum, a commensal bacterium that favors immune tolerance, and inactivated simian immunodeficiency virus mac239 (SIVmac239) would induce CD4(+) T cell unresponsiveness/tolerance toward SIV antigens and thereby prevent the establishment of SIV infection. The tolerogenic vaccine induced MHC-Ib/E-restricted CD8(+) regulatory T cells (Tregs) that suppressed SIV-harboring CD4(+) T cell activation and ex vivo SIV replication in 15 of 16 animals without inducing SIV-specific antibodies or cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Of 16 macaques that were intrarectally challenged with SIVmac239 or heterologous strain SIVB670, 15 were sterilely protected. In four macaques that were rechallenged intravenously, plasma SIV levels peaked slightly and then dropped to undetectable levels, although the animals subsequently harbored intracellular SIV DNA. Infusion of CD8 antibodies confirmed the role of CD8(+) Tregs in preventing/suppressing SIV in vivo. These findings suggest a new avenue of research toward developing an HIV-1 vaccine.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how the organizational forgetting affect innovation performance under the consideration of the environmental turbulence as a moderating factor of the analysis framework. Design/methodology/approach This study constructs and verifies a moderated mediating model of organizational forgetting to innovation performance, using the exploratory factor analysis and the hierarchical regression analysis based on a survey sample of 320 Chinese companies. Findings The organizational forgetting is a critical determinant for improving innovation performance of an enterprise. A more detailed analysis reveals that first organizational forgetting cannot promote organization’s innovation performance without absorptive capacity. Second, the mediating effect of absorptive capacity is more positive when environmental turbulence is higher. Practical implications This study provides empirical evidence about the importance of organizational forgetting in the firm innovation. Originality/value This paper adds to the existing literature by providing a clear explanation of the impacts of organizational forgetting on innovation performance through a comprehensive empirical study. Contrasting with previous research, this research clarifies the boundary conditions under which organizational forgetting enhances innovation performance. In particular, the authors find that organizational forgetting is not equally positive but instead increases with the level of environmental turbulence.

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A new paradigm of mucosal vaccination against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has been investigated in the macaque model. A vaccine consisting of inactivated simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)mac239 particles together with a living bacterial adjuvant (either the Calmette and Guerin bacillus, Lactobacillus plantarum or Lactobacillus rhamnosus) was administered to macaques via the vaginal or oral/intragastric route. In contrast to all established human and veterinary vaccines, these three vaccine regimens did not elicit SIV-specific antibodies nor cytotoxic T-lymphocytes but induced a previously unrecognized population of non-cytolytic MHCIb/E-restricted CD8+ T-regulatory cells that suppressed the activation of SIV-positive CD4+ T-lymphocytes. SIV reverse transcription was thereby blocked in inactivated CD4+ T-cells; the initial burst of virus replication was prevented and the vaccinated macaques were protected from a challenge infection. For 3–14 months after intragastric immunization, 24 macaques were challenged intrarectally with a high dose of SIVmac239 or with the heterologous strain SIV B670 (both strains grown on macaques PBMC). Twenty-three of these animals were found to be protected for up to 48 months while all 24 control macaques became infected. This protective effect against SIV challenge together with the concomitant identification of a robust ex vivo correlate of protection suggests a new approach for developing an HIV vaccine in humans. The induction of this new class of CD8+ T-regulatory cells could also possibly be used therapeutically for suppressing HIV replication in infected patients and this novel tolerogenic vaccine paradigm may have potential applications for treating a wide range of immune disorders and is likely to may have profound implications across immunology generally.

Since the first outbreak of HIV-1 was reported in heroin users in China in 1989, HIV-1 has spread steadily among injection drug users, leading to an exponential growth of nationwide outbreaks from 1998 to 2004. However, the impact of sexual transmission on outbreaks of HIV in China's general population is still unclear. Through a governmental HIV/AIDS surveillance program, an HIV serological study was conducted in volunteers between 1996 and 2005 in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan province. We performed the transmission reconstruction by molecular epidemiological tracing in a subset of the HIV-1-seropositive individuals diagnosed during this survey. Neighbor joining and maximum likelihood trees based on the HIV-1 pol and env genes were implemented to provide information on putative epidemiological links, which were then confirmed by contact tracing. Of 25,390 volunteers, 501 (2%) accumulated cases of HIV-1 infection (21.1% in needle-sharing drug users, 77.3% in heterosexual adults, 0.4% in homosexual adults, and 1.2% in children born from infected mothers) were diagnosed. Among 44 heterosexually infected and antiretroviral-naive local-traceable individuals (27 infected with HIV-1 subtype CRF01_AE, 15 with CRF08_BC, 1 with G, and 1 with a new B/C recombinant), 18 (40.9%) were coclustered into 8 transmission chains with an average size of 2.25 infections per chain. Phylogenetic and epidemiological linkages confirmed eight heterosexual transmission events. This is the first report providing molecular epidemiological evidence of heterosexual transmission of HIV-1 in China's general population. The reconstruction of transmission of current HIV-1 outbreaks by molecular epidemiological tracing is instrumental in identifying sources of the epidemic and in defining prevention strategies.