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Abstract Genetic algorithms (GAs) are widely used in machine learning and optimization. This paper proposes a time-dependent genetic algorithm (TDGA) based on real-coded genetic algorithm (RCGA) to improve the convergence performance of functions over time such as a foot trajectory. TDGA has several distinguishing features when compared with traditional RCGA. First, individuals are arranged over time, and then the individuals are optimized in sequence. Second, search spaces of design variables are newly comprised of processes of reductions for search spaces. Third, the search space for crossover operations is expanded to avoid local minima traps that can occur in new search spaces up to the previous search space before performing any reduction of search space, and boundary mutation operation is performed to the new search spaces. Computer simulations are implemented to verify the convergence performance of the robot locomotion optimized by TDGA. Then, TDGA optimizes the desired feet trajectories of quadruped robots that climb up a slope and the impedance parameters of admittance control so that quadruped robots can trot stably over irregular terrains. Simulation results clearly represent that the convergence performance is improved by TDGA, which also shows that TDGA could be broadly used in robot locomotion research. Highlights • A new time dependent genetic algorithm (TDGA) is newly proposed and explained. • It is shown that TDGA is more efficient than general GA in convergence. • Locomotion of a quadruped robot is used to show the effectiveness of TDGA. • TDGA can be used in many similar applications to quadruped robot motion, i.e., where a complex motion sequence needs to be optimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) generally use oil adjuvants. For better immunization and safety, an adjuvant should be selected only after careful consideration. In this study, we produced vaccines for O, A, and Asia1 serotypes by mixing oil adjuvants, Emulsigen-D (ED), ISA 201, and ISA 206 with and without an aluminum hydroxide (AL) gel and measured their immunogenicity and safety to obtain information regarding critical differences (survival or weight loss) of vaccine quality in mice; the goal of this test was to overcome the difficulties associated with experiments large or medium-sized animals. The groups immunized with the vaccines containing only the oil adjuvants (ED, ISA 201, and ISA 206) had similar or higher levels of neutralizing antibodies and structural protein antibodies for the FMD virus (FMDV) than the groups immunized with the vaccines including the oil adjuvants mixed with the gel. However, in a challenge test using a mouse model, the protection rate showed the highest results in ISA 201 and ISA 206 mixed with AL. The mice immunized with vaccines containing ED showed temporary weight loss in the early postvaccination stages. Cell-mediated immunity was formed relatively strongly in the group vaccinated with vaccines including ISA 201 and ISA 206. We proposed that combinations of these adjuvants represent candidates for future FMD vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Non-infectious recombinant pentamer-like structures of the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) were expressed by baculovirus, and the antigenicity and immunogenicity of the proteins were analyzed in a blocking ELISA for the detection of FMDV antibodies. The recombinant pentamer-like structures were produced in insect (Sf9) cells that were inoculated with recombinant baculoviruses that expressed, simultaneously, the genes for the P1 and 3C proteins of FMDV from individual promoters. The FMDV pentamer-like structures were processed by viral 3C protease, as shown in Western blots, and were antigenic, as revealed by their reactivities in an indirect ELISA. Analysis by CsCl gradient centrifugation showed that the pentamer-like structures were similar to authentic pentameric subunits from FMDV in terms of sedimentation velocity. Furthermore, the pentamer-like structures induced high levels of FMDV-specific antibodies in mice following immunization. Observations made under the electron microscope revealed that the pentamer-like structures expressed by insect cells self-assembled to form pentameric subunits of 7–8nm in diameter, which resemble the authentic FMDV (23±2nm in diameter). The results indicate that these pentamer-like structures are as antigenic and immunogenic as authentic FMDV, although the former are smaller in size. Based on these results, a blocking ELISA was developed using the recombinant pentamer-like structure. The ELISA showed specificity of 99.5% and sensitivity of 98.5% when tested with FMDV antibody-negative and -positive sera, respectively. This blocking ELISA is highly specific and offers many advantages over the current ELISAs that use inactivated FMDV antigen. This is the first report of the production and diagnostic application of recombinant pentameric subunits of FMDV. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a new impedance controller for a bilateral teleoperation under a time delay. In the proposed controller, a dynamic characteristic at the operator–master (slave–environment) interface is designed by a desired master (slave) impedance model. To cope with the uncertainty in the slave, an impedance model is put into a sliding surface of a sliding-mode-controller. A stability condition is derived from absolute stability concept, and a parameter tuning algorithm is proposed using this. The validity of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated by experiments with a 1-DOF master/slave system. Experimental results show that the proposed control method works well with robustness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents visual servoing control for a ball on a flat plate to track its desired trajectory. An industrial robot manipulator is used as the actuators to change the angle of the plate so that the ball can track its given trajectory on the plate. The center position of the ball is measured with a machine vision system. Based on the Euler estimator, an algorithm to find the center of the ball with interlaced-scanned image data is proposed. To cope with the variations in the surface characteristics of the plate, and the size and mass of the ball, a sliding-mode control is used for the visual servoing. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm and the sliding-mode controller work well with robustness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequence of VP1 revealed that a new isolate of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotype Asia 1 identified in Mongolia in 2005 was related to Chinese and Russian strains isolated during the same year. In this study, these strains were defined as East Asian strains having a common geographical origin, and the complete genomic sequence of the Mongolian strain (As1/MOG/05) was determined and compared to other strains of serotype Asia 1. As1/MOG/05 showed 100% identity with an East Asian strain from China (As1/Qinghai/CHA/05) in terms of its VP1 nucleotide sequence. However, the Mongolian strain has a four-amino acid extension in 3D that is missing from all other strains of serotype Asia 1, and which is not due to an insertion. A full genomic scan revealed that the Mongolian strain is closer to the East Asian strain As1/JS/CHA/05 than to all other strains of serotype Asia 1 in nearly all genomic regions. Within the narrow region of low similarity between the two sequences, As1/JS/CHA/05 was found to have a mosaic structure with a partial 2C fragment supposedly transferred from Hong Kong strain As1/HNK/CHA/05. The genomic mosaicism and extension detected in non-structural protein-coding regions in this study may be used to trace the origins and evolution of problematic strains of serotype Asia 1 that have arisen in East Asia since 2005. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Two type O commercial vaccines, the O 1 /Campos and O/Primorsky/2014 vaccines, were studied to evaluate the in vivo efficacy in pigs against heterologous virus challenge with the O/SKR/Jincheon/2014 virus (O/SEA/Mya-98 lineage) isolated in Korea in 2014. The in vivo challenge results indicated that both vaccines induced a high heterologous virus neutralization test (VNT) titer by a single injection and successfully protected specific pathogen-free (SPF) pigs from challenge infection. To determine the optimal vaccination age, a field trial with each vaccine was conducted with three one-shot-vaccinated groups that were injected at 8, 12, or 14 weeks of age and one two-shot-vaccinated group that was injected at 8 and 12 weeks of age in the pig farms. In these field trials, the improved serological performance at 20 and 24 weeks of age expected with vaccination at 12 or 14 weeks of age was not observed, although improved serological results were expected as the result of decreasing interference of maternally derived antibodies (MDAs), as MDAs waned with age. In addition, delayed vaccination resulted in MDA depletion at 14 weeks of age. Therefore, the optimal age for primary vaccination with two different formulated vaccines was 8 weeks old in pigs, considering that MDAs could provide a protective immunity against foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) infection. Prolonged significantly higher VNT titers of immunized pigs were demonstrated in the two-shot-vaccinated groups. In total, the effectiveness of the two vaccines was demonstrated through efficacy tests and field trials in pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an economically devastating animal disease. There are seven serotypes, A, O, C, Asia 1, Southern African Territories 1, 2, and 3 (SAT1, SAT2, and SAT3), among which serotype O shows the greatest distribution worldwide. Specifically, the O/ME-SA/Ind-2001 lineage, which was reported in India in 2001, has since emerged worldwide, with the O/ME-SA/Ind-2001d and O/ME-SA/Ind-2001e sublineages recently emerging in North Africa, Middle East Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. The antigenic relationship (r1) value for the O1 Manisa and O/Mya-98 lineage inactivated vaccine against various O/ME-SA/Ind-2001 lineages of FMDV isolates, were matching (r1 > 0.3) or non-matching (r1 < 0.3), indicating that the vaccine based on the O/ME-SA/Ind-2001 lineage FMDV, is valuable. In this study, we developed a new vaccine strain, O/SKR/Boeun/2017 isolate, belonging to the O/ME-SA/Ind-2001e sublineage as an outbreak of this sublineage occurred in 2017 in the Boeun county of the Republic of Korea (O/SKR/Boeun/2017). This experimental vaccine exhibited high immunogenicity in pigs and cattle and was antigenically matched with representative FMDV lineages (ME-SA, O/ME-SA/PanAsia, O/SEA/Mya-98, and O/Cathay) in Asia, as demonstrated by two-dimensional virus neutralization tests (2D-VNT). In addition, a 100% survival rate in C56BL/6 mice vaccinated with 1/15 of a pig dose was observed following challenge with FMDV O/VIT/2013 (O/ME-SA/PanAsia) at 10 days post-vaccination. Further, we analyzed the major antigenic sites of the O/SKR/Boeun/2017 vaccine strain as well as other viruses, by 2D-VNT. These results suggest that the O/ME-SA/Ind-2001e sublineage is a promising vaccine strain candidate in Asia, and other countries, for protection against the emerging FMDV. • A new vaccine strain of the O/ME-SA/Ind-2001e sublineage of the foot-and-mouth disease virus was developed. • The vaccine strain O/SKR/Boeun/2017 exhibited broad antigenic coverage. • We confirmed the high productivity and immunogenicity of this strain. • O/SKR/Boeun/2017 is a promising candidate for the foot-and-mouth disease vaccine development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To control foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks that originated in Jincheon County in South Korea between 2014 and 2015, several commercial vaccines were studied for their efficacy and serological performance in the field. In this study, the efficacy of the O SKR 7/10 vaccine was evaluated by challenge with the FMD virus (FMDV) O/Jincheon/SKR/2014 (O Jincheon), which has the same O/SEA/Mya-98 lineage as the O/SKR/7/10 strain that was isolated in 2010 in South Korea, in FMD-seronegative pigs. Full protection against the O Jincheon virus was demonstrated as early as 14 days postvaccination, which was explained by the strong serological relationship (r 1 value: ≥ 0.92) between the O Jincheon and O SKR 2010 viruses. However, in the field trial, no satisfactory serological elevations against FMDV were observed, even in the double-vaccinated groups. Therefore, it can be concluded that the O SKR 7/10 vaccine may need to be improved to overcome the interference effects from the high levels of maternally-derived antibodies generated due to the mandatory nationwide vaccination of sows in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Type O, PanAsia-2-lineage vaccine strain, which belongs to the ME-SA topotype, was developed. • The immunized pigs were all protected against O/Jincheon/SKR/2014 (SEA topotype). • The immunized cattle had high titers of neutralizing antibodies in only two weeks. • The antibody titer in immunized pigs was highest against the ME-SA topotype, followed by the SEA topotype. • Immune responses to vaccine were relatively low against the EURO-SA and Cathay topotypes. Efforts are required to develop foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines in Asia that can respond to the type O outbreaks that have continued with the devastating damage since 2010. It is necessary to develop vaccine strains that can provide protection against the ME-SA topotype, which has tended to spread into neighboring areas, and the frequent SEA topotype outbreaks. To this end, this study aimed to develop a FMD vaccine utilizing O PanAsia-2 that is able to provide broad protection against ME-SA as the vaccine strain, with a focus on the O/Jincheon/SKR/2014 virus (SEA topotype), the outbreaks of which have persisted in spite of the enforcement of FMD vaccination. The virus neutralizing antibody (VN) titer to the ME-SA topotype (especially, Ind2001 lineage) virus in pigs was the highest, followed by SEA, while the VN titers to the Cathay and EURO-SA topotypes were similar. In the O/Jincheon/SKR/2014 virus challenge test, all pigs were protected against the virus, and almost no virus shedding was detected after the virus challenge. In the immunization test performed on cattle and pigs, antibodies with sufficient protective activity were produced in cattle two weeks after the first immunization, and pigs exhibited lower immunity compared to cattle. However, immunity was improved enough in pigs to provide protection against the virus challenge after the second immunization, with a significant increase in antibody production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Type C foot-and-mouth disease vaccine strain has lower pathogenicity than the wild strains. • Vaccine strains and wild strains can be distinguished from each other using virus protein 3B. • In mice, protection capability against the homologous virus after vaccination was identified as 32 mPD 50. • The cattle and pigs vaccinated with a 1 ml dose induced neutralizing antibodies to be protected. • In pigs, the protection capability against homologous virus after vaccination was identified as 16 PD 50. Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is the cause of an economically devastating disease in major cloven-hoofed livestock. Although type C foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has not occurred anywhere worldwide since 2004, the antigen bank should be preserved in preparation for an unexpected outbreak. We therefore conducted experiments to develop inactivated vaccines that are safer and exhibit improved characteristics over existing vaccines. Our previous study showed that the replacement of the capsid-encoding gene (P1) from the vaccine strain O1 Manisa could be rescued successfully from the vaccine strains. In addition, novel point mutation in the 3C region in the virus genome, for induction of properties with low pathogenesis to create a safe vaccine, and 3B 1 B 2 replacement, for differential diagnosis with the wild type virus, were performed. The modified FMD vaccine strain, C3 Resende-R, was shown to provide lower pathogenesis in young mice than the wild-type virus. To identify the immune responses after vaccination with 146S antigen (15 μg/mL/dose), we conducted a virus neutralization test using serum from pigs and cattle vaccinated with the inactivated vaccine. The neutralizing titers in the cattle were higher than those in the pigs and maintained mean antibody titers of around 1:100 until the end of the experiment. The vaccine showed protection capability of 16 PD 50 against C3 Resende virus in the pigs. The replacement of the structural protein-coding gene for the new FMDV was a useful tool in the development of an effective vaccine candidate strain. This inactivated vaccine will be used for the establishment of a safe vaccine strain for the antigen bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract After massive foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks originated from Jincheon County from Dec. 2014 to Apr. 2015, the effectiveness of the previous FMD vaccine containing only the O1 Manisa as the O antigen, O1 Manisa + A Malaysia 97 + Asia 1 Sharmir trivalent vaccine, was questioned in South Korea, and a change in the O antigen in FMD vaccines was demanded to control the FMD caused by FMDV O/Jincheon/SKR/2014, the O Jincheon strain. Therefore, the efficacies of O1 Manisa + O 3039 bivalent vaccine and O 3039 monovalent vaccine were studied for cross-protection against heterologous challenge with the O Jincheon strain. In this study, the efficacy of the O1 Manisa + O 3039 bivalent vaccine was better than that of the O 3039 monovalent vaccine, even though the serological relationship (r 1 value) between O Jincheon and O 3039 was matched according to the OIE Terrestrial Manual. According to serological test results from vaccinated specific pathogen free pigs, virus neutralization test titers against Jincheon were good estimates for predicting protection against challenge. A field trial of the O1 Manisa + O 3039 bivalent vaccine was performed to estimate the possibility of field application in conventional pig farms, especially due to concerns about the effect of maternally derived antibodies (MDA) in field application of the FMD vaccine. According to the result of the field trial, the O1 Manisa + O 3039 bivalent vaccine was considered to overcome MDA. The results of the efficacy and field trials indicated that the O1 Manisa + O3039 vaccine could be suitable to replace previous FMD vaccines to control the FMD field situation caused by O Jincheon FMDV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We obtained a vaccine virus with improved stability and a broad antigen spectrum. • The virus could be differentiated from wild-type strains by a rapid diagnosis kit. • The immunized pigs had a high level of neutralizing antibodies against four O topotypes. • The antibodies in the pigs against FMDV were present during the experimental period. Abstract Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an acute infectious disease occurring in cloven-hoofed animals. There are many variations of the virus, making it difficult to protect against the various strains with one virus vaccine. The immunogenicity has generally been evaluated in pigs using neutralizing antibodies to determine the protection level against foot-and-mouth disease virus type O. Therefore, the vaccine from the chimeric vaccine strain of ME-SA (VP4, VP2, and VP3) and SEA (VP1) topotypes developed in this study is expected to be able to protect with high neutralizing antibody titers against most of the eight FMD viruses of the four different topotypes (ME-SA, SEA, Cathay, and EURO-SA) of type O in pigs. This is a new technique for powerful vaccine development, with multiple preventive roles against various epidemic FMD strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is the cause of an economically devastating animal disease. With commercial inactivated FMD vaccines, the protection against FMD virus (FMDV) begins a minimum of 4 days post vaccination (dpv). Therefore, antiviral agents could be proposed for rapid protection and to reduce the spread of FMDV during outbreaks until vaccine-induced protective immunity occurs. In previous studies, we have developed two recombinant adenoviruses that simultaneously express porcine interferon-α and interferon-γ (Ad-porcine IFN-αγ) and multiple siRNAs that target the non-structural protein-regions of FMDV (Ad-3siRNA), and we have shown that the combination of the two antiviral agents (referred to here as Ad combination) induced robust protection against FMDV in pigs. In an attempt to provide complete protection against FMDV, we co-administered Ad combination and the FMD vaccine to mice and pigs. In the C57BL/6 mice model, we observed rapid and continuous protection against homologous FMDV challenge from 1 to 3 dpv—the period in which vaccine-mediated immunity is absent. In the pig experiments, we found that most of the pigs (five out of six) that received vaccine + Ad combination and were challenged with FMDV at 1 or 2 dpv were clinically protected from FMDV. In addition, most of the pigs that received vaccine + Ad combination and all pigs inoculated with the vaccine only were clinically protected from an FMDV challenge at 7 dpv. We believe that the antiviral agent ensures early protection from FMDV, and the vaccine participates in protection after 7 dpv. Therefore, we can say that the combination of the FMD vaccine and effective antiviral agents may offer both fast-acting and continuous protection against FMDV. In further studies, we plan to design coadministration of Ad combination and novel vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an economically important disease in most parts of the world and new therapeutic agents are needed to protect the animals before vaccination can trigger the host immune response. Although several interferons have been used for their antiviral activities against Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), ovine interferon tau 4 (OvIFN-τ4), with a broad-spectrum of action, cross-species antiviral activity, and lower incidence of toxicity in comparison to other type І interferons, has not yet been evaluated for this indication. This is the first study to evaluate the antiviral activity of OvIFN-τ4 against various strains of FMDV. The effective anti-cytopathic concentration of OvIFN-τ4 and its effectiveness pre- and post-infection with FMDV were tested in vitro in LFBK cells. In vivo activity of OvIFN-τ4 was then confirmed in a mouse model of infection. OvIFN-τ4 at a concentration of 500 ng, protected mice until 5days post-FMDV challenge and provided 90% protection for 10 days following FMDV challenge. These results suggest that OvIFN-τ4 could be used as an alternative to other interferons or antiviral agents at the time of FMD outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficacy evaluation of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines has been conducted in target animals such as cows and pigs. In particular, handling FMD virus requires a high level of biosafety management and facilities to contain the virulent viruses. The lack of a laboratory animal model has resulted in inconvenience when it comes to using target animals for vaccine evaluation, bringing about increased cost, time and labor for the experiments. The FMD mouse model has been studied, but most FMD virus (FMDV) strains are not known to cause disease in adult mice. In the present study, we created a series of challenge viruses that are lethal to adult C57BL/6 mice. FMDV types O, A, and Asia1, which are related to frequent FMD outbreaks, were adapted for mice and the pathogenesis of each virus was evaluated in the mouse model. Challenge experiments after vaccination using in-house and commercial vaccines demonstrated vaccine-mediated protection in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, we propose that FMD vaccine evaluation should be carried out using mouse-adapted challenge viruses as a swift, effective efficacy test of experimental or commercial vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an acute contagious disease of cloven-hoofed animals such as cows, pigs, sheep, and deer. The current emergency FMD vaccines, to induce early protection, have limited use, as their protective effect in pigs does not begin until 7 days after vaccination. Therefore, the use of antiviral agents would be required for reducing the spread of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) during outbreaks. Vesatolimod (GS-9620), a toll-like receptor 7 agonist, is an antiviral agent against various human disease-causing viruses. However, its antiviral effect against FMDV has not been reported yet. The aim of this study was to investigate the antiviral effects of GS-9620 against FMDV both in vitro and in vivo. The inhibitory effect of GS-9620 on FMDV in swine cells involved the induction of porcine interferon (IFN)-α and upregulation of interferon-simulated genes. Protective effect in mice injected with GS-9620 against FMDV was maintained for 5 days after injection, and cytokines such as IFN-γ, interleukin (IL)-12, IL-6, and IFN-γ inducible protein-10 could be detected following the treatment with GS-9620. Furthermore, the combination of GS-9620 with an FMD-inactivated vaccine was found to be highly effective for early protection in mice. Overall, we suggest GS-9620 as a novel and effective antiviral agent for controlling FMDV infection. • GS-9620 has the antiviral effect against foot-and mouth disease virus in swine cells. • GS-9620 induces upregulation of interferon stimulated genes in swine cells. • GS-9620 has the antiviral effect against foot-and mouth disease virus in mice. • Combination of GS-9620 and FMD vaccine induces an early protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious vesicular disease of livestock caused by a highly variable RNA virus, foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV). One of the targets to suppress expansion of and to control FMD is 3D polymerase (FMDV 3Dpol). In this study, 2-amino-4-arylthiazole derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activity against FMDV 3Dpol. Among them, compound 20i exhibited the most potent functional inhibition (IC 50 = 0.39 μM) of FMDV 3D polymerase and compound 24a (EC 50 = 13.09 μM) showed more potent antiviral activity than ribavirin (EC 50 = 1367 μM) and T1105 (EC 50 = 347 μM) with IBRS-2 cells infected by the FMDV O/SKR/2010 strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the seven known serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), type A has the most diverse variations. Genetic variations also occur frequently at VP1, VP2, VP3, and VP4 because these proteins constitute the viral capsid. The structural proteins of FMDV, which are closely related to immunologic correlations, are the most easily analyzed because they have highly accessible information. In this study we analyzed the type A vaccine viruses by alignment of available sequences in order to find appropriate vaccine strains. The matching rate of ASIA topotype-specific sites (20 amino acids) located on the viral surface, which are mainly VP1 and VP2, was highly related to immunologic reactivity. Among the available vaccines analyzed in this study, we suggest that A Malaysia 97 could be used as a vaccine virus as it has the highest genetic similarity and immunologic aspects to field strains originating in East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The immunity and protective capability produced by vaccines can vary remarkably according to the kinds of adjuvants being used. In the case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccines in pigs, only oil-adjuvant vaccines have been used, and these tend to show lower immunity in pigs than in cattle. New adjuvants for these vaccines are therefore needed. We made different experimental FMD vaccines using new adjuvants (ISA 201, Carbigen, Emulsigen-D) and well-known adjuvants (ISA 206, aluminum hydroxide gel) and then conducted tests to compare the enhancement in pig immunity. More effective immune responses and protection against challenge were observed with the new adjuvants Emulsigen-D and ISA 201 compared to existing adjuvants. In the case of dairy goats, a mixture of Emulsigen-D and aluminum hydroxide gel produced rapid neutralizing antibody responses that were similar to results from tests conducted with pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Thermal warpage of a glass substrate after a flash lamp annealing process for crystallization of amorphous silicon thin-film is critical to subsequent fabrication processes for manufacturing large-scale displays. This phenomenon is understood through the structural mismatching of hypothetical two-layers in a homogeneous glass structure: thermally softened and uninfluenced, and is mechanistically different from that induced by the mismatch in coefficients of thermal expansions among heterogeneous thin-film structures. Thin subsurface region experiencing the intensified heating is softened, the stress in the region is relaxed, and finally the softened region is shrunk laterally, while uninfluenced part of the substrate remains as it is. The model assumes that the shrunk subsurface layer, of which the thickness is proportional to the thermal penetration, is bonded to the uninfluenced part completely. Due to structural mismatching the substrate is deformed considerably and warped towards the light source (the flash lamp) according to the curvature-flash duration relationship, γ = C 2 η(1 − C 1 η 1/2). This relationship is confirmed by numerical simulation results based on a viscoelastic model and by experimental observations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] We developed an inactivated oil vaccine for SEA topotype of FMD O serotype. [•] The pigs immunized with at least 7.5μg antigen protected from homologous virus challenge. [•] The pigs immunized with the vaccine could protect to heterologous virus (ME–SA topotype) challenge. [•] The genetic variation between field isolate and vaccine strain was identified in six amino acids of coding sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ectopic expression of the structural protein Pr55Gag of HIV-1 has been limited by the presence of inhibitory sequences in the gag coding region that must normally be counteracted by HIV-1 Rev and RRE. Here, we describe a cytoplasmic RNA replicon based on the RNA genome of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) that is capable of expressing HIV-1 gag without requiring Rev/RRE. This replicon system was constructed by deleting all three JEV structural protein-coding regions (C, prM, and E) from the 5′-proximal region of the genome and simultaneously inserting an HIV-1 gag expression cassette driven by the internal ribosome entry site of encephalomyocarditis virus into the 3′-proximal noncoding region of the genome. Transfection of this JEV replicon RNA led to expression of Pr55Gag in the absence of Rev/RRE in the cytoplasm of hamster BHK-21, human HeLa, and mouse NIH/3T3 cells. Production of the Pr55Gag derived from this JEV replicon RNA appeared to be increased by ∼3-fold when compared to that based on an alphavirus replicon RNA. Biochemical and morphological analyses demonstrated that the Pr55Gag proteins were released into the culture medium in the form of virus-like particles. We also observed that the JEV replicon RNAs expressing the Pr55Gag could be encapsidated into single-round infectious JEV replicon particles when transfected into a stable packaging cell line that provided the three JEV structural proteins in trans. This ectopic expression of the HIV-1 Pr55Gag by JEV-based replicon RNAs/particles in diverse cell types may represent a useful molecular platform for various biological applications in medicine and industry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Two chimeric vaccines were designed for foot-and-mouth disease virus Asia1 serotype. • The ASM-R vaccine was designed to target the G–V lineage. • The ASM-SM vaccine was a chimeric form of the G–V and the Shamir strain. • Vaccinated cattle and pigs showed fast and high neutralizing antibodies production. • ASM-R and ASM-SM vaccines led to 100 % protection against the Shamir strain in pigs. The type Asia1 genetic group(G)-V lineage foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus was identified in the East-Asian region in 2009. To date, only Shamir has been used as a standard vaccine strain worldwide for type Asia1. To prevent type Asia1 FMD in eastern Asia, two vaccine strains (ASM-R: G–V and ASM-SM: G–V/Shamir fusion) were developed and tested against type Asia1 virus strains. After immunization with the two experimental vaccines, the ASM-SM strain showed a higher level of protection against Shamir virus in mice. Additional immunogenicity tests were carried out in cattle and pigs, revealing sufficient antibody production capable of protecting the animals against the viral challenge. In cattle, the immune response started just 2 weeks after vaccination. Immunogenicity was lower in pigs, but antibody production was greatly increased to a high level after a second vaccination round. In particular, herein, 60 % and 100 % of the vaccinated pigs challenged with the Asia1 Shamir virus were determined to be clinically protected after one and two vaccination rounds with ASM-R, respectively. Pigs vaccinated twice produced sufficient antibody titers with low virus shedding for short time. Moreover, ASM-SM single-vaccinated pigs showed 100 % protection when challenged with the Asia1 Shamir virus. In summary, the vaccine strain ASM-SM designed for the defense of the Asian region efficiently granted protection to pigs against the typical Asia1 virus, Shamir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We developed three potent vaccine strains for type Asia1 foot-and-mouth disease. • The three antigens protected from the lethal challenge of the Asia1 Shamir or G-V III strains in mice. • The immunogenicity of Asia1 Shamir-R among the three antigens in pigs showed high neutralizing antibodies against Shamir or G-V III strains after only two weeks post-vaccination. • The single-dose vaccination in pigs induced enough neutralizing antibodies for protection against the Asia1 Shamir, G-V II, and G-V III viruses. Newly developed vaccine strains to prevent foot-and-mouth disease caused by the emerging serotype Asia1 virus were evaluated. To protect against the group (G)-VIII strain, which occurred recently, we produced an infectious cDNA clone of Asia1 Shamir cDNA (Asia1 Shamir-R). In addition, by adding a site 1 epitope of VP1 of the G-VIII lineage virus to this virus, we produced a new virus (Sham GVIII- EPI), and another virus(Sham GVIII-VP1) was replaced with that of G-VIII lineage in the VP1 region of Shamir. Test vaccines were produced using these three types of vaccine virus, and their immunogenicity and protection capabilities were evaluated in mice. Immunized mice were challenged with the Asia1 Shamir or G-VIII virus, and the results show that all the vaccines have similar protective effects. As they showed similar antigenicity, we chose the Shamir-R vaccine. Pigs maintained relatively high neutralizing antibody levels against homologous viruses of the Shamir and G-VII or G-VIII lineage three to four weeks after immunization. However, they formed relatively low levels of antibodies to G-IV and G-V viruses. In conclusion, we produced a vaccine candidate capable of protection against the G-VIII virus in the vaccine experiment for the type Asia1 serotype vaccine. This Shamir-R vaccine virus was found to protect against the viruses of the Asia1 genotype G-VII and G-VIII lineages, which occurred recently in Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The new vaccine was produced using a vaccine strain expressing P1 of the O Taiwan97 strain. • No significant immunological difference in antibody production was observed in cattle and pigs. • The complete protection in the vaccinated pigs induced from the challenge of the SEA topotype virus (O/Jincheon/SKR/2014). Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease and causes economic damage at a national level. In particular, the type O FMD virus (FMDV) is a serotype that causes FMD outbreaks most frequently in the world. In recent years, Southeast Asia (SEA), Middle East-South Asia (ME-SA), and Cathay topotype-mediated FMD are prevalent in Asia, among which the SEA and ME-SA topotypes cause a majority of the outbreaks. The SEA topotype virus is more likely to infect both cattle and pigs simultaneously, thereby resulting in more severe damages; thus, it is necessary to study the protection ability of the candidate vaccines of this topotype after immunization. In this study, an experimental vaccine for pigs was produced using a vaccine strain that contains the structural protein of the O Taiwan97 strain, which was derived from the Cathay topotype, and its effect was evaluated. In the immunization test in pigs and cattle, the antibody titers were found to be elevated two weeks after immunization and very high titers of neutralizing antibodies were formed after four weeks. After the second inoculation, very high titers of neutralizing antibodies were produced in both species in the fourth week after immunization, and the antibodies maintained for up to six months and three months in cattle and pigs, respectively. No significant immunological difference in antibody production was observed in cattle and pigs. This study confirmed that complete protection from the challenge of the SEA topotype virus (O/Jincheon/SKR/2014), although the antibody titers against O/Jincheon/SKR/2014 strain were not that high, was achieved through immunization with the newly developed Cathay topotype vaccine in pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]