Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF)-Trimethylaluminum (TMA) Chemistry: First-Principles Investigation and Experimental Insights.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a popular method of coating battery electrodes with metal oxides for improved cycling stability. While significant research has focused on the interaction between the reactive metal alkyl precursor and the electrode materials, little is known about the reactivity of the precursor toward other components of the battery electrode, such as the polymer binder. This study presents a combined computational and experimental investigation of the reaction between the popular polyvinylidene (PVDF) binder and the trimethylaluminum (TMA) precursor commonly used for coating AlO by ALD.

A Global Collaborative Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Antigenicity Across 15 Laboratories.

Setting up a global SARS-CoV-2 surveillance system requires an understanding of how virus isolation and propagation practices, use of animal or human sera, and different neutralisation assay platforms influence assessment of SARS-CoV-2 antigenicity. In this study, with the contribution of 15 independent laboratories across all WHO regions, we carried out a controlled analysis of neutralisation assay platforms using the first WHO International Standard for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (source: NIBSC). Live virus isolates (source: WHO BioHub or individual labs) or spike plasmids (individual labs) for pseudovirus production were used to perform neutralisation assays using the same serum panels.

Bias in control selection associated with the use of rapid tests in influenza vaccine effectiveness studies.

In test-negative design studies that use rapid tests to estimate influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) a common concern is case/control misclassification due to imperfect test sensitivity and specificity. However, an imperfect test can also fail to exclude from the control group people that do not represent the source population, including people infected with other influenza types or other vaccine-preventable respiratory viruses for which vaccination status is correlated. We investigated these biases by comparing the effectiveness of seasonal 2023/24 influenza vaccination against influenza A and B based on PCR versus rapid test results, excluding controls who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 or the other type of influenza.

Medium-term immunogenicity of three doses of BNT162b2 and CoronaVac in Hong Kong neuromuscular disease patients.

The durability of the immunogenicity elicited by three doses of mRNA-based BNT162b2 and whole-virus inactivated CoronaVac in patients with neuromuscular diseases, particularly those on immunosuppressive drugs and variants of concern, has not been well-established. Our goal was to evaluate medium-term humoral immunogenicity outcomes after 3 doses of these vaccines. Peripheral blood samples were collected from participants 14-49 days and 155-210 days after administration of the third vaccine dose to assess humoral immune responses through serological assays.