Rivalry and red tape
Researchers are suffering as a result of the conflicts between funding agencies. T. V. Padma uncovers plans to heal the rift.
HIV-1 subtype C vaccine: waiting in wings for the human trials
India has more than 5 million people infected with HIV-1 and this number is likely to increase in coming years. It is estimated that by the turn of this decade more than 10 million people would have been infected with this virus. More than 90% of these infections are due to subtype C. Therefore, it is imperative that a vaccine be developed based on local circulating subtype and tested for immunogenicity in mice and non-human primate models. This paper is a review of the work done on the development and immunogenicity testing of recombinant DNA (rDNA) and recombinant MVA (rMVA) vaccine candidates in animal models under a vaccine action program (Jai Vigyan Mission) of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.
EFFECT OF SAMPLE PREPARATION ON WATER TREE RESISTANCE OF XLPE/SEBS BLENDS
The effects of an aromatic polymer, such as poly[styrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)b-styrene] (SEBS), and its preparation processes on water tree resistance, morphology, crystallinity, dielectric constant and dielectric loss tangent of crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE)/SEBS and XLPE/SEBS/ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) blends were investigated. The XLPE/SEBS samples were characterized by means of differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron microscopy, dielectric spectral analysis and the accelerated water treeing experiment. The results clearly showed that although SEBS was partially compatible with LDPE and it was dispersed evenly in XLPE matrix, the blends demonstrated excellent dielectric performances, such as dielectric constant and dissipation factor. The crystallinity of XLPE/SEBS blends was decreased with increase in SEBS content and it was further decreased with the addition of EVA. SEBS could effectively improve the water-tree resistance of XLPE and both SEBS and EVA were found to improve the water tree resistance of XLPE synergistically as expected. The differences in sample preparation processes could change the phase morphology and dielectric performance of the blends, and could also influence the dispersion of SEBS in XLPE matrix as well as the crystallinity of the blends. Different preparation processes led to different water tree resistance behaviours of the samples. The improvement of SEBS dispersion in XLPE matrix helped to improve the water tree resistance of XLPE.