The available HBV vaccines based on the HBV surface protein are manufactured in yeasts and demonstrate excellent prophylactic but no therapeutic activity and are thus ineffective against chronic HBV infection. Five different HBV core proteins (HBc)—full length and C-terminally truncated—were used for the insertion of the short, preS1,aa 20–47 and long, preS1phil, aa 12–60 + 89–119 fragments. Modified virus-like particles (VLPs) were compared for their biotechnological and immunological properties. The expression level of HBc-preS1 proteins was high for all investigated proteins, allowing us to obtain 10–20 mg of purified VLPs from a gram of biomass with the combination of gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography to reach approximately 90% purity of target proteins. The immunogenicity of chimeric VLPs was tested in BALB/c mice, showing a high anti-preS1 response and substantial T-cell proliferation after stimulation with HBc protein. Targeted incorporation of oligonucleotide ODN 1668 in modified HBc-preS1 VLPs was demonstrated.

-

Studies show that social capital has a positive effect on a person's mental health and subjective well-being. Recently, a second version of the Multidimensional Social Capital Scale (MSCS V2) has been developed in Latvia. The aim of this study is to verificate the psychometric properties of the MSCS V2 and to investigate its relationship to self-reported measures of loneliness and subjective well-being. Data was collected online between June 11th and October 3rd, 2021. Participants (N=353, aged between 18 and 80 years (M = 41.8, SD = 13.18), 87% females and 13% males) in addition to the MSCS V2 were asked to complete the UCLA Loneliness Scale Version 3, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE). The results show: the Cronbach alpha of the MSCS V2 scales meets the scientific requirements ranged from .73 to .90; Corrected Item-Total Correlations for all MSCS V2 scales are acceptable ranged from .53 – .81 and reaction indexes fall within the range of 2.67 to 4.48; a statistically significant negative association between the MSCS V2 scales and the UCLA Loneliness scale; statistically significant positive association between the MSCS V2 scales and the SWLS; statistically significant positive association between the MSCS V2 scales and the SPANE. The convergent validity of the scale was demonstrated by negative correlations with self-reported loneliness and positive correlations with subjective well-being measures.