Interleukin (IL)-28A/interferon (IFN)-λ2 and IL-29/IFN-λ1 have been demonstrated to elicit direct and indirect anti-tumor actions. In this study, we constructed an adenovirus vector expressing either ...IL-28A/IFN-λ2 (AdIL-28A) or IL-29/IFN-λ1 (AdIL-29) to evaluate the therapeutic properties of intratumoral injection of recombinant adenovirus to apply for the clinical implementation of cancer gene therapy. Despite the lack of an anti-proliferative effect on MCA205 and B16-F10 cells, a retarded growth of established subcutaneous tumors was observed following multiple injections of either AdIL-28A or AdIL-29 when compared with AdNull. In vivo cell depletion experiments displayed that both NK cells and CD8(+) T cells have a major role in AdIL-28A-mediated tumor growth suppression. A significant increase in the number of infiltrating CD8(+) T cells into the tumors treated with either AdIL-28A or AdIL-29 was observed. Moreover, specific anti-tumor cytotoxic T lymphocyte reactivity was detected in spleen cells from animals treated with either AdIL-28A or AdIL-29. In IFN-γ-deficient mice, anti-tumor activities of AdIL-28A were completely impaired, indicating that IFN-γ is critically involved in the tumor growth inhibition triggered by AdIL-28A. IL-12 provided a synergistic anti-tumor effect when combined with AdIL-28A. These results indicate that AdIL-28A and AdIL-29 could be successfully utilized as an alternative cancer immunogene therapy.
The mechanical properties of Ni-base alloys have drawn considerable attention owing to their wide application in the hot components of aircrafts and gas turbines. To accurately measure the ...deformation of Ni-based alloys at high temperatures, a new type of high-temperature speckles is fabricated on the surface of specimens subjected to long heating durations at temperatures up to 1400 °C. Meanwhile, a novel measurement method based on the scale-invariant feature transform algorithm is developed to measure the deformation and obtain a more accurate result. Both of the above proposed methods are used in a creep test of Inconel 713C at 860 °C. The experimental results indicate that the speckles exhibit excellent performance under heating conditions and adhere well to the substrate at high temperatures. Also, the proposed deformation measurement method exhibits superior image processing even when the speckle quality is imperfect with respect to speckle size.
The time dependence of coercivity of fine Sm2Fe17N3 powder compacts exposed in air and in He gas (oxygen-free atmosphere) was investigated at 110°C and 150°C. At 110°C in air, coercivity rapidly ...decreased within 5 h, reached a minimum at around 5h, and then gradually increased over 1000 h. Similar behavior was observed in the He gas atmosphere, although the minimum coercivity value was higher than that in air exposure. Since the oxygen content was confirmed to be constant, the coercivity minimum behavior is independent of oxidation. The temperature dependence of the anisotropy field, coercivity and saturation magnetization of fine Sm2Fe17N3 powder compacts was measured in air at 110°C and analyzed by using Kronmüller's formula.
Digital image correlation (DIC) method has been widely used for measurement in high temperature environment, where speckle pattern that can withstand high temperature and maintain good stability is ...required. In this work we develop a simple method to fabricate speckle pattern for high temperature application. The curing temperature of the speckle is controlled under 350 °C to avoid potential damage to the substrate material. The speckle can resist temperature up to 1050 °C for minimum 0.5 h. Three point bending experiment was carried out at 700 °C to test the speckle. Results show that this high temperature speckle exhibits excellent adhesion to the substrate. This non-invasive speckle shows great potential for improving the measurement reliability at high temperature in engineering application.
Amide-bridged ladder poly( p -phenylene) was synthesized in two steps, through the polycondensation of aromatic diamines and dicarboxylic acid derivatives followed by palladium-catalyzed ...intramolecular direct arylation. The π-stacked assembly of the polymer in solution was investigated along with the single crystal X-ray structure analysis of a model oligomer.
We evaluated the long-term (52-year) effect of climate, disturbance, and subsequent recovery on the carbon balance of cool temperate forests by using the process-based ecosystem model VISIT. The ...study sites were artificial larch forests planted after clear-cutting of mixed forest in Hokkaido, Japan. The model was validated, scenarios were computed, and a sensitivity analysis was performed. First, we performed a baseline simulation of carbon dynamics and compared these values with those observed across a wide range of stand ages (old mixed forest and young and middle-aged larch forests). Second, we ran scenarios to investigate how disturbance and several climate factors affect long-term carbon fluxes. Third, we analyzed the sensitivity of carbon balance to the amount of disturbance-generated tree biomass residues. By taking into account seasonal variation in the understory leaf area index, which played an important role, especially in the initial stage of recovery, the simulated net ecosystem production (NEP), gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, and biomass for the three types of forest were consistent with observed values (mean ± SD of R2 of monthly NEP, GPP and RE for the three types of forest were 0.63 ± 0.26, 0.93 ± 0.07, 0.94 ± 0.2, respectively). The effect of disturbances such as clear-cutting, land-use conversion, and thinning on the long-term trend of NEP was larger than that of climate variation, even 50 years after clear-cutting. In contrast, interannual variation in the carbon balance was primarily driven by climate variation. These findings indicate that disturbance controlled the long-term trend of the carbon balance, whereas climate factors controlled yearly variation in the carbon balance. Among the meteorological factors considered, temperature and precipitation were the main ones that affected NEP and its interannual variation. The carbon balance in the initial post-disturbance period, which is strongly affected by the amount of residues, influenced the subsequent long-term carbon budget, implying the importance of residue management. Consequently, carbon release just after disturbance and the length of the recovery period required to balance the carbon budget are controlled by the amount of residues.
Temporal variations in the stable isotopic compositions of nitrate dissolved in stream water eluted from a cool–temperate forested watershed (8 ha) were measured to quantify the biogeochemical ...effects of clear-cutting of trees and subsequent strip-cutting of the understory vegetation, dwarf bamboo (Sasa senanensis), with special emphasis on changes in the fate of atmospheric nitrate that had been deposited onto the watershed based on Δ17O values of nitrate. A significant increase in stream nitrate concentration to 15 μmol L−1 in spring of 2004 was correlated with a significant increase in the Δ17O values of nitrate. Additionally, the high Δ17O values of +14.3‰ suggest that the direct drainage of atmospheric nitrate accounted for more than 50% of total nitrate exported from the forested watershed peaking in spring. Similar increases in both concentrations and Δ17O values were also found in spring of 2005. Conversely, low Δ17O values less than +1.5‰ were observed in other seasons, regardless of increases in stream nitrate concentration, indicating that the majority of nitrate exported from the forested watershed during seasons other than spring was remineralized nitrate: those retained in the forested ecosystem as either organic N or ammonium and then been converted to nitrate via microbial nitrification. When compared with the values prior to strip-cutting, the annual export of atmospheric nitrate and remineralized nitrate increased more than 16-fold and fourfold, respectively, in 2004, and more than 13-fold and fivefold, respectively, in 2005. The understory vegetation (Sasa) was particularly important to enhancing biological consumption of atmospheric nitrate.
Three‐dimensional MHD simulations of the Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability (KHI) have been performed to investigate its relevance to the magnetotail‐flank situation. The effect of the KH‐stable lobe ...region on its growth at the plasma sheet–magnetosheath interface can be a crucial factor. To assess this effect, we study how the KHI grows in an unstable layer of finite thickness (plasma sheet) sandwiched between stable regions (north and south lobes). The results show that when the magnetosheath magnetic field is northward, the instability grows vigorously to form a highly rolled‐up vortex even when the plasma sheet thickness is smaller than the wavelength of the fastest‐growing mode. Furthermore, two rolled‐up vortices can coalesce into a larger one as long as the thickness is larger than the wavelength. The coalescence under the tail‐flank geometry causes strong stretching of the field lines, leading to the condition under which reconnection could easily be triggered. These findings suggest that when the magnetosheath condition is favorable for the KHI and when the plasma sheet is thicker than a few RE, the vortices become an important element of the tail‐flank dynamics. We also found that in rolled‐up vortices, the tailward speed of the plasma sheet plasma exceeds that of the magnetosheath flow in regions where it penetrates toward the magnetosheath. Since this overshoot acceleration is seen only when the vortex is rolled up and is detectable even from single‐spacecraft observations, we suggest that it can be used as a marker of the roll‐up of vortices.
PDF
