CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been found to have a decreased effector function in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). In this study, we co-cultured naïve CD4+ T cells of MS patients ...with myelin basic protein (MBP)85-99 peptide as specific antigen and allogenic B cells as antigen-presenting cells, in an attempt to generate adequate antigen-specific CD4+CD25+ Tregs with normal or improved immune function.
Naïve CD4+ T cells were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with MS (n=5) and healthy controls (HC, n=5). Furthermore, these purified naive CD4+ T cells were co-cultured with the CD40-activated B cells and MBP85-99 peptide to induce MBP-reactive CD4+CD25highCD127low Tregs. After harvesting these Tregs via a flow sorter, real-time PCR and mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assay were performed to characterize cellular immune function. Supernatant interleukin (IL)-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 protein levels were detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
With this method, the frequency of CD4+CD25highCD127low Tregs in CD4+ T cells was 3.5%-6%. In both MS and HC groups, there were relatively lower proliferation indices (PI) of MLR assay but higher supernatant IL-10 and TGF-β1 levels in the presence of MBP than those in the presence of other control antigens, where no significant differences were found.
Via the ex vivo culture, adequate MBP-reactive CD4+CD25+ Tregsderived from autologous naïve CD4+ T cells of MS patients, were obtained and returned to normal without immune defects, and even upregulated their immunosuppressive function mostly through the elevated release of IL-10 and TGF-β1.
This report analyzes 36 cases of bacteremia or catheter-related infection caused by Roseomonas species, a group of pink, slimy, waterborne, gram-negative coccobacilli. The causative species included ...the newly described Roseomonas mucosa (22 cases 61%) and Roseomonas gilardii subspecies rosea (8 cases 22%) and known species R. gilardii subspecies gilardii (5 cases 14%) and Roseomonas genomospecies 4 (1 case 3%). Twenty-nine (81%) of the cases were symptomatic, with fever being the most common symptom (in 27 75% of the cases). Twenty (56%) of the infections were monomicrobic. Six cases (17%) involved persistent catheter colonization, and 5 of these cases required removal of the catheter to clear the infection. All infections resolved, most with empirical antibiotic treatment. A summary of the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of these strains and other reported series show that Roseomonas species are consistently susceptible to amikacin and imipenem and frequently susceptible to ciprofloxacin and ticarcillin, but essentially nonsusceptible to ceftazidime and cefepime. This result may guide future therapy for infections due to Roseomonas species.
A modified carbonation process for the synthesis of super-fine calcium carbonate particles from Ca(OH)
2 slurry at room temperature using a CO
2–air gas mixture was investigated. The adaptation of a ...radial-shaped sparger and the addition of chemicals such as ZnCl
2 and EDTA accelerated the carbonation process, thus reducing the diameter of the precipitated calcium carbonate particles. Thermodynamic calculation results showed that the role of EDTA in the carbonation process was mainly through the complex interaction between EDTA and Ca
2+.
The nonlinear dynamic responses of laminated plates consisting of graphene reinforced composite (GRC) layers in thermal environments are studied in this paper. The effect of visco-elastic foundation ...is also considered in the analysis. All layers in an FG-GRC laminated plate are assumed to have the same thickness, whereas the graphene volume fractions for the layers are assumed to be linearly varying in a piece-wise pattern along the plate thickness direction. The material properties of GRC are estimated by a extended Halpin-Tsai model. To include the effect of small scale, the efficiency parameters for graphene are introduced in the model and determined from the results of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The plate is modeled based on the Reddy’s higher order shear deformation plate theory and the effects of the von Karman geometric nonlinearity and the initial loading are included in the derivation of the motion equations. Once the applied load is determined, the deflection as the function of time can be solved by the fourth-order Runge-Kutta numerical method. The impacts of functionally graded (FG) pattern, visco-elastic foundations, temperature change and applied load type on the dynamic behaviors of the FG-GRC plate are presented and discussed.
Neurons exhibit a limited ability of repair. Given that mechanical forces affect neuronal outgrowth, it is important to investigate whether mechanosensitive ion channels may regulate axon ...regeneration. Here, we show that DmPiezo, a Ca2+-permeable non-selective cation channel, functions as an intrinsic inhibitor for axon regeneration in Drosophila. DmPiezo activation during axon regeneration induces local Ca2+ transients at the growth cone, leading to activation of nitric oxide synthase and the downstream cGMP kinase Foraging or PKG to restrict axon regrowth. Loss of DmPiezo enhances axon regeneration of sensory neurons in the peripheral and CNS. Conditional knockout of its mammalian homolog Piezo1 in vivo accelerates regeneration, while its pharmacological activation in vitro modestly reduces regeneration, suggesting the role of Piezo in inhibiting regeneration may be evolutionarily conserved. These findings provide a precedent for the involvement of mechanosensitive channels in axon regeneration and add a potential target for modulating nervous system repair.
•Piezo cell autonomously inhibits axon regeneration in Drosophila sensory neurons•Piezo channels are activated after axon injury or during axon regeneration•Piezo inhibits axon regeneration through calcium signaling, Nos, and PKG•Piezo1 also inhibits axon regeneration in mammals in vitro and in vivo
Piezo is a mechanosensitive ion channel that transduces mechanical stimuli into cellular responses. Here, Song et al. show that Piezo is recruited after axon injury to inhibit axon regeneration via the CamKII-Nos-PKG pathway, a process that may be evolutionarily conserved.
The corrosion study of the pipeline steel is extremely important for the safety of CO
2
pipeline. The present work studied the effect of temperature on the corrosion behaviour of X70 steel in high ...pressure CO
2
/SO
2
/O
2
/H
2
O mixtures. Weight loss method was utilised to measure the corrosion rate. Environmental scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam technology were employed to observe the morphology of product scales. X-ray diffraction was used to analyse the composition of product scales. The porosity of product scales was measured, and the exhaust gas was detected by gas chromatography. Results showed that the corrosion rate increased with the increasing temperature and then started to decline with temperature with the peak corrosion rate at 348 K. Results also showed that there was hydrogen that existed in the exhausted gas, indicating that the hydrogen evolution reaction was contained in the corrosion cathodic process.
•ADETEL facility scaled after AP1000 with a ratio of 1:5.6 was constructed.•Visualization tests were conducted with steam–water.•Entrainment onset and entrainment rate data were collected and ...analyzed.•Experimental data were compared with available data and correlations.•AP1000 has increased security than AP600 in entrainment onset.
The fourth stage Automatic Depressurization System (ADS-4) is an important part in Westinghouse AP600/AP100 which enables controlled depressurization of reactor coolant system during small break LOCA. However, the coolant may be entrained into the containment through the ADS-4 branch line simultaneously, which poses great threats to reactor core uncovering and melting. To investigate the entrainment phenomenon of ADS-4 in AP1000, ADS-4 Depressurization and Entrainment TEst Loop (ADETEL) with a scaling ratio of 1:5.6 was constructed and visualization experiments were conducted with steam–water. The experiment were conducted at atmospheric pressure with the maximum steam flow rate of 700kg/h. The entrainment processes were recorded by a high speed camera and analyzed in detail. Onset of entrainment and entrainment rate data were obtained and compared with existing test data and correlations. Empirical correlation of ADS-4 branch entrainment onset has been developed. A clear difference exists between ADETEL entrainment onset data and available correlations, which may caused by the differences in fluids physical properties, horizontal pipe flow conditions, determination of entrainment onset and d/D ratios. The entrainment onset is more likely to be reached in small d/D ratios conditions due to the stronger Bernoulli effect. Besides, AP1000 has a higher branch quality than AP600 at the same liquid level in the hot leg.
We correlated results of microbiologic culture and histopathologic examination for 2,891 consecutive samples from autopsy tissue, surgical or biopsy tissue, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) or ...bronchial washing (BW) specimens. For 23 autopsy cases with suspected invasive septate mold infections by histopathologic examination, culture yielded a mold in 12 cases (52%). For 1,683 surgical or biopsy samples, histopathologic evidence of invasive septate mold infection was present in 30 samples, 9 of which also grew mold by culture (30%); 20 additional samples grew mold in culture alone, possibly representing culture contamination. Of 1,185 BAL and BW samples, mold was evident in 28 by cytologic examination and culture, 20 by cytologic examination alone, and 68 by culture alone. These results suggest a positive concordance for culture and histologic-cytologic examination of 23%, although both methods were negative in 96% of surgical and biopsy tissue and BAL and BW samples. The septate molds cultured from these samples were Aspergillus fumigatus (19), Aspergillus flavus (15), Aspergillus terreus (13), Aspergillus niger (7), Fusarium species (3), and Scedosporium apiospermum (2). A flavus was isolated significantly more frequently from tissue than from BAL and BW samples.
Spinel LiMn2O4 powders have been successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method directly, which is no any pretreatment and following treatment in the process. The structure and morphology of the ...powders were studied in detail by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The data reveal that the products have well-defined stable spinel structure, and the particles show distinctive crystal faces with 50-300nm in particle sizes. The electrochemical characteristics of the spinel materials are measured in the coin-type cells in a potential range of 3.2-4.35V versus Li/Li+. The as-synthesized LiMn2O4 delivers reversible capacity of about 121mAhg-1 at a current density of 1/10C. Cycled the cell to 40 cycles, the capacity remains at about 111mAhg-1 at 1/2C.
This paper presents an investigation on the dynamic instability of cantilevered nanorods/nanotubes subjected to an end follower force. Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory is employed to allow for ...the small length scale effect in the considered dynamic instability problem. The general solution for the governing differential equation is obtained and the dynamic instability characteristic equation is derived by applying the boundary conditions. Exact critical load factors are obtained. These nonlocal solutions are compared with the classical local solutions to assess the sensitivity of the small length scale effect on the critical load factors and flutter mode shapes. It is found that the small length scale effect decreases the critical load and the corresponding frequency parameters as well as reduces the severity of the double-curvature flutter mode shape.
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