A Questionnaire on Materialisms

Recent philosophical tendencies of “Actor-Network Theory,” “Object-Oriented Ontology,” and “Speculative Realism” have profoundly challenged the centrality of subjectivity in the humanities, and many artists and curators, particularly in the UK, Germany, and the United States, appear deeply influenced by this shift from epistemology to ontology. October editors asked artists, historians, and philosophers invested in these projects—from Graham Harman and Alexander R. Galloway to Armen Avanessian and Patricia Falguières to Ed Atkins and Amie Siegel—to explore what the rewards and risks of assigning agency to objects may be, and how, or if, such new materialisms can be productive for making and thinking about art today

TMT labeling for the masses: a robust and cost-efficient, in-solution labeling approach

Isobaric stable isotope labeling using, for example, tandem mass tags (TMTs) is increasingly being applied for large-scale proteomic studies. Experiments focusing on proteoform analysis in drug time course or perturbation studies or in large patient cohorts greatly benefit from the reproducible quantification of single peptides across samples. However, such studies often require labeling of hundreds of micrograms of peptides such that the cost for labeling reagents represents a major contribution to the overall cost of an experiment. Here, we describe and evaluate a robust and cost-effective protocol for TMT labeling that reduces the quantity of required labeling reagent by a factor of eight and achieves complete labeling. Under- and over-labeling of peptides derived from complex digests of tissues and cell lines were systematically evaluated using peptide quantities of between 12.5 and 800 μg and TMT-to-peptide ratios (wt/wt) ranging from 8:1 to 1:2 at different TMT and peptide concentrations. When reaction volumes were reduced to maintain TMT and peptide concentrations of at least 10 mM and 2 g/L, respectively, TMT-to-peptide ratios as low as 1:1 (wt/wt) resulted in labeling efficiencies of > 99 % and excellent intra- and inter-laboratory reproducibility. The utility of the optimized protocol was further demonstrated in a deep-scale proteome and phosphoproteome analysis of patient-derived xenograft tumor tissue benchmarked against the labeling procedure recommended by the TMT vendor. Finally, we discuss the impact of labeling reaction parameters for N-hydroxysuccinimide ester-based chemistry and provide guidance on adopting efficient labeling protocols for different peptide quantities

The MHC Class I-Like IgG Receptor Controls Perinatal IgG Transport, IgG Homeostasis, and Fate of IgG-Fc-Coupled Drugs.

Abs of the IgG isotype are efficiently transported from mother to neonate and have an extended serum t(1/2) compared with Abs of other isotypes. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the MHC class I-related protein, the neonatal FcR (FcRn), is the FcR responsible for both in vivo functions. To understand the phenotypes imposed by FcRn, we produced and analyzed mice with a defective FcRn gene. The results provide direct evidence that perinatal IgG transport and protection of IgG from catabolism are mediated by FcRn, and that the latter function is key to IgG homeostasis, essential for generating a potent IgG response to foreign Ags, and the basis of enhanced efficacy of Fc-IgG-based therapeutics. FcRn is therefore a promising therapeutic target for enhancing protective humoral immunity, treating autoimmune disease, and improving drug efficacy

Fluidic and mechanical thermal control devices

In recent years, intensive studies on thermal control devices have been conducted for the thermal management of electronics and computers as well as for applications in energy conversion, chemistry, sensors, buildings, and outer space. Conventional cooling or heating techniques realized using traditional thermal resistors and capacitors cannot meet the thermal requirements of advanced systems. Therefore, new thermal control devices are being investigated to satisfy these requirements. These devices include thermal diodes, thermal switches, thermal regulators, and thermal transistors, all of which manage heat in a manner analogous to how electronic devices and circuits control electricity. To design or apply these novel devices as well as thermal control principles, this paper presents a systematic and comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art of fluidic and mechanical thermal control devices that have already been implemented in various applications for different size scales and temperature ranges. Operation principles, working parameters, and limitations are discussed and the most important features for a particular device are identified