Local temperature distribution and primary melt formation in a melting batch heap

The melting behavior of mass glass batches was studied in a gas-fired lab-scale furnace. Batches were adjusted to different redox numbers by additions of sulfate and coal. In each test, 4 kg of batch were charged onto a cullet melt (7 kg, 600 cm² surface area) which was pre-molten at 1200°C. The batch blankets had an initial height of approximately 5 cm. The vertical distribution of temperatures and electrical conductivides were recorded. The occurrence of primary melt was identified by a sudden increase of conductivity by three orders of magnitude. As expected, primary melt occurred latest in the inner zones of the batch. A comparison of conductivities and temperatures, however, showed that primary melt was not formed along any specific isotherm. Thus, the concept of a uniform melting temperature valid for the entire batch heap as used in several theoretical models is not confirmed. Thermal diffusivities derived from a numerical evaluation of the temperature field also displayed a sudden increase, however, at temperatures systematically higher than the temperatures of primary melt formation

The Christmas Island Seamount Province, Indian Ocean: Origin of Intraplate Volcanism by Shallow Recycling of Continental Lithosphere?

The east-west-trending Christmas Island Seamount Province (CHRISP, 1800x600 km) in the northeastern Indian Ocean is elongated orthogonal to present-day plate motion, posing the question if a mantle plume formed this volcanic belt. Here we report the first age (Ar/Ar) and geochemical (Sr- Nd-Hf-Pb DS isotopic data) from the CHRISP seamount chain. A crude E-W age decrease from the Argo Basin (136 Ma), to the Eastern Wharton Basin (115-94 Ma) to the Vening-Meinesz seamounts (96-64 Ma) to the Cocos-Keeling seamounts (56-47 Ma) suggests spatial migration of melting. Christmas Island, however, yields much younger ages (44-4 Ma), inconsistent with an age progression. The isotopic compositions (e.g. 206Pb/204Pb = 17.3-19.3; 207Pb/204Pb = 15.49- 15.67; 143Nd/144Nd = 0.51220-0.51295; 176Hf/177Hf = 0.28246- 0.28319) range from enriched MORB (or “C”) to very enriched mantle (EM1) type compositions more typical of continental than oceanic volcanism. Lamproitic and kimberlitic rocks from western Australia, India and other continental areas, derived from metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle, could serve as the EM1 type endmembers. The morphology, ages and chemical composition of the CHRISP, combined with plate tectonic reconstructions, cannot be easily explained within the framework of the mantle plume hypotheses. We therefore propose that the seamounts are derived through the recycling of continental lithosphere (mantle ± lower crust) delaminated during the breakup of Gondwana and brought to the surface at the former spreading centers separating Argoland (western Burma), Greater India and Australia

Disease-Independent Skin Recruitment and Activation of Plasmacytoid Predendritic Cells Following Imiquimod Treatment

Background: Imiquimod, an immune response modifier that is used topically to treat different types of skin cancer, induces the production of proinflammatory cytokines that stimulate an antitumor immune response. We assessed characteristics of the imiquimod-induced immune activation in epithelial and lymphoproliferative neoplasias of human skin. We focused on plasmacytoid predendritic cells (PDCs), the primary producer of interferon α (IFN-α) after imiquimod activation in vitro. Methods: We used Affymetrix oligonucleotide arrays to compare gene expression profiles from tumors from 16 patients, 10 with superficial basal cell carcinomas (sBCCs), five with cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs), and one with Bowen's disease, before and after topical imiquimod treatment. We used quantitative immunohistochemistry with PDC-specific antibodies against BDCA-2 and CD123 to characterize the PDC population before and after imiquimod treatment in these specimens. Activation status of PDCs from four sBCC patients was assessed by intracellular IFN-α staining and flow cytometry. Results: Expression of various IFN-α-inducible genes (e.g., CIG5, G1P2, OASL, IFIT1, STAT1, IFI35, OAS1, ISG20, MxA, and IRF7), the so-called IFN-α signature, was increased similarly in both sBCC and CTCL lesions after imiquimod treatment. PDCs were recruited and activated in both lesion types, and they produced IFN-α after imiquimod treatment in vivo (mean percentage of PDCs producing IFN-α = 14.5%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.9% to 24%; range = 3.3%-27%, n = 4 lesions). Imiquimod induced similar immune activation patterns in all three diseases, and these patterns were associated with the number of PDCs recruited to the treatment site. Two imiquimod-treated sBCC patients who did not mount an inflammatory response to imiquimod and whose lesions lacked the IFN-α signature after treatment had fewer PDCs in treated lesions compared with other treated patients with such a response. Conclusions: Imiquimod induces immune activation patterns that relate to the number of the PDCs recruited to the treatment site, thus supporting the role of PDC in responsiveness to imiquimod in human

Development of medical point-of-care applications for renal medicine and tuberculosis based on electronic nose technology

Introduction: Current clinical diagnostics are based on biochemical, immunological or microbiological methods. However, these methods are operator dependent, time consuming, expensive and require special skills, and are therefore not suitable for point-of-care testing. Recent developments in gas-sensing technology and pattern recognition methods make electronic nose technology an interesting alternative for medical point-of-care devices. Methods: We applied a gas sensor array based on 14 conducting polymers to monitor haemodialysis in vitro and to detect pulmonary tuberculosis in both culture and sputum. Results and discussion: The electronic nose is able to distinguish between control blood and “uraemic” blood. Furthermore, the gas sensor array is not only capable of discriminating pre- from post-dialysis blood (97% accuracy) but also can follow the volatile shift occurring during a single haemodialysis session. The electronic nose can be used for both dialysate side and blood-side monitoring of haemodialysis. The pattern observed for post- and pre-dialysis blood might reflect the health status of the patients and can therefore be related to the long-term outcome. Furthermore, the gas sensor array was also able to discriminate between Mycobacterium spp. and other lung pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa. More importantly the gas sensor array was capable of resolving different Mycobacterium spp. such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. scrofulaceum, and M. avium in both liquid culture and spiked sputum samples. The detection limit for M. tuberculosis in both sputum and liquid culture is 1 x 104 mycobacteria ml-1 and therefore partially fulfils the requirement set by the WHO. The gas sensor array was able to detect culture proven TB with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 91%. Conclusions: In conclusion, this study has shown the ability of an electronic nose as a point-of-care device in these areas.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Writing Global History and Its Challenges - A Workshop with Jürgen Osterhammel and Geoffrey Parker

On 4 June 2016, Jürgen Osterhammel of the University of Konstanz and Geoffrey Parker of Ohio State University gave an all-day workshop on global history for graduate students and junior and senior scholars of the Universities of Dundee and St. Andrews in Scotland. The workshop consisted of three discussion sessions, each with a different theme, namely the conceptualization(s), parameters, and possible future(s) of global history. The central question was to what extent this fast-changing field required adjustments of “normal” historiographical methodologies and epistemologies. The workshop participants agreed that global history focuses in particular on connections across large spaces or long timespans, or both. Yet reconstructing these webs of connections should not obscure global inequalities. In the case of empires, many of the exchanges across space and time have been ordered in a hierarchical fashion—metropoles profiting from peripheral spaces, for example—and imposed by certain groups of people on others, resulting in, for example, the enslavement or extermination of indigenous peoples. As historians, we should also ask ourselves what we do about peoples or areas that were or remain unconnected, local, and remote. Where does globalization end

One Gene, Many Facets: Multiple Immune Pathway Dysregulation in SOCS1 Haploinsufficiency.

BACKGROUND: Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) present with a large phenotypic spectrum of disease, which can pose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS1) is a key negative regulator of cytokine signaling, and has recently been associated with a novel IEI. Of patients described to date, it is apparent that SOCS1 haploinsufficiency has a pleiotropic effect in humans. OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate whether dysregulation of immune pathways, in addition to STAT1, play a role in the broad clinical manifestations of SOCS1 haploinsufficiency. METHODS: We assessed impacts of reduced SOCS1 expression across multiple immune cell pathways utilizing patient cells and CRISPR/Cas9 edited primary human T cells. RESULTS: SOCS1 haploinsufficiency phenotypes straddled across the International Union of Immunological Societies classifications of IEI. We found that reduced SOCS1 expression led to dysregulation of multiple intracellular pathways in immune cells. STAT1 phosphorylation is enhanced, comparably with STAT1 gain-of-function mutations, and STAT3 phosphorylation is similarly reduced with concurrent reduction of Th17 cells. Furthermore, reduced SOCS1 E3 ligase function was associated with increased FAK1 in immune cells, and increased AKT and p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase phosphorylation. We also found Toll-like receptor responses are increased in SOCS1 haploinsufficiency patients. CONCLUSIONS: SOCS1 haploinsufficiency is a pleiotropic monogenic IEI. Dysregulation of multiple immune cell pathways may explain the variable clinical phenotype associated with this new condition. Knowledge of these additional dysregulated immune pathways is important when considering the optimum management for SOCS1 haploinsufficient patients