Defining T Cell Tissue Residency in Humans: Implications for HIV Pathogenesis and Vaccine Design.

Purpose of review:This review summarizes recent literature defining tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) and discusses implications for HIV pathogenesis, vaccines, and eradication efforts.Recent findings:Investigations using animal models and human tissues have identified a TRM transcriptional profile and elucidated signals within the tissue microenvironment leading to TRM development and maintenance. TRM are major contributors to host response in infectious diseases and cancer; in addition, TRM contribute to pathogenic inflammation in a variety of settings. Although TRM are daunting to study in HIV infection, recent work has helped define their molecular signatures and effector functions and tested strategies for their mobilization. Exclusive reliance on blood sampling to gain an understanding of host immunity overlooks the contribution of TRM, which differ in significant ways from their counterparts in circulation. It is hoped that greater understanding of these cells will lead to novel approaches to prevent and/or eradicate HIV infection

Thermoelectric cross-plane properties on p- and n-Ge/SixGe1-x superlattices

Silicon and germanium materials have demonstrated an increasing attraction for energy harvesting, due to their sustainability and integrability with complementary metal oxide semiconductor and micro-electro-mechanical-system technology. The thermoelectric efficiencies for these materials, however, are very poor at room temperature and so it is necessary to engineer them in order to compete with telluride based materials, which have demonstrated at room temperature the highest performances in literature [1]. Micro-fabricated devices consisting of mesa structures with integrated heaters, thermometers and Ohmic contacts were used to extract the cross-plane values of the Seebeck coefficient and the thermal conductivity from p- and n-Ge/SixGe1-x superlattices. A second device consisting in a modified circular transfer line method structure was used to extract the electrical conductivity of the materials. A range of p-Ge/Si0.5Ge0.5 superlattices with different doping levels was investigated in detail to determine the role of the doping density in dictating the thermoelectric properties. A second set of n-Ge/Si0.3Ge0.7 superlattices was fabricated to study the impact that quantum well thickness might have on the two thermoelectric figures of merit, and also to demonstrate a further reduction of the thermal conductivity by scattering phonons at different wavelengths. This technique has demonstrated to lower the thermal conductivity by a 25% by adding different barrier thicknesses per period

MVDC for utility scale power distribution and control

This poster outlines the case for converting selected network assets to medium voltage dc to increase network performance via a series of load flow studies. Technology readiness level and research requirements for the technology are also outlined

A spontaneous gravity prior: newborn chicks prefer stimuli that move against gravity

To investigate whether upward movement is attractive already at birth, before any previosu visual experience, we tested the early preferences of dark-hatched chicks (Gallus gallus) for upward vs downward moving visual stimuli. The results are published in Bliss et al. 2023, Biology Letters “A spontaneous gravity prior: Newborn chicks prefer stimuli that move against gravity" This entry contains experimental data (output from DeepLabCut tracking, python pre-processed data, summary .csv files of results) and data analysis scripts used in the publication. A readme file is also provided

Using diffusion tensor imaging to identify corticospinal tract projection patterns in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy.

AIM: To determine whether diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can be an independent assessment for identifying the corticospinal tract (CST) projecting from the more-affected motor cortex in children with unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (CP). METHOD: Twenty children with unilateral spastic CP participated in this study (16 males, four females; mean age 9y 2mo [standard deviation (SD) 3y 2mo], Manual Ability Classification System [MACS] level I-III). We used DTI tractography to reconstruct the CST projecting from the more-affected motor cortex. We mapped the motor representation of the more-affected hand by stimulating the more- and the less-affected motor cortex measured with single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We then verified the presence or absence of the contralateral CST by comparing the TMS map and DTI tractography. Fisher's exact test was used to determine the association between findings of TMS and DTI. RESULTS: DTI tractography successfully identified the CST controlling the more-affected hand (sensitivity=82%, specificity=78%). INTERPRETATION: Contralateral CST projecting from the lesioned motor cortex assessed by DTI is consistent with findings of TMS mapping. Since CST connectivity may be predictive of response to certain upper extremity treatments, DTI-identified CST connectivity may potentially be valuable for determining such connectivity where TMS is unavailable or inadvisable for children with seizures.K08 NS073796 - NINDS NIH HHS; TL1 RR024158 - NCRR NIH HHS; K01 NS062116 - NINDS NIH HHS; UL1 RR024156 - NCRR NIH HHS; KL2 RR024157 - NCRR NIH HHS; R01 HD076436 - NICHD NIH HHSPublished versio

Regular sparse array direction of arrival estimation in one dimension

Traditionally regularly spaced antenna arrays follow the spatial Nyquist criterion to guarantee an unambiguous analysis. We present a novel technique that makes use of two sparse non-Nyquist regularly spaced antenna arrays, where one of the arrays is just a shifted version of the other. The method offers several advantages over the use of traditional dense Nyquist spaced arrays, while maintaining a comparable algorithmic complexity for the analysis. Among the advantages we mention: an improved resolution for the same number of receivers and reduced mutual coupling effects between the receivers, both due to the increased separation between the antennas. Because of a shared structured linear system of equations between the two arrays, as a consequence of the shift between the two, the analysis of both is automatically paired, thereby avoiding a computationally expensive matching step as is required in the use of so-called co-prime arrays. In addition, an easy validation step allows to automatically detect the precise number of incoming signals, which is usually considered a difficult issue. At the same time, the validation step improves the accuracy of the retrieved results and eliminates unreliable results in the case of noisy data. The performance of the proposed method is illustrated with respect to the influence of noise as well to the effect of mutual coupling