Generation in vivo of peptide-specific cytotoxic T cells and presence of regulatory T cells during vaccination with hTERT (class I and II) peptide-pulsed DCs

Optimal techniques for DC generation for immunotherapy in cancer are yet to be established. Study aims were to evaluate: (i) DC activation/maturation milieu (TNF-α +/- IFN-α) and its effects on CD8+ hTERT-specific T cell responses to class I epitopes (p540 or p865), (ii) CD8+ hTERT-specific T cell responses elicited by vaccination with class I alone or both class I and II epitope (p766 and p672)-pulsed DCs, prepared without IFN-α, (iii) association between circulating T regulatory cells (Tregs) and clinical responses

Strategies to Target Tumor Immunosuppression

The tumor microenvironment is currently in the spotlight of cancer immunology research as a key factor impacting tumor development and progression. While antigen-specific immune responses play a crucial role in tumor rejection, the tumor hampers these immune responses by creating an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Recently, major progress has been achieved in the field of cancer immunotherapy, and several groundbreaking clinical trials demonstrated the potency of such therapeutic interventions in patients. Yet, the responses greatly vary among individuals. This calls for the rational design of more efficacious cancer immunotherapeutic interventions that take into consideration the “immune signature” of the tumor. Multimodality treatment regimens that aim to enhance intratumoral homing and activation of antigen-specific immune effector cells, while simultaneously targeting tumor immunosuppression, are pivotal for potent antitumor immunity

Simulation and analysis of the influence of the support structure on a wind turbine gear set

This work presents the numerical modeling, simulation and analysis of a wind turbine gearset supported by a flexible structure model. Gearboxes based on epicyclic gear trains applied to wind turbines have some advantages, i.e., compactness, robustness and low maintenance requirements. The gearbox is one of its main components because it is responsible for transforming the low angular speed of the rotor into the higher operation speed of the induction generator. Failures in this component cause loss of efficiency and directly impact the energy generated. The gearbox is attached to the nacelle, which is supported by the wind turbine tower. Wind gusts and shear can cause vibration that affects the tower and the nacelle and, therefore, all the components attached to them. To model these phenomena, a detailed model of a 600 kW turbine was built using the MBDyn software. The bearing, gear and the induction generator models were implemented as user-defined modules and were further integrated into the complete model of the wind turbine. Results showed that the gearbox components were affected by the dynamic behavior of the support structure and, therefore, its influence should be accounted for in the design of wind turbines

Analysis of Rotating Systems Using General-Purpose Multibody Dynamics

This work illustrates the application of general-purpose multibody formulations to the analysis of rotating systems dynamics. Various benchmark problems encompassing multiple deformable components are presented and analyzed. The suitability of the approach is assessed and conclusions are drawn on the basis of correlating the numerical simulations with analogous examples from the open literature