Mechanical Properties and Biological Responses of Bioactive Glass Ceramics Processed using Indirect SLS

This paper will report on research which aims to generate bone replacement components by processing bioactive glass-ceramic powders using indirect selective laser sintering. The indirect SLS route has been chosen as it offers the ability to tailor the shape of the implant to the implantation site, and two bioactive glass ceramic materials have been processed through this route: apatite-mullite and apatite-wollostanite. The results of bend tests, to investigate mechanical properties, and in vitro and in vivo experiments to investigate biological responses of the materials will be reported, and the suitability of completed components for implant will be assessed.Mechanical Engineerin

SEASAT: A satellite scatterometer illumination times of selected in situ sites

A list of times that the SEASAT A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS) illuminated from directly above or directly abeam, selected surface sites where in situ winds were measured is provided. The list is ordered by the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) of the midpoint of the illumination period (hit time) for a given surface site. The site identification, the orbit number and the direction from the subtrack in which the truth lies are provided. The accuracy of these times depends in part upon the ascending node times, which are estimated to be within +.1 sec, and on the illumination time relative to the ascending node, which is estimated to be within +6 seconds. The uncertainties in the times provided were judged to be sufficiently small to allow efficient and accurate extraction of SASS and in situ data at the selected surface sites. The list contains approximately six thousand hit times from 61 geographically dispersed sites

Activation of the innate immune receptor Dectin-1 upon formation of a 'phagocytic synapse'.

Innate immune cells must be able to distinguish between direct binding to microbes and detection of components shed from the surface of microbes located at a distance. Dectin-1 (also known as CLEC7A) is a pattern-recognition receptor expressed by myeloid phagocytes (macrophages, dendritic cells and neutrophils) that detects β-glucans in fungal cell walls and triggers direct cellular antimicrobial activity, including phagocytosis and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In contrast to inflammatory responses stimulated upon detection of soluble ligands by other pattern-recognition receptors, such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), these responses are only useful when a cell comes into direct contact with a microbe and must not be spuriously activated by soluble stimuli. In this study we show that, despite its ability to bind both soluble and particulate β-glucan polymers, Dectin-1 signalling is only activated by particulate β-glucans, which cluster the receptor in synapse-like structures from which regulatory tyrosine phosphatases CD45 and CD148 (also known as PTPRC and PTPRJ, respectively) are excluded (Supplementary Fig. 1). The 'phagocytic synapse' now provides a model mechanism by which innate immune receptors can distinguish direct microbial contact from detection of microbes at a distance, thereby initiating direct cellular antimicrobial responses only when they are required

High resolution HLA analysis reveals independent class I haplotypes and amino-acid motifs protective for multiple sclerosis.

We investigated association between HLA class I and class II alleles and haplotypes, and KIR loci and their HLA class I ligands, with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 412 European American MS patients and 419 ethnically matched controls, using next-generation sequencing. The DRB1*15:01~DQB1*06:02 haplotype was highly predisposing (odds ratio (OR) = 3.98; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 3-5.31; p-value (p) = 2.22E-16), as was DRB1*03:01~DQB1*02:01 (OR = 1.63; CI = 1.19-2.24; p = 1.41E-03). Hardy-Weinberg (HW) analysis in MS patients revealed a significant DRB1*03:01~DQB1*02:01 homozyote excess (15 observed; 8.6 expected; p = 0.016). The OR for this genotype (5.27; CI = 1.47-28.52; p = 0.0036) suggests a recessive MS risk model. Controls displayed no HW deviations. The C*03:04~B*40:01 haplotype (OR = 0.27; CI = 0.14-0.51; p = 6.76E-06) was highly protective for MS, especially in haplotypes with A*02:01 (OR = 0.15; CI = 0.04-0.45; p = 6.51E-05). By itself, A*02:01 is moderately protective, (OR = 0.69; CI = 0.54-0.87; p = 1.46E-03), and haplotypes of A*02:01 with the HLA-B Thr80 Bw4 variant (Bw4T) more so (OR = 0.53; CI = 0.35-0.78; p = 7.55E-04). Protective associations with the Bw4 KIR ligand resulted from linkage disequilibrium (LD) with DRB1*15:01, but the Bw4T variant was protective (OR = 0.64; CI = 0.49-0.82; p = 3.37-04) independent of LD with DRB1*15:01. The Bw4I variant was not associated with MS. Overall, we find specific class I HLA polymorphisms to be protective for MS, independent of the strong predisposition conferred by DRB1*15:01

Innovation, knowledge spending and productivity growth in the UK: interim report for NESTA 'Innovation Index’ project

Working Pape

Additive manufacturing of glass with laser powder bed fusion

Its transparency, esthetic appeal, chemical inertness, and electrical resistivity make glass an excellent candidate for small‐ and large‐scale applications in the chemical, electronics, automotive, aerospace, and architectural industries. Additive manufacturing of glass has the potential to open new possibilities in design and reduce costs associated with manufacturing complex customized glass structures that are difficult to shape with traditional casting or subtractive methods. However, despite the significant progress in the additive manufacturing of metals, polymers, and ceramics, limited research has been undertaken on additive manufacturing of glass. In this study, a laser powder bed fusion method was developed for soda lime silica glass powder feedstock. Optimization of laser processing parameters was undertaken to define the processing window for creating three‐dimensional multilayer structures. These findings enable the formation of complex glass structures with micro‐ or macroscale resolution. Our study supports laser powder bed fusion as a promising method for the additive manufacturing of glass and may guide the formation of a new generation of glass structures for a wide range of applications

Amplitude measurements of Faraday waves

A light reflection technique is used to measure quantitatively the surface elevation of Faraday waves. The performed measurements cover a wide parameter range of driving frequencies and sample viscosities. In the capillary wave regime the bifurcation diagrams exhibit a frequency independent scaling proportional to the wavelength. We also provide numerical simulations of the full Navier-Stokes equations, which are in quantitative agreement up to supercritical drive amplitudes of 20%. The validity of an existing perturbation analysis is found to be limited to 2.5% overcriticaly.Comment: 7 figure

Metagenomics of Wastewater Influent from Wastewater Treatment Facilities across Ontario in the Era of Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern

We report metagenomic sequencing analyses of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in composite wastewater influent from 10 regions in Ontario, Canada, during the transition between Delta and Omicron variants of concern. The Delta and Omicron BA.1/BA.1.1 and BA.2-defining mutations occurring in various frequencies were reported in the consensus and subconsensus sequences of the composite samples

Brugia malayi Antigen (BmA) inhibits HIV-1 trans-infection but neither BmA nor ES-62 alter HIV-1 infectivity of DC induced CD4+ Th-cells

One of the hallmarks of HIV-1 disease is the association of heightened CD4+ T-cell activation with HIV-1 replication. Parasitic helminths including filarial nematodes have evolved numerous and complex mechanisms to skew, dampen and evade human immune responses suggesting that HIV-1 infection may be modulated in co-infected individuals. Here we studied the effects of two filarial nematode products, adult worm antigen from Brugia malayi (BmA) and excretory-secretory product 62 (ES-62) from Acanthocheilonema viteae on HIV-1 infection in vitro. Neither BmA nor ES-62 influenced HIV-1 replication in CD4+ enriched T-cells, with either a CCR5- or CXCR4-using virus. BmA, but not ES-62, had the capacity to bind the C-type lectin dendritic cell-specific intercellular adhesion molecule-3-grabbing non-integrin (DC-SIGN) thereby inhibiting HIV-1 trans-infection of CD4+ enriched T-cells. As for their effect on DCs, neither BmA nor ES-62 could enhance or inhibit DC maturation as determined by CD83, CD86 and HLA-DR expression, or the production of IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 and TNF-α. As expected, due to the unaltered DC phenotype, no differences were found in CD4+ T helper (Th) cell phenotypes induced by DCs treated with either BmA or ES-62. Moreover, the HIV-1 susceptibility of the Th-cell populations induced by BmA or ES-62 exposed DCs was unaffected for both CCR5- and CXCR4-using HIV-1 viruses. In conclusion, although BmA has the potential capacity to interfere with HIV-1 transmission or initial viral dissemination through preventing the virus from interacting with DCs, no differences in the Th-cell polarizing capacity of DCs exposed to BmA or ES-62 were observed. Neither antigenic source demonstrated beneficial or detrimental effects on the HIV-1 susceptibility of CD4+ Th-cells induced by exposed DCs