Human T cell glycosylation and implications on immune therapy for cancer

Glycosylation is an important post-translational modification, giving rise to a diverse and abundant repertoire of glycans on the cell surface, collectively known as the glycome. When focusing on immunity, glycans are indispensable in virtually all signaling and cell-cell interactions. More specifically, glycans have been shown to regulate key pathophysiological steps within T cell biology such as T cell development, thymocyte selection, T cell activity and signaling as well as T cell differentiation and proliferation. They are of major importance in determining the interaction of human T cells with tumor cells. In this review, we will describe the role of glycosylation of human T cells in more depth, elaborate on the importance of glycosylation in the interaction of human T cells with tumor cells and discuss the potential of cancer immunotherapies that are based on manipulating the glycome functions at the tumor immune interface

Thermal analysis of lead zirconate titanate thin films using digital image correlation.

Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT), known for its ferroelectric properties, is widely used in micro-electromechanical (MEMS) and nano-electromechanical (NEMS) devices. PZT is a ceramic material that is most commonly found in its sol gel form, which allows for a relatively simple and cost-effective means of deposition and device fabrication. The material properties of PZT have been subject to significant research; however, the material properties of PZT sol gels remain largely unknown. In an effort to further understand thermal strain development, a combination of thermal loading and digital image correlation (DIC) were used to analyze the mechanical response of PZT sol gel films. Additionally, current numerical models are lacking the effects of film adhesion on film failure; therefore, the thermal strain development was analyzed for both well and poorly adhered films. To promote poor adhesion, PZT sol gel films were deposited on a hydrophobic self-assembling monolayer (SAM) and analyzed. Results indicate that a change in mechanical and optical properties of PZT thin films occurs from 200°C to 225°C. The peak strain associated with this point is approximately 61.4% greater in 12-layer films than 3-layer films. Sub-cracking of PZT films occurs after island formed during initial film failure experience an area reduction over 30%. The peak thermal strain development in well adhered 3-layer films is approximately 41.2% greater than poorly adhered films, indicating that adhesion largely dictates film failure. The 3-layer and 12-layer poorly adhered films fail at temperatures within 2% percent of each other despite varying surface strain fields, indicating the strain magnitude at the interface drives film failure

The contribution of maternal serum markers in the early prenatal diagnosis of molar pregnancies

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of maternal serum markers in the early prenatal diagnosis of molar pregnancies. The ultrasound features, cytogenetic and histopathological findings of 10 cases of molar pregnancy diagnosed at 11-13 weeks of gestation were compared retrospectively with the maternal serum concentrations of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG), alpha fetoprotein (AFP), pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) and pregnancy-specific β1-glycoprotein (SP1). Free β-HCG and intact HCG concentrations were very high [≥ISOdia≥2.5 multiples of the median (MoM)] in all cases. AFP concentrations were extremely low in all cases of singleton complete moles (≤ISOdia≤0.5 MoM) and were high in one case of twin complete mole, in one case of triploid partial mole and two cases of euploid partial mole (≥ISOdia≥2.5 MoM). Serum PAPP-A and SP1 were high in complete moles. The combined use of ultrasound features, maternal serum proteins and fetal cytogenetic findings should enable the early differential diagnosis in utero and perinatal management of those molar pregnancies presenting with an anatomically normal fetu

An effective formulation of coupled electromagnetic-TCAD simulation for extremely high frequency onward

This paper presents an effective formulation tailored for electromagnetic-technology computer-aided design coupled simulations for extremely-high-frequency ranges and beyond (> 50 GHz). A transformation of variables is exploited from the starting A-V formulation to the E-V formulation, combined with adopting the gauge condition as the equation for scalar potential. The transformation significantly reduces the cross-coupling between electric and magnetic systems at high frequencies, providing therefore much better convergence for iterative solution. The validation of such transformations is ensured through a careful analysis of redundancy in the coupled system and material properties. Employment of the advanced matrix permutation technique further alleviates the extra computational cost introduced by the variable transformation. Numerical experiments confirm the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed E-V formulation. © 2011 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Financial standing in the workplace: Employee finances as a barrier to job performance

Over 100 years of organizational research has been devoted to the study of employee performance. Although theoretical models of performance have argued that employees require motivation, ability, and opportunity to perform at work, this research has primarily viewed money as a motivational lever with less attention offered to its impact on the latter dimensions. Across three essays, this dissertation expands this literature by developing and testing theory regarding how a person’s financial standing can spill over into their performance ability and opportunity. Essay 1 discusses the conventional approach to the role of money in employee performance and proposes moving from conceptualizing money in terms of compensation and incentives to employees’ financial standing as a means of departing from the primary treatment of money as a motivator. This discussion is followed by the development of two conceptual models that explain the mechanisms underlying a relationship between employees’ financial standing and their ability and opportunity to perform at work. Essay 2 examines the hypotheses regarding the impact of personal finances on performance ability using a field study and a laboratory experiment. Essay 3 investigates the hypotheses related to the impact of financial standing on the selection for performance opportunities in a series of four vignette experiments. Overall, my dissertation offers a novel perspective on the role of money in work behavior with important implications for organizational theory, managerial practice, and public policy

Paracrine IL-2 Is Required for Optimal Type 2 Effector Cytokine Production

IL-2 is a pleiotropic cytokine that promotes the differentiation of Th cell subsets, including Th1, Th2, and Th9 cells, but it impairs the development of Th17 and T follicular helper cells. Although IL-2 is produced by all polarized Th subsets to some level, how it impacts cytokine production when effector T cells are restimulated is unknown. We show in this article that Golgi transport inhibitors (GTIs) blocked IL-9 production. Mechanistically, GTIs blocked secretion of IL-2 that normally feeds back in a paracrine manner to promote STAT5 activation and IL-9 production. IL-2 feedback had no effect on Th1- or Th17-signature cytokine production, but it promoted Th2- and Th9-associated cytokine expression. These data suggest that the use of GTIs results in an underestimation of the presence of type 2 cytokine-secreting cells and highlight IL-2 as a critical component in optimal cytokine production by Th2 and Th9 cells in vitro and in vivo

Low temperature mobility in hafnium-oxide gated germanium p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors

Effective mobility measurements have been made at 4.2 K on high performance high-k gated germanium p-type metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors with a range of Ge/gate dielectric interface state densities. The mobility is successfully modelled by assuming surface roughness and interface charge scattering at the SiO2 interlayer/Ge interface. The deduced interface charge density is approximately equal to the values obtained from the threshold voltage and subthreshold slope measurements on each device. A hydrogen anneal reduces both the interface state density and the surface root mean square roughness by 20%