A Preliminary Laboratory Evaluation of Artificial Aggregates from Alkali-Activated Basalt Powder

The widespread use of natural aggregates is one of the main causes of the depletion of natural resources, as aggregates are constituents of several construction materials. Alternatively, it is, today, proven to be feasible to use mining tailings, either natural or recycled materials, to produce artificial aggregates through specific processes. A possible way to produce artificial aggregate is through the alkali activation of the powdered material in a process called geopolymerization. This study proposes to use a basalt powder and two different metakaolins as precursors for the production of an alkali-activated artificial aggregate, with a specific shape and size achieved by using 3Dprinted molds. The experimental aggregates were evaluated using traditional tests for natural aggregates, such as resistance to compression, specific density and resistance to abrasion and fragmentation. Furthermore, the material was chemically analyzed in order to evaluate the geopolymerization process promoted by the two adopted metakaolins. The physical tests showed that artificial aggregates do not perform well in terms of resistance to wear and fragmentation, which can be improved. However, they revealed promising results in terms of skid, polishing and micro-texture

CXCR6, a Newly Defined Biomarker of Tissue-Specific Stem Cell Asymmetric Self-Renewal, Identifies More Aggressive Human Melanoma Cancer Stem Cells

Background: A fundamental problem in cancer research is identifying the cell type that is capable of sustaining neoplastic growth and its origin from normal tissue cells. Recent investigations of a variety of tumor types have shown that phenotypically identifiable and isolable subfractions of cells possess the tumor-forming ability. In the present paper, using two lineage-related human melanoma cell lines, primary melanoma line IGR39 and its metastatic derivative line IGR37, two main observations are reported. The first one is the first phenotypic evidence to support the origin of melanoma cancer stem cells (CSCs) from mutated tissue-specific stem cells; and the second one is the identification of a more aggressive subpopulation of CSCs in melanoma that are CXCR6+. Conclusions/Significance: The association of a more aggressive tumor phenotype with asymmetric self-renewal phenotype reveals a previously unrecognized aspect of tumor cell physiology. Namely, the retention of some tissue-specific stem cell attributes, like the ability to asymmetrically self-renew, impacts the natural history of human tumor development. Knowledge of this new aspect of tumor development and progression may provide new targets for cancer prevention and treatment

Erratum to nodal management and upstaging of disease. Initial results from the Italian VATS Lobectomy Registry

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.21037/jtd.2017.06.12.]

Crystalline 3C-SiC Deposited by PLD Using Different Manufactured Targets

Nowadays crystalline Silicon Carbide (SiC) thin films are promising coatings for high-temperature, high-power and high-frequency electronic devices as well as for optical (for Infrared and Extreme Ultraviolet, EUV) and optoelectronic applications because of its physical and electrical properties. We have deposited Silicon Carbides thin film for by means of Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) in off‐axis geometry to obtain crystalline 3C-SiC using two different target such as hot-pressed SiC and crystalline 3C-SiC on Silicon (100) and Silicon (111) substrates. At high temperature, and in the same deposition condition such as target-substrate distance, laser fluence, repetition rate, the resulted films are quite different resulting dependent from the target and the substrates, being polycrystalline with the hot-pressed target and oriented nanocrystalline when using the 3C-SiC crystalline target. The films have been characterized by means of Atomic Force microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Infrared Transmittance and EUV reflectance

Synthesis of heteroepytaxial 3C-SiC by means of PLD

Thin films of silicon carbide (SiC) have been prepared by means of pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on sapphire (Al2O3) and Si(100) substrates with a Nd-YAG laser 1064 nm. We achieved the growth of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) films at the temperatures of 650°C from a SiC target in vacuum. The as-deposited films are morphologically and structurally characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The use of off-axis PLD method placing the sample at 90° with respect to the target leads to a good quality smooth film

EXPRESSION OF CLASS-I AND CLASS-II MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX ANTIGENS ON HUMAN HEPATOCYTES

We analyzed whether normal human hepatocytes, which normally do not display Class II major histocompatibility complex antigens, can be induced to express them in vitro, and whether this induction has an in vivo counterpart in chronic liver diseases. While both α- and γ-interferon induced expression of Class I antigens, only γ-interferon induced expression of Class II antigens on hepatocytes in vitro. Recombinant interleukin 2 had no effect on major histocompatibility complex antigen expression. Both Class I and Class II antigens could be detected by indirect immunofluorescence on hepatocytes from patients with various forms of chronic liver disease, regardless of etiology. These findings suggest that γ-interferon produced by T lymphocytes that infiltrate the liver during the course of chronic hepatitis induces Class II major histocompatibility complex antigen expression and may endow the hepatocytes with the capacity to perform accessory (antigen-presenting) cell functions

CXCL16 detection in growth medium of unsorted and sorted CXCR6+ IGR37 and IGR39 cells.

<p>50,000 cell/well were plated in 24 multi-well plates. When the cells reached ∼90% confluency (∼3–4 days), medium was collected and briefly centrifuged. A 50 µl aliquot of medium was used for CXCL16 detection using the Quantikine Human CXCL16 Immunoassay (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN). Bars represents the mean ± S.D. of three independent experiments each carried out in quintuplicate.</p

Tumor xenografts derived from ABCG2+ and ABCG2- IGR39 cells.

<p>5×10⁵ unsorted, ABCG2+ or ABCG2- sorted cells were injected subcutaneously in five-week-old NOD-SCID mice (3 mice for each experimental condition). After 60 days, the tumor mass was excised weighed and photographed.</p