Transdermal cold atmospheric plasma-mediated immune checkpoint blockade therapy

Despite the promise of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy against cancer, challenges associated with low objective response rates and severe systemic side effects still remain and limit its clinical applications. Here, we described a cold atmospheric plasma (CAP)mediated ICB therapy integrated with microneedles (MN) for the transdermal delivery of ICB. We found that a hollow-structured MN (hMN) patch facilitates the transportation of CAP through the skin, causing tumor cell death. The release of tumor-associated antigens then promotes the maturation of dendritic cells in the tumor-draining lymph nodes, subsequently initiating T cell-mediated immune response. Anti-programmed death-ligand 1 antibody (aPDL1), an immune checkpoint inhibitor, released from the MN patch further augments the antitumor immunity. Our findings indicate that the proposed transdermal combined CAP and ICB therapy can inhibit the tumor growth of both primary tumors and distant tumors, prolonging the survival of tumor-bearing mice

Effects of sleep deprivation on neural functioning: an integrative review

Sleep deprivation has a broad variety of effects on human performance and neural functioning that manifest themselves at different levels of description. On a macroscopic level, sleep deprivation mainly affects executive functions, especially in novel tasks. Macroscopic and mesoscopic effects of sleep deprivation on brain activity include reduced cortical responsiveness to incoming stimuli, reflecting reduced attention. On a microscopic level, sleep deprivation is associated with increased levels of adenosine, a neuromodulator that has a general inhibitory effect on neural activity. The inhibition of cholinergic nuclei appears particularly relevant, as the associated decrease in cortical acetylcholine seems to cause effects of sleep deprivation on macroscopic brain activity. In general, however, the relationships between the neural effects of sleep deprivation across observation scales are poorly understood and uncovering these relationships should be a primary target in future research

The ELFIN mission

The Electron Loss and Fields Investigation with a Spatio-Temporal Ambiguity-Resolving option (ELFIN-STAR, or heretoforth simply: ELFIN) mission comprises two identical 3-Unit (3U) CubeSats on a polar (∼93∘ inclination), nearly circular, low-Earth (∼450 km altitude) orbit. Launched on September 15, 2018, ELFIN is expected to have a >2.5 year lifetime. Its primary science objective is to resolve the mechanism of storm-time relativistic electron precipitation, for which electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves are a prime candidate. From its ionospheric vantage point, ELFIN uses its unique pitch-angle-resolving capability to determine whether measured relativistic electron pitch-angle and energy spectra within the loss cone bear the characteristic signatures of scattering by EMIC waves or whether such scattering may be due to other processes. Pairing identical ELFIN satellites with slowly-variable along-track separation allows disambiguation of spatial and temporal evolution of the precipitation over minutes-to-tens-of-minutes timescales, faster than the orbit period of a single low-altitude satellite (Torbit ∼ 90 min). Each satellite carries an energetic particle detector for electrons (EPDE) that measures 50 keV to 5 MeV electrons with Δ E/E 1 MeV. This broad energy range of precipitation indicates that multiple waves are providing scattering concurrently. Many observed events show significant backscattered fluxes, which in the past were hard to resolve by equatorial spacecraft or non-pitch-angle-resolving ionospheric missions. These observations suggest that the ionosphere plays a significant role in modifying magnetospheric electron fluxes and wave-particle interactions. Routine data captures starting in February 2020 and lasting for at least another year, approximately the remainder of the mission lifetime, are expected to provide a very rich dataset to address questions even beyond the primary mission science objective.Published versio

Charge and discharge behavior of elemental sulfur in isochoric high temperature thermal energy storage systems

Thermal energy storage with elemental sulfur is a low-cost alternative to molten salts for many medium to high-temperature energy applications (200–600 °C). In this effort, by examining elemental sulfur stored isochorically inside isolated pipes, we find that sulfur provides attractive charge/discharge performance since it operates in the liquid-vapor regime at the temperatures relevant to many important applications, such as combined heat and power (CHP) plants and concentrating solar power (CSP) plants with advanced power cycle systems. The isolated pipe configuration is relevant to shell-and-tube thermal battery applications where the heat transfer fluid flows over the storage pipes through the shell. We analyze the transient charge and discharge behavior of sulfur inside the pipes using detailed computational modeling of the complex conjugate heat transfer and fluid flow phenomena. The computational model is validated against experiments of a single tube with well-defined temperature boundary conditions and internal temperature measurements. The model results evaluate the influence of pipe diameter on charge and discharge times, heat transfer rate, and Nusselt number due to buoyancy driven convection currents. Depending on the Rayleigh number (pipe diameter), the average Nusselt number obtained for discharge is 3–14 times higher than proposed solid-liquid phase change technologies based on molten salt, which are limited in their performance due to conduction based solidification and low thermal conductivity. The results show competing trade-offs between increase in heat transfer coefficient, thermal energy stored in sulfur, and increase in charge and discharge time with increase in pipe diameter. A preferred pipe diameter can be determined for target applications based on their requirements and these competing trade-offs. A validated fundamental correlation for Nusselt number as a function of Rayleigh number for charge and discharge is developed that can be used to design the sulfur-based thermal storage system for transient operation