Escalating Dose Antigen Specific Therapy with dsDNA Injection Regulate Balance Ratio of Inflammatory Cells in Pristane-Induced Lupus Mice Model

Immunosuppressant and steroid therapy for SLE have not shown satisfactory results. Another method of therapy that is being developed is vaccines and escalating dose immunotherapy using self-antigen. The aim of this study was to assess the balance of immune cells through the ratio of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cells and cytokines in SLE using self-antigen dsDNA therapy. Methods: Female Balb/c mice 6-8 weeks old separated randomly to negative control group and pristane induced lupus (PIL) mice group. PIL mice groups were injected pristane intraperitoneally. Twelve weeks after the injection, the mice were evaluated for clinical and serological manifestations (anti-dsDNA levels). Mice with lupus signs were divided into four groups; positive control group: PIL mice without EDI dsDNA therapy, treatment A: PIL mice with EDI dsDNA therapy dose I (0.01μg/ml, 0.1μg/ml, 1μg/ml), treatment B: PIL mice with EDI dsDNA therapy dose II (0.1μg/ml, 1μg/ml, 10μg/ml), and treatment C: PIL mice with EDI dsDNA therapy dose III (1μg/ml, 10μg/ml, 100μg/ml). dsDNA were injected once a week and the dose was increased every week. Samples were analyzed for active/inactive dendritic cells ratio, Th1/Th2 cells ratio, Th17/Treg cells ratio and IL-17/TGF-β levels ratio. Results: Escalating dose antigen specific therapy with dsDNA injection of third dose reduced active/inactive dendritic cells ratio (p=0.000), Th1/Th2 cells ratio (p=0.010), Th17/Treg ratio (p=0.004) and decrease IL-17/TGF- β levels ratio (p=0.004) significantly compared to positive control. Conclusion: Escalating dose antigen specific therapy with dsDNA injection of dose III was able to regulate balance ratio of inflammatory cells and cytokines in PIL mice thus the immune tolerance may improve compared to control groups

Desensitization with Self-Antigen dsDNA Inhibits B and T-cell Functions by Modulating Treg as Regulator Immune System in Pristane-induced Lupus Mice Model

The aim of this study was to develop a novel therapeutic method for improving immune system regulation in SLE using escalating dose self-antigen dsDNA immunotherapy. Methods: Female Balb/c mice were given a single intraperitoneal injection of 0.5 ml pristane.. Starting at 12 weeks after injection,. the mice were evaluated for clinical and serological manifestations. Mice with lupus signs (PIL mice) were divided into four groups; positive control group, PIL A (0.01 μg/ml, 0.1 μg/ml, 1 μg/ml ) EDI dsDNA, PIL B (0.1 μg/ml, 1 μg/ml, 10 μg/ml ) EDI dsDNA, and PIL C(1 μg/ml, 10 μg/ml, 100 μg/ml). EDI dsDNA were administered once every week in consecutively. The doses would increase every week. dsDNA were complexed with the cationic polyethylenimine (PEI) before injection. Samples were analyzed for autoantibodies levels (dsDNA, ANA) and ,TGF-β cytokine from serum using ELISA and T-Reg, mature dendritic cells from spleen using flowcytometry.. Results: Escalating dose antigen spesific immunotherapy with self-antigen dsDNA significantly decreased ANA (p=0.02), anti-dsDNA (p=0.03), dendritic cell mature (p=0.02) compare to positive control, and not significantly decreases Th17 cells (p=0,18) but the result tend to get lower. Desensitization using self-antigen dsDNA was increased T-reg proliferation (p=0.00) and level of TGF-β (p=0.03) significantly compare to positive control. Conclusion: Desensitization using self-antigen dsDNA coupled to PEI was able to modulate T-Reg as a regulator immune respon and inhibit B and T cell functions in lupus mice model

Pt-Pd alloy nanoparticle-decorated carbon nanotubes: a durable and methanol tolerant oxygen reduction electrocatalyst

We describe the decoration of multiwalled carbon anotubes (MCNTs) with Pt-Pd alloy nanoelectrocatalysts of three different compositions and their electrocatalytic perfor-mance toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The decoration of the MCNTs involves polymer-assisted impre-gnation of metal precursors PtCl26- and PdCl42- and the subsequent reduction of the impregnated precursors by a modified polyol route. The composition of the catalyst was controlled by tuning the molar ratio of the precursors during their impregnation. Electron probe microscopic analysis shows that the catalysts have compositions of Pt46Pd54; Pt64Pd36 and Pt28Pd72. The Pt46Pd54 and Pt64Pd36 catalysts have truncated octahedral and icosahedral shapes with a size ranging from 8 to 10 nm. On the other hand, the catalyst of Pt28Pd72 composition has a spherical/ quasispherical shape with a size distribution of 1-2 nm. The XPS measurement confirms the signature of metallic Pt and Pd. The Pt46Pd54 catalyst has a pronounced electro-catalytic activity toward the ORR with a specific and mass activity of 378 mu A cm(Pt-Pd)(-2) and 64 mu A mu g(Pt-Pd)(-1), respectively at 0.8 V. Moreover, the Pt46Pd54 nano-electrocatalyst is highly durable and it retains its initial catalytic activity even after 1000 extensive cycles. Interestingly, this catalyst has a very high tolerance toward methanol and it does not favor the oxi-dation of methanol in the potential window of 0.1-1.4 V. The electrocatalytic activity of the alloy electrocatalyst is compared with commercially available Pt black and MCNT-supported spherical Pt nanoparticles. The catalytic activity of the Pt46Pd54 nanoelectrocatalyst is higher than the other catalysts. The Pt46Pd54 catalyst outper-forms the electrocatalytic activity of all other catalysts

Response of nanodot optically stimulated luminescence dosimeters to therapeutic electron beams

Response of Al2O3:C-based nanoDot optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dosimeter was studied for the dosimetry of 6, 9, 12, 16, and 20 MeV therapeutic electron beams. With reference to ionization chamber, no change in the response was observed with the change in the energy of electron beams for the field size from 6 cm × 6 cm to 25 cm × 25 cm, dose rates from 100 MU/min to 600 MU/min, and the linearity in the response up to 300 cGy. The fading of the transient signal was higher for 20 MeV electron beam than that of 6 MeV electron beam by about 5% as compared to value at 20 min after irradiation. The depletion of OSL signal per readout in 200 successive readouts was also found to change with dose and energy of electron beam from 6 MeV (9% and 12% per readout at 2 and 10 Gy, respectively) to 20 MeV (9% and 16% at 2 and 10 Gy, respectively). The OSL sensitivity changed in the range from 2% to 6% with accumulated doses from 2 to 8 Gy and with electron energy from 6 to 20 MeV, but the sensitivity could be reset using an optical annealing treatment. Although negligible fading for postirradiation storage from 20 min to several months, acceptable precision and linearity in the desired range, and high reproducibility makes nanoDot dosimeters very attractive for the dosimetry of therapeutic electron beams, a note should be made for changes in sensitivity at doses beyond 2 Gy and electron beams energy dependence in reuse, short-term fading, and signal depletion on repeated readout

Analysis of small field percent depth dose and profiles: Comparison of measurements with various detectors and effects of detector orientation with different jaw settings

The advent of modern technologies in radiotherapy poses an increased challenge in the determination of dosimetric parameters of small fields that exhibit a high degree of uncertainty. Percent depth dose and beam profiles were acquired using different detectors in two different orientations. The parameters such as relative surface dose (DS), depth of dose maximum (Dmax), percentage dose at 10 cm (D10), penumbral width, flatness, and symmetry were evaluated with different detectors. The dosimetric data were acquired for fields defined by jaws alone, multileaf collimator (MLC) alone, and by MLC while the jaws were positioned at 0, 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 cm away from MLC leaf-end using a Varian linear accelerator with 6 MV photon beam. The accuracy in the measurement of dosimetric parameters with various detectors for three different field definitions was evaluated. The relative DS(38.1%) with photon field diode in parallel orientation was higher than electron field diode (EFD) (27.9%) values for 1 cm ×1 cm field. An overestimation of 5.7% and 8.6% in D10depth were observed for 1 cm ×1 cm field with RK ion chamber in parallel and perpendicular orientation, respectively, for the fields defined by MLC while jaw positioned at the edge of the field when compared to EFD values in parallel orientation. For this field definition, the in-plane penumbral widths obtained with ion chamber in parallel and perpendicular orientation were 3.9 mm, 5.6 mm for 1 cm ×1 cm field, respectively. Among all detectors used in the study, the unshielded diodes were found to be an appropriate choice of detector for the measurement of beam parameters in small fields

Effect of Tackifier Addition on Cushion Compound Formulation for Tire Retreading Application

Tire retreading is a prospective industry. Old tires are repaired and retreaded with suitable tread compounds to fulfill the requirement as the new ones. One of the important components in tire retreading process is cushion compound. Cushion compound consists of unsaturated rubber, in this case natural rubber Hevea Brasiliensis was used, less phr of filler compared to the retread compound, and additives such as peptizer, tackifier, processing oil, antioxidant, activator, accelerator and curatives. Tackifier is an important component in cushion compound since its role to make a bonding between different layer, the initial tire after buffing and new retread layer. Tackifier should has good resistance, good compatibility and does not affect the rheological and dynamical properties of bonded rubber. The general tackifier that used in industries are hexamethyl tetramine as methylene donor and resorcinol as methylene acceptor. There is certain reaction between those two additives that determine how good the performance of cushion compound and its effect to retreading process. To obtain optimum reaction, comparison between resorcinol and hexamethyl tetramine were varied as 1:1 (FRR1), 1:2 (FRR2) and 1:3 (FRR3). Hardness test, compression test, rebound resilience, tensile and tear strength, and FTIR were done to observe the optimum variation for retread application. Compared to the control with no tackifier at all, FRR2 showed the optimum result with 21.75 MPa (min. 19 Mpa) and 454,54% elongation at break (min. 450%). The most interesting result was observation by using FTIR, it was detected that the crosslink density was significantly higher than other formulation. It is a new breakthrough which is minimum tackifier with certain treatment could give better performance