Immuno-transcriptomic profiling of extracranial pediatric solid malignancies.

We perform an immunogenomics analysis utilizing whole-transcriptome sequencing of 657 pediatric extracranial solid cancer samples representing 14 diagnoses, and additionally utilize transcriptomes of 131 pediatric cancer cell lines and 147 normal tissue samples for comparison. We describe patterns of infiltrating immune cells, T cell receptor (TCR) clonal expansion, and translationally relevant immune checkpoints. We find that tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and TCR counts vary widely across cancer types and within each diagnosis, and notably are significantly predictive of survival in osteosarcoma patients. We identify potential cancer-specific immunotherapeutic targets for adoptive cell therapies including cell-surface proteins, tumor germline antigens, and lineage-specific transcription factors. Using an orthogonal immunopeptidomics approach, we find several potential immunotherapeutic targets in osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma and validated PRAME as a bona fide multi-pediatric cancer target. Importantly, this work provides a critical framework for immune targeting of extracranial solid tumors using parallel immuno-transcriptomic and -peptidomic approaches

Sorption of pesticide endosulfan by electrodialysis membranes

Endosulfan (ES) is a micropollutant found in reverse osmosis concentrates from water reuse applications. Electrodialysis (ED) can remove and recover charged solutes from such concentrates. While polar compounds cannot normally be removed, their fate in ED is important as they can contribute to membrane fouling/poisoning and be released during cleaning. High adsorption of ES to ED membranes was observed. Consequently, the influence of solution pH and presence of humic acid (HA) on sorption mechanisms of ES to ion-exchange membranes during batch sorption isotherm and ED experiments were investigated systematically. ES-membrane partition coefficients (log KAEM/CEM) quantified through sorption isotherm experiments suggested that ES sorption was resultant of membrane catalysed ES degradation, hydrogen bonding and cation– interactions between ES and membrane functional groups. ES sorption at pH 7 (550 μg/cm3) was greater than sorption at pH 11 (306 μg/cm3) due to alkaline hydrolysed ES and resultant decrease in bonding capacity with the membranes at high pH. The presence of HA reduced sorption at pH 7 (471 μg/cm3) and 11 (307 μg/cm3) due to HA competitive sorption. Partial membrane desorption was noted in isotherm (<20%) desorption experiments and was dependent on the initial mass sorbed, solvent pH and resultant membrane interactions

Studies in biogas technology. Part IV. A novel biogas plant incorporating a solar water-heater and solar still

A reduction in the heat losses from the top of the gas holder of a biogas plant has been achieved by the simple device of a transparent cover. The heat losses thus prevented have been deployed to heat a water pond formed on the roof of the gas holder. This solar-heated water is mixed with the organic input for ‘ hot-charging ’ of the biogas plant. A thermal analysis of such a solar water-heater ‘ piggy-backing ’ on the gas holder of a biogas plant has been carried out.To test whether the advantages indicated by the thermal analysis can be realised in practice, a biogas plant of the ASTRA design was modified to incorporate a roof-top solar water-heater. The operation of such a modified plant, even under ‘ worst case ’ onditions, shows a significant improvement in the gas yield compared to the unmodified plant. Hence, the innovation reported here may lead to drastic reductions in the sizes and therefore costs of biogas plants. By making the transparent cover assume a tent-shape, the roof-top solar heater can serve the additional function of a solar still to yield distilled water. The biogas plant-cum-solar water-heater-cum-solar still described here is an example of a spatially integrated hybrid device which is extremely cost-effective