Dynamics of T-Lymphocyte Activation Related to Paradoxical Tuberculosis-Associated Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome in Persons With Advanced HIV

Most persons living with HIV (PLWH) experience a significant restoration of their immunity associated with successful inhibition of viral replication after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Nevertheless, with the robust quantitative and qualitative restoration of CD4(+) T-lymphocytes, a fraction of patients co-infected with tuberculosis develop immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (TB-IRIS), a dysregulated inflammatory response that can be associated with significant tissue damage. Several studies underscored the role of adaptive immune cells in IRIS pathogenesis, but to what degree T lymphocyte activation contributes to TB-IRIS development remains largely elusive. Here, we sought to dissect the phenotypic landscape of T lymphocyte activation in PLWH coinfected with TB inititating ART, focusing on characterization of the profiles linked to development of TB-IRIS. We confirmed previous observations demonstrating that TB-IRIS individuals display pronounced CD4(+) lymphopenia prior to ART initiation. Additionally, we found an ART-induced increase in T lymphocyte activation, proliferation and cytotoxicity among TB-IRIS patients. Importantly, we demonstrate that TB-IRIS subjects display higher frequencies of cytotoxic CD8(+) T lymphocytes which is not affected by ART. Moreover, These patients exhibit higher levels of activated (HLA-DR(+)) and profilerative (Ki-67(+)) CD4(+) T cells after ART commencenment than their Non-IRIS counterparts. Our network analysis reveal significant negative correlations between Total CD4(+) T cells counts and the frequencies of Cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells in our study population which could suggest the existance of compensatory mechanisms for Mtb-infected cells elimination in the face of severe CD4(+) T cell lymphopenia. We also investigated the correlation between T lymphocyte activation profiles and the abundance of several inflammatory molecules in plasma. We applied unsupervised machine learning techniques to predict and diagnose TB-IRIS before and during ART. Our analyses suggest that CD4(+) T cell activation markers are good TB-IRIS predictors, whereas the combination of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells markers are better at diagnosing TB-IRIS patients during IRIS events Overall, our findings contribute to a more refined understanding of immunological mechanisms in TB-IRIS pathogenesis that may assist in new diagnostic tools and more targeted patient management

Bis(isoquinolin-2-ium) tetrachloridozincate dihydrate

In the title compound, (C9H8N)2[ZnCl4]·2H2O, the tetrachloridozincate ion is located on a twofold rotation axis with the Zn atom on a special position. The crystal packing is stabilized by N—H...O and O—H...Cl interactions

Ferromagnetic nickel(II) imidazole-anatase framework: An enhanced photocatalytic performance

Nickel(II) imidazole-anatase composites with room temperature ferromagnetism and good photocatalytic activity were prepared by a simple adsorption method using [Ni(1-MeIm)(6)]Cl-2 center dot H2O complex and anatase TiO2 as starting materials in aqueous medium. The deposition of the surface species were elucidated by various conventional techniques. Ferromagnetic behavior was observed from vibrating sample magnetometer at room temperature. This composite has good visible light absorption ability than pristine TiO2. The adsorption and photocatalytic activity of the composite catalysts were evaluated by choosing methylene blue (MB) as organic pollutant under visible light irradiation. We first time report the Ni(II)-imidazole complex deposited on the anatase semiconductor with good photocatalytic and magnetic properties. This is expected to open up a general method for the synthesis of other transition metal loaded metal oxide semiconductor photocatalysts. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Bis(1,10-phenanthrolin-1-ium) tetrachloridozincate monohydrate

In the crystal structure of the title compound, (C12H9N2)2[ZnCl4]·H2O, the two independent 1,10-phenanthrolinium cations are bridged by the water molecule and the tetrahedral tetrachloridozincate anion via N—H...O, O—H...Cl and N—H...Cl hydrogen bonds, forming chains along [100]. The chains are linked via C—H...Cl hydrogen bonds and a number of π–π interactions [centroid–centroid distances vary from 3.5594 (14) to 3.7057 (13) Å], forming a three-dimensional network. In each 1,10-phenanthrolinium cation, there is a short N—H...N interaction

Effects of structural, optical and ferromagnetic states on the photocatalytic activities of Sn-TiO2 nanocrystals

The structural, electronic, magnetic and photocatalytic properties of Sn doped TiO2 diluted magnetic semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) prepared by a simple hydrothermal method were systematically investigated by various conventional techniques and Sn-119 Mossbauer spectroscopy. Anatase, mixed (anatase-rutile) and rutile phases of Sn-TiO2 NPs were obtained by adding different amounts of SnCl4 into a titanium nitrate aqueous solution. Photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange and phenol derivatives (RPhOH) were studied under visible and UV light irradiation in water, respectively. The photocatalytic activities of prepared NPs were found to be drastically related to the structural, optical and ferromagnetic properties. A significant relationship was observed between the Hammett substitution constants of RPhOH and the photocatalytic activity. Among all the samples, the anatase phase with low Sn content performed with the best photocatalytic and ferromagnetic characteristics at room temperature

Stress and Fracture of Crystalline Silicon Cells in Solar Photovoltaic Modules – A Synchrotron X-ray Microdiffraction based Investigation

Fracture of crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells in photovoltaic modules is a big concern to the photovoltaics (PV) industry. Cell cracks cause performance degradation and warranty issues to the manufacturers. The roots of cell fractures lie in the manufacturing and integration process of the cells and modules as they go through a series of elevated temperature and pressure processes, involving bonding of dissimilar materials, causing residual stresses. Evaluation of the exact physical mechanisms leading to these thermomechanical stresses is highly essential to quantify them and optimize the PV modules to address them. We present a novel synchrotron X-ray microdiffraction based techniques to characterize the stress and fracture in the crystalline silicon PV modules. We show the detailed stress state after soldering and lamination process, using the synchrotron X-ray microdiffraction experiments. We also calculate the maximum tolerable microcrack size in the c-Si cells to sustain the residual stress after lamination. We further demonstrate the effect of these residual stresses on the cell fractures using the widely accepted fracture (4-point bending) tests. These test results show that the soldering and lamination induced localized residual stresses indeed reduce the load-carrying capacity of the c-Si cells

Facile synthesis of iron oxide coupled and doped titania nanocomposites: tuning of physicochemical and photocatalytic properties

A facile hydrothermal method was firstly employed to synthesize iron oxide coupled and doped titania nanocomposites using an aqueous solution of titanium nitrate. The present nanocomposites exhibit altered compositional, optical, electrical, magnetic and photocatalytic properties with respect to varying dosage of iron in the titania matrix. The architecture of characteristic iron oxide such as Fe2O3 coupled with titania was confirmed by Fe-57 Mossbauer spectroscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopic measurements. The enhanced photocatalytic activity was demonstrated by comparing with that of pure hematite, anatase TiO2, rutile TiO2 and P25 in the degradation of methylene blue under visible light (lambda > 480 nm) irradiation in an aqueous suspension. The strategy presented here gives a promising route towards the development of a metal oxide coupled and doped semiconductor material for applied photocatalysis and related applications