Interferon Regulatory Factor 8 Regulates Pathways for Antigen Presentation in Myeloid Cells and during Tuberculosis

IRF8 (Interferon Regulatory Factor 8) plays an important role in defenses against intracellular pathogens, including several aspects of myeloid cells function. It is required for ontogeny and maturation of macrophages and dendritic cells, for activation of anti-microbial defenses, and for production of the Th1-polarizing cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12) in response to interferon gamma (IFNγ) and protection against infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The transcriptional programs and cellular pathways that are regulated by IRF8 in response to IFNγ and that are important for defenses against M. tuberculosis are poorly understood. These were investigated by transcript profiling and chromatin immunoprecipitation on microarrays (ChIP-chip). Studies in primary macrophages identified 368 genes that are regulated by IRF8 in response to IFNγ/CpG and that behave as stably segregating expression signatures (eQTLs) in F2 mice fixed for a wild-type or mutant allele at IRF8. A total of 319 IRF8 binding sites were identified on promoters genome-wide (ChIP-chip) in macrophages treated with IFNγ/CpG, defining a functional G/AGAAnTGAAA motif. An analysis of the genes bearing a functional IRF8 binding site, and showing regulation by IFNγ/CpG in macrophages and/or in M. tuberculosis-infected lungs, revealed a striking enrichment for the pathways of antigen processing and presentation, including multiple structural and enzymatic components of the Class I and Class II MHC (major histocompatibility complex) antigen presentation machinery. Also significantly enriched as IRF8 targets are the group of endomembrane- and phagosome-associated small GTPases of the IRG (immunity-related GTPases) and GBP (guanylate binding proteins) families. These results identify IRF8 as a key regulator of early response pathways in myeloid cells, including phagosome maturation, antigen processing, and antigen presentation by myeloid cells

International Consensus Statement on Rhinology and Allergy: Rhinosinusitis

Background: The 5 years since the publication of the first International Consensus Statement on Allergy and Rhinology: Rhinosinusitis (ICAR‐RS) has witnessed foundational progress in our understanding and treatment of rhinologic disease. These advances are reflected within the more than 40 new topics covered within the ICAR‐RS‐2021 as well as updates to the original 140 topics. This executive summary consolidates the evidence‐based findings of the document. Methods: ICAR‐RS presents over 180 topics in the forms of evidence‐based reviews with recommendations (EBRRs), evidence‐based reviews, and literature reviews. The highest grade structured recommendations of the EBRR sections are summarized in this executive summary. Results: ICAR‐RS‐2021 covers 22 topics regarding the medical management of RS, which are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Additionally, 4 topics regarding the surgical management of RS are grade A/B and are presented in the executive summary. Finally, a comprehensive evidence‐based management algorithm is provided. Conclusion: This ICAR‐RS‐2021 executive summary provides a compilation of the evidence‐based recommendations for medical and surgical treatment of the most common forms of RS

sandwich-type electrodes for biosensor technology

The usage of composite materials in which graphene combined with magnetic nanoparticles offers benefits for biomedical applications. Stabilization of nanoparticles on the electrode surface which is necessary for biosensors and other applications is still an important issue to be solved. Here the stabilization of the nanoparticles is achieved by inserting nanoparticles between two graphene layers in a sandwich structure. Furthermore, it has been theoretically predicted that sandwich-type structures prepared with metal nanoparticles between two graphene layers would have extraordinary physical properties. In this study, Fe2O3/SLG (single-layer graphene) and the sandwich-type SLG/Fe2O3/SLG electrodes were produced. Fe2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol-gel method, and graphene was produced by CVD (chemical vapor deposition) on Cu foil and then transferred onto FTO (fluorine-doped tin oxide). Fe2O3/SLG composite structure was produced by the drop-casting process. The structural, magnetic, and electrochemical properties of samples were investigated in detail. Structural analysis revealed that Fe2O3 has an alpha-phase with a rhombohedral crystal structure and the mean particle diameter is 128 nm. Raman and SEM analysis also confirmed the quality of SLG and the sandwich-type graphene structure. The nanoparticles have a magnetic phase transition which has Morin temperature at about T = 263 K. Also, Fe2O3 nanoparticles have shown ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature with 0.16 Am-2/kg remanent magnetization and 0.203 T coercive field. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of graphene sandwich-type electrodes to eliminate the main stabilization obstacle of magnetic nanoparticles especially for biosensor applications.C1 [Unlu, C. Gokhan] Pamukkale Univ, Dept Biomed Engn, TR-20070 Denizli, Turkey

Gas-phase synthesis of Fe-Bi metastable and dumbbell particles

Fe-Bi nanoparticles were prepared in the gas-phase by DC magnetron sputtering and in-fight annealing. The morphological, structural and compositional properties were investigated by High-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy. High-resolution microscopy studies show that primary particles produced without in-flight annealing are spherical with a diameter of about 50 nm. Particles sintered at 773 K acquire a dumbbell structure with Fe-FeO and Bi sections

CoCu/Cu Multilayers: Influence of Cu Layer Deposition Potential

The electrochemical, structural and magnetic properties of CoCu/Cu multilayers electrodeposited at different cathode potentials were investigated from a single bath. The Cu layer deposition potentials were selected as , and with respect to saturated calomel electrode (SCE) while the Co layer deposition potential was constant at versus SCE. For the electrochemical analysis, the current-time transients were obtained. The amount of noble non-magnetic (Cu) metal materials decreased with the increase of deposition potentials due to anomalous codeposition. Further, current-time transient curves for the Co layer deposition and capacitance were calculated. In the structural analysis, the multilayers were found to be polycrystalline with both Co and Cu layers adopting the face-centered cubic structure. The (111) peak shifts towards higher angle with the increase of the deposition potentials. Also, the lattice parameters of the multilayers decrease from 0.3669 nm to 0.3610 nm with the increase of the deposition potentials from to , which corresponds to the bulk values of Cu and Co, respectively. The electrochemical and structural results demonstrate that the amount of Co atoms increased and the Cu atoms decreased in the layers with the increase of deposition potentials due to anomalous codeposition. For magnetic measurements, the saturation magnetizations, obtained from the magnetic curves of the multilayers were obtained as 212 kA/m, 276 kA/m, and 366 kA/m with , , and versus SCE, respectively. It is seen that the values increased with the increase of the deposition potentials confirming the increase of the Co atoms and decrease of the Cu amount. The results of electrochemical and structural analysis show that the deposition potentials of non-magnetic layers plays important role on the amount of magnetic and non-magnetic materials in the layers and thus on the magnetic properties of the multilayers

perovskite manganites

We have synthesized La-0.7 NdxBa(0.3-x)MnO3 (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1) perovskite manganites by using sol-gel method and investigated structure, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties. Structural analysis revealed that La0.7Ba0.3MnO3 and La0.7Nd0.05Ba0.25MnO3 have cubic and La0.7Nd0.1Ba0.2MnO3 rhombo-hedral structure. The Curie temperature of the samples decreased with increasing Nd content and equals to 303, 293 and 257 K for x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, respectively. We present experimentally by using magnetization isotherms and heat-capacity measurements that room temperature magnetic refrigeration is successfully achieved for La0.7Nd0.05Ba0.25MnO3 structure by tuning the Mn3+ to Mn4+ ratio. Additionally, zero-field and field-dependent heat-capacity measurements were compared to investigate the accuracy of the value of the adiabatic temperature-change. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V

perovskite

The effect of Fe doping of a LaFeO3 orthoferrite nanostructure was investigated, and the structural and magnetic properties of the resulting material were studied. The pure (La1-xFex)FeO3 (x= 0, 0.25, 0.50) nanocrystals with a minimal amount of impurities (<= 6%) were successfully produced by the sol-gel technique using La(NO2)(3) and Fe(NO2 )center dot 34H(2)O as starting materials. The phase impurities and crystalline structures were characterized through multiphase Rietveld refinement of x-ray diffraction data. The results showed that the average crystallite size of synthesized powders is similar to 18 nm. Lanthanum ions have a valence state of La3+ in the (La1-xFex)FeO3, meanwhile inducing the states of mixed character of Fe3+ and Fe4+ in Fe ions, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Magnetometry measurements provided evidence that all the samples, including the parent LaFeO3, are weak ferromagnets; this finding is explained by distortions in the orthoferrite structure, which disturb the ideal antiferromagnetic coupling between Fe(3+ )ions. Fe substitution for La ions in the parent LaFeO3 structure leads to a significant increase in the saturation magnetization from 5.4 to 10.2 Am(2 )kg(-1), indicating that the double-exchange interaction occurs between Fe3+ and Fe4+ ions. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.C1 [Unlu, C. Gokhan] Pamukkale Univ, Dept Biomed Engn, TR-20070 Denizli, Turkey.[Kaynar, M. Burak; Simsek, Telem; Kalkan, Bora; Ozcan, Sadan] Hacettepe Univ, Dept Phys Engn, TR-20070 Ankara, Turkey.[Tekgul, Atakan] Uludag Univ, Phys Dept, TR-16100 Bursa, Turkey.[Tekgul, Atakan] Akdeniz Univ, Phys Dept, TR-07058 Antalya, Turkey

Graphene-Based Conductive Interfaces

A major bottleneck in the fabrication of efficient bio-organic nanoelectronic devices resides in the strong charge recombination that is present at the different interfaces forming the complex system. An efficient way to overcome this bottleneck is to add a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of molecules between the biological material and electrode that promotes an efficient direct electron transfer while minimizing wasteful processes of charge recombination. In this work, the presence of a pyrene-nitrilotriacetic acid layer carrying different metal centers as the SAM is physisorbed on graphene is fully described by means of electrochemical analysis, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, photoelectrochemical characterization, and theoretical calculations. Our multidisciplinary study reveals that the metal center holds the key role in the efficient electron transfer at the interface. While Ni2+ is responsible for the electron transfer from the SAM to graphene, Co2+ and Cu2+ force an opposite transfer from graphene to SAM. Moreover, since Cu2+ inhibits the electron transfer due to a strong charge recombination, Co2+ seems to be the transition metal of choice for the efficient electron transfer.C1 [Osella, Silvio; Trzaskowski, Bartosz] Univ Warsaw, Ctr New Technol, Chem & Biol Syst Simulat Lab, Banacha 2C, PL-02097 Warsaw, Poland.[Kargul, Joanna] Univ Warsaw, Ctr New Technol, Solar Fuels Lab, Banacha 2C, PL-02097 Warsaw, Poland.[Kiliszek, Malgorzata; Harputlu, Ersan] Mersin Univ, Adv Technol Res & Applicat Ctr, Ciftlikkoy Campus, TR-33343 Yenisehir, Mersin, Turkey.[Unlu, Cumhur G.] Pamukkale Univ, Dept Biomed Engn, TR-20070 Denizli, Turkey.[Ocakoglu, Kasim] Tarsus Univ, Fac Technol, Dept Energy Syst Engn, TR-33400 Tarsus, Turkey

I-based hybrid electrode

We experimentally demonstrate that oriented assembly of red algal photosystem I (PSI) reaction centers on a plasmonically active Silver Island Film (SIF) leads to strong enhancement of both the fluorescence intensity and photocurrent generated upon illumination. PSI complexes were specifically attached to a monolayer of graphene deposited on the SIF layer. The results of comprehensive fluorescence microscopy point to the critical role of the SIF layer in enhancing the optical response of PSI, as we observe increased emission intensity. Hence, importantly, the strong increase of photocurrent generation demonstrated for the biohybrid electrodes can be directly associated with the plasmonic enhancement of the optical and electrochemical functionalities of PSI. The results also indicate that the graphene layer is not diminishing the influence of the plasmonic excitations in SIF on the absorption and emission of PSI.C1 [Szalkowski, Marcin; Mackowski, Sebastian; Kowalska, Dorota] Nicolaus Copernicus Univ, Fac Phys Astron & Informat, Inst Phys, Grudziadzka 5, PL-87100 Torun, Poland.[Szalkowski, Marcin] Polish Acad Sci, Inst Low Temp & Struct Res, Okolna 2, PL-50422 Wroclaw, Poland.[Harputlu, Ersan; Ocakoglu, Kasim] Tarsus Univ, Fac Technol, Dept Energy Syst Engn, TR-33400 Tarsus, Turkey.[Kiliszek, Malgorzata; Kargul, Joanna] Univ Warsaw, Ctr New Technol, Solar Fuels Lab, Banacha 2C, PL-02097 Warsaw, Poland.[Unlu, C. Gokhan] Pamukkale Univ, Dept Biomed Engn, TR-20070 Denizli, Turkey

to improvement in photocurrent generation

We report the fabrication of an oriented bioelectrode of photosystem I (PSI) on single-layer graphene (SLG). This bioelectrode demonstrates improved photocurrent generation, which can be directly attributed to the molecular conductive interface formed by cytochrome c(553) (cyt c(553)) promoting the uniform orientation of PSI with its donor side towards the electrode. The conductive interface between PSI-cyt c(553) and SLG is facilitated by a monolayer composed of pi-pi-stacked pyrene functionalized with the Ni-NTA moiety, which binds the His6-tagged cyt c(553). The surface uniformity of the PSI protein orientation in the electrode structure is evidenced by cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy, with the latter also proving the efficient electronic coupling between majority of the PSI complexes and graphene. With the uniform organization of the biological photoactive layer, photocurrents are generated at the open circuit potential, which can be further increased when a negative potential is applied. Indeed, at the highest applied negative potential (-0.3 V), over 5-fold increase in the cathodic photocurrent for the PSI complexes conjugated via cyt c(553) to the SLG substrate is observed compared with that obtained for the randomly oriented structure where PSI is physisorbed on graphene. These results indicate the key role of a strictly defined orientation of photoactive proteins on electrodes for proper electron transfer and substantial improvement in photocurrent generation in the present or similar bioelectrode architectures