Donor Bone Marrow-Derived T Cells Inhibit GVHD Induced by Donor Lymphocyte Infusion in Established Mixed Allogeneic Hematopoietic Chimeras

Delayed administration of donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) to established mixed chimeras has been shown to achieve anti-tumor responses without graft-vs.-host disease (GVHD). Herein we show that de novo donor BM-derived T cells that are tolerant of the recipients are important in preventing GVHD in mixed chimeras receiving delayed DLI. Mixed chimeras lacking donor BM-derived T cells developed significantly more severe GVHD than those with donor BM-derived T cells after DLI, even though both groups had comparable levels of total T cells at the time of DLI. Post-DLI depletion of donor BM-derived T cells in mixed chimeras, as late as 20 days after DLI, also provoked severe GVHD. Although both CD4 and CD8 T cells contributed to the protection, the latter were significantly more effective, suggesting that inhibition of GVHD was not mainly mediated by CD4 regulatory T cells. The lack of donor BM-derived T cells was associated with markedly increased accumulation of DLI-derived alloreactive T cells in parenchymal GVHD target tissues. Thus, donor BM-derived T cells are an important factor in determining the risk of GVHD and therefore, offer a potential therapeutic target for preventing and ameliorating GVHD in the setting of delayed DLI in established mixed chimeras

Hydrophilic domains compose of interlocking cation-? blocks for constructing hard actuator with robustness and rapid humidity responsiveness

Biomimetic actuators have seemingly infinite potential for use in previously unexplored areas. However, large stresses and a rapid water response are difficult to realize in soft actuators, owing to which their practical applicability is currently limited. In this paper, a new method for designing and fabricating humidity-responsive sturdy hard actuator. By combining a rigid matrix and hydrophilic water domains consisting of dynamic interlocking cation-π blocks, high-performance polymer actuator was synthesized that swell rapidly in response to a water gradient in their environment, resulting in unprecedentedly large stresses. More critically, the strong interlocking cation-π blocks reform and the intermolecular distance is reduced when the water is removed, allowing the deformed actuator to revert its original shape. The proposed design principle can potentially be extended to produce different types of sturdy actuators with rapid water responsiveness

Pores Structure Change Induced by Heat Treatment in Cold-Sprayed Ti6Al4V Coating

In this study, the evolution of pores structure in cold-sprayed Ti6Al4V coating (TC4) was analyzed before and after 600-1100 °C heat treatment. It was found that almost no change happened to pores under the heat treatment temperature below 600 °C. When the heat treatment temperature was increased to 700 °C, the coating recrystallized, and pores turned to spheroid and healed because of the “bridging” effect. Some of the pores coarsened after 800 °C and 900 °C heat treatment. This kind of phenomenon grew severer when the heat treatment temperature increased to 1000 °C and 1100 °C. On the whole, with the increment of temperature, for the coating prepared at relatively low temperature, apparent porosity measured by image analysis method tended to go down first and then up, but it decreased all the time for the coating prepared at relatively high temperature. The reason for this phenomenon was contributed to the bonding state of particles in the coating. Only when there were fewer weakly bonded interfaces, the detachment between the particle interfaces which may be caused by release of residual stress did not occur, and there was no pores expansion and internal connectivity, so the porosity continuously decreased

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Titanium Dioxide and Evaluation of Its Visible Light Photocatalytic Activity

Nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide (N-doped TiO2) photocatalyst was synthesized from nanotube titanic acid (denoted as NTA; molecular formula H2Ti2O5·H2O ) precursor via a hydrothermal route in ammonia solution. As-synthesized N-doped TiO2 catalysts were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, diffuse reflectance spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron spin resonance spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. It was found that nanotube ammonium titanate (NAT) was produced as an intermediate during the preparation of N-doped TiO2 from NTA, as evidenced by the N1s X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic peak of NH4 + at 401.7 eV. The catalyst showed much higher activities to the degradation of methylene blue and p-chlorophenol under visible light irradiation than Degussa P25. This could be attributed to the enhanced absorption of N-doped TiO2 in visible light region associated with the formation of single-electron-trapped oxygen vacancies and the inhibition of recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pair by doped nitrogen

Microstructure of Cross-Linked High Densification Network and Strengthening Mechanism in Cold-Sprayed Ti-6Al-4V Coating After Heat Treatment

In this study, Ti-6Al-4V (TC4) coating was prepared using an in situ shot peening-assisted cold spraying technology in which large shot peening particles were mixed with TC4 spraying powders to prepare the deposit. To improve its strength and toughness, the coating was heat-treated at 600-1000 °C in vacuum. The results demonstrated that the microstructure of the as-sprayed coating exhibited a special structure that was denser at the regions tamped by the shot peening particles and porous at the nontamped regions. When the coating was heat-treated at 800 and 1000 °C, the interface between the particles had largely disappeared and the local pores had interconnected with each other due to thermal diffusion and recrystallization. The coating hardness decreased slightly after annealing at 600 and 800 °C due to the released strain hardening effect. The bonding strength of the coating after annealing improved in comparison with that of the as-sprayed coating. The tensile strength of the coating improved significantly under annealing at 800 °C. A cross-linked high densification network was formed after annealing due to the effect of in situ shot peening, which served as a reinforced framework and enhanced the strength of the coating

Pressure-induced emission of cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals.

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) are of great interest for optoelectronics because of their high quantum efficiency in solar cells and light-emitting devices. However, exploring an effective strategy to further improve their optical activities remains a considerable challenge. Here, we report that nanocrystals (NCs) of the initially nonfluorescent zero-dimensional (0D) cesium lead halide perovskite Cs4PbBr6 exhibit a distinct emission under a high pressure of 3.01 GPa. Subsequently, the emission intensity of Cs4PbBr6 NCs experiences a significant increase upon further compression. Joint experimental and theoretical analyses indicate that such pressure-induced emission (PIE) may be ascribed to the enhanced optical activity and the increased binding energy of self-trapped excitons upon compression. This phenomenon is a result of the large distortion of [PbBr6]4- octahedral motifs resulting from a structural phase transition. Our findings demonstrate that high pressure can be a robust tool to boost the photoluminescence efficiency and provide insights into the relationship between the structure and optical properties of 0D MHPs under extreme conditions

Enhanced bioremediation of triclocarban-contaminated soil by Rhodococcus rhodochrous BX2 and Pseudomonas sp. LY-1 immobilized on biochar and microbial community response

Triclocarban (TCC), an emerging organic contaminant (EOC), has become a severe threat to soil microbial communities and ecological security. Here, the TCC-degrading strain Rhodococcus rhodochrous BX2 and DCA-degrading strain Pseudomonas sp. LY-1 (together referred to as TC1) were immobilized on biochar to remove TCC and its intermediates in TCC-contaminated soil. High-throughput sequencing was used to investigate the microbial community structure in TCC-contaminated soil. Analysis of co-occurrence networks was used to explore the mutual relationships among soil microbiome members. The results showed that the immobilized TC1 significantly increased the removal efficiency of TCC from 84.7 to 92.7% compared to CK (no TC1 cells on biochar) in 10 mg/L TCC liquid medium. The utilization of immobilized TC1 also significantly accelerated the removal of TCC from contaminated soil. Microbial community analysis revealed the crucial microorganisms and their functional enzymes participating in TCC degradation in soil. Moreover, the internal labor division patterns and connections of TCC-degrading microbes, with a focus on strains BX2 and LY-1, were unraveled by co-occurrence networks analysis. This work provides a promising strategy to facilitate the bioremediation of TCC in soil, which has potential application value for sustainable biobased economies

CD180 Ligation Inhibits TLR7- and TLR9-Mediated Activation of Macrophages and Dendritic Cells Through the Lyn-SHP-1/2 Axis in Murine Lupus

Activation of TLR7 and TLR9 by endogenous RNA- or DNA-containing ligands, respectively, can lead to hyper-activation of immune cells, including macrophages and DCs, subsequently contributes to the pathogenesis of SLE. CD180, a TLR-like protein, is specifically involved in the development and activation of immune cells. Our previous study and others have reported that CD180-negative B cells are dramatically increased in SLE patients and responsible for the production of auto-antibodies. However, the mode of CD180 expression on macrophages and DCs in SLE remains unclear and the role of CD180 on regulating TLR7- and TLR9-mediated activation of macrophages and DCs are largely unknown. In the present study, we found that the percentages of CD180-negative macrophages and DCs were both increased in SLE patients and lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice compared with healthy donors and wild-type mice, respectively. Notably, ligation of CD180 significantly inhibited the activation of TLR7 and TLR9 signaling pathways in macrophages and DCs through the Lyn-SHP-1/2 axis. What's more, injection of anti-CD180 Ab could markedly ameliorate the lupus-symptoms of imiquimod-treated mice and lupus-prone MRL/lpr mice through inhibiting the activation of macrophages and DCs. Collectively, our results highlight a critical role of CD180 in regulating TLR7- and TLR9-mediated activation of macrophages and DCs, hinting that CD180 can be regarded as a potential therapeutic target for SLE treatment

Psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the preoperative assessment of readiness tool among surgical patients

BackgroundThe evaluation of the surgical readiness of patients plays an important role in clinical care. Preoperative readiness assessment is needed to identify the inadequacy among surgical patients, which provides guide for interventions to improve patients’ preoperative readiness. However, there is a paucity of high-level, quality tool that evaluate surgical readiness of patients in China. The purpose of this study is to translate the Preoperative Assessment of Readiness Tool (PART) into Chinese and determine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version in the population of surgical patients.MethodsUsing a standard translation-backward method, the original English version of PART was translated into Chinese. A convenient sampling of 210 surgical patients was recruited from 6 hospitals in Zhejiang Province to test the psychometric properties of this scale including internal consistency, split-half reliability, content validity, structure validity, and floor/ceiling effect.ResultsA total of 194 patients (92%) completed questionnaires. The Chinese version of PART achieved Cronbach’s alphas 0.948 and McDonald’s omega coefficient 0.947, respectively, for the full scale. The estimated odd-even split-half reliability was 0.959. The scale-level content validity index was 0.867, and the items content validity index ranged from 0.83 to 1.0.The output of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed a two-factor model (χ2 = 510.96; df = 86; p < 0.001; root mean square error approximation = 0.08) with no floor/ceiling effect.ConclusionThe Chinese version of PART demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity among surgical patients. It can be used to evaluate patients’ preoperative preparation and help health professionals provide proper preoperative support

Enhancing ion extraction with an inverse sheath in negative hydrogen ion sources for NBI heating

Negative hydrogen ion (H−) sources employed in neutral beam injection (NBI) systems are subject to extraction efficiency issues due to the considerable volumetric losses of negative hydrogen ions. Here, we propose to improve the H− extraction by activating an alternative sheath mode, the electronegative inverse sheath, in front of the H− production surface, which features zero sheath acceleration for H− with a negative sheath potential opposite to the classic sheath. With the inverse sheath activated, the produced H− exhibits smaller gyration, a shorter transport path, less destructive collisions, and therefore higher extraction probability than the commonly believed space-charge-limited (SCL) sheath. Formation of the proposed electronegative inverse sheath and the SCL sheath near the H–-emitting surface is investigated by the continuum kinetic simulation. Dedicated theoretical analyses are also performed to characterize the electronegative inverse sheath properties, which qualitatively agree with the simulation results. We further propose that the transition between the two sheath modes can be realized by tuning the cold ion generation near the emissive boundary. The electronegative inverse sheath is always coupled with a plasma consisting of only hydrogen ions with approximately zero electron concentration, which is reminiscent of the ion–ion plasma reported in previous NBI experiments