Activation of the Complement System on Human Endothelial Cells by Urban Particulate Matter Triggers Inflammation-Related Protein Production

Exposure to particulate matter (PM) is becoming a major global health issue. The amount and time of exposure to PM are known to be closely associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, the mechanism through which PM affects the vascular system is still not clear. Endothelial cells line the interior surface of blood vessels and actively interact with plasma proteins, including the complement system. Unregulated complement activation caused by invaders, such as pollutants, may promote endothelial inflammation. In the present study, we sought to investigate whether urban PM (UPM) acts on the endothelial environment via the complement system. UPM-treated human endothelial cells with normal human serum showed the deposition of membrane attack complexes (MACs) on the cell surface via the alternative pathway of the complement system. Despite the formation of MACs, cell death was not observed, and cell proliferation was increased in UPM-mediated complement activation. Furthermore, complement activation on endothelial cells stimulated the production of inflammation-related proteins. Our results revealed that UPM could activate the complement system in human endothelial cells and that complement activation regulated inflammatory reaction in microenvironment. These findings provide clues with regard to the role of the complement system in pathophysiologic events of vascular disease elicited by air pollution.     

Toxoplasma gondii GRA9 Regulates the Activation of NLRP3 Inflammasome to Exert Anti-Septic Effects in Mice

Dense granule proteins (GRAs) are essential components in Toxoplasma gondii, which are suggested to be promising serodiagnostic markers in toxoplasmosis. In this study, we investigated the function of GRA9 in host response and the associated regulatory mechanism, which were unknown. We found that GRA9 interacts with NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) involved in inflammation by forming the NLRP3 inflammasome. The C-terminal of GRA9 (GRA9C) is essential for GRA9–NLRP3 interaction by disrupting the NLRP3 inflammasome through blocking the binding of apoptotic speck-containing (ASC)-NLRP3. Notably, Q200 of GRA9C is essential for the interaction of NLRP3 and blocking the conjugation of ASC. Recombinant GRA9C (rGRA9C) showed an anti-inflammatory effect and the elimination of bacteria by converting M1 to M2 macrophages. In vivo, rGRA9C increased the anti-inflammatory and bactericidal effects and subsequent anti-septic activity in CLP- and E. coli- or P. aeruginosa-induced sepsis model mice by increasing M2 polarization. Taken together, our findings defined a role of T. gondii GRA9 associated with NLRP3 in host macrophages, suggesting its potential as a new candidate therapeutic agent for sepsis.     

Screen printing for support-pillar placement for vacuum glazing and the effects of pillar spacing on strength properties

Maintaining a vacuum between the two glasses to maximize the heat insulating performance, it is indispensable to array the pillar for the vacuum glazing to maintain the vacuum gap. In this paper, to investigate the effect of the spacing of the pillars arranged using the screen printing method on the strength of the glass, a bending strength test was carried out by design and fabricating a ROR bending strength test jig based on the Euro standard. In the strength test results, the experimental results were analyzed using the Weibull distribution, which is a statistical analysis method mainly used for evaluating the breaking strength of brittle material. Based on the analysis results, the placement spacing of the pillars proved validity for maintaining the vacuum glass gaps.     

Aqueous dispersion of 1D van der Waals Mo6S3I6 crystal using biocompatible tri-block copolymer

To achieve the stable dispersion of 1D van der Waals crystal Mo₆S₃I₆ in aqueous media, the tri-block copolymer (Poloxamer) is used as dispersant. The head group of Poloxamer, hydrophobic polypropylene oxide parts can be adsorbed to Mo₆S₃I₆ surface by hydrophobic interaction and the tail group with hydrophilic polyethylene oxide exposed to the outside of the Mo₆S₃I₆ is soluble in water and can form sufficient steric hindrance, resulting in stable aqueous dispersion in nm scale. The excellent biocompatibility of aqueous dispersed nm scale 1D Mo₆S₃I₆ was demonstrated by effective proliferation of C2C12 cells.     

Stimulation of densification during the reduction of U3O8 to UO2 by atmosphere control

A reduction process in the head-end for pyroprocessing has been adopted to avoid oxidation attack on the molybdenum crucible during sintering. The reduction process is employed to reduce U₃O₈ pellets to UO₂ prior to sintering. This allows elimination of the oxygen source, which causes oxidation attack during sintering, thereby permitting the use of a metallic crucible. However, little densification occurs due to the low reduction temperature limited by the INCONEL crucible. Consequently, the amount of material scraps from the pellets increases, thus creating an additional processing burden due to its high radioactivity. To reduce the amount of scraps, densification should be enhanced. This study suggests a simple atmospheric control strategy and clarifies its effects. With the atmospheric control, a higher bulk density and better attrition resistance were obtained in comparison to without this strategy. This can be explained in terms of O/U ratio dependent diffusion kinetics during the reduction of U₃O₈ to UO₂.     

Distributed deep learning platform for pedestrian detection on IT convergence environment

The Journal of Supercomputing - IT technology and traditional industries have been combined recently, resulting in IT convergence technology in various fields. Through convergence with the...     

A Generalized Crystallographic Description of All Tellurium Nanostructures

Despite tellurium being less abundant in the Earth's crust than gold, platinum, or rare‐earth elements, the number of industrial applications of tellurium has rapidly increased in recent years. However, to date, many properties of tellurium and its associated compounds remain unknown. For example, formation mechanisms of many tellurium nanostructures synthesized so far have not yet been verified, and it is unclear why tellurium can readily transform to other compounds like silver telluride by simply mixing with solutions containing silver ions. This uncertainty appears to be due to previous misunderstandings about the tellurium structure. Here, a new approach to the tellurium structure via synthesized structures is proposed. It is found that the proposed approach applies not only to these structures but to all other tellurium nanostructures. Moreover, some unique tellurium nanostructures whose formation mechanism are, until now, unconfirmed can be explained.