Chemokines Up-Regulated in Epithelial Cells Control Senescence-Associated T Cell Accumulation in Salivary Glands of Aged and Sjögren’s Syndrome Model Mice

Immunosenescence is characterized by age-associated changes in immunological functions. Although age- and autoimmune-related sialadenitis cause dry mouth (xerostomia), the roles of immunosenescence and cellular senescence in the pathogenesis of sialadenitis remain unknown. We demonstrated that acquired immune cells rather than innate immune cells infiltrated the salivary glands (SG) of aged mice. An analysis of isolated epithelial cells from SG revealed that the expression levels of the chemokine CXCL13 were elevated in aged mice. Senescence-associated T cells (SA-Ts), which secrete large amounts of atypical pro-inflammatory cytokines, are involved in the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders and autoimmune diseases. The present results showed that SA-Ts and B cells, which express the CXCL13 receptor CXCR5, accumulated in the SG of aged mice, particularly females. CD4⁺ T cells derived from aged mice exhibited stronger in vitro migratory activity toward CXCL13 than those from young mice. In a mouse model of Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), SA-Ts also accumulated in SG, presumably via CXCL12-CXCR4 signaling. Collectively, the present results indicate that SA-Ts accumulate in SG, contribute to the pathogenesis of age- and SS-related sialadenitis by up-regulating chemokines in epithelial cells, and have potential as therapeutic targets for the treatment of xerostomia caused by these types of sialadenitis.     

The Potential Role of Hepatocyte Growth Factor in Degenerative Disorders of the Synovial Joint and Spine

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the changing role of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) signaling in the healthy and diseased synovial joint and spine. HGF is a multifunctional growth factor that, like its specific receptor c-Met, is widely expressed in several bone and joint tissues. HGF has profound effects on cell survival and proliferation, matrix metabolism, inflammatory response, and neurotrophic action. HGF plays an important role in normal bone and cartilage turnover. Changes in HGF/c-Met have also been linked to pathophysiological changes in degenerative joint diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA) and intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). A therapeutic role of HGF has been proposed in the regeneration of osteoarticular tissues. HGF also influences bone remodeling and peripheral nerve activity. Studies aimed at elucidating the changing role of HGF/c-Met signaling in OA and IDD at different pathophysiological stages, and their specific molecular mechanisms are needed. Such studies will contribute to safe and effective HGF/c-Met signaling-based treatments for OA and IDD.     

Tape casting of polysiloxane-derived ceramic with controlled porosity and surface properties

Tape casting has been applied to produce porous hybrid and SiOC ceramic tapes using ceramic precursors and commercially available polysiloxanes as polymeric binders. SiC particles of two different mean sizes (4.5 or 6.5?μm) were used as inert fillers to prevent shrinkage and increase mechanical stability. Macroporosity was adjusted by varying the azodicarbonamide (ADA) content from 0 to 30?wt.%. Decomposition of the polysiloxanes at 600?°C resulted in the generation of micropores with high specific surface area (187–267 m²?g^?1) and a predominant hydrophobic behavior. At 1000?°C mainly meso/macroporosity were observed (SSA: 32–162 m²?g^?1) accompanied by increased hydrophilicity. The influence of ADA content, SiC size, and pyrolysis temperature on open porosity (2.5–37%), average pore size (<0.01–1.76?μm), surface characteristics, and flexural strength (10.5–121?MPa) were investigated. The porous tapes with different surface characteristics and controlled structure are highly promising for applications involving membrane processes, particularly microfiltration systems (0.1–10?μm).     

Direct Growth of Germanene at Interfaces between Van der Waals Materials and Ag(111)

Germanene, a 2D honeycomb germanium crystal, is grown at graphene/Ag(111) and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN)/Ag(111) interfaces by segregating germanium atoms. A simple annealing process in N₂ or H₂/Ar at ambient pressure leads to the formation of germanene, indicating that an ultrahigh-vacuum condition is not necessary. The grown germanene is stable in air and uniform over the entire area covered with a van der Waals (vdW) material. As an important finding, it is necessary to use a vdW material as a cap layer for the present germanene growth method since the use of an Al₂O₃ cap layer results in no germanene formation. The present study also proves that Raman spectroscopy in air is a powerful tool for characterizing germanene at the interfaces, which is concluded by multiple analyses including first-principles density functional theory calculations. The direct growth of h-BN-capped germanene on Ag(111), which is demonstrated in the present study, is considered to be a promising technique for the fabrication of future germanene-based electronic devices.     

Restraint Method for Overcoming Heating Irregularity and Improving Heating Equipment Efficiency for Beverage Cans Using High‐Frequency Induction Heating

We were able to reduce heating irregularities in equipment for heating beverage cans by using the high‐frequency induction heating method and determining the resulting improvement in the heating efficiency. The heating irregularity between the top and bottom of the can was reduced to less than 3°C by improving the arrangement of the heating coils for the beverage can by thinning the winding and changing the circuit configuration. The efficiency of power conversion was improved from 93.0% to 97.4%. In this paper, the configuration of the equipment and the experimental results are reported.     

Numerical simulation of pharyngeal bolus flow influenced by bolus viscosity and apparent slip

Pharyngeal bolus flow was simulated numerically using a finite element method. The bolus liquids were X-ray medium, glucose, and thickener solutions. For a low-viscosity bolus, the simulation showed a reasonable agreement of bolus velocity with X-ray measurements. The influence of bolus density on swallowing velocity was investigated numerically. Although a higher density resulted in a higher bolus velocity, the increase in velocity was modest. When the bolus viscosity was high, it was necessary to apply the slip boundary condition to obtain an agreement for bolus velocity between the simulation and X-ray measurements. The simulations also showed that the method of characteristic shear rate proposed by Zhu et al., Journal of Texture Studies, 2014, 45, 430–439 is effective for predicting the bolus velocity for shear-thinning fluids. In order to discuss the effect of saliva lubrication and the physical meaning of the characteristic shear rate, an immiscible two-layer flow of the core and wall layer was analyzed theoretically by analogy with mesopharyngeal bolus flow. The characteristic shear rate enabled us to correlate the macroscopic flow behavior and the viscosity of the core layer fluid. Lubrication due to the wall layer caused the apparent slip and enhanced the transfer of viscous core fluid. For viscous fluid that presented a large apparent slip in the two-layer model, the slip boundary condition was needed in the swallowing simulation. The numerical simulation and model flow analysis revealed the usefulness of characteristic shear rate and the importance of saliva-layer lubrication in swallowing.     

Impacts of spectral variations in multiwavelength excitation method on measurements of fluorescently whitened papers

The multiwavelength excitation (MWE) method for measuring the colorimetric properties of fluorescent whitening agent (FWA)‐treated specimens illuminated by a standard daylight illuminant computationally approximates not the spectral power distribution (SPD) of the illuminant but the luminescent SPD excited thereby by a weighted sum of the luminescent SPDs excited by a few different narrow‐band illuminations. The weights are optimized for the actual SPDs of those illuminations and the bispectral luminescent radiance factors of typical FWA‐treated paper specimens. Since the latter is invariant among instruments once provided as the common numerical data, the variations of the narrow‐band SPDs give major impacts to the reproducibility of this method. The weights optimized for the varied SPDs, however, mitigate the impacts. For investigating how they impact, one basic illumination system and its 16 simple variation systems were built virtually. The basic system consists of three narrow‐band LEDs and one blue‐excited white LED, whereas the individual simple variation system has either the peak wavelength or spectral width of one of the four LEDs (including the blue LED in the white LED) varied. With those systems, seven FWA‐treated papers with the known bispectral radiance factors were measured computationally by simulating the procedure of the MWE method. The differences in the colorimetric values measured with the simple variation systems from those with the basic system are far below the just noticeable difference, which indicates that the MWE method can be a practical solution for better reproducibility in measuring FWA‐treated papers.