MEASUREMENT OF THE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF FIRELAY REFRACTORIES*

Thermal conductivity determinations have been made on superduty fire-clay, silica, and kaolin refractories, using the Globar-heated, water calorimeter apparatus previously described. The arrangement, which is satisfactory for insulating firebrick, gives considerable error when firebrick samples are tested. Results obtained by different arrangements of the guard samples and heating elements are shown as well as a final arrangement which gives a satisfactory condition of parallel heat flow.     

Components of “soybean lecithin”

Summary The acetone-insoluble material from soybean “lecithin” has been fractionated by submitting alcohol-soluble and alcohol-insoluble portions to countercurrent distribution between hexane and methanol. The alcohol-soluble portion was found to contain lecithin, cephalin, and sugars or glycosides; the alcohol-insoluble portion was separated into two major inositol-containing phosphatides and sugars or glycosides. While the commonly accepted value of 30–35% for lecithin in the phosphatides was confirmed, it appears that the accepted value of 65% of cephalin needs revision. The approximate composition for one sample of soybean phosphatides is estimated to be 29% lecithin, 31% cephalin, and 40% inositol-phosphatides. Presented at the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Oil Chemists' Society, May 4–6, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. This paper reports results obtained from a research project financed by the Research Marketing Act of 1946. One of the laboratories of the Bureau of Agricultural and Industrial Chemistry, Agricultural Research Administration, U. S. Department of Agriculture.     

pH meter control of spent soap-lye purification

Summary The electric pH meter has served to fix the limits for the optimum pH range of the acid-alum treatment of spent-lyes, to predetermine the proportions of acid and aluminum sulfate to be used for each treament, and to check the actual treatment prior to filtration. As a result of this close control, time and materials have been saved, a consistently good clear yield of crude glycerine has been obtained, and production has been uninterrupted.     

The Detection of Immunity against WT1 and SMAD4P130L of EpCAM+ Cancer Cells in Malignant Pleural Effusion

Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) provides a liquid tumor microenvironment model that includes cancer cells and immune cells. However, the characteristics of tumor antigen-specific CD8⁺ T cells have not been investigated in detail. Here, we analyzed MPE samples taken from a patient with pancreatic cancer who received a dendritic cell vaccine targeting Wilms’ Tumor 1 (WT1) antigen over the disease course (two points at MPE^1st and 2^nd, two months after MPE1^st). Epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM)⁺ cancer cells (PD-L1⁻ or T cell immunoglobulin mucin-3, TIM-3⁻), both PD-1 or TIM-3 positive CD8⁺ T cells, and CD14⁺CD68⁺CD163⁺TIM-3⁺ macrophages increased from the MPE^1st to MPE^2nd. The ratio of WT1-specific cytotoxic lymphocytes (WT1-CTLs) to MPE CD8⁺ T cells and IFN-γ secretion of WT1-CTLs were reduced with disease progression. Coincidentally, the fraction of central memory T (T_CM) of WT1-CTLs was decreased. On the other hand, CD8⁺ T cells in response to SMAD4^P130L, which is homogeneously expressed in EpCAM⁺ cancer cells, were detected using in vitro expansion with the HLA-A*11:01 restrictive SVCVNLYH neoantigen. Furthermore, the CD8⁺ T cell response to SMAD4^P130L was diminished following remarkably decreased numbers of CD8⁺ T_CM in MPE samples. In conclusion, CD8⁺ T cells responding to WT1 or SMAD4^P130L neoantigen expressed in EpCAM⁺ pancreatic cancer cells were detected in MPE. A tumor antigen-specific immune response would provide novel insight into the MPE microenvironment.