Design of Trehalose-Based Amide/Sulfonamide C-type Lectin Receptor Signaling Compounds

Mincle agonists have been shown to induce inflammatory cytokine production, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF) and promote the development of a Th1/Th17 immune response that might be crucial to development of effective vaccination against pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As an expansion of our previous work, a library of 6,6′-amide and sulfonamide α,α-d -trehalose compounds with various substituents on the aromatic ring was synthesized efficiently in good to excellent yields. These compounds were evaluated for their ability to activate the human C-type lectin receptor Mincle by the induction of cytokines from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. A preliminary structure–activity relationship (SAR) of these novel trehalose diamides and sulfonamides revealed that aryl amide-linked trehalose compounds demonstrated improved activity and relatively high potency cytokine production compared to the Mincle ligand trehalose dibehenate adjuvant (TDB) and the natural ligand trehalose dimycolate (TDM) inducing dose-dependent and human-Mincle-specific stimulation in a HEK reporter cell line.     

Effect of Synergistic Anticorrosion Treatments on Cycling Stability of Mg-Based Hydrogen Storage Electrode

In this paper, any two of the three anticorrosion agents, that is emulsifier (OP-10), soluble glass (Na2O·nSiO2) and glycerin (C3H8O3), were treated simultaneously on the surface of amorphous (a-) MgNi+5% Ml2Mg17 (Ml denotes the lanthanum-rich mish metal) electrode and the electrolyte. Effect of the synergistic anticorrosion treatment on charging/discharging cycle stability of the electrode was investigated. Contrasted with single treatment method, the cycling stability of the electrodes was further improved. The desirable synergistic anticorrosion method was that the electrode was treated by the soluble glass, and that OP-10 was added into the electrolyte. The cyclic voltammogram (CV) results of the electrode show clearly that the anticorrosion agent can change the electrochemical activity and mechanism of the electrode. The concentration of the anticorrosion agent in the electrolyte treated by the synergistic anticorrosion method was also investigated. The appropriate concentration of the anticorrosion agents in the electrolyte is 0.143%.     

Microstructural Investigation on Failure of Internal Drive Shaft

17-4 PH stainless steel is used as internal drive shaft material in liquid engine pumps. One of the drive shafts failed during operation. The shaft pieces were in contact for short duration after failure, which has resulted in abrasion of fractured surfaces. Samples from the location of failure were taken, and investigation of the failure was carried out using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The microstructural analysis of the material and fractographic analysis of the fractured surface show that the failure was caused by excessive torsion.     

^17O系统的R矩阵分析

采用多道多能级R矩阵理论,全面系统地分析~(17)O系统中10.5 MeV激发能以下有关~(16)O(n,n)~(16)O·~(16)O(n,a)~(13)C和~(13)C(a,a)~(13)C的全部实验数据。有关~(16)O的中子反应截面计算值被收入中国评价数据库CENDL-2和美国的评价数据库ENDF/B-6。对在R矩阵分析中如何确定本底、道半径和边界条件等问题予以讨论。     

新型高温永磁体的研制

通过分析影响磁体高温性能的因素,设计了新磁体的成分为:Cu含量高,Fe含量低,Zr适量,Sm含量高;采用粉末冶金工艺制备了高温Sm_2(CoFeCuZr)_(17)永磁体。制得的磁体室温磁性能为:B_r1.075 T,H_(ei)2 098.2 kA/m,H_(eb) 776.1 kA/m,H_k843.8 kA/m,(BH)_(max)210.0 kj/m~3;在200℃时的磁性能为:B_r0.991 T,H_(ci)1 175.7 kA/m,H_(cb)531.7 kA/m,H_k577.9 kA/m,(BH)_(max)172.5 kJ/m~3;矫顽力温度系数β(20～200℃)为-0.24％/℃。经理论分析和实验验证,磁体的使用温度均超过400℃,为高温环境(高于400℃)提供了一种实用性永磁材料。     

Searching minimax game trees under memory space constraint

Games such as CHESS, GO and OTHELLO can be represented by minimax game trees. Among various search procedures to solve such game trees,- and SSS^* are perhaps most well known. Although it is proved that SSS^* explores only a subset of the nodes explored by-, - is commonly believed to be faster in real applications, since it requires very little memory space and hence its storage management cost is low. Contrary to this folklore, however, this paper reports, using the OTHELLO game as an example, that SSS^* is much faster than-. It is also demonstrated that SSS^* can be modified to make the required memory space controllable to some extent, while retaining the high efficiency of the original SSS^*.This research was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan, under a Scientific Grant-in-Aid.     

mRNA and miRNA Expression Analyses of the MYC/E2F/miR-17-92 Network in the Most Common Pediatric Brain Tumors

Numerous molecular factors disrupt the correctness of the cell cycle process leading to the development of cancer due to increased cell proliferation. Among known causative factors of such process is abnormal gene expression. Nowadays in the light of current knowledge such alterations are frequently considered in the context of mRNA–miRNA correlation. One of the molecular factors with potential value in tumorigenesis is the feedback loop between MYC and E2F genes in which miR-17-5p and miR-20a from the miR-17-92 cluster are involved. The current literature shows that overexpression of the members of the OncomiR-1 are involved in the development of many solid tumors. In the present work, we investigated the expression of components of the MYC/E2F/miR-17-92 network and their closely related elements including members of MYC and E2F families and miRNAs from two paralogs of miR-17-92: miR-106b-25 and miR-106a-363, in the most common brain tumors of childhood, pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), WHO grade 1; ependymoma (EP), WHO grade 2; and medulloblastoma (MB), WHO grade 4. We showed that the highest gene expression was observed in the MYC family for MYCN and in the E2F family for E2F2. Positive correlation was observed between the gene expression and tumor grade and type, with the highest expression being noted for medulloblastomas, followed by ependymomas, and the lowest for pilocytic astrocytomas. Most members of miR-17-92, miR-106a-363 and miR-106b-25 clusters were upregulated and the highest expression was noted for miR-18a and miR-18b. The rest of the miRNAs, including miR-19a, miR-92a, miR-106a, miR-93, or miR-25 also showed high values. miR-17-5p, miR-20a obtained a high level of expression in medulloblastomas and ependymomas, while close to the control in the pilocytic astrocytoma samples. miRNA expression also depended on tumor grade and histology.     

Interplay between Humoral and CLA+ T Cell Response against Candida albicans in Psoriasis

Candida albicans (CA) infections have been associated with psoriasis onset or disease flares. However, the integrated immune response against this fungus is still poorly characterized in psoriasis. We studied specific immunoglobulins in plasma and the CA response in cocultures of circulating memory CD45RA⁻ cutaneous lymphocyte antigen (CLA)^+/− T cell with autologous epidermal cells from plaque and guttate psoriasis patients (cohort 1, n = 52), and also healthy individuals (n = 17). A complete proteomic profile was also evaluated in plaque psoriasis patients (cohort 2, n = 114) regarding their anti-CA IgA levels. Increased anti-CA IgA and IgG levels are present in the plasma from plaque but not guttate psoriasis compared to healthy controls. CA cellular response is confined to CLA⁺ T cells and is primarily Th17. The levels of anti-CA IgA are directly associated with CLA⁺ Th17 response in plaque psoriasis. Proteomic analysis revealed distinct profiles in psoriasis patients with high anti-CA IgA. C-C motif chemokine ligand 18, chitinase-3-like protein 1 and azurocidin were significantly elevated in the plasma from plaque psoriasis patients with high anti-CA levels and severe disease. Our results indicate a mechanism by which Candida albicans exposure can trigger a clinically relevant IL-17 response in psoriasis. Assessing anti-CA IgA levels may be useful in order to evaluate chronic psoriasis patients.