Tribocorrosion Susceptibility and Mechanical Characteristics of As-Received and Long-Term In-Vivo Aged Nickel-Titanium and Stainless-Steel Archwires.

To evaluate the effect of long-term in-vivo aging on orthodontic archwires, we aimed to assess the triboelectrochemical and mechanical characteristics of as-received and in-vivo aged nickel-titanium (NiTi) and stainless-steel (SS) orthodontic archwires. Four consecutive tribocorrosion cycles on six NiTi and six SS archwires, as-received and in-vivo aged, were performed on a reciprocal tribometer. Electrochemical noise and friction coefficient measurements, three-dimensional surface profiling, and hardness measurements were performed.

Characterizing Steel Corrosion in Different Alkali-Activated Mortars.

Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) present a promising potential alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The service life of reinforced concrete structures depends greatly on the corrosion resistance of the steel used for reinforcement. Due to the wide range and diverse properties of AAMs, the corrosion processes of steel in these materials is still relatively unknown.

Selection of Culture Conditions and Cell Morphology for Biocompatible Extraction of β-Carotene from .

Biocompatible extraction emerges recently as a means to reduce costs of biotechnology processing of microalgae. In this frame, this study aimed at determining how specific culture conditions and the associated cell morphology impact the biocompatibility and the extraction yield of β-carotene from the green microalga using -decane. The results highlight the relationship between the cell disruption yield and cell volume, the circularity and the relative abundance of naturally permeabilized cells.

Comparison Between Accuracy of Posts Fabricated Using a Digital CAD/CAM Technique and a Conventional Direct Technique.

Purpose: To compare the accuracy of posts fabricated using a conventional direct technique with casting to the accuracy of posts fabricated using a fully digital protocol with CAD/CAM technology and selective laser melting.

Materials And Methods: Ten extracted permanent maxillary incisors were endodontically treated and prepared for a post. For each tooth, two metal posts were fabricated, one by casting (Group C) and one by a fully digital protocol (Group D).

Sensor Development for Corrosion Monitoring of Stainless Steels in HSO Solutions.

Equipment made of different stainless steels is often used in the hydrometallurgical processing industry. In this study, an electrical resistance sensor was developed for monitoring corrosion in acidic solutions at high temperature. Two types of stainless steel were used as the electrode materials, namely grade 316L stainless steel (EN 1.

Monitoring the Corrosion of Steel in Concrete Exposed to a Marine Environment.

Reinforced concrete structures require continuous monitoring and maintenance to prevent corrosion of the carbon steel reinforcement. In this work, concrete columns with carbon and stainless steel reinforcements were exposed to a real marine environment. In order to monitor the corrosion processes, two types of corrosion probes were embedded in these columns at different height levels.

Activation and Repassivation of Stainless Steels in Artificial Brines as a Function of pH.

When planning oil wells with stainless steel components, two possible reasons for depassivation have to be considered-chemical depassivation caused by acidizing jobs and mechanical depassivation caused by various tools and hard particles. The study explores conditions causing chemical activation of investigated steels and circumstances under which repassivation occurs after activation. The main focus of the study is to determine, how quickly various steels can repassivate under different conditions and to find pH values where repassivation will occur after depassivation.

Development of an Electrical Resistance Sensor from High Strength Steel for Automotive Applications.

This work focuses on a demonstration of the monitoring of corrosion processes taking place in high strength steel in automotive applications. This is performed by means of a corrosion sensor, which operates as an electrical resistance sensor. It was developed from the same type of material that is used for the high-strength steel parts produced in the automotive industry.

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Rare-Earth Modified Titania: Influence on Phase Composition, Optical Properties, and Photocatalytic Activity.

In order to expand the use of titania indoor as well as to increase its overall performance, narrowing the band gap is one of the possibilities to achieve this. Modifying with rare earths (REs) has been relatively unexplored, especially the modification of rutile with rare earth cations. The aim of this study was to find the influence of the modification of TiO₂ with rare earths on its structural, optical, morphological, and photocatalytic properties.

Vaccination with LAG-3Ig (IMP321) and Peptides Induces Specific CD4 and CD8 T-Cell Responses in Metastatic Melanoma Patients--Report of a Phase I/IIa Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Cancer vaccines aim to generate and maintain antitumor immune responses. We designed a phase I/IIa clinical trial to test a vaccine formulation composed of Montanide ISA-51 (Incomplete Freund's Adjuvant), LAG-3Ig (IMP321, a non-Toll like Receptor agonist with adjuvant properties), and five synthetic peptides derived from tumor-associated antigens (four short 9/10-mers targeting CD8 T-cells, and one longer 15-mer targeting CD4 T-cells). Primary endpoints were safety and T-cell responses.

Detection and characterization of stainless steel SCC by the analysis of crack related acoustic emission.

In the paper the results of the acoustic emission (AE) based detection and characterization of stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) in stainless steel are presented. As supportive methods for AE interpretation, electrochemical noise, specimen elongation measurements, and digital imaging of the specimen surface were used. Based on the defined qualitative and quantitative time and power spectra characteristics of the AE bursts, a manual and an automatic procedure for the detection of crack related AE bursts were introduced.

An infrared spectral signature of human lymphocyte subpopulations from peripheral blood.

Metastatic melanomas are frequently refractory to most adjuvant therapies such as chemotherapies and radiotherapies. Recently, immunotherapies have shown good results in the treatment of some metastatic melanomas. Immune cell infiltration in the tumor has been associated with successful immunotherapy.

Inhibitory Receptor Expression Depends More Dominantly on Differentiation and Activation than "Exhaustion" of Human CD8 T Cells.

Under conditions of chronic antigen stimulation, such as persistent viral infection and cancer, CD8 T cells may diminish effector function, which has been termed "exhaustion." Expression of inhibitory Receptors (iRs) is often regarded as a hallmark of "exhaustion." Here we studied the expression of eight different iRs by CD8 T cells of healthy humans, including CTLA-4, PD1, TIM3, LAG3, 2B4, BTLA, CD160, and KLRG1.

Breast cancer and melanoma cell line identification by FTIR imaging after formalin-fixation and paraffin-embedding.

Over the past few decades, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy coupled to microscopy has been recognized as an emerging and potentially powerful tool in cancer research and diagnosis. For this purpose, histological analyses performed by pathologists are mostly carried out on biopsied tissue that undergoes the formalin-fixation and paraffin-embedding (FFPE) procedure. This processing method ensures an optimal and permanent preservation of the samples, making FFPE-archived tissue an extremely valuable source for retrospective studies.

T cells maintain an exhausted phenotype after antigen withdrawal and population reexpansion.

During chronic infection, pathogen-specific CD8(+) T cells upregulate expression of molecules such as the inhibitory surface receptor PD-1, have diminished cytokine production and are thought to undergo terminal differentiation into exhausted cells. Here we found that T cells with memory-like properties were generated during chronic infection. After transfer into naive mice, these cells robustly proliferated and controlled a viral infection.

Properties of Halococcus salifodinae, an Isolate from Permian Rock Salt Deposits, Compared with Halococci from Surface Waters.

Halococcus salifodinae BIpT DSM 8989T, an extremely halophilic archaeal isolate from an Austrian salt deposit (Bad Ischl), whose origin was dated to the Permian period, was described in 1994. Subsequently, several strains of the species have been isolated, some from similar but geographically separated salt deposits. Hcc.

A stepwise protocol to coat aAPC beads prevents out-competition of anti-CD3 mAb and consequent experimental artefacts.

Artificial antigen-presenting cells (aAPC) are widely used for both clinical and basic research applications, as cell-based or bead-based scaffolds, combining immune synapse components of interest. Adequate and controlled preparation of aAPCs is crucial for subsequent immunoassays. We reveal that certain proteins such as activatory anti-CD3 antibody can be out-competed by other proteins (e.

The three main stumbling blocks for anticancer T cells.

Memory and effector T cells have the potential to counteract cancer progression, but often fail to control the disease, essentially because of three main stumbling blocks. First, clonal deletion leads to relatively low numbers or low-to-intermediate T cell receptor (TCR) affinity of self/tumor-specific T cells. Second, the poor innate immune stimulation by solid tumors is responsible for inefficient priming and boosting.

Extended co-expression of inhibitory receptors by human CD8 T-cells depending on differentiation, antigen-specificity and anatomical localization.

Inhibitory receptors mediate CD8 T-cell hyporesponsiveness against cancer and infectious diseases. PD-1 and CTLA-4 have been extensively studied, and blocking antibodies have already shown clinical benefit for cancer patients. Only little is known on extended co-expression of inhibitory receptors and their ligands.

Exhaustion of tumor-specific CD8⁺ T cells in metastases from melanoma patients.

In chronic viral infections, CD8⁺ T cells become functionally deficient and display multiple molecular alterations. In contrast, only little is known of self- and tumor-specific CD8⁺ T cells from mice and humans. Here we determined molecular profiles of tumor-specific CD8⁺ T cells from melanoma patients.

Responses of haloarchaea to simulated microgravity.

Various effects of microgravity on prokaryotes have been recognized in recent years, with the focus on studies of pathogenic bacteria. No archaea have been investigated yet with respect to their responses to microgravity. For exposure experiments on spacecrafts or on the International Space Station, halophilic archaea (haloarchaea) are usually embedded in halite, where they accumulate in fluid inclusions.

Identification of polyhydroxyalkanoates in Halococcus and other haloarchaeal species.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are accumulated in many prokaryotes. Several members of the Halobacteriaceae produce poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), but it is not known if this is a general property of the family. We evaluated identification methods for PHAs with 20 haloarchaeal species, three of them isolates from Permian salt.

CD14-independent responses induced by a synthetic lipid A mimetic.

CRX-527 belongs to a new family of synthetic lipid A mimetics, the aminoalkyl glucosaminide 4-phosphates, which are considered as potential vaccine adjuvants or stand-alone immunotherapeutics to harness innate immune defenses. Since natural lipid A from bacterial LPS depends on membrane-bound (mCD14) or soluble CD14 for its TLR4 ligand activity, we investigated the involvement of both forms of CD14 in the responses elicited by CRX-527. First, we found that CRX-527 induces NF-kappaB and interferon regulatory factor-3 (IRF-3) activation in human embryonic kidney cells transfected with TLR4 and MD-2 genes alone, whereas the responses to LPS require either co-transfection of the gene encoding mCD14 or addition of soluble CD14.

Halorubrum chaoviator sp. nov., a haloarchaeon isolated from sea salt in Baja California, Mexico, Western Australia and Naxos, Greece.

Three halophilic isolates, strains Halo-G*T, AUS-1 and Naxos II, were compared. Halo-G* was isolated from an evaporitic salt crystal from Baja California, Mexico, whereas AUS-1 and Naxos II were isolated from salt pools in Western Australia and the Greek island of Naxos, respectively. Halo-G*T had been exposed previously to conditions of outer space and survived 2 weeks on the Biopan facility.

DiC14-amidine cationic liposomes stimulate myeloid dendritic cells through Toll-like receptor 4.

DiC14-amidine cationic liposomes were recently shown to promote Th1 responses when mixed with allergen. To further define the mode of action of diC14-amidine as potential vaccine adjuvant, we characterized its effects on mouse and human myeloid dendritic cells (DC). First, we observed that, as compared with two other cationic liposomes, only diC14-amidine liposomes induced the production of IL-12p40 and TNF-alpha by mouse bone marrow-derived DC.