Smart Electromagnetic Thermites: GO/rGO Nanoscale Thermite Composites with Thermally Switchable Microwave Ignitability.

This effort demonstrates the development of a novel, graphene oxide nanoscale thermite composite with thermally tunable microwave ignitability. A model thermite system containing nanoscale aluminum and nanoscale iron(II) oxide in a stoichiometric ratio (30/70 wt %) was combined with sheets of graphene oxide (GO) or reduced graphene oxide (rGO) using an immiscible two-fluid sonication and tape casting process. The samples were microwave irradiated within a single-mode resonant microwave cavity to determine the microwave ignition delay.

High-speed visible supercontinuum laser absorption spectroscopy of metal oxides.

Supercontinuum laser absorption spectroscopy is applied to energetic material combustion fireball environments using the visible spectrum for temperature and column density measurements of key metal combustion intermediates TiO and AlO. Fireballs are produced by igniting metal/ammonium perchlorate powder beds on a thermal-jump apparatus. This work marks, to our knowledge, the first quantitative absorption measurement of TiO (-, =0) and demonstrates the feasibility of broadband visible metal-oxide absorption thermometry at rates up to 100 kHz.

Social Cues and the Online Purchase Intentions of Organic Wine.

This study investigates how online store atmospherics (i.e., social cues) affect consumer purchase intentions of organic wine.

Activation of PPARγ in Myeloid Cells Promotes Progression of Epithelial Lung Tumors through TGFβ1.

Lung cancer is a heterogeneous disease in which patient-specific treatments are desirable and the development of targeted therapies has been effective. Although mutations in are frequent in lung adenocarcinoma, there are currently no targeted agents against KRAS. Using a mouse lung adenocarcinoma cell line with a mutation (CMT167), we previously showed that PPARγ activation in lung cancer cells inhibits cell growth yet promotes tumor progression when activated in myeloid cells of the tumor microenvironment.

Human hematopoietic stem cell maintenance and myeloid cell development in next-generation humanized mouse models.

Next-generation humanized mice differentially support human HSPC maintenance and myelopoiesis. MISTRG mice support long-term human HSPC maintenance demonstrated by quaternary transplantation and development of human tissue macrophages.

MISTRG mice support engraftment and assessment of nonhuman primate hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells.

Preclinical feasibility, safety, and efficacy testing of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-mediated gene therapy approaches is commonly performed in large-animal models such as nonhuman primates (NHPs). Here, we wished to determine whether mouse models would allow engraftment of NHP HSPCs, which would enable more facile and less costly evaluation of promising strategies. In this study, we comprehensively tested two mouse strains for the engraftment of NHP CD34 hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs).

Targeted overexpression of prostacyclin synthase inhibits lung tumor progression by recruiting CD4+ T lymphocytes in tumors that express MHC class II.

Lung-specific overexpression of prostacyclin synthase (PGIS) decreases tumor initiation in murine lung cancer models. Prostacyclin analogs prevent lung tumor formation in mice and reverse bronchial dysplasia in former smokers. However, the effect of prostacyclin on lung cancer progression has not been well studied.

Complement Activation via a C3a Receptor Pathway Alters CD4 T Lymphocytes and Mediates Lung Cancer Progression.

The complement cascade is a part of the innate immune system that acts primarily to remove pathogens and injured cells. However, complement activation is also peculiarly associated with tumor progression. Here we report mechanistic insights into this association in multiple immunocompetent orthotopic models of lung cancer.

An Introduction to Modelling Abundance and Life History Parameters in Shark Populations.

Elasmobranchs play critically important ecological roles throughout the world's oceans, yet in many cases, their slow life histories and interactions with fisheries makes them particularly susceptible to exploitation. Management for these species requires robust scientific input, and mathematical models are the backbone of science-based management. In this chapter, we provide an introductory overview of the use of mathematical models to estimate shark abundance.

The Tumor Microenvironment Regulates Sensitivity of Murine Lung Tumors to PD-1/PD-L1 Antibody Blockade.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting the interaction between programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 induce tumor regression in a subset of non-small cell lung cancer patients. However, clinical response rates are less than 25%. Evaluation of combinations of immunotherapy with existing therapies requires appropriate preclinical animal models.

Removing hydrochloric acid exhaust products from high performance solid rocket propellant using aluminum-lithium alloy.

Hydrochloric acid (HCl) pollution from perchlorate based propellants is well known for both launch site contamination, as well as the possible ozone layer depletion effects. Past efforts in developing environmentally cleaner solid propellants by scavenging the chlorine ion have focused on replacing a portion of the chorine-containing oxidant (i.e.

Expression Profiling of Macrophages Reveals Multiple Populations with Distinct Biological Roles in an Immunocompetent Orthotopic Model of Lung Cancer.

Macrophages represent an important component of the tumor microenvironment and play a complex role in cancer progression. These cells are characterized by a high degree of plasticity, and they alter their phenotype in response to local environmental cues. Whereas the M1/M2 classification of macrophages has been widely used, the complexity of macrophage phenotypes has not been well studied, particularly in lung cancer.

Deletion of 5-Lipoxygenase in the Tumor Microenvironment Promotes Lung Cancer Progression and Metastasis through Regulating T Cell Recruitment.

Eicosanoids, including PGs, produced by cyclooxygenases (COX), and leukotrienes, produced by 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) have been implicated in cancer progression. These molecules are produced by both cancer cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME). We previously reported that both COX and 5-LO metabolites increase during progression in an orthotopic immunocompetent model of lung cancer.

Arginase I release from activated neutrophils induces peripheral immunosuppression in a murine model of stroke.

Transient suppression of peripheral immunity is a major source of complication for patients suffering from ischemic stroke. The release of Arginase I (ArgI) from activated neutrophils has recently been associated with T-cell dysfunction in a number of pathologies. However, this pathway has not been previously explored in ischemic stroke.

Influence of human immune cells on cancer: studies at the University of Colorado.

There will be over half a million cancer-related deaths in the United States in 2012, with lung cancer being the leader followed by prostate in men and breast in women. There is estimated to be more than one and a half million new cases of cancer in 2012, making the development of effective therapies a high priority. As tumor immunologists, we are interested in the development of immunotherapies because the immune response offers exquisite specificity and the potential to target tumor cells without harming normal cells.

Neutrophil degranulation and immunosuppression in patients with GBM: restoration of cellular immune function by targeting arginase I.

Purpose: The source of glioblastoma (GBM)-associated immunosuppression remains multifactorial. We sought to clarify and therapeutically target myeloid cell-derived peripheral immunosuppression in patients with GBM.

Experimental Design: Direct ex vivo T-cell function, serum Arginase I (ArgI) levels, and circulating myeloid lineage populations were compared between patients with GBM and normal donors or patients with other intracranial tumors.

Investigating behaviour and population dynamics of striped marlin (Kajikia audax) from the southwest Pacific Ocean with satellite tags.

Behaviour and distribution of striped marlin within the southwest Pacific Ocean were investigated using electronic tagging data collected from 2005-2008. A continuous-time correlated random-walk Kalman filter was used to integrate double-tagging data exhibiting variable error structures into movement trajectories composed of regular time-steps. This state-space trajectory integration approach improved longitude and latitude error distributions by 38.

Isoelectric focusing of proteins in rewetted ultrathin polyacrylamide gel layers.

Ultrathin layers of polyacrylamide gel bound to glass can be washed, air-dried, and stored for at least 1 year before rewetting in ampholyte solutions for isoelectric focusing. Short-term drying affects neither fluorescent banding of the ampholytes (not evident in conventional gels) nor resolution of complex protein mixtures while prolonged storage seems to have no deleterious effects. Layers are fully functional after soaking for 10 min in solutions that may contain 8 M urea and 10% sorbitol.

Microfluorometric analysis of protein thiol groups with a coumarinylphenylmaleimide.

Characteristics of thiol adducts formed by the fluorogenic maleimide, N-(4-(7-diethylamino-4-methylcoumarin-3-yl) phenyl) maleimide (CPM), (Sippel: J Histochem Cytochem 29:314, 1981) were determined in solution, on the epithelia in beef cornea paraffin sections, and with an egg white model. Absorption was found maximal at 385-390 nm with a molar absorbancy of not less than 30,000 cm2/mmol, while emission peaked at 465 nm; the spectra and output were hardly affected by hydrolytic opening of the succinimide ring. Fluorescence measured in an epi-illuminating microfluorometer faded rapidly at high magnifications, but the initial output from sections of increasing thickness under a 10 x objective was proportional to the thiol density (concentration x thickness) up to a limit equivalent to an absorbance of nearly 0.

Microphotometric analysis of protein-bound thiols and disulfides with an azogenic maleimide.

The chromogenic thiol reagent N-(4-aminophenyl)-maleimide (APM) was used to provide a sensitive procedure for the determination of protein-bound thiol group, both before and after reduction of disulfide bonds by tri-n-butylphosphine. The bound reagent is diazotized and coupled at low pH to N-(1-naphthyl)ethylenediamine to form an intense magenta label (lambda max 547 nm) with a high molar absorbancy (epsilon 547 = 49,800 cm2/mmol). The validity of absolute quantitation afforded by the method was shown by comparing the results with standard chemical analyses of thiol contents in a model system.

New fluorochromes for thiols: maleimide and iodoacetamide derivatives of a 3-phenylcoumarin fluorophore.

N-(4-(7 - Diethylamino - methylcoumarin - 3 yl)phenyl)maleimide (CPM) and the corresponding iodoacetamide are described. When applied to sections at pH 6 and 9, respectively, the two fluorogens are very similar in their reactivity and selectivity toward thiols with which they form adducts having much the same bright blue fluorescence. However, difference in other properties favor CPM for further study.

The histochemistry of thiols and disulphides. IV. Protective fixation by organomercurial-formalin mixtures.

Formation of mercaptides as the result of adding organomercuric salts to neutral formalin used for fixation was found to protect protein thiols from autoxidation, provided the tissues were washed in distilled and not tap water. Such blocking, in contrast to that given by HgCl2, could be reversed quantitatively by mercaptoethanol made strongly acid to keep it from reducing disulphides. However, some cleavage of disulphides by the mercurials themselves caused slight artifactual thiol staining in a limited number of sites.

The histochemistry of thiols and disulphides. III. Staining patterns in rat tissues.

With the aid of new staining methods, thiol groups produced by the reduction of disulphide bonds were positively distinguished from pre-existing groups in paraffin sections of several organs of the rat. Good preservation of structures in which the natural thiol-disulphide balance had been maintained was sought by fixing the tissues in neutral formalin containing an organomercurial. After dissociation of the resulting mercaptide bonds that protected the native thiols, these were shown in one colour and then disulphide sites in another within the same sections.

The histochemistry of thiols and disulphides. II. Methodology of differential staining.

The reduction of disulphide bonds by various mercaptans and tri-n-butyl-phosphine (TBP) has been examined in paraffin sections of rat tissues. A "re-reduction' procedure demonstrating any residual disulphides shows that nearly equivalent endpoints are reached by all of the reagents at pH 8.5 and room temperature, though at greatly differing rates.