Plasma-Activated Medium Potentiates the Immunogenicity of Tumor Cell Lysates for Dendritic Cell-Based Cancer Vaccines.

Autologous dendritic cells (DCs)-based vaccines are considered quite promising for cancer immunotherapy due to their exquisite potential to induce tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells. However, a lack of efficient protocols for inducing immunogenic tumor antigens limits the efficacy of DC-based cancer vaccines. Here, we found that a plasma-activated medium (PAM) induces immunogenic cell death (ICD) in tumor cells but not in an immortalized L929 cell line or human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Third-order transport coefficient tensor of charged-particle swarms in electric and magnetic fields.

Third-order transport coefficient tensor of charged-particle swarms in neutral gases in the presence of spatially uniform electric and magnetic fields is considered using a multiterm solution of Boltzmann's equation and Monte Carlo simulation technique. The structure of the third-order transport coefficient tensor and symmetries along its individual components in varying configurations of electric and magnetic fields are addressed using a group projector technique and through symmetry considerations of the Boltzmann equation. In addition, we focus upon the physical interpretation of the third-order transport coefficient tensor by considering the extended diffusion equation which incorporates the contribution of the third-order transport coefficients to the density profile of charged particles.

Effects of non-thermal atmospheric plasma treatment on dentin wetting and surface free energy for application of universal adhesives.

Objectives: The study aims to evaluate the effects of non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) treatments on dentin wetting and surface free energy (SFE) and compare the effects of NTAP treatment, etch-and-rinse, and self-etch protocols for application of universal adhesives.

Materials And Methods: Mid-coronal dentin of intact third molars was used to measure contact angles of distilled water, ethylene-glycol, and diiodomethane and calculate SFE following different NTAP preset treatments (feeding gas consisting of pure He, He + 1% O, He + 1.5% O), power input (1 or 3 W), and tip-to-surface distance (2, 4, or 8 mm).

Positron kinetics in an idealized PET environment.

The kinetic theory of non-relativistic positrons in an idealized positron emission tomography PET environment is developed by solving the Boltzmann equation, allowing for coherent and incoherent elastic, inelastic, ionizing and annihilating collisions through positronium formation. An analytic expression is obtained for the positronium formation rate, as a function of distance from a spherical source, in terms of the solutions of the general kinetic eigenvalue problem. Numerical estimates of the positron range - a fundamental limitation on the accuracy of PET, are given for positrons in a model of liquid water, a surrogate for human tissue.

On the use of Monte Carlo simulations to model transport of positrons in gases and liquids.

In this paper we make a parallel between the swarm method in physics of ionized gases and modeling of positrons in radiation therapy and diagnostics. The basic idea is to take advantage of the experience gained in the past with electron swarms and to use it in establishing procedures of modeling positron diagnostics and therapy based on the well-established experimental binary collision data. In doing so we discuss the application of Monte Carlo technique for positrons in the same manner as used previously for electron swarms, we discuss the role of complete cross section sets (complete in terms of number, momentum and energy balance and tested against measured swarm parameters), we discuss the role of benchmarks and how to choose benchmarks for electrons that may perhaps be a subject to experimental verification.

Low-energy electron and positron transport in gases and soft-condensed systems of biological relevance.

We present a study of electron and positron transport in water in both the gaseous and liquid states using a Boltzmann equation analysis and a Monte-Carlo simulation technique. We assess the importance of coherent scattering processes when considering transport of electrons/positrons in dense gases and liquids. We highlight the importance of electron and positron swarm studies and experiments as a test of the accuracy and completeness of cross-sections, as well as a technique for benchmarking Monte-Carlo simulations.

Electrical breakdown in water vapor.

In this paper investigations of the voltage required to break down water vapor are reported for the region around the Paschen minimum and to the left of it. In spite of numerous applications of discharges in biomedicine, and recent studies of discharges in water and vapor bubbles and discharges with liquid water electrodes, studies of the basic parameters of breakdown are lacking. Paschen curves have been measured by recording voltages and currents in the low-current Townsend regime and extrapolating them to zero current.

Benchmark calculations of nonconservative charged-particle swarms in dc electric and magnetic fields crossed at arbitrary angles.

A multiterm solution of the Boltzmann equation has been developed and used to calculate transport coefficients of charged-particle swarms in gases under the influence of electric and magnetic fields crossed at arbitrary angles when nonconservative collisions are present. The hierarchy resulting from a spherical-harmonic decomposition of the Boltzmann equation in the hydrodynamic regime is solved numerically by representing the speed dependence of the phase-space distribution function in terms of an expansion in Sonine polynomials about a Maxwellian velocity distribution at an internally determined temperature. Results are given for electron swarms in certain collisional models for ionization and attachment over a range of angles between the fields and field strengths.

Energetic ion, atom, and molecule reactions and excitation in low-current H2 discharges: H(alpha) Doppler profiles.

Absolute spectral emissivities for Doppler broadened H(alpha) profiles are measured and compared with predictions of energetic hydrogen ion, atom, and molecule behavior in low-current electrical discharges in H2 at very high electric field E to gas density N ratios E/N and low values of Nd , where d is the parallel-plate electrode separation. These observations reflect the energy and angular distributions for the excited atoms and quantitatively test features of multiple-scattering kinetic models in weakly ionized hydrogen in the presence of an electric field that are not tested by the spatial distributions of H(alpha) emission. Absolute spectral intensities agree well with predictions.

Energetic ion, atom, and molecule reactions and excitation in low-current H2 discharges: spatial distributions of emissions.

Spatial distributions of H alpha , H beta , and the near-uv continuum emission from the H2 a ;{3}Sigma g;+ state are measured and compared with a model for low-current electrical discharges in H2 at high E/N and low Nd , where E is the spatially uniform electric field, N is the gas density, and d is the electrode separation. Data are analyzed for 300 Td View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Secondary electron emission of carbonaceous dust particles.

In this paper we present measurements of the secondary electron emission yield (gamma) of a carbonaceous dust particle material, which was grown in argon diluted acetylene plasmas. One aim was to reach a better understanding of charging and discharging processes of dust particles in complex plasmas due to secondary electron emission and consequently to try to explain the anomalous behavior of electron density observed in afterglows of pulsed rf plasmas. We compared the results of a simple model and of a Monte Carlo simulation to the previously measured time dependence of the electron density in complex plasma afterglow.

Electron drift velocities in mixtures of helium and xenon and experimental verification of corrections to Blanc's law.

Measurements of electron drift velocities were performed in pure Xe and He and in a number of mixtures ranging up to 70% of Xe. The data were obtained by using a pulsed Townsend technique over the density-normalized electric field strength E/N between 1 and 100 Td . Even for pure gases there are no data in the entire range covered here, and these data represent an extension of accurate drift velocities to higher E/N.

Recycled wool-based nonwoven material as an oil sorbent.

The aim of this study was to highlight the possibility of using recycled wool-based nonwoven material as a sorbent in an oil spill cleanup. This material sorbed higher amounts of base oil SN 150 than diesel or crude oil from the surface of a demineralized or artificial seawater bath. Superficial modification of material with the biopolymer chitosan and low-temperature air plasma led to a slight decrease of sorption capacity.