Comparison between Abel test stability and thermal decomposition behavior of nitrocellulose

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Nitrocellulose (NC) is prone to spontaneous decomposition with exothermic heat release and thus is generally evaluated for stability during the storage...     

A study of the spatial and temporal evolution of auto-ignition kernels using time-resolved tomographic OH-LIF

In this paper, the spatial and temporal evolution of auto-ignition kernels from methane jets propagating into a NO_x-vitiated, high-turbulence, hot air co-flow was studied by means of time-resolved tomographic laser-induced fluorescence of OH (Tomo OH-LIF). Measurements were performed using a burst dye laser system at 10 kHz for volumetric laser illumination and a multi-camera arrangement (8-views) for detection of the fluorescence signal. Auto-ignition kernels were detected three-dimensionally and tracked using a robust algorithm based on the intensity gradient of the volumetrically reconstructed signals. The size and location of the detected kernels were evaluated for operating conditions with different Reynolds numbers of the fuel jet. Results showed that auto-ignition randomly occurred with high probability in a well defined fairly axisymmetric radial region with strong fluctuations in the main direction of the flow. The increase of the Reynolds number of the fuel jet resulted in a radial spread of the location of auto-ignition events. The statistical evaluation of the orientation and growth of auto-ignition kernels with respect to the mean flow field showed that the kernels were oriented tangentially to the flow and temporally evolve towards this preferential direction as the ignition events progressed.     

Immunological Evaluation of Co-Assembling a Lipidated Peptide Antigen and Lipophilic Adjuvants: Self-Adjuvanting Anti-Breast-Cancer Vaccine Candidates

Co-assembling vaccines composed of a lipidated HER2-derived antigenic CH401 peptide and either a lipophilic adjuvant, Pam₃CSK₄, α-GalCer, or lipid A 506, were evaluated as breast cancer vaccine candidates. This vaccine design was aimed to inherit both antigen multivalency and antigen-specific immunostimulation properties, observed in reported self-adjuvanting vaccine candidates, by using self-assembly and adjuvant-conjugated antigens. Under vaccination concentrations, respective lipophilic adjuvants underwent co-assembly with lipidated CH401, which boosted the anti-CH401 IgG and IgM production. In particular, α-GalCer was responsible for the most significant immune activation. Therefore, the newly developed vaccine design enabled the optimization of adjuvants against the antigenic CH401 peptide in a simple preparatory manner. Overall, the co-assembling vaccine design opens the door for efficient and practical self-adjuvanting vaccine development.     

Practical Antibody Recruiting by Metabolic Labeling with Caged Glycans

We propose a de novo glycan display approach that combines metabolic labeling and a glycan-caging strategy as a facile editing method for cell-surface glycans. This method enables the introduction of antigen glycans onto cancer cells to induce immune responses through antibody recruiting. The caging strategy prevents the capture of α-rhamnose (an antigen glycan) by endogenous antibodies during the introduction of the glycan to the targeted cell surface, and subsequent uncaging successfully induces immune responses. Therefore, this study proposes a practical method for editing the cell-surface glycocalyx under promiscuous conditions, such as those in vivo, which paves the way for the development of glycan function analysis and regulation.     

A new analytical formula to compute the step length of Padé approximants in the ANM: Application to buckling structures

In this paper, we propose a new analytical formula to define the next branch in the Asymptotic Numerical Method (ANM) using the Padé approximants. The proposed formula is based on the computation of the relative error of two consecutive Padé approximants. This formula is obtained by developing the relative error with respect to the path parameter. An appropriate matrix formulation is adopted for the computation of this relative error. A comparison between the analytical formula proposed in this paper and the classical continuation Padé approximants using the step length computed numerically using dichotomy method is presented for examples of buckling structures.     

Immunological Evaluation of Co‐Assembling a Lipidated Peptide Antigen and Lipophilic Adjuvants: Self‐Adjuvanting Anti‐Breast‐Cancer Vaccine Candidates

Co‐assembling vaccines composed of a lipidated HER2‐derived antigenic CH401 peptide and either a lipophilic adjuvant, Pam₃CSK₄, α‐GalCer, or lipid A 506, were evaluated as breast cancer vaccine candidates. This vaccine design was aimed to inherit both antigen multivalency and antigen‐specific immunostimulation properties, observed in reported self‐adjuvanting vaccine candidates, by using self‐assembly and adjuvant‐conjugated antigens. Under vaccination concentrations, respective lipophilic adjuvants underwent co‐assembly with lipidated CH401, which boosted the anti‐CH401 IgG and IgM production. In particular, α‐GalCer was responsible for the most significant immune activation. Therefore, the newly developed vaccine design enabled the optimization of adjuvants against the antigenic CH401 peptide in a simple preparatory manner. Overall, the co‐assembling vaccine design opens the door for efficient and practical self‐adjuvanting vaccine development.     

Evaluation of the effect of high pressure carbon dioxide-pasteurized food on animal health

ABSTRACT

High pressure-carbon dioxide processing (HPCDP) is used as a non-thermal technology for food pasteurization to produce newer flavors for bread. However, there is no evidence that this process does not produce undesirable toxic materials. To confirm the safety of high pressure carbon dioxide-processed food, we fed high pressure carbon dioxide-processed bread to mice and evaluated their health by monitoring body weight, stress biomarkers, and gut microbiota. There was no significant difference in the body weight of normal and HPCDP bread-fed mice. Similarly, no significant difference in expression of genes important for maintaining the health of the mice was found. Although the mice’s gut microbiota showed a significant difference between the control and the two bread-fed groups, there was no significant difference between the HPCDP and the normal bread-fed groups. Therefore, we found no conclusive evidence to suggest that the processed bread contained toxic materials in comparison to the unprocessed bread.