Immunosuppressive and metabolic agents that influence allo- and xenograft survival by in vivo expansion of T regulatory cells

The transplanted organs or cells survive if the recipient receives adequate long-term immunosuppressive therapy. Immunosuppressive therapy combined with cell-based strategies (eg, regulatory T cell [Treg]-based therapy) promotes graft survival. A combination of Treg-based therapy and minimal or no immunosuppressive drug therapy would have the potential to minimize the risks of the complications and side effects of these drugs. Fortunately, some immunosuppressive and other agents not only impede the effector T cell response, but also help generate new CD4⁺ Tregs from conventional effector T cells. These agents include IL-2, TGF-β, agents that block the CD40/CD40L costimulation pathway, mTOR inhibitors, and histone deacetylase inhibitors. Consequently, a state of relative unresponsiveness to the transplanted organ may be induced through the expansion of Tregs. We here review the effect of these various agents on expansion of CD4⁺ Tregs in allo- and xenotransplantation. The expansion of Tregs might allow a dose reduction of the standard immunosuppressive drugs.     

Bias and observation error characterization of the Fengyun-2F Stretched Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer with the aim of its radiance assimilation

Recent studies start to explore the potential benefits of directly assimilating the radiance from the infrared imagers onboard geostationary satellites to the short-range numerical weather prediction both on the synoptic- and meso-scales, where accurate quantification of the bias and observation error arising from the numerical model and the instrument is a key component in such experiments. This paper investigates both the bias and the observation errors of the Stretched Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (S-VISSR) onboard Chinese operational geostationary satellite Fengyun-2F, as the first step towards its clear-sky radiance assimilation. In this study, 774,530 observations that passed a five-step quality control procedure during the period of 1–7 July in 2014 are collected to investigate the mentioned two quantities while the synthetic simulated clear radiance is calculated through a numerical weather prediction model and a radiative transfer model. Persistent warm biases are found for FY-2 F S-VISSR channel 3, 4 and 5 during day and night, and they are possibly due to the uncertainty from the instrument calibration process. The observation errors of S-VISSR infrared channels vary with the surface types, generally with larger values over land than over ocean, which could partially be explained by the variation of the land types over land. Besides, whether these biases change with viewing geometry or evolve with time is also examined in our study. Biases from the three surface channels exhibit complex dependence on the scan position and evolve with time, which encourages incorporating both the scan position and temporal corrections into the S-VISSR bias correction scheme in the data assimilation system.     

Assessment of lung glucose uptake in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus pulmonary arterial hypertension: a quantitative FDG-PET imaging study

Annals of Nuclear Medicine - Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a recognized complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE-PAH) patients and its lung pathology shares similarity to...     

Hydrothermal synthesis of cotton-based BiVO4/Ag composite for photocatalytic degradation of C.I. Reactive Black 5

Photocatalytic materials with high efficiency and convenient recyclability have attracted great interest for the treatment of printing and dyeing wastewater. In this paper, a narrow band gap BiVO₄ photocatalyst was loaded onto Ag modified cotton fabric by a hydrothermal method. The prepared composite materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet visible light absorption spectroscopy (UV-vis). The composite materials as prepared show superb photocatalytic activity and reusable performance for the degradation of C.I. Reactive Black 5 (RB5). The degradation rate can reach 99% within 90 min under 1 kW xenon lamp irradiation, and over 90% of the photocatalytic performance is preserved even after five recycles. Furthermore, the photocatalytic mechanism was proposed by spectral analysis and free radical trapping experiments.

BiVO₄/Ag/cotton-K composite material exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity and recyclability, and the photodegradation mechanism of RB5 by BiVO₄/Ag/cotton-K was also proposed.     

KU004 induces G1 cell cycle arrest in human breast cancer SKBR-3 cells by modulating PI3K/Akt pathway

KU004 is a newly synthesized compound which has been demonstrated possessing potent anti-cancer activities through targeting the highly-expressed protein HER2 on the surface of the cells. In this study, we investigated the potential roles of KU004 in the induced-cell cycle arrest in human breast cancer SK-BR-3 cells. KU004 could not only inhibit the proliferation of SK-BR-3 in a concentration-dependent manner but also induce G1 phase arrest in SK-BR-3 cells. The western blot results showed KU004 decreased the expression of cyclin D, CDK-4, p-Rb708/780, and up-regulated the p21. In order to verify whether KU004 takes the anti-tumor effect thought the regulation of PI3K/Akt pathway, we used western blot to detect the expression of protein Akt, Her2, p-Akt and p-Her2. Our results shown that after KU004 treatment, the amount of p-Akt and p-Her2 decreased but the total amount of Akt and Her2 remained unchanged. In conclusion, these results provide a framework for further exploration of KU004 as a novel chemotherapeutic for human breast tumors by modulating PI3K/Akt pathway.     

Evaluation of adalimumab biosimilar candidate (HS016) in Chinese patients with active ankylosing spondylitis based on a health survey: sub-analysis of a phase 3 study

Clinical Rheumatology - The equivalence of the biosimilar HS016 to adalimumab (Humira) for the treatment of active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients has been previously validated. The aim was to...     

Musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging training,use, and knowledge among rheumatologists in China

Clinical Rheumatology - Musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) has been extensively studied by rheumatologists in Europe and the Americas, but less is known about MSUS use in Asia. Our hypothesis is...     

The role of anti-ribosomal P autoantibodies in the prediction of neuropsychiatric damage in systemic lupus erythematosus based on CSTAR cohort (XIV)

Clinical Rheumatology - To identify the predictive value of anti-ribosomal P protein (anti-RibP) antibodies on the accrual of neuropsychiatric damage in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients...