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Helium is a common working gas for cold atmospheric plasmas (CAPs) and this is often mixed with other gases, such as oxygen and nitrogen, to increase its reactivity. Air is often found in these plasmas and it can be either introduced deliberately as a precursor or entrapped in systems that operate in open atmosphere. In either case, the presence of small traces of air can cause a profound change on the composition of the plasma and consequently its application efficacy. In this paper, a global model for He+Air CAPs is developed, in which 59 species and 866 volume reactions are incorporated, and a new boundary condition is used for the mass transport at the interface between the plasma and its surrounding air gas. The densities of reactive species and the power dissipation characteristics are obtained as a function of air concentrations spanning from 100 to 10000 ppm. As the air concentration increases, the dominant cation changes from O 2

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This paper is devoted to the calculation of fundamental properties of CO 2 mixed with C 2 F 4 . The species composition and thermodynamic properties (mass density, entropy, enthalpy and specific heat at constant pressure) are based on Gibbs free energy minimization. The transport properties (electrical conductivity, viscosity and thermal conductivity) are calculated by the well-known Chapman-Enskog method. The Lennard-Jones like phenomenological potential and some recently updated transport cross sections are adopted to obtain collision integrals. The calculation is developed in the temperature range between 300 and 30 000 K, for a pressure between 1 to 16 bar and for several C 2 F 4 proportions. Transport coefficients for CO 2 are also compared with previous published values, and the reasons for discrepancies are analyzed. The results obtained for CO 2 -C 2 F 4 mixtures provide reliable reference data for the simulation of switching arcs in CO 2 circuit breakers with the ablation of PTFE.

In clinical treatment, the presence or absence of transudate coverage of exposed tumor tissue may have a significant impact on the therapeutic effect of cold atmospheric plasma. Here, the anticancer effects of a plasma jet on three‐dimensional multicellular tumor spheroids with or without liquid coverage were examined. It was found that cell viability decreased more rapidly without liquid coverage than with liquid coverage. Apoptotic cells and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were mainly distributed in the areas of the spheroids directly irradiated by the plasma jet without liquid coverage. However, with liquid coverage, they were distributed throughout the outermost layers of the whole spheroids. Importantly, liquid can help ROS penetrate into spheroids and prolong the anticancer effects of plasma.

BackgroundThe weak antitumor efficacy and limited lifespan are the main obstacles that hinder the therapeutic effect of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell immunotherapy. In the study, we enhanced the persistence and the antitumor efficacy of CIK cell through PD-1 knockout and hTERT transduction.Material/MethodsCIK cells were cultured from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and PD-1 gene was knocked out through the Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (Cas9 RNPs) electroporation. TIDE assay, T7E1 mismatch cleavage assay, and clone Sanger sequencing were used to detect PD-1 knockout efficiency. The immunophenotype was analyzed by flow cytometry. After PD-1 knockout, the hTERT gene was transduced into PD-1 KO/CIK cells with lentiviral transduction. The hTERT expression and persistence of hTERT/PD-1 KO/CIK cells were evaluated by Western blotting and proliferation curve. The antitumor efficacy was detected by ELISPOT and cytotoxicity assay. The telomere length was measured by the Q-FISH and qPCR method. The karyotype assay was used to analyze the chromosome structural stability.ResultsThe optimal knockout efficiency of PD-1 gene in CIK cells could reach 41.23±0.52%. PD-1 knockout did not affect the immunophenotype of CIK cells. The hTERT transduction enhanced persistence and increased the telomere length. ELISPOT and cytotoxicity assay showed hTERT/PD-1 KO/CIK cells had an enhanced antitumor efficacy. Meanwhile, PD-1 KO/CIK cells transduced with hTERT showed a normal karyotype.ConclusionsPD-1 knockout combined with hTERT transduction could prolong the lifespan and enhance antitumor efficacy of CIK cells against hepatocellular carcinoma cell line.

Pulse-modulated RF atmospheric pressure glow discharges (APDGs) were investigated in recent years to reduce the thermal accumulation and extend the operation region of the stable alpha glow mode. Different pulse-modulated voltage and current waveforms were acquired in previous experiments, but no attention was paid to the interpretation. We investigated this issue and associated phenomenon via positive and negative feedback effects derived from varying the series capacitor in the inversely L-shaped matching network used in our pulse-modulated RF APGD source. The evolutions of pulse-modulated RF waveforms were found to be associated with the feedback region and the pulsed plasma absorbed RF power. In the positive feedback region, pulse-modulated RF APGDs are relatively stable. In the negative feedback region, wide spikes as well as undershoots occur in RF voltage and current waveforms and the plasma absorbed RF power. In case of a high RF power discharge with a low modulation frequency, the pulse-modulated RF APGD is extinguished and re-ignited due to the enhanced undershoot during the initial pulse phase. The pulse-modulated RF APGD can transit from positive to negative feedback region in a range of series capacitance. Experimental results are discussed by the aid of equivalent circuit, negative and positive feedback effects.

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