No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The increasing severity of droughts/floods and worsening air quality from increasing aerosols in Asia monsoon regions are the two gravest threats facing over 60% of the world population living in Asian monsoon regions. These dual threats have fueled a large body of research in the last decade on the roles of aerosols in impacting Asian monsoon weather and climate. This paper provides a comprehensive review of studies on Asian aerosols, monsoons, and their interactions. The Asian monsoon region is a primary source of emissions of diverse species of aerosols from both anthropogenic and natural origins. The distributions of aerosol loading are strongly influenced by distinct weather and climatic regimes, which are, in turn, modulated by aerosol effects. On a continental scale, aerosols reduce surface insolation and weaken the land-ocean thermal contrast, thus inhibiting the development of monsoons. Locally, aerosol radiative effects alter the thermodynamic stability and convective potential of the lower atmosphere leading to reduced temperatures, increased atmospheric stability, and weakened wind and atmospheric circulations. The atmospheric thermodynamic state, which determines the formation of clouds, convection, and precipitation, may also be altered by aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei or ice nuclei. Absorbing aerosols such as black carbon and desert dust in Asian monsoon regions may also induce dynamical feedback processes, leading to a strengthening of the early monsoon and affecting the subsequent evolution of the monsoon. Many mechanisms have been put forth regarding how aerosols modulate the amplitude, frequency, intensity, and phase of different monsoon climate variables. A wide range of theoretical, observational, and modeling findings on the Asian monsoon, aerosols, and their interactions are synthesized. A new paradigm is proposed on investigating aerosol-monsoon interactions, in which natural aerosols such as desert dust, black carbon from biomass burning, and biogenic aerosols from vegetation are considered integral components of an intrinsic aerosol-monsoon climate system, subject to external forcing of global warming, anthropogenic aerosols, and land use and change. Future research on aerosol-monsoon interactions calls for an integrated approach and international collaborations based on long-term sustained observations, process measurements, and improved models, as well as using observations to constrain model simulations and projections.

The lack of persistence of transferred autologous mature lymphocytes in humans has been a major limitation to the application of effective cell transfer therapies. The results of a pilot clinical trial in 13 patients with metastatic melanoma suggested that conditioning with nonmyeloablative chemotherapy before adoptive transfer of activated tumor-reactive T cells enhances tumor regression and increases the overall rates of objective clinical responses. The present report examines the relationship between T cell persistence and tumor regression through analysis of the TCR β-chain V region gene products expressed in samples obtained from 25 patients treated with this protocol. Sequence analysis demonstrated that there was a significant correlation between tumor regression and the degree of persistence in peripheral blood of adoptively transferred T cell clones, suggesting that inadequate T cell persistence may represent a major factor limiting responses to adoptive immunotherapy.

Gene expression data from microarrays are being applied to predict preclinical and clinical endpoints, but the reliability of these predictions has not been established. In the MAQC-II project, 36 independent teams analyzed six microarray data sets to generate predictive models for classifying a sample with respect to one of 13 endpoints indicative of lung or liver toxicity in rodents, or of breast cancer, multiple myeloma or neuroblastoma in humans. In total, >30,000 models were built using many combinations of analytical methods. The teams generated predictive models without knowing the biological meaning of some of the endpoints and, to mimic clinical reality, tested the models on data that had not been used for training. We found that model performance depended largely on the endpoint and team proficiency and that different approaches generated models of similar performance. The conclusions and recommendations from MAQC-II should be useful for regulatory agencies, study committees and independent investigators that evaluate methods for global gene expression analysis.

No abstract

Herein, we report a de novo chemical design of supramolecular polymer materials (SPMs-1-3) by condensation polymerization, consisting of (i) soft polymeric chains (polytetramethylene glycol and tetraethylene glycol) and (ii) strong and reversible quadruple H-bonding cross-linkers (from 0 to 30 mol %). The former contributes to the formation of the soft domain of the SPMs, and the latter furnishes the SPMs with desirable mechanical properties, thereby producing soft, stretchable, yet tough elastomers. The resulting SPM-2 was observed to be highly stretchable (up to 17 000% strain), tough (fracture energy ∼30 000 J/m), and self-healing, which are highly desirable properties and are superior to previously reported elastomers and tough hydrogels. Furthermore, a gold, thin film electrode deposited on this SPM substrate retains its conductivity and combines high stretchability (∼400%), fracture/notch insensitivity, self-healing, and good interfacial adhesion with the gold film. Again, these properties are all highly complementary to commonly used polydimethylsiloxane-based thin film metal electrodes. Last, we proceed to demonstrate the practical utility of our fabricated electrode via both in vivo and in vitro measurements of electromyography signals. This fundamental understanding obtained from the investigation of these SPMs will facilitate the progress of intelligent soft materials and flexible electronics.