Targeted antigen delivery to cross-presenting dendritic cells (DC) in vivo efficiently induces T effector cell responses and displays a valuable approach vaccine design. Antigen is delivered DC via antibodies specific for endocytosis receptors such as DEC-205 that induce uptake, processing, MHC class I- II-presentation. Efficient reliable conjugation of the desired suitable antibody critical st...

Indoor dust has been acknowledged as a major source of flame retardants (FRs) and dust ingestion is considered a major route of exposure for humans. In the present study, we investigated the presence of PBDEs and alternative FRs such as emerging halogenated FRs (EHFRs) and organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs) in indoor dust samples from British and Norwegian houses as well as British stores ...

OBJECTIVES The formation of biofilm around implants, which is induced by immediate bacterial colonization after installation, is the primary cause of post-operation infection. Initial surface modification is usually required to incorporate antibacterial agents on titanium (Ti) surfaces to inhibit biofilm formation. However, simple and effective priming methods are still lacking for the developm...

Single-molecule force-clamp spectroscopy offers a novel platform for mechanically denaturing proteins by applying a constant force to a polyprotein. A powerful emerging application of the technique is that, by introducing a disulfide bond in each protein module, the chemical kinetics of disulfide bond cleavage under different stretching forces can be probed at the single-bond level. Even at for...

The lymphatic vessel endothelial receptor LYVE-1 is implicated in the uptake of hyaluronan (HA) and trafficking of leukocytes to draining lymph nodes. Yet LYVE-1 has only weak affinity for hyaluronan and depends on receptor clustering and higher order ligand organization for durable binding in lymphatic endothelium. An unusual feature of LYVE-1 not found in other HA receptors is the potential t...

The mammalian muskelin/RanBP9/C-terminal to LisH (CTLH) complex and the Saccharomyces cerevisiae glucose-induced degradation (GID) complex are large, multi-protein complexes that each contain a RING E3 ubiquitin ligase. The yeast GID complex acts to degrade a key enzyme of gluconeogenesis, fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase, under conditions of abundant fermentable carbon sources. However, the assembl...

To inform future monitoring and assessment of chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) in coastal urban watersheds, the occurrence and fate of more than 60 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), commercial/household chemicals, current-use pesticides, and hormones were characterized in 2 effluent-dominated rivers in southern California (USA). Water samples were collected during 2 low-fl...

Evaluating the safety of e-cigarettes and making informed judgement about developing potential standards require sufficient scientific evidence. Since e-cigarettes are highly engineered products containing plastic, glass and metal parts, and e-liquids are largely different matrices, many toxic compounds which are not typical hazards for the users of combustible tobacco products (e.g., cigarette...

Due to worldwide restrictions on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), the demand for alternative flame retardants (AFRs), such as organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), novel brominated FRs (NBFRs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), has recently increased. Little is known about human exposure to NBFRs and OPFRs and that their levels in dust have been scarcely evaluated worldwide. To inc...

it the first U.S. purchase by a utility of low-carbon power from a commercial-scale, coal-based power plant with carbon capture. The 400-MW TCEP plant is a first-of-its-kind integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) poly-generation facility capable of capturing 90 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO 2) it produces. The $2.4-billion plant was a third round selection under DOE's Clean Coal Powe...