Role of Peripheral Regulatory T Lymphocytes in Patients with Thyroid Associated Ophthalmopathy During Systemic Glucocorticoid Treatment:A Prospective Observational Study

Objective Thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy(TAO)is an autoimmune disorder involving the orbital tissue.This study aimed to understand the role of regulatory T cells(Tregs)in TAO during 12-week systemic glucocorticoid(GC)treatment.Methods Thirty-two moderate-severe TAO patients with a clinical activity score(CAS)≥3/7 or with prolonged T2 relaxation time(T2RT)on at least one side of extraocular muscle(EOM)were enrolled.The percentage of the peripheral CD4+CD25(high)CD127(−/low)Tregs was analyzed using flow cytometry before and after the GC treatment.The activity and severity of TAO,T2RT,and the clinical outcomes after the GC treatment were assessed.Their correlation with the peripheral Tregs was investigated.Results There was no significant association between the baseline Treg fraction and the activity and severity of TAO or the treatment response.A significant reduction of Tregs was observed after the GC therapy merely in patients without any clinical improvement.Conclusion Treg reduction after systemic GC therapy is indicative of a poor therapeutic response.Accordingly,dynamic alterations of Tregs could help to evaluate the effectiveness of the GC treatment.

Pretreatment of agricultural residues by supercritical CO_2 at 50–80 °C to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis

Various agricultural crop residues including corn stover,corn cob,and sorghum stalk with a moisture content of 75 wt%were subjected to a long pretreatment(12–60 h)with supercritical CO_2(scCO_2),at low temperature(50–80°C)and a pressure of 17.5–25.0 MPa.The sugar yields from the enzymatic hydrolysis(EH)of the pretreated samples were as much as three-to fourfold greater than those afforded by the raw materials.However,when pretreatment was conducted within a short time(e.g.0.5 h),as previously reported in the literature,only a slight increase in the EH sugar yields was observed.The proposed sc CO_2pretreatment mechanism demonstrated the role of moisture in the system.Wetting,softening,and swelling were observed to mainly affect the lignocellulose when a suitable amount of water was added.Finally,the samples were analysed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy,before and after pretreatment,to investigate the changes in the microscopic structure of the biomass.

Nanoindentation responses of NiCoFe medium-entropy alloys from cryogenic to elevated temperatures

NiCoFe alloy,a medium-entropy alloy,shows potential for applications in extreme environments.However,there is a theoretical barrier concerning the unclear understanding of its high-temperature dislocation motion mechanism.The load response exhibits distinct signatures relevant to thermal activation,most notably a decrease in critical force(i.e,softening)from cryogenic to elevated temperatures,e.g.,from 200 to 1000 K.The onset of plasticity is characterized by the nucleation of stacking faults and prismatic loops at low temperatures,whereas the surface nucleation of Shockley partial dislocations dominates plasticity at elevated temperatures.We show that thermal effects lead to non-uniform atom pile-ups and control the rate of phase transformation with increasing indentation depth.The findings in this work extend the understanding of the mechanical response of NiCoFe alloys under indentation at different temperatures,shedding light on the underlying dislocation motion mechanisms and surface deformation characteristics.The observed transformation-induced plasticity mechanism has implications for the properties of medium-entropy alloys and their potential applications in extreme environments.