Analysis of the ratio between the plasticity of clay and the expansion capacity by changes in humidity and temperature

Clay is a cohesive material that varies in volume due to changes in humidity and temperature. Its behavior is studied with physical and geotechnical characterization of the material. The experimental analysis of the expansiveness of clays is related to plasticity, which depends on the expansive minerals it contains. The objective is to analyze the relationship between the plasticity index and the expansion capacity due to changes in humidity and temperature; various types of clay from San José de Cúcuta, Colombia, were studied. Liquid limit and plastic limit were analyzed with which the plasticity index was determined. The test tube free expansion and calcination were carried out at 1000 °C to determine the volumetric change due to humidity and temperature, respectively. The clays with plasticity index of 10% - 20% presented expansion by humidity of 5% - 10% and by calcination of 0% - 10%, which indicates low expansion; while the clay with plasticity index of 20% - 40% presented expansion by moisture of 20% - 50% and by calcination of 25% - 50%, which indicates moderately high expansion. The results show that there is a relationship between plasticity index and the expansion capacity due to changes in humidity and temperature.

A Review of the System-Intrinsic Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics in Extended Space (MNEQT) with Applications

The review deals with a novel approach (MNEQT) to nonequilibrium thermodynamics (NEQT) that is based on the concept of internal equilibrium (IEQ) in an enlarged state space SZ involving internal variables as additional state variables. The IEQ macrostates are unique in SZ and have no memory just as EQ macrostates are in the EQ state space SX⊂SZ. The approach provides a clear strategy to identify the internal variables for any model through several examples. The MNEQT deals directly with system-intrinsic quantities, which are very useful as they fully describe irreversibility. Because of this, MNEQT solves a long-standing problem in NEQT of identifying a unique global temperature T of a system, thus fulfilling Planck’s dream of a global temperature for any system, even if it is not uniform such as when it is driven between two heat baths; T has the conventional interpretation of satisfying the Clausius statement that the exchange macroheatdeQflows from hot to cold, and other sensible criteria expected of a temperature. The concept of the generalized macroheat dQ=deQ+diQ converts the Clausius inequality dS≥deQ/T0 for a system in a medium at temperature T0 into the Clausius equalitydS≡dQ/T, which also covers macrostates with memory, and follows from the extensivity property. The equality also holds for a NEQ isolated system. The novel approach is extremely useful as it also works when no internal state variables are used to study nonunique macrostates in the EQ state space SX at the expense of explicit time dependence in the entropy that gives rise to memory effects. To show the usefulness of the novel approach, we give several examples such as irreversible Carnot cycle, friction and Brownian motion, the free expansion, etc.

Anti-Tumor Activity of Expanded PBMC-Derived NK Cells by Feeder-Free Protocol in Ovarian Cancer

Natural killer (NK) cells have shown great therapeutic potential against a wide range of cancers due to their pan-specific target recognition. Numerous reports indicate that NK cell immunotherapy is an effective therapeutic approach for treating hematological malignancies, but shows limited effects against solid tumors. In this study, several models of ovarian cancer (OC) were used to test the anti-cancer effects of NK cells derived from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and expanded using a feeder cell-free expansion system (eNKs). The results show that eNKs exhibit potent inhibitory activity on tumor growth in different ovarian cancer xenograft mice (i.e., solid tumors, abdominal metastatic tumors, and ascites), importantly, in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, adoptive transfer of eNKs resulted in significant reduction in ascites formation in OC peritoneal tumor models, and especially in reducing intraperitoneal ascites. We found that eNKs could migrate to the tumor site, retain their activity, and proliferate to maintain high cell counts in cutaneous xenograft mice. In addition, when increased the infusion with a high dose of 12 × 107 cells/mouse, Graft-versus-host disease could be induced by eNK. These data show that eNK cell immunotherapy could be a promising treatment strategy for ovarian cancers, including solid tumors and ascites.

188 Development of WU-NK-101, a feeder cell-free expanded allogeneic memory NK cell product with potent anti-tumor activity

BackgroundAllogeneic Natural Killer (NK) cells are emerging as a safe and effective modality for the treatment of cancer, overcoming several limitations associated with adoptive T cell therapies. Cytokine induced memory-NK cells offer several advantages over conventional NK cells, including enhanced functional persistence, efficacy, and metabolic fitness. Additionally, unlike iPSC and cord blood derived NK cells, they do not require engineering to enable functionality. Here we describe the use of WU-PRIME, a GMP-grade fusion protein complex to generate memory NK cells, and WU-EXPAND, a feeder cell free expansion system to expand memory-NK cells and create WU-NK-101. Further cryopreservation enables the large-scale, off-the-shelf manufacture of memory NK for cancer immunotherapy, with high anti-tumor activity.MethodsNK cells derived from healthy donor leukopheresate were either activated with WU-PRIME and then expanded with WU-EXPAND to form WU-NK-101 or immediately expanded with WU- EXPAND as controls and then cryopreserved. We compared NK cell expansion as well as post- thaw NK cell functionality as assessed by cytokine secretion and short-term and long-term anti- tumor functionality, long-term persistence in NSG mice, as well as anti-tumor activity in vivo.ResultsNK cells activated with WU-PRIME followed by WU-EXPAND (WU-NK-101), expand robustly in large-scale reactions, over 250-fold in 14 days. The cells maintain durable expression of CD25 after expansion, as well as several other hallmarks of the memory-NK phenotype as assessed by mass cytometry. As compared to cells expanded with WU-EXPAND only, WU-NK-101 cells have improved in vitro activity against K562 cells, as well as AML cell lines (TF-1, THP-1, and HL-60). Notably, this functionality is maintained long-term upon repeated challenge. In vivo, WU-NK-101 cells, compared to expanded NK cells have improved in vivo persistence (figure 1; 50,290 v. 9,623, p<0.0001). In vivo anti-tumor activity was also assessed in leukemia models, where Memory NK cells demonstrate superior anti-tumor activity compared to expanded NK cells.Abstract 188 Figure 1NK cell persistence in tumor-bearing mice. 10e6 cryopreserved NK cells were injected into K562 tumor-bearing mice, and supported with 50,000IU human IL-2 every other day. After 9 days, blood was harvested by cheek bleed and assessed for NK cells (hCD45+, CD56+, CD3) in the blood by flow cytometry.ConclusionsThe data demonstrate that WU-NK-101 generated using a feeder cell-free expansion system has a memory phenotype and improved in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor activity compared to conventional NK cells. This activation and expansion platform will enable the development and clinical translation of multiple allogeneic NK cell therapies.

SARS-CoV-2 Removal with a Polyurethane Foam Composite

The pandemic of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 disease) has been causing unprecedented health and economic impacts, alerting the world to the importance of basic sanitation and existing social inequalities. The risk of the spread and appearance of new diseases highlights the need for the removal of these pathogens through efficient techniques and materials. This study aimed to develop a polyurethane (PU) biofoam filled with dregs waste (leftover from the pulp and paper industry) for removal SARS-CoV-2 from the water. The biofoam was prepared by the free expansion method with the incorporation of 5wt% of dregs as a filler. For the removal assays, the all materials and its isolated phases were incubated for 24h with an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 viral suspension. Then, the RNA was extracted and the viral load was quantified using the quantitative reverse transcription (RT-qPCR) technique. The biofoam (polyurethane/dregs) reached a great removal percentage of 91.55%, whereas the isolated dregs waste was 99.03%, commercial activated carbon was 99.64%, commercial activated carbon/polyurethane was 99.30%, and neat PU foam reached was 99.96% for this same property and without statistical difference. Those new materials endowed with low cost and high removal efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 as alternatives to conventional adsorbents.

Strength and Expansion and Deformation Characteristics of Modified Expansive Soil by Octadecylamine

Octadecylamine was used as a primary water repellent and mixed into the remodeled expansive soil, and modified expansive soils with different water contents and octadecylamine contents were configured. The water repellency level of the modified expansive soil was determined by the drip penetration time method, the corresponding free, unloaded, and loaded swelling rate tests were carried out, and the law of the influence of octadecylamine content and water content on the expansion and deformation of expansive soil was obtained. It can be shown that the modified expansive soil with an octadecylamine content of 0.8% (mass fraction) had an extreme water repellent grade, and the water repellency remained stable. The more the water content and octadecylamine content, the lower the free swelling rate, and the unloaded swelling rate and loaded swelling rate of modified expansive soil tended to be stable. When the octadecylamine content was 0.5% and 0.8%, the free expansion rate was significantly reduced, and the maximum drop was 42%. When the octadecylamine content was increased from 0% to 0.8%, the uncharged expansion stability duration was shortened from 97 h to 47 h, and the expansion rate was reduced from 12.9% to 9.4%. When the mass fraction of octadecylamine was 0.8%, the modified expansive soil with a water content of 20% would decrease its load expansion rate from 2.14% at 50 kPa to 0.01% at 400 kPa. When the load was small, the octadecylamine content and initial water content had a greater impact on the loaded expansion rate; when the load was large, the load became the main factor affecting the loaded expansion rate. Under the same overburden pressure, the more the octadecylamine content was, the lower the soil shear strength was and the more it tended to be stable.

Numerical simulation of free expansion of an ideal gas

Classical statistical thermodynamics was developed in the second half of the 19th century. The implied fact is that since then all processes and effects that fall into the domain of classical statistical thermodynamics have been discovered and explained. However, analyzing the outputs from our numerical model of an ideal gas, we noticed that the atoms separate during the expansion of the gas into empty space. This separation occurs as a consequence of the distribution of molecules by velocities. Namely, faster molecules will move further away from their initial position than slower ones. The objective of this paper is to describe the existence of this process and to present some basic physical consequences of this effect.