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IL‐4 and IL‐13 signaling via IL‐4Rα plays key roles in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD) and asthma. Rademikibart (formerly CBP‐201), a next‐generation human IgG4 kappa monoclonal antibody, blocks IL‐4Rα‐mediated signal transduction. We performed two phase I, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trials. In a single‐ascending dose trial, 40 healthy adults were randomized 3:1 to rademikibart (75–600 mg s.c., 300 mg i.v.) or placebo, with 12 weeks of follow‐up. In the multiple‐ascending dose trial, 31 adults with moderate‐to‐severe AD were randomized 4:1 to once weekly rademikibart (75–300 mg s.c.) or placebo for 4 weeks, plus 7 weeks of follow‐up. Most treatment‐emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were mild; none were serious. Two s.c. injection site reactions and one TEAE of conjunctivitis were reported, all were mild. Rapid and sustained improvements were observed in AD severity and in quality of life (QoL), without plateauing. At week 4, efficacy scores improved by a maximum of −74.4% (Eczema Area and Severity Index), −62.7% (body surface area), −52.8% (Pruritus Numerical Rating Scale [PNRS] severity), −54.4% (PNRS frequency), and − 69.9% (Dermatology Life Quality Index). Thymus activation regulated chemokine inflammatory biomarker concentrations decreased in both trials (−55.4% in the pooled rademikibart arms vs. +18.0% with placebo, at week 5, in patients with AD). Exposure to rademikibart increased in a greater than dose‐proportional manner, suggesting nonlinear clearance. In summary, rademikibart was well‐tolerated and associated with rapid and sustained improvements in eczematous lesions, pruritus, QoL, and inflammatory biomarker concentrations during 4 weeks of treatment. Efficacy responses did not plateau and were generally dose dependent. These promising findings support further development of rademikibart in patients with AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field-based high-throughput phenotyping is an emerging approach to quantify difficult, time-sensitive plant traits in relevant growing conditions. Proximal sensing carts represent an alternative platform to more costly high-clearance tractors for phenotyping dynamic traits in the field. A proximal sensing cart and specifically a deployment protocol, were developed to phenotype traits related to drought tolerance in the field. The cart-sensor package included an infrared thermometer, ultrasonic transducer, multispectral reflectance sensor, weather station, and RGB cameras. The cart deployment protocol was evaluated on 35 upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) entries grown in 2017 at Maricopa, AZ, United States. Experimental plots were grown under wellwatered and water-limited conditions using a (0,1) alpha lattice design and evaluated in June and July. Total collection time of the 0.87 hectare field averaged 2 h and 27 min and produced 50.7 MB and 45.7 GB of data from the sensors and RGB cameras, respectively. Canopy temperature, crop water stress index (CWSI), canopy height, normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI), and leaf area index (LAI) differed among entries and showed an interaction with the water regime (p < 0.05). Broadsense heritability (H2) estimates ranged from 0.097 to 0.574 across all phenotypes and collections. Canopy cover estimated from RGB images increased with counts of established plants (r = 0.747, p = 0.033). Based on the cart-derived phenotypes, three entries were found to have improved drought-adaptive traits compared to a local adapted cultivar. These results indicate that the deployment protocol developed for the cart and sensor package can measure multiple traits rapidly and accurately to characterize complex plant traits under drought conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A modular assembly procedure for producing amphiphilic polymer networks containing specific linker lengths between cyclodextrin (CD) cross-link sites is described. The linker type and length can be selected to tune the relative hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the network, and the size of the guest-host binding site can be varied by using either α-, β-, or γ-CD as the node. The two-step, one-pot reaction sequence produces well-defined networks with stable ether linkages that can be purified by simple washing and filtration steps. Short ethylene glycol versus long polyethylene oxide linkers result in networks that are generally insoluble in common organic solvents, but which swell to varying degrees in polar protic, polar aprotic, and chlorinated solvents such as water, methanol, ethanol, dimethylsulfoxide, dimethylformamide, methylene chloride, and chloroform. All networks swell in water and present a hydrophobic CD cavity that is available for binding nonpolar molecules. The networks should be applicable to the removal of hydrophobic contaminants, for example, pharmaceutical molecules, from water or wastewater streams. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015, 53, 1824-1831 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Synthetic modifications to block-copolymer structure-directing agents lead to polymerizable macromers suitable for templating the growth of mesoporous silica particles, which can subsequently react in situ to form extended nanocomposites and nanocomposite networks. Suitably functionalized triblock polymers can preserve the structure-directing capabilities of the triblock polymer for templating ordered mesoporous silica particle growth and also generate a reactive matrix for subsequent polymer network formation via the reactive end groups. The final self-assembled products are polymer nanocomposites or novel crosslinked nanocomposite networks whose organic/inorganic composition ratios can vary systematically. The novel self-assembly route described here should be generally applicable to the synthesis of intimately mixed nanocomposites and nanocomposite networks, starting from a wide variety of block polymeric template/macromer/ordered silica systems. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 41111. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computations are performed to study the boundary layer instability mechanisms pertaining to hypersonic vehicles with significant ablative effects. The process of laminar-turbulent transition over vehicles with ablative heat shields can be influenced by both the out-gassing associated with surface pyrolysis and the resulting modification of surface geometry including the formation of micro-roughness. To isolate the effects of out-gassing, this paper examines the stability of canonical boundary layer flows over smooth surfaces in the presence of gas injection into the boundary layer, with an emphasis on the case of massive injection that is relevant to previous laboratory experiments. For a slender cone, the effects of strong out-gassing on the predominantly second mode instability are found to be weakly stabilizing. This new, somewhat surprising result is confirmed by computations carried out on a flat plate boundary layer at high Mach numbers. In contrast, for a blunt capsule flow dominated by first mode instability, the effect of out-gassing is shown to be strongly destabilizing, consistent with the well-known behavior of subsonic boundary layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: High-temperature X-ray diffraction has been used to investigate the phase stability of lanthanum strontium cobalt oxide (LSC) for a range of materials with the formula La1−x Sr x CoO3−δ (x =0.7, 0.4, and 0.2). The stability of LSC increases with La content in low oxygen partial pressures at high temperature. Oxygen vacancy ordering has been observed for all three compositions in either low oxygen pressure or under reducing gas, as evidenced by the formation of the brownmillerite phase. The crystal structure of the vacancy-ordered phase was determined using Rietveld analysis of synchrotron X-ray diffraction data. The decomposition products under low oxygen pressure and in reducing conditions have been identified and characterized, including the phase transition and thermal expansion of the primary decomposition products, LaSrCoO4 and LaSrCoO3.5. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reports the existence of an unsuspected peak in the Hydrogen magic angle spinning (MAS) spectrum of commercially available zeolite HZSM-5. Resonance; Investigation of the structure and function of Bronsted sites in zeolites.

Proximal radius exposure may be acquired by either the dorsal or volar approach depending on surgical requirements. The dorsal approach is traditionally recommended for fracture fixation of the proximal radius because of theoretically improved exposure and because the dorsal aspect of the bone is the tensile surface. The posterior interosseous nerve can be visualized and protected using this approach. The volar approach is preferred for biceps repair and boasts a distal extensile approach with adequate soft tissue coverage. Impingement on the bicipital tuberosity and biceps tendon, in addition to positioning on the compression side of the bone, makes the anterior or anterolateral position for plate placement less desirable. The goal of this study was to quantify and compare in a cadaver model the area of bone exposed using both approaches. We hypothesized that equivalent exposures can be obtained and the posterior interosseous nerve can be identified with either the Thompson or Henry approach. Standard dorsal and volar approaches were performed on 10 fresh-frozen adult cadaveric upper-limb specimens. Cross-sectional area of exposure was quantified from digital photographs using software. The 2 approaches did not result in a significant difference in area exposed. Depending on case requirements, either the dorsal or volar approach will provide adequate exposure to the proximal radius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the finding of a study which observes glass transition time scale and configurational entropy in polymers. Experimental observation of the analysis; Molecular process of glass transition and configurational entropy in polymers; Chemical analysis of the study.

Boundary-layer transition on axisymmetric bodies at a nonzero angle of attack in Mach 2 supersonic flow was investigated using experimental measurements and linear stability analysis. Transition over four axisymmetric bodies (namely, the Sears-Haack body, the semi-Sears-Haack body, the straight cone, and the flared cone) with different axial pressure gradients was measured in two different facilities with different unit Reynolds numbers. The semi-Sears-Haack body and flared cone were designed specifically to achieve a broader range of axial pressure distributions. Measurements revealed a dramatic effect of body shape on transition behavior near the leeward plane of symmetry. For a body shape with an adverse pressure gradient (that is, a flared cone), the measured transition patterns show an earlier transition location along the leeward symmetry plane in comparison with the neighboring azimuthal locations. For a nearly zero pressure gradient (that is, the straight cone), such leeward-first transition is observed only at the larger unit Reynolds number. Finally, transition occurs farther downstream along the leeward plane for the remaining two body shapes with a favorable pressure gradient. The observed transition patterns are partially consistent with the numerical predictions based on linear stability analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finite-volume discretization schemes for viscous fluxes on general grids are compared using node-centered and cell-centered approaches. The grids range from regular grids to highly irregular grids, including random perturbations of the grid nodes. Accuracy and complexity are studied for four nominally second-order accurate schemes: a node-centered scheme and three cell-centered schemes (a node-averaging scheme and two schemes using least-squares face-gradient reconstruction). The two least-squares schemes use either a nearest-neighbor or an adaptive-compact stencil at a face. The node-centered and least-squares schemes have similarly low levels of complexity. The node-averaging scheme has the highest complexity and can fail to converge to the exact solution when clipping of the node-averaged values is used. On highly anisotropic grids, typical of those encountered in grid adaptation, the least-squares schemes, the node-averaging scheme without clipping, and the node-centered scheme demonstrate similar second-order accuracies per degree of freedom. On anisotropic grids over a curved body, typical of turbulent flow simulations, the node-centered scheme is second-order accurate. The node-averaging scheme may degenerate on mixed-element grids. The least-squares schemes have to be amended to maintain second-order accuracy by either introducing a local approximate mapping or modifying the stencil to reflect the direction of strong coupling. Overall, the accuracies of the node-centered and the best cell-centered schemes are comparable at an equivalent number of degrees of freedom on isotropic and curved anisotropic grids. On stretched, randomly perturbed grids in a rectangular geometry, both gradient and discretization errors for all schemes are orders of magnitude higher than corresponding errors on regular grids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of alkane C-H bond activation in heterogeneous acid catalysis is unknown. ¹H solid-state NMR techniques have been used to simultaneously detect the reactivity of both catalyst and alkane reactant protons in a true in-situ experimental design. Specifically, the activation of isobutane C-H bonds by the solid acid zeolite HZSM-5 is directly observed, and the rate of proton transfer between the solid catalyst surface and gaseous isobutane is quantitatively measured using isotopic ¹H/²H exchange methods. An observable adsorption complex forms between the isobutane and the primary Bronsted acid site of ZSM-5, which leads to proton exchange between the zeolite surface and the isobutane methyl groups at temperatures (273 K) much lower than previously reported. The secondary acid site in ZSM-5 is less accessible to or less reactive with the isobutane molecule. Simultaneous detection of protium loss from the Bronsted acid site and protium gain by perdeuterated isobutane reveals a common rate constant equal to 4.1-4.6 x 10-4S-1 at 298 K, but at lower temperatures, the transition between this and a much slower rate process is resolved. The measured activation energy for isobutane H/D exchange is 57 kJ/mol. In all experiments, the isobutane reagent was purified to eliminate any unsaturated impurities that might serve as initiators for carbenium-ion mechanisms, and the active catalyst was free of any organic contaminants that might serve as a source of unsaturated initiators. In total, our results are consistent with direct proton exchange between the zeolite surface and the methyl groups of isobutane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a study on the identification of an adsorption complex between an alkane and zeolite active sites. The mechanistic steps for the initiation and conversion of saturated hydrocarbons over solid acids are ambiguous relative to analogous reactions involving alkenes or oxygenates. Carbenium ion chemistry catalyzed by trace olefinic impurities is considered the most probable route to alkane initiation via hydride transfer, since it is believed that zeolites lack sufficient acid strength to directly protonate an alkane and form a pentavalent carbonium ion. However, a sufficient number of recent publications still propose this direct protonation step. Alternatively, trace amounts of Lewis acid sites, possibly associated with nonframework aluminum atoms or clusters, can facilitate hydride abstraction from an alkane, thereby generating a reactive carbenium ion.