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LILRB4, a myeloid inhibitory receptor belonging to the family of leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptors (LILRs/LIRs), plays a pivotal role in the regulation of immune tolerance. LILRB4 primarily mediates suppressive immune responses by transmitting inhibitory signals through immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motifs (ITIMs). This immune checkpoint molecule has gained considerable attention due to its potent regulatory functions. Its ability to induce effector T cell dysfunction and promote T suppressor cell differentiation has been demonstrated, indicating the therapeutic potential of LILRB4 for modulating excessive immune responses, particularly in autoimmune diseases or the induction of transplant tolerance. Additionally, through intervening with LILRB4 molecules, immune system responsiveness can be adjusted, representing significant value in areas such as cancer treatment. Thus, LILRB4 has emerged as a key player in addressing autoimmune diseases, transplant tolerance induction, and other medical issues. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of LILRB4, encompassing its structure, expression, and ligand molecules as well as its role as a tolerance receptor. By exploring the involvement of LILRB4 in various diseases, its significance in disease progression is emphasized. Furthermore, we propose that the manipulation of LILRB4 represents a promising immunotherapeutic strategy and highlight its potential in disease prevention, treatment and diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019, nearly 12.2 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered worldwide; however, the humoral immune responses induced by different types of vaccines are yet to be fully validated. Methods. We analyzed antibody levels in 100 serum samples after vaccination with different types of COVID-19 vaccines and their reactivity against the RBD antigen of Delta and Omicron variants using a bead-based microarray. Results. Elevated levels of anti-wild-type (WT)-RBD IgG and anti-WT-NP IgG were detected in participants who received two doses of the inactivated vaccines (CoronaVac or BBIBP-CorV) and three doses of the recombinant spike protein vaccine (ZF2001), indicating that antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 were generated regardless of the vaccine administered. We found highly correlated levels of serum anti-RBD IgG and anti-NP IgG (r = 0.432, p < 0.001). We observed that the antibodies produced in vivo after COVID-19 vaccination still reacted with variants of SARS-CoV-2 (p < 0.0001). Conclusions. Our results show that high levels of specific antibodies can be produced after completion of COVID-19 vaccination (two doses of the inactivated vaccines or three doses of ZF2001), with some degree of cross-reactivity to the RBD antigen of Delta and Omicron variants, and provide an accessible and practical experimental method for post-vaccination antibody detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen in the bubbling gas was directly fixed into water by pulsed high-voltage discharge. When the discharge occurred, nitrogen could be dissociated to form active N species to take part in the aqueous chemical process. Nitrous acid (HN[O.sub.2]) was primarily produced, which was further converted into nitric acid (HN[O.sub.3]). With the formation of HN[O.sub.2] and HN[O.sub.3], the pH of the liquid decreased. The decrease in pH sped up the conversion from HN[O.sub.2] into HN[O.sub.3], thus resulted in an increase in the N[O.sup.-.sub.2] concentration at first and a decrease after a turning point. The nitrogen fixation rate with bubbling nitrogen was faster than that with bubbling air in distilled water. By discharge for about 30 min, HN[O.sub.2] was converted into HN[O.sub.3] as the final products. Its concentrations were 1.96 mmol x [L.sup.-1] with bubbling air and 2.34 mmol x [L.sup.-1] with bubbling pure nitrogen. The energy efficiencies were 2.08 x [10.sup.-9] and 2.48 x [10.sup.-9] mol x [J.sup.-1], respectively. Index Terms--Discharge in water, nitrate, nitrogen fixation, plasma.

Abstract: By applying pulsed high voltage discharge to a needle-mesh reactor that using seven acupuncture needles as discharge electrode and stainless steel wire mesh as ground electrode, nitrogen from bubbling gas could be fixed into NO2 − and NO3 − with equivalent mol H+ produced in the liquid phase and a small amount of NO and NO2 yielded in the gas phase. The HNO2 was originally formed and then converted into HNO3. The ·OH and H2O2 stimulated the conversion reaction from HNO2 to HNO3, which caused HNO2 concentration increased in the first 12min and then decreased until lower than its detection limit. The concentration of HNO3 still increased with discharge time. After 36min, HNO3 was the only and ultimate product in the liquid. The total yield of HNO2 and HNO3 could be affected by processing parameters such as electric factors of peak voltage and frequency, mesh size of ground electrode and content of nitrogen in N2/O2 bubbling. Increasing peak voltage or frequency, the total yield of HNO2 and HNO3 increased. Gas composition had a heavy impact on the fixation efficiency that obtained its maximum value at an oxygen content of 66.7% with bubbling O2/N2 gas. At the end of the 36min discharge, the HNO3 concentration with bubbling air was 2.215mmolL−1 at an applied voltage of 25kV, pulse repetition frequency of 140Hz and ground electrode mesh of 20×20. The energy yield was about 1.22g (HNO3)/kWh. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Epithelioid solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) has recently been reported and is an extremely rare soft-tissue neoplasm. Herein we present an epithelioid SFT attached to the falx cerebri occurring in a Chinese woman. This patient underwent gross-total tumor resection at the age of 30 years and recurred 68 months following the initial total resection. Histologically, the initial lesion exhibited features of classic spindle cell SFT. In contrast, the recurrent tumor demonstrated exclusively epithelioid morphology with significant atypia. Both the original and recurrent lesions showed positivity for vimentin, CD34, Bcl-2, and CD99, whereas were negative for all the remaining antibodies. The epithelioid feature in SFT seems to be associated with a more aggressive clinical behavior in this case and more cases are awaited to verify this possibility. To the best of authors’ knowledge, the present case is the first published example of SFT with epithelioid feature in the central nervous system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]