Combined treatment with dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) inhibitor sitagliptin and elemental diets reduced indomethacin-induced intestinal injury in rats via the increase of mucosal glucagon-like peptide-2 concentration.

The gut incretin glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and the intestinotropic hormone GLP-2 are released from enteroendocrine L cells in response to ingested nutrients. Treatment with an exogenous GLP-2 analogue increases intestinal villous mass and prevents intestinal injury. Since GLP-2 is rapidly degraded by dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4), DPP4 inhibition may be an effective treatment for intestinal ulcers. We measured mRNA expression and DPP enzymatic activity in intestinal segments. Mucosal DPP activity and GLP concentrations were measured after administration of the DPP4 inhibitor sitagliptin (STG). Small intestinal ulcers were induced by indomethacin (IM) injection. STG was given before IM treatment, or orally administered after IM treatment with or without an elemental diet (ED). DPP4 mRNA expression and enzymatic activity were high in the jejunum and ileum. STG dose-dependently suppressed ileal mucosal enzyme activity. Treatment with STG prior to IM reduced small intestinal ulcer scores. Combined treatment with STG and ED accelerated intestinal ulcer healing, accompanied by increased mucosal GLP-2 concentrations. The reduction of ulcers by ED and STG was reversed by co-administration of the GLP-2 receptor antagonist. DPP4 inhibition combined with luminal nutrients, which up-regulate mucosal concentrations of GLP-2, may be an effective therapy for the treatment of small intestinal ulcers

Cooking Vessels, Volumes, and Venues: Evidence from LM IIIC Kavousi Vronda and Karphi

Glowacki, K.T., and L.P. Day. “Cooking Vessels, Volumes, and Venues: Evidence from LM IIIC Kavousi Vronda and Karphi.” Abstract of paper read at Διατροφικές συνήθειες και πρακτικές στην Κρήτη διαχρονικά [Dietary Habits and Practices in Crete over Time], Museum of Cretan Ethnology, Voroi, Crete, Greece, September 9–10, 2017.Our understanding of diet and culinary practices at the Late Minoan IIIC settlement sites of Kavousi Vronda and Karphi is based upon several different types of physical evidence that have been recovered through excavation. These include the botanical and faunal remains of plants and animals available to and consumed by the inhabitants; ceramic vessels used for the cooking and consumption of food and drink; built and fixed cooking installations, such as hearths and ovens; and the architectural spaces within the settlements where food preparation and consumption most likely took place. Each type of evidence is, by itself, incomplete and dependent upon differential preservation resulting from site formation processes specific to each archaeological context. Taken together, however, they allow us to gain important insights into key aspects of food cultivation, provisioning, processing, preparation, and convivial practices on Crete in the 12th and 11th centuries BC. In this paper, we will compare and contrast the evidence for food preparation and dining at each site, paying special attention to the forms and sizes of ceramic vessels used for cooking and consumption

Visualization on the behavior of inert gas jets impinging on a single glass tube submerged in liquid sodium

In order to accurately model sodium-water reaction jets in steam generators of fast breeder reactors, knowledge of size distributions or mean diameters of liquid sodium droplets entrained into the reaction jets are prerequisite. In the present study, argon-gas jet behaviors, without chemical reaction, injected into liquid sodium were successfully visualized using an endoscope and a glass tube, and the size distributions and mean diameters of liquid sodium droplets entrained into the gas jet were also obtained in the bubbling regime. Most of the liquid sodium droplets were observed to be intermittently produced in the vicinity of a gas nozzle in the present study. The droplet size distributions of entrained sodium droplets were found to agree well with the Nukiyama-Tanasawa distribution function when the arithmetic mean diameter was used. The Sauter mean diameters obtained in the present study were also found to be well correlated with an empirical equation proposed by Epstein et al. The present study shows that the existing knowledge, which is based on the results of water experiments, is suitable in terms of accuracy in practice

Void fraction distributions of inert gas jets across a single cylinder with non-wetting surface in liquid sodium

Little work on the void fraction behaviors along structural materials with poor-wettability for liquid metals has been performed. In the present study, void fraction behaviors around a single cylinder with non-wetting surface condition were quantitatively discussed by using a gas jet-cylinder system where the impinging jet flow, the boundary layer flow, the separation flow, and the wake flow appear. One cylinder with a non-wetting surface and two cylinders with a wetting surface were used to vary the wettability for liquid sodium, and void fraction distributions were measured around the cylinders. In the case of wetting condition, void fraction distributions around the cylinder decrease clearly in the backward region of the cylinder, and liquid-rich region is formed due to bubble separation from the cylinder surface. On the other hand, under non-wetting condition, because of two-phase flow without bubble separation on the cylinder surface, void fraction distributions show almost steady values around the cylinder compared to those with wetting surface. The void behaviors on a non-wetting surface were also confirmed by a visualization experiment conducted in water. The observed differences can be basically attributed to the work of adhesion required for liquid-solid interfacial separation

Dose-volume metrics associated with radiation pneumonitis after stereotactic body radiation therapy for lung cancer.

[Purpose]To identify dose–volume factors associated with radiation pneumonitis (RP) after stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for lung cancer. [Methods and Materials]This study analyzed 74 patients who underwent SBRT for primary lung cancer. The prescribed dose for SBRT was uniformly 48 Gy in four fractions at the isocenter. RP was graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v.3. Symptomatic RP was defined as grade 2 or worse. Optimal cut-offs dividing the patient population into two subgroups based on the incidence of symptomatic RP were sought using the following dose–volume metrics: PTV volume (ml), mean lung dose (Gy), and V5, V10, V15, V20, V25, V30, V35, and V40 (%) of both lungs excluding the PTV. [Results]With a median follow-up duration of 31.4 months, symptomatic RP was observed in 15 patients (20.3%), including 1 patient with grade 3. Optimal cut-offs for pulmonary dose–volume metrics were V25 and V20. These two factors were highly correlated with each other, and V25 was more significant. Symptomatic RP was observed in 14.8% of the patients with V25 <4.2%, and the rate was 46.2% in the remainder (p = 0.019). PTV volume was another significant factor. The symptomatic RP rate was significantly lower in the group with PTV <37.7 ml compared with the larger PTV group (11.1% vs. 34.5%, p = 0.020). The patients were divided into three subgroups (patients with PTV <37.7 ml; patients with, PTV ≥37.7 ml and V25 <4.2%; and patients with PTV ≥37.7 ml and V25 ≥4.2%); the incidence of RP grade 2 or worse was 11.1%, 23.5%, and 50.0%, respectively (p = 0.013). [Conclusions]Lung V25 and PTV volume were significant factors associated with RP after SBRT