High glucose up-regulates ENaC and SGK1 expression in HCD-cells

Background/Aim: Diabetic nephropathy is associated with progressive renal damage, leading to impaired function and end-stage renal failure. Secondary hypertension stems from a deranged ability of cells within the kidney to resolve and appropriately regulate sodium resorption in response to hyperglycaemia. However, the mechanisms by which glucose alters sodium re-uptake have not been fully characterised. Methods: Here we present RT-PCR, western blot and immunocytochemistry data confirming mRNA and protein expression of the serum and glucocorticoid inducible kinase (SGK1) and the a conducting subunit of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) in a model in vitro system of the human cortical collecting duct (HCD). We examined changes in expression of these elements in response to glucose challenge, designed to mimic hyperglycaemia associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Changes in Na+ concentration were assessed using single-cell microfluorimetry. Results: Incubation with glucose, the Ca2+-ionophore ionomycin and the cytokine TGF-beta 1 were all found to evoke significant and time-dependent increases in both SGK1 and alpha ENaC protein expression. These molecular changes were correlated to an increase in Na+-uptake at the single-cell level. Conclusion: Together these data offer a potential explanation for glucose-evoked Na+-resorption and a potential contributory role of SGK1 and ENaCs in development of secondary hypertension, commonly linked to diabetic nephropathy

Nomenclature for renal replacement therapy and blood purification techniques in critically ill patients: practical applications

This article reports the conclusions of the second part of a consensus expert conference on the nomenclature of renal replacement therapy (RRT) techniques currently utilized to manage acute kidney injury and other organ dysfunction syndromes in critically ill patients. A multidisciplinary approach was taken to achieve harmonization of definitions, components, techniques, and operations of the extracorporeal therapies. The article describes the RRT techniques in detail with the relevant technology, procedures, and phases of treatment and key aspects of volume management/fluid balance in critically ill patients. In addition, the article describes recent developments in other extracorporeal therapies, including therapeutic plasma exchange, multiple organ support therapy, liver support, lung support, and blood purification in sepsis. This is a consensus report on nomenclature harmonization in extracorporeal blood purification therapies, such as hemofiltration, plasma exchange, multiple organ support therapies, and blood purification in sepsis

Representing environmental harm and resistance on Twitter: The case of the TAP pipeline

This research explores a new methodological path for doing green cultural criminological research via social media. It provides original case-study data and aims to stimulate further empirical and theoretical debate. In particular, the study explores how Twitter users have represented the harms related to an ongoing pipeline project in Italy (referred to as TAP), and the resistance to those harms. To these ends, it offers a virtual and visual ethnography of Twitter posts and posted images

Net ultrafiltration prescription and practice among critically ill patients receiving renal replacement therapy : a multinational survey of critical care practitioners

Objectives: To assess the attitudes of practitioners with respect to net ultrafiltration prescription and practice among critically ill patients with acute kidney injury treated with renal replacement therapy. Design: Multinational internet-assisted survey. Setting: Critical care practitioners involved with 14 societies in 80 countries. Subjects: Intensivists, nephrologists, advanced practice providers, ICU and dialysis nurses. Intervention: A cross-sectional survey. Measurement and Main Results: Of 2,567 practitioners who initiated the survey, 1,569 (61.1%) completed the survey. Most practitioners were intensivists (72.7%) with a median duration of 13.2 years of practice (interquartile range, 7.2-22.0 yr). Two third of practitioners (71.0%; regional range, 55.0-95.5%) reported using continuous renal replacement therapy with a net ultrafiltration rate prescription of median 80.0 mL/hr (interquartile range, 49.0-111.0 mL/hr) for hemodynamically unstable and a maximal rate of 299.0 mL/hr (interquartile range, 200.0-365.0 mL/hr) for hemodynamically stable patients, with regional variation. Only a third of practitioners (31.5%; range, 13.7-47.8%) assessed hourly net fluid balance during continuous renal replacement therapy. Hemodynamic instability was reported in 20% (range, 20-38%) of patients and practitioners decreased the rate of fluid removal (70.3%); started or increased the dose of a vasopressor (51.5%); completely stopped fluid removal (35.8%); and administered a fluid bolus (31.6%), with significant regional variation. Compared with physicians, nurses were most likely to report patient intolerance to net ultrafiltration (73.4% vs 81.3%; p = 0.002), frequent interruptions (40.4% vs 54.5%; p < 0.001), and unavailability of trained staff (11.9% vs 15.6%; p = 0.04), whereas physicians reported unavailability of dialysis machines (14.3% vs 6.1%; p < 0.001) and costs associated with treatment as barriers (12.1% vs 3.0%; p < 0.001) with significant regional variation. Conclusions: Our study provides new knowledge about the presence and extent of international practice variation in net ultrafiltration. We also identified barriers and specific targets for quality improvement initiatives. Our data reflect the need for evidence-based practice guidelines for net ultrafiltration

Development of an OpenFOAM multiphysics solver for solid fission products transport in the Molten Salt Fast Reactor

The analysis of innovative reactor concepts such as the Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR) requires the development of new modeling and simulation tools. In the case of the MSFR, the strong intrinsic coupling between thermal-hydraulics, neutronics and fuel chemistry has led to the adoption of the multiphysics approach as a state-of-the-art paradigm. One of the peculiar aspects of liquid-fuel reactors such as the MSFR is the mobility of fission products (FPs) in the reactor circuit. Some FP species appear in form of solid precipitates carried by the fuel flow and can deposit on reactor boundaries (e.g., heat exchangers), potentially representing design issues related to the degradation of heat exchange performance or radioactive hotspots. The integration of transport models for solid particles in multiphysics codes is therefore relevant for the prediction of deposited fractions. To this aim, we develop a multiphysics solver based on the OpenFOAM library to address the issue of solid fission products transport. Single-phase incompressible thermal hydraulics are coupled with neutron diffusion, and advection-diffusion-decay equations are implemented for fission products concentrations. Particle deposition and precipitation are considered as well. The developed solver is tested on two different MSFR application to showcase the capabilities of the solver in steady-state simulation and to investigate the role of precipitation and turbulence modeling in the determination of particle concentration distributions

Intermittent control models of human standing: similarities and differences

Two architectures of intermittent control are compared and contrasted in the context of the single inverted pendulum model often used for describing standing in humans. The architectures are similar insofar as they use periods of open-loop control punctuated by switching events when crossing a switching surface to keep the system state trajectories close to trajectories leading to equilibrium. The architectures differ in two significant ways. Firstly, in one case, the open-loop control trajectory is generated by a system-matched hold, and in the other case, the open-loop control signal is zero. Secondly, prediction is used in one case but not the other. The former difference is examined in this paper. The zero control alternative leads to periodic oscillations associated with limit cycles; whereas the system-matched control alternative gives trajectories (including homoclinic orbits) which contain the equilibrium point and do not have oscillatory behaviour. Despite this difference in behaviour, it is further shown that behaviour can appear similar when either the system is perturbed by additive noise or the system-matched trajectory generation is perturbed. The purpose of the research is to come to a common approach for understanding the theoretical properties of the two alternatives with the twin aims of choosing which provides the best explanation of current experimental data (which may not, by itself, distinguish beween the two alternatives) and suggesting future experiments to distinguish between the two alternatives

Public drunkenness as a nuisance in Ghent (Belgium) and Trento (Italy)

This article explores the reality of the nuisance of public drunkenness in one nightlife location of Ghent (Belgium) and in one of Trento (Italy) and inspects the way alcohol-related disorder is viewed and tackled by police officers there. Drawing on the literature arguing for the existence of different "cultures of drinking" in western and southern European countries, a distinct reality of the nuisance of public drunkenness was hypothesized to be present in these two cities. Against the backdrop of cultural criminology scholarship and of the national literature on policing practices, it was expected that the physical/aesthetic appearance of street drinkers would differently impact on the way police officers there represent alcohol-related disorder and enforce national and local nuisance regulations. The gathered data indicate that while drinking patterns and connected disorderly behavior do not significantly vary in Ghent and in Trento, the aesthetic/physical characteristics of certain groups of people play a role in shaping the representations of some police officers in Trento. The study concludes that cultural and context-specific factors, including those linked to the cultures of drinking and to aesthetics, should be considered in criminological research to more fully understand and explain the different policing views on and attitudes to alcohol-related disorder in inner-city nightlife areas. In its conclusions, the article also highlights some directions for future research

Validation activities at ENEA Brasimone in support of the IFMIF-DONES design

IFMIF-DONES is a powerful neutron source which is being designed with the main purpose of qualifying structural materials (EUROFER being the first candidate) to be used in DEMO and fusion power plants envisaged after it. This source relies on one high current (125 mA) deuterons beam accelerated to 40 MeV which impacts on a liquid lithium target to produce an intense neutron flux through Li(d,n) stripping reactions able to simulate the nuclear responses expected on the first wall of the reactor. The engineering design of IFMIF-DONES is presently being carried out mainly in the framework of the EUROfusion Work Package Early Neutron Source (WPENS). Since 2021, a new phase has started with the launch of the FP9 WPENS workplan whose objective is to continue advancing the engineering design of the facility, putting special effort on the experimental validation of those aspects which still need to be qualified to demonstrate the fulfillment of functional and safety requirements. The ENEA Brasimone Research Centre has been and still is strongly committed in several validation tasks concerned in particular with the lithium systems design and the Remote Handling (RH) maintenance. In this paper, an overview of the most relevant validation activities carried out in recent years or still in progress or planned at the ENEA Brasimone Research Centre in both of the aforementioned areas is presented, including the erosion/corrosion tests in the Lifus 6 loop; the nitrogen-gettering materials qualification in the ANGEL facility; and the RH and prototypes testing in the DRP laboratory for the validation of the High Flux Test Module electric connectors and the pre-heating of the Target Assembly.EUROfusion Consortium, funded by the European Union via the Euratom Research and Training Programme (Grant Agreement No 101052200 — EUROfusion