The application of cast SiC/Al to rotary engine components

A silicon carbide reinforced aluminum (SiC/Al) material fabricated by Dural Aluminum Composites Corporation was tested for various components of rotary engines. Properties investigated included hardness, high temperature strength, wear resistance, fatigue resistance, thermal conductivity, and expansion. SiC/Al appears to be a viable candidate for cast rotors, and may be applicable to other components, primarily housings

Reduced lysosomal acid lipase activity: A new marker of liver disease severity across the clinical continuum of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease?

Lysosomal acid lipase (LAL) plays a key role in intracellular lipid metabolism. Reduced LAL activity promotes increased multi-organ lysosomal cholesterol ester storage, as observed in two recessive autosomal genetic diseases, Wolman disease and Cholesterol ester storage disease. Severe liver steatosis and accelerated liver fibrosis are common features in patients with genetic LAL deficiency. By contrast, few reliable data are available on the modulation of LAL activity in vivo and on the epigenetic and metabolic factors capable of regulating its activity in subjects without homozygous mutations of the Lipase A gene. In the last few years, a less severe and non-genetic reduction of LAL activity was reported in children and adults with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), suggesting a possible role of LAL reduction in the pathogenesis and progression of the disease. Patients with NAFLD show a significant, progressive reduction of LAL activity from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and cryptogenic cirrhosis. Among cirrhosis of different etiologies, those with cryptogenic cirrhosis show the most significant reductions of LAL activity. These findings suggest that the modulation of LAL activity may become a possible new therapeutic target for patients with more advanced forms of NAFLD. Moreover, the measurement of LAL activity may represent a possible new marker of disease severity in this clinical setting

Association between a single measurement of progesterone and cortisol blood concentrations at two to one week before parturition, and number of fetuses in the Teramana goat

The Teramana goat is an at-risk breed, needing population protection and programs to increase their numbers. The first step for a population increase is the best management of reproduction, leading to an as high as possible number of healthy and viable kids born. To this purpose, beside the optimization of mating, the best possible management of pregnancy and parturition is mandatory. The goat is a prolific farm animal in which single, double, or triple ovulations can occur, leading to singleton, twin or triple pregnancies, and the birth of multiple kids. Twins and triplets are associated to increased risk for perinatal mortality and need a special surveillance and possible assistance at birth. Knowledge of the number of fetuses that have to be delivered from each goat could be a practical tool for a better management of parturition. Among the methods to define the number of fetuses in the goat, the measurement of blood progesterone (P4) concentrations have provided inconsistent results. Therefore, the present study was aimed to assess the possible association between the maternal concentrations of plasma P4 and cortisol (C), two hormones possibly associated to the number of fetuses, measured only once at about two to one week before parturition in Teramana goats, and the number of fetuses. The results, obtained from 23 does, showed that both plasma P4 and C are higher in does bearing multiple fetuses than does with singleton pregnancies. However, the single measurement of plasma C, but not P4, two to one week before the expected parturition in the Teramana goat is useful to distinguish between does bearing singleton and triplet pregnancies for a better surveillance and assistance at delivery. Therefore, it could represent a tool for the best management of reproduction in a breed population at risk for extinctio

Therapeutic Strategies Targeting Urokinase and Its Receptor in Cancer

Several studies have ascertained that uPA and uPAR do participate in tumor progression and metastasis and are involved in cell adhesion, migration, invasion and survival, as well as angiogenesis. Increased levels of uPA and uPAR in tumor tissues, stroma and biological fluids correlate with adverse clinic–pathologic features and poor patient outcomes. After binding to uPAR, uPA activates plasminogen to plasmin, a broad-spectrum matrix-and fibrin-degrading enzyme able to facilitate tumor cell invasion and dissemination to distant sites. Moreover, uPAR activated by uPA regulates most cancer cell activities by interacting with a broad range of cell membrane receptors. These findings make uPA and uPAR not only promising diagnostic and prognostic markers but also attractive targets for developing anticancer therapies. In this review, we debate the uPA/uPAR structure–function relationship as well as give an update on the molecules that interfere with or inhibit uPA/uPAR functions. Additionally, the possible clinical development of these compounds is discussed

Prevalence, survival and subsequent fertility of dairy and beef cows with uterine prolapse

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of uterine prolapse in cows and assess its effects on survival and subsequent fertility. Of 33,450 calving cows considered retrospectively, 216 (0.6%) developed uterine prolapse. A higher prevalence was found in beef cows (n 5 57/5,700 cows, 1%) compared to dairy cows (n 5 157/27,750 cows, 0.6%). Treatment consisted of cleaning and replacing the uterus with local administration of antibiotics, and applying a harness for uterine containment. The recovery rate was 81.9% (n 5 177), similar in dairy (n 5 129; 81.1%) and beef (n 5 48; 84.2%) cows. Of the 216 cows with uterine prolapse, 18 (8.3%) died before or immediately after treatment; 21 cows (9.7%) were voluntarily culled for economic reasons (low milk yield, low fertility, insufficient weight gain). All recovered dairy cows were artificially inseminated with semen of proven fertility after a voluntary waiting period of 50 days; the beef cows were naturally mated. Among the 172 inseminated/mated cows, 84.7% (n 5 150) became pregnant (83.7% dairy cows, 87.5% beef cows), while 15.2% (n 5 27) did not conceive. Recurrence of uterine prolapse at subsequent calvings was recorded in one dairy cow. Based upon the data presented here, treated cows with uterine prolapse showed high chances of survival and conception, and a low risk of recurrence

Hazardous Area Classification Due to Combustible Dust Atmospheres and Layers: Avoiding Common Mistakes

In areas and workplaces where combustible dusts are produced, handled or stored, Hazardous Area Classification is required to assess the likelihood of formation of a dust explosive atmosphere. The resulting dust zoning is of paramount importance in deciding the type and protection modes of electrical and non-electrical apparatuses to install in those areas. Dust zoning is a widespread and well-known technique, covered by dedicated technical Standards such as IEC 60079-10-2 and NFPA 499. As such, it also represents the first step for a dust explosion risk assessment, therefore its quality and completeness are of the utmost importance in order to achieve a high-value, robust explosion risk management. The behavior of fires and explosions from dust clouds or layers is strictly dependent on the chemical-physical characteristics of the dust: the first section of this paper shall analyze those characteristics, and how their variations affect the classification of areas. After this overview, the paper shall illustrate the most common misconceptions and mistakes that can be encountered in Hazardous Area Classifications and provide insights and suggestions on how to avoid them

Quantitative Risk Assessment: Best Practices and Limitations

Over the past decades, safety has been permeating process industry with the aim to ensure the protection of people involved in process plants and to prevent catastrophic events and industrial accidents that could be dangerous for the environment and the entire society. Nowadays, process industry requires specific and validated hazard assessment methods to understand the risks to which people are exposed. As a matter of fact, industrial accidents involving either installations or transportation of chemical compounds occur with relative high frequency and lead to many major accidents. QRA analysis (QRA is an acronym for Quantitative Risk Assessment) is a formal and systematic risk analysis approach for quantifying the risks associated with the operation of an engineering process. It can be used for the calculation of the economic and environmental impact that an industry could face after an incidental scenario has occurred, but its focus is on the loss of life; however, many pitfalls are hidden in this analysis, and we need to be aware of them and to avoid them. The paper aims to show the so-called “Seven Deadly Sins” and the “Five Commandments” of QRA, highlighting through real cases and examples from more than thirty years long experience how small mistakes in the input data can generate enormous mistakes. It will also show the golden rules to ensure that a QRA will give as an output useful and meaningful results

Cryotolerance of equine spermatozoa correlates with specific fatty acid pattern: A pilot study

Sperm cryopreservation represents a powerful tool for horse breeding. To improve the efficiency of artificial insemination in the horse using cryopreserved spermatozoa, an adequate understanding of the underlying biophysical properties that affect sperm cryosurvival needs to be reached yet. In this pilot study, we described isolation and analysis of the main fatty acids from sperms of stallions classified as good and poor freezers (7 GF and 5 PF, according to sperm motility and viability, before and after cryopreservation). Fatty acid profiles were only assessed in pre-thaw sperms. Eight main fatty acids were identified, using gas chromatography, and their contents were expressed as percentage of the total lipid content. We found that lauric, myristic and oleic acid (C12:0, C14:0 and C18:1n9c) turned out to be about 2-fold more abundant in the sperm cells of the GFs compared with PFs. Moreover, we described for the first time the presence of a very high amount of a trans geometrical isomer of linoleic acid, linolelaidic acid (C18:2n6t), in pre-thaw PF spermatozoa. Notably, we found in fresh sperms of PF stallions a ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids which was twice that of those of GF group, suggesting a positive effect of a high saturated-to-unsaturated fatty acid ratio for the “freezability” of equine spermatozoa. Finally, principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed the relationships between specific fatty acids and cryotolerance of equine spermatozoa, also providing a graphical classification and additional information about the dominant variables governing the classification process

After Treatment Decrease of Bone Marrow Tregs and Outcome in Younger Patients with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia

An emerging body of evidence demonstrates that defects in antileukemic effector cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can contribute to the development and/or persistence of the disease. In particular, immune suppressive regulatory T cells (Tregs) may contribute to this defective antileukemic immune response, being recruited by bone marrow leukemic cells to evade immune surveillance. We evaluated Tregs (CD4+/CD45RA-/CD25high/CD127low), performing multiparametric flow cytometry on freshly collected bone marrow aspirate (BMA), in addition to the usual molecular and cytogenetic work-up in newly diagnosed AML patients to look for any correlation between Tregs and the overall response rate (ORR). We studied 39 AML younger patients (<65 years), all treated with standard induction chemotherapy. ORR (complete remission (CR)+CR with incomplete hematologic recovery (CRi)) was documented in 21 out of 39 patients (54%); two partial responder patients were also recorded. Apart from the expected impact of the molecular-cytogenetic group (p=0.03) and the NPM mutation (p=0.05), diagnostic BMA Tregs did not show any correlation with ORR. However, although BMA Tregs did not differ in the study population after treatment, their counts significantly decreased in responder patients (p=0.039), while no difference was documented in nonresponder ones. This suggested that the removal of Treg cells is able to evoke and enhance anti-AML immune response. However, the role of BMA Tregs in mediating immune system-AML interactions in the diagnostic and posttreatment phase should be confirmed in a greater number of patients