High-speed turbulent gas jets: an LES investigation of Mach and Reynolds number effects on the velocity decay and spreading rate

AbstractThe aim of this work is the investigation of Mach and Reynolds numbers effects on the behaviour of turbulent gas jets in order to gain new insights into the fluid dynamic process of turbulent jet mixing and spreading. An in-house solver (Flow-Large Eddy and Direct Simulation, FLEDS) of the Favre-filtered Navier Stokes equations has been used. Compressibility has been analyzed by considering gas jets with Mach number equal to 0.8, 1.4, 2.0 and 2.6, and Re equal to 10,000. As concerns the influence of Re on gas jets, four cases have been investigated, i.e. $$\mathrm{Re} = 2500$$ Re = 2500 , 5000, 10,000 and 20,000, with Mach number equal to 1.4. The results show that, in accordance with previous experimental and numerical studies, the potential core length increases with Mach number. As regards the velocity decay and the spreading rate downstream of the potential core, compressibility effects are not relevant except for the jet with Mach number of 2.6. The normalized turbulent kinetic energy along the centerline as a function of the normalized streamwise distance shows a similar peak at the end of the potential core for all jets, except for the case with Mach number of 2.6. By increasing Re, the length of the potential core decreases up to the same value for all Re higher than 10,000. In the region downstream of the potential core, the velocity decay decreases as Re number increases from 10,000 to 20,000, whereas, for lower values of Re, the influence is almost negligible

Disaster waste management after flood events

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Management of functional pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms

: Functional pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (pNENs) are rare and heterogeneous diseases in terms of both clinical and pathological aspects. These tumors secrete hormones or peptides, which may cause a wide variety of symptoms related to a clinical syndrome. The management of functional pNENs is still challenging for clinicians due to the need to control both tumor growth and specific symptoms. Surgery remains the cornerstone in the management of local disease because it can definitively cure the patient. However, when the disease is not resectable, a broad spectrum of therapeutic options, including locoregional therapy, somatostatin analogs (SSAs), targeted therapies, peptide-receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT), and chemotherapy, are available. The present review summarizes the main key issues regarding the clinical management of these tumors, providing a specific highlight on their therapeutic approach

Galectin-3. One molecule for an alphabet of diseases, from A to Z

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) regulates basic cellular functions such as cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions, growth, proliferation, differentiation, and inflammation. It is not surprising, therefore, that this protein is involved in the pathogenesis of many relevant human diseases, including cancer, fibrosis, chronic inflammation and scarring affecting many different tissues. The papers published in the literature have progressively increased in number during the last decades, testifying the great interest given to this protein by numerous researchers involved in many different clinical contexts. Considering the crucial role exerted by Gal-3 in many different clinical conditions, Gal-3 is emerging as a new diagnostic, prognostic biomarker and as a new promising therapeutic target. The current review aims to extensively examine the studies published so far on the role of Gal-3 in all the clinical conditions and diseases, listed in alphabetical order, where it was analyzed

Recruitment of Oysters by Different Collection Devices at a Longline shellfish Farm in the Central Adriatic Sea

In 2020–2021, a trial to recruit flat oysters was implemented at a longline farm in the central Adriatic, whereby the efficiency recruitment (n. oyster/dm2) of different suspended substrates was evaluated. Two lantern nets (50 cm diameter; 145 cm h) had different substrates composed of 8 mm wide wrinkled ribbon and empty oyster shells positioned in the upper levels of the lanterns. The tumbling evaluation and the presence of mud were also considered. The efficiency recruitment was similar between the wrinkled ribbon and the oyster shell. Recruitment was in the same proportion on the external rough part of the shells as on the internal smooth part of the shells. No significant differences were shown when comparing the different substrates in terms of recruitment efficiency

Utility of histopathological revision in the management of gastro-entero-pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasia

Background: Histological evaluation and grading assessment are key points in the diagnostic work-up of gastroentero-pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs). Aim: To analyze the impact of histopathological revision on the clinical management of patients with GEP-NEN. Materials and methods: Patients referred to our Center of Excellence between 2015 and 2021 were included in this study. Immunohistochemical slides at the time of initial diagnosis were reviewed to assess tumor morphology, diagnostic immunohistochemistry, and Ki67. Results: 101 patients were evaluated, with 65 (64.4%) gastrointestinal, 25 (24.7%) pancreatic, and 11 (10.9%) occult neoplastic lesions suspected to be of GEP origin. The main changes resulting from the revision were: first Ki-67 assessment in 15.8% of patients, Ki-67 change in 59.2% of patients and grading modification in 23.5% of patients. An additional immunohistochemical evaluation was performed in 78 (77.2%) patients, leading to a confirmation of GEP origin in 10 of 11 (90.9%) of unknown primary site neoplastic lesions and an exclusion of NEN diagnosis in 2 (2%) patients. After histopathological revision, a significant modification in clinical management was proposed in 42 (41.6%) patients. Conclusions: Histopathological revision in a referral NEN center is strongly advised in newly diagnosed GEP-NENs to properly plan prognostic stratification and therapeutic choice

Nano-adjuvanted dry powder vaccine for the mucosal immunization against airways pathogens

Nasal vaccination has been shown to provide optimal protection against respiratory pathogens. However, mucosal vaccination requires the implementation of specific immunization strategies to improve its effectiveness. Nanotechnology appears a key approach to improve the effectiveness of mucosal vaccines, since several nanomaterials provide mucoadhesion, enhance mucosal permeability, control antigen release and possess adjuvant properties. Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is the main causative agent of enzootic pneumonia in pigs, a respiratory disease responsible for considerable economic losses in the pig farming worldwide. The present work developed, characterized, and tested in vivo an innovative dry powder nasal vaccine, obtained from the deposition on a solid carrier of an inactivated antigen and a chitosan-coated nanoemulsion, as an adjuvant. The nanoemulsion was obtained through a low-energy emulsification technique, a method that allowed to achieve nano droplets in the order of 200 nm. The oil phase selected was alpha-tocopherol, sunflower oil, and poly(ethylene glycol) hydroxystearate used as non-ionic tensioactive. The aqueous phase contained chitosan, which provides a positive charge to the emulsion, conferring mucoadhesive properties and favoring interactions with inactivated M. hyopneumoniae. Finally, the nanoemulsion was layered with a mild and scalable process onto a suitable solid carrier (i.e., lactose, mannitol, or calcium carbonate) to be transformed into a solid dosage form for administration as dry powder. In the experimental study, the nasal vaccine formulation with calcium carbonate was administered to piglets and compared to intramuscular administration of a commercial vaccine and of the dry powder without antigen, aimed at evaluating the ability of IN vaccination to elicit an in vivo local immune response and a systemic immune response. Intranasal vaccination was characterized by a significantly higher immune response in the nasal mucosa at 7 days post-vaccination, elicited comparable levels of Mycoplasma-specific IFN-gamma secreting cells and comparable, if not higher, responsiveness of B cells expressing IgA and IgG in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, with those detected upon a conventional intramuscular immunization. In conclusion, this study illustrates a simple and effective strategy for the development of a dry powder vaccine formulation for nasal administration which could be used as alternative to current parenteral commercial vaccines

Disposition of Phytocannabinoids, Their Acidic Precursors and Their Metabolites in Biological Matrices of Healthy Individuals Treated with Vaporized Medical Cannabis

Inhalation by vaporization is a useful application mode for medical cannabis. In this study, we present the disposition of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), their acidic precursors, and their metabolites in serum, oral fluid, and urine together with the acute pharmacological effects in 14 healthy individuals treated with vaporized medical cannabis. THC and CBD peaked firstly in serum and then in oral fluid, with higher concentrations in the first biological matrices and consequent higher area under the curve AUCs. Acidic precursors Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A (THCA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) showed a similar time course profile but lower concentrations due to the fact that vaporization partly decarboxylated these compounds. All THC and CBD metabolites showed a later onset with respect to the parent compounds in the absorption phase and a slower decrease to baseline. In agreement with serum kinetics, THC-COOH-GLUC and 7-COOH-CBD were the significantly most excreted THC and CBD metabolites. The administration of vaporized medical cannabis induced prototypical effects associated with the administration of cannabis or THC in humans, with a kinetic trend overlapping that of parent compounds and metabolites in serum. The pharmacokinetics of cannabinoids, their precursors, and their metabolites in biological fluids of individuals treated with vaporized medical cannabis preparations showed a high interindividual variability as in the case of oral medical cannabis decoction and oil. Inhaled medical cannabis was absorbed into the organism earlier than decoction and oil. Cannabinoids reached higher systemic concentrations, also due to the fact that the acid precursors decarboxylated to parent cannabinoids at high temperatures, and consequently, the physiological and subjective effects occurred earlier and resulted with higher intensity. No serious adverse effects were observed

The AMMA mulid network for aerosol characterization in West Africa

Three ground based portable low power consumption microlidars (MULID) have been built and deployed at three remote sites in Banizoumbou (Niger), Cinzana (Mali) and M'Bour (Senegal) in the framework of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) project for the characterization of aerosols optical properties. A description of the instrument and a discussion of the data inversion method, including a careful analysis of measurement uncertainties (systematic and statistical errors) are presented. Some case studies of typical lidar profiles observed over the Banizoumbou site during 2006 are shown and discussed with respect to the AERONET 7-day back-trajectories and the biomass burning emissions from the Combustion Emission database for the AMMA campaign