Regime transitions in stratified shear flows: the link between horizontal and inclined ducts

We present an analytical model that provides the transition curves between different regimes of stratified shear flows in inclined ducts for high Schmidt number values. These curves are described by constant values of a generalized Reynolds number multiplied by the aspect ratio of the duct, showing good agreement with previous experimental results. The generalized Reynolds number is obtained by extending to inclined ducts the solution of a one-dimensional model of a stratified shear flow in a horizontal duct within a regime where advection is neglected in the momentum equation but included in the density transport equation

The Exeter femoral stem continues to migrate during its first decade after implantation: 10–12 years of follow-up with radiostereometric analysis (RSA)

Optimising joint reconstruction management in arthritis and bone tumour patient

General Introduction

Sociale Cohesie, multiculturalisme en globalisering FD

Herbal medicine IMOD suppresses LPS-induced production of proinflammatory cytokines in human dendritic cells

Traditional medicines that stimulate or modulate the immune system can be used as innovative approaches to treat immunological diseases. The herbal medicine IMOD has been shown to strongly modulate immune responses in several animal studies as well as in clinical trials. However, little is known about the mechanisms of IMOD to modulate immunity. Here we have investigated whether IMOD modulates the immunological function of human dendritic cells (DCs). IMOD alone did not induce DC maturation nor production of cytokines. Notably, IMOD decreased the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-12 p70 and TNFα by LPS-activated DCs at both mRNA and protein levels in a dose dependent manner. In contrast, treatment with IMOD did not affect LPS induced-production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Furthermore, IMOD inhibited T cell activation/proliferation by LPS-treated DCs and skewed T-cells responses towards the T helper type 2 polarization. These data strongly indicate that IMOD has a potent immunomodulatory ability that affects TLR signaling and thereby modulates DC function. Insight into the immunomodulatory effect of herbal medicine IMOD may provide innovative strategies to affect the immune system and to help combat various disease

La metrologia negli edifici pubblici e privati della Sicilia romana: persistenze e innovazioni nei centri di Agrigentum, Lilybaeum e Tyndaris

La presente tesi studia la metrologia relativa ad alcuni edifici chiave, sia pubblici, sia privati, dei centri romani di Agrigentum, Lilybaeum e Tyndaris, cercando di cogliere persistenze o sviluppi nell'uso dei sistemi metrici adoperati. Unendo a questo tipo di ricerca un'analisi storica, politica e architettonica dei tre centri, si cerca di cogliere chi fossero i committenti e quali le maestranze per cui fu utilizzato un dato sistema di misurazione

Actual persuasiveness : Impact of personality, age and gender on message type susceptibility

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank all the volunteers who participated in the experiment and provided helpful comments. The first author is funded by an EPSRC doctoral training grant.Postprin

Reduced activation and increased inactivation of thyroid hormone in tissues of critically ill patients

Critical illness is often associated with reduced TSH and thyroid hormone secretion as well as marked changes in peripheral thyroid hormone metabolism, resulting in low serum T(3) and high rT(3) levels. To study the mechanism(s) of the latter changes, we determined serum thyroid hormone levels and the expression of the type 1, 2, and 3 iodothyronine deiodinases (D1, D2, and D3) in liver and skeletal muscle from deceased intensive care patients. To study mechanisms underlying these changes, 65 blood samples, 65 liver, and 66 skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained within minutes after death from 80 intensive care unit patients randomized for intensive or conventional insulin treatment. Serum thyroid parameters and the expression of tissue D1-D3 were determined. Serum TSH, T(4), T(3), and the T(3)/rT(3) ratio were lower, whereas serum rT(3) was higher than in normal subjects (P < 0.0001). Liver D1 activity was down-regulated and D3 activity was induced in liver and skeletal muscle. Serum T(3)/rT(3) ratio correlated positively with liver D1 activity (P < 0.001) and negatively with liver D3 activity (ns). These parameters were independent of the type of insulin treatment. Liver D1 and serum T(3)/rT(3) were highest in patients who died from severe brain damage, intermediate in those who died from sepsis or excessive inflammation

Narrative medicine: A comparison of terminal cancer patients' stories from a Dutch hospice with those of Anatole Broyard and Christopher Hitchens

Not all physicians readily discuss death with their terminal patients. To explore whether physicians discuss dying with their terminal patients and to pursue an in-depth understanding of patients' perceptions of death, we interviewed terminal cancer patients in a Dutch hospice and compared their stories to quotes from two autobiographies on dying from cancer, Christopher Hitchens' Mortality and Anatole Broyard's Intoxicated by my illness. This narrative medicine study could potentially teach physicians they should discuss impending death to prevent the use of an invasive medical treatment that typically extends the quantity, but not the quality, of life

Characterization of human iodothyronine sulfotransferases

Sulfation is an important pathway of thyroid hormone metabolism that facilitates the degradation of the hormone by the type I iodothyronine deiodinase, but little is known about which human sulfotransferase isoenzymes are involved. We have investigated the sulfation of the prohormone T4, the active hormone T3, and the metabolites rT3 and 3,3'-diiodothyronine (3,3'-T2) by human liver and kidney cytosol as well as by recombinant human SULT1A1 and SULT1A3, previously known as phenol-preferring and monoamine-preferring phenol sulfotransferase, respectively. In all cases, the substrate preference was 3,3'-T2 >> rT3 > T3 > T4. The apparent Km values of 3,3'-T2 and T3 [at 50 micromol/L 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosphosulfate (PAPS)] were 1.02 and 54.9 micromol/L for liver cytosol, 0.64 and 27.8 micromol/L for kidney cytosol, 0.14 and 29.1 micromol/L for SULT1A1, and 33 and 112 micromol/L for SULT1A3, respectively. The apparent Km of PAPS (at 0.1 micromol/L 3,3'-T2) was 6.0 micromol/L for liver cytosol, 9.0 micromol/L for kidney cytosol, 0.65 micromol/L for SULT1A1, and 2.7 micromol/L for SULT1A3. The sulfation of 3,3'-T2 was inhibited by the other iodothyronines in a concentration-dependent manner. The inhibition profiles of the 3,3'-T2 sulfotransferase activities of liver and kidney cytosol obtained by addition of 10 micromol/L of the various analogs were better correlated with the inhibition profile of SULT1A1 than with that of SULT1A3. These results indicate similar substrate specificities for iodothyronine sulfation by native human liver and kidney sulfotransferases and recombinant SULT1A1 and SULT1A3. Of the latter, SULT1A1 clearly shows the highest affinity for both iodothyronines and PAPS, but it remains to be established whether it is the prominent isoenzyme for sulfation of thyroid hormone in human liver and kidney