From basic mechanisms to clinical applications in heart protection, new players in cardiovascular diseases and cardiac theranostics: meeting report from the third international symposium on “New frontiers in cardiovascular research”

© 2016, The Author(s).In this meeting report, particularly addressing the topic of protection of the cardiovascular system from ischemia/reperfusion injury, highlights are presented that relate to conditioning strategies of the heart with respect to molecular mechanisms and outcome in patients’ cohorts, the influence of co-morbidities and medications, as well as the contribution of innate immune reactions in cardioprotection. Moreover, developmental or systems biology approaches bear great potential in systematically uncovering unexpected components involved in ischemia–reperfusion injury or heart regeneration. Based on the characterization of particular platelet integrins, mitochondrial redox-linked proteins, or lipid-diol compounds in cardiovascular diseases, their targeting by newly developed theranostics and technologies opens new avenues for diagnosis and therapy of myocardial infarction to improve the patients’ outcome

Potential for non-combustible nicotine products to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in smoking: a systematic review and synthesis of best available evidence

While some experts have emphasised the potential for e-cigarettes to facilitate cessation among smokers with low socioeconomic status (SES), there is limited evidence of their likely equity impact. We assessed the potential for electronic cigarettes and other non-combustible nicotine-containing products (NCNPs) to reduce inequalities in smoking by systematically reviewing evidence on their use by SES in countries at stage IV of the cigarette epidemic

Flow model for predicting normal shock wave induced vortex breakdown

An analytical study of normal shock wave induced vortex breakdown has been undertaken. In this inviscid axisymmetric analysis, the response of supersonic streamwise vortices to imposed normal shocks has been determined by modeling the rotational core of the vortex as a slender, swirling layer. For vortex/shock combinations of increasing strength, the analysis predicts an ever increasing axial velocity deficit in the vortex core. Vortex breakdown is presumed to occur if a vortex/shock combination Leads to how stagnation at the vortex axis. The results of this study indicate that an inverse relationship exists between vortex swirl and freestream Mach number at breakdown. The breakdown limit curve generated using this analysis shows good correlation with established experimental results, indicating that the onset of normal shock wave induced vortex breakdown can be predicted with a relatively simple flow model and without recourse to numerical simulation. Interpretation of same normal shock wave/vortex interaction experiments in light of the predictions suggests that the phenomenon previously known as supersonic vortex distortion is a form of vortex breakdown