Dynamic absorption of carbon dioxide on microporous carbons

Adsorption of carbon dioxide on microporous carbon

Special Section on Electrical Contacts

Welcome to the Special Topics Section dedicated to the 2015 Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts. This Special Section contains six high-quality papers that comprehensively describe the state of the art and potential future directions for topics of great interest to our readers. The Editor-in-Chief (EIC), in consultation with the other EICs, Associate Editors (AEs), and domain experts, selects the topics for the Special Sections, and a Guest Editor or AE (GE/AE) who is a leading expert in the technical area then directs the solicitation and peer review of the papers. In cases where the GE/AE is also an author, the EIC is responsible for the peer review to avoid any real or perceived conflicts of interest

Study and modification of the reactivity of carbon fibers

The reactivity to air of polyactylonitrile-based carbon fiber cloth was enhanced by the addition of metals to the cloth. The cloth was oxidized in 54 wt% nitric acid in order to increase the surface area of the cloth and to add carbonyl groups to the surface. Metal addition was then achieved by soaking the cloth in metal acetate solution to effect exchange between the metal carbon and hydrogen on the carbonyl groups. The addition of potassium, sodium, calcium and barium enhanced fiber cloth reactivity to air at 573 K. Extended studies using potassium addition showed that success in enhancing fiber cloth reactivity to air depends on: extent of cloth oxidation in nitric acid, time of exchange in potassium acetate solution and the thoroughness of removing metal acetate from the fiber pore structure following exchange. Cloth reactivity increases essentially linearly with increase in potassium addition via exchange

Cascade flutter analysis with transient response aerodynamics

Two methods for calculating linear frequency domain aerodynamic coefficients from a time marching Full Potential cascade solver are developed and verified. In the first method, the Influence Coefficient, solutions to elemental problems are superposed to obtain the solutions for a cascade in which all blades are vibrating with a constant interblade phase angle. The elemental problem consists of a single blade in the cascade oscillating while the other blades remain stationary. In the second method, the Pulse Response, the response to the transient motion of a blade is used to calculate influence coefficients. This is done by calculating the Fourier Transforms of the blade motion and the response. Both methods are validated by comparison with the Harmonic Oscillation method and give accurate results. The aerodynamic coefficients obtained from these methods are used for frequency domain flutter calculations involving a typical section blade structural model. An eigenvalue problem is solved for each interblade phase angle mode and the eigenvalues are used to determine aeroelastic stability. Flutter calculations are performed for two examples over a range of subsonic Mach numbers

Combining polynomial chaos expansions and genetic algorithm for the coupling of electrophysiological models

The number of computational models in cardiac research has grown over the last decades. Every year new models with di erent assumptions appear in the literature dealing with di erences in interspecies cardiac properties. Generally, these new models update the physiological knowledge using new equations which reect better the molecular basis of process. New equations require the fi tting of parameters to previously known experimental data or even, in some cases, simulated data. This work studies and proposes a new method of parameter adjustment based on Polynomial Chaos and Genetic Algorithm to nd the best values for the parameters upon changes in the formulation of ionic channels. It minimizes the search space and the computational cost combining it with a Sensitivity Analysis. We use the analysis of di ferent models of L-type calcium channels to see that by reducing the number of parameters, the quality of the Genetic Algorithm dramatically improves. In addition, we test whether the use of the Polynomial Chaos Expansions improves the process of the Genetic Algorithm search. We conclude that it reduces the Genetic Algorithm execution in an order of 103 times in the case studied here, maintaining the quality of the results. We conclude that polynomial chaos expansions can improve and reduce the cost of parameter adjustment in the development of new models.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Robotic bronchoscopy for peripheral pulmonary lesions: A multicenter pilot and feasibility study (BENEFIT)

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPL) continues to present clinical challenges. Despite extensive experience with guided bronchoscopy, the diagnostic yield has not improved significantly. Robotic-assisted bronchoscopic platforms have been developed potentially to improve the diagnostic yield for PPL. Presently, limited data exist that evaluate the performance of robotic systems in live human subjects. RESEARCH QUESTION: What is the safety and feasibility of robotic-assisted bronchoscopy in patients with PPLs? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a prospective, multicenter pilot and feasibility study that used a robotic bronchoscopic system with a mother-daughter configuration in patients with PPL 1 to 5 cm in size. The primary end points were successful lesion localization with the use of radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (R-EBUS) imaging and incidence of procedure related adverse events. Robotic bronchoscopy was performed in patients with the use of direct visualization, electromagnetic navigation, and fluoroscopy. After the use of R-EBUS imaging, transbronchial needle aspiration was performed. Rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) was used on all cases. Transbronchial needle aspiration alone was sufficient when ROSE was diagnostic; when ROSE was not diagnostic, transbronchial biopsy was performed with the use of the robotic platform, followed by conventional guided bronchoscopic approaches at the discretion of the investigator. RESULTS: Fifty-five patients were enrolled at five centers. One patient withdrew consent, which left 54 patients for data analysis. Median lesion size was 23 mm (interquartile range, 15 to 29 mm). R-EBUS images were available in 53 of 54 cases. Lesion localization was successful in 51 of 53 patients (96.2%). Pneumothorax was reported in two of 54 of the cases (3.7%); tube thoracostomy was required in one of the cases (1.9 %). No additional adverse events occurred. INTERPRETATION: This is the first, prospective, multicenter study of robotic bronchoscopy in patients with PPLs. Successful lesion localization was achieved in 96.2% of cases, with an adverse event rate comparable with conventional bronchoscopic procedures. Additional large prospective studies are warranted to evaluate procedure characteristics, such as diagnostic yield. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT03727425; URL: www.clinicaltrials.gov

Surfactant protein D inhibits HIV-1 infection of target cells via interference with gp120-CD4 interaction and modulates pro-inflammatory cytokine production

© 2014 Pandit et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Surfactant Protein SP-D, a member of the collectin family, is a pattern recognition protein, secreted by mucosal epithelial cells and has an important role in innate immunity against various pathogens. In this study, we confirm that native human SP-D and a recombinant fragment of human SP-D (rhSP-D) bind to gp120 of HIV-1 and significantly inhibit viral replication in vitro in a calcium and dose-dependent manner. We show, for the first time, that SP-D and rhSP-D act as potent inhibitors of HIV-1 entry in to target cells and block the interaction between CD4 and gp120 in a dose-dependent manner. The rhSP-D-mediated inhibition of viral replication was examined using three clinical isolates of HIV-1 and three target cells: Jurkat T cells, U937 monocytic cells and PBMCs. HIV-1 induced cytokine storm in the three target cells was significantly suppressed by rhSP-D. Phosphorylation of key kinases p38, Erk1/2 and AKT, which contribute to HIV-1 induced immune activation, was significantly reduced in vitro in the presence of rhSP-D. Notably, anti-HIV-1 activity of rhSP-D was retained in the presence of biological fluids such as cervico-vaginal lavage and seminal plasma. Our study illustrates the multi-faceted role of human SPD against HIV-1 and potential of rhSP-D for immunotherapy to inhibit viral entry and immune activation in acute HIV infection. © 2014 Pandit et al.The work (Project no. 2011-16850) was supported by Medical Innovation Fund of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India (www.icmr.nic.in/)