Aspergillus fumigatus preexposure worsens pathology and improves control of Mycobacterium abscessus pulmonary infection in mice

ABSTRACT Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. Mutations in this chloride channel lead to mucus accumulation, subsequent recurrent pulmonary infections, and inflammation, which, in turn, cause chronic lung disease and respiratory failure. Recently, rates of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections in CF patients have been increasing. Of particular relevance is infection with Mycobacterium abscessus , which causes a serious, life-threatening disease and constitutes one of the most antibiotic-resistant NTM species. Interestingly, an increased prevalence of NTM infections is associated with worsening lung function in CF patients who are also coinfected with Aspergillus fumigatus . We established a new mouse model to investigate the relationship between A. fumigatus and M. abscessus pulmonary infections. In this model, animals exposed to A. fumigatus and coinfected with M. abscessus exhibited increased lung inflammation and decreased mycobacterial burden compared with those of mice infected with M. abscessus alone. This increased control of M. abscessus infection in coinfected mice was mucus independent but dependent on both transcription factors T-box 21 (Tbx21) and retinoic acid receptor (RAR)-related orphan receptor gamma t (RORγ-t), master regulators of type 1 and type 17 immune responses, respectively. These results implicate a role for both type 1 and type 17 responses in M. abscessus control in A. fumigatus -coinfected lungs. Our results demonstrate that A. fumigatus , an organism found commonly in CF patients with NTM infection, can worsen pulmonary inflammation and impact M. abscessus control in a mouse model. </jats:p

CPW-Fed Microstrip Patch Antenna for Millimeter Wave Applications

The antenna elements have been consuming more power and inoperative area with high operational frequency. Therefore, an advanced antenna element design is necessary to cross over the above faults. In this research work, the CPW-Fed microstrip patch antenna is designed using EHF range for millimeter-wave applications. CPW-fed and combinations of DGS-CPW-fed microstrip patch antennas are novel methods, these designs are enhancing many characteristics of microwave circuits, such as narrow bandwidth, cross-polarization, low gain, etc. The researchers are facing many issues in this research area, therefore Fed-CPW design has been taken as a challenging issue. Investigators are working on wideband antennas, as well as patch antennas that can be used for both single- and dual-band applications. In addition to multiband applications, DGS, CPW-Fed Slot antennas are loaded with filters, these enhancements are providing waveguides and amplification tuning. The proposed research deals with a CPW-Fed Microstrip Patch satellite antenna, which is specially modeled to operate at various high-frequency values as well as Extremely High Frequency (EHF) range. A T-Shaped Microstrip patch antenna, which is dimensioned at 11.4x2.5x1.6 mm3 has been placed on Rogers R04003 substrate. The proposed antenna has CPW-Fed with ground dimensions which are considered as 5.9mm*8mm &amp; feed dimensions as 3.8mm*9mm. Due to CPW-feed, the proposed antenna has achieved huge bandwidth i.e 13GHz. Hence the proposed antenna design is compact and suitable at higher frequencies. Simulation results approve that it is a good antenna model. The performance measures like return loss, gain, and VSWR has been improved compared to earlier models. Moreover, this CPW-fed microstrip patch antenna approach is most useful for 5G applications and simulation results are outperforms with designed frameworks. The proposed antenna resonates from 24GHz to 37.6GHz, with good impedance matching at |S11|&lt;=-10dB. The obtained VSWR is in the range of 1 and 2. The gain at resonant frequencies is ranged from 4 to 6 dB. The proposed antenna is useful to deploy in 5G applications as it is resonating in millimeter-wave frequencies. The following model is very useful for 5G applications and provides resonant frequencies 4 to 6 dB. The impedance matching is also improved by 15% compared to earlier models. The following experiment is designed on the HFSS software tool and CPW-Fed functionality is verified

CPW-Fed Microstrip Patch Antenna for Millimeter Wave Applications

The antenna elements have been consuming more power and inoperative area with high operational frequency. Therefore, an advanced antenna element design is necessary to cross over the above faults. In this research work, the CPW-Fed microstrip patch antenna is designed using EHF range for millimeter-wave applications. CPW-fed and combinations of DGS-CPW-fed microstrip patch antennas are novel methods, these designs are enhancing many characteristics of microwave circuits, such as narrow bandwidth, cross-polarization, low gain, etc. The researchers are facing many issues in this research area, therefore Fed-CPW design has been taken as a challenging issue. Investigators are working on wideband antennas, as well as patch antennas that can be used for both single- and dual-band applications. In addition to multiband applications, DGS, CPW-Fed Slot antennas are loaded with filters, these enhancements are providing waveguides and amplification tuning. The proposed research deals with a CPW-Fed Microstrip Patch satellite antenna, which is specially modeled to operate at various high-frequency values as well as Extremely High Frequency (EHF) range. A T-Shaped Microstrip patch antenna, which is dimensioned at 11.4x2.5x1.6 mm3 has been placed on Rogers R04003 substrate. The proposed antenna has CPW-Fed with ground dimensions which are considered as 5.9mm*8mm &amp; feed dimensions as 3.8mm*9mm. Due to CPW-feed, the proposed antenna has achieved huge bandwidth i.e 13GHz. Hence the proposed antenna design is compact and suitable at higher frequencies. Simulation results approve that it is a good antenna model. The performance measures like return loss, gain, and VSWR has been improved compared to earlier models. Moreover, this CPW-fed microstrip patch antenna approach is most useful for 5G applications and simulation results are outperforms with designed frameworks. The proposed antenna resonates from 24GHz to 37.6GHz, with good impedance matching at |S11|&lt;=-10dB. The obtained VSWR is in the range of 1 and 2. The gain at resonant frequencies is ranged from 4 to 6 dB. The proposed antenna is useful to deploy in 5G applications as it is resonating in millimeter-wave frequencies. The following model is very useful for 5G applications and provides resonant frequencies 4 to 6 dB. The impedance matching is also improved by 15% compared to earlier models. The following experiment is designed on the HFSS software tool and CPW-Fed functionality is verified

Modeling of dual-metal Schottky contacts based silicon micro and nano wire solar cells

We study solar cell properties of single silicon wires connected at their ends to two dissimilar metals of different work functions. Effects of wire dimensions, the work functions of the metals, and minority carrier lifetimes on short circuit current as well as open circuit voltage are studied. The most efficient photovoltaic behavior is found to occur when one metal makes a Schottky contact with the wire, and the other makes an Ohmic contact. As wire length increases, both short circuit current and open circuit voltage increase before saturation occurs. Depending on the work function difference between the metals and the wire dimensions, the saturation length increases by approximately an order of magnitude with a two order magnitude increase in minority carrier length. However current per surface area exposed to light is found to decrease rapidly with increase in length. The use of a multi-contact interdigitated design for long wires is investigated to increase the photovoltaic response of the devices.Comment: 26 pages, journal pape

Stimulation of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway with Wnt agonist reduces organ injury after hemorrhagic shock

BACKGROUND: Hemorrhagic shock is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in surgery and trauma patients. Despite a large number of preclinical trials conducted to develop therapeutic strategies against hemorrhagic shock, there is still an unmet need for effective therapy for hemorrhage patients. Wnt/beta-catenin signaling controls developmental processes and cellular regeneration owing to its central role in cell survival and proliferation. We therefore hypothesized that the activation of Wnt signaling reduces systemic injury caused by hemorrhagic shock. METHODS: Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent hemorrhagic shock by controlled bleeding of the femoral artery to maintain a mean arterial pressure of 30 mm Hg for 90 minutes, followed by resuscitation with crystalloid equal to two times the shed blood volume. After resuscitation, animals were infused with Wnt agonist (5 mg/kg) or vehicle (20% dimethyl sulfoxide in saline). Blood and tissue samples were collected 6 hours after resuscitation for analysis. RESULTS: Hemorrhagic shock increased serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, lactate, and lactate dehydrogenase. Treatment with Wnt agonist significantly reduced these levels by 40%, 36%, and 77%, respectively. Wnt agonist also decreased blood urea nitrogen and creatinine by 34% and 56%, respectively. The treatment reduced lung myeloperoxidase activity and interleukin 6 messenger RNA by 55% and 68%, respectively, and significantly improved lung histology. Wnt agonist treatment increased Bcl-2 protein to sham values and decreased cleaved caspase 3 by 46%, indicating attenuation of hemorrhage-induced apoptosis in the lungs. Hemorrhage resulted in significant reductions of A-catenin protein levels in the lungs as well as down-regulation of a Wnt target gene, cyclin D1, while Wnt agonist treatment preserved these levels. CONCLUSION: The administration of Wnt agonist attenuated hemorrhage-induced organ injury, inflammation, and apoptosis. This was correlated with the preservation of the Wnt signaling pathway. Thus, Wnt/beta-catenin activation could be protective in hemorrhagic shock. Copyright (C) 2015 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved

Twisted large cellular fibroma of the ovary with pelvic effusion-revisiting incomplete demons Meigs’ syndrome

Fibromas of the ovary are benign tumours arising from the stromal component of the ovary. They represent 1% of ovarian neoplasms and are generally benign. The cellular subtype accounts for around 10% of these and is a tumour of uncertain malignant potential. Recurrence may occur or it could be associated with peritoneal implants. Usually these are solid tumours, sometimes with small areas of cystic degeneration. Occasionally, large fibromas may undergo torsion causing acute abdominal pain and generally tends to occur in post-menopausal women. The solid areas, ORADS and ascites simulated a malignant ovarian tumour on both MRI, USG and gross pathologic examination. Here we present a case of a postmenopausal woman presented with abdominal pain and postprandial vomiting with a large twisted ovarian fibroma leading to diagnostic and therapeutic challenges masquerading as a malignant ovarian neoplasm

Effect of Newtonian and non-Newtonian flow in subject specific carotid artery

Advances in the numerical simulation techniques has immensely helped in the demonstrating the importance of blood flow through elastic arteries and evaluating the disease progression and flow dynamics of cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. The present work deals with a case study of a patient diagnosed with partial narrowing of entire cervical segment of Internal Carotid Artery (ICA), while Common Carotid Artery (CCA) and External Carotid Artery (ECA) appears to be normal. Subject specific 3D carotid bifurcation CAD model is generated based on CT-angio scan data using MIMICS-14.0 and numerical analysis is performed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in ANSYS-CFX-14.0. Pulsatile blood flow through the subject-specific artery is investigated to study the influence of rheology on the haemodynamics in the blood flow. The simulation results obtained through Carreau-Yasuda and Newtonian models are investigated. Flow behaviour observed during peak systole exhibits significant difference in the spatial parameters between both the Newtonian and nonNewtonians models. The comparison of local shear stress magnitude in CCA, ICA and ECA demonstrates that WSS is highly influenced by the shear thinning property of blood. This variation is also observed artery branches with reduced lumen diameter, lumen narrowing due to stenosis and in the bifurcation zone

Effect of postural changes on normal and stenosed common carotid artery using FSI

Gravity associated with postural changes has a strong bearing on haemodynamics of blood flow in arteries. Its effect on stenosed cases has not been widely investigated. In the present study, variation observed in blood flow during postural changes is investigated for different conditions like standing, sleeping and head-down position. A fluid structure interaction study is carried out for idealized normal and 75 % eccentric and concentric stenosed common carotid normal artery. The results clearly indicate the effects of altered gravity on flow conditions. It was found to be very significant during head-down position and demonstrated very high arterial blood pressure in stenosed common carotid when compared with normal carotid