Ultrasound for Non-invasive Fluid Droplet Detection inside a Sealed Container

Ultrasound has long been known to be capable of measuring water level. Zero-degree ultrasound transducers may be used to send an L-wave through the fluid and receive a reflected signal from the fluid/gas interface surface. The level of the fluid is proportional to the sound wave time of flight to traverse the water path. This approach may even be used from outside the fluid containment wall by sending the wave through the tank or pipe bottom. The approach, however, does not work well if there is only a thin layer of fluid consisting of one or two millimeters or even only a few droplets. Surface waves are also known to be sensitive to the presence or absence of fluid on a surface. A surface wave may be transmitted a significant distance by a transmitting transducer and then received by a similar transducer. If the surface along the wave path is wet with even a few droplets of fluid, the surface wave may be significantly attenuated. Generating and measuring such a surface wave from the opposite side of a tank or pipe containment wall and separating the near-wall surface wave from the far-wall surface wave, however, is more challenging. An approach for producing a surface wave on the opposite side of a steel plate to sense the presence or absence of fluid is discussed. This approach is supported by 2-D finite element modeling of the measurement configuration and by empirical demonstration of the technique’s sensitivity. This technique was developed for measurement of a very small amount of fluid that may condense within a spent nuclear fuel canister after it cools for several years. Such small amounts of fluid are of concern for initiating stress corrosion cracking over the decades that these nuclear waste containment structures are expected to remain leak-free. Early detection of fluid would provide advance warning of potential cracks in time for mitigation or management of the waste inside that container. Other potential applications include any non-intrusive liquid container fluid detection, detection of fluid within inaccessible plena of aircrafts or other complex welded skin structures

Cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil and interferon alpha 2b for recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer.

On the basis of preclinical data suggesting the possibility of maximising the efficacy of 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin by interferon, a pilot clinical trial was initiated in recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer. Thirty-four patients were treated with cisplatin at 100 mg m-2, followed by 5-fluorouracil at 1,000 mg m-2 by continuous infusion for 5 days. Interferon alpha 2b was administered at the dose of 3 million U i.m. daily for 7 days, beginning the day before chemotherapy. Courses were repeated every 3 weeks. Two patients achieved a complete remission, six a partial response, 14 had stable disease and 12 progressed on therapy, for an overall response rate of 23% (95% confidence interval 10-36%). Median survival time was 5 months. Toxicity was severe. Stomatitis, diarrhoea and myelosuppression were the most common side-effects. Because of the poor response rate and the presence of severe toxicity, in our opinion further clinical trials in head and neck cancer should be attempted only after a better definition in preclinical studies of interactions among 5-fluorouracil, cisplatin and interferon

Mandatory IFRS Reporting Around the World: Early Evidence on the Economic Consequences

This paper examines the economic consequences of mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reporting around the world. We analyze the effects on market liquidity, cost of capital, and Tobin\u27s q in 26 countries using a large sample of firms that are mandated to adopt IFRS. We find that, on average, market liquidity increases around the time of the introduction of IFRS. We also document a decrease in firms\u27 cost of capital and an increase in equity valuations, but only if we account for the possibility that the effects occur prior to the official adoption date. Partitioning our sample, we find that the capital-market benefits occur only in countries where firms have incentives to be transparent and where legal enforcement is strong, underscoring the central importance of firms\u27 reporting incentives and countries\u27 enforcement regimes for the quality of financial reporting. Comparing mandatory and voluntary adopters, we find that the capital market effects are most pronounced for firms that voluntarily switch to IFRS, both in the year when they switch and again later, when IFRS become mandatory. While the former result is likely due to self-selection, the latter result cautions us to attribute the capital-market effects for mandatory adopters solely or even primarily to the IFRS mandate. Many adopting countries make concurrent efforts to improve enforcement and governance regimes, which likely play into our findings. Consistent with this interpretation, the estimated liquidity improvements are smaller in magnitude when we analyze them on a monthly basis, which is more likely to isolate IFRS reporting effects

Partial-Body Cryotherapy Acutely Augments Resting Metabolism in Obese Women

Cryotherapy has been shown to reduce pro-inflammatory response, relieve pain and enhance muscles\u2019 post-exercise recovery. Cryostimulation could be also proposed as an alternative strategy to trigger cold-induced thermogenesis in overweight/obese subjects. In this study, 16 obese (BMI: 32\ub14 kg/m2) women (43.4\ub14.8 years) underwent Partial-Body Cryotherapy (PBC) (-130\ub0C x 150sec) for 5 days (1/day, h 07:00 AM). Resting energy metabolism (REE) was assessed by indirect calorimetry pre- and post-PBC on day 1 and day 5. Subjects were energy-controlled (physical activity and dietary intake). Before 5th-day PBC, REE was increased by 5.5% versus pre-1st-day PBC values (1755\ub1265 vs. 1664\ub1241 kcal/day; p=0.0005). With a similar design, in a larger sample of 80 subjects (F=61; M=19; 34.4\ub111.1 years; BMI: 24.4\ub14.8 kg/m2), REE augmented by 1.89% (p=0.02) after PBC of day 1. In a multivariate analysis, multiple regression output a positive relationship between cryostimulated REE and body weight (Spearman r=0.68; p<0.0001, Figure). Altogether, these preliminary data suggest that cold-induced thermogenesis could be explored as an alternative therapy to combat weight gain and obesity. Longitudinal studies could test chronic effects of cryotherapy, estimating the extent of the metabolic adaptations that could be favorably preserved

Lipodystrophy HIV-related and FGF21: A new marker to follow the progression of lipodystrophy?

Recently new evidence about fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) highlights the opportunities to use this molecule in new pharmaceutical formulations to combat type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. It is well known that HIV is per se a condition of insulin resistance and in particular the patient with HIV-related lipodystrophy has a condition strictly related to metabolic syndrome. Lipodystrophy is associated with severe metabolic side effects, including dyslipidemia, hepatic insulin resistance, and lipid oxidation impairment. Research carried out showed that FGF21 levels were significantly increased in untreated HIV-1-infected patients and the increase was much marked in HIV-1-infected antiretroviral-treated patients that have developed lipodystrophy and in the patients with greatest metabolic alterations. FGF21 is expressed mainly by the liver, but also by other tissues such as the thymus, adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle. Therefore, many researchers have considered the investigation of possible variations of FGF21 in patients with significant alterations in body composition both in regard to fat mass and lean mass. In the light of the possible interactions between FGF21 and metabolic syndrome, it seems interesting to evaluate the implication of this hormone in patients with HIV-related lipodystrophy who have a severe metabolic picture of insulin resistance with important alterations in body composition

Electronic identification in rabbits: two body sites of injectable transponder

AbstractIdentification and monitoring of farm animals are effective tools for traceability. Actual livestock identification systems (ear-tags, tattoos, etc.) are not completely efficient and offer some inconveniences. The use of injectable transponders might be a reliable method for individual identification, allowing the improvement of the data recording and the farm management. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the applicability of injectable transponder in live rabbits. A total of 40 fattening rabbits of 55 days old were injected with 23 mm passive FDX-B transponders (Datamars, Switzerland), preloaded into a needle in a sterilised packaged and applied by using a transponder injector (Planet ID, Germany). Two body locations for transponder's injection were studied: laterally to the neck (n=20) and armpit (n=20). Readings of the transponders were performed using portable ISO transceiver, before injection, after injection, the day after, after one week, after one month, before the slaughtering pr..

Proceedings of the inaugural International Summit for Medical Nutrition Education and Research

© 2016 The Royal Society for Public Health Medical Nutrition Education (MNE) has been identified as an area with potential public health impact. Despite countries having distinctive education systems, barriers and facilitators to effective MNE are consistent across borders, demanding a common platform to initiate global programmes. A shared approach to supporting greater MNE is ideal to support countries to work together. In an effort to initiate this process, the Need for Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme group, in association with their strategic partners, hosted the inaugural International Summit on Medical Nutrition Education and Research on August 8, 2015 in Cambridge, UK. Speakers from the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and India provided insights into their respective countries including their education systems, inherent challenges, and potential solutions across two main themes: (1) Medical Nutrition Education, focused on best practice examples in competencies and assessment; and (2) Medical Nutrition Research, discussing how to translate nutrition research into education opportunities. The Summit identified shared needs across regions, showcased examples of transferrable strategies and identified opportunities for collaboration in nutrition education for healthcare (including medical) professionals. These proceedings highlight the key messages presented at the Summit and showcase opportunities for working together towards a common goal of improvement in MNE to improve public health at large

Diabetes influences cancer risk in patients with increased carotid atherosclerosis burden

Background and aims: Atherosclerosis and cancer share several risk factors suggesting that at least in part their pathogenesis is sustained by common mechanisms. To investigate this relation we followed a group of subjects with carotid atherosclerosis at baseline up for malignancy development.Methods and results: we carried out an observational study exploring cancer incidence (study endpoint) in subjects with known carotid atherosclerosis at baseline (n = 766) without previous cancer or carotid vascular procedures. During the follow-up (160 +/- 111 weeks) 24 cancer occurred, corresponding to an overall annual incidence rate of 0.11%. 10 diagnosis of cancer occurred in individuals with a carotid stenosis >50% (n = 90) whereas 14 in patients with a carotid stenosis <50% patients (n = 676) (p < 0.001). Respect to patients without cancer, diabetes was markedly more common in subjects with cancer diagnosis during the FU (37.3%vs75.0%, p < 0.001). After controlling for classic risk factors, carotid stenosis >50% (HR = 2.831, 95%CI = 1.034-5.714; p = 0.036) and diabetes (HR = 4.831, 95%CI = 1.506-15.501; p = 0.008) remained significantly associated with cancer diagnosis.Conclusions: to our knowledge this is the first study reporting a significant risk of cancer development in subjects with diabetes and high risk of cerebrovascular events, highlighting the need of a carefully clinical screening for cancer in diabetic patients with overt carotid atherosclerosis. (C) 2019 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

ITACA (ITalian ACcelerometric Archive): a Web Portal for the Dissemination of the Italian Strong Motion Data

The Italian strong-motion database contains 2182 three component waveforms generated by 1004 earthquakes with a maximum magnitude of 6.9 (1980 Irpinia earthquake) covering the period range from 1972 to 2004. The database is devoted to serving the seismological and engineering communities. The database can be accessed on-line at the site http://itaca.mi.ingv.it, where a wide range of search tools enables the user to interactively search events, recording stations and retrieve waveforms with particular characteristics, whose parameters can be specified, as needed, through a graphical user interface. A range of display options allows users to view data in different contexts, extract and download time series and spectral data. The database was created during a joint project between Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV, Italian institute for geophysics and vulcanology) and Dipartimento della Protezione Civile (DPC, Italian civil protection). The aim of the project was the collection, homogenization and distribution of data acquired over the time period 1972-2004 in Italy by different Italian institutions, namely Ente Nazionale per l’Energia Elettrica (ENEL, Italian electricity company), Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, l’Energia e l’Ambiente (ENEA, Italian energy and environment organization) and DPC. The project had multiple purposes, such as permanent strong motion monitoring and temporary monitoring during seismic sequences or before permanent installation. This database brings up to date the ENEA strong motion data collection which ended in 1993 and the European database where the most recent Italian data pertain to the Umbria-Marche sequence of 1997-1998 (Ambraseys at al., 2002). In addition effort was spent reviewing strong motion metadata and data processing to increase data quality and reliability. This article describes the steps that led to the completion of the project and provides an overview of the search capabilities available at the database interface website

L-Carnitine counteracts in vitro fructose-induced hepatic steatosis through targeting oxidative stress markers

Purpose: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is defined by excessive lipid accumulation in the liver and involves an ample spectrum of liver diseases, ranging from simple uncomplicated steatosis to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that high fructose intake enhances NAFLD development and progression promoting inhibition of mitochondrial \u3b2-oxidation of long-chain fatty acids and oxidative damages. l-Carnitine (LC), involved in \u3b2-oxidation, has been used to reduce obesity caused by high-fat diet, which is beneficial to ameliorating fatty liver diseases. Moreover, in the recent years, various studies have established LC anti-oxidative proprieties. The objective of this study was to elucidate primarily the underlying anti-oxidative mechanisms of LC in an in vitro model of fructose-induced liver steatosis. Methods: Human hepatoma HepG2 cells were maintained in medium supplemented with LC (5 mM LC) with or without 5 mM fructose (F) for 48 h and 72 h. In control cells, LC or F was not added to medium. Fat deposition, anti-oxidative, and mitochondrial homeostasis were investigated. Results: LC supplementation decreased the intracellular lipid deposition enhancing AMPK activation. However, compound C (AMPK inhibitor-10 \u3bcM), significantly abolished LC benefits in F condition. Moreover, LC, increasing PGC1 \u3b1 expression, ameliorates mitochondrial damage-F induced. Above all, LC reduced ROS production and simultaneously increased protein content of antioxidant factors, SOD2 and Nrf2. Conclusion: Our data seemed to show that LC attenuate fructose-mediated lipid accumulation through AMPK activation. Moreover, LC counteracts mitochondrial damages and reactive oxygen species production restoring antioxidant cellular machine. These findings provide new insights into LC role as an AMPK activator and anti-oxidative molecule in NAFLD