Influence of Stefan blowing on nanofluid flow submerged in microorganisms with leading edge accretion or ablation

The unsteady forced convective boundary layer flow of viscous incompressible fluid containing both nanoparticles and gyrotactic microorganisms, from a flat surface with leading edge accretion (or ablation), is investigated theoretically. Utilizing appropriate similarity transformations for the velocity, temperature, nanoparticle volume fraction and motile microorganism density, the governing conservation equations are rendered into a system of coupled, nonlinear, similarity ordinary differential equations. These equations, subjected to imposed boundary conditions, are solved numerically using the Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg fourth-fifth order numerical method in the MAPLE symbolic software. Good agreement between our computations and previous solutions is achieved. The effect of selected parameters on flow velocity, temperature, nano-particle volume fraction (concentration) and motile microorganism density function is investigated. Furthermore, tabular solutions are included for skin friction, wall heat transfer rate, nano-particle mass transfer rate and microorganism transfer rate. Applications of the study arise in advanced micro-flow devices to assess nanoparticle toxicity

Effect of dietary prebiotic supplementation on advanced glycation, insulin resistance and inflammatory biomarkers in adults with pre-diabetes: A study protocol for a double-blind placebo-controlled randomised crossover clinical trial

Background: Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) contribute to the development of vascular complications of diabetes and have been recently implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Since AGEs are generated within foodstuffs upon food processing, it is increasingly recognised that the modern diet is replete with AGEs. AGEs are thought to stimulate chronic low-grade inflammation and promote oxidative stress and have been linked to the development of insulin resistance. Simple therapeutic strategies targeted at attenuating the progression of chronic low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance are urgently required to prevent or slow the development of type 2 diabetes in susceptible individuals. Dietary modulation of the human colonic microbiota has been shown to confer a number of health benefits to the host, but its effect on advanced glycation is unknown. The aim of this article is to describe the methodology of a double-blind placebo-controlled randomised crossover trial designed to determine the effect of 12 week consumption of a prebiotic dietary supplement on the advanced glycation pathway, insulin sensitivity and chronic low-grade inflammation in adults with pre-diabetes.Methods/Design: Thirty adults with pre-diabetes (Impaired Glucose Tolerance or Impaired Fasting Glucose) aged between 40-60 years will be randomly assigned to receive either 10 grams of prebiotic (inulin/oligofructose) daily or 10 grams placebo (maltodextrin) daily for 12 weeks. After a 2-week washout period, study subjects will crossover to receive the alternative dietary treatment for 12 weeks. The primary outcome is the difference in markers of the advanced glycation pathway carboxymethyllysine (CML) and methylglyoxal (MG) between experimental and control treatments. Secondary outcomes include HbA1c, insulin sensitivity, lipid levels, blood pressure, serum glutathione, adiponectin, IL-6, E-selectin, myeloperoxidase, C-reactive protein, Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR4), soluble receptor for AGE (sRAGE), urinary 8-isoprostanes, faecal bacterial composition and short chain fatty acid profile. Anthropometric measures including BMI and waist circumference will be collected in addition to comprehensive dietary and lifestyle data.Discussion: Prebiotics which selectively stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria in the human colon might offer protection against AGE-related pathology in people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.Trial registration: Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ANZCTR): ACTRN12613000130763. © 2014 Kellow et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Precision Electroweak Measurements on the Z resonance.

We report on the final electroweak measurements performed with data taken at the Z resonance by the experiments operating at the electron–positron colliders SLC and LEP. The data consist of 17 million Z decays accumulated by the ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL experiments at LEP, and 600 thousand Z decays by the SLD experiment using a polarised beam at SLC. The measurements include cross-sections, forward–backward asymmetries and polarised asymmetries. The mass and width of the Z boson, mZ and ΓZ, and its couplings to fermions, for example the ρ parameter and the effective electroweak mixing angle for leptons, are precisely measured: The number of light neutrino species is determined to be 2.9840±0.0082, in agreement with the three observed generations of fundamental fermions. The results are compared to the predictions of the Standard Model (SM). At the Z-pole, electroweak radiative corrections beyond the running of the QED and QCD coupling constants are observed with a significance of five standard deviations, and in agreement with the Standard Model. Of the many Z-pole measurements, the forward–backward asymmetry in b-quark production shows the largest difference with respect to its SM expectation, at the level of 2.8 standard deviations. Through radiative corrections evaluated in the framework of the Standard Model, the Z-pole data are also used to predict the mass of the top quark, , and the mass of the W boson, . These indirect constraints are compared to the direct measurements, providing a stringent test of the SM. Using in addition the direct measurements of mt and mW, the mass of the as yet unobserved SM Higgs boson is predicted with a relative uncertainty of about 50% and found to be less than at 95% confidence level