Next generation of consumer aerosol valve design using inert gases

The current global consumer aerosol products such as deodorants, hairsprays, air-fresheners, polish, insecticide, disinfectant are primarily utilised unfriendly environmental propellant of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for over three decades. The advantages of the new innovative technology described in this paper are: (i) no butane or other liquefied hydrocarbon gas; (ii) compressed air, nitrogen or other safe gas propellant; (iii) customer acceptable spray quality and consistency during can lifetime; (iv) conventional cans and filling technology. Volatile organic compounds and greenhouse gases must be avoided but there are no flashing propellants replacements that would provide the good atomisation and spray reach. On the basis of the energy source for atomising, the only feasible source is inert gas (i.e. compressed air), which improves atomisation by gas bubbles and turbulence inside the atomiser insert of the actuator. This research concentrates on using ‘bubbly flow’ in the valve stem, with injection of compressed gas into the passing flow, thus also generating turbulence. Using a vapour phase tap in conventional aerosol valves allows the propellant gas into the liquid flow upstream of the valve. However, forcing bubbly flow through a valve is not ideal. The novel valves designed here, using compressed gas, thus achieved the following objectives when the correct combination of gas and liquid inlets to the valve, and the type and size of atomiser ‘insert’ were derived: 1. Produced a consistent flow rate and drop size of spray throughout the life of the can, compatible with the current conventional aerosols that use LPG: a new ‘constancy’ parameter is defined and used to this end. 2. Obtained a discharge flow rate suited to the product to be sprayed; typically between 0.4 g/s and 2.5 g/s. 3. Attained the spray droplets size suited to the product to be sprayed; typically between 40 mm and 120 mm

A Case Report of Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome during Methadone Therapy

Background and Objective: Methadone is an opioid agonist used for the treatment of addiction to opioid drugs. Toxic leukoencephalopathy can cause serious problem and even be life-threatening. Methadone-induced leukoencephalopathy is a rare condition of this toxicity. Because of the importance of this situation and its treatment, we aim to report a case who is diagnosed as Methadone-induced leukoencephalopathy. Case Report: A 63-year-old man referred with non-persistent fever, drowsiness, rigidity and suspected of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). He was addicted to opioid from young age. He was on maintenance therapy with 80 mg methadone syrup from 2 months ago. After the appearance of symptoms including delirium, impaired attention and consciousness, treatment was performed with half a tablet of haloperidol 0.5 mg twice a day before rigidity and fever. Multiple lesions were seen in baseline CT-Scan and MRI. Toxic laboratory examination showed methadone was positive and other toxins and opioids were negative. After two weeks, second MRI showed rapid progressive lesions in white matter. Thus, it was diagnosed as Methadone-induced leukoencephalopathy in addition to NMS. Hydration, bromocriptine tablets 2.5 mg twice a day, methadone tapering and haloperidol discontinuation were performed. After two months, the patient's consciousness was better and his CPK and LDH tests were normal. Conclusion: Methadone-induced leukoencephalopathy is a very rare condition, but it is important for physicians to consider this diagnosis in patients using methadone, especially when they show neurological and psychiatric signs and symptoms. That’s because early methadone tapering can reduce and stop toxicity on the white matter of the brain

Two decades of neuroscience publication trends in Africa.

Neuroscience research in Africa remains sparse. Devising new policies to boost Africa's neuroscience landscape is imperative, but these must be based on accurate data on research outputs which is largely lacking. Such data must reflect the heterogeneity of research environments across the continent's 54 countries. Here, we analyse neuroscience publications affiliated with African institutions between 1996 and 2017. Of 12,326 PubMed indexed publications, 5,219 show clear evidence that the work was performed in Africa and led by African-based researchers - on average ~5 per country and year. From here, we extract information on journals and citations, funding, international coauthorships and techniques used. For reference, we also extract the same metrics from 220 randomly selected publications each from the UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Brazil. Our dataset provides insights into the current state of African neuroscience research in a global context

Stationary rotary force waves on the liquid–air core interface of a swirl atomizer

A one-dimensional wave equation, applicable to the waves on the surface of the air-core of a swirl atomizer is derived analytically, by analogy to the similar one-dimensional wave equation derivation for shallowwater gravity waves. In addition an analogy to the flow of water over a weir is used to produce an analytical derivation of the flow over the lip of the outlet of a swirl atomizer using the principle of maximum flow. The principle of maximum flow is substantiated by reference to continuity of the discharge in the direction of streaming. For shallowwater gravity waves, the phase velocity is the same expression as for the critical velocity over the weir. Similarly, in the present work, the wave phase velocity on the surface of the air-core is shown to be the same expression as for the critical velocity for the flow at the outlet. In addition, this wave phase velocity is shown to be the square root of the product of the radial acceleration and the liquid thickness, as analogous with the wave phase velocity for shallow water gravity waves, which is the square root of the product of the acceleration due to gravity and the water depth. The work revisits the weirs and flumes work of Binnie et al. but using a different methodology. The results corroborate with the work of Binnie. High speed video, Laser Doppler Anemometry and deflected laser beam experimental work has been carried out on an oversize Perspex (Plexiglas) swirl atomizer. Three distinctive types of waves were detected: helical striations, low amplitude random ripples and low frequency stationary waves. It is the latter wave type that is considered further in this article. The experimentally observed waves appear to be stationary upon the axially moving flow. The mathematical analysis allows for the possibility of a negative value for the phase velocity expression. Therefore the critical velocity and the wave phase velocity do indeed lead to stationary waves in the atomizer. A quantitative comparison between the analytically derived wave phase velocity and that measured experimentally, for this stationary pulsating wave, show very good agreement within a few percent

Amyloids - A functional coat for microorganisms

Amyloids are filamentous protein structures ~10 nm wide and 0.1–10 µm long that share a structural motif, the cross-β structure. These fibrils are usually associated with degenerative diseases in mammals. However, recent research has shown that these proteins are also expressed on bacterial and fungal cell surfaces. Microbial amyloids are important in mediating mechanical invasion of abiotic and biotic substrates. In animal hosts, evidence indicates that these protein structures also contribute to colonization by activating host proteases that are involved in haemostasis, inflammation and remodelling of the extracellular matrix. Activation of proteases by amyloids is also implicated in modulating blood coagulation, resulting in potentially life-threatening complications.

The Testicular and Epididymal Expression Profile of PLCζ in Mouse and Human Does Not Support Its Role as a Sperm-Borne Oocyte Activating Factor

Phospholipase C zeta (PLCζ) is a candidate sperm-borne oocyte activating factor (SOAF) which has recently received attention as a potential biomarker of human male infertility. However, important SOAF attributes of PLCζ, including its developmental expression in mammalian spermiogenesis, its compartmentalization in sperm head perinuclear theca (PT) and its release into the ooplasm during fertilization have not been established and are addressed in this investigation. Different detergent extractions of sperm and head/tail fractions were compared for the presence of PLCζ by immunoblotting. In both human and mouse, the active isoform of PLCζ was detected in sperm fractions other than PT, where SOAF is expected to reside. Developmentally, PLCζ was incorporated as part of the acrosome during the Golgi phase of human and mouse spermiogenesis while diminishing gradually in the acrosome of elongated spermatids. Immunofluorescence localized PLCζ over the surface of the postacrosomal region of mouse and bull and head region of human spermatozoa leading us to examine its secretion in the epididymis. While previously thought to have strictly a testicular expression, PLCζ was found to be expressed and secreted by the epididymal epithelial cells explaining its presence on the sperm head surface. In vitro fertilization (IVF) revealed that PLCζ is no longer detectable after the acrosome reaction occurs on the surface of the zona pellucida and thus is not incorporated into the oocyte cytoplasm for activation. In summary, we show for the first time that PLCζ is compartmentalized as part of the acrosome early in human and mouse spermiogenesis and is secreted during sperm maturation in the epididymis. Most importantly, no evidence was found that PLCζ is incorporated into the detergent-resistant perinuclear theca fraction where SOAF resides

Gas6 Downregulation Impaired Cytoplasmic Maturation and Pronuclear Formation Independent to the MPF Activity

Previously, we found that the growth arrest-specific gene 6 (Gas6) is more highly expressed in germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes than in metaphase II (MII) oocytes using annealing control primer (ACP)-PCR technology. The current study was undertaken to investigate the role of Gas6 in oocyte maturation and fertilization using RNA interference (RNAi). Interestingly, despite the specific and marked decrease in Gas6 mRNA and protein expression in GVs after Gas6 RNAi, nuclear maturation including spindle structures and chromosome segregation was not affected. The only discernible effect induced by Gas6 RNAi was a change in maturation promoting factor (MPF) activity. After parthenogenetic activation, Gas6 RNAi-treated oocytes at the MII stage had not developed further and arrested at MII (90.0%). After stimulation with Sr2+, Gas6-silenced MII oocytes had markedly reduced Ca2+ oscillation and exhibited no exocytosis of cortical granules. In these oocytes, sperm penetration occurred during fertilization but not pronucleus (PN) formation. By roscovitine and colcemid treatment, we found that the Gas6 knockdown affected cytoplasmic maturation directly, independent to the changed MPF activity. These results strongly suggest that 1) the Gas6 signaling itself is important to the cytoplasmic maturation, but not nuclear maturation, and 2) the decreased Gas6 expression and decreased MPF activity separately or mutually influence sperm head decondensation and PN formation

Generation of a Convalescent Model of Virulent Francisella tularensis Infection for Assessment of Host Requirements for Survival of Tularemia

Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium and the causative agent of tularemia. Development of novel vaccines and therapeutics for tularemia has been hampered by the lack of understanding of which immune components are required to survive infection. Defining these requirements for protection against virulent F. tularensis, such as strain SchuS4, has been difficult since experimentally infected animals typically die within 5 days after exposure to as few as 10 bacteria. Such a short mean time to death typically precludes development, and therefore assessment, of immune responses directed against virulent F. tularensis. To enable identification of the components of the immune system that are required for survival of virulent F. tularensis, we developed a convalescent model of tularemia in C57Bl/6 mice using low dose antibiotic therapy in which the host immune response is ultimately responsible for clearance of the bacterium. Using this model we demonstrate αβTCR+ cells, γδTCR+ cells, and B cells are necessary to survive primary SchuS4 infection. Analysis of mice deficient in specific soluble mediators shows that IL-12p40 and IL-12p35 are essential for survival of SchuS4 infection. We also show that IFN-γ is required for survival of SchuS4 infection since mice lacking IFN-γR succumb to disease during the course of antibiotic therapy. Finally, we found that both CD4+ and CD8+ cells are the primary producers of IFN-γand that γδTCR+ cells and NK cells make a minimal contribution toward production of this cytokine throughout infection. Together these data provide a novel model that identifies key cells and cytokines required for survival or exacerbation of infection with virulent F. tularensis and provides evidence that this model will be a useful tool for better understanding the dynamics of tularemia infection

Paternal effects on early embryogenesis

Historically, less attention has been paid to paternal effects on early embryogenesis than maternal effects. However, it is now apparent that certain male factor infertility phenotypes are associated with increased DNA fragmentation and/or chromosome aneuploidies that may compromise early embryonic development. In addition, there is a growing body of evidence that the fertilizing sperm has more function than just carrying an intact, haploid genome. The paternally inherited centrosome is essential for normal fertilization, and the success of higher order chromatin packaging may impact embryogenesis. Epigenetic modifications of sperm chromatin may contribute to the reprogramming of the genome, and sperm delivered mRNA has also been hythesized to be necessary for embryogenesis. There is less information about the epigenetic factors affecting embryogenesis than genetic factors, but the epigenetics of gamete and early embryogenesis is a rapidly advancing field