Heat transfer, velocity-temperature correlation, and turbulent shear stress from Navier-Stokes computations of shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction flows

The properties of 2-D shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction flows were calculated by using a compressible turbulent Navier-Stokes numerical computational code. Interaction flows caused by oblique shock wave impingement on the turbulent boundary layer flow were considered. The oblique shock waves were induced with shock generators at angles of attack less than 10 degs in supersonic flows. The surface temperatures were kept at near-adiabatic (ratio of wall static temperature to free stream total temperature) and cold wall (ratio of wall static temperature to free stream total temperature) conditions. The computational results were studied for the surface heat transfer, velocity temperature correlation, and turbulent shear stress in the interaction flow fields. Comparisons of the computational results with existing measurements indicated that (1) the surface heat transfer rates and surface pressures could be correlated with Holden's relationship, (2) the mean flow streamwise velocity components and static temperatures could be correlated with Crocco's relationship if flow separation did not occur, and (3) the Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model should be modified for turbulent shear stress computations in the interaction flows

The NASA Lewis Research Center Internal Fluid Mechanics Facility

An experimental facility specifically designed to investigate internal fluid duct flows is described. It is built in a modular fashion so that a variety of internal flow test hardware can be installed in the facility with minimal facility reconfiguration. The facility and test hardware interfaces are discussed along with design constraints of future test hardware. The plenum flow conditioning approach is also detailed. Available instrumentation and data acquisition capabilities are discussed. The incoming flow quality was documented over the current facility operating range. The incoming flow produces well behaved turbulent boundary layers with a uniform core. For the calibration duct used, the boundary layers approached 10 percent of the duct radius. Freestream turbulence levels at the various operating conditions varied from 0.64 to 0.69 percent of the average freestream velocity

A novel kinematics analysis method using quaternion interpolation – a case study in frog jumping

Spherical Linear Interpolation (SLERP) has long been used in computer animation to interpolate movements between two 3D orientations. We developed a forward kinematics (FK) approach using quaternions and SLERP to predict how frogs modulate jump kinematics between start posture and takeoff. Frog limb kinematics have been studied during various activities, yet the causal link between differences in joint kinematics and locomotor variation remains unknown. We varied 1) takeoff angle from 8 to 60 degrees; 2) turn angle from 0 to 18 degrees; and 3) initial body pitch from 0 to 70 degrees. Simulations were similar to experimentally observed frog kinematics. Findings suggest a fundamental mechanism whereby limb elevation is modulated by thigh and shank adduction. Forward thrust is produced by thigh and proximal foot retraction with little contribution from the shank except to induce asymmetries for turning. Kinematic shifts causing turns were subtle, marked only by slight counter-rotation of the left versus right shank as well as a 10% timing offset in proximal foot adduction. Additionally, inclining initial body tilt influenced the centre of mass trajectory to determine direction of travel at takeoff. Most importantly, our theory suggests firstly that the convergence of leg segment rotation axes toward a common orientation is crucial both for limb extension and for coordinating jump direction; and, secondly, the challenge of simulating 3D kinematics is simplified using SLERP because frog limbs approximately follow linear paths in unit quaternion space. Our methodology can be applied more broadly to study living and fossil frog taxa as well as to inspire new control algorithms for robotic limbs

In vivo cranial bone strain and bite force in the agamid lizard Uromastyx geyri

In vivo bone strain data are the most direct evidence of deformation and strain regimes in the vertebrate cranium during feeding and can provide important insights into skull morphology. Strain data have been collected during feeding across a wide range of mammals; in contrast, in vivo cranial bone strain data have been collected from few sauropsid taxa. Here we present bone strain data recorded from the jugal of the herbivorous agamid lizard Uromastyx geyri along with simultaneously recorded bite force. Principal and shear strain magnitudes in Uromastyx geyri were lower than cranial bone strains recorded in Alligator mississippiensis, but higher than those reported from herbivorous mammals. Our results suggest that variations in principal strain orientations in the facial skeleton are largely due to differences in feeding behavior and bite location, whereas food type has little impact on strain orientations. Furthermore, mean principal strain orientations differ between male and female Uromastyx during feeding, potentially because of sexual dimorphism in skull morphology

Extracellular vesicles miRNA cargo for microglia polarization in traumatic brain injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the major causes of death and disability worldwide, and despite its high dissemination, effective pharmacotherapies are lacking. TBI can be divided into two phases: the instantaneous primary mechanical injury, which occurs at the moment of insult, and the delayed secondary injury, which involves a cascade of biological processes that lead to neuroinflammation. Neuroinflammation is a hallmark of both acute and chronic TBI, and it is considered to be one of the major determinants of the outcome and progression of disease. In TBI one of the emerging mechanisms for cell–cell communication involved in the immune response regulation is represented by Extracellular Vesicles (EVs). These latter are produced by all cell types and are considered a fingerprint of their generating cells. Exosomes are the most studied nanosized vesicles and can carry a variety of molecular constituents of their cell of origin, including microRNAs (miRNAs). Several miRNAs have been shown to target key neuropathophysiological pathways involved in TBI. The focus of this review is to analyze exosomes and their miRNA cargo to modulate TBI neuroinflammation providing new strategies for prevent long‐term progression of disease

Exosomes and their Cargo as a New Avenue for Brain and Treatment of CNSRelated Diseases

Extracellular Vesicles (EVs), which belong to nanoscale vesicles, including microvesicles (MVs) and exosomes, are now considered a new important tool for intercellular neuronal communication in the Central Nervous System (CNS) under physiological and pathological conditions. EVs are shed into blood, peripheral body fluids and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by a large variety of cells. EVs can act locally on neighboring and distant cells. EVs represent the fingerprints of the originating cells and can carry a variety of molecular constituents of their cell of origin, including protein, lipids, DNA and microRNAs (miRNAs). The most studied EVs are the exosomes because they are ubiquitous and have the capacity to transfer cell-derived components and bioactive molecules to target cells. In this minireview, we focused on cell-cell communication in CNS mediated by exosomes and their important cargo as an innovative way to treat or follow up with CNS diseases. © 2022 Benameur et al

The regulatory role of IL-10 in neurodegenerative diseases

IL-10, an immunosuppressive cytokine, is considered an important anti-inflammatory modulator of glial activation, preventing inflammation-mediated neuronal degeneration under pathological conditions. In this narrative review, we summarize recent insights about the role of IL-10 in the neurodegeneration associated with neuroinflammation, in diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Traumatic Brain Injury, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease, focusing on the contribution of this cytokine not only in terms of protective action, but also as possibly responsible for clinical worsening. The knowledge of this double face of the same coin, regarding the biological role of the IL-10, could aid the development of targeted therapies useful for limiting neurodegenerative processes

The psycholinguistic and affective structure of words conveying pain

Despite the flourishing research on the relationships between affect and language, the characteristics of pain-related words, a specific type of negative words, have never been systematically investigated from a psycholinguistic and emotional perspective, despite their psychological relevance. This study offers psycholinguistic, affective, and pain-related norms for words expressing physical and social pain. This may provide a useful tool for the selection of stimulus materials in future studies on negative emotions and/or pain. We explored the relationships between psycholinguistic, affective, and pain-related properties of 512 Italian words (nouns, adjectives, and verbs) conveying physical and social pain by asking 1020 Italian participants to provide ratings of Familiarity, Age of Acquisition, Imageability, Concreteness, Context Availability, Valence, Arousal, Pain-Relatedness, Intensity, and Unpleasantness. We also collected data concerning Length, Written Frequency (Subtlex-IT), N-Size, Orthographic Levenshtein Distance 20, Neighbor Mean Frequency, and Neighbor Maximum Frequency of each word. Interestingly, the words expressing social pain were rated as more negative, arousing, pain-related, and conveying more intense and unpleasant experiences than the words conveying physical pain

In vitro genome editing for testing potential gRNAs in CRISPR/Cas9 strategy

Motivation: CRISPR/Cas9 is a promising strategy that improves the efficacy of homology recombination, opening a wide number of possibilites for genome editing. The use of this technology on the reparation of single nucleotide mutations is being under investigation to recover the phenotype of a number of diseases, as the Crigler-Najjar syndrome. Methods: The genomic target sequence of the Ugt1a1 mouse gene was cloned into vectors that were designed to assess efficiency in the generation of double strand brakes (DSB) by engineered nucleases. We have designed different sgRNAs targeting this genomic region. The vectors were transfected into Hek293 together with a plasmid expressing the Cas9 nucelase and the sgRNA, generating a DSB in the target sequence. After recombination, the inactive luciferase gene recovers activity, which is proportional to the cutting efficiency of the nuclease. Then, luciferase and T7 assays were used to determine the activity of gRNAs to target the specific genome locus. Results: Depending on the DNA sequence where is located the gRNA and, specially, the PAM sequences, we have obtained different results on the activity of our gRNAs. However, different factors, as the type of cells transfected or the vectors used, can affect the final activity of the gRNAs and thus, the whole CRISPR/Cas9 activity.Conclusions: With this project, it has been demonstrated the importance of a good design and optimization of the protocols to choose the most efficient gRNAs for CRISPR/Cas9 machinery, as well as in the vectors used to synthetize all the components needed

Uso de sabiá (Mimosa caesalpiniifolia Benth) para valorização de sistemas agroextrativistas em babaçuais no Maranhão.

Este artigo apresenta a iniciativa de uma família agroextrativista em área de assentamento no município de São Luís Gonzaga do Maranhão, na busca de sistemas e práticas de manejo para produção de madeira associada ao extrativismo do babaçu, valorizando os babaçuais, fortalecendo a renda monetária e ampliando o leque de produtos para uso no estabelecimento. A experiência aponta para alternativas de cultivo que dispensam queimadas, contribuindo para a intensificação sustentável de sistemas tradicionais, proporcionando a conservação e utilização racional dos recursos naturais. Numa área de 1 ha, representativa da situação geral das terras do município, contendo 132 palmeiras de babaçu, foram plantadas 4.000 mudas de sabiá em fileiras com espaçamento de 5 metros. O experimento avalia o número e diâmetro das hastes de sabiá, e a altura do fuste. As observações até o momento apontam para resultados econômicos, ambientais e sociais promissores: viabiliza-se a recuperação de áreas degradadas, gera-se renda monetária liquida superior a R$18.000 em ciclo de cinco anos, por meio da produção de madeira (estacas para cercas) e babaçu, potencializam-se oportunidades para integração de atividades como a criação de abelhas melíferas e a introdução de espécies frutíferas intercalares, assim como constata-se o aumento na produção de babaçu, comparado a capoeiras utilizadas no sistema tradicional