Modelling of the radiative properties of an opaque porous ceramic layer

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) operate at temperatures above 1,100 K where radiation effects can be significant. Therefore, an accurate thermal model of an SOFC requires the inclusion of the contribution of thermal radiation. This implies that the thermal radiative properties of the oxide ceramics used in the design of SOFCs must be known. However, little information can be found in the literature concerning their operating temperatures. On the other hand, several types of ceramics with different chemical compositions and microstructures for designing efficient cells are now being tested. This is a situation where the use of a numerical tool making possible the prediction of the thermal radiative properties of SOFC materials, whatever their chemical composition and microstructure are, may be a decisive help. Using this method, first attempts to predict the radiative properties of a lanthanum nickelate porous layer deposited onto an yttria stabilized zirconium substrate can be reported

Epidemiology of neuropathic pain:an analysis of prevalence and associated factors in UK Biobank

Abstract. Introduction:. Previous epidemiological studies of neuropathic pain have reported a range of prevalences and factors associated with the disorder. Objectives:. This study aimed to verify these characteristics in a large UK cohort. Methods:. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted of 148,828 UK Biobank participants who completed a detailed questionnaire on chronic pain. The Douleur Neuropathique en Quatre Questions (DN4) was used to distinguish between neuropathic pain (NeuP) and non-neuropathic pain (non-NeuP) in participants with pain of at least 3 months' duration. Participants were also identified with less than 3 months' pain or without pain (NoCP). Multivariable regression was used to identify factors associated with NeuP compared with non-NeuP and NoCP, respectively. Results:. Chronic pain was present in 76,095 participants (51.1%). The overall prevalence of NeuP was 9.2%. Neuropathic pain was significantly associated with worse health-related quality of life, having a manual or personal service type occupation, and younger age compared with NoCP. As expected, NeuP was associated with diabetes and neuropathy, but also other pains (pelvic, postsurgical, and migraine) and musculoskeletal disorders (rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and fibromyalgia). In addition, NeuP was associated with pain in the limbs and greater pain intensity and higher body mass index compared with non-NeuP. Female sex was associated with NeuP when compared with NoCP, whereas male sex was associated with NeuP when compared with non-NeuP. Conclusion:. This is the largest epidemiological study of neuropathic pain to date. The results confirm that the disorder is common in a population of middle- to older-aged people with mixed aetiologies and is associated with a higher health impact than non-neuropathic pain

Influenza A viruses are transmitted via the air from the nasal respiratory epithelium of ferrets

Human influenza A viruses are known to be transmitted via the air from person to person. It is unknown from which anatomical site of the respiratory tract influenza A virus transmission occurs. Here, pairs of genetically tagged and untagged influenza A/H1N1, A/H3N2 and A/H5N1 viruses that are transmissible via the air are used to co-infect donor ferrets via the intranasal and intratracheal routes to cause an upper and lower respiratory tract infection, respectively. In all transmission cases, we observe that the viruses in the recipient ferrets are of the same genotype as the viruses inoculated intranasally, demonstrating that they are expelled from the upper respiratory tract of ferrets rather than from trachea or the lower airways. Moreover, influenza A viruses that are transmissible via the air preferentially infect ferret and human nasal respiratory epithelium. These results indicate that virus replication in the upper respiratory tract, the nasal respiratory epithelium in particular, of donors is a driver for transmission of influenza A viruses via the air

A Dutch highly pathogenic H5N6 avian influenza virus showed remarkable tropism for extra-respiratory organs and caused severe disease but was not transmissible via air in the ferret model

Continued circulation of A/H5N1 influenzaviruses of the A/goose/Guangdong/1/96 lineage in poultry has resulted in the diversificationin multiple genetic and antigenic clades. Since 2009, clade 2.3.4.4 hemagglutinin (HA) containing viruses harboring the internal and neuraminidase (NA) genes of other avian influenzaA viruses have been detected. As a result, various HA-NA combinations, such as A/H5N1, A/H5N2, A/H5N3, A/H5N5, A/H5N6, and A/H5N8 have been identified.As of January 2023, 83 humans have been infected with A/H5N6 viruses, thereby posing an apparent risk for public health. Here, as part of a risk assessment, the in vitro and in vivo characterization of A/H5N6 A/black-headed gull/Netherlands/29/2017 is described. This A/H5N6 virus was not transmitted between ferrets via the air but was of unexpectedly high pathogenicity compared to other described A/H5N6 viruses. The virus replicated and caused severe lesions not only in respiratory tissues but also in multiple extra-respiratory tissues, including brain, liver, pancreas, spleen, lymph nodes, and adrenal gland. Sequence analyses demonstrated that the well-known mammalian adaptation substitution D701N was positively selected in almost all ferrets. In the in vitro experiments, no other known viral phenotypic properties associated with mammalian adaptation or increased pathogenicity were identified.The lack of transmission via the air and the absence of mammalian adaptation markers suggest that the public health risk of this virus is low. The high pathogenicity of this virus in ferrets could not be explained by the known mammalian pathogenicity factors and should be further studied.</p

Human clade 2.3.4.4 A/H5N6 influenza virus lacks mammalian adaptation markers and does not transmit via the airborne route between ferrets

Since their emergence in 1997, A/H5N1 influenza viruses of the A/goose/ Guangdong/1/96 lineage have diversified in multiple genetic and antigenic clades upon continued circulation in poultry in several countries in Eurasia and Africa. Since 2009, reassortant viruses carrying clade 2.3.4.4 hemagglutinin (HA) and internal and neuraminidase (NA) genes of influenza A viruses of different avian origin have been detected, yielding various HA-NA combinations, such as A/H5N1, A/H5N2, A/H5N3, A/H5N5, A/H5N6, and A/H5N8. Previous studies reported on the low pathogenicity and lack of airborne transmission of A/H5N2 and A/H5N8 viruses in the ferret model. However, although A/H5N6 viruses are the only clade 2.3.4.4 viruses that crossed the species barrier and infected humans, the risk they pose for human health remains poorly characterized. Here, the characterization of A/H5N6 A/Guangzhou/39715/2014 virus in vitro and in ferrets is described. This A/H5N6 virus possessed high polymerase activity, mediated by the E627K substitution in the PB2 protein, which corresponds to only one biological trait out of the three that were previously shown to confer airborne transmissibility to A/H5N1 viruses between ferrets. This might explain its lack of airborne transmission between ferrets. After intranasal inoculation, A/H5N6 virus replicated to high titers in the respiratory tracts of ferrets and was excreted for at least 6 days. Moreover, A/H5N6 virus caused severe pneumonia in ferrets upon intratracheal inoculation. Thus, A/H5N6 virus causes a more severe disease in ferrets than previously investigated clade 2.3.4.4 viruses, but our results demonstrate that the risk from airborne spread is currently low

Influenza A (H10N7) virus causes respiratory tract disease in harbor seals and ferrets

Avian influenza viruses sporadically cross the species barrier to mammals, including humans, in which they may cause epidemic disease. Recently such an epidemic occurred due to the emergence of avian influenza virus of the subtype H10N7 (Seal/H10N7) in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). This epidemic caused high mortality in seals along the north-west coast of Europe and represented a potential risk for human health. To characterize the spectrum of lesions and to identify the target cells and viral distribution, findings in 16 harbor seals spontaneously infected with Seal/H10N7 are described. The seals had respiratory tract inflammation extending from the nasal cavity to bronchi associated with intralesional virus antigen in respiratory epithelial cells. Virus infection was restricted to the respiratory tract. The fatal outcome of the viral infection in seals was most likely caused by secondary bacterial infections. To investigate the pathogenic potential of H10N7 infection for humans, we inoculated the seal virus intratracheally into six ferrets and performed pathological and virological analyses at 3 and 7 days post inoculation. These experimentally inoculated ferrets displayed mild clinical signs, virus excretion from the pharynx and respiratory tract inflammation extending from bronchi to alveoli that was associated with virus antigen expression exclusively in the respiratory epithelium. Virus was isolated only from the respiratory tract. In conclusion, Seal/H10N7 infection in naturally infected harbor seals and experimentally infected ferrets shows that respiratory epithelial cells are the permissive cells for viral replication. Fatal outcome in seals was caused by secondary bacterial pneumonia similar to that in fatal human cases during influenza pandemics. Productive infection of ferrets indicates that seal/H10N7 may possess a zoonotic potential. This outbreak of LPAI from wild birds to seals demonstrates the risk of such occasions for mammals and thus humans

Low virulence and lack of airborne transmission of the Dutch highly pathogenic avian influenza virus H5N8 in ferrets

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N8 viruses that emerged in poultry in East Asia spread to Europe and North America by late 2014. Here we show that the European HPAI H5N8 viruses differ from the Korean and Japanese HPAI H5N8 viruses by several amino acids and that a Dutch HPAI H5N8 virus had low virulence and was not transmitted via the airborne route in ferrets. The virus did not cross-react with sera raised against pre-pandemic H5 vaccine strains. This data is useful for public health risk assessments

Different Whole-Brain Functional Connectivity Correlates of Reactive-Proactive Aggression and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Children and Adolescents with Disruptive Behaviors

Background: Disruptive behavior in children and adolescents can manifest as reactive aggression and proactive aggression and is modulated by callous-unemotional traits and other comorbidities. Neural correlates of these aggression dimensions or subtypes and comorbid symptoms remain largely unknown. This multi-center study investigated the relationship between resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) and aggression subtypes considering comorbidities. Methods: The large sample of children and adolescents aged 8–18 years (n = 207; mean age = 13.30 ± 2.60 years, 150 males) included 118 cases with disruptive behavior (80 with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and/or Conduct Disorder) and 89 controls. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety symptom scores were analyzed as covariates when assessing group differences and dimensional aggression effects on hypothesis-free global and local voxel-to-voxel whole-brain rsFC based on functional magnetic resonance imaging at 3 Tesla. Results: Compared to controls, the cases demonstrated altered rsFC in frontal areas, when anxiety but not ADHD symptoms were controlled. For cases, reactive and proactive aggression scores related to global and local rsFC in the central gyrus and precuneus, regions linked to aggression-related impairments. Callous-unemotional trait severity was correlated with ICC in the inferior and middle temporal regions implicated in empathy, emotion, and reward processing. Most observed aggression subtype-specific patterns could only be identified when ADHD and anxiety were controlled for. Conclusions: This study clarifies that hypothesis-free brain connectivity measures can disentangle distinct though overlapping dimensions of aggression in youths. Moreover, our results highlight the importance of considering comorbid symptoms to detect aggression-related rsFC alterations in youths

Disruption of tuftelin 1, a desmosome associated protein, causes skin fragility, woolly hair and palmoplantar keratoderma

Desmosomes are dynamic complex protein structures involved in cellular adhesion. Disruption of these structures by loss of function variants in desmosomal genes lead to a variety of skin and heart related phenotypes. Here, we report tuftelin 1 as a desmosome-associated protein, implicated in epidermal integrity. In two siblings with mild skin fragility, woolly hair and mild palmoplantar keratoderma, but without a cardiac phenotype, we identified a homozygous splice site variant in the TUFT1 gene, leading to aberrant mRNA splicing and loss of tuftelin 1 protein. Patients' skin and keratinocytes showed acantholysis, perinuclear retraction of intermediate filaments, and reduced mechanical stress resistance. Immunolabeling and transfection studies showed that tuftelin 1 is positioned within the desmosome and its location dependent on the presence of the desmoplakin carboxy-terminal tail. A Tuft1 knock-out mouse model mimicked the patients' phenotypes. Altogether, this study reveals tuftelin 1 as a desmosome-associated protein, whose absence causes skin fragility, woolly hair and palmoplantar keratoderma.</p