Modelling and Nonlinear Dynamics of Third-Order Thermomechanically Coupled Laminated Plates

Thermomechanically coupled, geometrically nonlinear, laminated plates are addressed through a unified 2D formulation that integrates mechanical and thermal aspects and consistently accounts for cubic variations along the thickness of both in-plane displacement components and temperature. It allows to address a variety of thermal boundary conditions on the plate upper and lower surfaces. Minimal dimension reduction of the problem is pursued for symmetric cross-ply laminates. A numerical case study provides hints on the potential of the reduced model for the analysis of thermomechanical coupling effects on the system nonlinear dynamics

Nonlinear vibrations of symmetric cross-ply laminates via thermomechanically coupled reduced order models

Thermomechanically coupled, geometrically nonlinear, laminated plates are addressed through a unified 2D formulation, by considering classical and third-order shear-deformable von Karman models, along with correspondingly consistent linear and cubic variations of the temperature along the thickness. Minimal dimension reduction of the mechanical problem is accomplished for symmetric cross-ply laminates, ending up for both models to a coupled three-mode reduced model with terms and coefficients of variable nature depending on the variety of mechanical and/or thermal excitations. Nonlinear vibrations of the classical model are investigated in conditions of thermal dynamics either passively entrained by the harmonically varying transverse load via the existing coupling terms, or also playing some active role owed to a temperature difference with respect to the surrounding medium

Estrategias de solución para análisis de consolidación acoplados en medios porosos

Se revisan brevemente las estrategias empleadas usualmente para resolver las ecuaciones acopladas del problema de la consolidación de suelos saturados. Luego se introduce un nuevo esquema basado en la solucion particionada del conjunto de ecuaciones acopladas y se desarrollan los criterios de convergencia y estabilidad necesarios.Peer Reviewe

Estrategias de solución para análisis de consolidación acoplados en medios porosos

Se revisan brevemente las estrategias empleadas usualmente para resolver las ecuaciones acopladas del problema de la consolidación de suelos saturados. Luego se introduce un nuevo esquema basado en la solucion particionada del conjunto de ecuaciones acopladas y se desarrollan los criterios de convergencia y estabilidad necesarios.Peer Reviewe

Sex steroids, carcinogenesis, and cancer progression

The relationship between sex steroids and cancer has been studied for more than a century. Using an original intact cell analysis, we investigated sex steroid metabolism in a panel of human cancer cell lines, either hormone responsive or unresponsive, originating from human breast, endometrium, and prostate. We found that highly divergent patterns of steroid metabolism exist and that the catalytic preference (predominantly reductive or oxidative) is strictly associated with the steroid receptor status of cells. We explored intra-tissue concentrations and profiles of estrogens in a set of human breast tumors as compared to normal mammary tissues, also in relation to their estrogen receptor status. In particular, we showed that, with hydroxyestrogens representing the majority of all tissue estrogens, concentrations of individual metabolites, as well as their ratios, significantly differ when comparing normal tissue with cancer tissues or when they are related to the overall survival of cancer patients. © 2004 New York Academy of Sciences

Eosinophil and T Cell Markers Predict Functional Decline in COPD Patients

BACKGROUND. The major marker utilized to monitor COPD patients is forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1). However, asingle measurement of FEV1 cannot reliably predict subsequent decline. Recent studies indicate that T lymphocytes and eosinophils are important determinants of disease stability in COPD. We therefore measured cytokine levels in the lung lavage fluid and plasma of COPD patients in order to determine if the levels of T cell or eosinophil related cytokines were predictive of the future course of the disease. METHODS. Baseline lung lavage and plasma samples were collected from COPD subjects with moderately severe airway obstruction and emphysematous changes on chest CT. The study participants were former smokers who had not had a disease exacerbation within the past six months or used steroids within the past two months. Those subjects who demonstrated stable disease over the following six months (ΔFEV1 % predicted = 4.7 ± 7.2; N = 34) were retrospectively compared with study participants who experienced a rapid decline in lung function (ΔFEV1 % predicted = -16.0 ± 6.0; N = 16) during the same time period and with normal controls (N = 11). Plasma and lung lavage cytokines were measured from clinical samples using the Luminex multiplex kit which enabled the simultaneous measurement of several T cell and eosinophil related cytokines. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Stable COPD participants had significantly higher plasma IL-2 levels compared to participants with rapidly progressive COPD (p = 0.04). In contrast, plasma eotaxin-1 levels were significantly lower in stable COPD subjects compared to normal controls (p < 0.03). In addition, lung lavage eotaxin-1 levels were significantly higher in rapidly progressive COPD participants compared to both normal controls (p < 0.02) and stable COPD participants (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION. These findings indicate that IL-2 and eotaxin-1 levels may be important markers of disease stability in advanced emphysema patients. Prospective studies will need to confirm whether measuring IL-2 or eotaxin-1 can identify patients at risk for rapid disease progression.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NO1-HR-96140, NO1-HR-96141-001, NO1-HR-96144, NO1-HR-96143; NO1-HR-96145; NO1-HR-96142, R01HL086936-03); The Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute; the Jo-Ann F. LeBuhn Center for Chest Diseas

Current concepts on oxidative/carbonyl stress, inflammation and epigenetics in pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global health problem, and current therapy for COPD is poorly effective and the mainstays of pharmacotherapy are bronchodilators. A better understanding of the pathobiology of COPD is critical for the development of novel therapies. In the present review, we have discussed the roles of oxidative/aldehyde stress, inflammation/immunity, and chromatin remodeling in the pathogenesis of COPD. Imbalance of oxidant/antioxidant balance caused by cigarette smoke and other pollutants/biomass fuels plays an important role in the pathogenesis of COPD by regulating redox-sensitive transcription factors (e.g. NF-κB), autophagy and unfolded protein response leading to chronic lung inflammatory response. Cigarette smoke also activates canonical/alternative NF-κB pathways and their upstream kinases leading to sustained inflammatory response in lungs. Recently, epigenetic regulation has been shown to be critical for the development of COPD because the expression/activity of enzymes that regulate these epigenetic modifications have been reported to be abnormal in airways of COPD patients. Hence, the significant advances made in understanding the pathophysiology of COPD as described herein will identify novel therapeutic targets for intervening COPD