Friction and leakage characteristics of confined, reduced-scale inflatable structures

This work is focused on the evaluation of the performance of a small-scale inflatable, or plug, placed in a confined space provided by a circular rigid pipe as a way to contain the propagation of floods. The rigid pipe is a simplified and scaled approximation of an actual tunnel section. The evaluations were conducted using an inflatable plug made of a single layer of coated Vectran® fabric. Friction coefficients of the system were calculated for three different materials lining the pipe so a comparison could be made. These friction coefficients were also compared to laboratory friction machine testing of the same lining materials. This comparison showed that the friction coefficients of the pipe-plug system were lower than the laboratory friction machine tests. Rates of water leakage around the plug were also studied. The leakage rates were recorded for several different plug pressures while varying the tunnel pressure accordingly. It was observed that as pressure differential decreased between the plug and pipe, the leakage rate increased. Results showed also that the plug was able to withstand a pressure differential with manageable water leakage rates

Extracellular Vesticles in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Understanding Protective and Harmful Signaling for the Development of New Therapeutics

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe respiratory condition characterized by increased lung permeability, hyper-inflammatory state, and fluid leak into the alveolar spaces. ARDS is a heterogeneous disease, with multiple direct and indirect causes that result in a mortality of up to 40%. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, its incidence has increased up to ten-fold. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are small liposome-like particles that mediate intercellular communication and play a major role in ARDS pathophysiology. Indeed, they participate in endothelial barrier dysfunction and permeability, neutrophil, and macrophage activation, and also in the development of a hypercoagulable state. A more thorough understanding of the variegated and cell-specific functions of EVs may lead to the development of safe and effective therapeutics. In this review, we have collected evidence of EVs role in ARDS, revise the main mechanisms of production and internalization and summarize the current therapeutical approaches that have shown the ability to modulate EV signaling

Evaluation of Recruitment Strategies on Inclusiveness of Populations at Risk for Health Disparities in the Statewide Remote Online COVIDsmart Registry

Background The COVID-19 pandemic affected health research practices. The large-scale impacts of COVID-19 and restrictions on face-to-face interaction led to increased use of remote online data collection methods. However, it is unclear if such efforts led to the representation of populations at risk for health disparities. We evaluated whether multiple recruitment strategies would capture a representative sample of individuals at risk for health disparities. Methods The COVIDsmart registry collected clinical, social, economic, and behavioral data in the state of Virginia from March to November, 2021. Seven hundred eighty-two adult participants were enrolled. We compared the representation of COVIDsmart participants at risk for health disparities against state data with two-tailed Z tests. Monte-Carlo estimates evaluated the association between recruitment strategies utilized and health disparity risk status. Results The majority of participants were non-Hispanic White (81.5%), female (78.6%), non-rural (98%), had a Masters’ degree or higher (62.6%), and an income of $100,000 or higher (51%). The recruitment strategy that brought participants into the study did not differ significantly based on racial/ethnic minority status (p\u3e.05), but did differ for low SES versus high SES groups, p=.03. Low SES and ethnic/racial minority representation proportions were significantly lower for COVIDsmart participants than state data, (p\u3e.05). Conclusions Participants at risk for health disparities were not well represented in this registry despite multiple recruitment strategies. The use of targeted emails, social media, and community collaboration may improve the participation of populations at risk for health disparities in remote online research studies

Discutindo a educação ambiental no cotidiano escolar: desenvolvimento de projetos na escola formação inicial e continuada de professores

A presente pesquisa buscou discutir como a Educação Ambiental (EA) vem sendo trabalhada, no Ensino Fundamental e como os docentes desta escola compreendem e vem inserindo a EA no cotidiano escolar., em uma escola estadual do município de Tangará da Serra/MT, Brasil. Para tanto, realizou-se entrevistas com os professores que fazem parte de um projeto interdisciplinar de EA na escola pesquisada. Verificou-se que o projeto da escola não vem conseguindo alcançar os objetivos propostos por: desconhecimento do mesmo, pelos professores; formação deficiente dos professores, não entendimento da EA como processo de ensino-aprendizagem, falta de recursos didáticos, planejamento inadequado das atividades. A partir dessa constatação, procurou-se debater a impossibilidade de tratar do tema fora do trabalho interdisciplinar, bem como, e principalmente, a importância de um estudo mais aprofundado de EA, vinculando teoria e prática, tanto na formação docente, como em projetos escolares, a fim de fugir do tradicional vínculo “EA e ecologia, lixo e horta”.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Friction and leakage characteristics of confined, reduced-scale inflatable structures

This work is focused on the evaluation of the performance of a small-scale inflatable, or plug, placed in a confined space provided by a circular rigid pipe as a way to contain the propagation of floods. The rigid pipe is a simplified and scaled approximation of an actual tunnel section. The evaluations were conducted using an inflatable plug made of a single layer of coated Vectran® fabric. Friction coefficients of the system were calculated for three different materials lining the pipe so a comparison could be made. These friction coefficients were also compared to laboratory friction machine testing of the same lining materials. This comparison showed that the friction coefficients of the pipe-plug system were lower than the laboratory friction machine tests. Rates of water leakage around the plug were also studied. The leakage rates were recorded for several different plug pressures while varying the tunnel pressure accordingly. It was observed that as pressure differential decreased between the plug and pipe, the leakage rate increased. Results showed also that the plug was able to withstand a pressure differential with manageable water leakage rates

Exploring the influence of behavioral factors on depression and anxiety scores during the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from the Virginia statewide COVIDsmart longitudinal study

Abstract Background Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been growing concern about the declining mental health and healthy behaviors compared to pre-pandemic levels. Despite this, there is a lack of longitudinal studies that have examined the relationship between health behaviors and mental health during the pandemic. In response, the statewide COVIDsmart longitudinal study was launched. The study’s main objective is to better understand the effects of the pandemic on mental health. Findings may provide a foundation for the identification of public health strategies to mitigate future negative impacts of the pandemic. Methods Following online recruitment in spring of 2021, adults, ages 18 to 87, filled out social, mental, economic, occupational, and physical health questionnaires on the digital COVIDsmart platform at baseline and through six monthly follow-ups. Changes in the participant’s four health behaviors (e.g., tobacco and alcohol consumption, physical activity, and social media use), along with sex, age, loneliness score, and reported social and economic (SE) hardships, were analyzed for within-between group associations with depression and anxiety scores using Mixed Models Repeated Measures. Results In this study, of the 669 individuals who reported, the within-between group analysis indicated that younger adults (F = 23.81, p  0.05). Physical activity was not associated with anxiety nor was alcohol consumption with both depression and anxiety (p > 0.05). Conclusions This study demonstrates the longitudinal changes in behaviors within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings may facilitate the design of preventative population-based health approaches during the COVID-19 pandemic or future pandemics

Responses of endothelial cells to extremely slow flows

The process of blood vessel formation is accompanied by very minimal flow in the beginning, followed by increased flow rates once the vessel develops sufficiently. Many studies have been performed for endothelial cells at shear stress levels of 0.1–60 dyn∕cm2; however, little is known about the effect of extremely slow flows (shear stress levels of 10−4–10−2 dyn∕cm2) that endothelial cells may experience during early blood vessel formation where flow-sensing by indirect mass transport sensing rather than through mechanoreceptor sensing mechanisms would become more important. Here, we show that extremely low flows enhance proliferation, adherens junction protein localization, and nitric oxide secretion of endothelial cells, but do not induce actin filament reorganization. The responses of endothelial cells in different flow microenvironments need more attention because increasing evidence shows that endothelial cell behaviors at the extremely slow flow regimes cannot be linearly extrapolated from observations at faster flow rates. The devices and methods described here provide a useful platform for such studies

Transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in pppp collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 7 TeV

Charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$~TeV are measured with the inner tracking system of the CMS detector at the LHC. The charged-hadron yield is obtained by counting the number of reconstructed hits, hit-pairs, and fully reconstructed charged-particle tracks. The combination of the three methods gives a charged-particle multiplicity per unit of pseudorapidity \dnchdeta|_{|\eta| < 0.5} = 5.78\pm 0.01\stat\pm 0.23\syst for non-single-diffractive events, higher than predicted by commonly used models. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$ to 7~TeV is 66.1\%\pm 1.0\%\stat\pm 4.2\%\syst. The mean transverse momentum is measured to be 0.545\pm 0.005\stat\pm 0.015\syst\GeVc. The results are compared with similar measurements at lower energies.Charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are measured with the inner tracking system of the CMS detector at the LHC. The charged-hadron yield is obtained by counting the number of reconstructed hits, hit-pairs, and fully reconstructed charged-particle tracks. The combination of the three methods gives a charged-particle multiplicity per unit of pseudorapidity, dN(charged)/d(eta), for |eta| < 0.5, of 5.78 +/- 0.01 (stat) +/- 0.23 (syst) for non-single-diffractive events, higher than predicted by commonly used models. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from sqrt(s) = 0.9 to 7 TeV is 66.1% +/- 1.0% (stat) +/- 4.2% (syst). The mean transverse momentum is measured to be 0.545 +/- 0.005 (stat) +/- 0.015 (syst) GeV/c. The results are compared with similar measurements at lower energies