Effective Rheology of Bubbles Moving in a Capillary Tube

We calculate the average volumetric flux versus pressure drop of bubbles moving in a single capillary tube with varying diameter, finding a square-root relation from mapping the flow equations onto that of a driven overdamped pendulum. The calculation is based on a derivation of the equation of motion of a bubble train from considering the capillary forces and the entropy production associated with the viscous flow. We also calculate the configurational probability of the positions of the bubbles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Increased Lysis of Stem Cells but Not Their Differentiated Cells by Natural Killer Cells; De-Differentiation or Reprogramming Activates NK Cells

The aims of this study are to demonstrate the increased lysis of stem cells but not their differentiated counterparts by the NK cells and to determine whether disturbance in cell differentiation is a cause for increased sensitivity to NK cell mediated cytotoxicity. Increased cytotoxicity and augmented secretion of IFN-γ were both observed when PBMCs or NK cells were co-incubated with primary UCLA oral squamous carcinoma stem cells (UCLA-OSCSCs) when compared to differentiated UCLA oral squamous carcinoma cells (UCLA-OSCCs). In addition, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) were also lysed greatly by the NK cells. Moreover, NK cells were found to lyse human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs), human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) significantly more than their differentiated counterparts or parental lines from which they were derived. It was also found that inhibition of differentiation or reversion of cells to a less-differentiated phenotype by blocking NFκB or targeted knock down of COX2 in monocytes significantly augmented NK cell cytotoxicity and secretion of IFN-γ. Taken together, these results suggest that stem cells are significant targets of the NK cell cytotoxicity. However, to support differentiation of a subset of tumor or healthy untransformed primary stem cells, NK cells may be required to lyse a number of stem cells and/or those which are either defective or incapable of full differentiation in order to lose their cytotoxic function and gain the ability to secrete cytokines (split anergy). Therefore, patients with cancer may benefit from repeated allogeneic NK cell transplantation for specific elimination of cancer stem cells

Sedentary behaviour is associated with increased long-term cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis independently of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity

Background Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The physical dysfunction symptomatic of RA means people living with this disease spend large periods of the day sedentary, which may further elevate their risk of CVD. The primary aim of this study was to investigate relationships between objectively assessed sedentary behaviour patterns and light physical activity (LPA) with 10-year risk of CVD. Secondary aims were to explore the role of sedentary behaviour patterns and LPA for individual CVD risk factors and functional disability in RA. The extent to which associations were independent of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) engagement was also examined. Methods Baseline data from a subsample of participants recruited to the Physical Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis (PARA) study were used to answer current research questions. Sixty-one patients with RA (mean age (± SD) = 54.92 ± 12.39 years) provided a fasted blood sample and underwent physical assessments to evaluate factors associated with their cardiovascular health. Sedentary behaviour patterns (sedentary time, sedentary bouts, sedentary breaks), LPA and MVPA were measured via 7-days of accelerometry. Ten-year CVD risk was computed (Q-risk-score2), and functional disability determined via questionnaire. Results Regressions revealed significant positive associations between sedentary time and the number of sedentary bouts per day ≥20 min with 10-year CVD risk, with the reverse true for LPA participation. Associations were independent of MVPA engagement. Conclusions Promoting LPA participation and restricting sedentary bouts to <20 min may attenuate long-term CVD risk in RA, independent of MVPA engagement

Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks

37 pages, 15 figures, revised version, accepted by JINSTALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 micron in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10^5 charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.Peer reviewe

Characteristics of Female Sex Workers in Southern India Willing and Unwilling to Participate in a Placebo Gel Trial

Respondent-Driven Sampling was used to recruit female sex workers (FSWs) for a community survey conducted in southern India. After survey completion, participants were given a brochure describing a clinical trial that entailed daily use of a placebo vaginal gel for four months. This study assessed predictors of screening among survey respondents, predictors of enrollment among those eligible for the trial, and predictors of visit attendance and retention among those enrolled. FSWs who reported STI symptoms, engaging in sex work in the past month, and living in a subdistrict easily accessible by public transportation with a high concentration of FSWs, were more likely to screen. FSWs never before tested for HIV were more likely to enroll. This analysis suggests that the primary reason FSWs participated in the trial was a desire for health care—not other factors hypothesized to be important, e.g., HIV risk perception and poverty status