Probiotics in arthralgia and spondyloarthropathies in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Prospective randomized trials are necessary

Arthralgias and spondyloarthropathies of the peripheral and axial joints are common in inflammatory bowel disease. Evidence for a strong association between these clinical manifestations and diseases of the joints has been provided by several clinical and epidemiological studies. Immunological studies have shown the presence of shared inflammatory cells both in the gut and the synovium in spondyloarthropathies. Genetic factors play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of spondyloarthropathies and inflammatory bowel disease. The role of the ubiquitous bacterial flora and pathogenic microorganisms present in the intestinal lumen may induce these joint diseases in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. In this review we will focus on the pathogenesis of spondyloarthropathies and arthralgia in patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease. Based on preliminary clinical observations in patients with arthralgia and IBD, we put forward the hypothesis that probiotics may be helpful in the management of common extraintestinal manifestations such as arthralgia in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease

Transverse spectral functions and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions in XXZ spin chains

Recently much progress has been made in applying field theory methods, first developed to study X-ray edge singularities, to interacting one dimensional systems in order to include band curvature effects and study edge singularities at arbitrary momentum. Finding experimental confirmations of this theory remains an open challenge. Here we point out that spin chains with uniform Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions provide an opportunity to test these theories since these interactions may be exactly eliminated by a gauge transformation which shifts the momentum. However, this requires an extension of these X-ray edge methods to the transverse spectral function of the xxz spin chain in a magnetic field, which we provide

Optically functional bio-based phase change material nanocapsules for highly efficient conversion of sunlight to heat and thermal storage

Conversion of sunlight to heat and the subsequent thermal storage by nanoencapsulated bio-based phase change material slurries (NBPCMSs) in a low temperature solar system is investigated. The influences of capsule size, shell material, tilt angle, solar heat flux, PCM mass concentration, nanoparticle and its concentration are explored. The results reveal that the useful heat gain capacity of nano-enhanced coconut oil/Ag, coconut oil/Au, coconut oil/Al, and coconut oil/Cu based slurries is respectively 3.02, 3.12, 2.7, and 3.14 times better than that of pure water, due to an enhanced interaction of light with the functional bio-based PCM nanocapsules. Consequently, the thermal energy storage is reported to be 8.85, 9.29, 7.41, and 9.19 times higher. The increment in mass concentration of PCM from 5 to 20 % and addition of blended nanoparticles further augment the solar thermal energy storage capacity. Specifically, the storage capacity of coconut oil/Au based slurry is improved by up to 74.4 % when the 20 % coconout oil is used as a core material. The energy storage improvements of Cu and Ag based slurries enhance by 4.04 and 4.87 %, respectively, with the insertion of Au nanoparticles at a volume fraction of 25 ppm. Augmenting the core/shell confinement size, on the other hand, diminishes the surface area to volume ratio, allowing agglomeration of the structures inside the slurry. The performance of solar energy storage decreases as the inclination angle of the storage cavity increases from 0° to 60°, reducing the buoyancy force and particles’ collision. Further, since Al particles have low optical characteristics and thermal conductivity, the thermal performance of coconut oil/Al nanoencapsulated slurry are at the lowest level. Finally, experiment is conducted to validate the specific heat capacity model prediction under various wind speeds, from 1 to 4 m/s, and solar illuminations, from 400 to 1000 W/m2

Spin-to-Orbital Angular Momentum Conversion and Spin-Polarization Filtering in Electron Beams

We propose the design of a space-variant Wien filter for electron beams that induces a spin half-turn and converts the corresponding spin angular momentum variation into orbital angular momentum of the beam itself by exploiting a geometrical phase arising in the spin manipulation. When applied to a spatially coherent input spin-polarized electron beam, such a device can generate an electron vortex beam, carrying orbital angular momentum. When applied to an unpolarized input beam, the proposed device, in combination with a suitable diffraction element, can act as a very effective spin-polarization filter. The same approach can also be applied to neutron or atom beams.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Immunogenetics of infection and inflammation of the urogenital and gastrointestinal tracts and probiotics

Peña, A.S. [Promotor]Morré, S.A. [Copromotor]Crusius, J.B.A. [Copromotor

A concise review on the role of nanoparticles upon the productivity of solar desalination systems

In recent years, nanofluids have been widely used to improve the performance of various energy systems due to their favourable thermo-physical and optical characteristics. In particular, solar distillation, as an affordable and reliable technique to provide freshwater, has benefited from nanofluid technology. This article performs a review of the literature on the implementation of nanofluid technology in active and passive solar distillation systems. The progress made and the existing challenges are discussed, and some conclusions and suggestions are made for future research. The review indicates that the daily productivities of solar distillation systems enhance by using nanofluid and increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles. However, long-term operational stability and life cycle assessment remain critical issues. These factors should be considered for future research in this field