immortal drugs short stories from the early days of modern drug therapy

Modern evidence-based cardiology still utilizes historical gem drugs in routine everyday practice. The analgesic and antiinflammatory attributes of the salicylate-rich willow bark extracts are mentioned in the 16th century Ebers papyrus [1]

Different strategies for improving summer thermal comfort in heavyweight traditional buildings

In order to exploit the passive energy potential of the building envelope, it is important to provide a right combination of insulation thickness, heat capacity and night-time ventilation. In this paper, this issue will be tackled with reference to an historic building in Catania (Southern Italy). The building was built at the end of the XIX century, and its opaque envelope is entirely made with lava stones, which is typical of traditional architecture in this area. Starting from the current configuration of the building, many hypotheses for refurbishment are considered, combined with different strategies for passive cooling, such as night-time ventilation, use of shading devices and adoption of highly-reflective coatings. The effectiveness of each solution in terms of summer thermal comfort is evaluated through dynamic thermal simulations carried out with EnergyPlus. The results show the synergic effect of these strategies, as well as their individual impact, and allow to draw some general conclusions about the behaviour of heavyweight buildings under moderately hot weather conditions

Analytical prediction of laser mediated polymer melt and damage width

Far-field (remote) laser net-shape scanning has revolutionary potential across numerous applications which involve localized heating of materials. It offers a very high degree of manufacturing flexibility in concert with process repeatability, traceability and low cycle energy usage when compared to traditional tooling-based solutions if the material response can be accurately predicted. The functional mechanism of such processes is localized heating; in this work, an analytical model of the line width of phase change occurring between a 3mm thick virgin polypropylene, PP, sheet and a visually transparent 25μm thick PP film is presented. Validation of the model is provided empirically by the scanned application of a CO2 laser exhibiting a Gaussian beam profile onto reference materials at varying incident spot diameters, powers and traverse velocities. This work is of value for process parameter prediction, as this analytically based method is computationally light, enabling its real-time implementation in manufacturing environments

Performance assessment of a membrane liquid desiccant dehumidification cooling system based on experimental investigations

A membrane-based liquid desiccant dehumidification cooling system is studied in this paper for energy efficient air conditioning with independent temperature and humidity controls. The system mainly consists of a dehumidifier, a regenerator, an evaporative cooler and an air-to-air heat exchanger. Its feasibility in the hot and humid region is assessed with calcium chloride solution, and the influences of operating variables on the dehumidifier, regenerator, evaporative cooler and overall system performances are investigated through experimental work. The experimental results indicate that the inlet air condition greatly affects the dehumidification and regeneration performances. The system regeneration temperature should be controlled appropriately for a high energy efficiency based on the operative solution concentration ratio. It is worth noting that the solution concentration ratio plays a considerable role in the system performance. The higher the solution concentration ratio, the better the dehumidification performance. However simultaneously more thermal input power is required for the solution regeneration, and a crystallization risk in the normal operating temperature range should be noted as well. The system mass balance between the dehumidifier and regenerator is crucial for the system steady operation. Under the investigated steady operating condition, the supply air temperature of 20.4°C and system COP of 0.70 are achieved at a solution concentration ratio of 36%

Temperature Measurement of Stored Biomass Using Low-frequency Acoustic Waves and Correlation Signal Processing Techniques

As a substitute of traditional fossil fuels, biomass is widely used to generate electricity and heat. The temperature of stored biomass needs to be monitored continuously to prevent the biomass from self-ignition. This paper proposes a non-intrusive method for the temperature measurement of stored biomass based on acoustic sensing techniques. A characteristic factor is introduced to obtain the sound speed in free space from the measured time of flight of acoustic waves in stored biomass. After analysing the relationship between the defined characteristic factor and air temperature, an updating procedure on the characteristic factor is proposed to reduce the influence of air temperature. By measuring the sound speed in free space air temperature is determined which is the same as biomass temperature. The proposed methodology is examined using a single path acoustic system which consists of a source and two sensors. A linear chirp signal with a duration of 0.1 s and frequencies of 200-500 Hz is generated and transmitted through stored biomass pellets. The time of flight of sound waves between the two acoustic sensors is measured through correlation signal processing. The relative error of measurement results using the proposed method is no more than 4.5% over the temperature range from 22? to 48.9?. Factors that affect the temperature measurement are investigated and quantified. The experimental results indicate that the proposed technique is effective for the temperature measurement of stored biomass with a maximum error of 1.5? under all test conditions

Management of Hematologic Malignancies in the Era of COVID-19 Pandemic: Pathogenetic Mechanisms, Impact of Obesity, Perspectives, and Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about an unprecedented societal and healthcare system crisis, considerably affecting healthcare workers and patients, particularly those with chronic diseases. Patients with hematologic malignancies faced a variety of challenges, pertinent to the nature of an underlying hematologic disorder itself as well as its therapy as a risk factor for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, suboptimal vaccine efficacy and the need for uninterrupted medical observation and continued therapy. Obesity constitutes another factor which was acknowledged since the early days of the pandemic that predisposed people to severe COVID-19, and shares a likely causal link with the pathogenesis of a broad spectrum of hematologic cancers. We review here the epidemiologic and pathogenetic features that obesity and hematologic malignancies share, as well as potential mutual pathophysiological links predisposing people to a more severe SARS-CoV-2 course. Additionally, we attempt to present the existing evidence on the multi-faceted crucial challenges that had to be overcome in this diverse patient group and discuss further unresolved questions and future challenges for the management of hematologic malignancies in the era of COVID-19