644 research outputs found
Monocyte-to-macrophage switch reversibly impaired by Ibrutinib.
No full textIbrutinib is increasingly adopted for treating lymphoid malignancies. While growing amounts of data pile up about Ibrutinib mechanism of action on neoplastic B cells, little is known about its impact on other immune cells. Here we investigated the effect of Ibrutinib on monocyte/macrophage functions. (1) Ibrutinib treatment of purified human monocytes affected both chemoattractant-triggered inside-out as well as integrin-mediated outside-in signaling events, thus provoking defective adhesion and spreading on purified integrin ligands, respectively. (2) In in vitro cell-culture experiments, Ibrutinib promoted a differentiation shift of monocytes to fibrocyte-like cells, characterized by the acquisition of a typical elongated cell morphology. Importantly, this clear-cut shape transition also occurred upon culturing monocytes with sera derived from Ibrutinib-treated patients, thus clearly suggesting that the drug concentrations achievable in vivo can generate the phenotypic shift. (3) Ibrutinib-induced fibrocyte-like cells showed adhesion deficiency, altered phagocytic properties, and, with respect to macrophages, they acquired the capability of generating larger amounts of reactive oxygen species, possibly displaying different metabolic activities. Taken together, our results indicate that Ibrutinib has profound effects on the monocyte/macrophage immunobiology. They may finally shed some light about the biological ground of several Ibrutinib-related toxicities
Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics investigation of the dispersion of radioactive cloud
No full textThe evaluation of spatial distributions of plume dispersion into the atmosphere is an important task for estimating the release of radioactive gas. The Gaussian Plume Model represents the most adopted implementation for submersion dose evaluations from an emission stack. The radioactive cloud dispersion is obtained by calculating the Briggs’ coefficients that varies with the meteorological conditions, mainly the wind speed and the atmosphere stability. The ideal scenarios for these models are installations located far away from urban areas, such as nuclear power or big industrial plants. On the other hand, healthcare facilities, such as nuclear medicine, radiotherapy suites or hadrontherapy accelerators, are usually situated in populated areas and in close vicinity to other buildings. For this reason, the hypotheses of the GPM cannot be applied without corrections, since the pollutant transport is affected by several phenomena (buoyancy, downwash) due to the buildings. CFD model can provide a reliable estimate of the pollutant distribution that take into account all these effects. In this work, comparisons between Gaussian plume and fluid dynamic models are performed in order to make comparison at short and long distances. Fluid dynamic results have been obtained by solving the steady-state Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations using the k-ω turbulence closure model, which has been modified to account for atmospheric stability, thermal stratification, and ground roughness effects. The Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory is employed to define consistent inflow conditions to simulate different levels of atmospheric stability. Numerical results have been obtained by considering different stability atmospheric conditions and comparisons and differences between models are presented and discussed. Once a reliable distribution of the radioactive pollutant is known, several dosimetric approaches can be adopted in order to evaluate the doses received by population (e.g. Monte Carlo evaluation of the submersion dose, multiplication of the concentration by the screening factors)
A three dimensional CFD-based approach for the dispersion of radioactive cloud in urban environment
No full textThe presence of buildings and obstacles in urban environment can modify the velocity and spatial concentration fields of a radioactive cloud emitted by a source, therefore affecting the dispersion of the plume. A simplified model for estimating the enhanced dispersion due to the presence of obstacles and buildings has been presented by Huber, by introducing modified parameters in the framework of the Gaussian Plume Model (GPM). The Gaussian Plume Model (GPM) represents the most adopted implementation for submersion dose evaluations from an emission stack. The radioactive cloud dispersion is obtained by calculating the Brigg’s coefficients that varies with the meteorological conditions, mainly the wind speed and the atmosphere stability. In the model developed by Huber dispersion parameters and Brigg’s coefficients have been properly modified by including looping movement of the plume as a result of its interaction with vortices induced in the flow filed surrounding the obstacles. The limit of the model is represented by the lack of detailed geometrical information of the obstacles, resulting in a simplified description of the spatial distribution of the concentration and velocity of the radioactive cloud in the surrounding of the radioactive source. A more accurate estimation of the dispersion of a radioactive plume in an urban environment can be obtained by recurring to computational fluid-dynamics (CFD) models. In the work, similarity Theory (MOST) for the entire vertical Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) profile under non-neutral stability conditions has been included in the framework of the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach, which is a well-established method in CFD, known for its effectiveness across different applications, showing satisfactory results in similar applications of pollutant transport in urban areas. Subsequently, the radionuclide dispersion can also be implemented in the Monte Carlo code FLUKA to make more accurate dose evaluations. CFD models can be particularly useful for evaluations at short distances in urban areas where the hypothesis or the GPM plume cannot be applied. This is particular important for nuclear medicine and hadrontherapy centers situated in populated areas in which GPM models can excessively overestimate submersion doses. In the work, comparisons between Gaussian plume and fluid dynamic models are performed in order to make comparison at short and long distances. The case study geometry used in the numerical simulation was inspired by the actual urban agglomeration similar to the one surrounding the CNAO (National Oncological hadrontherapy Center, in Pavia-Italy), structure of international excellence in the field of oncological treatments with hadrontherapy techniques using a synchrotron for the particle acceleration. A sample chimney was modeled on the CNAO building, emitting exhaust. The domain for the CFD-simulation has been discretized by an hybrid type mesh, with refinement regions set to accurately solve the flow field and the plume transport near the obstacle surfaces, close to the ground, and in the surrounding of the chimney. Numerical results have been obtained by considering different stability atmospheric conditions and comparisons and differences with Huber approximation are presented and discussed
THREE-DIMENSIONAL COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS INVESTIGATION OF THE DISPERSION OF RADIOACTIVE CLOUD
No full textThe evaluation of spatial distributions of plume dispersion into the atmosphere is an important task for estimating the release of radioactive gas. The Gaussian Plume Model represents the most adopted implementation for submersion dose evaluations from an emission stack. The radioactive cloud dispersion is obtained by calculating the Briggs’ coefficients that varies with the meteorological conditions, mainly the wind speed and the atmosphere stability. The ideal scenarios for these models are installations located far away from urban areas, such as nuclear power or big industrial plants. On the other hand, healthcare facilities, such as nuclear medicine, radiotherapy suites or hadrontherapy accelerators, are usually situated in populated areas and in close vicinity to other buildings. For this reason, the hypotheses of the GPM cannot be applied without corrections, since the pollutant transport is affected by several phenomena (buoyancy, downwash) due to the buildings. CFD model can provide a reliable estimate of the pollutant distribution that take into account all these effects. In this work, comparisons between Gaussian plume and fluid dynamic models are performed in order to make comparison at short and long distances. Fluid dynamic results have been obtained by solving the steady-state Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations using the k-ω turbulence closure model, which has been modified to account for atmospheric stability, thermal stratification, and ground roughness effects. The Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory is employed to define consistent inflow conditions to simulate different levels of atmospheric stability. Numerical results have been obtained by considering different stability atmospheric conditions and comparisons and differences between models are presented and discussed. Once a reliable distribution of the radioactive pollutant is known, several dosimetric approaches can be adopted in order to evaluate the doses received by population (e.g. Monte Carlo evaluation of the submersion dose, multiplication of the concentration by the screening factors)
How do consumers describe the emotions, which wine elicits?
No full textEvery culture has its own lexicon of emotions, which allows feelings to be socially shared. According to Damasio’s studies (2003), emotions (which shape our daily experiences) might be defined as a special type of perception which informs us about current body status and any modifications due to interactions with the external environment.We believe that it would be very interesting to ascertain if there are any adjectives, belonging to the general lexicon of emotions, that consumers can use to describe emotions associated with wine and wine tasting experiences.A generic list of 453 emotional adjectives, extracted from past research was submitted to 4 experts of lexicon in the emotions. They then selected those adjectives with a relevant affective connotation to be used when consuming products. Subsequently, 92 participants judged the 141 selected adjectives to determine their suitability (dichotomic choice) to describe wine and wine tasting experiences. The 23 most popular adjectives were them presented to 278 wine consumers with the aim of determining their suitability (5 point Likert scale). A series of factorial analyses was then used to further reduce the list to 16 adjectives.Our data showed that people preferred positive as opposed to negative adjectives to describe wine and wine tasting experiences. This is in line with other studies on food consumption (King, Meiselman, 2010) and is an interesting result taking into consideration the large number of potential terms in lexicon to describe unpleasant emotions.The 16 adjectives selected could potentially be used to build wine profiles with an emotional connotation for different types of wine, also coming from various geographical areas. These profiles could be then be correlated with sensory and chemical data
The Pottesman Collection in the British Museum. Early Dynastic and Sargonic administrative texts. With an Appendix on a Palmyrene Inscription
No full textEdizione, trascrizione, traduzione e commento di un frammento di iscrizione palmirena inedita presente nella collezione Pottesman del British Museum (Appendice Agostini).The British Museum houses a small collection of six cuneiform tablets and a Palmyrene dedicatory inscription purchased in 1987 from the private collection of Solomon Pottesman. The aim of the present contribution is to provide a catalog of this lot and an edition of the so far unpublished cuneiform texts. In the appendix, Alessio Agostini added the edition of the Palmyrene inscription, which would have otherwise gone beyond the capabilities of the present author
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