4 research outputs found
A Novel Theoretical Study of Elastic and Electronic Properties of M<sub>2</sub>CdC (M = Zr, Hf, and Ta) MAX Phases
No full textIn this study, we have investigated the structural, electronic, and elastic properties of the M₂CdC (M = Ta, Zr, and Hf) MAX phases, using the first-principle methods based on the density functional theory. The calculated formation energies revealed that these compounds are thermodynamically stable in the hexagonal MAX phase. The stability is confirmed by the elastic constants and the conditions of mechanical stability criterion. Also, we have determined the bulk and shear modules of the Young modulus and the Poisson coefficient. The band structures indicate that the three materials are electrically conductive. The chemical bond in M₂CdC is covalent-ionic in nature with the presence of metallic character. For the density of states the hybridization peak between M d and C p occurs in the lower energy range. We have found that there is no gap for these materials due to the existence of a maximum peak of DOS around Fermi level
Modelling and simulation of the pharmacy of a new hospital
No full textPharmacy is one of the services providing the hospital. Its mission concerns the supply of the drugs for the patients which remain in the hospital. This paper describes the modelling methodology used to specify a knowledge model of the pharmacy service of a new French hospital. We first describe the pharmacy service of the old hospital using ARIS analysis tool, then we define the functioning of this service in the new hospital and test several hypothesis by the way of simulation models using the SIMULA language and the simulation tool WITNESS
Blood-borne sphingosine 1-phosphate maintains vascular resistance and cardiac function
No full textInternational audienceG protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are key regulators of cardiovascular function that provide targets for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is an erythrocyte- and platelet-derived lipid mediator with cognate GPCRs on endothelial cells (EC), vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) and cardiomyocytes. S1P circulates in plasma bound to apolipoprotein M (ApoM)-containing high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and to albumin. Circulating S1P levels correlate positively with systolic blood pressure in hypertension and negatively with severity in septic shock and with left ventricular (LV) function in coronary heart disease. In mice, impaired S1P binding to HDL or signaling to EC both trigger hypertension, supporting an essential role for HDL-S1P in supporting endothelial function. The roles of albumin-S1P and myocyte S1PRs in cardiovascular homeostasis remain incompletely defined. Contrasting isolated HDL-S1P deficiency, we report that non-selective depletion of circulating S1P pools in mice impairs LV contractile function and induces hypotension and resistance to the spontaneous increase in blood pressure with age. Cardiac output was preserved in naïve S1P deficient mice by compensatory LV dilation, but cardiac reserve reduced in a dobutamine stress test. These phenotypes tracked with hematopoietic cell S1P production and were partially or fully reversed by erythrocyte transfusion. Hypotension was accompanied by reduced peripheral resistance, and S1P infusion dose-dependently increased vascular resistance in isolated perfused kidneys from wild-type mice but not mice with compound deficiency in S1PR2&3. Epistatic analysis supported a critical role for S1PR3 in S1P-dependent blood pressure regulation and pointed to a distinct origin of the cardiac phenotype. Although circulating S1P is elevated in hypertensive mice and humans, increasing circulating S1P was not sufficient to induce hypertension in naive mice. These observations suggests that albumin-S1P crosses the endothelium in resistance arteries to gain access to contractile VSMC S1P receptors, and that myocyte S1PR signaling is essential for vascular resistance and blood pressure maintenance in mice. They also highlight the role for plasma chaperones in specifying vascular responses to S1P and the relevance of S1P as a biomarker and potential therapeutic target for blood pressure regulation and heart failure
