The worldwide demand for renewable energy is increasing rapidly because of the climate problem, and also because oil resources are limited. Wind energy appears as a clean and good solution to cope ...with a great part of this energy demand. In Denmark for example, 20% of the electricity is produced from wind, and plans are towards reaching 50%. As space is becoming scarce for the installation of onshore wind turbines, offshore wind energy, when possible, seems as a good alternative. This work describes, for Europe and North America, the potential for offshore wind energy, the current status of this technology, and existing plans for the development of offshore wind parks. It also presents existing as well as promising new solutions for offshore wind energy.
The technique of using imposed turbulence in combination with a forced boundary layer in order to model the atmospheric boundary layer is analyzed for a very long domain using large‐eddy simulations ...with different combinations of prescribed velocity profiles and pregenerated turbulence fields based on the Mann model. The ambient flow is first studied in the absence of wind turbines. The velocity profiles undergo a transition throughout the domain with a velocity increase of 10% to 15% close to the ground far downstream in the domain. The turbulence characteristics close to the turbulence plane are, as expected, similar to those of the added Mann turbulence. The turbulence will then undergo a transition throughout the domain to finally reach a balance with the shear profile at a certain downstream distance. This distance is found to depend on the turbulence level of the added Mann turbulence planes. A lower Mann turbulence level generally results in a shorter “balancing” distance. Secondly, a row of 10 turbines is imposed in the simulations at different distances from the plane of turbulence in order to determine how the distance affects wake conditions and power production levels. Our results show that a “balancing” distance is needed between the turbulence plane and the first turbine in the row in order to ensure nonchanging ambient conditions throughout the turbine row. This introduces an increase in the computational costs. The computational cost for the forced boundary technique is normally lower compared with using precursor simulations, for longer domains; however, this needs to be verified further.
Influenza A viruses (IAV) are important human and animal pathogens with potential for causing pandemics. IAVs exhibit a wide spectrum of clinical illness in humans, from relatively mild infections by ...seasonal strains to acute respiratory distress syndrome during infections with some highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses. In the present study, we infected A549 human cells with seasonal H1N1 (sH1N1), 2009 pandemic H1N1 (pdmH1N1), or novel H7N9 and HPAI H5N1 strains. We used multiplexed isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification to measure proteomic host responses to these different strains at 1, 3, and 6 h post-infection. Our analyses revealed that both H7N9 and H5N1 strains induced more profound changes to the A549 global proteome compared to those with low-pathogenicity H1N1 virus infection, which correlates with the higher pathogenicity these strains exhibit at the organismal level. Bioinformatics analysis revealed important modulation of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) oxidative stress response in infection. Cellular fractionation and Western blotting suggested that the phosphorylated form of NRF2 is not imported to the nucleus in H5N1 and H7N9 virus infections. Fibronectin was also strongly inhibited in infection with H5N1 and H7N9 strains. This is the first known comparative proteomic study of the host response to H7N9, H5N1, and H1N1 viruses and the first time NRF2 is shown to be implicated in infection with highly pathogenic strains of influenza.
Copper is currently extensively studied because it provides promising electrodes for carbon dioxide electroreduction. The original combination, reported here, of a nanostructured porous dendritic ...Cu-based material, characterized by electron microcopy (SEM, TEM) and X-ray diffraction methods, and a water/ionic liquid mixture as the solvent, contributing to CO2 solubilization and activation, results in a remarkably efficient (large current densities at low overpotentials), stable and selective (large faradic yields) electrocatalytic system for the conversion of CO2 into formic acid, a product with a variety of uses. These results provide new directions for the further improvement of Cu electrodes.
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, the reader will be able to:
Discuss recent advances in the use of cryopreserved ovarian tissue to restore fertility.
Explain the main aspects of the ...procedure for transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue.
Discuss the options to preserve fertility of young patients with a high risk for premature ovarian failure after cancer therapy.
Access and take the CME test online and receive 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ at CME.TheOncologist.com
Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is now offered as an experimental procedure to preserve the fertility of young patients with a high risk for premature ovarian failure resulting from cancer therapy. This is the only available option to preserve the fertility of prepubertal patients treated with gonadotoxic chemotherapy. At present, thousands of patients all over the world have undergone this procedure with the hope of later restoring their fertility. Although the efficiency of the transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue to restore ovarian function has been established, reports of pregnancy are still very scarce. Here, we describe the second published full‐term spontaneous pregnancy after an orthotopic and heterotopic transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue in a 31‐year‐old woman previously treated by conditioning therapy for bone marrow transplantation for Hodgkin's disease. This birth gives compelling evidence for the graft origin of the gamete and confirms the efficacy of ovarian tissue transplantation in restoring human natural fertility after oncological treatment. This case report stresses the importance of proposing the ovarian tissue cryopreservation procedure to all young patients who require potentially sterilizing treatment, with all alternative options to preserve fertility being duly taken into consideration.
Cancer progression results from a complex interplay between tumor cells and the extracellular milieu. In breast carcinoma, the stromal microenvironment has been suggested to play a major role in ...promoting tumor growth, progression, and invasion. The stroma of 154 resected specimens of invasive breast carcinoma of no special type was quantified using a digital image analyzer. Statistical analyses were performed between the quantity of stroma and survival, as well as between progression-free survival and clinicopathological data. Levels of myofibroblastic stroma varied from 0-46%, with a median of 15.1% and a standard deviation of 7.5. The myofibroblastic stromal reaction was statistically greater in grade 2 and 3 tumors (p = 0.029). Furthermore, there was a trend for worse progression-free survival in the group of node-negative tumors with strong smooth-muscle actin stromal expression (Log rank = 0.075). The present study demonstrates that the myofibroblastic reaction of breast invasive carcinoma of no special type is not merely a passive reaction, but seems to be an integral part of the neoplastic process by facilitating tumor progression and invasion. Additional, larger studies on mechanisms of stromal change are needed and may potentially lead to novel treatments.
Objective:
The present review aims to assess the clinical efficacy and safety of the α-1-adrenergic antagonist prazosin as primary pharmacologic treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
...Method:
A systematic review was performed using keywords (i.e., prazosin, α-1-adrenergic antagonist, α-1-blocker, post-traumatic stress disorder) in the databases PubMed/Medline (1966–May 2016), Embase (1966–May 2016), ScienceDirect (1823–May 2016), OvidSP (1946–May 2016) and Nature (1845–May 2016). To be considered for inclusion, studies had to test the efficacy of prazosin either alone or added to ongoing treatment in adults with PTSD, use validated tools to assess and monitor the disorders, allow comparisons on the basis of univariate analyses (i.e., p-values of t-tests and effect sizes) and list the identified adverse reactions.
Results:
12 studies were included: 5 randomized controlled trials, 4 open-label prospective trials and 3 retrospective file reviews. The evaluation concerned 276 patients exposed to civilian trauma (19%) or war trauma (81%). Prazosin significantly decreases trauma nightmares, avoidance, hypervigilance and improves patient status in all studies. No significant difference of blood pressure was observed at the end of trials.
Conclusions:
Beyond the methodological and clinical biases of these studies, the present review not only confirms the effectiveness and good tolerability of prazosin, but also suggests its possible use as primary pharmacologic treatment for PTSD. Uncertainties remain, however, regarding the prescription modalities and dosages.
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