The Effectiveness of Fish Oil Supplementation in Asthmatic Rats is Limited by an Inefficient Action on ASM Function

Episodes of acute exacerbation are the major clinical feature of asthma and therefore represent an important focus for developing novel therapies for this disease. There are many reports that the n-3 fatty acids found in fish oil exert anti-inflammatory effects, but there are few studies of the action of fish oil on airway smooth muscle (ASM) function. In the present investigation, we evaluated the effect of fish oil supplementation on smooth muscle force of contraction in ovalbumin-induced asthmatic Wistar rats, and its consequences on static lung compliance, mucus production, leukocyte chemotaxis and production of proinflammatory cytokines. Fish oil supplementation suppressed the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the lung in asthmatic animals (2.04 ± 0.19 × 10⁶ cells vs. 3.33 ± 0.43 × 10⁶ cells in the control asthmatic group; P < 0.05). Static lung compliance increased with fish oil supplementation in asthmatic rats (0.640 ± 0.053 mL/cm H₂O vs. 0.399 ± 0.043 mL/cm H₂O; P < 0.05). However, fish oil did not prevent asthma-associated lung eosinophilia and did not affect the concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in lung tissue or the proportion of the airways obliterated with mucus. Fish oil had no effect on the force of contraction in asthmatic rats in response to acetylcholine (3.026 ± 0.274 mN vs. 2.813 ± 0.364 mN in the control asthmatic group). In conclusion, although fish oil exerts some benefits in this model of asthma, its effectiveness appears to be limited by an inefficient action on airway smooth muscle function.     

Stability of some stationary solutions to the forced KdV equation with one or two bumps

Free-surface flows past submerged obstacles in a channel are considered. The fluid is assumed to be inviscid and incompressible and the flow to be irrotational. The first-order approximation of long nonlinear surface waves over one or two bumps results in a forced Korteweg?Cde Vries (fKdV) equation. Solutions of the stationary fKdV equation are constructed and their stability is studied, either analytically or numerically. These various solutions include solitary waves over a single bump, solitary waves with two humps over a double bump, table-top solutions over a double bump and fronts.     

Liquidus Projection of the B-Fe-U Diagram: The Fe-Rich Corner

The liquidus projection of the Fe-rich corner of the B-Fe-U phase diagram is proposed based on powder X-ray diffraction measurements, differential thermal analysis, and scanning electron microscopy observations complemented by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The present work demonstrates the existence of 10 ternary reactions together with 18 monovariant lines and establishes their location and approximate temperatures. The ternary compounds existing in this region of the B-Fe-U ternary phase diagram, UFe₃B₂, UFe₄B, and U₂Fe₂₁B₆, were confirmed to form by ternary peritectic reactions, yet UFe₄B and U₂Fe₂₁B₆ have minute primary crystallization fields, indicating a more challenging preparation of single crystals for these compounds when compared with UFe₃B₂.     

Molecular Modeling Studies of Candidate Chromophores

Two 2-dimensional tableaus of heterocyclic molecular systems are shown to have molecular graphs that are pairwise strongly subspectral (having a preponderance of common eigenvalues). Based on this result, the electronic similarity of candidate chromophores are proposed.     

Two experimental methods to determining stress–strain behavior of work-hardened surface layers of metallic components

Two experimental methods to characterize the mechanical behavior of work-hardened surface layers of metallic materials, induced by mechanical surface treatments, are described and discussed. The study was conducted using two steels with different mechanical properties, subjected to a similar shot-peening treatment. To characterize the elastic–plastic behavior of the surface layers affected by shot-peening, the X-ray diffraction assisted four-point bending method (XRDABM) and the normalized hardness variation method (NHVM) were applied. The results were compared and discussed taking into account the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. Similar yield strength values of the treated surfaces were found by both proposed methods. Taking into account their measuring characteristics, these can be considered complementary methods.     

SIMPS: Using Sociology for Personal Mobility

Assessing mobility in a thorough fashion is a crucial step toward more efficient mobile network design. Recent research on mobility has focused on two main points: analyzing models and studying their impact on data transport. These works investigate the consequences of mobility. In this paper, instead, we focus on the causes of mobility. Starting from established research in sociology, we propose SIMPS, a mobility model of human crowds with pedestrian motion. This model defines a process called sociostation, rendered by two complimentary behaviors, namely socialize and isolate, that regulate an individual with regard to her/his own sociability level. SIMPS leads to results that agree with scaling laws observed both in small-scale and large-scale human motion. Although our model defines only two simple individual behaviors, we observe many emerging collective behaviors (group formation/splitting, path formation, and evolution).     

Surface morphology evaluation of polymer beads based on divinylbenzene by atomic force microscopy

Macroporous poly(styrene‐co‐divinylbenzene) and poly(divinylbenzene) beads were synthesized by modified suspension polymerization in the presence of different mixtures of toluene and heptane as porogen agent. Through atomic force microscopy, it was possible to identify the microspheres and the channels between them that constitute the bead pores. It was also possible to make a comparison with the results obtained by nitrogen desorption, a traditional technique used to determine the porosity of macroporous copolymers in the dry state. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 541–551, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10290