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There is an increasing demand for alternative in vitro methods to replace animal testing, and, to succeed, new methods are required to be at least as accurate as existing in vivo tests. However, skin sensitization is a complex process requiring coordinated and tightly regulated interactions between a variety of cells and molecules. Consequently, there is considerable difficulty in reproducing this
Butyric acid has been shown to reduce high-fat diet-related metabolic disturbances and to improve intestinal barrier function due to its potent anti-inflammatory capacity. This study investigates whether a butyric acid ester, monobutyrin (MB) affects lipid profiles and gut barrier function in a dose-response manner in rats fed butter- or lard-based high-fat diets. Four-week-old male Wistar rats we
This work investigates the stability of emulsions prepared by using octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA)-modified waxy maize starch in the form of granules, dissolved starch, and non-solvent precipitated starch as Pickering emulsion stabilisers. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different forms of starches on the stability of emulsion using light microscopy, light scattering, and
Background: Lead exposure, even at low levels, is associated with adverse health effects in humans. We investigated the determinants of individual lead levels in a general population-based sample of adults from Florence, Italy. Methods: Erythrocyte lead levels were measured (using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry) in 454 subjects enrolled in the Florence cohort of the European Prospect
Motivation: High throughput biomedical measurements normally capture multiple overlaid biologically relevant signals and often also signals representing different types of technical artefacts like e.g. batch effects. Signal identification and decomposition are accordingly main objectives in statistical biomedical modeling and data analysis. Existing methods, aimed at signal reconstruction and deco
When saline water is used to irrigate crops in arid environments, appropriate irrigation management should be applied to avoid negatively impacting soil characteristics. In this study, the effects of irrigating date palms with saline water (2.24 g l−1) on soil physicochemical characteristics such as the electrical conductivity (ECe), the pH of the saturated soil paste (pHe), the concentrations of
A numerical method is employed to study effects of convergence angle and dimple shape on flow structure and heat transfer under a rotating frame. The investigated convergence angles are 0.0°, 6.3°, and 12.7°. The dimple shapes are circular, streamwise-elliptical, and spanwise-elliptical. The rotation number ranges from 0.0 to 0.4. Computed flow structures and heat transfer are compared. Higher rot
While price-fixing on platforms can attract severe enforcement action, as shown by the Amazon poster case, a more nuanced picture emerges regarding the fixing of prices for sellers by sharing economy platforms. This article explores possible antitrust responses to such centralized platform-driven price-fixing. The article, first, provides an introduction to the sharing economy and pricing models o
Background: Electronic media use is an important avenue for reaching stigmatized populations. We examined Internet access and use of sexually related electronic media among men who have sex with men (MSM) in 4 cities in Tanzania. Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 231 MSM in Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Arusha, and Tanga regarding electronic media type, times of use, type of use and frequency
The understanding of pedestrian movement in smoke-filled environments is of significant importance in fire safety engineering applications. This chapter presents an overview of the main concepts concerning pedestrian movement in smoke, with a particular emphasis on the adverse effects that it can have on pedestrian evacuation. Several factors are discussed, including fire, pedestrian and environme
The study presents the first description and analysis of ostracod records from three sites cored in different parts of the Baltic Sea during the IODP Expedition 347, Baltic Sea Paleoenvironment. Our data present the first high-resolution ostracod records from the Late Weichselian and Holocene sediments collected across the Baltic Sea Basin. Using published data on modern ostracod species ecology o
Background: There exist few recovery and occupation-based interventions for mental health service users. Balancing Everyday Life (BEL) is a new occupation-based lifestyle intervention that was created to fill this need. Aim: To gain group leaders’ and participants’ perspectives of the BEL intervention content and format, including factors that helped, hindered, and could be improved. Methods: A co
Quantitative evaluations are valuable in the strive for improvements and asserting quality. However, the field of Command & Control (C2) evaluations are hard to navigate, and it is difficult to find the correct measurement for a specific situation. A comprehensive Scoping Study was made concerning measurements of C2 performance and effectiveness. A lack of an existing appropriate framework for
Poverty has a long history in Africa. Yet, the most conventional and influential history of African poverty is a very short one. As told by the World Bank, the history of poverty starts in the 1980s with the first Living Standard Measurement Study. This history of poverty by numbers is also a very narrow one. There is a disconnect between the theoretical and historical underpinnings of how academi
This study explores the effects of crescent ribs mounted in an internal cooling channel on the external adiabatic film cooling performance to evaluate the advantage of crescent ribs in gas turbine blade cooling. Three ribs including a transverse rib, a crescent rib concave to the stream-wise direction, and a crescent rib convex to the stream-wise direction are considered. For a fixed mainstream fl
A first lesson in physical chemistry invariably starts with an example of water existing in three states, or phases - gaseous (water vapour), liquid (water from the tap) and solid (ice cubes). Such phase transitions are easily observed, but their underlying cause is not so evident. Atoms and molecules are difficult to follow due to their minute size and rapid movements. So, in order to investigateThe effect of microscopic colloid interactions on the resultant macroscopic phase behaviour is a frequently studied topic in soft matter resarch, and lies at the heart of this thesis. Key structural and dynamic properties of colloidal model systems across liquid-solid transitions are tracked using optical imaging techniques. The first studied system comprises of thermosensitive microgels. These ar
Lipids are organic molecules vital for living organisms. They are part of cell membranes and provide an important energy reserve once they are digested by our body. They are most commonly known as fats and oils. Some important so-called polar lipids are amphiphilic molecules, which means they have a head group that is water ‘loving’ (hydrophilic) and a hydrocarbon tail is water ‘hating’ (hydrophobNonlamellar lipid liquid crystalline phases have many potential applications, such as for drug delivery, protein encapsulation or crystallization. Lipid liquid crystalline sponge phase (L3) has so far not been very much considered in these applications, in spite of apparent advantages in terms of its flexibility and capacity of forming large aqueous pores able to encapsulate large bioactive molecu
