Toxic Interaction Between Solar Radiation and Cigarette Smoke on Primary Human Keratinocytes

Solar radiation and cigarette smoke are two environmental risk factors known to affect skin integrity. Although the toxic effects of these factors on skin have been widely studied separately, few studies have focused on their interaction. The objective of this study was to evaluate and understand the synergistic harmful effects of cigarette smoke and solar rays on human primary keratinocytes. The keratinocytes were exposed to cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and then irradiated with a solar simulator light (SSL). The viability, as determined by measuring metabolic activity of skin cells, and the levels of global reactive oxygen species (ROS) were evaluated after exposure to CSE and SSL. The combination of 3% CSE with 29 kJ m⁻² UVA caused a decrease of 81% in cell viability, while with 10% to 20% CSE, the cell viability was null. This phototoxicity was accompanied by an increase in singlet oxygen but a decrease in type I ROS when CSE and SSL were combined in vitro. Surprisingly, an increase in the CSE's total antioxidant capacity was also observed. These results suggest a synergy between the two environmental factors in their effect on skin cells, and more precisely a phototoxicity causing a drastic decrease in cell viability.     

Perspectives from above and beyond the proton drip-line

This paper will review the dramatic increase in our knowledge of one and two proton unbound nuclei [1] such as recoil decay tagging [2] are revealing unique insights into the structure of nuclei beyond the proton drip-line. These studies of excited states provide complementary information to proton radioactivity studies, particularly regarding the role of deformation [3]. Radioactive beams are being used to study two-proton unbound resonances and to study explosive nuclear astrophysical reactions in the region of the proton drip-line.     

Contributions to numerical developments in shock waves attenuation in porous filters

The paper deals with the numerical method of the compressible gas flow through a porous filter emphasizing the treatment of the interface between a pure gaseous phase and a solid phase. An incident shock wave is initiated in the gaseous phase interacting with a porous filter inducing a transmitted and a reflected wave. To take into account the discontinuity jump in the porosity between the gaseous phase and the porous filter, an approximate Riemann solver is used to compute homogeneous non-conservative Euler equations in porous media using ideal gas state law. The discretization of this problem is based on a finite volume method where the fluxes are evaluated by a “volumes finis Roe” (VFRoe) scheme. A stationary solution is determined with a continuous variable porosity in order to test the numerical scheme. Numerical results are compared with the two-phase shock tube experiments and simulations of a shock wave attenuation and gas filtration in porous filters are presented.      

A multislope MUSCL method on unstructured meshes applied to compressible Euler equations for axisymmetric swirling flows

A finite volume method for the numerical solution of axisymmetric inviscid swirling flows is presented. The governing equations of the flow are the axisymmetric compressible Euler equations including swirl (or tangential) velocity. A first-order scheme is introduced where the convective fluxes at cell interfaces are evaluated by the Rusanov or the HLLC numerical flux while the geometric source terms are discretizated to provide a well-balanced scheme i.e. the steady-state solutions with null velocity are preserved. Extension to the second-order space approximation using a multislope MUSCL method is then derived. To test the numerical scheme, a stationary solution of the fluid flow following the radial direction has been established with a zero and nonzero tangential velocity. Numerical and exact solutions are compared for classical Riemann problems where we employ different limiters and effectiveness of the multislope MUSCL scheme is demonstrated for strongly shocked axially symmetric flows like in spherical bubble compression problem. Two other tests with axisymmetric geometries are performed: the supersonic flow in a tube with a cone and the axisymmetric blunt body with a free stream.     

Broadband self-pulsating fiber laser based on soliton self-frequency shift and regenerative self-phase modulation

We demonstrate experimentally and numerically the operation of a self-pulsating fiber laser based on the cascaded effects of soliton self-frequency shift and self-phase modulation spectral broadening. The combination of those two effects triggers and sustains the propagation of picosecond pulses in the cavity. At one of the outputs, the laser emits a supercontinuum with spectral width in excess of 150 nm at the repetition rate of 95 kHz.     

Fabrication and characterization of a pulsed fiber ring laser based on As2S3

We demonstrate the operation of a fiber ring laser using a 19.5 cm segment of As2S3 chalcogenide fiber. The laser is passively mode-locked via nonlinear polarization rotation and provides two different operation regimes of picosecond and noiselike pulses. This ring configuration also enables an accurate measurement of the chromatic dispersion of the chalcogenide fiber.     

Effect of variation in the values of the thermal properties of rubber on the vulcanization of thin and thick sheets

The effect of a 30% variation around a mean value of thermal property values on the vulcanization of 1 and 2 cm thick rubber sheets is studied, by using a molding process at 40°C for the initial rubber and 120°C for the injected rubber. The thermal properties chosen are the diffusivity and the product of density and heat capacity. This variation in thermal properties has a slight effect on sheets 1 cm thick, but becomes significant when the thickness is 2 cm. This must be taken into account when calculating the time necessary for the state-of-cure to reach 90% at the midplane of the sheets.