Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis of the skin that leads to xerosis and pruritus. It is known that the serum levels of total immunoglobulin E (IgE) appear to be higher in patients with more severe AD. Changes in skin barrier also demonstrate that there is increased susceptibility to skin infections in AD, including by viruses, such as herpes simplex virus (H...

Within the literature, capillary barriers have been suggested as an alternative hydraulic barrier in cover liners for waste dumps. When a waste dump reaches its full capacity, cover liners are usually constructed over the waste mound to seal the waste from the surrounding environment. One main function of a cover liner is to prevent substantial amounts of water infiltrating into the waste mater...

Atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of the surface of a polypropylene film can significantly increase its surface energy and, thereby improve the printability of the film. A laboratory-scale dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) system has therefore been developed, which simulates the electrode configuration and reel-to-reel web transport mechanism used in a typical industrial-scale system. By t...

The performance of a fire resistant coating for tunnel passive fire protection under successive severe thermal loading is presented. The material falls under the class of potassium based geopolymers (K-geopolymer) and was prepared by mixing ferronickel (FeNi) slag, doped with pure alumina, with a highly alkaline potassium hydroxide aqueous phase. Its performance was assessed by subjecting a con...

Connectivity is a critical measure affecting the evolution and ecology of species. The purpose of this thesis was to assess connectivity between populations of Stegastes partitus at seven sites along the Mesoamerican barrier reef. First, seven novel microsatellite markers were developed to allow the assessment of genetic population structure in S. partitus in conjunction with existing markers. ...

An experimental investigation was conducted to find the effect of spraying method of coating of Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) on their oxidation behaviour and resistance to various thermal loading. Isothermal and thermal shock tests were performed in order to study oxidation behaviour of air plasma sprayed Bond Coat (BC) and assess its effect on TBCs lifetime under the stated loadings. Specim...

Delamination of coatings initiated by small cracks paralleling the free surface is investigated under conditions of high thermal flux associated with a through-thickness temperature gradient. A crack disrupts the heat flow thereby inducing crack tip stress intensities that can become critical. A complete parametric dependence of the energy release rate and mode mix is presented in terms of the ...

We experimentally demonstrate a supercurrent-assisted, hotspot-formation mechanism for ultrafast detection and counting of visible and infrared photons. A photon-induced hotspot leads to a temporary formation of a resistive barrier across the superconducting sensor strip and results in an easily measurable voltage pulse. Subsequent hotspot healing in ;30 ps time frame, restores the superconduct...

Abundant evidence suggests that affective stimuli facilitate responses that lead to a compatible change in distance between the affective stimulus and the self (positive→ approach, negative→ avoidance). A special situation arises, when a barrier blocks the direct way toward or away from an affective stimulus. Recent evidence suggests that in such cases affective stimuli facilitate responses tha...