Lingfei Gao¹, Xiaoping Zheng^1,2, Zhenhan Yao¹

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.3, No.1, pp. 25-36, 2006, DOI:10.3970/cmc.2007.003.025

Abstract A general numerical approach is developed to model the elastic behaviours and failure processes of heterogeneous materials. The heterogeneous material body is assumed composed of a large number of convex polygon lattices with different phases. These phases are locally isotropic and elastic-brittle with the different lattices displaying variable material parameters and a Weibull-type statistical distribution. When the effective strain exceeds a local fracture criterion, the full lattice exhibits failure uniformly, and this is modelled by assuming a very small Young modulus value. An auto-select loading method is employed to model the failure process. The proposed More >

Anastasios J. Karayiannakis¹, Byron Asimakopoulos², Anna Efthimiadou², Alexandra K. Tsaroucha¹, Alexandros Polychronidis¹, Constantinos Simopoulos¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 91-96, 2005

Abstract We compared serum leptin responses during and after laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy, and assessed their correlation with the responses of inflammatory cytokines. Serum levels of leptin, interleukin-1a (IL-1α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-α) were measured by an enzyme-linked immunoassay in 31 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy and in 24 patients who underwent open cholecystectomy. Serum samples were obtained preoperatively, at 10 and 30 min after the commencement of surgery, and at 6 and 24 h after the operation. The cumulative responses of leptin, IL-1α, IL-6 and TNF-α to surgery were calculated and the… More >

Sara Pagani, Cristina Meazza, Paola Travaglino, Antonia Moretta, Mauro Bozzola

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 65-69, 2005

Abstract The aim of the present study was to establish whether growth hormone (GH) treatment in vivo affects pro-inflammatory cytokine production by resting or in vitro, activated, cultured, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from children with complete growth hormone deficiency (GHD). We evaluated 11, pre-pubertal children (6 males and 5 females) with GHD, aged between 6 and 14 years, and 9, age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were studied as controls (CTRLs). Freshly isolated PBMC were cultured for 4 or 24 h in X-VIVO medium in the presence or absence of 0.01 lg/mL lipopolysaccharide for the determination… More >

Othmar Ludwiczek¹, Arthur Kaser¹, Daniela Novick², Charles A. Dinarello³, Menachem Rubinstein², Herbert Tilg^1,4

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.1, pp. 27-33, 2005

Abstract Objectives. Interleukin 18 (IL-18) is a proinflammatory cytokine and a member of the IL-1 family. Animal models and investigations in humans point to an important role for this cytokine in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). IL-18 binding protein (IL-18BP) is a naturally occurring antagonist of IL-18. Methods. In this study, we measured IL-18 and IL-18BP plasma concentrations and spontaneous release in cultures of colonic explants from healthy subjects (n = 41), patients with Crohn’s disease (CD, n = 135), and patients with ulcerative colitis (UC, n = 93). Results. Both CD and UC patients had higher… More >

Mahmoud Abu Elhija¹, Hadas Potashnik¹, Eitan Lunenfeld², Gad Potashnik², Stefan Schlatt³, Eberhard Nieschlag⁴, Mahmoud Huleihel¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.2, pp. 167-172, 2005

Abstract Spermatogenesis is a highly controlled process of proliferation, meiosis, and differentiation. Systemic infection and chronic inflammation can impair testicular steroidogenesis and spermatogenesis. In this study, we examined the effect of systemic infection – intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) – on the expression levels of IL-6 in the testis of sexually immature and adult mice. IL-6 levels in testicular homogenates of immature mice were significantly higher than in mature mice (both protein and RNA levels), before and after LPS injection. Injection of LPS (i.p.) into mature mice over 3 hours, significantly increased testicular IL-6 protein… More >

Hadas Potashnik¹, Mahmoud Abu Elhija¹, Eitan Lunenfeld², Gad Potashnik², Stefan Schlatt³, Eberhard Nieschlag⁴, Mahmoud Huleihel¹

European Cytokine Network, Vol.16, No.2, pp. 161-165, 2005

Abstract In this study, we examined the cellular origin and the expression levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) during normal maturation of mouse testis. The levels of IL-6 (protein and mRNA) were higher in testicular homogenates of sexually immature than mature mice. Immunohistochemical staining of testicular tissues of sexually immature and adult mice show that testicular germ cells, at different stages of differentiation, Leydig cells/interstitial cells and peritubular cells express IL-6. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, overexpression of IL-6 in testicular tissues of immature mice, as compared to mature mice, as well as the expression of More >