Rhinoviruses are the major cause of the common cold and a trigger of acute asthma exacerbations. Whether these exacerbations result from direct infection of the lower airway or from indirect mechanisms consequent on infection of the upper airway alone is currently unknown. Lower respiratory infection was investigated in vitro by exposing primary human bronchial epithelial cells to rhinoviruses and in vivo after experimental upper respiratory infection of human volunteers. Bronchial infection was confirmed by both approaches. Furthermore, rhinoviruses induced production of interleukin-6, -8, and -16 and RANTES and were cytotoxic to cultured respiratory epithelium. This evidence strongly supports a direct lower respiratory epithelial reaction as the initial event in the induction of rhinovirus-mediated asthma exacerbations. The frequency of infection and the nature of the inflammatory response observed are similar to those of the upper respiratory tract, suggesting that rhinovirus infections may be one of the most important causes of lower in addition to upper respiratory disease.

VR combined with cloud computing enables surgical manipulation of real-time molecular simulations, accelerating 3D research tasks.

The frequencies of peripheral blood CD8+ T cells producing type 1 and type 2 cytokines are comparable with the frequencies of CD4+ T cells. There was an increased frequency of IFN-gamma producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in asthmatic compared with normal subjects. Further studies investigating T cells derived from the airways and investigating various stages within the disease process are required to further elucidate the importance of type 2 and type 1 T cell cytokine production in the pathogenesis of human allergic disease.

Continuous fiber reinforced composites are used in a variety of aerospace, automotive and industrial applications. The ability of thermoplastic composites to be melted and subsequently resolidified allows joining processes such as vibration welding to be used. In this research, vibration welding was used to join polypropylene plates reinforced with woven glass fibers. The effect welding parameters, such as meltdown, weld pressure and weld geometry were investigated. Vibration welding is shown to join highly reinforced composite materials with weld strengths approaching those of short fiber composites.

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