Role of Innate Immunity in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Rhinosinusitis: Progress and New Avenues

Chronic rhinosinusitis is a heterogeneous and multifactorial disease with unknown etiology. Aberrant responses to microorganisms have been suggested to play a role in the pathophysiology of the disease. Research has focused on the presence, detection, response to, and eradication of these potential threats. Main topics seem to center on the contribution of structural cells such as epithelium and fibroblasts, on the consequences of activation of pattern-recognition receptors, and on the role of antimicrobial agents. This research should be viewed not only in the light of a comparison between healthy and diseased individuals, but also in a comparison between patients who do or do not respond to treatment. New players that could play a role in the pathophysiology seem to surface at regular intervals, adding to our understanding (and the complexity) of the disease and opening new avenues that may help fight this incapacitating disease

Effect of current on multiple pinches of Xe plasma in capillary discharge

The effect of the current on the pinching process of Xe plasma columns pumped by capillary discharge has been studied theoretically and experimentally. An extreme ultraviolet emission monitor (E-Mon, 13.5 nm in 2% bandwidth) was applied to record the temporal evolution of the 13.5 nm (2% bandwidth) emission. According to real current waveforms, the pinching processes were simulated with the snow-plow model. Both the experimental and the simulation results showed that intensity of the 13.5 nm emission reached the maximum when the plasma was pinched to the minimum radius. The E-Mon signals and the simulations indicated that under different amplitudes of the currents the plasma could be pinched more times and faster with higher discharge current