The Nerves to Conduct a Multiple Sclerosis Crime Investigation

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory neurodegenerative autoimmune disease characterized by the aberrant infiltration of immune cells into the central nervous system (CNS) and by the loss of myelin. Sclerotic lesions and various inhibitory factors hamper the remyelination processes within the CNS. MS patients typically experience gradual cognitive and physical disabilities as the disease progresses. The etiology of MS is still unclear and emerging evidence suggests that microbiome composition could play a much more significant role in disease pathogenesis than was initially thought. Initially believed to be isolated to the gut microenvironment, we now know that the microbiome plays a much broader role in various tissues and is essential in the development of the immune system. Here, we present some of the unexpected roles that the microbiome plays in MS and discuss approaches for the development of next-generation treatment strategies.     

Speech is special: The stress effects of speech,noise, and silence during tasks requiring concentration

Effects of noise on people depend on sound level but also on other sound properties. A systematic comparison of the stress effects of speech and noise with the same frequency content is missing. This study compared stress reactions under sound conditions speech (sound level 65 dB L_Aeq), noise (65 dB), and silence (35 dB), all having similar relative frequency contents. Fifty-nine participants were exposed to one out of three sound conditions on average for 48 minutes while performing tasks requiring concentration. Acute physiological stress was estimated by measuring stress hormone concentrations in plasma (cortisol and noradrenaline), heart rate variability (HRV), and blood pressure. Psychological stress measures were subjective noise annoyance, workload, and fatigue. Compared to silence and noise, working during speech was more annoying, loading, but less tiring, and led to elevated HRV LF/HF ratio with time. Speech also raised cortisol levels compared with silence. Although noise was more annoying, and raised cortisol levels compared with silence, working during speech was more loading and caused more physiological stress than other sound conditions. Special care should be paid to noise control in workplaces requiring concentration because already exposure to moderate sound level sounds caused clear physiological effects on people.     

Rubbery Thermosets by Ring‐Opening Metathesis Polymerization of a Functionalized Castor Oil and Cyclooctene

Rubbery thermosets prepared by ROMP of a modified castor oil containing norbornene moieties and cyclooctene have been synthesized and characterized. The thermosets range from 55 to 85 wt.‐% oil and are flexible, slightly transparent and have a sand‐like hue. Increasing concentration of the modified castor oil in the feed ratio results in an increase in the extracted (unreacted or oligomeric) components in the final thermoset. Thermogravimetric analysis reveals that all of the specimens have temperatures of maximum degradation around 500 °C. DMA and TGA analysis on solvent‐extracted specimens show that the presence of the soluble fractions helps to plasticize the materials and give added thermal stability.

     

Microglia Development and Maturation and Its Implications for Induction of Microglia-Like Cells from Human iPSCs

Microglia are resident immune cells of the central nervous system and play critical roles during the development, homeostasis, and pathologies of the brain. Originated from yolk sac erythromyeloid progenitors, microglia immigrate into the embryonic brain parenchyma to undergo final postnatal differentiation and maturation driven by distinct chemokines, cytokines, and growth factors. Among them, TGFβ1 is an important regulator of microglial functions, mediating homeostasis, anti-inflammation, and triggering the expression of microglial homeostatic signature genes. Since microglia studies are mainly based on rodent cells and the isolation of homeostatic microglia from human tissue is challenging, human-induced pluripotent stem cells have been successfully differentiated into microglia-like cells recently. However, employed differentiation protocols strongly vary regarding used cytokines and growth factors, culture conditions, time span, and cell yield. Moreover, the incomplete differentiation of human microglia can hamper the similarity to primary human microglia and dramatically influence the outcome of follow-up studies with these differentiated cells. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the molecular mechanisms driving rodent microglia differentiation in vivo, further compares published differentiation protocols, and highlights the potential of TGFβ as an essential maturation factor.     

Air distribution in office environment with asymmetric workstation layout using chilled beams

Air flow patterns and mean air speeds were studied under laboratory conditions representing a full scale open-plan office. Three basic conditions were tested: summer, spring/autumn and winter. Chilled beams were used to provide cooling, outdoor air supply and air distribution in the room. The heat sources had a notable influence on the flow pattern in the room causing large scale circulation and affecting the direction of inlet jets. The maximum air speed in the occupied zone was higher than the recommendations. The mean air speed was also high on at the floor level but low on at the head level. The air speed was highest in the summer case under high cooling load. Results indicate that especially with high heat loads, it is difficult to fulfill the targets of the existing standards in practice. Two main sources of draught risk were found: a) downfall of colliding inlet jets causing local maxima of air speed and b) large scale circulation caused by asymmetric layout of chilled beams and heat sources. The first phenomenon can cause local draught risk when the workstation is located in the downfall area. The flow pattern is not stable and the position of draught risk areas can change in time and also due to changes in room heat sources. The second phenomenon can cause more constant high air speeds on at the floor level. CFD-simulation was able to predict the general flow pattern but somewhat overestimated the air speed compared to measurements.     

Oxidative stability and non‐enzymatic browning reactions in Antarctic krill oil (Euphausia superba)

Antarctic krill oil has gained much consideration recently due to its rich content of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the form of phospholipids and its powerful antioxidant known as astaxanthin. To secure these valuable bioactive nutrients in krill oil, a gentle and immediate on‐board processing of freshly captured krill is recommended. Compared to fish oil, krill oil has a more complex matrix, which leads to the formation of additional compounds from non‐enzymatic browning reactions. Lipid oxidation occurs through different pathways in krill oil and cannot be detected through classical analytical techniques such as determination of peroxide and anisidine value. Therefore selection of appropriate methods to evaluate the oxidative stability of krill oil is of high importance.

Figure 1 Open in figure viewer PowerPoint Development of lipid derived volatiles: (a & b) 1‐penten‐3‐ol and (c & d) 2‐pentylfuran in krill oil upon storage at two different incubation temperatures (20 and 40°C). The same pattern as (a & b) was obtained for (Z)‐2‐penten‐1‐ol and benzaldehyde, whereas the same pattern as (c & d) was obtained for 2‐heptanone and 2‐octanone. Values are mean ± SD (n = 3). Means sharing the same letter are not significantly different at 5% significant level. Reproduced from Lu et al. 2 with permission from Elsevier.     

Stability of docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in breads after baking and upon storage

Wholemeal bread and white bread were prepared by substituting shortening with refined menhaden fish oil (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% w/w). The stability of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were evaluated over 5 days of storage through gas chromatography (GC) analysis along with peroxide and anisidine value determinations. Sensory analysis was also performed by evaluating the fishy flavour, palatability and palatability differences compared to the control bread upon storage. The recoveries of EPA and DHA in breads after baking were 68.7%–72.8% with no further significant changes (P < 0.05) upon storage for both types of breads. Results from GC analyses correlated well with peroxide and anisidine value analyses, which showed relatively low values throughout the storage time. Omega‐3‐fatty acids from Menhaden fish oil can be incorporated into breads by substituting the shortening at a fish oil level of 0.5% (w/w) with acceptable palatability even after a 3‐day storage period.