c9t11‐Conjugated linoleic acid‐rich oil fails to attenuate wasting in colon‐26 tumor‐induced late‐stage cancer cachexia in male CD2F1 mice

Scope: Cancer cachexia is characterized by muscle and adipose tissue wasting caused partly by chronic, systemic inflammation. Conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) are a group of fatty acids with various properties including anti‐inflammatory cis9, trans11 (c9t11)‐CLA and lipid‐mobilizing trans10, cis12 (t10c12)‐CLA. The purpose of this study was to test whether dietary supplementation of a c9t11‐CLA‐rich oil (6:1 c9t11:t10c12) could attenuate wasting of muscle and adipose tissue in colon‐26 adenocarcinoma‐induced cachexia in mice. Methods and results: Loss of body weight, muscle and adipose tissue mass caused by tumors were not rescued by supplementation with the c9t11‐CLA‐rich oil. In quadriceps muscle, c9t11‐CLA‐rich oil exacerbated tumor‐induced gene expression of inflammatory markers tumor necrosis factor‐α, IL‐6 receptor and the E3 ligase MuRF‐1 involved in muscle proteolysis. In epididymal adipose tissue, tumor‐driven delipidation and atrophy was aggravated by the c9,t11‐CLA‐rich oil, demonstrated by further reduced adipocyte size and lower adiponectin expression. However, expression of inflammatory cytokines and macrophage markers were not altered by tumors, or CLA supplementation. Conclusion: These data suggest that addition of c9t11‐CLA‐rich oil (0.6% c9t11, 0.1% t10c12) in diet did not ameliorate wasting in mice with cancer cachexia. Instead, it increased expression of inflammatory markers in the muscle and increased adipose delipidation.     

Synthesis and application of a new functionalized resin for use in an on-line,solid phase extraction system for the determination of trace elements in waters and reference cereal materials by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

The synthesis and characterization of the resin Amberlite XAD-4 functionalized with 2,6-pyridinedicarboxaldehyde and its application in an on-line system for the preconcentration of cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead and manganese prior to determination using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) is proposed. Metal ions retained on the modified resin were eluted using 1.0 mol L⁻¹ HNO₃ solution and aspirated directly to the nebulizer–burner system of a FAAS instrument using a flow injection system. Detection limits (3σ) were determined to be 0.13 μg L⁻¹ for Cd, 0.29 μg L⁻¹ for Cu, 0.23 μg L⁻¹ for Mn, 0.58 μg L⁻¹ for Co and 2.19 μg L⁻¹ for Pb using a 10 mL of water sample loading volume. The limits of detection would be 100 times higher with units of μg kg⁻¹ for the solid samples in which their dilution ratios as (volume/weight) were 100. Enrichment factors ranged from 23.6 to 28.9 (for Co and Mn, respectively). The proposed method was successfully applied to determination of the analytes in natural water samples and certified reference materials.     

Removal of heavy‐metal ions by magnetic beads containing triazole chelating groups

The aim of this study was to prepare magnetic beads that could be used for the removal of heavy‐metal ions from synthetic solutions. Magnetic poly(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate–1‐vinyl‐1,2,4‐triazole) [m‐poly(EGDMA–VTAZ)] beads were produced by suspension polymerization in the presence of a magnetite Fe₃O₄ nanopowder. The specific surface area of the m‐poly(EGDMA–VTAZ) beads was 74.8 m²/g with a diameter range of 150–200 μm, and the swelling ratio was 84%. The average Fe₃O₄ content of the resulting m‐poly(EGDMA–VTAZ) beads was 14.8%. The maximum binding capacities of the m‐poly(EGDMA–VTAZ) beads from aquous solution were 284.3 mg/g for Hg²⁺, 193.8 mg/g for Pb²⁺, 151.5 mg/g for Cu²⁺, 128.1 mg/g for Cd²⁺, and 99.4 mg/g for Zn²⁺. The affinity order on a mass basis was Hg²⁺ > Pb²⁺ > Cu²⁺ > Cd²⁺> Zn²⁺. The binding capacities from synthetic waste water were 178.1 mg/g for Hg²⁺, 132.4 mg/g for Pb²⁺, 83.5 mg/g for Cu²⁺, 54.1 mg/g for Cd²⁺, and 32.4 mg/g for Zn²⁺. The magnetic beads could be regenerated (up to ca. 97%) by a treatment with 0.1M HNO₃. These features make m‐poly(EGDMA–VTAZ) beads potential supports for heavy‐metal removal under a magnetic field. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

Fatty acids of the seeds of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Origanum onites</Emphasis> L. and <Emphasis Type="Italic">O. vulgare</Emphasis> L.

Seed oils of Origanum onites L. from the Antalya and Mugla regions and O. vulgare L. from the Kirklareli region of Turkey were extracted with hexane in a Soxhlet apparatus. The oil yields were 14.1–20.0 and 18.5%, respectively. FA compositions of the seed oils were determined by GC and GC/MS. Twenty FA were identified in both O. onites and O. vulgare seeds. The major FA of both species were linolenic (56.3–57.0%; 61.8%), linoleic (21.5–21.7%; 18.8%), oleic (8.7–8.9%; 5.9%), palmitic (5.9–6.5%; 5.5%), stearic (2.1–2.4%; 2.1%), and (Z)-11-octadecenoic (0.6–0.8%; 0.5%), respectively.     

Effect of Deep Cryogenic Treatment on Wear Resistance of AISI 52100 Bearing Steel

In this study, the effects of deep cryogenic treatment (DCT) on the wear resistance of AISI 52100 bearing steel were investigated. For this purpose, a number of bearing steel samples were held for different times (12, 24, 36, 48, 60 h) at deep cryogenic temperatures (?145 °C). The wear experiments were carried out in a ball–disk arrangement, by applying loads of 10 and 20 N and a sliding velocity of 0.15 m/s. After conducting the experimental studies, 36 h was found to be the optimal holding time. At this holding time, the wear rate and friction coefficient were decreased, while the hardness reached to maximum values. It was observed that DCT led to significant microstructural changes, which resulted in improved tribological properties.     

Monte Carlo Simulations of 17.9–22.3 MeV Energetic Proton Irradiation Effects on bcc-Zirconium Fusionic Materials

Advanced fusion structural materials (FSMs) have impact role in terms of efficiency of nuclear energy production. Besides engineering and design of fusion reactors, radiation durability of FSMs is another valuable issue that cannot be ignored. 17.9–22.3 MeV proton irradiation of bcc-Zirconium Fusion Structural Material was evaluated by using Monte Carlo based simulation tools. Total binary reaction cross sections were respectively calculated as 1167.6 and 1273.92 mb for 17.3- and 22.3 MeV proton energies via TALYS-1.6 version. Additionally, residual production cross sections and total particle production cross sections were obtained and analyzed by the TALYS code. Radiation damage parameters as Displacement Per Atom (DPA) and Stopping Power (SP) were studied by SRIM-2013 version. FLUKA 2011.1 used for only DPA calculations and making a complete comparison with the other calculation results. SP and Number of Secondaries were found by using GEANT4.10.p.04 version simulations. Natural Zr(p,x) reactions were studied in the given energy values in the plane of reaction probability and radiation damage calculations.     

Service‐level assurance in high‐availability multi‐unit systems using the M‐for‐N backup scheme

In this paper, we investigate service‐level assurance in high‐availability multi‐unit systems using the M‐for‐N backup scheme. M‐for‐N shared protection (backup) systems with priority control (i.e. prioritized protection switching and prioritized re‐housing of repaired units) can be applied to actual telecommunication devices that are subject to service‐level agreement (SLA) involving reliability measures. A priority level is assigned to each end user in such a system and the switching and unit re‐housing process is subject to the priority. The main contribution of this paper is to give a practical computation method of the user‐perceived availability under the priority control. Our case studies for real telecommunication systems reveal the effect of priority control on the user‐perceived availability. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photon transmission technique for monitoring drying processes in acrylamide gels formed with various crosslinker contents

In situ photon transmission experiments were performed using UV‐visible (UVV) spectrometer during the drying of polyacrylamide (PAAm) gels. These gels are formed from acrylamide (AAm) with various N,N′‐methylenebis(acrylamide) (Bis) contents by free radical crosslinking copolymerization (FCC) in water. The transmitted light intensity, I_tr increased continuously as PAAm gels are dried. Increase in I_tr was attributed to the decrease in the scattered light intensity, I_sc, which might be originated from the contrast between “frozen blob clusters” and holes in the drying gel. Decrease in I_sc was modeled using Rayleigh's equation, where drying times with various exponents were found to be proportional to the volume of frozen blob clusters. It was observed that the radius of frozen blob cluster (correlation length), ξ_c increased in various power of time, depending on Bis contents during drying of gels. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 80: 1898–1906, 2001