Dealcoholized red wine reverse vascular remodeling in an experimental model of metabolic syndrome: role of NAD(P)H oxidase and eNOS activity

The present study examines the effect of chronic administration of dealcoholized red wine Malbec (DRW) on vascular remodeling and NAD(P)H oxidase and endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity (eNOS) in an experimental model of metabolic syndrome induced by fructose administration. Thirty-day old male Wistar rats were fed a normal rat diet (control) or the same diet plus 10% fructose in drinking water (FFR). During the last 4 weeks of a 10-week period of the corresponding diet, a subgroup of control and FFR (n=8 each) received DRW in their drinking water. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), a homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), aortic NAD(P)H oxidase and eNOS activity in the heart and vascular tissue were evaluated. Vascular remodeling was evaluated in the left carotid artery (CA) and interlobar, arcuate and interlobular renal arteries (RA) through lumen to media (L/M) ratio determination. At the end of the study FFR increased the SBP (p < 0.001), HOMA-IR (p < 0.001), and aortic NAD(P)H oxidase activity (p < 0,05) but reduced cardiac and vascular eNOS activity (p < 0.01), L/M ratio in CA (p < 0.001) and RA (p < 0.01) compared with the C group. DRW reduced SBP (p < 0.05), aortic NAD(P)H oxidase (p < 0.05), and recovered eNOS activity (p < 0.001) and L/M in CA (p < 0.001) and RA (p < 0.001) compared with FFR. This study provides new data about the beneficial effect of DRW on oxidative stress and vascular remodeling in the experimental model of metabolic syndrome. Data suggest the participation of mechanisms involving oxidative stress in FFR alterations and the usefulness of natural antioxidant substances present in red wine in the reversion of these changes.     

Betriebliches Energiemanagement – Analysen, Methoden und Bewertungsmodelle zur Effizienzsteigerung

In recent years, the EU has been trying to increase political awareness of the energy problem. In 2007 and 2009, the first European energy strategy was adopted, the energy management standard EN 16001, which has been replaced by ISO 50001, was introduced in 2011. The introduction of an energy management standard in a company can contribute significantly to an increase of efficiency – already fixed in the Energy Efficiency Directive of the EU. The development of the Energy Pentagon – a model based on the decision-oriented business administration – allows individual industries to implement a customized holistic energy management. The model takes into account the three levels of management, namely the normative, strategic, and operational planning, and the five management functions, namely organization, personnel management, information, and control as well as the dynamic element of the development. The importance of enterprise energy management system is increasingly due to higher energy costs and a strong environmental awareness. In the future the focus should be increasingly on the implementation in SMEs and on a cost-effective analysis and evaluation of the efficiency gains particularly through the advancements in operational energy controlling.     

An experimental system for evaluation of well-defined catalysts on nonporous electrodes in realistic DMFC environment

This paper reports on an experimental setup wich enables us to investigate planar model catalysts in an environment closely resembling the environment found in an actual direct methanol fuel cell. The working electrodes were nano-structured catalyst particles immobilised on planar supports, reducing many of the commonly present non-catalyst related effects in conventional porous electrodes. Colloidal lithography was used for nano-structuring the samples. Nafion was used as electrolyte. Results are presented for the oxidation of methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid and carbon monoxide at temperatures between 30 and 70 ° C on Pt particles supported on glassy carbon disks.     

Comparison of histomorphometrical data obtained with two different image analysis methods

A common way to determine tissue acceptance of biomaterials is to perform histomorphometrical analysis on histologically stained sections from retrieved samples with surrounding tissue, using various methods. The “time and money consuming” methods and techniques used are often “in house standards”. We address light microscopic investigations of bone tissue reactions on un-decalcified cut and ground sections of threaded implants. In order to screen sections and generate results faster, the aim of this pilot project was to compare results generated with the in-house standard visual image analysis tool (i.e., quantifications and judgements done by the naked eye) with a custom made automatic image analysis program. The histomorphometrical bone area measurements revealed no significant differences between the methods but the results of the bony contacts varied significantly. The raw results were in relative agreement, i.e., the values from the two methods were proportional to each other: low bony contact values in the visual method corresponded to low values with the automatic method. With similar resolution images and further improvements of the automatic method this difference should become insignificant. A great advantage using the new automatic image analysis method is that it is time saving—analysis time can be significantly reduced.     

Methoden zum Einsatz diskreter,webbasierter Wetterprognosen in Gebäudetechnik und Lastmanagement

Using Discrete Online Weather Forecasts for Building Services Applications and Load Management. Usually, commercially used hourly weather forecasts of national weather institutes are implemented for predictive control strategies. Energy demand and energy loads are calculated by utilizing adequate models with predicted air temperatures. However, on the internet, numerous providers offer freely available weather forecasts. Mostly forecasts of maximum and minimum outside air temperatures are available for five to nine days in advance. Many applications in building services do require hourly or quarter‐hourly data. This paper describes a method for generating weather data of any resolution for freely available weather forecasts issued by online services. Ice storage and load prediction of a building are cited as examples of predictive control strategies using web‐based weather forecasts.     

Antifeedants and Feeding Stimulants in Bark Extracts of Ten Woody Non-host Species of the Pine Weevil, Hylobius abietis

Bark of ten woody species, known to be rejected as a food source by the pine weevil, Hylobius abietis, were sequentially extracted by a Soxhlet apparatus with pentane followed by methanol. Species were alder (Alnus glutinosa), aspen (Populus tremula), beech (Fagus sylvatica), guelder rose (Viburnum opulus), holly (Ilex aquifolium), horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), lilac (Syringa vulgaris), spindle tree (Evonymus europaeus), walnut (Juglans regia), and yew (Taxus baccata). Bark of each species was collected in southern Scandinavia during the summer. Resulting extracts were tested for antifeedant activity against the pine weevil by a micro-feeding choice assay. At a dose corresponding to that in the bark, methanol extracts from Aesculus, Taxus, Ilex, and Populus were antifeedant active, while pentane extracts of Aesculus, Fagus, Syringa, and Viburnum were stimulatory. Four known antifeedants against H. abietis, the straight-chained carboxylic acids, hexanoic and nonanoic acid (C6 and C9), carvone, and carvacrol were identified by gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS) in several extracts. The major constituents were identified and tested for feeding deterrence. The aromatic compounds benzyl alcohol and 2-phenylethanol are new non-host plant-derived feeding deterrents for the pine weevil. Additionally, two feeding stimulants, β-sitosterol and 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furaldehyde, were identified. One active methanol extract of Aesculus bark was sequentially fractionated by liquid chromatography, and major compounds were tentatively identified as branched alcohols and esters of hexanoic acid. Five commercially available hexanoate esters and two commercially available branched alcohols were identified as new active antifeedants. Both stimulatory and inhibiting compounds were found in the same extracts and co-eluted in the same or adjacent fractions. The mix of semiochemicals of opposite activity in each extract or fraction could explain the stimulatory-, inhibitory-, or sometimes neutral activity. Generally, such co-occurrence confounds the isolation of antifeedants.     

Agency, communion, and well-being: Extending Helgeson's (1994) model.

V. S. Helgeson (1994) offered a promising model to explain sex differences in well-being. Three meta-analyses of gender research relevant to this model are provided along with an empirical investigation of the relations between agency and communion, unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion, and self- and peer reports of well-being and distress in a sample of 201 college students. The results extended Helgeson's model by showing that agency and communion can be assessed at the level of interests and role behaviors and that the association of agentic traits with well-being may be inflated by self-reports. Results also point to problems in distinguishing trait measures of agency from unmitigated communion and communion from unmitigated agency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Grain-Boundary-Rich Triphasic Artificial Hybrid Interphase Toward Practical Magnesium Metal Anodes

Magnesium metal anodes have attracted widespread attention for their high volumetric capacity and natural abundance, but are precluded from practical applications by poor rate capability and limited lifespan due to sluggish ion-transfer kinetics and uneven deposition behavior. Herein, for the first time a grain-boundary-rich triphasic artificial hybrid interphase, consisting of Sb metal, Mg₃Sb₂ alloy, and MgCl₂, is designed on Mg anode surface by a facile solution treatment method, enabling high-rate and long-cycle Mg plating/stripping behavior. The triphasic artificial hybrid interphase affords high magnesiophilicity and ionic conductivity to reduce the energy barriers for Mg²⁺ desolvation and deposition. Meanwhile, the abundant grain boundaries redistribute Mg²⁺ flux at the electrode-electrolyte interface and guide uniform Mg deposition. Accordingly, the as-designed Mg metal anode achieves ultralong cycling life of 350 h at a high current density of 5 mA cm⁻² and a large areal capacity of 5 mAh cm⁻², outperforming previously reported Mg metal anodes with artificial interphases. Full cells with Mo₆ cathode also show extraordinary stability over a long lifespan of 8000 cycles at a high rate of 5 C. The rational artificial interphase design and the understanding of composition-structure-function relationships shed deep insights into the development of fast-charging and long-cycling Mg metal batteries.