Determination of vernolic acid content in the oil ofEuphorbia lagascae by gas and supercritical fluid chromatography

Determination of the content of vernolic acid (12,13-epoxy-9c-octadecenoic) in the oil ofEuphorbia lagascae has been performed by gas chromatography of the fatty acid methyl ester derivatives of the triacylglycerols in the oil and by supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) of the raw oil and the fatty acid derivatives of the oil. The content of vernolic acid was found to be 55 wt%. The three methods were compared, and SFC analysis of the fatty acid derivatives was found to be the most accurate method.     

High resolution magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy for metabolic assessment of cancer presence and Gleason score in human prostate needle biopsies

Objectives  Histopathology of prostate needle biopsies (PNBs) is an important part in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment evaluation of prostate cancer. The determination of metabolite levels in the same biopsies may have additional clinical value. Here, we demonstrate the use of non-destructive high resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) proton NMR Spectroscopy for the assessment of metabolic profiles of prostate tissue in PNBs as commonly obtained in standard clinical practice. Materials and methods  PNBs that were taken routinely from 48 patients suspected of having prostate cancer were subjected to HRMAS proton NMR spectroscopy. Subsequent histopathology of the same biopsies classified the tissue either as cancer (n = 10) or benign (n = 30). Results  Some practical aspects of this assessment were evaluated, such as typical spectral contamination caused by the PNB procedure. Significant metabolic differences were found between malignant and benign tissue using a small set of ratio’s involving signals of choline compounds, citrate and lactate. Moreover, significant correlations were observed between choline, total choline, and citrate over creatine signal ratios and the Gleason scores of tumor in PNBs and of tumor in the whole prostate. Conclusion  This preliminary study indicates that HRMAS NMR of routinely obtained PNBs can provide detailed metabolic information of intact prostate tissue with clinical relevance. Albert Verhofstad died before publication of this article.     

The Emerging Role of Neutrophils in the Pathogenesis of Thrombosis in COVID-19

Previous studies have shown that COVID-19 leads to thrombotic complications, which have been associated with high morbidity and mortality rates. Neutrophils are the largest population of white blood cells and play a pivotal role in innate immunity. During an infection, neutrophils migrate from circulation to the infection site, contributing to killing pathogens. This mechanism is regulated by chemokines such as IL-8. Moreover, it was shown that neutrophils play an important role in thromboinflammation. Through a diverse repertoire of mechanisms, neutrophils, apart from directly killing pathogens, are able to activate the formation of thrombi. In COVID-19 patients, neutrophil activation promotes neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation, platelet aggregation, and cell damage. Furthermore, neutrophils participate in the pathogenesis of endothelitis. Overall, this review summarizes recent progress in research on the pathogenesis of COVID-19, highlighting the role of the prothrombotic action of neutrophils in NET formation.     

Interfacial Electronic Structure of Thin Cu Films Grown on Ar^＋—ion Sputter—cleaned α—Al2O3 Substrates

The bonding and electronic structure of Cu/(0001)Al2O3 and Cu/(1120)Al2O3 interfaces has been studied experimentally using spatially-resolved transmission electron energy loss spectroscopy.The specimen were prepared by depositing Cu on single-crystal α-Al2O3 substrates,which have been Ar^ -ion sputter-cleaned prior to the growth of Cu.For both orientations of theα-Al2O3 substrate,atomically abrupt interfaces formed as determined by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.The investigations of the interfacial Cu-L2,3,Al-L2,3 and O-K energy loss near-edge structures,which are proportional to the site-and angular-momentum-projected unoccupied density of states above the Fermi level,indicate the existence of metallic Cu-Al bonds at the Cu/Al2O3 interface independent of the substrate orientation.     

Present quality level of large heat resistant rotor forgings made of 1 % CrMoV steels – Part 1

The mechanical and toughness properties of steam turbine rotors of different production methods and different heat treatments are described and compared. Air and oil quenched rotors have similar properties in respect to creep behaviour while the toughness level of the oil quenched rotors is better. Rotors manufactured since about 1975 have a better level of all properties than older ones which is due to higher degree of purity, lower level of trace elements and a today better controlled temperature process during the whole manufacturing.     

Structure comparison of an oil sands tailings sludge with a montmorillonite gel model

The stability of oil sands tailings sludge with respect to sedimentation and consolidation is often attributed to the colloidal properties of some of the component minerals like clays. In this study, the packing structure of particles in a real oil sands sludge is compared with that of montmorillonite colloidal sediments published previously. For this purpose, the technique of hypercritical drying was used and the dried samples were examined under a scanning electron microscope. The network structures of both materials show many similarities. In particular, the platelike clay particles build a random network by linking to each other according to an edge-to-edge fashion.     

The effect of small amounts of calcium carbonate on mechanical properties of rigid PVC

The effect of calcium carbonate in levels of 1 to 5 phr has been studied. Two types of calcium carbonate with an average particle size of 1 and 3 microns have been tested and for each formulation a graph has been drawn with drop impact strength as a function of mechanical processing at constant melt temperature. The maximum impact strength has been read from the graph. The results show that the content of calcium carbonate has an obvious effect on impact strength and that the effect of the fine-grained filler is clearly positive and that the effect of the coarse-grained filler is slightly negative. Resistance to internal pressure has been studied only at a filler level of 3 phr. Here the fine-grained calcium carbonate gives a better result than the coarse-grained one at a moderate level of mechanical processing, while the two filler-types are equivalent at high levels of mechanical processing.     

Individuation: Conceptual analysis and assessment.

Reviews the literature on public individuation, in which people choose to act differently than others, which is an important process in interpersonal behavior that has received little attention from researchers. A new individual difference measure, the Individual Scale, is proposed. The scale is designed to assess people's willingness to engage in behaviors that publicly differentiate themselves from others. Various psychometric analyses demonstrate that the scale is a reliable and valid assessment instrument. The potential utility of this measure for several areas of social psychological research is discussed. (66 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reversible light-controlled conductance switching of azobenzene-based metal/polymer nanocomposites

We present a new concept of light-controlled conductance switching based on metal/polymer nanocomposites with dissolved chromophores that do not have intrinsic current switching ability. Photoswitchable metal/PMMA nanocomposites were prepared by physical vapor deposition of Au and Pt clusters, respectively, onto spin-coated thin poly(methylmethacrylate) films doped with azo-dye molecules. High dye concentrations were achieved by functionalizing the azo groups with tails and branches, thus enhancing solubility. The composites show completely reversible optical switching of the absorption bands upon alternating irradiation with UV and blue light. We also demonstrate reversible light-controlled conductance switching. This is attributed to changes in the metal cluster separation upon isomerization based on model experiments where analogous conductance changes were induced by swelling of the composite films in organic vapors and by tensile stress.     

Evaluation of the accuracy and consistency of the Swedish Environmental Classification and Information System for pharmaceuticals

The Swedish environmental and classification system for pharmaceuticals is a voluntary, industry-owned system with the purpose to provide environmental information about active pharmaceutical ingredients in the Swedish market. In this paper we report the results from a detailed evaluation of the accuracy and consistency of the risk assessments conducted within this system. The evaluation focused on the following three aspects: 1) comparison of the companies' risk assessments with the classification system's own guidance document, 2) how the risk assessments are affected if additional effect data is used, and 3) the consistency of different risk assessments for the same pharmaceutical substance. The analyses show that the system's guidance gives no criteria for when to consider a study “long-term” or “short-term”, and that this confusion affected the outcome of the risk assessments in some cases. Furthermore, when the system's guidance document is followed and the risk assessment was supplemented with effect data from the open scientific literature, then the risk classification for a substantial number of the evaluated substances was altered. Our analyses also revealed that in some cases risk assessors disagree on the outcome of the assessment for the same active pharmaceutical ingredient. Finally we list some recommendations to improve the classification system. The recommendations include clarifying concepts and instructions in the guidance document, introduction of a standardized way of reporting data to the website, and promotion of use of non-standard test data when considered the most relevant.