Activation of the Interleukin-33/ST2 Pathway Exerts Deleterious Effects in Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease

Mitral valve disease (MVD) is a frequent cause of heart failure and death worldwide, but its etiopathogenesis is not fully understood. Interleukin (IL)-33 regulates inflammation and thrombosis in the vascular endothelium and may play a role in the atherosclerotic process, but its role in mitral valve has not been investigated. We aim to explore IL-33 as a possible inductor of myxomatous degeneration in human mitral valves. We enrolled 103 patients suffering from severe mitral regurgitation due to myxomatous degeneration undergoing mitral valve replacement. Immunohistochemistry of the resected leaflets showed IL-33 and ST2 expression in both valve interstitial cells (VICs) and valve endothelial cells (VECs). Positive correlations were found between the levels of IL-33 and molecules implicated in the development of myxomatous MVD, such as proteoglycans, extracellular matrix remodeling enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases and their tissue inhibitors), inflammatory and fibrotic markers. Stimulation of single cell cultures of VICs and VECs with recombinant human IL-33 induced the expression of activated VIC markers, endothelial–mesenchymal transition of VECs, proteoglycan synthesis, inflammatory molecules and extracellular matrix turnover. Our findings suggest that the IL-33/ST2 system may be involved in the development of myxomatous MVD by enhancing extracellular matrix remodeling.     

Maternal Undernutrition Modulates Neonatal Rat Cerebrovascular Structure,Function, and Vulnerability to Mild Hypoxic-Ischemic Injury via Corticosteroid-Dependent and -Independent Mechanisms

The present study explored the hypothesis that an adverse intrauterine environment caused by maternal undernutrition (MUN) acted through corticosteroid-dependent and -independent mechanisms to program lasting functional changes in the neonatal cerebrovasculature and vulnerability to mild hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injury. From day 10 of gestation until term, MUN and MUN-metyrapone (MUN-MET) group rats consumed a diet restricted to 50% of calories consumed by a pair-fed control; and on gestational day 11 through term, MUN-MET groups received drinking water containing MET (0.5 mg/mL), a corticosteroid synthesis inhibitor. P9/P10 pups underwent unilateral carotid ligation followed 24 h later by 1.5 h exposure to 8% oxygen (HI treatment). An ELISA quantified MUN-, MET-, and HI-induced changes in circulating levels of corticosterone. In P11/P12 pups, MUN programming promoted contractile differentiation in cerebrovascular smooth muscle as determined by confocal microscopy, modulated calcium-dependent contractility as revealed by cerebral artery myography, enhanced vasogenic edema formation as indicated by T2 MRI, and worsened neurobehavior MUN unmasked HI-induced improvements in open-field locomotion and in edema resolution, alterations in calcium-dependent contractility and promotion of contractile differentiation. Overall, MUN imposed multiple interdependent effects on cerebrovascular smooth muscle differentiation, contractility, edema formation, flow-metabolism coupling and neurobehavior through pathways that both required, and were independent of, gestational corticosteroids. In light of growing global patterns of food insecurity, the present study emphasizes that infants born from undernourished mothers may experience greater risk for developing neonatal cerebral edema and sensorimotor impairments possibly through programmed changes in neonatal cerebrovascular function.     

Nondestructive assessing of the aging effects in 2205 duplex stainless steel using thermoelectric power

The microstructural transformation of ferrite into secondary austenite and sigma phase during long term exposure to high-temperatures (650–900 °C) in a 2205 duplex stainless steel has been investigated using the thermoelectric power (TEP) technique, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Charpy-impact test (CIT), equivalent ferrite and sigma phases content measurements. The possibility of using the TEP coefficient as a nondestructive assessment technique to characterize the aging kinetics of 2205 duplex stainless steel is discussed. Experimental results indicate that TEP coefficient is sensitive to the gradual microstructural transformation of ferrite phase experienced by the 2205 duplex stainless steel during the aging treatments.     

大卫的戏剧舞台Magic Life

<正>沿着位伦敦东区的Mile End路走到大卫卡特的五层楼房,那景象就像小说《绿野仙踪》中描述的那样:一切均在瞬间从黑白色调变成了缤纷多彩的画面。徜徉于这所房间之内,你会看到弯曲的廊道、大理     

Optimisation study of gum extraction from Basil seeds (Ocimum basilicum L.)

Basil seed ( Ocimum basilicum L.) is cultivated in large quantities in different regions of Iran. This seed has reasonable amounts of gum with good functional properties which is comparable with commercial food hydrocolloids. A central composite rotatable design was applied to evaluate the effects of temperature, pH and water/seed ratio on the yield, apparent viscosity and protein content of water-extracted Basil seed gum. All of the variables significantly ( P  < 0.05) affected the extraction yield, whereas the effect of water/seed ratio on apparent viscosity and the effects of pH and water/seed ratio on protein content were not significant ( P  > 0.05). Numerical optimisation determined the optimum extraction conditions based on the highest yield and viscosity and the lowest protein content as being temperature 68.71 °C, pH 8.09 and water/seed ratio 65.98:1. Power law model well described non-Newtonian pseudoplastic behaviour of BSG. Flow behaviour index ( n ) and consistency index ( K ) of 1% crude and pure BSG samples were 0.306, 0.283 and 17.46, 20.22 Pa s ⁿ , respectively.     

New Products

In this issue, editors Eyal de Lara and Maria Ebling review a new technology for printing temporary documents that can reduce paper usage and a basketball jersey that dynamically displays players' statistics. They also review a secondary display that provides access to personal content on a laptop without the user having to boot it up and a universal charger for mobile devices. Finally, they examine a handheld astronomy device that identifies celestial bodies, an ergonomic "keyboard" for individuals with hand and finger injuries, an electronic-book reader, and a computerized tool for making small lots of artisan wine.     

Coffee brew shelf life modelling by integration of acceptability and quality data

A methodology for the development of shelf life models predicting consumer acceptability of coffee brew on the basis of simple and easily detectable quality indices was proposed. Coffee brew was assessed during storage for consumer acceptability using both acceptability scoring methodology and evaluation of consumer rejection by survival analysis. Samples were also analysed for hydrogen ion concentration and intensity of sensory attributes (acid, off-flavour and bitter) by a trained sensory panel. Hydrogen ion concentration and sourness resulted to be the indices best correlating with the percentage of consumer rejecting the product during storage. Mathematical functions predicting hydrogen ion concentration and sourness as a function of the risk of consumer rejection were defined. These equations provided information to assist companies in choosing acceptance limits and were integrated with classic shelf life kinetic approach to produce shelf life models accounting for consumer response. Due to lower uncertainty of hydrogen ion concentration data as compared to sourness sensory data, only the former resulted to be a useful indicator of coffee brew shelf life.     

Recent trends in the lipid‐based nanoencapsulation of antioxidants and their role in foods

Antioxidants may be utilised for two main purposes, to protect the sensory and nutritive quality of the food and/or to protect the body against chronic and age‐related diseases. Generally, antioxidants are subject to process degradation and, when given to the body in their free form, cannot pass cell membranes and are rapidly cleared from the general circulation. Because of their unique properties, lipid‐based nanoencapsulation systems enhance the performance of antioxidants by improving their solubility and bioavailability, in vitro and in vivo stability, and preventing their unwanted interactions with other food components. This paper reviews nanoliposomes, archaeosomes and nanocochleates with respect to their potential applications as antioxidant carriers in foods. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Optimization of intercooling compression in CO2 capture systems

Compression of CO₂ is an essential process in the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. In spite of power requirements for CO₂ compression could be as much as 100 kWe per tonne CO₂, the minimization of energy requirements has received little attention in the literature. Although intercooling compression reduces power requirements, it introduces important cooling necessities that could be minimized.The aim of this paper is the integration of intercooling compression into the low-pressure part of a steam cycle to take advantage of the intercooling heat and analyse the energetic and economical results under different assumptions. Simulation and optimization have been performed in order to evaluate the intercooling configuration, energy requirements and the most cost-effective integration. Results have shown reduction in compression power requirement around 40% and reduction of the incremental COE around 23%. Proposed integration could be used to increase the efficiency of CO₂ capture processes and, therefore, to reduce the CO₂ capture cost.     

Distributed Event Graphs: Formalizing Component-based Modelling and Simulation

In this work an extension to the classical Event Graphs formalism for discrete-event simulation is presented. The extensions are oriented towards the specification of component-based models. The abstract syntax has been defined through meta-modelling. Several methodological issues are discussed, concerning the use of two different meta-modelling levels or collapsing the language into a single one, where “instance-of” relationships are used between processes and their classes. The operational semantics have been defined through graph transformation. This formal definition enables analysis before code is generated from the model. The syntax and semantics of the visual language have been implemented in the multi-paradigm tool AToM³, together with a code generator that produces stand-alone applications able to run the analysed models in real-time.