Biomonitoring of the adverse effects induced by the chronic exposure to lead and cadmium on kidney function: usefulness of alpha-glutathione S-transferase

A successful prevention of renal diseases induced by occupational exposure to lead (Pb) and/or cadmium (Cd) largely relies on the capability to detect nephrotoxic effects at a stage when they are still reversible or at least not yet compromising renal function. Hence, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the usefulness of a set of early biological markers of oxidative stress or nephrotoxicity for the biomonitoring of workers occupationally exposed to Pb and/or Cd in a non-ferrous metal smelter, and gender, age, socioeconomic status, smoking habits, and drug use-matched control individuals. In exposed subjects, mean levels of Pb in blood and urine were also 387.1+/-99.1 microg Pb/L (1.868+/-0.478 micromol Pb/L) and 217.7+/-117.7 microg Pb/g creatinine (1.051+/-0.568 micromol Pb/g creatinine), and mean levels of Cd in blood and urine were 3.26+/-2.11 microg Cd/L (0.029+/-0.019 micromol Cd/L) and 2.51+/-1.89 microg Cd/g creatinine (0.022+/-0.017 micromol Cd/g creatinine), suggesting thereby relatively low occupational exposure levels. Statistically significant variations in zinc protoporphyrin, malondialdehyde, retinol binding protein, alpha-glutathione S-transferase, and urinary protein levels were reported between the two groups, and were closely correlated with Pb and/or Cd exposure levels. Variations in alphaGST levels were closely associated with Pb exposure. Taken together, these results suggest the use of alpha-glutathione S-transferase excretion in urine as a hallmark of early changes in the proximal tubular integrity.     

Sooting tendencies of primary reference fuels in atmospheric laminar diffusion flames burning into vitiated air

In this study, the sooting tendencies of primary reference fuels (PRFs) are measured in term of yield sooting indices (YSIs) in methane diffusion flames doped with the vapors of PRFs. The present paper represents an incremental advance complementing the original methodology prescribed by McEnally and Pfefferle. The influence of both PRF formulation and CO₂ dilution of the coflowing air on the YSIs is also assessed. The diffusion flames burning in a coflowing oxidizer stream are established over the Santoro’s burner and vapor of the liquid fuel to be investigated is injected into the fuel stream. Laser extinction measurements are performed to map the two-dimensional field of soot volume fraction in the flame. For the pure liquid hydrocarbons investigated, i.e., n-hexane, n-heptane, isooctane, and benzene, the YSI reported in the original paper by McEnally and Pfefferle quantitatively predict the sooting propensities, measured here at much higher dopant concentrations. The present study therefore extends the consistency of the YSI methodology on the Santoro’s burner. For blends of n-heptane and isooctane, the sooting tendency of doped flames exhibits regular and monotonic trends and decreases with increasing n-heptane mole fraction or CO₂ dilution. Interestingly, the evolution of YSI with the isooctane mole fraction exhibits a strong similarity for varying CO₂ mole fraction. A quadratic least-squares fit is then derived, providing a phenomenological model of YSI as a function of both isooctane mole fraction in the fuel stream and CO₂ mole fraction in the oxidizer. A non-negligible cross effect of PRF formulation and CO₂ dilution on YSI is revealed. The method elaborated within the framework of the present paper could be extended to surrogate fuels. This would help develop a comprehensive database and empirical correlations that could predict the sooting propensities of different surrogate fuels, therefore their potentially mitigationed soot production through control of fuel composition and/or exhaust gas recirculation. This database would also be useful for the validation of CFD simulations incorporating sophisticated model of soot production.     

New insights into the peculiar behavior of laminar burning velocities of hydrogen–air flames according to pressure and equivalence ratio

Hydrogen is a clean and energetic fuel, and its oxidation mechanism is a subset of the oxidation mechanisms of all hydrocarbons. Therefore, the validation of the available kinetic schemes is of great importance. In the current study, experimental measurements of laminar flame speeds and modeling studies were performed for H₂–air premixed flames over a wide range of equivalence ratios (0.5–4.0) and pressures (0.2–3 bar). The large scale in mixture and thermodynamic conditions allows a better understanding of the peculiar behavior of hydrogen flame speeds with pressure. Two very recent detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms for hydrogen combustion were selected. Excellent agreement was observed between calculations and experimental results, confirming the validity of the kinetic schemes selected. The kinetic analyses performed allow proposing an explanation for the nonmonotonic variation of hydrogen/air flame speed with pressure observed in the experiments.     

A flamelet-based a priori analysis on the chemistry tabulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in non-premixed flames

In this paper, the chemical response of different species to turbulent effects is investigated in the context of one-dimensional laminar non-premixed flamelets. Turbulent effects are modeled as abrupt changes in the scalar dissipation rate. One-dimensional unsteady flamelet calculations assuming unity-Lewis number for all species are performed for an ethylene/air configuration. From the time-evolution of the species mass fractions, it is found that transient effects are not substantial for radicals such as OH$\mathrm{OH}$ and H$\mathrm{H}$, and species such as CO,_CO2$\mathrm{CO}\text{,}{\mathrm{CO}}_2$ and _C2H2${\mathrm{C}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_2$, consistent with their small characteristic chemical time scales. The steady state flamelet assumption for these species is well justified and their mass fractions can be pre-tabulated using the steady state flamelet solutions legibly. On the other hand, aromatic species are characterized by relatively slow chemistry, and substantial transient effects are observed for these species. The evolution of their mass fractions and chemical source terms are studied through a reaction flux analysis. Specifically for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH), the chemical production terms are found to be linearly proportional to the mass fraction of smaller aromatic species, and the chemical consumption terms are found to be linearly proportional to their own mass fractions. Based on the unsteady flamelet results, the validity of various existing flamelet-based pre-tabulation methods is examined, and a new linear relaxation model is proposed for PAH. The proposed relaxation model is validated through the unsteady flamelet formulation, and results are compared against full chemistry calculations.     

Validation of the performance of a GMO multiplex screening assay based on microarray detection

A new screening method for the detection and identification of GMO, based on the use of multiplex PCR followed by microarray, has been developed and is presented. The technology is based on the identification of quite ubiquitous GMO genetic target elements first amplified by PCR, followed by direct hybridisation of the amplicons on a predefined microarray (DualChip^® GMO, Eppendorf, Germany). The validation was performed within the framework of a European project (Co-Extra, contract no 007158) and in collaboration with 12 laboratories specialised in GMO detection. The present study reports the strategy and the results of an ISO complying validation of the method carried out through an inter-laboratory study. Sets of blind samples were provided consisting of DNA reference materials covering all the elements detectable by specific probes present on the array. The GMO concentrations varied from 1% down to 0.045%. In addition, a mixture of two GMO events (0.1% RRS diluted in 100% TOPAS19/2) was incorporated in the study to test the robustness of the assay in extreme conditions. Data were processed according to ISO 5725 standard. The method was evaluated with predefined performance criteria with respect to the EC CRL method acceptance criteria. The overall method performance met the acceptance criteria; in particular, the results showed that the method is suitable for the detection of the different target elements at 0.1% concentration of GMO with a 95% accuracy rate. This collaborative trial showed that the method can be considered as fit for the purpose of screening with respect to its intra- and inter-laboratory accuracy. The results demonstrated the validity of combining multiplex PCR with array detection as provided by the DualChip^® GMO (Eppendorf, Germany) for the screening of GMO. The results showed that the technology is robust, practical and suitable as a screening tool.     

Application of neural-fuzzy controller for streaming video over Bluetooth 1.2

This paper is to introduce an application of Computational Intelligence (CI) to Moving Picture Expert Group-4 (MPEG-4) video compression over IEEE.802.15.1 wireless communication, known as Bluetooth 1.2, in order to improve picture quality. The 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical frequency band is used for the IEEE.802.15.1 standard. IEEE.802.15.1 can be affected by noise and interference due to other neighboring wireless devices sharing the same frequency carrier. The noise and interference create difficulties in ascertaining an accurate real-time transmission rate at the receiving end. Furthermore, the MPEG-4 codec is an object-oriented compression system and demands a high bandwidth. It is therefore difficult to avoid excessive delay, image quality degradation and/or data loss during MPEG-4 video transmission over standard systems. A new buffer entitled ‘buffer added’ has been introduced at the input of the Bluetooth 1.2 device. This buffer is controlled by a Rule-Based Fuzzy (RBF) logic controller at the input and a neural-fuzzy controller (NFC) at the output. The two new fuzzy rules manipulate and supervise the flow of video over the Bluetooth 1.2 standard. The computer simulation results illustrate the comparison between a non-CI video transmission over Bluetooth 1.2 and the proposed design, confirming that the applications of RBF and NFC do improve the image quality, reduce data loss and reduce time delay.     

Pyropheophytin a and 1,2-Diacyl-glycerols Over Time Under Different Storage Conditions in Natural Olive Oils

The effect of storage conditions (light, temperature, container types) and time on the quality of natural olive oils from different cultivars and Australian regions were studied. The oils’ changing quality was monitored through several physico-chemical methods (free fatty acids, peroxide value, UV-spectrometry (K₂₃₂, K ₂₇₀ and ΔK), induction time, total polyphenol content, bitterness, pyropheophytin a and 1,2-diacyl-glycerol content) and sensory analysis over 24 months. Pyropheophytins a and 1,2-diacyl-glycerols criteria showed very good performance as indicators of overall olive oil quality and freshness as well as highlighting any problems during the storage of the product. Pyropheophytin a increment averaged 7 % per year and the 1,2-diacyl-glycerols decreased at an average of 23 % per year at normal storage conditions over time.     

Sintering of an ultra pure α-alumina powder: I. Densification,grain growth and sintering path

Sintering in air of an ultra pure α-alumina powder has been investigated. Isothermal experiments have been conducted on green samples shaped by slip casting. The grain growth and densification kinetics have been established. The “relative density/grain size” trajectory, called “sintering path”, has been drawn. Hypotheses concerning the mechanisms controlling grain growth and densification have been formulated. For the first time, it is shown that grain growth and densification kinetics exhibit two distinct regimes, where an initial point defect formation step plays a key role. When point defects have been generated, the diffusion of the associated Al³⁺ cations controls grain growth and densification.