Xanthophylls, Phytosterols and Pre-β1-HDL are Differentially Affected by Fenofibrate and Niacin HDL-Raising in a Cross-Over Study

Fenofibrate and extended‐release (ER) niacin similarly raise high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) concentration but their effects on levels of potent plasma antioxidant xanthophylls (lutein and zeaxanthin) and phytosterols obtained from dietary sources, and any relationship with plasma lipoproteins and pre‐β1‐HDL levels, have not been investigated. We studied these parameters in 66 dyslipidemic patients treated for 6 week with fenofibrate (160 mg/day) or ER‐niacin (0.5 g/day for 3 week, then 1 g/day) in a cross‐over study. Both treatments increased HDL‐C (16 %) and apolipoprotein (apo) A‐I (7 %) but only fenofibrate increased apoA‐II (28 %). Lutein and zeaxanthin levels were unaffected by fenofibrate but inversely correlated with percentage change in apoB and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and positively correlated with end of treatment apoA‐II. ApoA‐II in isolated HDL in vitro bound more lutein than apoA‐I. Xanthophylls were increased by ER‐niacin (each ~30 %) without any correlation to lipoprotein or apo levels. Only fenofibrate markedly decreased plasma markers of cholesterol absorption; pre‐β1‐HDL was significantly decreased by fenofibrate (?19 %, p < 0.0001), with little change (3.4 %) for ER‐niacin. Although fenofibrate and ER‐niacin similarly increased plasma HDL‐C and apoA‐I, effects on plasma xanthophylls, phytosterols and pre‐β1‐HDL differed markedly, suggesting differences in intestinal lipidation of HDL. In addition, the in vitro investigations suggest an important role of plasma apoA‐II in xanthophyll metabolism.     

The influence of pH value on the efficiency of imidazole based corrosion inhibitors of copper

The aim of this work is to establish the correlation between the solution pH and the inhibiting efficiency of two imidazole compounds (4-methyl-1-phenyl imidazole and 4-methyl-1-(p-tolyl) imidazole) in protection of copper from corrosion in chloride media.It was found that the inhibiting efficiency of both studied imidazoles enhances with the increase of the solution pH value, from about 20% in 0.5 M HCl to 92% in 0.5 M NaCl. This improvement was ascribed to stronger adsorption of neutral imidazole molecule, which can be expected at higher pH values, than that of the protonated imidazole cation, which may be expected in acid solutions.     

Electrochemical mechanism and kinetics studies of haloperidol and its assay in commercial formulations

The kinetics and mechanism for electrochemical reduction of haloperidol, a psychotherapeutic drug used in the treatment of schizophrenia, were studied using square wave and cyclic voltammetries allied to a hanging mercury drop electrode. The experimental and voltammetric parameters were optimized at 0.04 mol L⁻¹ Brinton–Robinson buffer (pH 10), with a pulse potential frequency of 100 s⁻¹, a pulse amplitude of 30 mV and scan increment of 2 mV. Two well-defined peaks were observed, which exhibited properties of fast electron transfer with a strong adsorption process of reactants and products on the electrode surface. The first peak was related to a fast and reversible anion-radical formation originating from the reduction of the carbonyl group, and the second was related to the irreversible reduction of the anion-radical previously formed. Analytical parameters such as: linearity range, equation of the analytical curves, correlation coefficients, detection and quantification limits, recovery efficiency, and relative standard deviation for intraday and interday were compared to similar results obtained by use of the UV–vis spectrophotometry technique, and the analytical results obtained in commercial formulations show that the voltammetric procedure using a hanging mercury drop electrode is suitable for analyzing haloperidol in complex commercial formulation samples.     

On the dynamic rounding-off in analogue and RF optimal circuit sizing

Frequently used approaches to solve discrete multivariable optimisation problems consist of computing solutions using a continuous optimisation technique. Then, using heuristics, the variables are rounded-off to their nearest available discrete values to obtain a discrete solution. Indeed, in many engineering problems, and particularly in analogue circuit design, component values, such as the geometric dimensions of the transistors, the number of fingers in an integrated capacitor or the number of turns in an integrated inductor, cannot be chosen arbitrarily since they have to obey to some technology sizing constraints. However, rounding-off the variables values a posteriori and can lead to infeasible solutions (solutions that are located too close to the feasible solution frontier) or degradation of the obtained results (expulsion from the neighbourhood of a ‘sharp’ optimum) depending on how the added perturbation affects the solution. Discrete optimisation techniques, such as the dynamic rounding-off technique (DRO) are, therefore, needed to overcome the previously mentioned situation.

In this paper, we deal with an improvement of the DRO technique. We propose a particle swarm optimisation (PSO)-based DRO technique, and we show, via some analog and RF-examples, the necessity to implement such a routine into continuous optimisation algorithms.     

Effects of ethnicity on treatment attendance, stimulant response/dose, and 14-month outcome in ADHD.

From the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder--a randomized clinical trial of 579 children ages 7-9 years receiving 14 months of medication management, behavioral treatment, combination, or community care--the authors matched each African American and Latino participant with randomly selected Caucasian participants of same sex, treatment group, and site. Although Caucasian children were significantly less symptomatic than African American and Latino children on some ratings, response to treatment did not differ significantly by ethnicity after controlling for public assistance. Ethnic minority families cooperated with and benefited significantly from combination (multimodal) treatment (d = 0.36, compared with medication). This incremental gain withstood statistical control for mother's education, single-parent status, and public assistance. Treatment for lower socioeconomic status minority children, especially if comorbid, should combine medication and behavioral treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ab-initio calculations of the formation energies of BCC-based superlattices in the Fe---Al system

First-principles calculations of the total energies of A2 iron and aluminum, B2 (FeAl), B32 (FeAl) and D0₃ (Fe₃Al and FeAl₃) compounds were performed in the frame of density functional theory (DFT) using the Full Potential - Linear Augmented Plane Wave method (FP-LAPW). These results have been used to obtain formation energies of the respective ground states. The calculated formation energies of the D0₃ (Fe₃Al) and B2 (FeAl) compounds show excellent agreement with available calorimetric data on standard enthalpies of formation of Fe---Al alloys up to 50 at.% aluminum. As the Fe---Al system has a controversial magnetic behavior when described by ab-initio methods in the DFT, this agreement is remarkable.     

Mössbauer studies of iron in Lurgi gasification ashes and power plant fly and bottom ash

Iron Mössbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction methods were applied to the study of a selection of ashes produced in a Lurgi gasification plant and fly ash from a pulverized coal combustion. The ashes contained hematite, magnetite, and goethite. Sixty percent or more of the iron in these ashes was in the oxide form, with the remainder present in mullite and other silicate phases. Iron was divalent in the latter, and present as both Fe⁺² and Fe⁺³ in mullite. Ratios of Fe⁺² and Fe⁺³ varied from 0.3 to 0.7. By comparison, a water-quenched molten bottom ash was free of iron oxides and contained only amorphous silicate phases with virtually all iron in the divalent state.     

Lubricating oil influence on exhaust hydrocarbon emissions from a gasoline fueled engine

Engine exhaust hydrocarbon emissions have been investigated for different lubricating oils, using gasoline as fuel. Six samples of lubricants have been tested: synthetic SAE 5W30 and SAE 5W40, semi-synthetic SAE 15W40 and SAE 20W50, and mineral SAE 15W40 and SAE 20W50. Experiments were carried out in a production engine mounted on a bench test dynamometer, varying engine load and speed in the range from 1500 to 6000 rev/min. The results demonstrate the influence of lubricant viscosity and base oil on hydrocarbon emissions. The synthetic oils showed the lowest hydrocarbon emission levels, especially in the low engine speed range.     

Traditional and molecular analyses for fecal indicator bacteria in non-point source subtropical recreational marine waters

The use of enterococci as the primary fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) for the determination of recreational water safety has been questioned, particularly in sub/tropical marine waters without known point sources of sewage. Alternative FIB (such as the Bacteroidales group) and alternative measurement methods (such as rapid molecular testing) have been proposed to supplement or replace current marine water quality testing methods which require culturing enterococci. Moreover, environmental parameters have also been proposed to supplement current monitoring programs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the health risks to humans from exposure to subtropical recreational marine waters with no known point source. The study reported symptoms between one set of human subjects randomly assigned to marine water exposure with intensive environmental monitoring compared with other subjects who did not have exposure. In addition, illness outcomes among the exposed bathers were compared to levels of traditional and alternative FIB (as measured by culture-based and molecular-based methods), and compared to easily measured environmental parameters. Results demonstrated an increase in self-reported gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin illnesses among bathers vs. non-bathers. Among the bathers, a dose–response relationship by logistic regression modeling was observed for skin illness, where illness was positively related to enterococci enumeration by membrane filtration (odds ratio = 1.46 [95% confidence interval = 0.97–2.21] per increasing log10 unit of enterococci exposure) and positively related to 24 h antecedent rain fall (1.04 [1.01–1.07] per increasing millimeters of rain). Acute febrile respiratory illness was inversely related to water temperature (0.74 [0.56–0.98] per increasing degree of water temperature). There were no significant dose–response relationships between report of human illness and any of the other FIB or environmental measures. Therefore, for non-point source subtropical recreational marine waters, this study suggests that humans may be at increased risk of reported illness, and that the currently recommended and investigational FIB may not track gastrointestinal illness under these conditions; the relationship between other human illness and environmental measures is less clear.