Wind Energy literature survey No. 26

As a service to readers, Wind Energy regularly conducts literature surveys and publishes lists of relevant papers drawn from recent issues of a large number of periodicals including Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, International Journal of Energy Research, Renewable Energy, Energy Sources, Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Journal and Electric Power Components and Systems along with a number of periodicals published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, etc. The list is limited exclusively to journals not specifically devoted to wind energy and its applications. To assist the reader, the list is separated into broad categories. Although many papers fit several categories, each paper is listed only once under the category thought most appropriate. Please note that the inclusion in the list is not an endorsement of a paper's quality. Compiled by Lars Christian Henriksen, Department of Wind Energy, Technical University of Denmark, PO Box 49, DK‐4000 Roskilde, Denmark. Please email any suggestions to larh@ dtu.dk. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding the influence of multiple levels of governments on the development of inter-organizational systems

In the arena of international trade, multiple levels of governments (ranging from national to supranational) play an important role in regulating and controlling cross-border trade activities. Recently, they have also become powerful players in influencing decisions about inter-organizational systems (IOS). The influences of these multiple levels of governments on IOS are of an enormous scale and impact on businesses and national economies. Understanding them is a prerequisite for informed actions. From a theoretical point of view we contribute with the MLxMC framework, a conceptual framework, which combines a processual, multi-level approach with the motors of change. We use the MLxMC framework to explicitly highlight the influences of multiple levels of governments on IOS developments that take place in the highly regulated environment of international trade. We demonstrate how the framework can be applied to analyze such developments, extending the existing IOS research with models that explicitly acknowledge the role of government. The framework makes use of multi-level analysis by taking the political and institutional aspects into account. As an analytical tool, the framework can support business practitioners as well as policy-makers in their strategic choices of which level to engage at and with whom to collaborate in order to influence the debate.     

Subbandage pressure measurements comparing a long-stretch with a short-stretch compression bandage

Although angioplasty has undergone considerable development, restenosis remains an unsolved problem. No drugs have been proved effective in the prevention of restenosis. Prophylactic stenting is the only treatment with some efficacy. The pathophysiology of restenosis involves both intimal hyperplasia with a major proliferative component at the dilated site and geometric constrictive remodeling of the artery. Stenting seems to prevent the remodeling but does not prevent and may even worsen the intimal hyperplasia. Gene therapy may be effective in preventing the proliferative component of the intimal hyperplasia: therapeutic genes can be delivered locally to the arterial wall cells at the dilated site during or immediately after angioplasty, using viral (e.g., adenoviruses) or nonviral vectors. The main candidate genes stimulate a variety of endogenous mechanisms whose effects consist in inhibition of smooth muscle cell proliferation (Rb gene); sensitization of proliferating cells to the effects of cytotoxic substances, thus allowing selective chemotherapy (HSV-tk gene); or stimulation of reendothelization (VEGF gene). Other genes have also yielded promising results (ecNOs, p21, Coxl, etc.). Clinical application of these techniques cannot be envisioned until studies are available proving that the delivery methods (transfer vectors or local delivery systems) are completely safe, and that the candidate genes are effective in "realistic" models. If these hurdles are cleared successfully, preventive gene therapy for gene restenosis may well become a clinical reality.     

Profiling Blood Serum Extracellular Vesicles in Plaque Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Patients Reveals Potential Disease Biomarkers

Psoriasis vulgaris (PsV) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are inflammatory diseases with unresolved pathophysiological aspects. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play an important role in intercellular communication. We compared the miRNA contents and surface proteome of the EVs in the blood serum of PsV and PsA patients to healthy controls. Size-exclusion chromatography was used to isolate EVs from the blood serum of 12 PsV patients, 12 PsA patients and 12 healthy control subjects. EV samples were characterized and RNA sequencing was used to identify differentially enriched EV-bound miRNAs. We found 212 differentially enriched EV-bound miRNAs present in both PsV and PsA groups—a total of 13 miRNAs at FDR ≤ 0.05. The predicted target genes of these miRNAs were significantly related to lesser known but potentially disease-relevant pathways. The EV array revealed that PsV patient EV samples were significantly enriched with CD9 EV-marker compared to controls. Analysis of EV-bound miRNAs suggests that signaling via EVs in the blood serum could play a role in the pathophysiological processes of PsV and PsA. EVs may be able to fill the void in clinically applicable diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for PsV and PsA.     

Acrylamide-asparagine relationship in baked/toasted wheat and rye breads

Acrylamide in baked and toasted wheat and rye bread was studied in relation to levels of asparagine in flour, dough, bread and toasts. Asparagine was consumed during bread preparation resulting in reduced acrylamide content in the products. In wheat bread, 12% of the asparagine initially present in the flour (0.14 g kg(-1)) remained after yeast fermentation and baking; for rye bread, 82% of asparagine remained after sourdough fermentation and baking. Asparagine present in untoasted wheat bread had totally reacted after hard toasting. Toasted wheat and rye bread slices contained 11-161 and 27-205 microg kg(-1) acrylamide, respectively, compared to untoasted wheat and rye bread with <5 and 7-23 microg kg(-1) acrylamide, respectively. The dietary intake of acrylamide from bread (untoasted) of 2 microg day(-1) is relatively low; however, acrylamide exposure from bread increases several fold for people eating toasted bread.     

Electrophysiological characterization of GABAergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area

GABAergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) play a primary role in local inhibition of mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) neurons but are not physiologically or anatomically well characterized. We used in vivo extracellular and intracellular recordings in the rat VTA to identify a homogeneous population of neurons that were distinguished from DA neurons by their rapid-firing, nonbursting activity (19.1 +/- 1.4 Hz), short-duration action potentials (310 +/- 10 microseconds), EPSP-dependent spontaneous spikes, and lack of spike accommodation to depolarizing current pulses. These non-DA neurons were activated both antidromically and orthodromically by stimulation of the internal capsule (IC; conduction velocity, 2.4 +/- 0.2 m/sec; refractory period, 0.6 +/- 0.1 msec) and were inhibited by stimulation of the nucleus accumbens septi (NAcc). Their firing rate was moderately reduced, and their IC-driven activity was suppressed by microelectrophoretic application or systemic administration of NMDA receptor antagonists. VTA non-DA neurons were recorded intracellularly and showed relatively depolarized resting membrane potentials (-61.9 +/- 1.8 mV) and small action potentials (68.3 +/- 2.1 mV). They were injected with neurobiotin and shown by light microscopic immunocytochemistry to be multipolar cells and by electron microscopy to contain GABA but not the catecholamine-synthesizing enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). Neurobiotin-filled dendrites containing GABA received asymmetric excitatory-type synapses from unlabeled terminals and symmetric synapses from terminals that also contained GABA. These findings indicate that VTA non-DA neurons are GABAergic, project to the cortex, and are controlled, in part, by a physiologically relevant NMDA receptor-mediated input from cortical structures and by GABAergic inhibition.