Expanding an Efficient,Electrically Driven and CNT‐Tagged P450 System into the Third Dimension: A Nanowired CNT‐Containing and Enzyme‐Stabilising 3 D Sol–Gel Electrode

Although electrochemically catalysed P450 reactions have been described, their efficiency and applicability remained limited. This is mostly due to low enzyme activity, laborious protein immobilisation and the small electrode surface. We established a novel protein immobilisation method for a determined orientation and electrical wiring of the enzyme without post‐expression modification. By genetic introduction of an anchor‐peptide our method is applicable for screening medium to large mutant libraries and detection by an electrode system. The system was expanded by using wired carbon nanotubes within a sol‐gel matrix to create a three dimensional electrode.     

Evaluation of innovative technological approaches to replace palm fat with physically modified Swiss rapeseed oil in bakery products

Palm fat is often used in baked goods because of its relatively low cost, and its positive impact on texture and shelf life. Demand for alternatives has risen in recent years due to concerns about the ecological and social sustainability. This is a challenge for the bakery industry since palm fat possesses unique properties. In this study, unhydrogenated rapeseed oil was processed using novel physical technologies, such as wax crystallisation, stabilised foaming and Pickering emulsions, in order to simulate palm fat properties. Analysis showed that while the initial viscosity of the fat substitute products was low compared to palm fat, the fat replacement products behaved very similarly to palm fat in the baking experiments. The resulting biscuits baked with emulsified rapeseed oil and rapeseed oil complemented with wax crystals were judged to be suitable replacements for palm fat in terms of processability, as well as analytical and sensory assessment.     

Influence of high temperature exposure on the adhesion of a micro-composite refractory enamel to a Ni–18Cr–12W superalloy

A new micro-composite refractory enamel (MCRE) was designed to play a multifunctional protective role (thermal barrier coating, corrosive and erosive protection) for the hot working parts made of EI868 superalloy sheets i.e. burning chambers, fire tubes, volets, eclises, etc. The effect of the isothermal heating at elevates temperature (800 °C, 900 °C) were, for the first time, investigate for MCRE/EI868 couple. The adhesion strength has shown an enhancement of about 100% when the couple was heated at 800 °C or at 900 °C for 10 h compared with the unexposed one. SEM-EDS, OM, XRD, EDP-XRFS and SDAR-OES investigations support a chemical bonding mechanism between MCRE and EI868 substrate via a transient interface layer. Elemental EDS distributions show that the Cr selective oxidation is responsible for the formation of the transient layer. The XRD measurements can be correlated with the contribution of the spinellic transformation of the SiO₂, Cr₂O₃, NiO to the adhesion enhancement. The most important result reported herein is the adhesion strength enhancement of the MCRE coatings to the EI868 supperalloy by isothermal treatment. Accordingly, the MCRE behaves as a self-healing coating. Noteworthy, the working lifetime of the MCRE-EI868 couple can be significantly enhanced if an optimum pre-treatment is applied before it comes into service.     

Synthesis of Ether-Diols with Low Polarity from Long-Chained Fatty Alcohols for Use in Block Copolymers

Diol-terminated polyethers are important intermediates for the manufacturing of block copolymers, but only a few polyethers other than polyethylene glycols are available on a technical scale. Most of them are highly polar. Natural fatty alcohols—converted to similar polyethers—should have a grossly reduced polarity because of a large separation of the oxygen atoms in the C18 chain. A synthesis sequence of polyethers with a longer carbon chain compared to the ethylene glycol-derived ethers based on commercially available fatty alcohols was designed for a future examination of the hydrophobic properties. Palladium-catalyzed cleavage of olefinic dialkyl carbonates results in carbon dioxide elimination and subsequent formation of ethers from an allyl-palladium cation. It could be shown that this process with fatty alcohols like undec-10-en-1-ol or oleyl alcohol can be run with appreciable yield. Although carbonates were obtained here using expensive chloroformates as starting materials, transesterification of dimethylcarbonates can be used similarly. Ruthenium-catalyzed acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) at both chain terminations then was applied to polymerize the ethers. Depending on the alkenyl chain, short oligomers with a degree of polymerization (DP) of about 5–8 seem to be formed according to gel permeation chromatography (GPC).     

Short-term memory for duration and distance in humans: Role of the hippocampus.

Control participants and hypoxic participants with bilateral hippocampal damage were tested for short-term memory (STM) for presentation duration of a single object, STM for a single object, STM for spatial distance information, and time estimation. Delays of 1, 4, 8, 12, or 16 s were used for all the STM and time estimation tests. Results indicated that relative to controls, hypoxic participants were significantly impaired for STM for duration and distance information at the long but not short delays. Similarly, time estimation was accurate only to 8 s for hypoxic participants, but STM for a single object was only mildly affected. Results suggest that the hippocampus may be required for the processing of spatial and temporal STM information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inhibition of P2X7 Purinergic Receptor Ameliorates Fibromyalgia Syndrome by Suppressing NLRP3 Pathway

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by persistent widespread pain that significantly reduces quality of life in patients. The purinergic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) seems to be involved in different pain states and neuroinflammation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the positive effects of P2X7R inhibition by the antagonist Brilliant Blue G (BBG) in a rat model of reserpine-induced fibromyalgia. Sprague–Dawley male rats were injected with 1 mg/kg of reserpine for three consecutive days. Later, animals were administered BBG (50 mg/kg) intraperitoneally for seven days. Reserpine injections induced a significant increase in pain pro-inflammatory mediators as well as a significant increase in neuroinflammation. Chronic pain, in turn, led to depressive-like symptoms and reduced neurogenesis. Blockage of P2X7R by BBG administrations is able to attenuate the behavioral deficits, pain mediators and microglial activation induced by reserpine injection. Additionally, BBG prevents NLRP3 inflammasome activation and consequently the release of active interleukin (IL)-1 and IL-18, involved in the activation of nociceptors. In conclusion, these results suggest that inhibition of P2X7R should be further investigated to develop a potential approach for the management of fibromyalgia.