The L513S polymorphism in medium-chain acyl-CoA synthetase 2 (MACS2) is associated with risk factors of the metabolic syndrome in a Caucasian study population

Enzymes of the medium-chain acyl-CoA synthetase (MACS) family catalyze the ligation of medium chain fatty acids with CoA to produce medium-chain-acyl-CoA. At least four members of the MACS gene family are clustered on human chromosome 16p12. Association studies in the Japanese Suita cohort of MACS polymorphisms and various phenotypes revealed the contribution of the Leu513Ser polymorphism in MACS2 to multiple risk factors of the metabolic syndrome. Here, we investigated the association between this polymorphism and different risk factors in the Caucasian Metabolic Intervention Cohort Kiel. Seven hundred and sixteen male subjects aged 45-65 years were recruited for a standard oral glucose tolerance test and the postprandial assessment of metabolic parameters after an oral metabolic tolerance test (oMTT; 1017 kcal, 51.6% fat, 29.6% carbohydrates, 11.9% protein). The MACS2 Leu513Ser polymorphism was determined by TaqMan-Assay in 705 subjects. Postprandial triglyceride levels following oMTT [area under the curve (AUC)] were significantly higher in subjects carrying the Ser allele compared to subjects homozygous for the Leu allele (1690 +/- 100 mg x h/dL versus 1514 +/- 39 mg x h/dL, p = 0.04). Significant differences between genotype groups were also found for fasting (108 +/- 1.9 mg/dL versus 104 +/- 0.66 mg/dL, p = 0.04) and postprandial (AUC 535 +/- 11 versus 512 +/- 4.0, p = 0.02) glucose levels as well as for high-density-lipoprotein, body mass index, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Carriers of the Ser allele also show an increased risk of impaired glucose metabolism (OR: 1.48, 95% confidence interval: 0.98-2.27, p = 0.07), adiposity (1.8, 1.16-2.81, p = 0.01) and hypertension (1.5, 0.99-2.17, p = 0.06). In conclusion, our results suggest an involvement of the MACS2 Leu513Ser polymorphism in the development of the metabolic syndrome in Caucasian population. Additionally, the higher triglyceride and glucose levels after an oMTT support a possible functional impact of the polymorphism in vivo.     

Interfacial charges and electric field distribution in organic hetero-layer light-emitting devices

The electric field distribution in organic hetero-layer light-emitting devices based on N,N^′-diphenyl-N,N^′-bis(1-naphtyl)-1,1^′-biphenyl-4,4^′-diamine (NPB) and 8-tris-hydroxyquinoline aluminium (Alq₃) has been investigated under different bias conditions using capacitance–voltage measurements. Although this method yields primarily information on the differential capacitance, the data give clear evidence for the presence of negative interfacial charges with a density of 6.8×10¹¹e cm⁻² at the NPB/Alq₃ interface at large reverse bias. This leads to a jump of the electric field at the interface and a non-uniform field distribution in the hetero-layer device.     

Imaging the material properties of bone specimens using reflection-based infrared microspectroscopy

Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIRM) is a widely used method for mapping the material properties of bone and other mineralized tissues, including mineralization, crystallinity, carbonate substitution, and collagen cross-linking. This technique is traditionally performed in a transmission-based geometry, which requires the preparation of plastic-embedded thin sections, limiting its functionality. Here, we theoretically and empirically demonstrate the development of reflection-based FTIRM as an alternative to the widely adopted transmission-based FTIRM, which reduces specimen preparation time and broadens the range of specimens that can be imaged. In this study, mature mouse femurs were plastic-embedded and longitudinal sections were cut at a thickness of 4 μm for transmission-based FTIRM measurements. The remaining bone blocks were polished for specular reflectance-based FTIRM measurements on regions immediately adjacent to the transmission sections. Kramers-Kronig analysis of the reflectance data yielded the dielectric response from which the absorption coefficients were directly determined. The reflectance-derived absorbance was validated empirically using the transmission spectra from the thin sections. The spectral assignments for mineralization, carbonate substitution, and collagen cross-linking were indistinguishable in transmission and reflection geometries, while the stoichiometric/nonstoichiometric apatite crystallinity parameter shifted from 1032/1021 cm(-1) in transmission-based to 1035/1025 cm(-1) in reflection-based data. This theoretical demonstration and empirical validation of reflection-based FTIRM eliminates the need for thin sections of bone and more readily facilitates direct correlations with other methods such as nanoindentation and quantitative backscatter electron imaging (qBSE) from the same specimen. It provides a unique framework for correlating bone's material and mechanical properties.     

Perturbed Talbot patterns for the measurement of low particle concentrations in fluids

Behind periodic amplitude or phase objects, the object transmittance is repeated at the so-called Talbot distances. In these planes perpendicular to the propagation direction, Talbot self-images are formed. In the case of plane wave illumination, the distances between the self-images are equally spaced. A periodic pattern called optical carpet or Talbot carpet is formed along the propagation direction. We show theoretically how the presence of spherical particles (10 to 100 μm in diameter) behind gratings of 20 and 50 μm period affects the formation of Talbot carpets and Talbot self-images at 633 nm illumination wavelength. The scattering of the particles is modeled by the Fresnel diffraction of its geometrical shadow. We analytically calculate the interference of the diffraction orders of rectangular and sinusoidal amplitude gratings disturbed by the presence of particles. To verify our model, we present measurements of Talbot carpets perturbed with both opaque disks and transparent spheres, and discuss the effects for various size parameters. We present an approach to simulate the movement of particles within the Talbot pattern in real time. We simulate and measure axial and lateral particle movements within a probe volume and evaluate the effect on the signal formation in a Talbot interferometric setup. We evaluate the best system parameters in terms of grating period and particle-detector-distance for a prospective measuring setup to determine characteristics of flowing suspensions, such as particle volume concentration or particle size distribution.     

Optical trapping force reduction and manipulation of nanoporous beads

We studied the interaction of infrared optical traps with controlled-pore glass (CPG) beads in aqueous medium. The lateral optical trapping force and stiffness were experimentally found considerably smaller than those of their solid counterparts. The simulation using an average refractive index revealed significant losses of effective trapping efficiency, which quantitatively agreed well with experimentally fitted curves. This effect was ascribed to the reduced relative refractive index of medium-filled CPG beads with respect to the medium. Combining optical trapping with mechanical confinements, we demonstrated a microfluidic platform allowing for the synthesis of multiple DNA oligonucleotide sequences on individual beads of interest.     

Simultaneous high-speed visualization of soot luminosity and OH1 chemiluminescence of alternative-fuel combustion in a HSDI diesel engine under realistic operating conditions

Crude-oil independent liquid fuels are currently being developed for future HSDI diesel engines. Thus, it is the primary objective of the present study to characterize the combustion of selected reference fuels under realistic conditions, in particular with regard to flame lift-off and soot formation. The experiments are conducted in an optically-accessible and a comparable all-metal HSDI engine at part load, using n-decane, n-heptane, 1-decanol, and conventional diesel, respectively, as the fuel. Two image-intensified, high-speed CMOS cameras are employed simultaneously, in order to visualize the highly unsteady combustion process in terms of OH¹ radicals and soot, respectively, with relatively high temporal resolution and data throughput.The results demonstrate the influence of the fuel properties, in particular cetane number and volatility, on mixture formation, ignition, combustion, soot formation, and emissions. Relatively high soot emissions for n-decane can basically be explained by its short ignition delay, small lift-off length, and lack of fuel-bound oxygen. The soot formation process seems to be more important for the relative engine-out emissions than soot oxidation under the investigated conditions. Furthermore, a very strong correlation between the ignition delay and the flame lift-off length (during injection) is found. This indicates that lift-off stabilization is essentially determined by autoignition.     

Application of the electrochemical microcapillary technique to study intergranular stress corrosion cracking of austenitic stainless steel on the micrometre scale

The electrochemical microcapillary technique was applied for the first time to study the electrochemical dissolution signals from single growing cracks due to stress corrosion cracking of thermally sensitised AISI 304 stainless steel in potassium tetrathionate solution. Potentiostatic current measurements on initiating cracks along grain boundaries were performed. Typical current signals of potentiostatic and potentiodynamic measurements consisted of a series of current peaks showing fast rise and exponential decay, sometimes interrupted by passive phases. The results indicate that stress corrosion crack growth is a discontinuous process of passive and active phases, which might be explained by the film rupture model.