Pentoxifylline inhibits hypoxia-induced upregulation of tumor cell tissue factor and vascular endothelial growth factor

The aim of this study was to compare the performance of CT and MRI in the diagnosis of longitudinal stress fracture of the tibia (LSFT). A retrospective study of imaging findings was performed in 15 patients with LSFT. The CT and MR images were compared for detection of fracture line, callus, bone marrow edema, and soft tissues changes. The CT and MRI techniques allowed the detection of the fracture line in 82 and 73 % of cases, respectively. The callus was always visualized with CT or MRI. The MRI technique had a markedly higher sensitivity than CT in the detection of bone marrow edema (73 vs 18 %) and soft tissue lesions (87 vs 9 %). This may cause a misleading aggressive appearance on MRI. Computed tomography remains the best imaging modality for diagnosis of LSFT. However, MRI findings should be known to obviate the performance of CT or bone biopsy.     

Evaluation of a hand-held electrical conductivity meter for detection of subclinical mastitis in cattle

OBJECTIVE: To assess, under field conditions, whether a hand-held electrical conductivity (EC) meter could be used to detect subclinical mastitis caused by pathogens most commonly associated with mastitis in dairy cows. ANIMALS: 425 lactating cows on 15 dairies in Costa Rica. PROCEDURE: Immediately prior to milking, milk samples from each quarter were tested, using a hand-held EC meter. A milk sample from the quarter with the highest score was submitted for bacteriologic culture. Results of bacteriologic culture were compared with highest absolute EC score for each cow and with differential EC score (ie, difference between the highest and lowest absolute EC scores for the 4 quarters of each cow). RESULTS: Absolute EC score for cows with subclinical mastitis was significantly higher than that for cows without subclinical mastitis, and absolute EC score was significantly associated with detection of subclinical mastitis. If absolute EC score > or = 7 was considered indicative of subclinical mastitis, sensitivity was 0.43, specificity was 0.83, predictive value of a positive result was 0.39, and predictive value of a negative result was 0.85. Differential EC score for cows with mastitis was significantly higher than that for cows without subclinical mastitis. If differential EC score > or = 2 was considered indicative of subclinical mastitis, sensitivity was 0.53, specificity was 0.77, predictive value of a positive result was 0.37, and predictive value of a negative result was 0.87. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: A hand-held EC meter may be used to screen cows for subclinical mastitis.     

EM and substrate coupling in silicon RFICs

An investigation of coupling between inductors and resonators fabricated in silicon substrates is presented and the effects on RF systems and components are discussed. A novel experimental technique to measure inductor and resonator coupling is presented. The experiment is extremely sensitive, fast, accurate, and unique in that no matching, probe de-embedding, or calibration is necessary as the ratio of two on-chip signals is measured to yield the results.     

DR/CLIP (class II-associated invariant chain peptides) and DR/peptide complexes colocalize in prelysosomes in human B lymphoblastoid cells

In APCs, MHC class II molecules (MHC class II) bind antigenic peptides after HLA-DM mediated removal of CLIP. To characterize intracellular sites of peptide loading in human B lymphoblastoid cell lines, we conducted immunoelectron microscopy studies with Abs recognizing MHC class II associated with CLIP or bound peptide, respectively, together with Abs to HLA-DM and endocytic markers. The distribution of these molecules indicates that peptide binding occurs in compartments with characteristics of normal late endosomes, and in compartments that show characteristics of late endosomes, but are not detectably accessed by endocytosed BSA-gold. The latter compartments may represent or give rise to recycling vesicles that deliver peptide-loaded class II molecules to the cell surface. In addition, we have compared cells in which HLA-DM and HLA-DR interaction is defective with cells in which this interaction is intact, and find that DM/DR interaction is not required for the proper localization of either molecule to peptide-loading compartments.     

Chemical and biological evaluation of quinua (Chenopodium quinoa Willd). Effect of the extraction of saponins by heat treatment

The changes in proximate composition, amino acid content and protein efficiency ratio (PER) caused by hot-water extraction of the saponins were studied in four Bolivian varieties of quinua (Chenopodium quinoa, Willd). Detectable saponin was eliminated with an extraction at 70 degrees C. Extraction at 87 degrees C also eliminated the saponins but, in addition, had the tendency of slightly increasing the protein amino acid content. The maximum PER obtained was 2.99 for the Blanca variety, followed by 2.72 for the Sajama variety, also extracted at 87 degrees C (casein gave a PER value of 3.21).     

Mineral migration from stainless steel, cast iron and soapstone (steatite) Brazilian pans to food preparations

Culinary utensils may release some inorganic elements during food preparation. Mineral migration can be beneficial for as long as it occurs in amounts adequate to the needs of the consumer or no toxicological implications are involved. In this study, the migrations of Fe, Mg, Mn, Cr, Ni and Ca, along seven cooking cycles were evaluated for two food preparations (polished rice and commercial tomato sauce, the latter as an acid food), performed in unused stainless steel, cast iron and soapstone pans, taking refractory glass as a blank. Minerals were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES). The utensils studied exhibited different rates, patterns and variability of migration depending on the type of food. Regression analysis of the data revealed that, as a function of the number of cycles, the iron pans released increasing amounts of iron when tomato sauce was cooked (y = 70.76x + 276.75; R2 = 0.77). The soapstone pans released calcium (35 and 26 mg/kg), magnesium (25 and 15 mg/kg) into the tomato sauce and rice preparations, respectively. Additionally, the commercial tomato sauce drew manganese (3.9 and 0.6 mg/kg) and some undesirable nickel (1.0 mg/kg) from the soapstone material, whereas the stainless steel pans released nickel at a lower rate than steatite and in a diminishing fashion with the number o cooking cycles, while still transferring some iron and chromium to the food. We conclude that while cast iron and glass could be best for the consumer's nutritional health, stainless steel and steatite can be used with relatively low risk, provided acid foods are not routinely prepared in those materials.     

Differentiation of co-winemaking wines by their aroma composition

Co-winemaked Monastrell wines with Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, at different proportions have been studied for first time in terms of its odor activity value (OAV) in young wines, aging wines (after 9 months in French oak barrels) and bottled aging wines (aging wines after 6 months in the bottle). The co-winemaking wines showed a different aromatic complexity as they were fruitier and sweeter than the monovarietal ones, enhancing their aroma characteristics, being more evident at 60:40 proportion in case of Merlot for young and aging wines and Cabernet Sauvignon for bottled ones. In terms of extractable oak compounds, Monastrell–Merlot wines showed the highest values suggesting that they may need a shorter period within the barrel than Monastrell–Cabernet Sauvignon ones.     

Inkjet Printed Nanopatterned Aptamer‐Based Sensors for Improved Optical Detection of Foodborne Pathogens

The increasing incidence of infectious outbreaks from contaminated food and water supply continues imposing a global burden for food safety, creating a market demand for on‐site, disposable, easy‐to‐use, and cost‐efficient devices. Despite of the rapid growth of biosensors field and the generation of breakthrough technologies, more than 80% of the platforms developed at lab‐scale never will get to meet the market. This work aims to provide a cost‐efficient, reliable, and repeatable approach for the detection of foodborne pathogens in real samples. For the first time an optimized inkjet printing platform is proposed taking advantage of a carefully controlled nanopatterning of novel carboxyl‐functionalized aptameric ink on a nitrocellulose substrate for the highly efficient detection of E. coli O157:H7 (25 colony forming units (CFU) mL^?1 in pure culture and 233 CFU mL^?1 in ground beef) demonstrating the ability to control the variation within ±1 SD for at least 75% of the data collected even at very low concentrations. From the best of the knowledge this work reports the lowest limit of detection of the state of the art for paper‐based optical detection of E. coli O157:H7, with enough evidence (p > 0.05) to prove its high specificity at genus, species, strain, and serotype level.     

The rescheduling arc routing problem

In this paper, the rescheduling arc routing problem is introduced. This is a dynamic routing and scheduling problem that considers adjustments to an initial routing itinerary when one or more vehicle failures occur during the execution stage and the original plan must be modified. We minimize the operational and schedule disruption costs. Formulations based on mixed‐integer programming are presented to compare different policies in the rerouting phase. A solution strategy is developed when both costs are evaluated and it is necessary to find a solution quickly. Computational tests on a large set of instances compare the different decision‐maker policies.