Uptake of divalent ions (Mn+2 and Ca+2) by heat-set whey protein gels

Divalent salts are used commonly for gelation of polymer molecules. Calcium, Ca(+2), is one of the most common divalent ions that is used in whey protein gels. Manganese, Mn(+2), is also divalent, but paramagnetic, enhancing relaxation decay rates in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and can be used as a probe to understand the behavior of Ca(+2) in whey protein gels. The objective of this study was to investigate the diffusion of Ca(+2) and Mn(+2) ions in heat-set whey protein gels by using MRI and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry. Whey protein gels were immersed in solutions containing MnCl(2) and CaCl(2) at neutral pH. Images obtained with gels immersed in MnCl(2) solution revealed a relaxation sink region in the gel's surface and the thickness of the region increased with time. These "no signal" regions in the MR images were attributed to uptake of Mn(+2) by the gel. Results obtained with CaCl(2) solution indicated that since Ca(+2) did not have the paramagnetic effect, the regions where Ca(+2) diffused into the gel exhibited a slight decrease in signal intensity. The relaxation spectrums exhibited 3 populations of protons, for gels immersed in MnCl(2) solution, and 2 populations for gels in CaCl(2) solution. No significant change in T(2) distributions was observed for the gels immersed in CaCl(2) solution. The results demonstrated that MRI and NMR relaxometry can be used to understand the diffusion of ions into the whey protein gel, which is useful for designing gels of different physical properties for controlled release applications. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: Design of food systems for delivery of bioactive compounds requires knowledge of diffusion rates and structure. Utilizing magnetic resonance imaging the diffusion rates of ions can be measured. Relaxation spectra could yield information concerning molecular interactions.     

乳清分离蛋白与大豆分离蛋白混合溶液制备外源式钙交联冷凝胶型微球体

将分别经过热变性处理的乳清分离蛋白和大豆分离蛋白溶液按照2∶1,1∶1和1∶2比例(质量比)混合后,通过外源式添加钙离子的方法,获得钙交联冷凝胶型微球体。检测微球体的蛋白质包埋率、溶解度和溶胀率。结果显示,微球体的蛋白质包埋率较高,均大于99.36%,不同蛋白质比率对蛋白质包埋率没有显著影响。微球体具有一定的水溶性,在缓冲液中的溶解度顺序为pH7.0pH2.5pH4.5,且乳清蛋白质量分数越高,微球体的溶解度越小。微球体在缓冲液中发生不同程度的膨胀,溶胀率顺序为pH2.5pH7.0,而在pH值为4.5缓冲液中发生皱缩,溶胀率为负值,微球体中的乳清蛋白质量分数越高,溶胀率越小。缓冲液中的钙离子会影响微球体的溶解度和溶胀率。基本性质说明外源式钙交联冷凝胶型微球体可以作为热敏性或活性物质的传递载体,应用于相关的食品及医药行业。     

Grazer Altstadt – Kompassnadel auf Häuserdach: Werbeanlage,Skulptur, kleinere bauliche Anlage oder Zubau?

Der VwGH hat im Erk v 28.2.2006, 2005/06/0012, ein auf einer Dachterrasse der Grazer Altstadt montiertes Objekt in Form einer Kompassnadel mit der Aufschrift "Schlossberghotel" als anzeigepflichtige Werbeanlage eingestuft. Die Beschwerdeführer hielten es für einen (künstlerischen) Zubau zu einer bestehenden baulichen Anlage, die nach dem stmk BauG bewilligungsfrei w?re. Dieser Beitrag ist eine Analyse des h?chstgerichtlichen Erkenntnisses mit weiterführenden überlegungen, wie grunds?tzlich mit Objekten, die an Geb?uden fixiert werden, aus Sicht des stmk BauG zu verfahren ist.     

Empagliflozin Treatment Attenuates Hepatic Steatosis by Promoting White Adipose Expansion in Obese TallyHo Mice

Sodium-glucose co-transporters (SGLTs) serve to reabsorb glucose in the kidney. Recently, these transporters, mainly SGLT2, have emerged as new therapeutic targets for patients with diabetes and kidney disease; by inhibiting glucose reabsorption, they promote glycosuria, weight loss, and improve glucose tolerance. They have also been linked to cardiac protection and mitigation of liver injury. However, to date, the mechanism(s) by which SGLT2 inhibition promotes systemic improvements is not fully appreciated. Using an obese TallyHo mouse model which recapitulates the human condition of diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), we sought to determine how modulation of renal glucose handling impacts liver structure and function. Apart from an attenuation of hyperglycemia, Empagliflozin was found to decrease circulating triglycerides and lipid accumulation in the liver in male TallyHo mice. This correlated with lowered hepatic cholesterol esters. Using in vivo MRI analysis, we further determined that the reduction in hepatic steatosis in male TallyHo mice was associated with an increase in nuchal white fat indicative of “healthy adipose expansion”. Notably, this whitening of the adipose came at the expense of brown adipose tissue. Collectively, these data indicate that the modulation of renal glucose handling has systemic effects and may be useful as a treatment option for NAFLD and steatohepatitis.     

Competing risks mixture model for traffic incident duration prediction

Traffic incident duration is known to result from a combination of multiple factors, including covariates such as spatial and temporal characteristics, traffic conditions, and existence of secondary accidents but also the clearance method itself. In this paper, a competing risks mixture model is used to investigate the influence of clearance methods and various covariates on the duration of traffic incidents and predict traffic incident duration. The proposed mixture model considers the uncertainty in any of five clearance methods that occurred. The probability of the clearance method is specified in the mixture by using a multinomial logistic model. Three candidate distributions, namely, generalized gamma, Weibull, and log-logistic are tested to determine the most appropriate probability density function of the parametric survival analysis model. The unobserved heterogeneity is also incorporated into the mixture model in a way that allows parameters to vary across observations based on the three candidate distributions. The methods are illustrated with incident data from Singaporean expressways from January 2010 to December 2011. Regression analysis reveals that the probability of different clearance methods and the duration of traffic incidents are both significantly affected by various factors, such as traffic conditions and incident characteristics. Results show that the proposed mixture model is better than the traditional accelerated failure time model, and it predicts traffic incident duration with reasonable accuracy, as shown by the mean average percent error.     

The Contribution of the Minimal Promoter Element to the Activity of Synthetic Promoters Mediating CAR Expression in the Tumor Microenvironment

Harnessing immune effector cells to benefit cancer patients is becoming more and more prevalent in recent years. However, the increasing number of different therapeutic approaches, such as chimeric antigen receptors and armored chimeric antigen receptors, requires constant adjustments of the transgene expression levels. We have previously demonstrated it is possible to achieve spatial and temporal control of transgene expression as well as tailoring the inducing agents using the Chimeric Antigen Receptor Tumor Induced Vector (CARTIV) platform. Here we describe the next level of customization in our promoter platform. We have tested the functionality of three different minimal promoters, representing three different promoters’ strengths, leading to varying levels of CAR expression and primary T cell function. This strategy shows yet another level of CARTIV gene regulation that can be easily integrated into existing CAR T systems.     

Motion-based motion deblurring

Motion blur due to camera motion can significantly degrade the quality of an image. Since the path of the camera motion can be arbitrary, deblurring of motion blurred images is a hard problem. Previous methods to deal with this problem have included blind restoration of motion blurred images, optical correction using stabilized lenses, and special cmos sensors that limit the exposure time in the presence of motion. In this paper, we exploit the fundamental trade off between spatial resolution and temporal resolution to construct a hybrid camera that can measure its own motion during image integration. The acquired motion information is used to compute a point spread function (psf) that represents the path of the camera during integration. This psf is then used to deblur the image. To verify the feasibility of hybrid imaging for motion deblurring, we have implemented a prototype hybrid camera. This prototype system was evaluated in different indoor and outdoor scenes using long exposures and complex camera motion paths. The results show that, with minimal resources, hybrid imaging outperforms previous approaches to the motion blur problem. We conclude with a brief discussion on how our ideas can be extended beyond the case of global camera motion to the case where individual objects in the scene move with different velocities.     

75 m/s simulation and experiment of two-stage reluctance coilgun

Magnetic launchers are divided into three main techniques, with one of them being the reluctance coilgun. The projectile in this method is rather simple and the obtained velocity is relatively low, which is its main disadvantage. Also, theoretical simulations for high velocity usually predict much higher velocities than that of the experiments. The aim of this work is to demonstrate an accurate simulation of a two-stage coilgun and show experimental validation of high launching velocity. A two-stage coilgun was designed and optimized by numerical simulations. Accordingly, it was implemented and tested experimentally. As an outcome, the highest reported velocity of 75 m/s was obtained both in the simulation and experiment. This outcome contributes to the understanding that adding stages can increase the launching velocity by carefull implementation of the initial position of the projectile, together with proper timing of the second stage. It is concluded that with this approach a multi-stage coilgun can reach even higher velocity.

     

Obtaining small photovoltaic array operational curves for arbitrary cell temperatures and solar irradiation densities from standard conditions data

The paper presents a simple approach to deriving I–V curves of photovoltaic panels and small arrays for arbitrary environmental conditions on the basis of three points of a single operating curve data and short current temperature coefficient only. The proposed method does not employ fitting of any type and is solely based on a numerical solution of a system of transcendental equations. The equations are expressed in a dimensionless form, simplifying both the solution and photovoltaic panel parameters' representation. The solution is used to find the values of normalized equivalent circuit elements for the available data and then perform an appropriate adjustment to obtain the operating curves for arbitrary conditions. The proposed method was applied to monocrystalline and polycrystalline commercial solar panels and was compared with both manufacturer‐provided and experimentally measured operating curves to analyze the approach applicability and accuracy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.