Antioxidant activity,color characteristics,total phenol content and general HPLC fingerprints of six Polish unifloral honey types

Total phenolic content, antioxidant activity (two assays: 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)), and color coordinates (CIE (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage) L*a*b*) for six Polish unifloral honeys (black locust, rapeseed, lime, goldenrod, heather and buckwheat) were assessed for several batches of the same honey type and statistically evaluated. Total phenolic content (121.6–1173.8 mg GAE/kg) was similar to the values previously reported for other European honeys and it was also correlated with the color parameters as well as antioxidant activity. The honeys' color ranged from pale yellow to dark amber. Dark buckwheat honey with much higher phenolic content (1113.0 mg GAE/kg) exhibited higher antioxidant activity (5.7 mmol Fe²⁺/kg and 1.2 mmol TEAC/kg). CIE L*a*b* color coordinates can be helpful for identifying and distinguishing between several honey types, such as heather and buckwheat, but almost no differences were found among very light honeys (rapeseed, goldenrod, black locust and lime). High-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis revealed general characteristic fingerprints of Polish unifloral honeys with significant differences among the samples of other honey types.     

Kapazit?t der verschiedenen Teile des Verdauungsapparates des Rothirsches (Cervus elaphus L.)

Zusammenfassung An drei Hirschen wurden die Gewichte und Volumina des Verdauungstraktes festgestellt. Die absolute und relative Kaparität, das Verhältnis der Kapazität zum Körpergewicht sowie die Länge und Gewichte der einzelnen Verdauungsabschnitte und deren Inhalt sind in Tabellen angegeben.

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Summary In case of three red deer weights and volumes of the digestive tract were stated. Absolute and relative capacity, the relation of capacity to body weights as well as length and weights of different digestive sections and their contents have been stated in tables.

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Résumé Sur trios cerfs on déterminait les poids et les volumes de l'appareil de la digestion. La capacité absolue et relative, la rélation de la capacité au poids du corps, ainsi que la longueur et les poids des diffrentes sections digestives et leur contenu sont présentés en tableaux.

     

Palladium(II) complexes adsorption from the chloride solutions with macrocomponent addition using strongly basic anion exchange resins, type 1

The use of the strongly basic anion exchange resins, type 1 such as Lewatit MP-500 and Lewatit MP-500A for palladium(II) complexes adsorption has been investigated. The adsorption process was carried out from the chloride solutions with macrocomponent (sodium chloride) addition (x M HCl–1.0 M NaCl; x M HCl–2.0 M NaCl) where the concentration of hydrochloric acid was constant and equal to x = 0; 0.1; 0.5; 1.0; and 2.0 M, respectively. The breakthrough curves of Pd(II) were determined and the sorption parameters (weight and bed distribution coefficients, working anion exchange capacity) were calculated. The pseudo-second kinetic order was applied in kinetic studies as well as to calculate the kinetic parameters. The values of the working anion exchange capacities (0.029 g/cm³; 0.028 g/cm³) for Lewatit MP-500 and Lewatit MP-500A (0.028 g/cm³; 0.027 g/cm³) in the 1.0 M NaCl and 0.1 M HCl–1.0 M NaCl solutions, respectively are really close and in other solutions under discussion Lewatit MP-500 possess slightly higher values of capacities, and therefore is insignificantly more efficient in the adsorption process of palladium(II) ions than Lewatit MP-500A. The equilibrium adsorption capacities changed in the range 8.84–9.99 and 8.40–9.38 mg/g for Lewatit MP-500 as well as 8.12–9.57 and 7.26–8.85 mg/g for Lewatit MP-500A in the chloride x M HCl-1.0 M NaCl and x M HCl-2.0 M NaCl solutions, respectively. The adsorption process proceeds according to the pseudo-second kinetic order.     

Evolutionary algorithms for constrained engineering problems

Evolutionary computation techniques have been receiving increasing attention regarding their potential as optimization techniques for complex problems. Recently these techniques were applied in the area of industrial engineering; the most-known applications include scheduling and sequencing in manufacturing systems, computer-aided design, facility layout and location problems, distribution and transportation problems, and many others. Industrial engineering problems usually are quite hard to solve due to a high complexity of the objective functions and a significant number of problem-specific constraints; often an algorithm to solve such problems requires incorporation of some heuristic methods. In this paper we concentrate on constraint handling heuristics for evolutionary computation techniques. This general discussion is followed by three test case studies: truss structure optimization problem, design of a composite laminated plate, and the unit commitment problem. These are typical highly constrained engineering problems and the methods discussed here are directly transferrable to industrial engineering problems.     

The Relationship between COVID-19 and Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis: A Large Spectrum from Glucocorticoid Insufficiency to Excess—The CAPISCO International Expert Panel

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly heterogeneous disease regarding severity, vulnerability to infection due to comorbidities, and treatment approaches. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis has been identified as one of the most critical endocrine targets of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that might significantly impact outcomes after infection. Herein we review the rationale for glucocorticoid use in the setting of COVID-19 and emphasize the need to have a low index of suspicion for glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency, adjusting for the glucocorticoid formulation used, dose, treatment duration, and underlying health problems. We also address several additional mechanisms that may cause HPA axis dysfunction, including critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency, the direct cytopathic impacts of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the adrenals, pituitary, and hypothalamus, immune-mediated inflammations, small vessel vasculitis, microthrombotic events, the resistance of cortisol receptors, and impaired post-receptor signaling, as well as the dissociation of ACTH and cortisol regulation. We also discuss the increased risk of infection and more severe illness in COVID-19 patients with pre-existing disorders of the HPA axis, from insufficiency to excess. These insights into the complex regulation of the HPA axis reveal how well the body performs in its adaptive survival mechanism during a severe infection, such as SARS-CoV-2, and how many parameters might disbalance the outcomes of this adaptation.     

Image correlation technique for strain measurement of polycrystalline microstructures

An image processing technique is proposed to measure the deformation of polycrystalline materials based on correlating the grains in reference and deformed SEM images. The advantage of this technique compared to the conventional subset-based Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is that it can be applied when speckle patterning is not efficient or when studying boundary-related mechanics is the objective. The technique is based on correlating grains by defining their boundaries rather than just subsets of image pixels. It reveals the anisotropy inherent in the polycrystals since it allows the analysis to specify each grain separately without averaging the results. The technique is applied by detecting the approximate grain boundaries edges and then refining their location with high accuracy. The correlation is performed between points calculated from each grain in the reference and deformed images as a Point Set Registration (PSR) problem. Finally, the displacements and strains are calculated from the resulting transformation matrix. A benchmark problem was developed to discuss the error over a strain range of 0.02 to 0.2 and showed that the resulting strains are reasonably accurate. Also, an in situ experiment was conducted to demonstrate the implementation of the technique using a specimen with fine-grained Zirconia polycrystals. The technique successfully revealed the crack tip plastic zone, and strain mismatch between grains.     

1-Indanone and 1,3-indandione Derivatives as Ligands for Misfolded α-Synuclein Aggregates

The development of imaging agents for in vivo detection of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) pathologies faces several challenges. A major gap in the field is the lack of diverse molecular scaffolds with high affinity and selectivity to α-syn fibrils for in vitro screening assays. Better in vitro scaffolds can instruct the discovery of better in vivo agents. We report the rational design, synthesis, and in vitro evaluation of a series of novel 1-indanone and 1,3-indandione derivatives from a Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) study centered on some existing α-syn fibril binding ligands. Our results from fibril saturation binding experiments show that two of the lead candidates compounds 8 and 32 bind α-syn fibrils with binding constants (K_d) of 9.0 and 18.8 nM, respectively, and selectivity of greater than 10× for α-syn fibrils compared with amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau fibrils. Our results demonstrate that the lead ligands avidly label all forms of α-syn on PD brain tissue sections, but only the dense core of senile plaques in AD brain tissue, respectively. These results are corroborated by ligand-antibody colocalization data from Syn211, which shows immunoreactivity toward all forms of α-syn aggregates, and Syn303, which displays preferential reactivity toward mature Lewy pathology. Our results reveal that 1-indanone derivatives have desirable properties for the biological evaluation of α-synucleinopathies.     

Breeding the Future

For Zbigniew Oksiuta energy from the sun offers the greatest potential for architecture, as the essential life-giving force for all living things. Here he urges a future of architecture that is biological, as demonstrated by his own featured bioforms that investigate the cultivation of new types of organisms and living biological products outside the confines of natural evolution. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.