Comparative electrochemical study of 08H18N10T, AISI 304 and AISI 316L stainless steels

The aim of this work was to determine the main characteristics of the passivation and surface oxidation of 08H18N10T, AISI304 and AISI316L stainless steels, which serve as structural materials of VVER and PWR nuclear reactors. With the help of electrochemical experiments these materials were ranked according to their resistance against uniform corrosion. The measurements were done as a function of temperature in the range between room temperature and 80 °C. A sample of 08H18N10T steel was irradiated in the Budapest research reactor.With cyclic voltammetry we found that AISI 304 exhibits a very large passivation peak as a classical example for passivation. The peak is much smaller for AISI 316L and it is very small for 08H18N10T. This implies that the native oxide layer on AISI 316L and 08H18N10T is more protective than on AISI 304. The 08H18N10T steel has the best protective passive oxide layer which forms already in air and it is very difficult to remove it even at negative potentials. By comparing impedance spectra of the various stainless steels results lead to the same conclusions we obtained from cyclic voltammetry. Our experimental results of the irradiated steel are in accord with the fact that neutron irradiation increases the number of defect sites within the oxide layer. We found that irradiation has no considerable effect on the active-to-passive transition process. The small variations in the alloy composition do not alter the transition process significantly, as well.     

Mapping the dimensionality, density and topology of data: the growing adaptive neural gas

Self-organized maps are commonly applied for tasks of cluster analysis, vector quantization or interpolation. The artificial neural network model introduced in this paper is a hybrid model of the growing neural gas model introduced by Fritzke (Fritzke, in Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 7, MIT Press, Cambridge MA, 1995) and the adaptive resolution clustering modification for self-organized maps proposed by Firenze (Firenze et al., in International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, Springer-Verlag, London, 1994). The hybrid model is capable of mapping the distribution, dimensionality and topology of the input data. It has a local performance measure that enables the network to terminate growing in areas of the input space that is mapped by units reaching a performance goal. Therefore the network can accurately map clusters of data appearing on different scales of density. The capabilities of the algorithm are tested using simulated datasets with similar spatial spread but different local density distributions, and a simulated multivariate MR dataset of an anatomical human brain phantom with mild multiple sclerosis lesions. These tests demonstrate the advantages of the model compared to the growing neural gas algorithm when adaptive mapping of areas with low sample density is desirable.     

Effect of fat and retinol loading on serum triglyceride and retinol levels in patients with ulcerative colitis

Serum copper, zinc, selenium, magnesium, calcium, cholesterol, triglyceride and retinol contents were determined in 11 patients with ulcerative colitis and in 20 healthy volunteers. Lipid and retinol loadings were performed as well. No differences were found in serum copper, zinc, calcium and selenium levels between the groups. Serum magnesium levels were somewhat lower in the patients than in the volunteers. During the period of loading, cholesterol levels did not differ between the two groups at any time. Triglyceride levels except for two persons, were higher in patients. Triglyceride curves showed pathological courses in each case. Retinol concentrations in patients remained below the values observed in volunteers. Data suggest a disturbed utilization of fat and retinol in patients with ulcerative colitis.     

A Comprehensive Evaluation of the Performance of Prediction Algorithms on Clinically Relevant Missense Variants

The rapid integration of genomic technologies in clinical diagnostics has resulted in the detection of a multitude of missense variants whose clinical significance is often unknown. As a result, a plethora of computational tools have been developed to facilitate variant interpretation. However, choosing an appropriate software from such a broad range of tools can be challenging; therefore, systematic benchmarking with high-quality, independent datasets is critical. Using three independent benchmarking datasets compiled from the ClinVar database, we evaluated the performance of ten widely used prediction algorithms with missense variants from 21 clinically relevant genes, including BRCA1 and BRCA2. A fourth dataset consisting of 1053 missense variants was also used to investigate the impact of type 1 circularity on their performance. The performance of the prediction algorithms varied widely across datasets. Based on Matthews Correlation Coefficient and Area Under the Curve, SNPs&GO and PMut consistently displayed an overall above-average performance across the datasets. Most of the tools demonstrated greater sensitivity and negative predictive values at the expense of lower specificity and positive predictive values. We also demonstrated that type 1 circularity significantly impacts the performance of these tools and, if not accounted for, may confound the selection of the best performing algorithms.     

The Impact of Mouse Preterm Birth Induction by RU-486 on Microglial Activation and Subsequent Hypomyelination

Preterm birth (PTB) represents 15 million births every year worldwide and is frequently associated with maternal/fetal infections and inflammation, inducing neuroinflammation. This neuroinflammation is mediated by microglial cells, which are brain-resident macrophages that release cytotoxic molecules that block oligodendrocyte differentiation, leading to hypomyelination. Some preterm survivors can face lifetime motor and/or cognitive disabilities linked to periventricular white matter injuries (PWMIs). There is currently no recommendation concerning the mode of delivery in the case of PTB and its impact on brain development. Many animal models of induced-PTB based on LPS injections exist, but with a low survival rate. There is a lack of information regarding clinically used pharmacological substances to induce PTB and their consequences on brain development. Mifepristone (RU-486) is a drug used clinically to induce preterm labor. This study aims to elaborate and characterize a new model of induced-PTB and PWMIs by the gestational injection of RU-486 and the perinatal injection of pups with IL-1beta. A RU-486 single subcutaneous (s.c.) injection at embryonic day (E)18.5 induced PTB at E19.5 in pregnant OF1 mice. All pups were born alive and were adopted directly after birth. IL-1beta was injected intraperitoneally from postnatal day (P)1 to P5. Animals exposed to both RU-486 and IL-1beta demonstrated microglial reactivity and subsequent PWMIs. In conclusion, the s.c. administration of RU-486 induced labor within 24 h with a high survival rate for pups. In the context of perinatal inflammation, RU-486 labor induction significantly decreases microglial reactivity in vivo but did not prevent subsequent PWMIs.     

Sensorically and antimicrobially active metabolite production of Lactobacillus strains on Jerusalem artichoke juice

BACKGROUND: In the tubers of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) the main carbohydrate is the well‐known prebiotic inulin, which is a good growth substrate for gut microorganisms. Jerusalem artichoke tuber is traditionally consumed boiled or pickled rather than in fermented form. Lactic acid bacteria are traditionally used in the production of fermented foods; nevertheless their behavior and metabolite production are considerably influenced by the substrate. The purpose of this study was to investigate the growth and production of the most important sensorically and antimicrobially active metabolites of different Lactobacillus strains on Jerusalem artichoke juice. RESULTS: All investigated strains grew well (in the range 10⁹ cfu mL^?1) in the media. The organic acids (lactic acid, 110–337 mmol L^?1; acetic acid, 0–180 mmol L^?1; and succinic acid, 0–79 mmol L^?1), hydrogen peroxide (0.25–1.77 mg L^?1), mannitol (0.06–3.24 g L^?1), acetoin and diacetyl production of strains varies not only according to the species but also from strain to strain, which will be demonstrated and discussed in the paper. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that lactobacilli can be used for the fermentation of Jerusalem artichoke, which in this form could be used, alone or mixed with other raw food material, as a new synbiotic functional food. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Stability of emulsions containing sucrose esters

Conclusions The presence of either sucrose distearate or glyceryl monostearate will decrease the stability of preformed mineral oil-in-water emulsions containing sucrose monostearate. With adequate concentrations of emulsifier present the emulsion stability of milled emulsions passes through a maximum as the ratio of glyceryl monostearate to sucrose monostearate is increased. The data suggest that this increased stability results from a decrease in droplet size rather than from the formation of a more tenuous interfacial film. Presented at the 131st meeting of the American Chemical Society, in Miami, Fla., on April 11, 1957.     

Protective effect of Lactobacillus fermentum CQPC04 on dextran sulfate sodium–induced colitis in mice is associated with modulation of the nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway

Colitis severely affects the quality of life of patients, and lactic acid bacteria have been reported to be able to improve or treat colitis. In this study, we selected a strain of Lactobacillus fermentum (CQPC04) with good resistance in vitro to evaluate its effect on improvement in mice with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)–induced colitis. We analyzed the effects of L. fermentum CQPC04 on mice with colitis macroscopically via colon length and histopathology. We also used conventional biochemical and ELISA kits, real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), and Western blotting to analyze microscopically the effects of L. fermentum CQPC04 on related oxidant indices and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in serum and colon tissue of mice. The results indicated that L. fermentum CQPC04 notably increased colon length and ameliorated pathological damage of colon tissue in colitic mice. Serum indices showed that L. fermentum CQPC04 increased the enzyme activity of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and catalase (CAT) and decreased the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO). In addition, it inhibited the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-12, and increased the release of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in serum. The RT-qPCR experiments confirmed that L. fermentum CQPC04 downregulated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine nuclear factor-κB-p65 (NF-κBp65), NF-κB inhibitor-α (IκB-α), TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-6, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and upregulated the expression of IL-10 in colon tissue. Western blot analysis indicated that L. fermentum CQPC04 significantly reduced expression of NF-κBp65, TNF-α, IL-1β, COX-2, and iNOS in mouse colon tissues, and increased expression of IκB-α and superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2). Thus, L. fermentum CQPC04 could effectively alleviate the symptoms of DSS-induced colitis mice and is a potential probiotic for human experiments.     

Geochemical changes in individual sediment grains during sequential arsenic extractions

High concentrations of As in groundwater frequently occur throughout the world. The dissolved concentration, however, is not necessarily determined by the amount of As in the ambient sediment but rather by the partitioning of As between different minerals and the type of fixation. Sequential extractions are commonly applied to determine associations and binding forms of As in sediments. Due to the operational nature of the extracted fractions, however, the results do not provide insight into how and where precisely As is bound within mineral grains and no information about elemental associations or involved mineral phases can be gained. Furthermore, little is known about possible geochemical alterations that actually occur within a single grain during sequential extraction. Therefore, micro-synchrotron X-ray fluorescence analysis was applied to study the micro-scale distribution of As and other elements in single sediment grains.Arsenic was found to be mainly enriched in Fe oxy-hydroxide coatings along with other heavy metals resulting in high correlations. Phosphate leached 34-66% of As from the studied grains. The release of As in this leaching step was accompanied by the disappearance of correlations between As and Fe as well as by a higher Fe/As ratio compared to untreated samples. During the Fe-leaching step the coatings were largely dissolved leading to much lower concentrations of As and Fe. The correlation between As and Fe was preserved only in association with K, indicating the presence of both elements in silicate structures.Several distinctive features were observed such as the release of Fe, Mn and Cr during phosphate leaching as well as the lowering of mean K concentrations due to the Fe-leaching which indicates that not only target mineral phases were dissolved in these extraction steps. The importance of re-precipitation processes during sequential extraction was indicated by a consistently observed increase of the Fe/As ratio from the untreated to the Fe-leached samples.