Fatty Acid Profile of Cardiac Muscle Phospholipid and Triacylglycerol in MDX Mice and C57BL/10ScSnJ Controls

The mdx mouse is a model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a debilitating disease affecting striated muscle. It is established that the fatty acid (FA) composition of skeletal muscle phospholipid (PL) is altered in mdx mice, but it is not known if cardiac muscle is similarly affected by dystrophin-deficiency. We tested FA profiles in PL and triacylglycerol (TAG) in cardiac muscle of 12-week old mdx and control (con) mice. Of 22 different FA, similar to our previous finding for skeletal muscle, the most abundant FA in heart PL were palmitic, stearic, cis-vaccenic, linoleic, and docosahexaenoic acid, while for TAG the most abundant FA were palmitic, oleic, cis-vaccenic, and linoleic acid. In comparing mdx and con, no significant group differences were detected for any FA in PL or TAG. Thus, unlike skeletal muscle, FA composition in cardiac muscle PL is not different between mdx and con at the age studied. The results can be understood in the context of tissue-specific disease severity in mdx mice, as pathology is quite modest in cardiac compared with skeletal muscle.     

Cycling stability of a hybrid activated carbon//poly(3-methylthiophene) supercapacitor with N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ionic liquid as electrolyte

A long cycle-life, high-voltage supercapacitor featuring an activated carbon//poly(3-methylthiophene) hybrid configuration with N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ionic liquid, a solvent-free green electrolyte, was developed. The cyclability of a laboratory scale cell with electrode mass loading sized for practical uses was tested at 60 °C over 16,000 galvanostatic charge-discharge cycles at 10 mA cm⁻² in the 1.5 and 3.6 V voltage range. The reported average and maximum specific energy and power, specific capacitance and capacity, equivalent series resistance and coulombic efficiency over cycling demonstrate the long-term viability of this ionic liquid as green electrolyte for high-voltage hybrid supercapacitors.     

Experimental Investigations on Microstructure,Properties and Workability Behavior of Zinc Oxide Reinforced Al–Si–Mg Matrix Composites

Silicon - Al-Si based alloy matrix composites are now broadly utilized by the industrial sectors like automobile, structural, aerospace and more practical industrial applications due to its...     

Influence of Glass Content on Damping Properties of Plasma-Sprayed Mixtures of Zirconia and Glass

The addition by vacuum infiltration of small quantities of a polymer has been found to increase significantly the ability of a plasma-sprayed coating to dissipate vibratory energy at temperatures in the glassy-rubbery transition range of the polymer. As vitreous enamels and glasses undergo a glassy transition, but at much higher temperatures, the addition of a small amount of glass to a ceramic has the potential of providing high damping at such temperatures. Mixtures of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) and a glass frit were plasma sprayed on specimens with bond coats. Measures of system response (resonant frequencies and loss factors) were extracted from frequency responses to excitations of cantilever beam specimens over a range of excitation amplitudes. Comparisons of values determined before and after coating were used to determine the damping properties of the coatings alone as functions of strain, at temperatures of special interest. Emphasis was given to identifying the lowest level of glass giving significantly more damping than that of the plasma-sprayed ceramic alone. Coatings with weight fractions of 5, 2, 1, ?, and 0% glass were tested. The inclusion of glass at all weight fractions considered was found to yield significant increases in both the stiffness and dissipation of the coatings.     

Radiorecovery Activity of Dicopper(II) Tetrakis(3,5-Diiso propylsalicylate) Includes Recovery of Radiation-Induced Loss of Body Mass and Impaired Mouse Locomotion

Dicopper(II) tetrakis(3,5-diisopropylsalicylate), [Cu(II)(2)(3,5-DIPS)(4)], is effective in increasing survival of lethally irradiated mice when it is administered after irradiation. The possibility that this radiorecovery activity might also facilitate recovery from radiation-induced impaired increase in body mass and locomotion was examined. Cu(II)(2)(3,5-DIPS)(4) was used to treat LD 50/30 gamma irradiated female C57BL/6 mice after irradiation. A dose of 0, 5, 10, or 20 mumol Cu(II)(2) (3, 5-DIPS)(4) /kilogram of body mass was administered subcutaneously 3 hrs after LD 50/30 irradiation and change in body mass and locomotor activity measured daily throughout the 30 day post-irradiation period. Treatment with 5, 10, or 20 mumol Cu(II)(2) (3,5-DIPS)(4) /kg of body mass increased survival, which was statistically significant for the 10 mumol /kg of body mass-treated group compared to the vehicle-treated group (P<0.05), significantly (P<0.05) increased recovery of locomotion from days 13 to 15 post-irradiation onward for all treated groups compared to vehicle-treated mice, and increased recovery of body mass gain from day 14 onward for the 20 mumol /kg of body mass-treated group (P<0.001) and day 21, although not statistically significant, for the 10 mumol /kg of body mass-treated group. There were no statistically significant differences between the increase in survival, recovered increase in body mass, and recovered increase in locomotion for mice treated with 10 mumol or 20 mumol Cu(II)(2)(3,5-DIPS)(4) /kg on day 30 post-irradiation. It is concluded that Cu(II)(2)(3,5-DIPS)(4) in addition to increasing survival of irradiated mice increases the rate of recovery of radiation-induced decrease in body mass and locomotion.     

Residential energy consumption across different population groups: comparative analysis for Latino and non-Latino households in USA

Residential energy cost is an important part of the household budget and could vary significantly across different population groups in many countries. In the United States, many studies have analyzed household fuel consumption by fuel type, including electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and by geographic areas. Past research has also demonstrated significant variation in residential energy use across various population groups, including white, black, and Latino. However, our research shows that residential energy demand by fuel type for Latinos, the fastest growing population group, has not been explained by economic and non-economic factors in any statistical model in public domain. The purpose of this paper was to discuss energy demand and expenditure patterns for Latino and non-Latino households in hhe United States as a case example of analyzing residential energy consumption across different population groups in a country. The linear expenditure system model developed by Stone and Geary is the basis of the statistical model developed to explain fuel consumption and expenditures for Latino households. For comparison, the models are also developed for non-Latino, black, and non-black households. These models estimate energy consumption of and expenditures for electricity, natural gas, fuel oil, and LPG by various households at the national level. Significant variations in the patterns of these fuels consumption for Latinos and non-Latinos are highlighted. The model methodology and results of this research should be useful to energy policymakers in government and industry, researches, and academicians who are concerned with economic and energy issues related to various population groups in their country.     

Experimental observation of the improvement in MTF from backthinning a CMOS direct electron detector

The advantages of backthinning monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) based on complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) direct electron detectors for electron microscopy have been discussed previously; they include better spatial resolution (modulation transfer function or MTF) and efficiency at all spatial frequencies (detective quantum efficiency or DQE). It was suggested that a ‘thin’ CMOS detector would have the most outstanding properties [1], [2] and [3] because of a reduction in the proportion of backscattered electrons. In this paper we show, theoretically (using Monte Carlo simulations of electron trajectories) and experimentally that this is indeed the case.     

Hydrolysis of fish oils containing polymers of triacylglycerols by pancreatic lipasein vitro

Fish oils containing different levels of polymers of triacylglycerols formed during autoxidation were incubated with pancreatic lipase to establish whether these polymers are substrates for lipase hydrolysis. With oils containing low amounts (less than 4%) of triacylglycerol polymers as substrates, both triacylglycerols and polymers of triacylglycerols were almost completely hydrolyzed, and fatty acid monomers and monoacylglycerols were the major lipid products. Under the same incubation conditions, some triacylglycerols remained intact when highly oxidized oils containing 20 or 30% triacylglycerol polymers were the substrate. The fatty acid composition of these residual triacylglycerols was almost identical to that of triacylglycerols present at the start of the assay. When fish oil containing 30% triacylglycerol polymers was incubated with the lipase, the component triacylglycerols and polymers of triacylglycerols were hydrolyzed at similar rates, and fatty acid dimers were detected as a product. It is concluded that the high molecular weight polymers of triacylglycerols present in oxidized fish oils can be hydrolyzed by pancreatic lipasein vitro.     

The moisture content-equilibrium relative humidity relationships of five varieties of Canadian wheat and of candle rapeseed at different temperatures

The relationship between moisture content and equilibrium relative humidity was determined for five varieties of Canadian wheat over a range of temperatures both for adsorbing and desorbing grains. This was also done for a new variety of oilseed rape. The differences between varieties for wheat were small as were those between the Candle rapeseed and published data for older varieties. A durum variety of wheat maintained an e.r.h. of only 2% above those of the four hard red spring varieties. It seems to be adequate to examine only one or two varieties when determining moisture relationships of hard wheats.