Short communication: study of immune parameters in three Greek dairy sheep breeds during the periparturient period

The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether immunosuppression occurs in 3 different Greek dairy sheep breeds during the periparturient period. A total of 33 ewes from 3 breeds [i.e., the low-producing Boutsiko breed (n = 11), which is highly adaptable to harsh environments; the high-producing but environmentally fragile Chios breed (n = 11); and an intermediate synthetic breed (50% Boutsiko, 25% Arta, and 25% Chios, n = 11)] were used. Blood samples were collected at 18 and 2 d before parturition and at 15 d after parturition. Total cell-associated and membrane-bound urokinase plasminogen activator (U-PA) activity, free U-PA binding sites on cellular membranes, and superoxide anion (SA) production by activated phagocytes were determined. Results indicated that all immune parameters measured remained constant during the periparturient period for the Boutsiko breed. In contrast, there were reductions in total cell-associated and membrane-bound U-PA activity by both monocytes-macrophages and neutrophils and in SA production by monocytes-macrophages at d 2 before parturition for the Chios breed. In the synthetic breed, there were reductions in total cell-associated and membrane-bound U-PA activity by monocytes-macrophages and in SA production by both monocytes-macrophages and neutrophils at d 15 after parturition. Thus, mild immunosuppression during the periparturient period was observed in the 2 breeds with the highest milk production.     

Plant‐mediated lipolysis and proteolysis in red clover with different polyphenol oxidase activities

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) is an enzyme involved in the browning reaction of red clover leaves, when cut or crushed and exposed to air. PPO starts the browning process by oxidizing endogenous phenols to quinones, which contain electrophilic sites. These sites react with nucleophilic sites of other compounds such as proteins. The leaf tissue of two lines of red clover (cv. Milvus, a genotypic mutant with reduced PPO activity (LowPPO) and the wild‐type, NormalPPO) were extracted in phosphate–citrate buffer, and a third treatment was prepared by extracting the LowPPO leaves in phosphate–citrate buffer plus 50 mM ascorbate to inhibit PPO activity (AscPPO). These extracts were compared over a 12 h time course in terms of proteolytic and lipolytic activity. Characterization of the tissues showed PPO activities of 9.11, 1.85 and 0 Δ optical density g^?1 fresh weight min^?1, which were reflected in the extent of phenol (derived from quinones) binding to protein after 12 h incubation 102.3, 83.2 and 45.8 mg bound phenol g^?1 protein (p < 0.001) for NormalPPO, LowPPO and AscPPO, respectively. Proteolysis measured as free amino acids released into the incubation was significantly reduced (p < 0.001) with increasing PPO activity, with values after the 12 h incubation of 0.03, 0.08 and 0.14 g g^?1 protein for NormalPPO, LowPPO and AscPPO, respectively. Lipolysis, measured as the proportional decline in the membrane lipid polar fraction, was likewise reduced (p < 0.001) with increasing PPO activity, with values after the 12 h incubation of 0.12, 0.20 and 0.22 for NormalPPO, LowPPO and AscPPO, respectively. Changes that occurred in the lipid fractions (polar fraction, diacylglycerol, triacylglycerol and free fatty acids) during the incubations are also reported and discussed. These results support the selection of forages high in PPO activity to reduce protein and lipid loses in silo and potentially in the rumen. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Linking the atomistic scale and the mesoscale: molecular orbital and solid state packing calculations on poly(p-phenylene)

The energies and structures of neutral benzenoid and neutral quinonoid polyphenylenes in the gas phase were calculated at the ab initio and semi-empirical levels for oligomers containing up to 11 rings as a function of the torsion angles between consecutive aromatic rings. In the gas-phase poly(p-phenylene) (PPP) simulations, a transition to the aromatic benzenoid structure occurs in the centre of chains as short as about six to seven rings. The development of electronic properties such as ionisation potential, the carbon-carbon bond length between rings, the band gap and width of the highest occupied bands were studied. On going from a coplanar to a perpendicular conformation, qualitatively, the ionisation potential and band gap values increase and the band widths of the highest occupied bands decrease. Molecular mechanics simulations were used to model the crystal structures of PPP oligomers using Lennard-Jones and sinusoidal torsion potentials, with parameters derived initially from the gas-phase calculations. These solid state simulations reproduced known crystal structures and predictions are made for the crystal structures of PPP oligomers up to a degree of polymerisation of 11. The crystal packing forces the PPP molecules to be planar, hence increasing conductivity in the solid state. Interestingly, there is an anomaly in the packing energy results for the sexiphenylene case which is in accord with the gas phase calculations.     

Large scale atomistic polymer simulations using Monte Carlo methods for parallel vector processors

In this paper we discuss the implementation of advanced variable connectivity Monte Carlo (MC) simulation methods for studying large (>10⁵ atom) polymer systems at the atomic level. Such codes are intrinsically difficult to optimize since they involve a mixture of many different elementary MC steps, such as reptation, flip, end rotation, concerted rotation and volume fluctuation moves. In particular, connectivity altering MC moves, such as the recently developed directed end bridging (DEB) algorithm, are required in order to vigorously sample the configuration space. Techniques for effective vector implementation of such moves are described. We also show how a simple domain decomposition method can provide a general and efficient means of parallelizing these complex MC protocols. Benchmarks are reported for a 192,000 atom simulation of polydisperse linear polyethylene with an average chain length C₆₀₀₀, for simulations using 1 to 8 processors and a variety of MC protocols.     

The effect of sexual hormone abnormalities on proximal femur bone mineral density in hemodialysis patients and the possible role of RANKL

Sexual hormone concentrations are commonly affected in chronic renal failure. The contribution of sex steroids to bone turnover regulation implies that sex steroid's dysfunction may be implicated in the emergence of renal osteodystrophy. This study was conducted to evaluate sex steroids and gonadotrophins in hemodialysis (HD) patients and to investigate their role in bone homeostasis in concert with other hormones and cytokines. Bone mineral density (BMD) at the proximal femur and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), osteoprotegerin, soluble receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (sRANKL), prolactin, total testosterone, estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) were measured in serum samples in 42 patients, 21 men and 21 women, on maintenance HD therapy. Possible associations between clinical characteristics, biochemical parameters, and BMD values were investigated. In male HD patients, the testosterone concentration declined significantly with aging, whereas the estradiol level increased with longer duration of HD. Concurrently, testosterone correlated negatively with sRANKL concentrations (r=-0.520, p=0.016). Luteinizing hormone levels in male patients demonstrated statistically significant negative correlations with BMD values of the proximal femur. In the entire cohort of patients, FSH and LH were negatively associated with absolute values of proximal femur BMD. Gonadotrophin and sexual hormone concentrations in HD patients are associated with bone mineral status and consequently their derangements appear to contribute to the development of bone composition abnormalities in different types of renal osteodystrophy. Furthermore, testosterone's association with sRANKL levels in male HD patients suggests that RANKL may mediate the effect of testosterone on bone metabolism in these patients.     

Modelling of particle resuspension by a turbulent airflow and the role of particle size,surface roughness and electric charge

A resuspension model based on the Lennard–Jones intermolecular potential is applied to a monolayer deposit of spherical particles. The model considers the interactions between a particle and a surface under the influence of an external turbulent airflow. The particle–surface interaction was modelled with and without particle deformation due to elastic flattening. The resuspension rate was calculated by a kinetic force-balance approach whereby particle detachment occurs when the instantaneous joint contribution of the lift and drag forces exceeds the total adhesive force of the particle–surface system. Enhanced aerodynamic particle removal driven by the moment of the lift and drag forces was determined. Model predictions suggest that inclusion of the moment of the aerodynamic forces provides a suitable model for particle detachment (initiated by rolling). The importance of elastic deformation was found to depend on adhesive forces, characteristics of the substrate surface (surface roughness) and particle size. The model was applied to a number of laboratory experiments. For one set of experiments, we identified two resuspension regimes depending on whether small non-deformable or large deformable (equivalently, strongly or weakly bound) particles resuspended at high or low friction velocities. A modified model incorporating the effect of particle charge is also presented. Results indicate that particle resuspension is possible even when electrostatic forces are present, but the resuspension rate decreases considerably, depending on particle size, particle charge and surface roughness.     

The use of multiple criteria decision making methodologies for the promotion of RES through funding schemes in Cyprus,A review

In isolated energy systems with no indigenous sources of energy such as the one of the Republic of Cyprus, the renewable energy option is the only alternative to achieve energy independence. Though, the relative technological maturity of renewable energy sources and their satisfactory efficiencies, their implementation has not reached the expected levels in many regions. This situation is mainly due to the fact that the up-to-date efforts for their development have been underestimated and the parameters involved in drafting subsidy schemes are in some cases misinterpreted and not given the appropriate attention. Decision makers are faced with ongoing major energy challenges such as fossil fuel depletion, increasing demand, energy prices and thus the move towards a sustainable energy development is crucial and highly complicated. This paper investigates the use of MCDM methods and then implements the methods for three subsidy schemes available in Cyprus.     

FP-MAC: A distributed MAC algorithm for 802.15.4-like wireless sensor networks

In this paper we focus on the problems of high latency and low throughput arising from the periodic operation of MAC protocols for wireless sensor networks. In order to meet both design criteria we propose an energy-efficient, low delay, fast-periodic MAC algorithm, namely FP-MAC, that is exclusively designed for 802.15.4-like networks utilizing in full the standard’s physical layer. Our proposal relies on the short periodic communication operation of the nodes comprising the WSN. This is achieved by decreasing the actions that a node needs to perform at the start of every communication period and by incorporating a variable radio-on operation. Moreover, the algorithm introduces differences in nodes’ scheduling to further reduce delay. Local synchronization and the crucial task of determining the proper timing for transmission and reception of data is achieved through the periodic broadcast of special synchronization frames at the beginning of each on-period. FP-MAC is evaluated and compared to S-MAC and T-MAC through extensive simulations, showing a significant improvement in terms of low energy consumption and average MAC delay.