Oil transesterification over calcium oxides modified with lanthanum

Investigations were conducted on a series of calcium and lanthanum oxides catalyst for biodiesel production. Mixed oxides catalyst showed a superior transesterification activity over pure calcium or pure lanthanum oxide catalysts. The catalyst activity was correlated with surface basicity and specific surface areas. The effects of water and free fatty acids (FFA) levels in oil feedstock, water and CO₂ in air, mass ratio of catalyst, molar ratio of oil to methanol, and reaction temperature on fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield were investigated. Under optimal conditions, FAME yields reached 94.3% within 60 min at 58 °C. Mixed CaO-La₂O₃ catalyst showed a high tolerance to water and FFA, and could be used for converting pure or diluted unrefined/waste oils to biodiesel.     

Nitrogenation of boron doped diamond: Comparison of an electrochemical treatment in liquid ammonia and a NH3/N2 plasma

In the present work, two different nitrogenation of diamond surface were studied onto moderately doped BDD samples (10¹⁹ at cm^? 3). The effects of an electrochemical treatment in liquid ammonia have been compared to those produced by NH₃/N₂ plasma. The evolution of surface terminations from “CH” to “CN” has been studied by XPS analyses for both nitrogenation methods. Angle contact measurements complete this work, estimating the effect of such treatments on BDD wettability properties. Finally, cyclic voltammetry in presence of redox systems have been carried out to evidence the impact of “CN” bonds on BDD electrochemical behavior. In both cases the formation of “CN” terminations was evidenced by XPS analyses. Physico-chemical properties of BDD electrodes, deduced from contact angle and electrochemical measurements, were strongly modified according the process. The galvanostatic treatment in liquid ammonia led to a more hydrophobic diamond surface and an improvement of the charge transfer with Ce^4+/3+ redox couple, while a more hydrophilic surface and a notable decrease of the electrochemical response were generated by NH₃/N₂ plasma treatment.     

Automatic quantification of changes in bone in serial MR images of joints

Recent innovations in drug therapies have made it highly desirable to obtain sensitive biomarkers of disease progression that can be used to quantify the performance of candidate disease modifying drugs. In order to measure potential image-based biomarkers of disease progression in an experimental model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we present two different methods to automatically quantify changes in a bone in in-vivo serial magnetic resonance (MR) images from the model. Both methods are based on rigid and nonrigid image registration to perform the analysis. The first method uses segmentation propagation to delineate a bone from the serial MR images giving a global measure of temporal changes in bone volume. The second method uses rigid body registration to determine intensity change within a bone, and then maps these into a reference coordinate system using nonrigid registration. This gives a local measure of temporal changes in bone lesion volume. We detected significant temporal changes in local bone lesion volume in five out of eight identified candidate bone lesion regions, and significant difference in local bone lesion volume between male and female subjects in three out of eight candidate bone lesion regions. But the global bone volume was found to be fluctuating over time. Finally, we compare our findings with histology of the subjects and the manual segmentation of bone lesions.     

Perinatal High-Fat Diet Influences Ozone-Induced Responses on Pulmonary Oxidant Status and the Molecular Control of Mitophagy in Female Rat Offspring

Previous research has shown that a perinatal obesogenic, high-fat diet (HFD) is able to exacerbate ozone-induced adverse effects on lung function, injury, and inflammation in offspring, and it has been suggested that mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated herein. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a perinatal obesogenic HFD affects ozone-induced changes in offspring pulmonary oxidant status and the molecular control of mitochondrial function. For this purpose, female Long-Evans rats were fed a control diet or HFD before and during gestation, and during lactation, after which the offspring were acutely exposed to filtered air or ozone at a young-adult age (forty days). Directly following this exposure, the offspring lungs were examined for markers related to oxidative stress; oxidative phosphorylation; and mitochondrial fusion, fission, biogenesis, and mitophagy. Acute ozone exposure significantly increased pulmonary oxidant status and upregulated the molecular machinery that controls receptor-mediated mitophagy. In female offspring, a perinatal HFD exacerbated these responses, whereas in male offspring, responses were similar for both diet groups. The expression of the genes and proteins involved in oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial biogenesis, fusion, and fission was not affected by ozone exposure or perinatal HFD. These findings suggest that a perinatal HFD influences ozone-induced responses on pulmonary oxidant status and the molecular control of mitophagy in female rat offspring.     

Fiber Bragg Gratings in Small-Core Ge-Doped Photonic Crystal Fibers

This paper reports fiber Bragg gratings （FBGs） inscribed in a small-core Ge-doped photonic crystal fibers with a UV laser and a Talbot interferometer. The responses of such FBGs to temper- ature, strain, bending, and transverse-loading were systematically investigated. The Bragg wavelength of the FBGs shifts toward longer wavelengths with increasing temperature, tensile strain, and transverse-loading. The bending and transverse- loading properties of the FBGs are sensitive to the fiber orientations.     

Validation of the performance of a GMO multiplex screening assay based on microarray detection

A new screening method for the detection and identification of GMO, based on the use of multiplex PCR followed by microarray, has been developed and is presented. The technology is based on the identification of quite ubiquitous GMO genetic target elements first amplified by PCR, followed by direct hybridisation of the amplicons on a predefined microarray (DualChip^® GMO, Eppendorf, Germany). The validation was performed within the framework of a European project (Co-Extra, contract no 007158) and in collaboration with 12 laboratories specialised in GMO detection. The present study reports the strategy and the results of an ISO complying validation of the method carried out through an inter-laboratory study. Sets of blind samples were provided consisting of DNA reference materials covering all the elements detectable by specific probes present on the array. The GMO concentrations varied from 1% down to 0.045%. In addition, a mixture of two GMO events (0.1% RRS diluted in 100% TOPAS19/2) was incorporated in the study to test the robustness of the assay in extreme conditions. Data were processed according to ISO 5725 standard. The method was evaluated with predefined performance criteria with respect to the EC CRL method acceptance criteria. The overall method performance met the acceptance criteria; in particular, the results showed that the method is suitable for the detection of the different target elements at 0.1% concentration of GMO with a 95% accuracy rate. This collaborative trial showed that the method can be considered as fit for the purpose of screening with respect to its intra- and inter-laboratory accuracy. The results demonstrated the validity of combining multiplex PCR with array detection as provided by the DualChip^® GMO (Eppendorf, Germany) for the screening of GMO. The results showed that the technology is robust, practical and suitable as a screening tool.     

Expression and characterization of three important panallergens from hazelnut

Several hazelnut allergens with different clinical relevance and crossreactive properties have been identified and characterized so far. The aim of this study was to develop protocols for producing relatively large amounts of three recombinant hazelnut allergens Cor a 1.04, Cor a 2, and Cor a 8 in a folded and immunologically active form. The availability of well-characterized, pure recombinant allergens will improve diagnostic in vitro tests for food allergy, by allowing a highly sensitive component resolved diagnosis. Depending on the individual hazelnut allergen, protocols for heterologous production - either as fusion or nonfusion protein - were developed to obtain homogenous protein batches. The resulting proteins were purified by a two-step FPLC method and their IgE antibody reactivity was verified. Identity was verified by N-terminal sequencing and MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. Their secondary and tertiary structure was controlled by circular dichroism (CD)-spectroscopy and NMR analysis. Decisions on the strategies for expression and purification of allergens on a large scale were made on a case by case basis: Preparation of rCor a 1.04 and rCor a 2 as fusion proteins in E. coli from inclusion bodies resulted in approximately 10 mg pure protein per liter whereas rCor a 8 expression in yeast as nonfusion protein yielded 30 mg/L.     

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the central,transition and peripheral zones of the prostate: assignments and correlation with histopathology

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is used to compare the chemistry of the transition, central and peripheral zones of the prostate. The assignments are made using two-dimensional correlated spectroscopy and the results compared with histopathology. The chemistry associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and malignant biopsy tissues are described. There are distinct MR spectral patterns for glandular and stromal BPH, PIN and adenocarcinoma. Importantly, there are also different spectral patterns from BPH in the transitional and central zones when compared to BPH in the peripheral zone. A pattern recognition method is used to analyze the MR spectra from the biopsy specimens. The resultant mathematical classifiers generated a high level of accuracy (sensitivity and specificity of 100 and 97%). It was found that for this accuracy to be achieved, the classifiers need to be developed by comparing the spectra with specialist serial sectioned histopathology. With serial sectioned pathology the pattern recognition method was capable of identifying less than 5% of adenocarcinoma in a given piece of tissue. Many of the chemicals identified in the biopsy specimens are available for inspection from the prostate, in vivo, at 3 T.