Unusual essential oils with aromatic properties

Summary The essential oil obtained by steam distillation of cinchona bark (Cinchona spp.,Rubiaceae family) — a plant well known for its pharmacological properties, also employed in the food industry, especially in making liqueurs - was investigated. The oil, of completely unknown chemical composition, was analyzed by GLC and GLC/MS after separation on a silica gel column, and one hundred components were identified. The presence of 2-hexyl-3-methylmaleic anhydride is rather unusual.

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Ungewöhnliche ätherische Öle mit aromatischen Eigenschaften. Die flüchtigen Aromastoffe der China-Rinde

Zusammenfassung Es wurde ätherisches Öl analysiert, das durch Wasserdampfdestillation von Chinarinde (Cinchona spp. derRubiaceae-Familie) gewonnen wurde. Diese Pflanze ist aufgrund ihrer pharmakologischen Eigenschaften bekannt und wird auch in der Lebensmittelindustrie verwendet, ganz besonders für die Likör- und Magenbitterherstellung. Die chemische Zusammensetzung dieses Öls war unbekannt. Nach Abtrennung auf einer Kieselgelsäule wurden im Öl mit GLC und GLC/MS etwa 100 Verbindungen identifiziert. Das Vorhandensein von 2-Hexyl-3-methyl-maleinsäureanhydrid ist ziemlich ungewöhnlich.

     

Premelting transition in uranium dioxide

Thermal analysis of the cooling curves of small samples of uranium dioxide, laser heated in a high-pressure autoclave on a subsecond time scale to a temperature just below the melting point, reveals, in the case of nominally stoichiometric UO_2.00, a significant -like heat capacity peak, indicating a premelting transition in this material. The results are discussed and a simple model is presented in terms of which the observed behavior can be described.Summary of a paper presented at the Third Workshop on Subsecond Thermophysics, September 17–18, 1992, Graz, Austria. Because of its length, the full paper was published in a regular issue of this journal (Vol. 14, No. 2, 1993).     

Kernel ridge regression for out-of-sample mapping in supervised manifold learning

Manifold learning methods for unsupervised nonlinear dimensionality reduction have proven effective in the visualization of high dimensional data sets. When dealing with classification tasks, supervised extensions of manifold learning techniques, in which class labels are used to improve the embedding of the training points, require an appropriate method for out-of-sample mapping.In this paper we propose multi-output kernel ridge regression (KRR) for out-of-sample mapping in supervised manifold learning, in place of general regression neural networks (GRNN) that have been adopted by previous studies on the subject. Specifically, we consider a supervised agglomerative variant of Isomap and compare the performance of classification methods when the out-of-sample embedding is based on KRR and GRNN, respectively. Extensive computational experiments, using support vector machines and k-nearest neighbors as base classifiers, provide statistical evidence that out-of-sample mapping based on KRR consistently dominates its GRNN counterpart, and that supervised agglomerative Isomap with KRR achieves a higher accuracy than direct classification methods on most data sets.     

Effect of burn-up on the thermal conductivity of uranium dioxide up to 100.000 MWd t

The thermal diffusivity and specific heat of reactor-irradiated UO₂ fuel have been measured. Starting from end-of-life conditions at various burn-ups, measurements under thermal annealing cycles were performed in order to investigate the recovery of the thermal conductivity as a function of temperature. The separate effects of soluble fission products, of fission gas frozen in dynamical solution and of radiation damage were determined. In this context, particular emphasis was given to the behaviour of samples displaying the high burn-up rim structure. Recovery stages could be thoroughly investigated in samples that were irradiated at low burn-ups and/or at high irradiation temperatures. Other samples, in particular those exhibiting the characteristic rim structure, disintegrated at temperatures slightly higher than the irradiation temperature. Finally, from a database of several thousand measurements, an accurate formula for the in-pile thermal conductivity of UO₂ up to 100 GWd t⁻¹ was developed, taking into account all the relevant effects and structural changes induced by reactor burn-up.     

Mystery(n) Phenotypic Presentation in Europeans: Report of Three Further Novel Missense RNF213 Variants Leading to Severe Syndromic Forms of Moyamoya Angiopathy and Literature Review

Moyamoya angiopathy (MMA) is a rare cerebral vasculopathy in some cases occurring in children. Incidence is higher in East Asia, where the heterozygous p.Arg4810Lys variant in RNF213 (Mysterin) represents the major susceptibility factor. Rare variants in RNF213 have also been found in European MMA patients with incomplete penetrance and are today a recognized susceptibility factor for other cardiovascular disorders, from extracerebral artery stenosis to hypertension. By whole exome sequencing, we identified three rare and previously unreported missense variants of RNF213 in three children with early onset of bilateral MMA, and subsequently extended clinical and radiological investigations to their carrier relatives. Substitutions all involved highly conserved residues clustered in the C-terminal region of RNF213, mainly in the E3 ligase domain. Probands showed a de novo occurring variant, p.Phe4120Leu (family A), a maternally inherited heterozygous variant, p.Ser4118Cys (family B), and a novel heterozygous variant, p.Glu4867Lys, inherited from the mother, in whom it occurred de novo (family C). Patients from families A and C experienced transient hypertransaminasemia and stenosis of extracerebral arteries. Bilateral MMA was present in the proband’s carrier grandfather from family B. The proband from family C and her carrier mother both exhibited annular figurate erythema. Our data confirm that rare heterozygous variants in RNF213 cause MMA in Europeans as well as in East Asian populations, suggesting that substitutions close to positions 4118–4122 and 4867 of RNF213 could lead to a syndromic form of MMA showing elevated aminotransferases and extracerebral vascular involvement, with the possible association of peculiar skin manifestations.     

Gene regulatory networks reconstruction from time series datasets using genetic programming: a comparison between tree-based and graph-based approaches

Genetic programming researchers have shown a growing interest in the study of gene regulatory networks in the last few years. Our team has also contributed to the field, by defining two systems for the automatic reverse engineering of gene regulatory networks called GRNGen and GeNet. In this paper, we revise this work by describing in detail the two approaches and empirically comparing them. The results we report, and in particular the fact that GeNet can be used on large networks while GRNGen cannot, encourage us to pursue the study of GeNet in the future. We conclude the paper by discussing the main research directions that we are planning to investigate to improve GeNet.     

Risks and benefits related to alimentary exposure to xenoestrogens

Xenoestrogens are widely diffused in the environment and in food, thus a large portion of human population worldwide is exposed to them. Among alimentary xenoestrogens, phytoestrogens (PhyEs) are increasingly being consumed because of their potential health benefits, although there are also important risks associated to their ingestion. Furthermore, other xenoestrogens that may be present in food are represented by other chemicals possessing estrogenic activities, that are commonly defined as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). EDCs pose a serious health concern since they may cause a wide range of health problems, starting from pre-birth till adult lifelong exposure. We herein provide an overview of the main classes of xenoestrogens, which are classified on the basis of their origin, their structures and their occurrence in the food chain. Furthermore, their either beneficial or toxic effects on human health are discussed in this review.     

Influence of short- and long-term exposure to a hot environment on rumen passage rate and diet digestibility by Friesian heifers.

Effects of short- and long-term exposure to a hot environment on diet digestibility and rumen passage rate were studied in four, 10-mo-old Friesian heifers housed in a climatic chamber. The trial lasted 65 d. Twenty-five days were spent under thermal comfort (temperature-humidity index = 64), and 40 d were spent under hot conditions (temperature-humidity index = 84). Three digestibility and rumen passage rate trials were performed during the 65 d. Chromium oxide was used as an external marker. The first digestibility and rumen passage rate trial (trial 1) was performed under thermal comfort; trials 2 and 3 were performed under hot conditions. Exposure to the hot environment reduced dry matter intake and increased water intake and rectal temperature compared with those during the thermal comfort period. Digestibility coefficients for dry matter, organic matter, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were higher in trial 2 than in trials 1 and 3. No statistical differences were found between trials 1 and 3 for these variables. Rumen passage rate was more rapid in trial 1 than in trials 2 and 3. No difference was observed between trials 2 and 3. These results indicated that exposure to a hot environment can affect digestibility in a time-dependent fashion, suggesting an adaptation of the digestive tract to hot environments.     

Docosahexaenoic Acid Levels in Blood and Metabolic Syndrome in Obese Children: Is There a Link?

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing in the pediatric population. Considering the different existing criteria to define metabolic syndrome, the use of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria has been suggested in children. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been associated with beneficial effects on health. The evidence about the relationship of DHA status in blood and components of the metabolic syndrome is unclear. This review discusses the possible association between DHA content in plasma and erythrocytes and components of the metabolic syndrome included in the IDF criteria (obesity, alteration of glucose metabolism, blood lipid profile, and blood pressure) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese children. The current evidence is inconsistent and no definitive conclusion can be drawn in the pediatric population. Well-designed longitudinal and powered trials need to clarify the possible association between blood DHA status and metabolic syndrome.