Localized Heat Therapy Improves Mitochondrial Respiratory Capacity but Not Fatty Acid Oxidation

AIM: Mild heat stress can improve mitochondrial respiratory capacity in skeletal muscle. However, long-term heat interventions are scarce, and the effects of heat therapy need to be understood in the context of the adaptations which follow the more complex combination of stimuli from exercise training. The purpose of this work was to compare the effects of 6 weeks of localized heat therapy on human skeletal muscle mitochondria to single-leg interval training. METHODS: Thirty-five subjects were assigned to receive sham therapy, short-wave diathermy heat therapy, or single-leg interval exercise training, localized to the quadriceps muscles of the right leg. All interventions took place 3 times per week. Muscle biopsies were performed at baseline, and after 3 and 6 weeks of intervention. Mitochondrial respiratory capacity was assessed on permeabilized muscle fibers via high-resolution respirometry. RESULTS: The primary finding of this work was that heat therapy and exercise training significantly improved mitochondrial respiratory capacity by 24.8 ± 6.2% and 27.9 ± 8.7%, respectively (p < 0.05). Fatty acid oxidation and citrate synthase activity were also increased following exercise training by 29.5 ± 6.8% and 19.0 ± 7.4%, respectively (p < 0.05). However, contrary to our hypothesis, heat therapy did not increase fatty acid oxidation or citrate synthase activity. CONCLUSION: Six weeks of muscle-localized heat therapy significantly improves mitochondrial respiratory capacity, comparable to exercise training. However, unlike exercise, heat does not improve fatty acid oxidation capacity.     

Optimization of the property profile of poly‐L‐lactide by synthesis of PLLA‐polystyrene–block copolymers

Diblock and triblock copolymers of poly‐L ‐lactide (PLLA) and polystyrene (PS) were synthesized and the mechanical properties of these copolymers studied. Free radical polymerization of styrene in the presence of 2‐mercaptoethanol as functional chain transfer agent produced mono‐functionalized PS‐blocks which were used as macroinitiators in the subsequent ring opening polymerization (ROP) of L ‐lactide to produce the diblock copolymers. Furthermore a α‐ω‐bishydroxyl functionalized PS‐block was synthesized by RAFT, which was then engaged as bifunctional initiator for the ROP of L ‐lactide to provide the triblock copolymers PLLA‐PS‐PLLA. Through the copolymerisation and high molar masses, it was possible to achieve an improved mechanical property profile, compared with pure PLLA, or the analogous blends of PLLA and PS. A weight fraction of PS of 10–30% was found to be the optimal range for improving the heat deflection temperature (HDT), as well as mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength or elongation at break. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Experimental investigation of the rising behavior of CO2 droplets in seawater under hydrate-forming conditions

In a laboratory-based test series, seven experiments along a simulated Pacific hydrotherm at 152 degrees W, 40 degrees N were carried out to measure the rise velocities of liquefied CO2 droplets under (clathrate) hydrate forming conditions. The impact of a hydrate skin on the rising behavior was investigated by comparing the results with those from outside the field of hydrate stability at matching buoyancy. A thermostatted high-pressure tank was used to establish conditions along the natural oceanic hydrotherm. Under P-/T-conditions allowing hydrate formation, the majority of the droplets quickly developed a skin of CO2 hydrate upon contact with seawater. Rise rates of these droplets support the parametrization by Chen et al. (Tellus 2003, 55B, 723-730), which is based on empirical equations developed to match momentum of hydrate covered, deformed droplets. Our data do not support other parametrizations recently suggested in the literature. In the experiments from 5.7 MPa, 4.8 oC to 11.9 MPa, 2.8 degrees C positive and negative deviations from predicted rise rates occurred, which we propose were caused by lacking hydrate formation and reflect intact droplet surface mobility and droplet shape oscillations, respectively. This interpretation is supported by rise rates measured at P-/T-conditions outside the hydrate stability field atthe same liquid CO2-seawater density difference (delta rho) matching the rise rates of the deviating data within the stability field. The results also show that droplets without a hydrate skin ascend up to 50% faster than equally buoyant droplets with a hydrate skin. This feature has a significant impact on the vertical pattern of dissolution of liquid CO2 released into the ocean. The experiments and data presented considerably reduce the uncertainty of the parametrization of CO2 droplet rise velocity, which in the past emerged partly from their scarcity and contradictions in constraints of earlier experiments.     

In-line laser holography and video analysis of eroded floc from engineered and estuarine sediments

Microphytobenthic polymers mediate intertidal sediment erosion processes, through biostabilization and modifying the nature of eroded floc material. The latter is of key importance with respect to sediment transport dynamics, including floc aggregation and particle deposition. In this study, eroded floc material was analyzed by video imaging, alongside novel application of in-line laser holography (ILH). The erosion of engineered sediment was compared to that of natural estuarine sediments. Both video and holography showed an increase in floc size eroded from engineered cohesive clay sediment as a function of sediment dewatering and sediment polymer content. Estuarine sediment showed a curvilinear increase in floc size as a function of both microphytobenthic biomass and sediment colloidal polymer content when measured by video analysis. Holography did not show these functions for floc size due to temporal limitations of the current ILH methodology. An interaction of sediment polymer binding and sediment desiccation was observed for engineered sediments and, most notably, for estuarine cohesive sediments. In conclusion, engineered sediments were not accurate analogues for natural intertidal sediments, failing to reproduce eroded floc material similar to that from estuarine cohesive sediment. The size of eroded floc from estuarine sediments is a function of the complex interaction between biological and physicochemical processes, primarily algal colloidal polymer and desiccation. Holography demonstrated an excellent potential for the high-resolution imaging of eroded material but is limited by temporal constraints; the solution to this would be the development of real-time holographic video.     

Urine proteomics for profiling of human disease using high accuracy mass spectrometry

Knowledge of the biologically relevant components of human tissues has enabled the invention of numerous clinically useful diagnostic tests, as well as non-invasive ways of monitoring disease and its response to treatment. Recent use of advanced MS-based proteomics revealed that the composition of human urine is more complex than anticipated. Here, we extend the current characterization of the human urinary proteome by extensively fractionating urine using ultra-centrifugation, gel electrophoresis, ion exchange and reverse-phase chromatography, effectively reducing mixture complexity while minimizing loss of material. By using high-accuracy mass measurements of the linear ion trap-Orbitrap mass spectrometer and LC-MS/MS of peptides generated from such extensively fractionated specimens, we identified 2362 proteins in routinely collected individual urine specimens, including more than 1000 proteins not described in previous studies. Many of these are biomedically significant molecules, including glomerularly filtered cytokines and shed cell surface molecules, as well as renally and urogenitally produced transporters and structural proteins. Annotation of the identified proteome reveals distinct patterns of enrichment, consistent with previously described specific physiologic mechanisms, including 336 proteins that appear to be expressed by a variety of distal organs and glomerularly filtered from serum. Comparison of the proteomes identified from 12 individual specimens revealed a subset of generally invariant proteins, as well as individually variable ones, suggesting that our approach may be used to study individual differences in age, physiologic state and clinical condition. Consistent with this, annotation of the identified proteome by using machine learning and text mining exposed possible associations with 27 common and more than 500 rare human diseases, establishing a widely useful resource for the study of human pathophysiology and biomarker discovery.     

Nachweis von ω-Aminocarbonsäuren und Carbonylverbindungen in thermooxidativ abgebautem Polycaprolactam

After oxidation and subsequent hydrolysis homologous series of alkyl amines and ω-amino carboxylic acids were proved to be further degradation products of polycaprolactam. The formation of these substances cannot be explained by an attack on the N-vicinal methylene group which is the most reactive site of this polymer. Considering the low and nearly equal amount of nitrogen containing degradation products a statistical attack on the remaining methylene groups takes place besides the preferred N-vicinal reaction. The CO-vicinal site is not particularly activated. The formation of likewise isolated substances with carbonyl groups cannot be explained by a uniform mechanism.     

Effect of distance upon risk perception.

148 Ss were asked to rate the hazard they perceived to be associated with living near 7 different types of public facilities (i.e., nuclear reactor, oil refinery, airport, gas works, prison, district heating facility, and mental hospital). Two respondent groups lived .5 km and 1.4 km from a nuclear research reactor, 2 groups lived at similar distances from a district heating facility, and the control group lived about 10 km from both facilities. Statistically significant differences were found with respect to the item "nuclear reactor," with the group living 1.4 km from the reactor perceiving it to be riskier than the nearer group and the controls, suggesting that frequent contact with potentially threatening objects reduces the perceived hazard. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antiviral properties of 3-quinolinecarboxamides: a series of novel non-nucleoside antiherpetic agents

Despite the long history in medicine, the pathophysiological mechanism(s) of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) remain largely unknown. By employing a meta-analytic methodology, the authors of this study attempted to verify the validity of different pathophysiological mechanism(s) proposed for SAD. The findings showed that for phototherapy of medium light intensity, a combination of morning-evening therapy regime yielded the best therapeutic effect, and the antidepressant effect of the morning-evening light regime was superior to a single pulse of light administered at other times of day. Furthermore, the data showed that the antidepressant effect of a single pulse of light was similar for morning, midday, and evening light. These findings supported the photon-count hypothesis and refuted the proposed photoperiod, melatonin, and phase-shifting models of SAD.     

A Grouping Genetic Algorithm for the Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows

The Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows (PDPTW) is a generalization of the well studied Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (VRPTW). Since it models several typical planning situations in operational transportation logistics and public transit, the PDPTW has attracted growing interest in recent years. This paper proposes a Grouping Genetic Algorithm (GGA) for solving the PDPTW which features a group-oriented genetic encoding in which each gene represents a group of requests instead of a single request. The GGA is subject to a comparative test on the basis of two publicly available benchmark problem sets that comprise 9 and 56 PDPTW instances, respectively. The results show that the proposed GGA is competitive.This complete issue was revised and published online in November 2004. The previous version contained a false date.Giselher Pankratz: The author wishes to thank the anonymous referees for their valuable comments