The Evolving Role of Fetuin-A in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: An Overview from Liver to the Heart

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is strongly associated to the features of metabolic syndrome which can progress to cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the most common cause of mortality in people with NAFLD is not liver-related but stems from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). The prevalence of NAFLD is on the rise, mainly as a consequence of its close association with two major worldwide epidemics, obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The exact pathogenesis of NAFLD and especially the mechanisms leading to disease progression and CVD have not been completely elucidated. Human fetuin-A (alpha-2-Heremans Schmid glycoprotein), a glycoprotein produced by the liver and abundantly secreted into the circulation appears to play a role in insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and inflammation. This review discusses the links between NAFLD and CVD by specifically focusing on fetuin-A’s function in the pathogenesis of NAFLD and atherosclerotic CVD.     

Regional Process Modeling for Design for Environment

This research is an effort towards providing higher level Design for Environment (DFE) tools for a broad industrial region. Issues ranging from the levels immediately above existing design tools, to the envisioned highest level for a broad geographical region are discussed. A tool for the regional planning of the DFE activities is proposed, considering a model construction based on material flows across the industry. The Multi-Lifecycle approach is supported by organizing the input/output flows for industries, potentially utilizing waste material, side products and recycling. Capitalizing on the conceptual integration of the design and process activities, an Abstract Design Environment is used for the design of the basically process oriented material flow tool. Within the context, the relations among design, process and flow-modeling concepts are discussed.     

Additives for ultraviolet‐induced oxidative degradation of low‐density polyethylene

Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most widely produced and widely used plastics in the world. Saturated hydrocarbons cannot absorb the energy of the light reaching earth, so the degradation process is rather slow; this, in return, causes disposal problems. On the other hand, it was observed that in the presence of oxygen and impurities in the polymer matrix, the degradation could be reduced to shorter time intervals. In this study, vanadium(III) acetyl acetonate (VAc), serpentine (SE), and Cloisite 30B (CL) were used as additives, both together and alone, and we followed the photodegradation of PE. The amount of VAc was kept constant at 0.2 wt %, whereas the amounts of SE and CL were varied between 1 and 4 wt %. The samples were irradiated by UV light for up to 500 h. Mechanical and spectroscopic measurements were carried out during certain time intervals to monitor the degradation. VAc containing PE showed the fastest degradation. The elongation at break values of these samples were reduced to half of the initial value of elongation at break within five days. Combinations of the CL and SE additives were also proven to accelerate the degradation of PE; this was followed by an increase in the carbonyl index, which was observed to be at least 10 times greater than that of pure PE. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43354.     

New perylene derivative dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells

We have studied the influence of the spacer alkyl chain length of perylenemonoimide (PMI) dyes on the device performance in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We observed that the dyes with longer and brunched alkyl chains exhibit higher efficiencies in DSSCs. In line with these statements we now report the highest efficiency obtained under standard conditions for a perylene imide derivative with PMI-DA1 that performs 300 mV open circuit voltage, 9.79 mA/cm² short-circuit current and 1.61% overall conversion efficiency.     

Symmetry group classification for two-dimensional elastodynamics problems in nonlocal elasticity

In this study the symmetry groups of two-dimensional elastodynamics problems in nonlocal elasticity are identified and classified. The determining equations are found, and then the differential equations are obtained that include the kernel function and the independent term. The symmetry group classification is determined by using these differential equations and solutions of the determining equations.     

A process model for component-oriented software engineering

The investigation of reuse has a long history, eventually maturing into the "build by integration" paradigm. Meanwhile, component technologies also improved along with engineering practices. What is missing is a methodology that uses components within such a paradigm, thus bridging the gap. The authors propose a model devoted to complete component orientation, rather than modifying object-oriented approaches to accommodate components. They investigate component-based technologies to address new needs and, consequently, to integrate adequate practices toward a consistent process model.     

Hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystalline mesophase: change of rod-like micelle sizes with changes in concentrations

In the present work, change of rod-like micelle sizes with change of amphiphile concentration in hexagonal mesophase and the effect of inorganic salt additions on the effective length of these micelles have been studied. The investigations were made by the using of electrical conductivity method in shear flow. The dependence of form factor on the anisometricity parameter of rod-like micelles were determined for investigated lyotropic systems.     

The use of Bacillus subtilis immobilized on Amberlite XAD-4 as a new biosorbent in trace metal determination

The present work proposes the use of Bacillus subtilis immobilized on Amberlite XAD-4 as new biosorbent in trace metal determination. The procedure is based on the biosorption of Cu and Cd ions on a column of Amberlite XAD-4 resin loaded with dried, dead bacterial components prior to their determination by flame AAS. Various parameters such as pH, amount of adsorbent, eluent type and volume, flow rate of solution and matrix interference effect on the retention of the metal ions have been studied. The optimum pH values of quantitative sorption for Cu and Cd were found to be 7.0 and 7.5, respectively. These metal ions can be desorbed with 1M HCl (recovery, 96-100%). The sorption capacity of the resin was 0.0297 and 0.035 mmol g(-1) for Cu(2+) and Cd(2+), respectively. The tolerance limit of some electrolytes were also studied. This procedure was applied to Cu(2+) and Cd(2+) determination in aqueous solutions, including river and well water systems. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed procedure, the certified reference materials, NRCC-SLRS-4 Riverine water and LGC7162 Strawberry leaves were analyzed.     

Compact multimodal adaptive-optics spectral-domain optical coherence tomography instrument for retinal imaging

We have developed a compact, multimodal instrument for simultaneous acquisition of en face quasi-confocal fundus images and adaptive-optics (AO) spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) cross-sectional images. The optical system including all AO and SDOCT components occupies a 60x60 cm breadboard that can be readily transported for clinical applications. The AO component combines a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor and a microelectromechanical systems-based deformable mirror to sense and correct ocular aberrations at 15 Hz with a maximum stroke of 4 microm. A broadband superluminescent diode source provides 4 mum depth resolution for SDOCT imaging. In human volunteer testing, we observed up to an 8 dB increase in OCT signal and a corresponding lateral resolution of <10 microm as a result of AO correction.