The Age-Sensitive Efficacy of Calorie Restriction on Mitochondrial Biogenesis and mtDNA Damage in Rat Liver

Calorie restriction (CR) is the most efficacious treatment to delay the onset of age-related changes such as mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the sensitivity of mitochondrial markers to CR and the age-related boundaries of CR efficacy are not fully elucidated. We used liver samples from ad libitum-fed (AL) rats divided in: 18-month-old (AL-18), 28-month-old (AL-28), and 32-month-old (AL-32) groups, and from CR-treated (CR) 28-month-old (CR-28) and 32-month-old (CR-32) counterparts to assay the effect of CR on several mitochondrial markers. The age-related decreases in citrate synthase activity, in TFAM, MFN2, and DRP1 protein amounts and in the mtDNA content in the AL-28 group were prevented in CR-28 counterparts. Accordingly, CR reduced oxidative mtDNA damage assessed through the incidence of oxidized purines at specific mtDNA regions in CR-28 animals. These findings support the anti-aging effect of CR up to 28 months. Conversely, the protein amounts of LonP1, Cyt c, OGG1, and APE1 and the 4.8 Kb mtDNA deletion content were not affected in CR-28 rats. The absence of significant differences between the AL-32 values and the CR-32 counterparts suggests an age-related boundary of CR efficacy at this age. However, this only partially curtails the CR benefits in counteracting the generalized aging decline and the related mitochondrial involvement.     

Investigations of ultrathin polypyrrole films: Formation and effects of doping/dedoping processes on its optical properties by electrochemical surface plasmon resonance (ESPR)

In the present work an investigation of the effects of the electropolymerization mode on the optical properties associated to the doping/dedoping processes of nanometric films of polypyrrole (PPy) is reported, monitoring in situ and in real time using simultaneously surface plasmon resonance and electrochemical techniques (ESPR). The electropolymerization of pyrrole was performed by potentiostatic, potentiodynamic and galvanostatic methods and the use of the ESPR technique showed that the electropolymerization mode is essential to the stability of polymer and the reversibility of its optical properties during the doping and dedoping processes. Thus, the optical properties of oxidized and reduced film were obtained by nonlinear least square fitting using Fresnel equations for a four-layer system. Then, the values of the real and imaginary parts of the complex dielectric constant for PPy fims were correlated with the polymer doping level. Finally, quartz crystal microbalance measurements were also applied to obtain correlation between doping/dedoping processes and the changes in the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant of the polypyrrole film, showing that the doping and dedoping processes in the polypyrrole film can act directly on its optical properties while the ESPR technique can give the same information indirectly.     

Expressing the equivalence of non‐isothermal and isothermal heat sterilization processes

Currently, the sterility of heat‐processed food and pharmaceuticals is assessed in terms of an F₀ value, based on the equivalence of the heat treatment to an isothermal process at a reference temperature. This F₀ value, however, has a meaning if, and only if, the inactivation kinetics of the targeted spores (or cells) follow a first‐order relationship and the temperature dependence of the D value, the reciprocal of the rate constant, is log‐linear. There is growing evidence that these conditions are not satisfied by many spores, including those of Clostridium botulinum and vegetative cells. Consequently, a replacement for the F₀ value is proposed in the form of a momentary equivalent time at the reference temperature based on the actual survival pattern of the spores, which need not be log‐linear. This equivalent time can be calculated together with the theoretical survival ratio in real time, thus enabling an operator to monitor the lethality of ongoing industrial heat processes. The concept is demonstrated with published survival data of C. botulinum, for which the Weibullian and log‐logistic models served as primary and secondary models, respectively. The safety factor according to the proposed method is in the number of added minutes of processing, beyond the theoretical time needed to reduce the survival ratio of the targeted spores or cells to a level that would produce practical (or commercial) sterility. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Emulsifying Properties of the Total Fraction and the Hydrophobic Fraction of Bovine Milk Proteose-peptones

Since proteose-peptone is a mixture of heterogeneous proteins and peptides, its functional properties have not yet been fully understood. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the emulsifying properties of proteose-peptones and a parallel evaluation was performed of the emulsifying activity of the total fraction prepared from bulk skimmed milk by precipitation with ammonium sulphate and of the most hydrophobic fraction purified by hydrophobic interaction fast protein liquid chromatography. A turbidimetric technique was used and the absorbance value at 500 nm was then directly used as the emulsifying activity index. The results obtained confirmed the good emulsifying activity of this protein fraction of the whey and demonstrated the considerable influence of the concentration on the capacity of the proteose-peptones to stabilize a model oil-in-water emulsion. Moreover, at all the concentrations examined, the purified component 3 showed a higher emulsifying activity than the total unpurified fraction.     

Transmission line routing for reduced external field disturbance

When immersed in a disturbing electromagnetic field, electronic systems are subject to interference due to the energy injected by the external field into the system through the electronic units and, especially, through the transmission lines connecting units one another. The issue of reducing the unwanted energy injection through connecting transmission lines is addressed in this contribution from the point of view of the routing, i.e. of the disposition of the connecting lines that minimizes the injection. The problem is formulated as an optimization problem, dealt with by the simulated annealing minimization technique combined with an efficient way of computing the field coupling to the lines. Results are reported for various cases, and the relation between the characteristics of the interfering field and the efficiency of the reduction is discussed.     

Late season nitrogen fertilization of soybeans: effects on leaf senescence, yield and environment

Nitrogen demand from soybean seeds during seed filling is very high and has been proposed as the cause of nitrogen remobilization and leaf senescence. Previous research has not shown consistent effects of late season fertilization on seed yield, while its effects on leaf senescence have not been evaluated. Two field experiments were performed to determine the effects of a late season N fertilization on leaf senescence and fall, seed yield and its components, and residual soil nitrate, and to evaluate the potential risk of groundwater contamination. Two rates of nitrogen (50 and 100 kg N ha^–1) were applied at the R3 and R5 development stages. Nitrogen fertilization, either at R3 or R5, increased soil nitrate availability during the seed-filling period. Seed yield, seed number and protein content were not affected by N fertilization. The addition of 100 kg N ha^–1 produced a small delay of 1–2 days in the leaf fall, and slightly increased seed size (3.6%). Our results suggest that increasing soil N availability during the seed-filling period is not an effective way to delay leaf senescence or to increase seed growth and yield of soybean. Nitrogen fertilization increased the level of residual nitrate in the top soil at one site (the one with lowest seed yield), increasing the risk of nitrate leaching during subsequent fallow.     

Experimental design to evaluate properties of electrospun fibers of zein/poly (ethylene oxide) for biomaterial applications

The production of polymer fibers from the combination of zein and PEO might have great potential in the field of biomaterial. Zein/PEO fibers were obtained in this work through solution electrospinning. An experimental design, 2^4-1, was used for evaluating the influences of PEO content in the blend, distance from the needle tip to the collector, applied electric voltage and solution flow for average fiber diameter and relative-yield process. Beyond this, the relationship between PEO content in the blend and the fiber properties were evaluated through FTIR, DSC, TG, tensile tests, and cytotoxic tests. The factor that exerts the greatest effect on the average fiber diameter response was the electrical voltage. The increase in PEO content in the blend decreased the thermal stability and increased the degree of the fibers' crystallinity. The mechanical tests showed that fibers with higher elongation were obtained at richer PEO blends. The fibers presented cytocompatible characteristics.     

A systematic literature review on IoT-aware business process modeling views,requirements and notations

Software and Systems Modeling - The Internet of things has been adopted in several sectors both influencing how people work and enhancing organizations’ business processes. This resulted in...     

Excited states of alkali atoms in liquid4He from density functional calculations

Calculations are presented, based on a Density Functional approach, of the first excited states (l=1) of alkali metal atoms (Cs and Na) in liquid ⁴He. We find large departures from the spherical bubble in the liquid⁴He structure when the alkali atom is excited. The shifts from the free atom values of the excitation and emission transition lines are calculated and compared with the experimental results. According to our calculations, the so far unseen radiative deexcitation transition for light alkalis in⁴He may lie in an unexplored infrared region of the spectrum.