Increased dietary oxalate does not increase urinary calcium oxalate saturation in hypercalciuric rats

BACKGROUND: Human calcium oxalate (CaOx) nephrolithiasis may occur if urine is supersaturated with respect to the solid-phase CaOx. In these patients, dietary oxalate is often restricted to reduce its absorption and subsequent excretion in an effort to lower supersaturation and to decrease stone formation. However, dietary oxalate also binds intestinal calcium which lowers calcium absorption and excretion. The effect of increasing dietary oxalate on urinary CaOx supersaturation is difficult to predict. METHODS: To determine the effect of dietary oxalate intake on urinary supersaturation with respect to CaOx and brushite (CaHPO4), we fed 36th and 37th generation genetic hypercalciuric rats a normal Ca diet (1.2% Ca) alone or with sodium oxalate added at 0.5%, 1.0%, or 2.0% for a total of 18 weeks. We measured urinary ion excretion and calculated supersaturation with respect to the CaOx and CaHPO4 solid phases and determined the type of stones formed. RESULTS: Increasing dietary oxalate from 0% to 2.0% significantly increased urinary oxalate and decreased urinary calcium excretion, the latter presumably due to increased dietary oxalate-binding intestinal calcium. Increasing dietary oxalate from 0% to 2.0% decreased CaOx supersaturation due to the decrease in urinary calcium offsetting the increase in urinary oxalate and the decreased CaHPO4 supersaturation. Each rat in each group formed stones. Scanning electron microscopy revealed discrete stones and not nephrocalcinosis. X-ray and electron diffraction and x-ray microanalysis revealed that the stones were composed of calcium and phosphate; there were no CaOx stones. CONCLUSION: Thus, increasing dietary oxalate led to a decrease in CaOx and CaHPO4 supersaturation and did not alter the universal stone formation found in these rats, nor the type of stones formed. These results suggest the necessity for human studies aimed at determining the role, if any, of limiting oxalate intake to prevent recurrence of CaOx nephrolithiasis.     

Behavioural alterations induced by chronic exposure to 10 nm silicon dioxide nanoparticles

Silicon dioxide nanoparticles (SiO₂ NPs) are widely invested in medicine, industry, agriculture, consuming products, optical imaging agents, cosmetics, and drug delivery. However, the toxicity of these NPs on human health and the ecosystem have not been extensively studied and little information is available about their behavioural toxicities. The current study aimed to find out the behavioural alterations that might be induced by chronic exposure to 10 nm SiO₂ NPs. BALB/C mice were subjected to 36 injections of SiO₂ NPs (2 mg/kg Bw) and subjected to 11 neurobehavioural tests: elevated plus‐maze test, elevated zero‐maze test, multiradial maze test, open field test, hole‐board test, light‐dark box test, forced swimming test, tail‐suspension test, Morris water‐maze test, Y‐maze test and multiple T‐maze test. Treated mice demonstrated anxiety‐like effect, depression tendency, behavioural despair stress, exploration and locomotors activity reduction with error induction in both reference and working memories. The findings may suggest that silica NPs are anxiogenic and could aggravate depression affecting memory, learning, overall activity and exploratory behaviour. Moreover, the findings may indicate that these nanomaterials (NMs) may induce potential oxidative stress in the body leading to neurobehavioural alterations with possible changes in the vital organ including the central nervous system.     

Towards a classification of energy aware MAC protocols for wireless sensor networks

Power management is an important issue in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) because wireless sensor nodes are usually battery powered, and an efficient use of the available battery power becomes an important concern specially for those applications where the system is expected to operate for long durations. This necessity for energy efficient operation of a WSN has prompted the development of new protocols in all layers of the communication stack. Provided that, the radio transceiver is the most power consuming component of a typical sensor node, large gains can be achieved at the link layer where the medium access control (MAC) protocol controls the usage of the radio transceiver unit. MAC protocols for sensor networks differ greatly from typical wireless networks access protocols in many issues. MAC protocols for sensor networks must have built‐in power conservation, mobility management, and failure recovery strategies. Furthermore, sensor MAC protocols should make performance trade‐off between latency and throughput for a reduction in energy consumption to maximize the lifetime of the network. This is in general achieved through duty cycling the radio transceiver. Many MAC protocols with different objectives were proposed for wireless sensor networks in the literature. Most of these protocols take into account the energy efficiency as a main objective. There is much more innovative work should be done at the MAC layer to address the hard unsolved problems. In this paper, we first outline and discuss the specific requirements and design trade‐offs of a typical wireless sensor MAC protocol by describing the properties of WSN that affect the design of MAC layer protocols. Then, a typical collection of wireless sensor MAC protocols presented in the literature are surveyed, classified, and described emphasizing their advantages and disadvantages whenever possible. Finally, we present research directions and identify open issues for future medium access research. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Putative virulence factors of the Aeromonas spp. isolated from food and environment in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Thirty randomly selected Aeromonas isolates from food and the environment in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, were characterized for putative virulence determinants, such as production of cytotoxin, cytotonic toxin, and hemolysin and their capacity to adhere to and invade Henle 407 cells in vitro. Seventy percent of the tested isolates were cytotoxin producers, and 80% were hemolytic. Cytotoxin was produced by 6 of 7 A. hydrophila strains, 6 of 13 A. caviae strains, and 6 of 7 A. veronii bv. sobria strains, mostly from food sources. A. schubertii, A. jandaei, and A. trota also produced both cytotoxin and hemolysin. All of the 30 isolates tested adhered to Henle 407 cells, but none were able to invade the cells, as determined with the in vitro assay. However, no significant correlation of the presence of these putative virulence factors was found among these aeromonad food isolates.     

Neural network modelling for shear strength of concrete members reinforced with FRP bars

This paper investigates the feasibility of using artificial neural networks (NNs) to predict the shear capacity of concrete members reinforced longitudinally with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) bars, and without any shear reinforcement. An experimental database of 138 test specimens failed in shear is created and used to train and test NNs as well as to assess the accuracy of three existing shear design methods. The created NN predicted to a high level of accuracy the shear capacity of FRP reinforced concrete members.Garson index was employed to identify the relative importance of the influencing parameters on the shear capacity based on the trained NNs weightings. A parametric analysis was also conducted using the trained NN to establish the trend of the main influencing variables on the shear capacity. Many of the assumptions made by the shear design methods are predicted by the NN developed; however, few are inconsistent with the NN predictions.     

Propolis to Curb Lifestyle Related Disorders: An Overview

The natural products are gaining immense importance in the domain of nutrition to prevent various maladies and improve the quality of life. Among these, natural exudates are of significant worth as these biochemical compounds are released by various living entities having pharmacological properties for utilization in various drug developments. These natural exudates are the promising source for the discovery of new medications. Numerous bioactive moieties collected by honeybees from exudates and buds of particular trees and plants, considered to be utilized as defensive barrier with special reference to propolis. It generally contains numerous biochemical components, i.e., polyphenols, steroids, terpenoids, and amino acids. They also contain isoferulic acid, sinapinic acid, caffeic acid, and chrysin responsible for antibacterial perspectives. With special attention to propolis, it has been utilized in folk medicines due to several of its therapeutic activities, i.e., antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anticancer properties. In this context, it is extensively used in foodstuffs and beverages to improve health related disorders like inflammation, diabetes, heart disease, protects injured gums, and cancer insurgence. Moreover, it has been used to curtail stomatology, gastroenterology, skin lesions, and otorhinolaryngologic and respiration diseases.     

Three-Dimensional Modeling of a Helixchanger® Heat Exchanger Using CFD

Abstract

Detailed three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations have been performed to explore the performance of a helically baffled heat exchanger, commercially referred to as the Helixchanger ® heat exchanger. The CFD simulations employ the HEATX computer simulation program, which is designed for the simulation of shell-and-tube heat exchangers. The simulation accounts for the complex helical geometry of baffles, leakages, and nozzle entrance and exit. Three cases are presented that correspond to helix angles of 10°, 25°, and 40°, defined with respect to the radial axis. Inspection of the computed flows reveals distinct inner and outer regions, with the outer region showing a very desirable plug flow characteristic. The inner region, however, displays recirculation zones due to back mixing at the small helix angle, which suggests potential vibration problems but also creates a desirable temperature uniformity. A comparison with plug flow showed that the helically baffled heat exchanger had a fluid turn ratio of 0.64, 0.78, and 0.77 for the 10°, 25°, and 40° helix angles, indicating more overall plug-like flow for the higher helix angles. Computed pressure drops compare reasonably well with ABB Lummus Heat Transfer correlation results, although nozzle entrance and exit losses require further study.     

Finite element computational modelling and experimental investigation of perforated NiTi plates under tension

This paper explores the pseudoelastic deformation behaviour of perforated near-equiatomic NiTi plates by means of finite element modelling and tensile experimentation. The numerical modelling is based on an elastohysteresis model, which takes into account the hysteretic and hyperelastic contributions of material response in the global deformation. The effects of hole size, shape and number on stress–strain behaviour are discussed. The numerical results are compared and validated with experimental data.