Intergenerational Metabolomic Analysis of Mothers with a History of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Their Offspring

Shared metabolomic patterns at delivery have been suggested to underlie the mother-to-child transmission of adverse metabolic health. This study aimed to investigate whether mothers with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their offspring show similar metabolomic patterns several years postpartum. Targeted metabolomics (including 137 metabolites) was performed in plasma samples obtained during an oral glucose tolerance test from 48 mothers with GDM and their offspring at a cross-sectional study visit 8 years after delivery. Partial Pearson’s correlations between the area under the curve (AUC) of maternal and offspring metabolites were calculated, yielding so-called Gaussian graphical models. Spearman’s correlations were applied to investigate correlations of body mass index (BMI), Matsuda insulin sensitivity index (ISI-M), dietary intake, and physical activity between generations, and correlations of metabolite AUCs with lifestyle variables. This study revealed that BMI, ISI-M, and the AUC of six metabolites (carnitine, taurine, proline, SM(-OH) C14:1, creatinine, and PC ae C34:3) were significantly correlated between mothers and offspring several years postpartum. Intergenerational metabolite correlations were independent of shared BMI, ISI-M, age, sex, and all other metabolites. Furthermore, creatinine was correlated with physical activity in mothers. This study suggests that there is long-term metabolic programming in the offspring of mothers with GDM and informs us about targets that could be addressed by future intervention studies.     

Investigations on Selectivity of Gas-Liquid Reactions in Capillaries

Biocatalysis offers a broad spectrum of possible ecological and economic advantages over conventional chemical catalysis processes, e.g., lower energy consumption and high enantio selectivity. The focus of this work is on gas-liquid reactions. These are of great importance in the chemical and biochemical industry and subject of current research since they are often limited by mass transfer or show low selectivity. Different suitable biocatalytically gas-liquid reaction systems were tested in capillary reactor designs in order to obtain information about the interaction between reaction and fluid mechanics. Furthermore, an optical measuring method was established. The experiments were performed in batch mode in a glass beaker with a flow cuvette for UV/Vis measurement of product concentration.     

Visualization and quantification of the mechanical deformation induced by an electrical field in poly(ethylene naphthalene 2,6‐dicarboxylate) (PEN) films

An optical nondestructive strain measurement technique was performed to analyze the mechanical deformation induced by an electrical field within the insulating materials. Poly(ethylene naphthalene 2,6‐dicarboxylate) (PEN) films were then subjected to constant electrical fields right up to their electrical breakdown. The experimental technique made it possible to follow the various stages of the mechanical behavior of PEN in real time. The final breakdown occurred in the observation zone and the related mechanical deformation was captured. A “margarita” structure was observed with a hole at the center. The experimental results indicated that the level of the induced‐mechanical deformations depended on the local environment. We defined two different zones representing the inside and the outside of the damaged area. The induced‐deformations were larger in the damaged zone. It was also observed that deformations increased when the sample had a lower degree of crystallinity. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Recognizing, assessing, and intervening with problems of professional competence.

Working collaboratively, psychologist educators and trainers at the doctoral, internship, and postdoctoral levels; credentialers; practitioners; and students offer 8 proposals for psychologists to consider in recognizing, assessing, and intervening with problems of professional competence in students and practicing professionals. In the proposals, the authors address the following topics: definitions and categories; preparing the system; self-assessment; remediation; diversity; communication across various levels of the system; confidentiality; and ethical, regulatory, and legal underpinnings. They also propose future directions for the assessment of problems in professional competence in both students and practicing psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of CHP generation on CO2 emissions

The combined generation of heat and power (cogeneration) is praised by many as a technique for reducing the emissions of CO₂ in industrialized nations. This is generally true but not always. In this article we discuss the impact of some major variables on the CO₂ emission reduction capacity of cogeneration. Two sets of variables are predominant: the characteristics of the CHP process and the composition of the electricity generation sector. We highlight the interaction between the two sets of variables with the help of diagrams.     

Long-term stability of an Au/Al2O3 catalyst prepared by incipient wetness in continuous-flow glucose oxidation

A 0.3% Au/Al₂O₃ catalyst prepared by the incipient wetness (IW) method was investigated in the continuous-flow liquid-phase glucose oxidation. Therefore, a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) system equipped with an ultrasonic separator was used. The continuous-flow glucose oxidation was carried out at 40 °C, pH 9 and 1 bar oxygen partial pressure. Residence time and glucose concentration were varied. The IW gold catalyst showed very high activity and selectivity to gluconic acid within its 110 days of operation and, thus, an excellent long-term stability. Even after severe microbial contaminations of the catalyst, its activity could be completely restored by in situ regeneration with 2-propanol.     

Annealing and irradiation studies of MoC x thin films

On single-phase B1 molybdenum carbide thin films prepared by the rf sputtering technique at substrate temperatures between 40 and 800°C isochronous annealing and He-irradiation investigations were performed. The transition temperature to superconductivityT _c ,the lattice parametera ₀, and the specific resistivity were measured as a function of annealing temperature and fluence, respectively. Both during annealing and irradiation MoC _x behaves quite differently from typical refractory compounds such as NbC and NbN. During annealingT _c drops pronouncedly between 250 and 400°C. The B1 structure transforms to -Mo₂C between 600 and 900°C. During irradiationT _c rises slightly and then drops by only 0.5 K. The lattice parametera ₀ changes only by 0.2%.On leave of absence from the Institute of Physics, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechoslovakia.