A comprehensive study of hazelnut oil composition with comparisons to other vegetable oils,particularly olive oil.

Crude and refined hazelnut oils from different countries were characterised by major and minor compounds. Fatty acids, triacylglycerides, waxes, sterols, methyl-sterols, terpenic and aliphatic alcohols, tocopherols, tocotrienols and hydrocarbons were identified and quantified by gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography. The levels of these chemical compounds in hazelnut oils together with the equivalent carbon numbers and triacylglyceride carbon numbers, were compared with the results of analyses of samples of other vegetable oils. The statistical procedure of cluster analysis was used to characterise hazelnut oils versus other edible oils.     

Complete nucleotide sequence of HTLV-II isolate NRA: comparison of envelope sequence variation of HTLV-II isolates from U.S. blood donors and U.S. and Italian i.v. drug users

Seven cardiac electrophysiology stimulators from four manufacturers (Biotronik, Bloom, Digitimer and Medtronic) in common current use are reviewed. The stimulators differ in the features provided and the design adopted to achieve these features. The number of output channels ranges from one to four, the number of extra-stimuli available ranges from two to six, and these can be delivered as a variety of sequences. Some of the stimulators (Digitimer and Bloom) are modular while others (Biotronik and Medtronic 532 series) are of an integrated design comprising a single physical unit. The design of the Medtronic EP-2 has both integrated and modular characteristics. The features of the stimulators associated with input, output, control and the user interface are specifically reviewed. The features are also compared against the published recommendations of the American Heart Association. In addition, a summary of stimulator user comments from a number of electrophysiology centres is presented. All of the stimulators fulfil, or are close to fulfilling, basic electrophysiological requirements, but some provide more complex facilities such as would be required by specialist centres.     

Von-Voss-Cherstvoy syndrome (DK-Focomelia): description of the first case in Spain and a literature review

Because hypercellularity is an important feature in acute serum sickness (AcSS), we quantified glomerular proliferation with immunoperoxidase staining using anti-proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA Mab) and studied its relationship with lymphocyte infiltration (M108 Mab). AcSS was induced in 31 New Zealand White rabbits; group A (n = 14), with proteinuria, sacrificed 6-8 days after immunization; group B (n = 10), without proteinuria, sacrificed 6-7 days after immunization; group C (n = 7), sacrificed prior to development of AcSS. Four normal rabbits were included as controls. Intraglomerular proliferation (PCNA-positive cells/glomerular cross section) was increased in group A (12.2 +/- SEM, 1.84) but not in groups B (0.93 +/- 0.17) and C (0.37 +/- 0.05), which were similar to controls (0.66 +/- 0.06). Lymphocyte infiltration (lymphs/glomerular cross section) increased with time and was more prominent in rabbits with proteinuria (1.9 +/- 0.21, P < 0.001 vs controls). Lymphocyte infiltration was correlated with proliferative activity (Spearman correlation, r = 0.67, P < 0.0001). There was correlation between the severity of glomerular deposition of IgG and C3 and glomerular proliferation and proteinuria. These studies demonstrate a chronological association between lymphocyte infiltration and proliferative activity in AcSS.     

Range Unit‐Root (RUR) Tests: Robust against Nonlinearities,Error Distributions,Structural Breaks and Outliers

Abstract. Since the seminal paper by Dickey and Fuller in 1979, unit‐root tests have conditioned the standard approaches to analysing time series with strong serial dependence in mean behaviour, the focus being placed on the detection of eventual unit roots in an autoregressive model fitted to the series. In this paper, we propose a completely different method to test for the type of long‐wave patterns observed not only in unit‐root time series but also in series following more complex data‐generating mechanisms. To this end, our testing device analyses the unit‐root persistence exhibited by the data while imposing very few constraints on the generating mechanism. We call our device the range unit‐root (RUR) test since it is constructed from the running ranges of the series from which we derive its limit distribution. These nonparametric statistics endow the test with a number of desirable properties, the invariance to monotonic transformations of the series and the robustness to the presence of important parameter shifts. Moreover, the RUR test outperforms the power of standard unit‐root tests on near‐unit‐root stationary time series; it is invariant with respect to the innovations distribution and asymptotically immune to noise. An extension of the RUR test, called the forward–backward range unit‐root (FB‐RUR) improves the check in the presence of additive outliers. Finally, we illustrate the performances of both range tests and their discrepancies with the Dickey–Fuller unit‐root test on exchange rate series.     

Crossing Paths in Human Renal Cell Carcinoma (hRCC)

Historically, cell-signaling pathways have been studied as the compilation of isolated elements into a unique cascade that transmits extracellular stimuli to the tumor cell nucleus. Today, growing evidence supports the fact that intracellular drivers of tumor progression do not flow in a single linear pathway, but disseminate into multiple intracellular pathways. An improved understanding of the complexity of cancer depends on the elucidation of the underlying regulatory networks at the cellular and intercellular levels and in their temporal dimension. The high complexity of the intracellular cascades causes the complete inhibition of the growth of one tumor cell to be very unlikely, except in cases in which the so-called “oncogene addiction” is known to be a clear trigger for tumor catastrophe, such as in the case of gastrointestinal stromal tumors or chronic myeloid leukemia. In other words, the separation and isolation of the driver from the passengers is required to improve accuracy in cancer treatment. This review will summarize the signaling pathway crossroads that govern renal cell carcinoma proliferation and the emerging understanding of how these pathways facilitate tumor escape. We outline the available evidence supporting the putative links between different signaling pathways and how they may influence tumor proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, metabolism and invasiveness. The conclusion is that tumor cells may generate their own crossroads/crosstalk among signaling pathways, thereby reducing their dependence on stimulation of their physiologic pathways.     

Rheological,Thermodynamic, and Gas Solubility Properties of Phenylacetic Acid‐Based Deep Eutectic Solvents

Choline chloride + phenylacetic acid‐based deep eutectic solvents are studied. Their most relevant experimental physicochemical properties at different mixing ratios together with the CO₂ solubility data obtained in wide pressure and temperature ranges are reported. The presented materials exhibit a significant CO₂ capture performance with low corrosion effect when compared with the most common amine‐based CO₂ capture agents. Detailed rheological measurements are carried out and various models are applied to describe the dynamic flow behavior of the solvents. The CO₂ absorption mechanism is evaluated by studying the behavior of the liquid gas and interface. Due to the advantages of low cost, nontoxicity, and favorable physical properties, these solvents are an environmentally promising alternative for effective CO₂ capture technological applications.     

Glass-like CexOy sol–gel coatings for corrosion protection of aluminium and magnesium alloys

This work reports the preparation of glass-like, environmentally-friendly, cerium-based coatings for active corrosion protection of aluminium and magnesium alloys. It describes the production of cerium sol–gel sols from cerium nitrate and their deposition by immersion and automatic spray onto aluminium and magnesium alloys to produce uniform coatings with amorphous (glass-like) structures (Ce_xO_y). The coatings have been characterised by profilometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), spectral ellipsometry and UV–visible, in order to analyse the structure and density of the glass-like cerium coatings as well as their redox ratio Ce⁴⁺/Ce³⁺ as a function of pH and sintering temperature. Finally, electrochemical measurements (EIS) and standard corrosion tests (neutral salt spray, filiform corrosion, immersion–emersion test and adhesion on embossing and T-bend test) have been performed to study the corrosion behaviour of the cerium glass-like coatings on aluminium and magnesium alloys. EIS measurements confirm the healing or blocking of the defects by the corrosion inhibiting species. Excellent corrosion protection is provided by cerium glass-like coatings, satisfying the most demanding industrial requirements.     

A Systematic Computational Study on Flavonoids

17 selected flavones derivatives, flavonoids, were analyzed through a systematic B3LYP/6-311++G** computational study with the aim of understanding the molecular factors that determine their structural and energetic properties in gas phase. Flavonoids were selected in a systematic way to infer the effect of the number and relative positions of hydroxyl groups on molecular properties. Different conformers for each flavonoid were analyzed and the strength and topology of the intramolecular hydrogen bonds studied through the computation of the corresponding torsional profiles. Atoms in a Molecule, and Natural Bond Orbital methodology was applied to the analysis of charge distribution along the studied molecules, and the intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Molecular shapes were studied through full geometry optimization, and the position of the catechol ring analyzed through dihedral scans.