Phytochemical composition and antioxidant capacity of various botanical parts of the fruits of Prunus × domestica L. from the Lorraine region of Europe

Mirabelle plums represent a famous fruit from the Lorraine region, however little is known about their phytochemical composition. The oil of the fruit contained predominantly oleic acid (59%) and linoleic acid (29%). The total content of phenolic antioxidants in the whole fruits was 5.338 g/kg with 456 mg/kg (9%), 701 mg/kg (13%) and 4159 mg/kg (78%) detected in the peels, flesh and pits respectively. The peels contained solely 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (270 mg/kg) and rutin (186 mg/kg), the flesh exclusively echinoids (723 mg/kg), whereas the pits contained a rich variety of phenolic compounds (4.2 g/kg) dominated by amygdalin (3.8 g/kg), but with significant contributions from vanillin (102 mg/kg), guajacyl-glycerin-coniferyl aldehyde isomers (87 mg/kg), dehydro-diconiferyl aldehyde (52 mg/kg), and vanillin diglucoside (48 mg/kg). Of the major phenolic compounds tested across a range of in vitro assays, rutin was the superior antioxidant.     

Konduktometrische und spektroskopische Untersuchungen der Wechselwirkung von Lewis-Säuren mit Halogenkomplexen

Conductometric and Spectroscopic Investigations of the Interaction of Lewis Acids with Halide Complexes The interaction of counter ions with Lewis acids has been investigated using mode systems of the type (C₆H₅)₃C^⊕ MX_n+1^⊖ (M = Sb, As, B, Fe; X = Cl, F) by means of conductometrical and UV-spectroscopic methods. The changes of conductivity were strongly dependent on the nature and concentration of the Lewis acid. The results point to 1:1-complexes between Lewis acids and counter ions. The behaviour was found to be complicated by dissoziation resp. assoziation processes. Ligand exchange reactions between Lewis acid and counter ion have also been found.     

Optimized protocol for the biocompatibility testing of compression stockings and similar products with close skin contact in vitro

Biocompatibility of six different compression stockings and cytotoxic effects were determined using HaCaT keratinocytes, L929 mouse fibroblasts, primary adult and juvenile keratinocytes Cells were quantified using a luminometric ATP assay and the photometric BCA test. Cytotoxic effects were determined by LDH release. An area-based extraction ratio of 1.25 cm²:mL could be shown to be superior to the weight-based extraction of test material. Extraction medium should be an acidic sweat solution as this helps to recreate in vivo conditions. Monolayer cultures of HaCaT keratinocytes or L929 mouse fibroblasts should be used for testing. Primary adult keratinocytes or primary juvenile keratinocytes can also be used. For the latter, testing under DMEM with FCS is recommended to achieve comparable results. It was found that the compression stockings tested exhibited no negative influence on cell viability in vitro and no direct cytotoxic effects measured as release of LDH. Hence, good biocompatibility could be asserted.     

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.     

Retention of gallium ions from acidic solutions by pyridine strong‐base anion exchangers

Using the batch method, the retention of Ga(III) from HCl solutions by two gel‐type pyridine strong‐base anion exchangers containing 1‐methyl‐ or 1‐butyl‐4‐vinylpyridinium chloride structural units, called S₁ and S₂ resins, respectively, was studied. The influence of the HCl and Ga(III) concentrations as well as of the contact time between the resin and the liquid phase was investigated. The parameters, which characterize the retention process, were estimated using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Both resins exhibited a higher affinity for gallium ions from a 6M HCl solution. According to Langmuir isotherms, maximum retention capacities of 44.44 and 60 mg Ga(III)/g dry resin for the S₁ and S₂ resins, respectively, were obtained. Freundlich isotherms provide additional proof for a higher affinity of the S₂ resin for Ga(III) from HCl solutions. It is clear that the substituent length increase on N⁺ atoms led to an increasing affinity of the pyridine strong base anion exchangers toward Ga(III). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 3440–3444, 2002     

Preparation and Reinforcement of Dual‐Porous Biocompatible Cellulose Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

Biocompatible cellulose‐based aerogels composed of nanoporous struts, which embed interconnected voids of controlled micron‐size, have been prepared employing temporary templates of fused porogens, reinforcement by interpenetrating PMMA networks and supercritical carbon dioxide drying. Different combinations of cellulose solvent (Ca(SCN)₂/H₂O/LiCl or [EMIm][OAc]/DMSO) and anti‐solvent (EtOH), porogen type (paraffin wax or PMMA spheres) and porogen size (various fractions in the range of 100–500 μm) as well as intensity of PMMA reinforcement have been investigated to tailor the materials for cell scaffolding applications. All aerogels exhibited an open and dual porosity (micronporosity >100 μm and nanoporosity extending to the low micrometer range). Mechanical properties of the dual‐porous aerogels under compressive stress were considerably improved by introduction of interpenetrating PMMA networks. The effect of the reinforcing polymer on attachment, spreading, and proliferation of NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells, cultivated on selected dual‐porous aerogels to pre‐evaluate their biocompatibility was similarly positive.     

CTL* Model Checking on a Shared-Memory Architecture

In this paper we present a parallel algorithm for CTL* model checking on a virtual shared-memory high-performance parallel machine architecture. The algorithm is automata-driven and follows a games approach where one player wins if the automaton is empty while the other player wins if the automaton is nonempty. We show how this game can be played in parallel using a dynamic load balancing technique to divide the work across the processors. The practicality and effective speedup of the algorithm is illustrated by performance graphs.     

Observability of 3D Motion

This paper examines the inherent difficulties in observing 3D rigid motion from image sequences. It does so without considering a particular estimator. Instead, it presents a statistical analysis of all the possible computational models which can be used for estimating 3D motion from an image sequence. These computational models are classified according to the mathematical constraints that they employ and the characteristics of the imaging sensor (restricted field of view and full field of view). Regarding the mathematical constraints, there exist two principles relating a sequence of images taken by a moving camera. One is the epipolar constraint, applied to motion fields, and the other the positive depth constraint, applied to normal flow fields. 3D motion estimation amounts to optimizing these constraints over the image. A statistical modeling of these constraints leads to functions which are studied with regard to their topographic structure, specifically as regards the errors in the 3D motion parameters at the places representing the minima of the functions. For conventional video cameras possessing a restricted field of view, the analysis shows that for algorithms in both classes which estimate all motion parameters simultaneously, the obtained solution has an error such that the projections of the translational and rotational errors on the image plane are perpendicular to each other. Furthermore, the estimated projection of the translation on the image lies on a line through the origin and the projection of the real translation. The situation is different for a camera with a full (360 degree) field of view (achieved by a panoramic sensor or by a system of conventional cameras). In this case, at the locations of the minima of the above two functions, either the translational or the rotational error becomes zero, while in the case of a restricted field of view both errors are non-zero. Although some ambiguities still remain in the full field of view case, the implication is that visual navigation tasks, such as visual servoing, involving 3D motion estimation are easier to solve by employing panoramic vision. Also, the analysis makes it possible to compare properties of algorithms that first estimate the translation and on the basis of the translational result estimate the rotation, algorithms that do the opposite, and algorithms that estimate all motion parameters simultaneously, thus providing a sound framework for the observability of 3D motion. Finally, the introduced framework points to new avenues for studying the stability of image-based servoing schemes.     

Ambiguity in Structure from Motion: Sphere versus Plane

If 3D rigid motion can be correctly estimated from image sequences, the structure of the scene can be correctly derived using the equations for image formation. However, an error in the estimation of 3D motion will result in the computation of a distorted version of the scene structure. Of computational interest are these regions in space where the distortions are such that the depths become negative, because in order for the scene to be visible it has to lie in front of the image, and thus the corresponding depth estimates have to be positive. The stability analysis for the structure from motion problem presented in this paper investigates the optimal relationship between the errors in the estimated translational and rotational parameters of a rigid motion that results in the estimation of a minimum number of negative depth values. The input used is the value of the flow along some direction, which is more general than optic flow or correspondence. For a planar retina it is shown that the optimal configuration is achieved when the projections of the translational and rotational errors on the image plane are perpendicular. Furthermore, the projection of the actual and the estimated translation lie on a line through the center. For a spherical retina, given a rotational error, the optimal translation is the correct one; given a translational error, the optimal rotational negative deptherror depends both in direction and value on the actual and estimated translation as well as the scene in view. The proofs, besides illuminating the confounding of translation and rotation in structure from motion, have an important application to ecological optics. The same analysis provides a computational explanation of why it is easier to estimate self-motion in the case of a spherical retina and why shape can be estimated easily in the case of a planar retina, thus suggesting that nature's design of compound eyes (or panoramic vision) for flying systems and camera-type eyes for primates (and other systems that perform manipulation) is optimal.     

Alanine : glyoxylate aminotransferase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae-encoding gene AGX1 and metabolic significance

Alanine : glyoxylate aminotransferase is one of three different enzymes used for glycine synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The open reading frame YFL030w (named AGX1 in the following), encoding this enzyme, was identified by comparing enzyme specific activities in knockout strains. While 100% activity was detectable in the parental strain, 2% was found in a YFL030w::kanMX4 strain. The ORF found at that locus was suspected to encode alanine : glyoxylate aminotransferase because its predicted amino acid sequence showed 23% identity to the human homologue. Since the YFL030w::kanMX4 strain showed no glycine auxtrophic phenotype, AGX1 was replaced by KanMX4 in a Delta GLY1 Delta SHM1 Delta SHM2 background. These background mutations, which cause inactivation of threonine aldolase, mitochondrial and cytosolic serine hydroxymethyltransferase, respectively, lead to a conditional glycine auxotrophy. This means that growth is not possible on glucose but on ethanol as the sole carbon source. Additional disruption of AGX1 revealed a complete glycine auxotrophy. Complementation was observed by transformation with a plasmid-encoded AGX1.