Investigation on CAST, CAPN1 and CAPN3 porcine gene polymorphisms and expression in relation to post-mortem calpain activity in muscle and meat quality

This study aimed to detect variability in CAST, CAPN1 and CAPN3 porcine genes and to investigate the effect of CAST and CAPN1 polymorphisms on the activity of native and autolyzed μ-calpain and m-calpain, measured from 1 to 72 h post-mortem in Longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle of 30 pigs. Effects of polymorphisms on meat quality parameter such as pH, color and drip loss were also evaluated. Samples carrying CAST EU137105:g.76,872AA genotype showed higher autolyzed μ-calpain activity 24 and 72 h post-mortem, as well as lower drip loss values. Expression of CAST, CAPN1 and CAPN3 was assessed in LD muscles divergent for shear force. Higher CAST and CAPN3 expression was found in LD with high shear force (P<0.2), confirming a direct role for calpastatin but not for calpain 3 in meat tenderization. In conclusion, CAST gene affected post-mortem activation time of calpain and drip loss.     

Mechanical behavior of fuel cell membranes under humidity cycles and effect of swelling anisotropy on the fatigue stresses

The mechanical response of proton exchange membranes in a fuel cell assembly is investigated under humidity cycles at a constant temperature (85 °C). The behavior of the membrane under hydration–dehydration cycles is simulated by imposing a humidity gradient from the cathode to the anode. Linear elastic, plastic constitutive behavior with isotropic hardening and temperature and humidity dependent material properties are utilized in the simulations for the membrane. The evolution of the stresses and plastic deformation during the humidity cycles are determined using finite element analysis for two clamping methods and various levels of swelling anisotropy. The membrane response strongly depends on the swelling anisotropy where the stress amplitude decreases with increasing anisotropy. These results suggest that it may be possible to optimize a membrane with respect to swelling anisotropy to achieve better fatigue resistance, potentially enhancing the durability of fuel cell membranes.     

Fear and the Amygdala: Manipulation of Awareness Generates Differential Cerebral Responses to Phobic and Fear-Relevant (but Nonfeared) Stimuli.

Rapid response to danger holds an evolutionary advantage. In this positron emission tomography study, phobics were exposed to masked visual stimuli with timings that either allowed awareness or not of either phobic, fear-relevant (e.g., spiders to snake phobics), or neutral images. When the timing did not permit awareness, the amygdala responded to both phobic and fear-relevant stimuli. With time for more elaborate processing, phobic stimuli resulted in an addition of an affective processing network to the amygdala activity, whereas no activity was found in response to fear-relevant stimuli. Also, right prefrontal areas appeared deactivated, comparing aware phobic and fear-relevant conditions. Thus, a shift from top-down control to an affectively driven system optimized for speed was observed in phobic relative to fear-relevant aware processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Replacing human-edible feed ingredients with by-products increases net food production efficiency in dairy cows

Global demand for food is increasing, and use of large amounts of potentially human-edible feedstuffs for dairy cows is an important concern. The present study examined whether feeding a by-product-based concentrate combined with high-quality grass silage to high-producing dairy cows affected feed intake and milk production compared with a conventional diet, as well as the effect on efficiency of human food production. In a changeover experiment with four 21-d periods, 24 dairy cows in mid-lactation were offered 9.6 kg of dry matter per day with 1 of 4 concentrates and high-quality grass silage ad libitum. The control concentrate was based on cereal grain (wheat, oat, and barley) and soybean meal, whereas the 3 by-product-based concentrates contained sugar beet pulp in combination with mainly heat-treated rapeseed meal, distillers grain, or a mixture of both. All diets were formulated to be isoenergetic and isonitrogenous. The cows had 10-fold higher starch intake when fed the control diet than when fed the by-product-based concentrates. Silage intake (13 kg of dry matter/d) and milk production (33 kg of energy-corrected milk/d) were not affected by the change in diet. Therefore, replacing cereals and soybean meal with human-inedible by-products in a high-quality forage diet to dairy cows increased net food protein production substantially without lowering milk production.     

Regional energy system optimization – Potential for a regional heat market

Energy supply companies and industrial plants are likely to face new situations due to, for example, the introduction of new energy legislation, increased fuel prices and increased environmental awareness. These new prerequisites provide companies with new challenges but also new possibilities from which to benefit. Increased energy efficiency within companies and increased cooperation between different operators are two alternatives to meet the new conditions. A region characterized by a high density of energy-intensive processes is used in this study to find the economic potential of connecting three industrial plants and four energy companies, within three local district heating systems, to a regional heat market, in which different operators provide heat to a joint district heating grid. Also, different investment alternatives are studied. The results show that the economical potential for a heat market amounts to between 5 and 26 million EUR/year with payback times ranging from two to eleven years. However, the investment costs and the net benefit for the total system need to be allotted to the different operators, as they benefit economically to different extents from the introduction of a heat market. It is also shown that the emissions of CO₂ from the joint system would decrease compared to separate operation of the systems. However, the valuation of CO₂ emissions from electricity production is important as the difference of emitted CO₂ between the accounting methods exceeds 650 kton/year for some scenarios.     

High Temperature Corrosion of Ni-Based Alloys SCA425+ and IN792

This paper reports the high temperature corrosion of two Ni-base superalloys: a newly developed alloy, SCA425+, and the extensively used IN792. The composition of the two materials is quite similar, but SCA425+ contains more Cr and Al (17.1 and 10 at.% compared to 13.9 and 7.4 at.% in IN792). The results from exposures at 900 °C in SO₂ (3,000 ppm) + O₂ (69 vol%) + H₂O (31 vol%) mixed gas for 260 h using 65 h/cycle are compared with those obtained from tests in laboratory air. The microstructure of the formed oxide scales was studied using several techniques, such as XRD, SEM, FIB, EDX, STEM and XPS. It is shown that in IN792 severe internal oxidation takes place after both types of exposures. On the other hand, the newly developed SCA425+ has the tendency to form an alumina layer proving that it has more potential to be used in the aggressive environments. Surprisingly the mass gains for SCA425+ alloy exposed in SO₂-rich environment are lower than in laboratory air. The reason for this behavior is discussed.     

Effect of organic complexation on copper accumulation and toxicity to the estuarine red macroalga Ceramium tenuicorne: a test of the free ion activity model

Current water quality criteria (WQC) regulations on copper toxicity to biota are still based on total dissolved (<0.4 μm membrane filter) copper concentrations with a hardness modification for freshwaters. There are however ongoing efforts to incorporate metal speciation in WQC and toxicity regulations (such as the biotic ligand model-BLM) for copper and other metals. Here, we show that copper accumulation and growth inhibition of the Baltic macroalga Ceramium tenuicorne exposed to copper in artificial seawater at typical coastal and estuarine DOC concentrations (similar to 2-4 mg/L-C as fulvic acid) are better correlated to weakly complexed and total dissolved copper concentrations rather than the free copper concentration [Cu2+]. Our results using a combination of competitive ligand exchange-adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (CLE-ACSV) measurements and model calculations (using visual MINTEQ incorporating the Stockholm Humic Model) show that copper accumulation in C. tenuicorne only correlates linearly well to [Cu2+] at relatively high [Cu2+] and in the absence of fulvic acid. Thus the FIAM fails to describe copper accumulation in C. tenuicorne at copper and DOC concentrations typical of most marine waters. These results seem to indicate that at ambient total dissolved copper concentration in coastal and estuarine waters, C. tenuicorne might be able to access a sizable fraction of organically complexed copper when free copper concentration to the cell membrane is diffusion limited.     

The Swedish SF-36 Health Survey II. Evaluation of clinical validity: results from population studies of elderly and women in Gothenborg

The validity of the Swedish SF-36 Health Survey was examined, replicating techniques used in the U.S. validation. Principal components analysis was used to test the internal structure of the eight SF-36 scales in relation to hypothesized associations with the two major dimensions of health--physical and mental. Hypothesized relationships between scales and external criteria were also examined by means of clinical group contrasts. Both the principal components analysis and clinical group contrasts largely replicated U.S. findings, which supported the cross-cultural stability of the SF-36 in Sweden. As expected, the Physical Functioning and Mental Health scales were most sensitive to clinical manifestations of medical and mental health, respectively. The General Health scale was associated more with physical than mental health. However, the Social Functioning scale and particularly the Vitality scale were more related to mental health in Sweden than in the corresponding U.S. study. Cultural differences and variation in study samples and selection criteria were suggested as possible explanatory factors for these differences.