Rotary Blanking ‐ a New Manufacturing Process

Rotary blanking is a method of blanking and punching with rotating tools whereby the cutting tools are fixed to a pair of rollers performing a continuous blanking operation on a strip of sheet metal. The purpose of this paper is to outline the determining conditions under which the rotary blanking process takes place and to discuss advantages, restrictions, applications and optimization of this technology.     

A fetal sheep liver extract reverses age-related increments in spontaneous and induced cytokine production by indirect environmental effects

BALB/c, DBA/2 and C57BL/6 mice of different ages (ranging from 8 to 110 weeks of age) were used as spleen cell donors to assay cytokine production from ConA activated spleen and Peyer's Patch (PP) lymphocytes. As reported in an earlier publication, there was an age-related decline in IL-2 production in all strains, with a general increase in IL-4 and IL-10 production with age, this being particularly marked for PP cell preparations. Similar conclusions were reached from independent analysis of CD44hi and CD44lo cell populations in these groups (memory vs. naive cells, respectively). Interestingly, IL-6 production was dramatically increased (some 4-5-fold in the different strains) and significantly increased levels of IL-6 were detected in the serum of aged mice. A previously described sheep fetal liver extract was able to reverse, to varying degrees, these cytokine changes associated with aging. Interestingly, when cells from aged mice were adoptively transferred to lethally irradiated young (8 week) recipients, the cytokine production phenotype of cells harvested from recipient mice 3 weeks later was that of the aged donor, unless recipients were treated continually with extract. Treatment of the donor alone produced minimal changes in cytokine production 3 weeks following adoptive transfer. The effect of extract was reversed in treated aged mice by concomitant daily intravenous infusion of the competitive inhibitor of nitric oxide synthesis (NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (NMMA)), which also decreased the increased serum nitrate levels in mice treated with extract. Our data suggest an important role for reactive nitrogen products, themselves induced by fetal liver extract, in age-associated changes in cytokine production.     

High-Throughput Experimentation in Oxidation Catalysis

High-throughput experimentation in catalysis comprises the following components: (i) automated high-throughput synthesis, (ii) testing in Stage I and Stage II, for which to some extent novel assays are necessary, (iii) data handling and experimental design tools, and (iv) robotics. This contribution covers these topics, using examples from the research of the authors, but also from the literature, in order to illustrate the problems and opportunities associated with high-throughput experimentation in catalysis, focusing particularly on heterogeneous catalysis.     

Mixing processes in liquid fluidized beds

The degree of mixing in the liquid phase of bench scale fluidized beds of 14 cm diameter was measured by means of a tracer technique and the Peclet numbers for transversal, longitudinal and back-mixing were evaluated using a two-dimensional dispersion model. They were investigated as functions of liquid flow rate, mean particle diameter and bed height for narrow and broad range of particle diameters and were interconnected by the Taylor—Aris relation.     

Characterization of Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Southern Brazil

Six olive oils extracted from the cultivars Arbequina, Arbosana, Coratina, Frantoio, Koroneiki, and Picual from 2017 and 2018 harvests, cultivated in Pinheiro Machado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, are evaluated for standard oil composition parameters and bioactive constituents (pigments, tocopherols, and phenolic compounds). Multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and univariate ANOVA and Fisher's LSD test are used to verify the effect of cultivar and harvest year on oil composition. Olive oil composition met extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) standard parameters and is influenced by both cultivar and harvest year. EVOO produced in 2018 has greater chlorophyll, caffeic acid, ligstroside aglycone, hydroxyoleuropein aglycone, syringic acid, and hydroxytyrosol acetate contents than the EVOOs from 2017. Linoleic acid, ferulic acid, ligstroside aglycone, and hydroxytyrosol acetate are the variables whose contents most contributed to the differentiation of oils by cultivar in both harvest years. Chemical characterization analyses allow for the differentiation of oil composition based on harvest year and cultivar. Metabolic quality data obtained here support the establishment of a local EVOO profile and the compounds that most contributed to treatment differentiation may serve as markers that can be utilized in determining origin, cultivar, and harvest year. Practical Applications: Olive production in Brazil is recent and is based on European cultivars which have not been bred for the local environmental conditions. Therefore, the measurement of olive oil metabolic quality will determine cultivar adaptability to local edaphoclimatic conditions as well as assist in the establishment of a standard of identity for the product and promote the development of its market. Olive oil produced in Southern Brazil shows high quality, and is especially rich in phenolic compounds. Although harvest year influences oil composition, oil from both harvests meet EVOO standards and cultivar specific metabolic markers are observed. This study provides the foundation for olive producers in Southern Brazil to seek authentication of the geographical origin of olive oil.     

Refining Genotypes and Phenotypes in KCNA2-Related Neurological Disorders

Pathogenic variants in KCNA2, encoding for the voltage-gated potassium channel K_v1.2, have been identified as the cause for an evolving spectrum of neurological disorders. Affected individuals show early-onset developmental and epileptic encephalopathy, intellectual disability, and movement disorders resulting from cerebellar dysfunction. In addition, individuals with a milder course of epilepsy, complicated hereditary spastic paraplegia, and episodic ataxia have been reported. By analyzing phenotypic, functional, and genetic data from published reports and novel cases, we refine and further delineate phenotypic as well as functional subgroups of KCNA2-associated disorders. Carriers of variants, leading to complex and mixed channel dysfunction that are associated with a gain- and loss-of-potassium conductance, more often show early developmental abnormalities and an earlier onset of epilepsy compared to individuals with variants resulting in loss- or gain-of-function. We describe seven additional individuals harboring three known and the novel KCNA2 variants p.(Pro407Ala) and p.(Tyr417Cys). The location of variants reported here highlights the importance of the proline(405)–valine(406)–proline(407) (PVP) motif in transmembrane domain S6 as a mutational hotspot. A novel case of self-limited infantile seizures suggests a continuous clinical spectrum of KCNA2-related disorders. Our study provides further insights into the clinical spectrum, genotype–phenotype correlation, variability, and predicted functional impact of KCNA2 variants.     

Solubilization of fish muscle proteins with buffers containing sodium dodecyl sulfate

Summary The extraction of fish muscle protein using SDS containing solubilization buffers was studied varying the time and the temperature of solubilization, as well as pH and SDS concentration of the buffer. At pH < 6 the myofbrillar proteins were incompletely solubilized; temperatures of 80-100 °C resulted in protein degradation observable in the SDS-PAGE.Samples of fish muscle containing high amounts of formaldehyde (50 mmoles FA/kg wet weight) could only be solubilised at 100 °C; on the other hand it was possible to solubilize cooked and/or canned products under mild conditions (2% SDS, 1% 2-ME, pH 8.9, shaking for 2 h at 60 °C).

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Solubilisierung von Fischmuskelproteinen durch Natriumdodecylsulfathaltige Puffer

Zusammenfassung Der Einfluß von Solubilisierungszeit und -temperatur, des pH-Wertes und der SDS-Konzentration des Solubilisierungspuffers auf die Extraktion von Fischmuskelproteinen wurde überprüft. Bei pH-Werten < 6 wurden die myofbrillären Proteine nur unvollständig gelöst; Solubilisierungstemperaturen von 80 bis 100 °C führten zu einem in der SDS-PAGE sichtbaren Proteinabbau. Fischmuskelproben mit hohem Formaldehydgehalt (50 mmole FA/kg Feuchtgewicht) ließen sich nur bei 100 °C vollständig solubilisieren; demgegenüber gelang die weitgehende Solubilisierung gegarter und/oder sterilisierter Produkte unter milden Bedingungen (2% SDS, 1% 2-ME, pH 8,9; 2stündiges Schütteln bei 60 °C).

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Abbreviations FA formaldehyde - IEF isoelectric focusing - 2-ME 2-mercaptoethanol - PA polyacrylamide - PAGE polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis - pI isoelectric point - SDS sodium dodecyl sulfate - TMAO trimethylamine oxide - Tris Tris (hydroxymethyl)methylamine     

Thermal behavior of mullite between 4 K and 1320 K

The evolution of metric parameters of 2:1 and 3:2 mullites have been measured between 4 K and 1320 K using neutron and X‐ray powder diffraction. Negative thermal expansion was observed at low temperature for the a‐cell parameter and consequently for the cell‐volume, which is more pronounced for 2:1 mullite than those for 3:2 mullite. Each parameter is simulated using Grüneisen first‐order approximation for the zero pressure equation of state at 0 K, where the vibrational energy was calculated using microscopic approach. While the b‐ and c‐cell parameters require only one Debye term, a second Debye spectrum with negative Grüneisen parameter was required to fit the a‐cell parameter as well as the cell volume. At 4 K, 300 K and 1320 K the model, respectively, calculates the volume thermal expansion coefficients of 0.09x10^?6 K^?1, 9x10^?6 K^?1, and 17.3x10^?6 K^?1 for 2:1 mullite, and 0.09x10^?6 K^?1, 8.7x10^?6 K^?1, and 17.3x10^?6 K^?1 for 3:2 mullite. Temperature‐dependent Raman spectra and phonon density of states hint for the possible microscopic sources of the cell contraction at low temperature. A simple polynomial approach is presented to calculate the elastic stiffness coefficients of the 3:2 mullite, which are not available from experiments.