Search

Katharina Dannehl,1 Winfried Rief,1 Markus J Schwarz,2 Annika Hennings,1 Sabine Riemer,1 Verena Selberdinger,3 Theresa Stapf,3 Frank Euteneuer11Division of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany; 2Institute for Laboratory Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilian Universität, Munich, Germany; 3Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilian Universität, Munich, GermanyContext: Elevated concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines have been hypothesized as an important factor in the pathophysiology of depression. Depression itself is considered to be a heterogeneous disorder. Current findings suggest that “cognitive” and “somatic” symptom dimensions are related to immune function in different ways. So far, little research has been done on the longitudinal aspects of inflammation in patients with major depression, especially with respect to different symptom dimensions of depression. Therefore, we investigated which aspects of depression may predict changes in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin (IL)-6 over 4 weeks. Methods: Forty-one patients with major depression diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV), and 45 healthy controls were enrolled. Serum measurements of TNF-alpha and IL-6 were conducted at baseline and 4 weeks later. Psychometric measures included the assessment of cognitive-affective depressive symptoms and somatic symptoms during the last 7 days as well as somatic symptoms during the last 2 years. Results: Patients with depression showed increased levels of TNF-alpha (P

Summary: Excess sugar intake increases risk for obesity and related comorbidities among children. The World Health Organization (WHO), American Heart Association (AHA) and the 2015 USDA dietary recommendations have proposed guidelines for added sugar intake to reduce risk for disease. WHO and USDA recommendations are presented as a percentage of daily calories from added sugar. This approach is not easily understood or translated to children, where energy needs increase with age. The AHA recommendation is based on a fixed value of 25 g of added sugar for all children 2–19 years of age. This approach does not take into account the different levels of intake across this wide age range. Due to these limitations, we adapted current recommendations for added sugars based on daily energy needs of children 2–19 years. We used those values to derive simple regression equations to predict grams or teaspoons of added sugars per day based on age that would be equivalent to 10% of daily energy needs. This proposed approach aligns with the changing nutritional needs of children and adolescents during growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thin (∼1000 Å) films of (Fe[sub 54]Co[sub 46]) [sub 1-χ]Cr[sub χ] have been prepared by magnetron sputtering on Si/SiO[sub 2] substrates. The films were shown to be body-centered-cubic and (110) textured. It was found that the Fe[sub 54]Co[sub 46] films possess a saturation magnetization of 24.5 kG at room temperature. Doping the Fe[sub 54]Co[sub 46] films with Cr in the range of 0-13 at. % increased corrosion resistance, electrical resistivity, and reduced the saturation magnetization as a function of the amount of added Cr. The coercivity of both doped and undoped as-deposited films (80-120 Oe) decreased substantially after a 220 °C magnetic anneal. Electrochemical corrosion testing was done in two chloride salt solutions. Potentiodynamic scans performed on films in a 0.47 M chloride bath solution at pH = 2.9 showed a substantial increase in corrosion resistance of the films between 6.6 and 8.2 a/o Cr. Similar scans performed in a 0.01 M chloride solution at pH = 5.8 showed good corrosion resistance for all the films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Electrochemical reduction of Co+2 and Fe+2 ions in the presence of 3.66mmol dm−3 p-HCA as an organic additive in plating solution gives rise to Co30.03Fe37 O28.15C4.79 alloy composition by quantitative Rutherford back scattering (RBS) analysis, all elements in weight percentages. High pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the acidic solution of the dissolved deposit demonstrated that the carbon found in deposit is not present as metal carbide, but it does originate from p-HCA incorporated in deposit. The oxygen is presumably incorporated in a form of metal oxides, metal ferrites, metal hydroxides, and p-HCA molecules. The possible origin of the incorporation of the molecules containing oxygen and carbon into CoFeOC films is discussed. It is demonstrated that all material properties including the transformation of crystalline to amorphous-like structure, surface roughness, mechanical properties (stress, hardness, Young's modulus), an magnetic properties (magnetic saturation and coercivity) of CoFeOC films are dependent on p-HCA concentration in the plating solution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We describe the reconstruction of a genome-scale metabolic model of the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus,a hyperthermoacidophilic microorganism. It grows in terrestrial volcanic hot springs with growth occurring at pH 2-4 (optimum 3.5) and a temperature of 75-80°C (optimum 80°C). The genome of Sulfolobus solfataricus P2 contains 2,992,245 bp on a single circular chromosome and encodes 2,977 proteins and a number of RNAs. The network comprises 718 metabolic and 58 transport/exchange reactions and 705 unique metabolites, based on the annotated genome and available biochemical data. Using the model in conjunction with constraint-based methods, we simulated the metabolic fluxes induced by different environmental and genetic conditions. The predictions were compared to experimental measurements and phenotypes of S. solfataricus. Furthermore, the performance of the network for 35 different carbon sources known for S. solfataricus from the literature was simulated. Comparing the growth on different carbon sources revealed that glycerol is the carbon source with the highest biomass flux per imported carbon atom (75% higher than glucose). Experimental data was also used to fit the model to phenotypic observations. In addition to the commonly known heterotrophic growth of S. solfataricus, the crenarchaeon is also able to grow autotrophically using the hydroxypropionate-hydroxybutyrate cycle for bicarbonate fixation. We integrated this pathway into our model and compared bicarbonate fixation with growth on glucose as sole carbon source. Finally, we tested the robustness of the metabolism with respect to gene deletions using the method of Minimization of Metabolic Adjustment (MOMA), which predicted that 18% of all possible single gene deletions would be lethal for the organism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Our published work on stress evolution in CoFe films [Electrochim. Acta 55 (2010) 9035], indicated that adsorption/desorption of hydrogen is a primary cause of tensile stress which increases with the increase of Fe-content in deposit and decrease of current efficiency, i.e. higher supply of protons to the electrode surface. Using the electroanalytical techniques in this study it has been demonstrated that a higher supply of protons to the electrode surface with increase of Fe2+ concentrations in solution brings about higher Fe-content in deposit and lower current efficiency. First, it was found that the reduction rate of H+ from the solution is faster on CoFe surface with higher Fe-content in CoFe deposit. Second, it was found that higher concentrations of Fe2+ in solution bring about higher surface concentration of H+ through the Fe2+ hydrolysis reaction, i.e. Fe2+ +HOH=FeOH+ +H+. The proton liberated through hydrolysis reaction is reduced as soon as it is formed, together with other electroactive species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Electrodeposition of SnAg alloy films and the effect of additives like PEG-600 and hydrazine hydrochloride on the same were studied in KI–K4P2O7 solutions. PEG-600 was found to adsorb on the electrode surface, resulting in strong reduction inhibition of tin pyrophosphate complex ions, but it does not affect the reduction of silver iodide complex. It was found that hydrazine hydrochloride acted as a reducing agent for Sn4+ species and greatly improved surface morphology and roughness of the films by preventing the formation of Sn dendrites during electrodeposition. Eutectic Sn96.5Ag3.5 was obtained from a plating solution that contained both PEG-600 and hydrazine hydrochloride as additives, at the deposition current density of 40mAcm−2. Stress measurements of the SnAg films showed that it was tensile. X-ray analysis of the deposit showed the presence of β-Sn and ɛ-Ag3Sn phases in the eutectic SnAg film. The DSC profile of SnAg film gave the melting point as 222°C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]