The Dietary Acrylamide Intake Adversely Affects the Serum Trace Element Status

Acrylamide is an organic chemical which occurs in foods widespreadly consumed in diets worldwide. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the serum trace element levels (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Cr, Se, Co, Ni, V, As, Mg, P, Li, K, Al) in Wistar rats exposed to acrylamide. Acrylamide was administered to the treatment groups at 2 and 5 mg/kg?body weight (bw)/day via drinking water for 90 days. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used for the determination of serum trace element concentrations. Serum Zn, Se, Co, V and Mg concentrations of 5 mg/kg bw/day acrylamide-treated male rats were lower, whereas serum As concentration was higher than the same parameters of the controls rats. Similarly, serum Zn, Se, Co, V and Mg concentrations were decreased in 5 mg/kg?bw/day acrylamide-treated female rats compared with control rats. On the other hand, there were no significant differences between serum Fe, Cu, Mn, Cr, Ni, P, Li, K and Al concentrations of all groups. The results from this study provide evidence that dietary acrylamide intake adversely affects the serum trace elements status.     

Multiway analysis of epilepsy tensors

MOTIVATION: The success or failure of an epilepsy surgery depends greatly on the localization of epileptic focus (origin of a seizure). We address the problem of identification of a seizure origin through an analysis of ictal electroencephalogram (EEG), which is proven to be an effective standard in epileptic focus localization. SUMMARY: With a goal of developing an automated and robust way of visual analysis of large amounts of EEG data, we propose a novel approach based on multiway models to study epilepsy seizure structure. Our contributions are 3-fold. First, we construct an Epilepsy Tensor with three modes, i.e. time samples, scales and electrodes, through wavelet analysis of multi-channel ictal EEG. Second, we demonstrate that multiway analysis techniques, in particular parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), provide promising results in modeling the complex structure of an epilepsy seizure, localizing a seizure origin and extracting artifacts. Third, we introduce an approach for removing artifacts using multilinear subspace analysis and discuss its merits and drawbacks. RESULTS: Ictal EEG analysis of 10 seizures from 7 patients are included in this study. Our results for 8 seizures match with clinical observations in terms of seizure origin and extracted artifacts. On the other hand, for 2 of the seizures, seizure localization is not achieved using an initial trial of PARAFAC modeling. In these cases, first, we apply an artifact removal method and subsequently apply the PARAFAC model on the epilepsy tensor from which potential artifacts have been removed. This method successfully identifies the seizure origin in both cases.     

Levels of lipid peroxidation,nitric oxide,and antioxidant vitamins in plasma of patients with fibromyalgia

The etiology of fibromyalgia is not clearly understood. In recent years, a few studies have investigated the possible role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the etiology and pathogenesis of fibromyalgia. The aim of this study was to investigate plasma antioxidant vitamins, lipid peroxidation (LP), and nitric oxide (NO) levels in patients with fibromyalgia and controls. The study was performed on the blood plasma of 30 female patients and 30 age‐matched controls. After a fast of 12 h, blood samples were taken, and plasma samples were obtained for measurement of vitamins A, C, E, and β‐carotene concentrations and levels of LP and NO. Concentrations of vitamins A (p < 0.01) and E (p < 0.001) were significantly lower in patients with fibromyalgia than in controls, and LP levels were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in the plasma of the patients than in controls. Concentrations of vitamin C and β‐carotene and levels of NO did not change significantly. These results provide some evidence for a potential role of LP and fat‐soluble antioxidants in the patients with fibromyalgia. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Age-related changes in porosity and mineralization and in-service damage accumulation

It has been proposed that bone damageability (i.e. bone's susceptibility to formation of damage) increases with the elevation or suppression of bone turnover. Suppression of turnover via bisphosphonates increases local bone mineralization, which theoretically should increase the susceptibility of bone to microcrack formation. Elevation of bone turnover has also been proposed to increase bone microdamage through an increase in bone intracortical porosity and local stresses and strains. The goal of this paper was to investigate the above proposals, i.e., whether or not increases to mineral content and porosity increase bone in-service damageability. To do this, we measured in vivo diffuse damage area (Df.Dm.Ar, %) and microcrack density (Cr.Dn) (cracks/mm(2)) in the same specimen from human cortical bone of the midshaft of the proximal femur obtained from cadavers with an age range of eight decades and examined their relationships with porosity, mineralization and age. Results of this study showed that Cr.Dn and Df.Dm.Ar increased with a decrease in bulk mineralization. This finding does not appear to support the proposal that damage accumulation increases with low bone turnover that results in increases mineralization. It was proposed however that the negative correlation between damage accumulation and mineralization may be attributed to highly mineralized regions of bone existing with under-mineralized regions resulting in an overall decrease in average bone mineralization. It was also found that microdamage accumulates with increasing porosity which does appear to support the proposal that elevated bone turnover that results in increased porosity can accelerate microdamage accumulation. Finally, it was shown that linear microcracks and Df.Dm.Ar accumulate with age differently, but because they correlate with each other, one may be the precursor for the other.     

Effect of microcomputed tomography voxel size on the finite element model accuracy for human cancellous bone

The level of structural detail that can be acquired and incorporated in a finite element (FE) analysis might greatly influence the results of microcomputed tomography (microCT)-based FE simulations, especially when relatively large bones, such as whole vertebrae, are of concern. We evaluated the effect of scanning and reconstruction voxel size on the microCT-based FE analyses of human cancellous tissue samples for fixed- and free-end boundary conditions using different combinations of scan/reconstruction voxel size. We found that the bone volume fraction (BV/TV) did not differ considerably between images scanned at 21 and 50 microm and reconstructed at 21, 50, or 110 microm (-0.5% to 7.8% change from the 21/21 microm case). For the images scanned and reconstructed at 110 microm, however, there was a large increase in BV/TV compared to the 21/21 microm case (58.7%). Fixed-end boundary conditions resulted in 1.8% [coefficient of variation (COV)] to 14.6% (E) difference from the free-end case. Dependence of model output parameters on scanning and reconstruction voxel size was similar between free- and fixed-end simulations. Up to 26%, 30%, 17.8%, and 32.3% difference in modulus (E), and average (VMExp), standard deviation (VMSD) and coefficient of variation (COV) of von Mises stresses, respectively, was observed between the 21/21 microm case and other scan/reconstruction combinations within the same (free or fixed) simulation group. Observed differences were largely attributable to scanning resolution, although reconstruction resolution also contributed significantly at the largest voxel sizes. All 21/21 microm results (taken as the gold standard) could be predicted from the 21/50 (r2adj= 0.91-0.99;p<0.001), 21/110 (r2adj =0.58-0.99;p<0.02) and 50/50 results (r2adj=0.61-0.97;p<0.02). While BV/TV, VMSD, and VMExp/sigma(z) from the 21/21 could be predicted by those from the 50/110 (r2adj =0.63-0.93;p<0.02) and 110/110 (r2adj =0.41-0.77;p<0.05) simulations as well, prediction of E, VMExp, and COV became marginally significant (0.04相似文献   

Plastic surgeon's life: marvelous for mind, exhausting for body

Surgery is accepted as one of the most demanding professions that create both physical and mental strain on the performers. Therefore, the authors aimed to elucidate the mental burden of surgeons, which is dedicated to operative stress. They also tested the hypotheses that participating in surgery creates mental stress on surgeons that leads to cardiovascular changes, and that this stress is more pronounced for actual operators than for first assistants. The method chosen for this purpose was an analysis of heart rate variability. Twelve surgeons (five plastic surgery staff and seven plastic surgery residents) were monitored by a digital ambulatory Holter recorder on at least two occasions. Half of the recordings were carried out on operating days and the other half on office days. Heart rate variability indices (low frequency, high frequency, high frequency/low frequency ratio, and heart rate) were analyzed from those recordings using computerized research tool software. The heart rate variability indices of the operators showed statistically significant differences between operating days and office hours in favor of an increased sympathetic and decreased parasympathetic activity for the former. For first assistants, three of the parameters, with the exception of heart rate, changed in favor of a sympathetic predominance over parasympathetic activity; these changes were also statistically significant. These results showed a sympathetic hyperactivity for both operators and first assistants during the operations. When the sympathovagal balance of the actual operators was compared with that of assistants, the former group showed a more pronounced sympathetic arousal. This difference is accepted as a proof for the mental stress of the surgery being the main factor responsible for the sympathetic hyperactivity that we detected during the operations. Surgeons continuously face a unique mental strain that other professions rarely bring forth, and these psychological stressors are associated with alterations in cardiac autonomic control that may contribute to the development of cardiac disease. Prolonged sympathetic hyperactivity could anticipate cardiac discomfort in more experienced surgeons with marginal cardiac reserve. Such cardiac diseases would be reconsidered as occupation-related illnesses, which might be reimbursed to the physician. In addition, the legal responsibility of surgeons concerning their unfavorable results might be assessed with more understanding with a realization of their undue working conditions.     

Phytochemical Fingerprints and Bioactivities of Ripe Disseminules (Fruit-Seeds) of Seventeen Gundelia (Kenger-Kereng Dikeni) Species from Anatolia with Chemometric Approach

Gundelia species are known as “Kenger-kereng dikeni” in Anatolia, and their aerial parts are consumed as food. Also, roots and seeds (disseminules) of the Gundelia species are used to prepare gum and coffee. The chemical contents of ethanol and hexane extracts of disseminules of 17 Gundelia species, 13 of them are endemic, were studied using LC/MS/MS and GC/MS. Additionally, their antioxidant potential and enzyme inhibitory capacity against acetyl- and butyryl-cholinesterase, urease, and tyrosinase were determined. The unsaturated fatty acid ratios of Gundelia species were higher than their saturated fatty acid ratio. The highest sum of oleic and linoleic acid was detected in G. tournefortii var. tenuisecta (70.42 %). β-Sitosterol, α-amyrin, 3-acetyllupeol were identified in 17 Gundelia species by GC/MS, while chlorogenic acid and luteolin by LC/MS/MS as major compounds. The ethanol and hexane extracts of G. siirtica, G. rosea, and G. mesopotamica indicated good cholinesterase inhibitory activity. Among all species, ethanol extract of G. colemerikensis exhibited the best activity in ABTS (IC₅₀: 32.30±0.98 μg/mL), DPPH (IC₅₀: 59.91±0.89 μg/mL), and CUPRAC (A_0.5: 57.41±1.03 μg/mL) assays. Ethanol extract of G. colemerikensis also displayed the highest inhibitory activity against butyrylcholinesterase (51.14±0.25 % at 200 μg/mL), urease (51.71±1.75 % at 200 μg/mL), and tyrosinase (39.50±0.85 % at 200 μg/mL) enzymes. According to the chemometric analysis of fatty acids, four groups were observed. Therefore, it is suggested that G. colemerikensis can be used in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries due to its antioxidant and enzyme inhibition properties.     

Characterization and kinetics of soybean maturation and monocarpic senescence

Daring monocarpic senescence in potted soybeans ( Glycine maxi (L.) Merrill cv. Anoka) grown in controlled-environment chambers, foliar chlorophyll, soluble protein nitrogen, total nitrogen, and starch decline (roughly in that order). All of these precede visible yellowing and, of course, abscission. The pattern of yellowing within a leaf is not uniform and is closely paralleled by starch loss. Unexpectedly, acid-soluble nitrogen rises slightly before the total foliar nitrogen declines. Foliar fresh weight and total dry matter/cm2 of leaf surface decline little if at all before shedding. Preceding and even during the foliar yellowing, the seeds rapidly accumulate dry matter and nitrogen. Yellowing appears first in the radicle tip, then in the rest of the axis and the leaves and finally in the carpels. Ability to germinate is acquired at about the time the radicle + hypocotyl turns yellow. The relationship between these changes and their role in senescence is discussed.     

The Prevalence of Metabolic and Endocrine Disturbances on Fracture Nonunion

ObjectiveThis study aims to determine the prevalence of metabolic disturbance in all fracture nonunion cases and identify the most common endocrine abnormalities seen using a simple screening algorithm.MethodsA retrospective review study was performed evaluating patients who underwent operative intervention for nonunion from January 2010 to December 2018 at 2 level-1 trauma centers. Preoperative laboratory values were recorded for a 9-test “nonunion panel.” A metabolic or endocrine abnormality, specifically an abnormality in the thyroid or parathyroid axis, was evaluated.Results42% of patients had an undiagnosed metabolic laboratory abnormality. When multiple tests were used, the rate of metabolic dysfunction was between 60% and 75%, depending on the definition of vitamin D insufficiency vs deficiency used.ConclusionResults indicate a relatively high prevalence of metabolic disturbance in patients with nonunion and suggest metabolic screening for all nonunion patients not only those without a mechanical or infectious cause.Level of EvidenceIV, retrospective case series.