Determination of Flavonoids and Resveratrol in Wine by Turbulent-Flow Chromatography-LC-MS

Turbulent-flow chromatography (TFC) on-line coupled to liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) is used to determine flavonoids and resveratrol in different types of wines. A fully automated system was developed in which 10 mL of sample (diluted wine) was passed over a TFC column, after which the retained analytes were separated by reversed-phase LC and detected by negative ion mode atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization (APCI) MS. The method proved to be fast, non-laborious, robust and sensitive. The feasibility of the method was tested on several red, white and rose wines. Quantitation of resveratrol was possible using the standard addition procedure. Red wine showed the highest amount of resveratrol (4 mg

Antivenom Neutralization of Coagulopathic Snake Venom Toxins Assessed by Bioactivity Profiling Using Nanofractionation Analytics

Venomous snakebite is one of the world’s most lethal neglected tropical diseases. Animal-derived antivenoms are the only standardized specific therapies currently available for treating snakebite envenoming, but due to venom variation, often this treatment is not effective in counteracting all clinical symptoms caused by the multitude of injected toxins. In this study, the coagulopathic toxicities of venoms from the medically relevant snake species Bothrops asper, Calloselasma rhodostoma, Deinagkistrodon acutus, Daboia russelii, Echis carinatus and Echis ocellatus were assessed. The venoms were separated by liquid chromatography (LC) followed by nanofractionation and parallel mass spectrometry (MS). A recently developed high-throughput coagulation assay was employed to assess both the pro- and anticoagulant activity of separated venom toxins. The neutralization capacity of antivenoms on separated venom components was assessed and the coagulopathic venom peptides and enzymes that were either neutralized or remained active in the presence of antivenom were identified by correlating bioassay results with the MS data and with off-line generated proteomics data. The results showed that most snake venoms analyzed contained both procoagulants and anticoagulants. Most anticoagulants were identified as phospholipases A2s (PLA2s) and most procoagulants correlated with snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) and serine proteases (SVSPs). This information can be used to better understand antivenom neutralization and can aid in the development of next-generation antivenom treatments

A Regularized Discrete Laminate Parametrization Technique with Applications to Wing-Box Design Optimization

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97055/1/AIAA2012-1519.pd

Response of AGATA Segmented HPGe Detectors to Gamma Rays up to 15.1 MeV

The response of AGATA segmented HPGe detectors to gamma rays in the energy range 2-15 MeV was measured. The 15.1 MeV gamma rays were produced using the reaction d(11B,ng)12C at Ebeam = 19.1 MeV, while gamma-rays between 2 to 9 MeV were produced using an Am-Be-Fe radioactive source. The energy resolution and linearity were studied and the energy-to-pulse-height conversion resulted to be linear within 0.05%. Experimental interaction multiplicity distributions are discussed and compared with the results of Geant4 simulations. It is shown that the application of gamma-ray tracking allows a suppression of background radiation following neutron capture by Ge nuclei. Finally the Doppler correction for the 15.1 MeV gamma line, performed using the position information extracted with Pulse-shape Analysis, is discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

Nursing skill mix in European hospitals: cross-sectional study of the association with mortality, patient ratings, and quality of care

OBJECTIVES: To determine the association of hospital nursing skill mix with patient mortality, patient ratings of their care and indicators of quality of care. DESIGN: Cross-sectional patient discharge data, hospital characteristics and nurse and patient survey data were merged and analysed using generalised estimating equations (GEE) and logistic regression models. SETTING: Adult acute care hospitals in Belgium, England, Finland, Ireland, Spain and Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: Survey data were collected from 13 077 nurses in 243 hospitals, and 18 828 patients in 182 of the same hospitals in the six countries. Discharge data were obtained for 275 519 surgical patients in 188 of these hospitals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient mortality, patient ratings of care, care quality, patient safety, adverse events and nurse burnout and job dissatisfaction. RESULTS: Richer nurse skill mix (eg, every 10-point increase in the percentage of professional nurses among all nursing personnel) was associated with lower odds of mortality (OR=0.89), lower odds of low hospital ratings from patients (OR=0.90) and lower odds of reports of poor quality (OR=0.89), poor safety grades (OR=0.85) and other poor outcomes (0.80<OR<0.93), after adjusting for patient and hospital factors. Each 10 percentage point reduction in the proportion of professional nurses is associated with an 11% increase in the odds of death. In our hospital sample, there were an average of six caregivers for every 25 patients, four of whom were professional nurses. Substituting one nurse assistant for a professional nurse for every 25 patients is associated with a 21% increase in the odds of dying. CONCLUSIONS: A bedside care workforce with a greater proportion of professional nurses is associated with better outcomes for patients and nurses. Reducing nursing skill mix by adding nursing associates and other categories of assistive nursing personnel without professional nurse qualifications may contribute to preventable deaths, erode quality and safety of hospital care and contribute to hospital nurse shortages.European Union's Seventh Framework Program (223468), National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health (NR014855), Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology.S

Insulin-like growth factor I activates the invasion suppressor function of E-cadherin in MCF-7 human mammary carcinoma cells in vitro.

The calcium-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin has been shown to counteract invasion of epithelial neoplastic cells. Using three monoclonal antibodies, we have demonstrated the presence of E-cadherin at the surface of human MCF-7/6 mammary carcinoma cells by indirect immunofluorescence coupled to flow cytometry and by immunocytochemistry. Nevertheless, MCF-7/6 cells failed to aggregate in a medium containing 1.25 mM CaCl2, and they were invasive after confrontation with embryonic chick heart fragments in organ culture. Treatment of MCF-7/6 cells with 0.5 microgram ml-1 insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) led to homotypic aggregation within 5 to 10 min and inhibited invasion in vitro during at least 8 days. The effect of IGF-I on cellular aggregation was insensitive to cycloheximide. However, monoclonal antibodies that interfered with the function of either the IGF-I receptor (alpha IR3) or E-cadherin (HECD-1, MB2) blocked the effect of IGF-I on aggregation. The effects of IGF-I on aggregation and on invasion could be mimicked by 1 microgram ml-1 insulin, but not by 0.5 microgram ml-1 IGF-II. The insulin effects were presumably not mediated by the IGF-I receptor, since they could not be blocked by an antibody against this receptor (alpha IR3). Our results indicate that IGF-I activates the invasion suppressor role of E-cadherin in MCF-7/6 cells

Axes determination for segmented true-coaxial HPGe detectors

A fast method to determine the crystallographic axes of segmented true-coaxial high-purity germanium detectors is presented. It is based on the analysis of segment-occupancy patterns obtained by irradiation with radioactive sources. The measured patterns are compared to predictions for different axes orientations. The predictions require a simulation of the trajectories of the charge carriers taking the transverse anisotropy of their drift into account.Comment: 18 pages, 1 table, 31 figures; included background contribution to the occupancy patterns and systematic uncertainties, results slightly change

Search for proton emission of the isomeric 10+ state in 54 Ni

9 pags., 7 figs., 1 tab.Several experiments were conducted at the 10 MV Van-de-Graaff tandem accelerator at the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Cologne, to detect proton emission from the isomeric 6457-keV 10 state in Ni. Excitation functions for two fusion–evaporation reactions were measured to maximise the population of the rare two-neutron evaporation channel from a Ni compound nucleus. The search for delayed proton emission was based on the Si (Si , 2 n)Ni reaction at a beam energy of 70 MeV. For this reaction, a cross-section limit for the population of the 10 state in Ni and its proton-decay branch was determined to be σ< 22 nb.Open Access funding provided by Projekt DEAL. We would like to thank the accelerator staff at the University of Cologne for the efforts to deliver heavy-ion beams of excellent quality, as well as the Swedish Research Council (contract VR 2008-4240 and VR 2016- 3969) for financial support