Design and Manufacture of a Large-Bore 10 T Superconducting Dipole for the CERN Cable Test Facility

A large-bore 10 T superconducting dipole magnet was designed and fabricated in close cooperation between CERN and HMA Power Systems. The dipole has a length of about 1.7 m and an aperture of 88 mm and is composed of two two-layer poles wound with NbTi cables cooled to 1.9 K to reach magnetic inductions close to 10 T. This dipole will be installed at the CERN cable test facility and used as a background field magnet to test LHC superconducting cables. In its large aperture up to four cable samples can be tested at the same time. The mechanical design of the magnet is such that coil prestress variations between warm and cold conditions are kept within 20 MPa. A short model was also built and cooled down in order to check and confirm with test results the mechanical behavior of the dipole. Magnetic measurements, at room temperature, were performed upon its arrival at CERN prior to installation in the test facility. The dipole was recently cooled down and tested. This paper will discuss the design, the main manufacturing steps and the initial test results

Metabolic response to daytime dry fasting in Bahá'í volunteers -- results of a preliminary study

Each year in March, adherents of the Bahá'í faith abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset for 19 days. Thus, Bahá'í fasting (BF) can be considered as a form of daytime dry fasting. We investigated whether BF decreased energy expenditure after a meal and whether it improved anthropometric measures and systemic and tissue-level metabolic parameters. This was a self-controlled cohort study with 11 healthy men. We measured anthropometric parameters, metabolic markers in venous blood and pre- and postprandial energy metabolism at systemic (indirect calorimetry) and tissue (adipose tissue and skeletal muscle microdialysis) level, both before and during BF. During BF, we found reduced body weight, body mass index, body fat and blood glucose. Postprandial increase in energy expenditure was lower and diet-induced thermogenesis tended to be lower as well. In adipose tissue, perfusion, glucose supply and lipolysis were increased. In skeletal muscle, tissue perfusion did not change. Glucose supply and lipolysis were decreased. Glucose oxidation was increased, indicating improved insulin sensitivity. BF may be a promising approach to losing weight and improving metabolism and health. However, outside the context of religiously motivated fasting, skipping a meal in the evening (dinner cancelling) might be recommended, as metabolism appeared to be reduced in the evening

Acute Modulation of Adipose Tissue Lipolysis by Intravenous Estrogens

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether intravenous (IV) conjugated estrogens (EST) acutely enhance the suppression of whole-body or regional subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) lipolysis by insulin in postmenopausal women. Research Methods and Procedures: We assessed whole-body lipolysis by [2H5]glycerol rate of appearance (GlycRA) and abdominal and femoral SAT lipolysis (interstitial glycerol; GlycIS) by subcutaneous microdialysis. Postmenopausal women (n = 12) were studied on two occasions, with IV EST or saline control (CON), under basal conditions and during a 3-stage (4, 8, and 40 mU/m2/ min) hyperinsulinemic, euglycemic clamp. Ethanol outflow/inflow ratio and recovery of [13C] glycerol during microdialysis were used to assess blood flow changes and interstitial glycerol concentrations, respectively. Results: Compared with CON, EST did not affect systemic basal or insulin-mediated suppression of lipolysis (GlycRA) or SAT nutritive blood flow. Basal GlycIS in SAT was reduced on the EST day. However, insulin-mediated suppression of lipolysis in SAT was not significantly influenced by EST. Discussion: These findings suggest that estrogens acutely reduce basal lipolysis in SAT through an unknown mechanism but do not alter whole-body or SAT suppression of lipolysis by insulin. Originally published Obesity (Silver Spring), Vol. 14, No. 12, Dec 200

Immune cells control skin lymphatic electrolyte homeostasis and blood pressure

The skin interstitium sequesters excess Na+ and Cl- in salt-sensitive hypertension. Mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) cells are recruited to the skin, sense the hypertonic electrolyte accumulation in skin, and activate the tonicity-responsive enhancer-binding protein (TONEBP, also known as NFAT5) to initiate expression and secretion of VEGFC, which enhances electrolyte clearance via cutaneous lymph vessels and increases eNOS expression in blood vessels. It is unclear whether this local MPS response to osmotic stress is important to systemic blood pressure control. Herein, we show that deletion of TonEBP in mouse MPS cells prevents the VEGFC response to a high-salt diet (HSD) and increases blood pressure. Additionally, an antibody that blocks the lymph-endothelial VEGFC receptor, VEGFR3, selectively inhibited MPS-driven increases in cutaneous lymphatic capillary density, led to skin Cl- accumulation, and induced salt-sensitive hypertension. Mice overexpressing soluble VEGFR3 in epidermal keratinocytes exhibited hypoplastic cutaneous lymph capillaries and increased Na+, Cl-, and water retention in skin and salt-sensitive hypertension. Further, we found that HSD elevated skin osmolality above plasma levels. These results suggest that the skin contains a hypertonic interstitial fluid compartment in which MPS cells exert homeostatic and blood pressure-regulatory control by local organization of interstitial electrolyte clearance via TONEBP and VEGFC/VEGFR3-mediated modification of cutaneous lymphatic capillary function

Tracking CNS and systemic sources of oxidative stress during the course of chronic neuroinflammation

The functional dynamics and cellular sources of oxidative stress are central to understanding MS pathogenesis but remain elusive, due to the lack of appropriate detection methods. Here we employ NAD(P)H fluorescence lifetime imaging to detect functional NADPH oxidases (NOX enzymes) in vivo to identify inflammatory monocytes, activated microglia, and astrocytes expressing NOX1 as major cellular sources of oxidative stress in the central nervous system of mice affected by experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). This directly affects neuronal function in vivo, indicated by sustained elevated neuronal calcium. The systemic involvement of oxidative stress is mirrored by overactivation of NOX enzymes in peripheral CD11b(+) cells in later phases of both MS and EAE. This effect is antagonized by systemic intake of the NOX inhibitor and anti-oxidant epigallocatechin-3-gallate. Together, this persistent hyper-activation of oxidative enzymes suggests an "oxidative stress memory" both in the periphery and CNS compartments, in chronic neuroinflammation

Z-RAFT star polymerization of styrene: Comprehensive characterization using size-exclusion chromatography

Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerizations of styrene in bulk at 80 °C using tri-, tetra-, and hexafunctional trithiocarbonates, in which the active RAFT groups are linked to the core via the stabilizing Z-group, were studied in detail. These Z-RAFT star polymerizations of styrene showed excellent molecular weight control up to very high monomer conversions and star sizes of more than 200 kDa. The application of high pressure up to 2600 bar was found to significantly increase the relative amount of living star polymer. Not even at very high monomer conversions and for large star molecules, a shielding effect of growing arms hampering the RAFT process could be identified. Absolute molecular weights of star polymers using a conventionally calibrated SEC setup were determined with high precision by using a mixture of linear and star-shaped RAFT agents. When using phenylethyl as the leaving R-group, well-defined star polymers that perfectly match the theoretical predictions were formed. However, when using benzyl as the leaving group, a pronounced impact of monomer conversion on the star polymer topology was observed and pure star polymers with the expected number of arms could not be obtained