The endocannabinoid system:Overview of an emerging multi-faceted therapeutic target

The endocannabinoids anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglyerol (2-AG) are endogenous lipid mediators that exert protective roles in pathophysiological conditions, including cardiovascular diseases. In this brief review, we provide a conceptual framework linking endocannabinoid signaling to the control of the cellular and molecular hallmarks, and categorize the key components of endocannabinoid signaling that may serve as targets for novel therapeutics. The emerging picture not only reinforces endocannabinoids as potent regulators of cellular metabolism but also reveals that endocannabinoid signaling is mechanistically more complex and diverse than originally thought

Stacked Micro Heat Exchange System for Optimized Thermal Coupling of MicroTEGs

This study presents modeling and experimental results of micro thermoelectric generators (μTEGs) integrated into a multilayer micro heat exchange system. The multilayer configuration benefits from low heat transfer resistances at small fluid flow rates and at the same time from low required pumping powers. The compact stacked power device allows for high net output power per volume, and therefore a reduction in size, weight, and cost compared with conventional large-scale heat exchangers. The influence of the boundary conditions and the system design parameters on the net output power of the micro heat exchange system was investigated by simulation. The theoretical results showed a major impact of the microchannel dimensions and the μTEG thickness on the overall output performance of the system. By adapting the applied fluid flow rate, the system's net power output can be maximized for varying operating temperatures. Experimental measurements of the cross-flow micro heat exchange system were in good agreement with the performed simulations. A net μTEG output power of 62.9mW/cm2 was measured for a double-layer system at an applied water inlet temperature difference of 60K with a Bi2Te3 μTEG (ZT of 0.12), resulting in a net volumetric efficiency factor of 37.2W/m3/K

From fat to FAT (CD36/SR-B2):Understanding the regulation of cellular fatty acid uptake

The molecular mechanisms underlying the cellular uptake of long-chain fatty acids and the regulation of this process have been elucidated in appreciable detail in the last decades. Two main players in this field, each discovered in the early 1990s, are (i) a membrane-associated protein first identified in adipose ('fat') tissue and referred to as putative fatty acid translocase (FAT)/CD36 (now officially designated as SR-B2) which facilitates the transport of fatty acids across the plasma membrane, and (ii) the family of transcription factors designated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR alpha, PPAR gamma, and PPAR(beta/delta) for which fatty acids and fatty acid metabolites are the preferred ligand. CD36/SR-B2 is the predominant membrane protein involved in fatty acid uptake into intestinal enterocytes, adipocytes and cardiac and skeletal myocytes. The rate of cellular fatty acid uptake is regulated by the subcellular vesicular recycling of CD36/SR-B2 from endosomes to the plasma membrane. Fatty acid-induced activation of PPARs results in the upregulation of the expression of genes encoding various proteins and enzymes involved in cellular fatty acid utilization. Both CD36/SR-B2 and the PPARs have been implicated in the derangements in fatty acid and lipid metabolism occurring with the development of pathophysiological conditions, such as high fat diet-induced insulin resistance and diabetic cardiomyopathy, and have been suggested as targets for metabolic intervention. In this brief review we discuss the discovery and current understanding of both CD36/SR-B2 and the PPARs in metabolic homeostasis. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. and Societe Francaise de Biochimie et Biologie Moleculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved

Revealing invisible brews: a new approach to the chemical identification of ancient beer

While ancient Near Eastern cuneiform texts and iconography unambiguously demonstrate the social, economic, and ritual significance of beer, direct archaeological evidence for beer production or consumption remains surprisingly rare. This scarcity of material evidence renders it difficult to extrapolate information about the ingredients and production processes of beer, on the one hand, and the paraphernalia and social contexts of its consumption, on the other. In recent decades, organic residue analysis has become an essential tool in the identification of ancient alcoholic beverages, but research on Near Eastern beer has focused largely on production and storage vessels, whose form, archaeological context, and associated macroscopic residues already indicated their use in beer production. In this paper, we present a novel field sampling protocol that prevents contamination along with a refined organic residue analysis methodology that relies on a series of co-occurring compounds to identify confidently beer in ceramic vessels. The same compounds were identified in several modern beer samples and, thus, support our identification of a similar fermented barley-based beverage in archaeological samples from the late second millennium BCE site of Khani Masi in northeastern Iraq. The results presented in this paper allow us, for the first time, to unambiguously link a diverse range of vessel types to the consumption and production of beer, identify a fundamental change in Mesopotamian consumption practices, and shed light on the cultural dimensions of Babylonia's encounter with the Zagros-Mesopotamian borderlands