Efficient and Specific Analysis of Red Blood Cell Glycerophospholipid Fatty Acid Composition

Red blood cell (RBC) n-3 fatty acid status is related to various health outcomes. Accepted biological markers for the fatty acid status determination are RBC phospholipids, phosphatidylcholine, and phosphatidyletholamine. The analysis of these lipid fractions is demanding and time consuming and total phospholipid n-3 fatty acid levels might be affected by changes of sphingomyelin contents in the RBC membrane during n-3 supplementation. We developed a method for the specific analysis of RBC glycerophospholipids. The application of the new method in a DHA supplementation trial and the comparison to established markers will determine the relevance of RBC GPL as a valid fatty acid status marker in humans. Methyl esters of glycerophospholipid fatty acids are selectively generated by a two step procedure involving methanolic protein precipitation and base-catalysed methyl ester synthesis. RBC GPL solubilisation is facilitated by ultrasound treatment. Fatty acid status in RBC glycerophospholipids and other established markers were evaluated in thirteen subjects participating in a 30 days supplementation trial (510 mg DHA/d). The intra-assay CV for GPL fatty acids ranged from 1.0 to 10.5% and the inter-assay CV from 1.3 to 10.9%. Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation significantly increased the docosahexaenoic acid contents in all analysed lipid fractions. High correlations were observed for most of the mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and for the omega-3 index (r = 0.924) between RBC phospholipids and glycerophospholipids. The analysis of RBC glycerophospholipid fatty acids yields faster, easier and less costly results equivalent to the conventional analysis of RBC total phospholipids

Sales management and its role in the new era of upcoming emission standards

A growing demand for emission standards to meet the essential ecological criteria create a difficult situation for car manufacturers, with which they must cope in the coming years. However, the above-mentioned situation can be looked at from another perspective. It uncovers an incredible number of opportunities that carmakers should use and, as a result, offer their customers an alternative product to fully satisfy their needs. The aim of this thesis is to provide an insight of how the car companies currently try to benefit from this situation and whether their approach is consistent with the expectations of their potential clients.6

On the Origin of Multilayered Structure of W-B-C Coatings Prepared by Non-Reactive Magnetron Sputtering from a Single Segmented Target

Multilayered coatings are routinely obtained in non-reactive processes employing multiple sources or in processes with a reactive gas. W-B-C coatings were sputter deposited in an industrial sputtering system in a non-reactive atmosphere onto substrates performing one- and two-axis rotations around a central cylindrical target composed of boron-carbide, tungsten and graphite ring-shaped segments. This study describes the unexpected multilayered structure of W-B-C coatings deposited by even the non-reactive sputtering of a single target. This multilayered structure exhibits a modulation of the chemical composition. While the tungsten content in a layer decreases, the amount of boron and carbon rises. The modulation period corresponds with the calculated thickness increment per one sample revolution around the central cathode. Experiments proved that the chemical composition of a coating and its deposition rate are very sensitive to the substrate position in the chamber. This was attributed to the different transport pathways of heavy (W) and light (C and B) atoms sputtered from the same target, but differently scattered by the working argon gas

On the determination of the thermal shock parameter of MAX phases: A combined experimental-computational study

Thermal shock resistance is one of the performance-defining properties for applications where extreme temperature gradients are required. The thermal shock resistance of a material can be described by means of the thermal shock parameter RT. Here, the thermo-mechanical properties required for the calculation of RT are quantum-mechanically predicted, experimentally determined, and compared for Ti3AlC2 and Cr2AlC MAX phases. The coatings are synthesized utilizing direct current magnetron sputtering without additional heating, followed by vacuum annealing. It is shown that the RT of both Ti3AlC2 and Cr2AlC obtained via simulations are in good agreement with the experimentally obtained ones. Comparing the MAX phase coatings, both experiments and simulations indicate superior thermal shock behavior of Ti3AlC2 compared to Cr2AlC, attributed primarily to the larger linear coefficient of thermal expansion of Cr2AlC. The results presented herein underline the potential of ab initio calculations for predicting the thermal shock behavior of ionically-covalently bonded materials.Comment: submitted to Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 6 figures, 4 tables, 37 pages tota

International Scientific Conference ''Organization and Maintenance Technology'' - OTO 2019 : Conference Proceedings of the 28th International Scientific Conference ''Organization and Maintenance Technology''

Organizacija i tehnologije održavanja 2019. odvija se pod okriljem Panon-a, Instituta za strateške studije - Osijek, Fakulteta elektrotehnike, računarstva i informacijskih tehnologija - Osijek, Građevinskog i arhitektonski fakultet - Osijek i Centara kompetencija d.o.o. za istraživanje i razvoj - Vinkovci. Od prvog skupa ''Organizacija održavanja u novim uvjetima'' održanog 20. travnja 1990. na Elektrotehničkom fakultetu Osijek održano je još 29 skupova u jedanaest različitih gradova Slavonije i Baranje. Kontinuirani rad odraz je potrebe za dijalogom i razmjenom iskustava na području održavanja kojim se promiče razvoj tehnike i znanosti. Dosadašnja iskustva kroz 522 prezentiranih i publiciranih radova ukazuju na pad zastupljenosti radova autora strojarske struke, najviše radova autora elektrotehničke, a zatim građevinske, ekonomske, poljoprivredne i prehrambeno tehnološke struke. Udio autora koji su zaposleni na tehničkim fakultetima Sveučilišta J.J. Strossmayera značajno dominira u ukupnom broju radova. Potreba visokoobrazovanog kadra koji danas bavi održavanjem za cjeloživotnim obrazovanjem nameće potrebu daljnjeg razvoja skupova OTO prema znanstvenoj izvrsnosti. Znanstveno stručni skupovi OTO predstavljaju priliku za neposrednu razmjenu iskustava stručnjaka iz svih područja održavanja s ciljem istraživanja i analize primjene novih metoda i postupaka. Skup nastoji podići razinu znanja o održavanju uzimajući u obzir kontinuirani napredak tehnike i tehnologije u svim sferama gospodarstva, infrastrukture i javnih službi. Dvadeset osmi međunarodni znanstveno stručni skup Organizacija i Tehnologija Održavanja kolokvijalno OTO 2019 održan je 12. 12. 2019. godina u Vinkovcima u organizaciji Panon-a – Institut za strateške studije - Osijek, Fakulteta elektrotehnike, računarstva i informacijskih tehnologija - Osijek, Građevinskog i arhitektonski fakultet - Osijek i Centara kompetencija d.o.o. za istraživanje i razvoj - Vinkovci. Službeni jezici Skupa su hrvatski i engleski. Odabrani radovi prezentirani na OTO 2019 će biti pozvani za objavu u proširenom obliku u časopisima: Electronic Journal of the Faculty of Civil Engineering Osijek e-GFOS (http://e- gfos.gfos.hr), International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering Systems (www.etfos.unios.hr/ijeces/) i Journal of Energy (http://journalofenergy.com/). Zbornik sadrži 25 recenziranih radova

Real-world EGFR testing practices for non-small-cell lung cancer by thoracic pathology laboratories across Europe

Background: Testing for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations is an essential recommendation in guidelines for metastatic non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer, and is considered mandatory in European countries. However, in practice, challenges are often faced when carrying out routine biomarker testing, including access to testing, inadequate tissue samples and long turnaround times (TATs). Materials and methods: To evaluate the real-world EGFR testing practices of European pathology laboratories, an online survey was set up and validated by the Pulmonary Pathology Working Group of the European Society of Pathology and distributed to 64 expert testing laboratories. The retrospective survey focussed on laboratory organisation and daily EGFR testing practice of pathologists and molecular biologists between 2018 and 2021. Results: TATs varied greatly both between and within countries. These discrepancies may be partly due to reflex testing practices, as 20.8% of laboratories carried out EGFR testing only at the request of the clinician. Many laboratories across Europe still favour single-test sequencing as a primary method of EGFR mutation identification; 32.7% indicated that they only used targeted techniques and 45.1% used single-gene testing followed by next-generation sequencing (NGS), depending on the case. Reported testing rates were consistent over time with no significant decrease in the number of EGFR tests carried out in 2020, despite the increased pressure faced by testing facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. ISO 15189 accreditation was reported by 42.0% of molecular biology laboratories for single-test sequencing, and by 42.3% for NGS. 92.5% of laboratories indicated they regularly participate in an external quality assessment scheme. Conclusions: These results highlight the strong heterogeneity of EGFR testing that still occurs within thoracic pathology and molecular biology laboratories across Europe. Even among expert testing facilities there is variability in testing capabilities, TAT, reflex testing practice and laboratory accreditation, stressing the need to harmonise reimbursement technologies and decision-making algorithms in Europe

Effects of climate and atmospheric nitrogen deposition on early to mid-term stage litter decomposition across biomes

International audienceLitter decomposition is a key process for carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems and is mainly controlled by environmental conditions, substrate quantity and quality as well as microbial community abundance and composition. In particular, the effects of climate and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on litter decomposition and its temporal dynamics are of significant importance, since their effects might change over the course of the decomposition process. Within the TeaComposition initiative, we incubated Green and Rooibos teas at 524 sites across nine biomes. We assessed how macroclimate and atmospheric inorganic N deposition under current and predicted scenarios (RCP 2.6, RCP 8.5) might affect litter mass loss measured after 3 and 12 months. Our study shows that the early to mid-term mass loss at the global scale was affected predominantly by litter quality (explaining 73% and 62% of the total variance after 3 and 12 months, respectively) followed by climate and N deposition. The effects of climate were not litter-specific and became increasingly significant as decomposition progressed, with MAP explaining 2% and MAT 4% of the variation after 12 months of incubation. The effect of N deposition was litter-specific, and significant only for 12-month decomposition of Rooibos tea at the global scale. However, in the temperate biome where atmospheric N deposition rates are relatively high, the 12-month mass loss of Green and Rooibos teas decreased significantly with increasing N deposition, explaining 9.5% and 1.1% of the variance, respectively. The expected changes in macroclimate and N deposition at the global scale by the end of this century are estimated to increase the 12-month mass loss of easily decomposable litter by 1.1– 3.5% and of the more stable substrates by 3.8–10.6%, relative to current mass loss. In contrast, expected changes in atmospheric N deposition will decrease the mid-term mass loss of high-quality litter by 1.4–2.2% and that of low-quality litter by 0.9–1.5% in the temperate biome. Our results suggest that projected increases in N deposition may have the capacity to dampen the climate-driven increases in litter decomposition depending on the biome and decomposition stage of substrate