Accelerated Postnatal Growth Increases Lipogenic Gene Expression and Adipocyte Size in Low–Birth Weight Mice

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the hormonal milieu and adipose gene expression in response to catch-up growth (CUG), a growth pattern associated with obesity and diabetes risk, in a mouse model of low birth weight (LBW). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: ICR mice were food restricted by 50% from gestational days 12.5–18.5, reducing offspring birth weight by 25%. During the suckling period, dams were either fed ad libitum, permitting CUG in offspring, or food restricted, preventing CUG. Offspring were killed at age 3 weeks, and gonadal fat was removed for RNA extraction, array analysis, RT-PCR, and evaluation of cell size and number. Serum insulin, thyroxine (T4), corticosterone, and adipokines were measured. RESULTS: At age 3 weeks, LBW mice with CUG (designated U-C) had body weight comparable with controls (designated C-C); weight was reduced by 49% in LBW mice without CUG (designated U-U). Adiposity was altered by postnatal nutrition, with gonadal fat increased by 50% in U-C and decreased by 58% in U-U mice (P less than 0.05 vs. C-C mice). Adipose expression of the lipogenic genes Fasn, AccI, Lpin1, and Srebf1 was significantly increased in U-C compared with both C-C and U-U mice (P less than 0.05). Mitochondrial DNA copy number was reduced by greater than 50% in U-C versus U-U mice (P = 0.014). Although cell numbers did not differ, mean adipocyte diameter was increased in U-C and reduced in U-U mice (P less than 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: CUG results in increased adipose tissue lipogenic gene expression and adipocyte diameter but not increased cellularity, suggesting that catch-up fat is primarily associated with lipogenesis rather than adipogenesis in this murine model

The fundamental role of fluid dynamic analyses in the design of the solid EU Test Blanket Module

In the frame of the activities of the European Test Blanket Module Consortium of Associates, the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed Test Blanket Module (HCPB TBM), the so-called solid TBM, is developed in Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). In the EU experimental strategy, a series of 4 different HCPB TBMs will be connected to the dedicated equatorial port n.16 during the ITER lifetime. The ITER TBM program has to provide DEMO relevant experimental data for the main functions of the blanket modules of a future fusion reactor. The preliminary thermo-mechanical design assessment of the TBM box (based on transient, steady state and accidental analyses) has been presented. All along the design assessment phase the fluid dynamic analyses play a fundamental role for the TBM sub-components, the Breeder Units (BUs) and the manifolds (MF) stages. This paper highlights the methodology implemented for the Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analyses in the TBM design life cycle, and presents the results and the impact on the overall performance evaluation of the HCPB TBM. The following models are presented in detail: the CFD model of the TBM First Wall and its application to a reduced scale First Wall, the 3D CFD model of the BUs, and the thermo fluid dynamic modelling of the manifold systems

Assessment of oil refinery wastewater and effluent integrating bioassays, mechanistic modelling and bioavailability evaluation

Water is used in petroleum oil refineries in significant volumes for cooling, steam generation and processing of raw materials. Effective water management is required at refineries to ensure their efficient and responsible operation with respect to the water environment. However, ascertaining the potential environmental risks associated with discharge of refinery effluents to receiving waters is challenging because of their compositional complexity. Recent European research and regulatory initiatives propose a more holistic approach including biological effect methods to assess complex effluents and surface water quality. The study presented here investigated potential effects of effluent composition, particularly hydrocarbons, on aquatic toxicity and was a component of a larger study assessing contaminant removal during refinery wastewater treatment (Hjort et al 2021). The evaluation of effects utilised a novel combination of mechanistic toxicity modelling based on the exposure composition, measured bioavailable hydrocarbons using biomimetic solid phase microextraction (BE-SPME), and bioassays. The results indicate that in the refinery effluent assessments measured bioavailable hydrocarbons using BE-SPME was correlated with the responses in standard bioassays. It confirms that bioassays are providing relevant data and that BE-SPME measurement, combined with knowledge of other known non-hydrocarbon toxic constituents, provide key tools for toxicity identification. Overall, the results indicate that oil refinery effluents treated in accordance to the EU Industrial Emissions Directive requirements have low to negligible toxicity to aquatic organisms and their receiving environments. Low-cost, animal-free BE-SPME represents a compelling tool for rapid effluent characterization