SeeBridge Next Generation Bridge Inspection: Overview, Information Delivery Manual and Model View Definition

Innovative solutions for rapid and intelligent survey and assessment methods are required in maintenance, repair, retrofit and rebuild of enormous numbers of bridges in service throughout the world. Motivated by this need, a next-generation integrated bridge inspection system, called SeeBridge, has been proposed. An Information Delivery Manual (IDM) was compiled to specify the technical components, activities and information exchanges in the SeeBridge process, and a Model View Definition (MVD) was prepared to specify the data exchange schema to serve the IDM. The MVD was bound to the IFC4 Add2 data schema standard. The IDM and MVD support research and development of the system by rigorously defining the information and data that structure bridge engineers' knowledge. The SeeBridge process is mapped, parts of the data repositories are presented, and the future use of the IDM is discussed. The development underlines the real potential for automated inspection of infrastructure at large, because it demonstrates that the hurdles in the way of automated acquisition of detailed and semantically rich models of existing infrastructure are computational in nature, not instrumental, and are surmountable with existing technologies

The Effects of Cocaine on Different Redox Forms of Cysteine and Homocysteine, and on Labile, Reduced Sulfur in the Rat Plasma Following Active versus Passive Drug Injections

Received: 28 November 2012 / Revised: 19 April 2013 / Accepted: 6 May 2013 / Published online: 16 May 2013 The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.comThe aim of the present studies was to evaluate cocaine-induced changes in the concentrations of different redox forms of cysteine (Cys) and homocysteine (Hcy), and products of anaerobic Cys metabolism, i.e., labile, reduced sulfur (LS) in the rat plasma. The above-mentioned parameters were determined after i.p. acute and subchronic cocaine treatment as well as following i.v. cocaine self-administration using the yoked procedure. Additionally, Cys, Hcy, and LS levels were measured during the 10-day extinction training in rats that underwent i.v. cocaine administration. Acute i.p. cocaine treatment increased the total and protein-bound Hcy contents, decreased LS, and did not change the concentrations of Cys fractions in the rat plasma. In turn, subchronic i.p. cocaine administration significantly increased free Hcy and lowered the total and protein-bound Cys concentrations while LS level was unchanged. Cocaine self-administration enhanced the total and protein-bound Hcy levels, decreased LS content, and did not affect the Cys fractions. On the other hand, yoked cocaine infusions did not alter the concentration of Hcy fractions while decreased the total and protein-bound Cys and LS content. This extinction training resulted in the lack of changes in the examined parameters in rats with a history of cocaine self-administration while in the yoked cocaine group an increase in the plasma free Cys fraction and LS was seen. Our results demonstrate for the first time that cocaine does evoke significant changes in homeostasis of thiol amino acids Cys and Hcy, and in some products of anaerobic Cys metabolism, which are dependent on the way of cocaine administration

Effect of Microwave Frying on Acrylamide Generation, Mass Transfer, Color, and Texture in French Fries

[EN] The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of microwave power on acrylamide generation, as well as moisture and oil fluxes and quality attributes of microwave-fried potatoes. Concretely, 25 g of potato strips, in 250 mL of fresh oil (at room temperature), were subjected to three different microwave powers (315, 430, and 600 W) in a conventional microwave oven. Microwave frying resulted in an acrylamide reduction ranged from 37 to 83% compared to deep-oil frying. Microwave-fried French fries presented lower moisture and higher fat content than deep-oil fried potatoes. Concretely, microwave-fried potatoes presented values of moisture and texture more similar to potato chips than French fries, nonetheless with lower fat levels (less than 20 g/100 g wb) and acrylamide content (lower than 100 ¿g/kg wb) at the reference time. This study presents an alternative way of frying to address the production of healthier potato chips.The authors would like to thank the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for the PhD scholarship given to Mariola Sansano Tomas.Sansano, M.; De Los Reyes Cánovas, R.; Andrés Grau, AM.; Heredia Gutiérrez, AB. (2018). Effect of Microwave Frying on Acrylamide Generation, Mass Transfer, Color, and Texture in French Fries. Food and Bioprocess Technology. 11(10):1934-1939. doi:10.1007/s11947-018-2144-zS193419391110AACC. (1995). Approved methods of the American association of cereal chemists (9th ed.). St. Paul: The Association.Adedeji, A. A., Ngadi, M. O., & Raghavan, G. S. V. (2009). Kinetics of mass transfer in microwave precooked and deep-fat fried chicken nuggets. Journal of Food Engineering, 91(1), 146–153.Ahrné, L., Andersson, C.-G., Floberg, P., Rosén, J., & Lingnert, H. (2007). Effect of crust temperature and water content on acrylamide formation during baking of white bread: steam and falling temperature baking. LWT-Food Science and Technology, 40(10), 1708–1715.Amrein, T. M., Limacher, A., Conde-Petit, B., Amadò, R., & Escher, F. (2006). Influence of thermal processing conditions on acrylamide generation and Browning in a potato model system. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54(16), 5910–5916.Andrés, A., Arguelles, Á., Castelló, M. L., & Heredia, A. (2013). Mass transfer and volume changes in French fries during air frying. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 6(8), 1917–1924.Barutcu, I., Sahin, S., & Sumnu, G. (2009). Acrylamide formation in different batter formulations during microwave frying. LWT - Food Science and Technology, 42(1), 17–22.Belgin Erdoǧdu, S., Palazoǧlu, T. K., Gökmen, V., Şenyuva, H. Z., & Ekiz, H. İ. (2007). Reduction of acrylamide formation in French fries by microwave pre-cooking of potato strips. 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Dielectric spectroscopy of osmotic solutions and osmotically dehydrated tomato products. Journal of Food Engineering, 80(4), 1218–1225. 2.Granda, C., & Moreira, R. G. (2005). Kinetics of acrylamide formation during traditional and vacuum frying of potato chips. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 28(5), 478–493.Lizhi, H., Toyoda, K., & Ihara, I. (2008). Dielectric properties of edible oils and fatty acids as a function of frequency, temperature, moisture and composition. Journal of Food Engineering, 88(2), 151–158.Oztop, M. H., Sahin, S., & Sumnu, G. (2007). Optimization of microwave frying of potato slices by using Taguchi technique. Journal of Food Engineering, 79(1), 83–91.Parikh, A., & Takhar, P. S. (2016). Comparison of microwave and conventional frying on quality attributes and fat content of potatoes. Journal of Food Science, 81(11), E2743–E2755.Pedreschi, F., & Moyano, P. (2005). Oil uptake and texture development in fried potato slices. 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Sidestream cigarette smoke effects on cardiovascular responses in conscious rats: involvement of oxidative stress in the fourth cerebral ventricle

Background: Cigarette exposure increases brain oxidative stress. The literature showed that increased brain oxidative stress affects cardiovascular regulation. However, no previous study investigated the involvement of brain oxidative stress in animals exposed to cigarette and its relationship with cardiovascular regulation. We aimed to evaluate the effects of central catalase inhibition on baroreflex and cardiovascular responses in rats exposed to sidestream cigarette smoke (SSCS). Methods: We evaluated males Wistar rats (320-370 g), which were implanted with a stainless steel guide cannula into the fourth cerebral ventricle (4th V). Femoral artery and vein were cannulated for mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) measurement and drug infusion, respectively. Rats were exposed to SSCS during three weeks, 180 minutes, 5 days/week (CO: 100-300 ppm). Baroreflex was tested with a pressor dose of phenylephrine (PHE, 8 mu g/kg, bolus) to induce bradycardic reflex and a depressor dose of sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 50 mu g/kg, bolus) to induce tachycardic reflex. Cardiovascular responses were evaluated before, 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes after 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (ATZ, catalase inhibitor, 0.001 g/100 mu L) injection into the 4th V. Results: Central catalase inhibition increased basal HR in the control group during the first 5 minutes. SSCS exposure increased basal HR and attenuated bradycardic peak during the first 15 minutes. Conclusion: We suggest that SSCS exposure affects cardiovascular regulation through its influence on catalase activity.Foundation of Support to Research of Sao Paulo State (Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo-FAPESP [07/59127-9

5C analysis of the Epidermal Differentiation Complex locus reveals distinct chromatin interaction networks between gene-rich and gene-poor TADs in skin epithelial cells

YesMammalian genomes contain several dozens of large (>0.5 Mbp) lineage-specific gene loci harbouring functionally related genes. However, spatial chromatin folding, organization of the enhancer-promoter networks and their relevance to Topologically Associating Domains (TADs) in these loci remain poorly understood. TADs are principle units of the genome folding and represents the DNA regions within which DNA interacts more frequently and less frequently across the TAD boundary. Here, we used Chromatin Conformation Capture Carbon Copy (5C) technology to characterize spatial chromatin interaction network in the 3.1 Mb Epidermal Differentiation Complex (EDC) locus harbouring 61 functionally related genes that show lineage-specific activation during terminal keratinocyte differentiation in the epidermis. 5C data validated by 3D-FISH demonstrate that the EDC locus is organized into several TADs showing distinct lineage-specific chromatin interaction networks based on their transcription activity and the gene-rich or gene-poor status. Correlation of the 5C results with genome-wide studies for enhancer-specific histone modifications (H3K4me1 and H3K27ac) revealed that the majority of spatial chromatin interactions that involves the gene-rich TADs at the EDC locus in keratinocytes include both intra- and inter-TAD interaction networks, connecting gene promoters and enhancers. Compared to thymocytes in which the EDC locus is mostly transcriptionally inactive, these interactions were found to be keratinocyte-specific. In keratinocytes, the promoter-enhancer anchoring regions in the gene-rich transcriptionally active TADs are enriched for the binding of chromatin architectural proteins CTCF, Rad21 and chromatin remodeler Brg1. In contrast to gene-rich TADs, gene-poor TADs show preferential spatial contacts with each other, do not contain active enhancers and show decreased binding of CTCF, Rad21 and Brg1 in keratinocytes. Thus, spatial interactions between gene promoters and enhancers at the multi-TAD EDC locus in skin epithelial cells are cell type-specific and involve extensive contacts within TADs as well as between different gene-rich TADs, forming the framework for lineage-specific transcription.This study was supported by the grants 5R01AR064580 and 1RO1AR071727 to VAB, TKS and AAS, as well as by the grants from MRC (MR/ M010015/1) and BBSRC (BB/K010050/1) to VAB

Predictive value of Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QT, and Tp-e/QTc for disease severity in patients with liver cirrhosis

OBJECTIVE: The cardiovascular system is one of the most affected systems in the liver cirrhosis (LC) process, especially due to the tendency to arrhythmia. Since the data about the relationship between LC and novel electrocardiography (ECG) indexes are lacking, we aimed to investigate the association between LC and Tp-e interval, Tp-e/QT, and Tp-e/QTc ratio. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 100 patients in the study group (56 male, median age 60) and 100 in the control group (52 female, 60 median age) between January 2021 and January 2022. ECG indexes and laboratory findings were analyzed. RESULTS: The patient group had significantly higher heart rate (HR), Tp-e, Tp-e/QT, and Tp-e/QTc compared to the control group (p 20 were 0.877; (95% CI: 0.854-0.900), 0.935; (95% CI: 0.918-0.952), and 0.861; (95% CI: 0.835-0.887); (p < 0.001 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Tp-e, Tp-e/QT, and Tp-e/QTc values were significantly higher in patients with LC. These indexes can be useful for arrhythmia risk stratification and to predict the end-stage of the disease