Dietary Cucumis melo Reduces Markers of Muscle and Articular Inflammation Following High-intensity Exercise in Horses

We evaluated the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory potential of daily oral supplementation with a proprietary powdered Cucumis melo pulp (CMP) on exercise-induced markers of articular and muscular oxidative stress and inflammation in 12 horses. Horses performed a high-intensity exercise test immediately prior to, and then following, 3 weeks of daily supplementation of 1 g powdered CMP (CMP; n=8). Controls (Co; n=8) underwent the same exercise and sampling regime but were not supplemented. Blood and synovial fluid (SF) samples were taken 24 h prior to exercise (BL), and at 1 and 24 h following exercise. Plasma and SF were analysed for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), total antioxidant status (TAS), nitrite and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. SF was analysed for glycosaminoglycans (GAG), and plasma was analysed for thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Comparisons were made using repeated measures with the initial exercise test as a covariate. There was an increase in SF SOD activity in the CMP group. Compared to Co at 1 h, CMP reduced nitrite and GAG in SF, as well as maintained plasma TAS and lymphocyte levels. At 24 h, plasma PGE2 and creatine kinase were lower in horses receiving CMP. Three weeks of supplementation with CMP reduced markers of articular and skeletal muscle oxidative stress and inflammation in response to high-intensity exercise in horses. Nutritive antioxidants may provide a useful adjunct to the daily nutrition plan of horses undergoing regular exercise training and competition

Modifications of filament spectra by shaped octave-spanning laser pulses

In this paper we examine the spectral changes in a white light laser filament due to different pulse shapes generated by a pulse-shaping setup. We particularly explore how the properties of the filament spectra can be controlled by parametrically tailored white light pulses. The experiments are carried out in a gas cell with up to 9 bars of argon. Plasma generation and self-phase modulation strongly affect the pulse in the spectral and temporal domains. By exploiting these effects we show that the pulse spectrum can be modified in a desired way by either using second-order parametric chirp functions to shift the filament spectrum to higher or lower wavelengths, or by optimizing pulse shapes with a genetic algorithm to generate more complex filament spectra. This paper is an example of the application of complex, parametrically shaped white light pulses

Localized helium excitations in 4He_N-benzene clusters

We compute ground and excited state properties of small helium clusters 4He_N containing a single benzene impurity molecule. Ground-state structures and energies are obtained for N=1,2,3,14 from importance-sampled, rigid-body diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC). Excited state energies due to helium vibrational motion near the molecule surface are evaluated using the projection operator, imaginary time spectral evolution (POITSE) method. We find excitation energies of up to ~23 K above the ground state. These states all possess vibrational character of helium atoms in a highly anisotropic potential due to the aromatic molecule, and can be categorized in terms of localized and collective vibrational modes. These results appear to provide precursors for a transition from localized to collective helium excitations at molecular nanosubstrates of increasing size. We discuss the implications of these results for analysis of anomalous spectral features in recent spectroscopic studies of large aromatic molecules in helium clusters.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Applications of Direct Injection Soft Chemical Ionisation-Mass Spectrometry for the Detection of Pre-blast Smokeless Powder Organic Additives

Analysis of smokeless powders is of interest from forensics and security perspectives. This article reports the detection of smokeless powder organic additives (in their pre-detonation condition), namely the stabiliser diphenylamine and its derivatives 2-nitrodiphenylamine and 4-nitrodiphenylamine, and the additives (used both as stabilisers and plasticisers) methyl centralite and ethyl centralite, by means of swab sampling followed by thermal desorption and direct injection soft chemical ionisation-mass spectrometry. Investigations on the product ions resulting from the reactions of the reagent ions H3O+ and O2+ with additives as a function of reduced electric field are reported. The method was comprehensively evaluated in terms of linearity, sensitivity and precision. For H3O+, the limits of detection (LoD) are in the range of 41-88 pg of additive, for which the accuracy varied between 1.5 and 3.2%, precision varied between 3.7 and 7.3% and linearity showed R20.9991. For O2+, LoD are in the range of 72 to 1.4 ng, with an accuracy of between 2.8 and 4.9% and a precision between 4.5 and 8.6% and R20.9914. The validated methodology was applied to the analysis of commercial pre-blast gun powders from different manufacturers.(VLID)4826148Accepted versio

A mathematical model for breath gas analysis of volatile organic compounds with special emphasis on acetone

Recommended standardized procedures for determining exhaled lower respiratory nitric oxide and nasal nitric oxide have been developed by task forces of the European Respiratory Society and the American Thoracic Society. These recommendations have paved the way for the measurement of nitric oxide to become a diagnostic tool for specific clinical applications. It would be desirable to develop similar guidelines for the sampling of other trace gases in exhaled breath, especially volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which reflect ongoing metabolism. The concentrations of water-soluble, blood-borne substances in exhaled breath are influenced by: (i) breathing patterns affecting gas exchange in the conducting airways; (ii) the concentrations in the tracheo-bronchial lining fluid; (iii) the alveolar and systemic concentrations of the compound. The classical Farhi equation takes only the alveolar concentrations into account. Real-time measurements of acetone in end-tidal breath under an ergometer challenge show characteristics which cannot be explained within the Farhi setting. Here we develop a compartment model that reliably captures these profiles and is capable of relating breath to the systemic concentrations of acetone. By comparison with experimental data it is inferred that the major part of variability in breath acetone concentrations (e.g., in response to moderate exercise or altered breathing patterns) can be attributed to airway gas exchange, with minimal changes of the underlying blood and tissue concentrations. Moreover, it is deduced that measured end-tidal breath concentrations of acetone determined during resting conditions and free breathing will be rather poor indicators for endogenous levels. Particularly, the current formulation includes the classical Farhi and the Scheid series inhomogeneity model as special limiting cases.Comment: 38 page

Atomically resolved phase transition of fullerene cations solvated in helium droplets

Helium has a unique phase diagram and below 25 bar it does not form a solid even at the lowest temperatures. Electrostriction leads to the formation of a solid layer of helium around charged impurities at much lower pressures in liquid and superfluid helium. These so-called ‘Atkins snowballs’ have been investigated for several simple ions. Here we form HenC60+ complexes with n exceeding 100 via electron ionization of helium nanodroplets doped with C60. Photofragmentation of these complexes is measured by merging a tunable narrow- bandwidth laser beam with the ions. A switch from red- to blueshift of the absorption frequency of HenC60+ on addition of He atoms at n=32 is associated with a phase transition in the attached helium layer from solid to partly liquid (melting of the Atkins snowball). Elaborate molecular dynamics simulations using a realistic force field and including quantum effects support this interpretation