The role of flavor and fragrance chemicals in TRPA1 (transient receptor potential cation channel, member A1) activity associated with allergies

TRPA1 has been proposed to be associated with diverse sensory allergic reactions, including thermal (cold) nociception, hearing and allergic inflammatory conditions. Some naturally occurring compounds are known to activate TRPA1 by forming a Michael addition product with a cysteine residue of TRPA1 through covalent protein modification and, in consequence, to cause allergic reactions. The anti-allergic property of TRPA1 agonists may be due to the activation and subsequent desensitization of TRPA1 expressed in sensory neurons. In this review, naturally occurring TRPA1 antagonists, such as camphor, 1,8-cineole, menthol, borneol, fenchyl alcohol and 2-methylisoborneol, and TRPA1 agonists, including thymol, carvacrol, 1’S-1’- acetoxychavicol acetate, cinnamaldehyde, α-n-hexyl cinnamic aldehyde and thymoquinone as well as isothiocyanates and sulfides are discussed

Behavioral Economics and the Public Sector

This thesis consists of four essays dealing with topics that are relevant for the public sector. The essays cover diverse issues of economics partly overlapping with political science. The topics reach from the taxation of labor over monetary policy to preferences over voting institutions. Throughout this thesis it is, in contrast to classical economics, not assumed that humans are necessarily fully rational. Once full rationality is no longer assumed, experiments become an important tool to learn about human behavior. Consequently, most of the work in this thesis makes use of economic experiments

On-chip characterization of THz Schottky diodes using non-contact probes

We present non-contact characterization of GaAs Schottky contacts in the 140-220 GHz band. The non-contact probing technique utilizes planar on-chip antennas that are monolithically integrated with the coplanar waveguide environment housing the Schottky diode under test. The diode contact is fabricated through a 6 mask lithographic process with a 5 μm deep-trench under the contact to minimize parasitics and extend operation into the THz band. A quasi-optical link between the VNA ports and on-chip probe antennas enables efficient signal coupling into the test device. The non-contact probe station is calibrated using on-chip quick-offset-short method and the effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated for integrated diodes for under various bias conditions. © 2016 IEEE