Enhancement of Cellular Antioxidant-Defence Preserves Diastolic Dysfunction via Regulation of Both Diastolic Zn 2+

We examined whether cellular antioxidant-defence enhancement preserves diastolic dysfunction via regulation of both diastolic intracellular free Zn2+ and Ca2+ levels (Zn2+i and Ca2+i) levels N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) treatment (4 weeks) of diabetic rats preserved altered cellular redox state and also prevented diabetes-induced tissue damage and diastolic dysfunction with marked normalizations in the resting Zn2+i and Ca2+i. The kinetic parameters of transient changes in Zn2+ and Ca2+ under electrical stimulation and the spatiotemporal properties of Zn2+ and Ca2+ sparks in resting cells are found to be normal in the treated diabetic group. Biochemical analysis demonstrated that the NAC treatment also antagonized hyperphosphorylation of cardiac ryanodine receptors (RyR2) and significantly restored depleted protein levels of both RyR2 and calstabin2. Incubation of cardiomyocytes with 10 µM ZnCl2 exerted hyperphosphorylation in RyR2 as well as higher phosphorphorylations in both PKA and CaMKII in a concentration-dependent manner, similar to hyperglycemia. Our present data also showed that a subcellular oxidative stress marker, NF-κB, can be activated if the cells are exposed directly to Zn2+. We thus for the first time report that an enhancement of antioxidant defence in diabetics via directly targeting heart seems to prevent diastolic dysfunction due to modulation of RyR2 macromolecular-complex thereby leading to normalized Ca2+i and Zn2+i in cardiomyocytes

Probabilistic assessment of deep geothermal resources in the Cornubian Batholith and their development in Cornwall and Devon, United Kingdom

Geothermal energy could play a pivotal role in decarbonisation as it can provide clean, constant base-load energy which is weather independent. With a growing demand for clean energy and improved energy security, geothermal resources must be quantified to reduce exploration risk. This study aims to quantify the untapped resource-potential of the Cornubian Batholith as a geothermal resource for power generation and direct heat use. Recent field work, laboratory measurements and petrophysical characterization provides a newly compiled dataset which is inclusive of subsurface samples taken from the production well of the United Downs Deep Geothermal Power Project. Deterministic and probabilistic calculations are undertaken to evaluate the: total heat in place, recoverable resource, technical potential and potential carbon savings. The Cornubian Batholith is considered a petrothermal system which may require stimulation as an enhanced geothermal system. This study shows the batholith has significant heat stored of 8988 EJ (P50), corresponding to 366 EJ recoverable and a technical potential of 556 GWth. When evaluating the potential for power generation (i.e., electricity) the P50 is 31 GWe. The total carbon savings when generating electricity (P50) equates to 106 Mt

Hydro-Thermal Modeling for Geothermal Energy Extraction from Soultz-sous-Forêts, France

The deep geothermal energy project at Soultz-sous-Forêts is located in the Upper Rhine Graben, France. As part of the Multidisciplinary and multi-contact demonstration of EGS exploration and Exploitation Techniques and potentials (MEET) project, this study aimed to evaluate the possibility of extracting higher amounts of energy from the existing industrial infrastructure. To achieve this objective, the effect of reinjecting fluid at lower temperature than the current fluid injection temperature of 70 °C was modeled and the drop in the production wellhead temperature for 100 years of operation was quantified. Two injection-production rate scenarios were considered and compared for their effect on overall production wellhead temperature. For each scenario, reinjection temperatures of 40, 50, and 60 °C were chosen and compared with the 70 °C injection case. For the lower production rate scenario, the results show that the production wellhead temperature is approximately 1–1.5 °C higher than for the higher production rate scenario after 100 years of operation. In conclusion, no significant thermal breakthrough was observed with the applied flow rates and lowered injection temperatures even after 100 years of operation

Serum testosterone levels and Colonic Diverticula

Background: Elderly men have a high risk of metabolic syndrome, including an increased risk of obesity. Whether low testosterone is associated with diverticular disease of the colon (DDC) risk independent of metabolic co-factors is not clear. Aim: This study was conducted this study to reveal the possible link between serum testosterone levels and colonic diverticula. Methods: This study was conducted between May 2018 and December 2018, total 208 subjects were enrolled for the study at a university hospital, Turkey. At total, 85 men with DDC were enrolled for the study. DDC was defined by non-contrast CT scan with colonoscopic examination. Control group (123 subjects without DDC; the mean age was 54.5 ±14.5) were selected from otherwise healthy men. Results: Of the 85 men with DDC, the mean age was 60.8 ± 13.5 years. Lower levels of total testosterone were associated with a 25% increased odds of prevalent DDC on adjusted analyses. Importantly, lower levels of total testosterone remained strongly associated with prevalent DDC, even in men with normal glucose levels (p=0.01). Conclusion: Decreasing levels of total testosterone, even within normal range, are independently associated with DDC in elderly age. Androgen deficiency may have an important role in the development of DDC in men and provide a potential novel target for DDC prevention

National Narratives, Comparative Moves: Tracing Literary Connections between Anglophone Postcolonial Literatures and Modern Turkish Literature

This dissertation examines Anglophone postcolonial literatures and modern Turkish literature through their representations of the idea of empire and the nation-state. By employing a comparative framework that brings together Anglophone postcolonial literatures and modern Turkish literature, this project strives to relocate the focus of postcolonial discourse from the colonizer-colonized divide to a broader frame of uneven power relations, both past and present. In doing so, it examines paradigms such as the independence struggle, the nation-state, and modernization that are vital to an understanding not only of the imperial past but also of the global present. The Anglophone postcolonial canon and that of modern Turkish literature bear similarities in their representations of political and social structures of empire and the nation-state, while they differ strikingly in their approach to the cultural heritage of empire after the realization of the nation-state. This difference leads us to question the role of the cultural re-imagination of empire in the creation of national belonging and culture in each case. The different attitudes adopted by the two sides influence not only their relationship with an imperial past but also how they position themselves in the globalized world. By focusing on a representative range of Anglophone postcolonial novels – by Raja Rao, V.S. Naipaul, Chimamanda Adichie, and Nuruddin Farah – in juxtaposition with canonical Turkish novels by Halide Edib, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, Adalet Agaoglu and Orhan Pamuk, I argue that, despite Turkey’s history as a former imperial center itself, these two literary traditions overlap in their representation of political and social structures of the imperial past vis-à-vis the nation-state