The applicability of animal health surveillance systems for post-market monitoring of potential adverse effects of genetically modified (GM) feed.

A facultative post market monitoring of potential health impacts of genetically modified (GM) feedstuffs on livestock consuming these feeds after pre-market risk assessment is under ongoing consideration. Within the IPAFEED database, scientific studies on health effects beyond performance in livestock and the results of a systematic search for evidence of outcome effects due to GM feed are consolidated. These outcomes were reviewed and checked for consistency in order to identify plausible syndromes suitable for conducting surveillance. The 24 selected studies showed no consistent changes in any health parameter. There were no repeated studies in any species by GM crop type and animal species. As such, there is insufficient evidence to inform the design of surveillance systems for detecting known adverse effects. Animal health surveillance systems have been proposed for the post market monitoring of potential adverse effects in animals. Such systems were evaluated for their applicability to the detection of hypothetical adverse effects and their strengths and weaknesses to detect syndromes of concern are presented. For known adverse effects, applied controlled post-market studies may yield conclusive and high-quality evidence. For detecting unknown adverse effects, the use of existing surveillance systems may still be of interest. A simulation tool developed within the project can be adapted and applied to existing surveillance systems to explore their applicability to the detection of potential adverse effects of GM feed.

Adaptive changes in photosynthetic performance and secondary metabolites during white dead nettle micropropagation.

The white dead nettle, Lamium album L., is an herb that has been successfully cultivated under in vitro conditions. The L. album micropropagation system offers a combination of factors (light intensity, temperature, carbon dioxide (CO2) level, humidity) that are limiting for plant growth and bioactive capacity. To get a better understanding of the mechanism of plant acclimation towards environmental changes, we performed a comparative investigation on primary and secondary metabolism in fully expanded L. album leaves during the consecutive growth in in situ, in vitro, and ex vitro conditions. Although the genetic identity was not affected, structural and physiological deviations were observed, and the level of bioactive compounds was modified. During in vitro cultivation, the L. album leaves became thinner with unaffected overall leaf organization, but with a reduced number of palisade mesophyll layers. Structural deviation of the thylakoid membrane system was detected. In addition, the photosystem 2 (PS2) electron transport was retarded, and the plants were more vulnerable to light damage as indicated by the decreased photoprotection ability estimated by fluorescence parameters. The related CO2 assimilation and transpiration rates were subsequently reduced, as were the content of essential oils and phenolics. Transfer of the plants ex vitro did not increase the number of palisade numbers, but the chloroplast structure and PS2 functionality were recovered. Strikingly, the rates of CO2 assimilation and transpiration were increased compared to in situ control plants. While the phenolics content reached normal levels during ex vitro growth, the essential oils remained low. Overall, our study broadens the understanding about the nature of plant responses towards environmental conditions.

A brief discussion about image quality and SEM methods for quantitative fractography of polymer composites.

The methodology for fracture analysis of polymeric composites with scanning electron microscopes (SEM) is still under discussion. Many authors prefer to use sputter coating with a conductive material instead of applying low-voltage (LV) or variable-pressure (VP) methods, which preserves the original surfaces. The present work examines the effects of sputter coating with 25 nm of gold on the topography of carbon-epoxy composites fracture surfaces, using an atomic force microscope. Also, the influence of SEM imaging parameters on fractal measurements is evaluated for the VP-SEM and LV-SEM methods. It was observed that topographic measurements were not significantly affected by the gold coating at tested scale. Moreover, changes on SEM setup leads to nonlinear outcome on texture parameters, such as fractal dimension and entropy values. For VP-SEM or LV-SEM, fractal dimension and entropy values did not present any evident relation with image quality parameters, but the resolution must be optimized with imaging setup, accompanied by charge neutralization.

High-resolution phonon study of the Ag(100) surface.

Using high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy the phonon dispersion of Ag(100) has been studied at two different sample temperatures of 86 and 300 K. The dominant feature in the spectra corresponds to the Rayleigh wave. Its full dispersion is determined along the ΓX high symmetry direction in the first and second Brillouin zones. The Rayleigh phonon maximum at the X point shows a redshift with increasing temperature. This is explained based on a surface anharmonicity with an anharmonicity constant of 0.014, comparable to the value reported for Cu(100). In the vicinity of the Γ point two additional phonon features have been discovered at about 110 and 160 cm(-1), which are tentatively assigned to high density of states features from the bulk phonon bands. However, the observed steep dispersion is in contrast to theoretical calculations. Along ΓX two surface resonance branches have been observed with maximum frequencies in the range of 90-110 cm(-1) near to the zone boundary. These branches agree with helium atom scattering data where available, but are not predicted by theory.

Grain formation modulated by molecular hydrogen evaporation in the interstellar medium.

A mechanism for grain growth and formation in the interstellar medium is proposed. In this mechanism, hydrogen molecules act as moderators. The process begins when they physisorb to the surface of the grain. Then, when a collision with a heavy atom occurs, the bonding energy is carried away by the evaporation of hydrogen molecules. Estimates are made of the number of hydrogen molecules bound to the surface of a grain that would be sufficient to facilitate this mechanism at 13 K for amorphous carbon and 8 K for a silicate grain.

O- and H-induced surface core level shifts on Ru(0001): prevalence of the additivity rule.

In previous work on adsorbate-induced surface core level shifts (SCLSs), the effects caused by O atom adsorption on Rh(111) and Ru(0001) were found to be additive: the measured shifts for first-layer Ru atoms depended linearly on the number of directly coordinated O atoms. Density-functional theory calculations quantitatively reproduced this effect, allowed separation of initial- and final-state contributions, and provided an explanation in terms of a roughly constant charge transfer per O atom. We have now conducted similar measurements and calculations for three well-defined adsorbate and coadsorbate layers containing O and H atoms: (1 × 1)-H, (2 × 2)-(O+H) and (2 × 2)-(O+3H) on Ru(0001). As H is stabilized in fcc sites in the prior two structures and in hcp sites in the latter, this enables us to not only study coverage and coadsorption effects on the adsorbate-induced SCLSs, but also the sensitivity to similar adsorption sites. Remarkably good agreement is obtained between experiment and calculations for the energies and geometries of the layers, as well as for all aspects of the SCLS values. The additivity of the next-neighbor adsorbate-induced SCLSs is found to prevail even for the coadsorbate structures. While this confirms the suggested use of SCLSs as fingerprints of the adsorbate configuration, their sensitivity is further demonstrated by the slightly different shifts unambiguously determined for H adsorption in either fcc or hcp hollow sites.

Two bonding configurations of acetylene on Si(001)-(2 x 1): a combined high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy and density functional theory study.

Two coexisting adsorption states of molecularly adsorbed acetylene on the Si(001)-(2 x 1) surface have been identified by a combined study based on the high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy and density functional computations. Seven possible adsorbate-substrate structures are considered theoretically including their full vibrational analysis. Based on a significantly enhanced experimental resolution, the assignment of 15 C2H2- and C2D2-derived vibrational modes identifies a dominant di-sigma bonded molecule adsorbed on top of a single Si-Si dimer. Additionally there is clear evidence for a second minority species which is di-sigma bonded between two Si-Si dimers within the same dimer row (end-bridge geometry). The possible symmetries of the adsorbate complexes are discussed based on the specular and off-specular vibrational measurements. They suggest lower than ideal C(2v) and C(s) symmetries for on-top and end-bridge species, respectively. At low coverages the symmetry reductions might be lifted.

From residue matching patterns to protein folding topographies: general model and bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor.

A coarse-grained model for protein-folding dynamics is introduced based on a discretized representation of torsional modes. The model, based on the Ramachandran map of the local torsional potential surface and the class (hydrophobic/polar/neutral) of each residue, recognizes patterns of both torsional conformations and hydrophobic-polar contacts, with tolerance for imperfect patterns. It incorporates empirical rates for formation of secondary and tertiary structure. The method yields a topological representation of the evolving local torsional configuration of the folding protein, modulo the basins of the Ramachandran map. The folding process is modeled as a sequence of transitions from one contact pattern to another, as the torsional patterns evolve. We test the model by applying it to the folding process of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor, obtaining a kinetic description of the transitions between the contact patterns visited by the protein along the dominant folding pathway. The kinetics and detailed balance make it possible to invert the result to obtain a coarse topographic description of the potential energy surface along the dominant folding pathway, in effect to go backward or forward between a topological representation of the chain conformation and a topographical description of the potential energy surface governing the folding process. As a result, the strong structure-seeking character of bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor and the principal features of its folding pathway are reproduced in a reasonably quantitative way.

Long-time dynamics of Met-enkephalin: comparison of theory with Brownian dynamics simulations.

A recent theory for the long time dynamics of flexible chain molecules is applied for the first time to a peptide of biological importance, the neurotransmitter met-enkephalin. The dynamics of met-enkephalin is considerably more complicated than that of the previously studied glycine oligomers; met-enkephalin contains the interesting motions of phenyl groups and of side chains relative to the backbone, motions that are present in general flexible peptides. The theory extends the generalized Rouse (GR) model used to study the dynamics of polymers by providing a systematic procedure for including the contributions from the memory function matrices neglected in the GR theory. The new method describes the dynamics by time correlation functions instead of individual trajectories. These correlation functions are analytically expressed in terms of a set of equilibrium averages and the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the diffusion operator. The predictions of the theory are compared with Brownian dynamics (BD) simulations, so that both theory and simulation use identical potential functions and solvent models. The theory thus contains no adjustable parameters. Inclusion of the memory function contributions profoundly affects the dynamics. The theory produces very good agreement with the BD simulations for the global motions of met-enkephalin. It also correctly predicts the long-time relaxation rate for local motions.

Electro-audio-visual method for diagnosis and treatment.

This method can be applied to the non-drug treatment of diseases. It provides an exact evaluation of the healing effect by keeping the acupuncture point from overload. This method is realized by a bistable/monostable square wave oscillator. The electrical pulses for the treatment of the acupuncture point are delivered from the noninverted oscillator output. Their electrical parameters: frequency, pulse duration, rise time and coefficient of filling depend on the constantly changeable biophysical parameters of the acupuncture point, such as complex skin impedance (z), and total infrared skin thermal emission (te). Pulses from the inverted oscillator output are provided to the acoustic and visual channels. In the acoustic channel, the pulses are controlled only by amplitude. The visual output channel pulses apply to the amplitude- frequency circuit, where an amplitude-frequency analysis is performed. The output pulses of three electrical filters (low, middle and high frequency), control three sources of light, respectively red, green, and blue. Three colors blend on the white screen, as the color picture is modulated by the two biophysical parameters of the acupuncture point. These parameters are in a constant dynamics. The audio channel output information is delivered to the audio-information gate of the patient, reaching the Central Nervous System (CNS). The video channel output information is applied to the video-information gate and then to the patient's CNS, preparing it for appropriate therapeutical programs.

Slow force recovery after long-duration exercise: metabolic and activation factors in muscle fatigue.

To investigate the roles of metabolic and nonmetabolic factors in human muscle fatigue, two relatively brief nonexhausting exercise protocols that produced similar levels of moderate fatigue were used: short-duration exercise (SDE; 2-min sustained maximal voluntary contraction) and long-duration exercise (LDE; 15- to 20-min intermittent exercise). After exercise and during recovery, multiple potential mechanisms of fatigue were studied from measurements of voluntary, twitch, and tetanic forces; intracellular metabolites (using 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy); and electromyographic signals. The major findings were as follows. 1) After SDE, fatigue closely correlated with increased [Pi]. Both force and [Pi] recovered within approximately 5 min after exercise. 2) After LDE, force recovered slowly, with significant fatigue beyond 15 min after exercise; however, recovery of [Pi] was not slowed. 3) Electromyographic signals were little affected by either protocol. These findings suggest that multiple mechanisms contribute to moderate fatigue. Fatigue from SDE may arise primarily from metabolic mechanisms, whereas fatigue from LDE involves an additional slowly recovering nonmetabolic mechanism that may arise from impaired activation, beyond the cell membrane, at the level of excitation contraction-coupling.

Motor unit potentials at high muscle activity recorded by selective electrodes.

The selectivity of different kinds of electrodes for recording of single motor unit potentials was theoretically evaluated. A new type of selective "branched", superficial and subcutaneous wire electrodes was described. The discharge of single alpha motoneurons during movements against elastic resistance was investigated studying motor unit potentials in m. biceps brachii and m.interosseus dorsalis l. Depending on the velocity of the movement, the following pattern of discharge was found: 1) At slow velocity the frequency of discharge increased and new motor units were recruited. 2) At higher velocity the frequency of discharge was constant. The muscle force increased only when new motor units were recruited. 3) At very quick ballistic movements the frequency of discharge decreased during the movement.