A Novel Anti-Inflammatory d-Peptide Inhibits Disease Phenotype Progression in an ALS Mouse Model

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterised by selective neuronal death in the brain stem and spinal cord. The cause is unknown, but an increasing amount of evidence has firmly certified that neuroinflammation plays a key role in ALS pathogenesis. Neuroinflammation is a pathological hallmark of several neurodegenerative disorders and has been implicated as driver of disease progression. Here, we describe a treatment study demonstrating the therapeutic potential of a tandem version of the well-known all-d-peptide RD2 (RD2RD2) in a transgenic mouse model of ALS (SOD1*G93A). Mice were treated intraperitoneally for four weeks with RD2RD2 vs. placebo. SOD1*G93A mice were tested longitudinally during treatment in various behavioural and motor coordination tests. Brain and spinal cord samples were investigated immunohistochemically for gliosis and neurodegeneration. RD2RD2 treatment in SOD1*G93A mice resulted not only in a reduction of activated astrocytes and microglia in both the brain stem and lumbar spinal cord, but also in a rescue of neurons in the motor cortex. RD2RD2 treatment was able to slow progression of the disease phenotype, especially the motor deficits, to an extent that during the four weeks treatment duration, no significant progression was observed in any of the motor experiments. Based on the presented results, we conclude that RD2RD2 is a potential therapeutic candidate against ALS.     

Determination of trace elements in zeolites by laser ablation ICP-MS

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using a quadrupole-based mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-QMS) was applied for the analysis of powdered zeolites (microporous aluminosilicates) used for clean-up procedures. For the quantitative determination of trace element concentrations three geological reference materials, granite NIM-G, lujavrite NIM-L and syenite NIM-S, from the National Institute for Metallurgy (South Africa) with a matrix composition corresponding to the zeolites were employed. Both the zeolites and reference materials were fused with a lithium borate mixture to increase the homogeneity and to eliminate mineralogical effects. In order to compare two different approaches for the quantification of analytical results in LA-ICP-MS relative sensitivity coefficients (RSCs) of chemical elements and calibration curves were measured using the geostandards. The experimentally obtained RSCs are in the range of 0.2-6 for all elements of interest. Calibration curves for trace elements were measured without and with Li or Ti as internal standard element. With a few exceptions the regression coefficients of the calibration curves are better than 0.993 with internal standardization. NIM-G granite reference material was employed to evaluate the accuracy of the technique. Therefore, the measured concentrations were corrected with RSCs which were determined using lujavrite reference material NIM-L. This quantification method provided analytical results with deviations of 1-11% from the recommended and proposed values in granite reference material NIM-G, except for Co, Cs, La and Tb. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the determination of the trace element concentration (n = 5) is about 1% to 6% using Ti as internal standard element. Detection limits of LA-ICP-QMS in the lower microg/g range (from 0.03 microg/g for Lu, Ta and Th to 7.3 microg/g for Cu, with the exception of La) have been achieved for all elements of interest. Under the laser ablation conditions employed (lambda: 266 nm, repetition frequency: 10 Hz, pulse energy: 10 mJ, laser power density: 6 x 10(9) W/cm2) fractionation effects of the determined elements relative to the internal standard element Ti were not observed.     

Octahedral Group 4 Metal Complexes That Contain Amine, Amido, and Aminopyridinato Ligands: Synthesis, Structure, and Application in alpha-Olefin Oligo- and Polymerization

The reaction of trimethylsilyl-substituted 2-aminopyridines with mixed chloro(dialkylamido)metal complexes (titanium and zirconium) leads via amine elimination to octahedral group 4 metal complexes that contain amine, amido, and aminopyridinato ligands. The X-ray crystal structure analyses of (4-Me-TMS-APy)(NMe(2))(HNMe(2))TiCl(2) (1) (crystallographic data: P2(1)/c (No. 14), monoclinic, a = 16.754(2) ?, b = 14.395(2) ?, c = 17.890(3) ?, beta = 110.28(1) degrees, Z = 8) and (6-Me-TMS-APy)(NEt(2))(HNEt(2))ZrCl(2) (2) (crystallographic data: P2(1)/n (No. 14) monoclinic, a = 10.125(1) ?, b = 16.331(1) ?, c = 15.276(2) ?, beta = 93.90(1), Z = 4) prove the compounds to be mononuclear with a cisoid arrangement of the two chloro ligands embedded in a reactive pocket determined by the steric demand of the three nitrogen containing ligands. Oligo- and polymerization studies with propene and 1-butene reveal the following results. First, 1 is a remarkably active precatalyst in contrast to the very low activity of 2. Second, MAO, a 1:1 mixture of i-Bu(3)Al/B(C(6)F(5))(3) (homogeneous polymerization) and ethylaluminum sesquichloride (if 1 is incorporated in a MgCl(2)-matrix) have shown to be the most active cocatalysts. Third, the polymers and oligomers are atactic.     

Zur Kinetik der Mahlprozesse

Zusammenfassung Unter Verwendung kontinuierlicher Korngrößen-Häufigkeitsverteilungen werden die allgemeinen Rückstandsgleichungen für Mahlungsprozesse 1. und 2. Ordnung aufgestellt und im Hinblick auf ihren allgemeinen mathematischen Charakter diskutiert. Durch Spezialisierung der den Mahleffekt beschreibenden Funktionh (x, x) werden die von Theimer für Prozesse 1. Ordnung mit rein exponentieller Zeitabhängigkeit der Rückstände gefundenen Beziehungen in der kontinuierlichen Darstellung nachgeprüft bzw. erweitert und präzisiert. Sodann wird gezeigt, daß Mahlprozesse mit einer allgemeineren exponentiellen Zeitabhängigkeit der Rückstände als spezielle Mahlungen 2. Ordnung interpretiert werden können. Die Spezialisierung ist analog derjenigen bei den rein exponentiellen Mahlungen 1. Ordnung mit dem Zusatz, daß sich die Abhängigkeit der Mahlfunktionh (x, x) von der augenblicklichen Zusammensetzung des Mahlgutes durch einen korngrößenabhängigen Faktor in der Formh (x, x, u) H (u) = (x, x) (u) H (u) wiedergeben läßt, wodurchh (x, x) = (x, x) (u) H (u) du wird. Dieser Ansatz führt auf die RückstandsformelR (x, t) =R (x, 0) exp [- w (x) v^* (t)]. Die sinterungsfreien Rosin-Rammlerschen MahlungenR (x, t)=G exp (-bxⁿ) gehören zu diesen Prozessen, da, wie abschließend gezeigt wird, der Dispersitätsparametern bei reiner Zerkleineruugsmahlung sich mit der Mahldauer nicht ändern kann.     

Detection of stress whitening in plastics with the help of X-ray dark field imaging

The processing of thermoplastics can induce a wide range of defects such as stress whitening, cavitation and porosity, which can adversely affect the reliability of the final products. Hence, fast and effective non-destructive detection methods for such defects are highly important for quality assurance on production lines. In this paper, X-ray dark field imaging is presented as a new non-destructive testing method that allows the visualization of stress whitening or cavitation efficiently. The performance of the method is demonstrated for the case of an injection-moulded polyvinylidene fluoride part that exhibits stress whitening. Whereas the stress whitening could not be detected by conventional X-ray imaging, it was localized by an X-ray dark field image acquired within a few minutes. Once the precise location of the stress whitening was known, it was possible to verify the result by local micro X-ray computed tomography and by a micro section image.     

On Fundamental Domains and Volumes of Hyperbolic Coxeter–Weyl Groups

We present a simple method for determining the shape of fundamental domains of generalized modular groups related to Weyl groups of hyperbolic Kac?CMoody algebras. These domains are given as subsets of certain generalized upper half planes, on which the Weyl groups act via generalized modular transformations. Our construction only requires the Cartan matrix of the underlying finite-dimensional Lie algebra and the associated Coxeter labels as input information. We present a simple formula for determining the volume of these fundamental domains. This allows us to re-produce in a simple manner the known values for these volumes previously obtained by other methods.