Many-to-many location-routing with inter-hub transport and multi-commodity pickup-and-delivery

In this paper, we consider a variant of the many-to-many location-routing problem, where hub facilities have to be located and customers with either pickup or delivery demands have to be combined in vehicle routes. In addition, several commodities and inter-hub transport processes are taken into account. A practical application of the problem can be found in the timber-trade industry, where companies provide their services using hub-and-spoke networks. We present a mixed-integer linear model for the problem and use CPLEX 12.4 to solve small-scale instances. Furthermore, a multi-start procedure based on a fix-and-optimize scheme and a genetic algorithm are introduced that efficiently construct promising solutions for medium- and large-scale instances. A computational performance analysis shows that the presented methods are suitable for practical application.     

Structural analysis of random propylene-ethylene copolymers

Structural properties of random propylene ethylene copolymers with low ethylene contents between 0 % and 11 mol % were investigated using mainly X-ray techniques. One of the essential issues of this paper is that a cocrystallization of the comonomer units does not take place. This is based on the following observations: The long period and the thickness of the crystalline lamellae decrease with increasing ethylene content. The electron density difference between crystalline and amorphous phase, however, as determined with the invariant, does not show any changes. The heat of fusion, normalized to the degree of crystallinity, does not decrease. This leads to the conclusion that the observed changes are not due to an incorporation of the ethylene units as defects, but to a reduced extension of the crystalline regions, now confined by the ethylene units which interrupt the helical chain conformation. The γ-modification, detectable by means of wide-angle X-ray diffractometry from an ethylene content of 5 mol % on, partially converted into the α-modification on annealing.     

An amphibious vibration-driven microrobot with a piezoelectric actuator

This article concerns microrobots for solid and liquid environments. A short overview of microrobotics, suitable actuators and energy systems is given. The principles of terrestrial and aquatic locomotion are discussed and illustrated with examples from the literature on robotics. The state of the art with a focus on piezo microrobots for solid and liquid environments is presented. Furthermore, we report an amphibious prototype, which can move on flat solid ground and on the free surface of water. The design, characteristic parameters and experiments on locomotion are described. The robot is characterized by a light and simple design and can perform twodimensional locomotion in different environments with a speed up to 30 mm/s. An analytical model to predict the maximum carrying capacity of the robot on water is solved numerically.     

The impact of blood on liver metabolite profiling – a combined metabolomic and proteomic approach

Metabolomics has entered the well‐established omic sciences as it is an indispensable information resource to achieve a global picture of biological systems. The aim of the present study was to estimate the influence of blood removal from mice liver as part of sample preparation for metabolomic and proteomic studies. For this purpose, perfused mice liver tissue (i.e. with blood removed) and unperfused mice liver tissue (i.e. containing blood) were compared by two‐dimensional gas chromatography time of flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC‐TOFMS) for the metabolomic part, and by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC‐MS/MS) for the proteomic part. Our data showed significant differences between the unperfused and perfused liver tissue samples. Furthermore, we also observed an overlap of blood and tissue metabolite profiles in our data, suggesting that the perfusion of liver tissue prior to analysis is beneficial for an accurate metabolic profile of this organ. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of the 5p fine structure splitting of 6Li by light shift spectroscopy

We have determined the fine structure splitting of the 5p state of fermionic Lithium ⁶Li by laser spectroscopy of the 3s-5p transition in a vapor cell. The transition is monitored by observing the light shift of the 3s-state caused by the coupling to the 5p state. The value of 607.7 MHz agrees well with the theoretical prediction and establishes its first experimental determination. We have also determined the frequency ratio between the 3s-5p transition and the lithium-6 D2 line with a commercial high resolution wave meter and present values with improved precision relative to previous measurements.     

Identification of the Isomeric Dideutero p-Benzoquinones by 13C-H and 13C-D Coupling Constants

2,5- and 2,6-dideuterobenzoquinone-1,4 were prepared by a direct catalytic (NaBD₄/PdCl₂) exchange of bromine in the corresponding dibromo derivatives and the subsequent oxidation with Ag₂O. The structure of the products was unambiguously established by proton-carbon and deuteron-carbon splitting pattern of their NMR spectra.     

On‐line process monitoring of coffee roasting by resonant laser ionisation time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry: bridging the gap from industrial batch roasting to flavour formation inside an individual coffee bean

Resonance‐enhanced multiphoton ionisation time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (REMPI‐TOFMS) enables the fast and sensitive on‐line monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOC) formed during coffee roasting. On the one hand, REMPI‐TOFMS was applied to monitor roasting gases of an industrial roaster (1500 kg/h capacity), with the aim of determining the roast degree in real‐time from the transient chemical signature of VOCs. On the other hand, a previously developed μ‐probe sampling device was used to analyse roasting gases from individual coffee beans. The aim was to explore fundamental processes at the individual bean level and link these to phenomena at the batch level. The pioneering single‐bean experiments were conducted in two configurations: (1) VOCs formed inside a bean were sampled in situ, i.e. via a drilled μ‐hole, from the interior, using a μ‐probe (inside). (2) VOCs were sampled on‐line in close vicinity of a single coffee bean's surface (outside). The focus was on VOCs originating from hydrolysis and pyrolytic degradation of chlorogenic acids, like feruloyl quinic acid and caffeoyl quinic acid. The single bean experiments revealed interesting phenomena. First, differences in time–intensity profiles between inside versus outside (time shift of maximum) were observed and tentatively linked to the permeability of the bean's cell walls material. Second, sharp bursts of some VOCs were observed, while others did exhibit smooth release curves. It is believed that these reflect a direct observation of bean popping during roasting. Finally, discrimination between Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora was demonstrated based on high‐mass volatile markers, exclusively present in spectra of Coffea arabica. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

U6 is unsuitable for normalization of serum miRNA levels in patients with sepsis or liver fibrosis

MicroRNA (miRNA) levels in serum have recently emerged as potential novel biomarkers for various diseases. miRNAs are routinely measured by standard quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR); however, the high sensitivity of qPCR demands appropriate normalization to correct for nonbiological variation. Presently, RNU6B (U6) is used for data normalization of circulating miRNAs in many studies. However, it was suggested that serum levels of U6 themselves might differ between individuals. Therefore, no consensus has been reached on the best normalization strategy in ‘circulating miRNA''. We analyzed U6 levels as well as levels of spiked-in SV40-RNA in sera of 44 healthy volunteers, 203 intensive care unit patients and 64 patients with liver fibrosis. Levels of U6 demonstrated a high variability in sera of healthy donors, patients with critical illness and liver fibrosis. This high variability could also be confirmed in sera of mice after the cecal ligation and puncture procedure. Most importantly, levels of circulating U6 were significantly upregulated in sera of patients with critical illness and sepsis compared with controls and correlated with established markers of inflammation. In patients with liver fibrosis, U6 levels were significantly downregulated. In contrast, levels of spiked-in SV40 displayed a significantly higher stability both in human cohorts (healthy, critical illness, liver fibrosis) and in mice. Thus, we conclude that U6 levels in the serum are dysregulated in a disease-specific manner. Therefore, U6 should not be used for data normalization of circulating miRNAs in inflammatory diseases and previous studies using this approach should be interpreted with caution. Further studies are warranted to identify specific regulatory processes of U6 levels in sepsis and liver fibrosis.     

Knowledge-Based Design of a Biosensor to Quantify Localized ERK Activation in Living Cells

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