ALBERT

Description: The equiatomic face-centered cubic high-entropy alloy CrMnFeCoNi was severely deformed at room and liquid nitrogen temperature by high-pressure torsion up to shear strains of about 170. Its microstructure was analyzed by X-ray line profile analysis and transmission electron microscopy and its texture by X-ray microdiffraction. Microhardness measurements, after severe plastic deformation, were done at room temperature. It is shown that at a shear strain of about 20, a steady state grain size of 24 nm, and a dislocation density of the order of 1016 m−2 is reached. The dislocations are mainly screw-type with low dipole character. Mechanical twinning at room temperature is replaced by a martensitic phase transformation at 77 K. The texture developed at room temperature is typical for sheared face-centered cubic nanocrystalline metals, but it is extremely weak and becomes almost random after high-pressure torsion at 77 K. The strength of the nanocrystalline material produced by high-pressure torsion at 77 K is lower than that produced at room temperature. The results are discussed in terms of different mechanisms of deformation, including dislocation generation and propagation, twinning, grain boundary sliding, and phase transformation.

Description: This study set out to investigate whether and how aesthetic evaluations of different types of symmetric, as well as abstract vs. representational patterns are modulated by art expertise. To this end, we utilized abstract asymmetric, symmetric, and “broken” patterns slightly deviating from symmetry, as well as more representational patterns resembling faces (also symmetric or broken). While it has already been shown that symmetry preference decreases with art expertise, it was still unclear whether an already established relationship between art expertise and preference for abstract over representational art can be similarly found as a preference for abstract over representational patterns, as these are non-art objects. Nevertheless, we found profound differences in aesthetic preferences between art experts and laypersons. While art experts rated asymmetric patterns higher than laypersons, as expected, they rated face-like patterns lower than laypersons. Also, laypersons rated all other types of patterns higher than asymmetric patterns, while art experts rated the other patterns similar or lower than asymmetric patterns. We found this both for liking and for interest ratings. As no differences between art experts and laypersons were found regarding memory recognition of new and old patterns, this effect is not likely due to differences in memory performance. In sum, this study further extends our knowledge about the influence of art expertise on aesthetic appreciation.

Description: The increasing share of volatile, renewable energy sources rises the demand for consumers who can shift their electrical power demand in time. In theory, the industrial sector offers great potential here, as it accounts for a large proportion of electricity demand. However, the heterogeneous structure of facilities in factories and the concerns of operators regarding data security and process control often prevent the implementation of demand side management measures in this sector. In order to counteract these obstacles, this paper presents a general mathematical framework for modelling and evaluating different types of inherent energy storages (IES) which typically can be found in industrial production systems. The method can be used to calculate the flexibility potential of the IES in a factory with focus on hysteresis-controlled devices and make the potential visible and usable for power grid stabilization. The method is applied in a typical production line from metalworking industry to provide live monitoring of the current flexibility potential of selected devices.

Description: Human donor milk (HDM) provides appropriate nutrition and offers protective functions in preterm infants. The aim of the study is to examine the impact of different storage conditions on the stability of the human breast milk peptidome. HDM was directly frozen at −80 °C or stored at −20 °C (120 h), 4 °C (6 h), or room temperature (RT for 6 or 24 h). The milk peptidome was profiled by mass spectrometry after peptide collection by ultrafiltration. Profiling of the peptidome covered 3587 peptides corresponding to 212 proteins. The variance of the peptidome increased with storage temperature and time and varied for different peptides. The highest impact was observed when samples were stored at RT. Smaller but significant effects were still observed in samples stored at 4 °C, while samples showed highest similarity to those immediately frozen at −80 °C when stored at −20 °C. Peptide structures after storage at RT for 24 h point to the increased activity of thrombin and other proteases cleaving proteins at lysine/arginine. The results point to an ongoing protein degradation/peptide production by milk-derived proteases. They underline the need for immediate freezing of HDM at −20 °C or −80 °C to prevent degradation of peptides and enable reproducible investigation of prospectively collected samples.

Description: Thiamine is an essential micronutrient, but delivery of the vitamin in supplements or foods is challenging because it is unstable under heat, alkaline pH, and processing/storage conditions. Although distributed as a crystalline ingredient, thiamine chloride hydrochloride (TClHCl) likely exists in the amorphous state, specifically in supplements. Amorphous solids are generally less chemically stable than their crystalline counterparts, which is an unexplored area related to thiamine delivery. The objective of this study was to document thiamine degradation in the amorphous state. TClHCl:polymer dispersions were prepared by lyophilizing solutions containing TClHCl and amorphous polymers (pectin and PVP (poly[vinylpyrrolidone])). Samples were stored in controlled temperature (30–60 °C) and relative humidity (11%) environments for 8 weeks and monitored periodically by X-ray diffraction (to document physical state) and HPLC (to quantify degradation). Moisture sorption, glass transition temperature (Tg), intermolecular interactions, and pH were also determined. Thiamine was more labile in the amorphous state than the crystalline state and when present in lower proportions in amorphous polymer dispersions, despite increasing Tg values. Thiamine was more stable in pectin dispersions than PVP dispersions, attributed to differences in presence and extent of intermolecular interactions between TClHCl and pectin. The results of this study can be used to control thiamine degradation in food products and supplements to improve thiamine delivery and decrease rate of deficiency.

Description: Soybean (Glycine max) allergy can be life threatening. A lack of causative immunotherapy of soybean allergy makes soybean avoidance indispensable. Detection methods are essential to verify allergen labeling and unintentional allergen cross contact during food manufacture. Here, we aimed at evaluating our previously described primers for loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) of multicopy gene ORF160b, combined with a lateral flow dipstick (LFD)-like detection, for their performance of soybean detection in complex food matrices. The results were compared with those obtained using quantitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) as the current standard of DNA-based allergen detection, and antibody-based commercial lateral flow device (LFD) as the current reference of protein-based rapid allergen detection. LAMP-LFD allowed unequivocal and reproducible detection of 10 mg/kg soybean incurred in three representative matrices (boiled sausage, chocolate, instant tomato soup), while clear visibility of positive test lines of two commercial LFD tests was between 10 and 102 mg/kg and depending on the matrix. Sensitivity of soybean detection in incurred food matrices, commercial retail samples, as well as various processed soybean products was comparable between LAMP-LFD and qPCR. The DNA-based LAMP-LFD proved to be a simple and low-technology soybean detection tool, showing sensitivity and specificity that is comparable or superior to the investigated commercial protein-based LFD.

Description: With more than 25 million people affected, heart failure (HF) is a global threat. As energy production pathways are known to play a pivotal role in HF, we sought here to identify key metabolic changes in ischemic- and non-ischemic HF by using a multi-OMICS approach. Serum metabolites and mRNAseq and epigenetic DNA methylation profiles were analyzed from blood and left ventricular heart biopsy specimens of the same individuals. In total we collected serum from n = 82 patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) and n = 51 controls in the screening stage. We identified several metabolites involved in glycolysis and citric acid cycle to be elevated up to 5.7-fold in DCM (p = 1.7 × 10−6). Interestingly, cardiac mRNA and epigenetic changes of genes encoding rate-limiting enzymes of these pathways could also be found and validated in our second stage of metabolite assessment in n = 52 DCM, n = 39 ischemic HF and n = 57 controls. In conclusion, we identified a new set of metabolomic biomarkers for HF. We were able to identify underlying biological cascades that potentially represent suitable intervention targets.

Description: This study investigated thiamine degradation in thiamine mononitrate (TMN):polymer solid dispersions, accounting for the physical state of the vitamin and the recrystallization tendency of TMN in these dispersions. Results were compared with those from solid dispersions containing a different salt form of thiamine (thiamine chloride hydrochloride (TClHCl)). TMN:polymer dispersions were prepared by lyophilizing solutions containing TMN and amorphous polymers (pectin and PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone)). Samples were stored in controlled temperature and relative humidity (RH) environments for eight weeks and monitored periodically by X-ray diffraction and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Moisture sorption, glass transition temperature (Tg), intermolecular interactions, and pH were also determined. Similar to the TClHCl:polymer dispersions, thiamine was more chemically labile in the amorphous state than the crystalline state, when present in lower proportions in amorphous TMN:polymer dispersions despite increasing Tg values, when environmental storage conditions exceeded the Tg of the dispersion, and when co-formulated with PVP compared to pectin. When thiamine remained as an amorphous solid, chemical stability of thiamine did not differ as a function of counterion present (TMN vs. TClHCl). However, storage at 75% RH led to hydration of thiamine:PVP dispersions, and the resulting pH of the solutions as a function of thiamine salt form led to a higher chemical stability in the acidic TClHCl samples than in the neutral TMN samples.

Description: In order to reduce the electricity consumption in our homes, a first step is to make the user aware of it. Raising such awareness, however, demands to pinpoint users of specific appliances that unnecessarily consume electricity. A retrofittable and scalable way to provide appliance-specific consumption is provided by Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring methods. These methods use a single electricity meter to record the aggregated consumption of all appliances and disaggregate it into the consumption of each individual appliance using advanced algorithms usually utilizing machine-learning approaches. Since these approaches are often supervised, labelled ground-truth data need to be collected in advance. Labeling on-phases of devices is already a tedious process, but, if further information about internal device states is required (e.g., intensity of an HVAC), manual post-processing quickly becomes infeasible. We propose a novel data collection and labeling framework for Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring. The framework is comprised of the hardware and software required to record and (semi-automatically) label the data. The hardware setup includes a smart-meter device to record aggregated consumption data and multiple socket meters to record appliance level data. Labeling is performed in a semi-automatic post-processing step guided by a graphical user interface, which reduced the labeling effort by 72% compared to a manual approach. We evaluated our framework and present the FIRED dataset. The dataset features uninterrupted, time synced aggregated, and individual device voltage and current waveforms with distinct state transition labels for a total of 101 days.

Description: The Western Palearctic is one of the most investigated regions for avian haemosporidian parasites (Haemoproteus, Plasmodium and Leucocytozoon), yet geographic gaps in our regional knowledge remain. Here, we report the first haemosporidian screening of the breeding birds from Sardinia (the second-largest Mediterranean Island and a biodiversity hotspot), and the first for the insular Mediterranean in general. We examined the occurrence of haemosporidians by amplifying their mtDNA cytb gene in 217 breeding birds, belonging to 32 species. The total prevalence of infected birds was 55.3%, and of the 116 haplotypes recovered, 84 were novel. Despite the high number of novel lineages, phylogenetic analysis did not highlight Sardinia-specific clades; instead, some Sardinian lineages were more closely related to lineages previously recovered from continental Europe. Host-parasite network analysis indicated a specialized host-parasite community. Binomial generalized linear models (GLMs), performed at the community level, suggested an elevational effect on haemosporidian occurrence probability (negative for Haemoproteus; positive for Leucocytozoon) likely due to differences in the abundance of insect vectors at different elevations. Furthermore, a GLM revealed that sedentary birds showed a higher probability of being infected by novel haplotypes and long-distance migrants showed a lower probability of novel haplotype infection. We hypothesize that the high diversity of haemosporidians is linked to the isolation of breeding bird populations on Sardinia. This study adds to the growing knowledge on haemosporidians lineage diversity and distribution in insular environments and presents new insights on potential host-parasite associations.