Characterization of Fatty Acids as Biobased Organic Materials for Latent Heat Storage.

This work aims to characterize phase change materials (PCM) for thermal energy storage in buildings (thermal comfort). Fatty acids, biobased organic PCM, are attractive candidates for integration into active or passive storage systems for targeted application. Three pure fatty acids (capric, myristic and palmitic acids) and two eutectic mixtures (capric-myristic and capric-palmitic acids) are studied in this paper.

Impact of Vaping Regimens on Electronic Cigarette Efficiency.

Most recent studies on electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) have been carried out using vaping regimens consistent with mouth-to-lung inhalation (MTL) and not with direct-to-lung (DTL) inhalation. This paper aimed to characterizing the influence of inhalation properties (puff duration, puff volume, airflow rate) on the mass of vaporized e-liquid (MVE). Because the literature on DTL is non-existent, an intense vaping regimen consistent with DTL inhalation (i.

Experimental Method of Emission Generation Calibration Based on Reference Liquids Characterization.

This work focuses on an experimental study of the influence of e-liquid composition on the mass of vaporized e-liquid after standardized emission generation using a U-SAV (Universal System for Analysis of Vaping) vaping machine. All the experiments were based on the use of a Cubis 1Ω clearomiser and on the standard protocol for electronic cigarettes emission generation. Currently, there is no standardized method available to calibrate the emission generations of electronic cigarettes.

Influence of Coil Power Ranges on the E-Liquid Consumption in Vaping Devices.

As electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) represent a new constantly evolving product category, the systematic analysis of the developed devices and the e-liquid vaporization is challenging. Indeed, understanding how e-cigarettes work and the role of key parameters in the process are major issues. This work focuses on an experimental study of how the power supplied by the battery to the atomizer coil influences e-liquid consumption.

[Influence of Body Mass Index on management and prognosis of women with endometrial cancer].

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of surgery, postoperative morbidity and prognosis of patients with endometrial cancer in function of the body mass index (BMI).

Patients And Methods: The study cohort consisted of consecutive women undergoing surgery for endometrial cancer in our institution between January 2000, and September 2012. Individual records of all patients were reviewed and analyzed.

Massive and long-lasting decrease in vitamin C plasma levels as a consequence of extracorporeal circulation.

Objective: The use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is suggested to induce oxidative stress, reflected by an imbalance between prooxidant and antioxidant substances. The majority of studies published have either focused on only one aspect (prooxidant or antioxidant side) or covered only a short observation period. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the long-term effects of CPB on the balance of prooxidative markers and antioxidant substances in one single group of patients, being able to estimate the degree of oxidative stress.

[Reliability of imaging modalities for preoperative assessment of patients with endometrial carcinoma].

Objectives: To investigate the value of transvaginal sonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for the preoperative staging of endometrial cancer.

Patients And Methods: The patient group consisted of consecutive women undergoing surgery for endometrial cancer in our institution between January 2000, and September 2012. Clinical data included comorbidities, BMI (kg/m(2)), preoperative imaging findings, surgical procedures, surgical International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage, histological grade, relevant prognostic factors.

[The impact of therapeutic management on survival of elderly women with endometrial cancer].

Objectives: We aimed to determine whether patients characteristics, clinicopathologic features and survival rates were worse in elderly women with endometrial cancer.

Patients And Methods: The study cohort consisted of consecutive women undergoing surgery for endometrial cancer in our institution from January 2000 to October 2011. Patients were divided by age into two groups: patients aged 65 to 79 and those aged 80 or older.

[Value of fine-needle aspiration and extemporaneous examination in thyroid surgery. A prospective study of 1235 fine-needle aspirations and extemporaneous examinations in 846 patients].

We report a prospective study conducted from 1993 through 1995 in 846 patients (mainly women) consulting for a thyroid nodule. There were 465 multinodular goiters and 373 single nodules. The clinical diagnosis was obvious in 8 patients who were excluded.

Interactions of iron-anthracycline complexes with living cells: a microspectrofluorometric study.

The interaction of iron-anthracycline complexes with tumor cells has been studied using microspectrofluorometry. The anthracyclines used were adriamycin, 4'-O-tetrahydropyranyladriamycin and daunorubicin. In every case, a 1:3 Fe(III)-anthracycline complex is formed.

Free radical production during photo-assisted NADPH reduction of four alpha-nitroarenofurans.

Generation of radical anions during NADPH reduction of four mutagenic and genotoxic alpha-nitroarenofurans was examined. ESR showed that free radicals were generated during reduction solely in the presence of light. Computer simulations of ESR spectra were in good agreement with the experimental ones.

Influence of methoxy and nitro groups in the oxidative metabolism of naphtho[2,1-b]furan.

In the present study, we have investigated the role of methoxy and nitro groups in the oxidative metabolism of naphtho[2,1-b]furan. Hepatic microsomes were used to investigate the aerobic metabolism of naphtho[2,1-b]furan (compound A), 2-nitro-naphtho[2,1-b]furan (compound B) and 7-methoxy-naphtho [2,1-b]furan (compound C) and comparison of the metabolites formed was made using HPCL analysis and NMR, mass and UV-visible spectrometry. The different metabolic pathways investigated were compared with the previously reported metabolism of 7-methoxy-2-nitro-naphtho[2,1-b]furan (compound D).

Microsomal metabolism of dibenz[a,c]anthracene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene and dibenz[a,j]anthracene to bis-dihydrodiols and polyhydroxylated products.

Polar, ethyl acetate soluble metabolites formed in incubations of dibenz[a,c]anthracene (DB[a,c]A), dibenz[a,h]anthracene (DB[a,h]A) and the related DB[a,h]A 3,4-diol and dibenz[a,j]anthracene (DB[a,j]A) with 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC)-induced rat liver microsomal preparations have been separated by HPLC and examined using fluorescence, UV and NMR spectroscopy. Metabolites with spectral properties consistant with their identification as the 3,4:8,9-bis-diol of DB[a,j]A and a 1,2,3,4,12,13-hexol derived from DB[a,c]A were found. DB[a,h]A was metabolized to three polar products identified as the 3,4:10,11-bis-diol and the related 1,2,3,4,8,9- and 1,2,3,4,10,11-hexols, which were also formed, together with the related 1,2,3,4-tetrol, from the DB[a,h]A 3,4-diol.

Microspectrofluorimetric study of the kinetics of cellular uptake and metabolization of benzo(a)pyrene in human T 47D mammary tumor cells: evidence for cytochrome P1450 induction.

The kinetics of penetration, activation and detoxification of benzo(a)pyrene were determined by near U.V. microspectrofluorimetric measurements on single living cells.

Comparison of the in vitro metabolisms and mutagenicities of dibenzo[a,c]anthracene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene and dibenzo[a,j]anthracene: influence of norharman.

The comparison of the behaviour of three dibenzoanthracene (DBA) isomers, dibenzo[a,c]anthracene (DB[a,c]A), dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DB[a,h]A) and dibenzo[a,j]anthracene (DB[a,j]A), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), whose carcinogenicity varies from very potent to apparently inactive, has been carried out. Influence of norharman (NH; 9H-pyrido[3,4-b]indol) was investigated for mutagenicity (reversion of histidine prototrophy) on Salmonella typhimurium TA 100, using 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC)-induced rat liver microsomes or S9 (post-mitochondrial fractions). A correlation with its influence, on the in vitro metabolism of radiolabelled molecules by the same enzymatic systems, was carried out.

Oxidative metabolism of 7-methoxy-2-nitro-naphtho[2,1-b]furan (R 7000) by the microsomal system isolated from 3-methylcholanthrene-induced rat liver.

The metabolism of 7-methoxy-2-nitro-naphtho[2,1-b]furan and the subsequent binding to DNA, under aerobic conditions, were investigated using liver microsomes of both untreated rats and rats pre-treated with 3-methylcholanthrene [3-MC]. The metabolites were analyzed by HPLC. The following compounds: 7-hydroxy-2-nitro-naphtho[2,1-b]-furan-6,9-dione; 6,7-dihydro-2-nitro-naphtho[2,1-b]furan; 7-hydroxy-2-nitro-naphtho[2,1-b]furan and 6-hydroxy-7-methoxy-2-nitro-naphtho[2,1-b]furan have been identified by their UV-visible, mass spectra, NMR spectra and by comparison to an authentic reference sample.

Reactivity with DNA of three pyrenofuran analogues of benzo(a)pyrene and benzo(e)pyrene.

Three pyrenofurans, the pyreno[1,2-b]furan (FP1), the pyreno[2,1-b] furan (FP2) and the pyreno[4,5-b]furan (FP3) have been synthesized as analogues of the mutagenic and carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene (FP1 and FP2) and of its non-carcinogenic isomer benzo(e)pyrene (FP3). For each of the pyrenofurans, the reactivity with DNA has been tested in presence of liver microsomes of rats induced with 3-methylcholanthrene. Fluorescence spectroscopy showed that only FP2 and FP3 which possess a "bay region" react with DNA.

[The use of pattern recognition for analysing the possible relation between molecular structure of polycyclic hydrocarbons and their carcinogenicity].

Pattern recognition has been used for investigating the part played by the molecular structure of polycyclic hydrocarbons in their carcinogenic action. A series of molecules has been considered, whose physicochemical properties are known to be closely related to the number and location of their aromatic rings. From a pattern recognition program and two learning subsets (carcinogenic and non carcinogenic molecules), it has been shown that (i) the shape of the molecule is correlated with its carcinogenic power; (ii) an index of carcinogenicity can be estimated for any molecule in the considered set.

Metabolic activation of benz(a)anthracene: fluorescence spectral evidence indicates the involvement of a non-'bay-region' diol-epoxide.

The fluorescence spectral properties of the principal hydrocarbon-nucleoside adducts present in hydrolysates of DNA that had been isolated from hamster embryo cells or from mouse skin treated with benz(a)anthracene have been examined using photon-counting spectrophotofluorimetry and compared with the spectral properties of the products formed when different diol-epoxides derived from benz(a)anthracene react with nucleic acid in solution. The adducts were separated by chromatography on LH20 Sephadex columns and purified by high pressure liquid chromatography. The spectra obtained are phenanthrene-like and not anthracene-like, a result that is consistent with metabolic activation occurring, through the formation of a vicinal diol-epoxide, in the 8,9,10,11-ring, rather than in the 1,2,3,4-ring of this hydrocarbon.