High amount of changes and increasing complexity in CAD design of wiring harnesses result in a lack of time for documentation and transfer of acquired knowledge. To be able to transfer the gained knowledge efficiently during development automating the identification, analyzation and documentation of changes is necessary. This paper shows a methodology to address this challenge for CAD data of wiring harnesses. Thus, it is shown how interrelated change elements can be combined or separated from each other according to their change intention.

Correlative microscopy approaches offer synergistic solutions to many research problems. One such combination, that has been studied in limited detail, is the use of atom probe tomography (APT) and transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) on the same tip specimen. By combining these two powerful microscopy techniques, the microstructure of important engineering alloys can be studied in greater detail. For the first time, the accuracy of crystallographic measurements made using APT will be independently verified using TKD. Experimental data from two atom probe tips, one a nanocrystalline Al–0.5Ag alloy specimen collected on a straight flight-path atom probe and the other a high purity Mo specimen collected on a reflectron-fitted instrument, will be compared. We find that the average minimum misorientation angle, calculated from calibrated atom probe reconstructions with two different pole combinations, deviate 0.7° and 1.4°, respectively, from the TKD results. The type of atom probe and experimental conditions appear to have some impact on this accuracy and the reconstruction and measurement procedures are likely to contribute further to degradation in angular resolution. The challenges and implications of this correlative approach will also be discussed.

Supplementation of carnitine has been shown to improve performance characteristics such as protein accretion in growing pigs. The molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are largely unknown. Based on recent results from DNA microchip analysis, we hypothesized that carnitine supplementation leads to a downregulation of genes of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS). The UPS is the most important system for protein breakdown in tissues, which in turn could be an explanation for increased protein accretion. To test this hypothesis, we fed sixteen male, four-week-old piglets either a control diet or the same diet supplemented with carnitine and determined the expression of several genes involved in the UPS in the liver and skeletal muscle. To further determine whether the effects of carnitine on the expression of genes of the UPS are mediated directly or indirectly, we also investigated the effect of carnitine on the expression of genes of the UPS in cultured C2C12 myotubes and HepG2 liver cells. In the liver of piglets fed the carnitine-supplemented diet, the relative mRNA levels of atrogin-1, E214k and Psma1 were lower than in those of the control piglets (P < 0.05). In skeletal muscle, the relative mRNA levels of atrogin-1, MuRF1, E214k, Psma1 and ubiquitin were lower in piglets fed the carnitine-supplemented diet than that in control piglets (P < 0.05). Incubating C2C12 myotubes and HepG2 liver cells with increasing concentrations of carnitine had no effect on basal and/or hydrocortisone-stimulated mRNA levels of genes of the UPS. In conclusion, this study shows that dietary carnitine decreases the transcript levels of several genes involved in the UPS in skeletal muscle and liver of piglets, whereas carnitine has no effect on the transcript levels of these genes in cultivated HepG2 liver cells and C2C12 myotubes. These data suggest that the inhibitory effect of carnitine on the expression of genes of the UPS is mediated indirectly, probably via modulating the release of inhibitors of the UPS such as IGF-1. The inhibitory effect of carnitine on the expression of genes of the UPS might explain, at least partially, the increased protein accretion in piglets supplemented with carnitine.

Methionine has been shown to increase plasma cholesterol in animals. In the present study, mechanisms were investigated by which methionine could alter cholesterol metabolism. In the first experiment, forty growing rats were fed four casein-based diets differing in methionine content (2·6, 3·5, 4·5 or 6·0 g/kg) for 14 d. In the second experiment, isolated rat hepatocytes were incubated in media supplemented with 50, 100 or 200 μmol/l methionine. Dietary methionine tended to increase plasma homocysteine concentrations in the rats (P=0·058). A weak positive correlation between circulating homocysteine and plasma cholesterol was observed (R2 0·27, P<0·01). Rats fed 3·5 g/kg or more of methionine had higher concentrations of cholesterol in their plasma, in lipoprotein fractions of density (ρ kg/l) 1·006 < ρ<, 1·063 and ρ>. 1·063, and in liver than rats fed 2·6 g/kg methionine. Rats fed 6 g/kg methionine had a higher hepatic expression of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase and cholesterol-7α-hydroxylase than rats fed less methionine. The phosphatidylcholine:phosphatidylethanolamine ratio in rat liver increased with rising dietary methionine concentration; the relative mRNA concentrations of phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase and cystathionine β-synthase remained unaffected. Hepatocytes incubated in media supplemented with 100 or 200 μmol/l methionine had a higher cholesterol synthesis than hepatocytes incubated in a medium supplemented with 50μmol/l methionine; the LDL uptake in hepatocytes was independent of the methionine concentration of the medium. In conclusion, the present study suggests that dietary methionine induces hypercholesterolaemia at least in part via an enhanced hepatic cholesterol synthesis.

The present study investigated the effect of l-carnitine supplementation during pregnancy (125 mg/d) and lactation (250 mg/d) on milk production, litter gains and back-fat thickness in sows fed a low-energy and low-protein diet during lactation. Sows supplemented with l-carnitine produced more milk on days 11 and 18 of lactation (+18 %; P<0·05) and had higher litter gains during suckling (+20 %; P<0·01) than control sows. Loss of body weight during lactation was similar in both groups, but sows supplemented with l-carnitine had a greater reduction of back-fat thickness (+45 %; P<0·05) during lactation than control sows. In conclusion, this study shows that l-carnitine increases milk production and litter gains in sows in a strongly negative energy and N balance, and enhances body fat mobilisation.

The unique sensitivity of the Arecibo telescope at 430 MHz motivated a drift scan search of the visible sky divided up into eight declination strips. Based on an analysis of the data collected in the region assigned to us, eight new long-period pulsars have so far been discovered.

Monochromatized synchrotron radiation has been employed as the excitation source for soft x-ray emission spectroscopy. In the present paper changes in the emission spectra that occur as the excitation energy is varied near the core-absorption threshold are discussed. In the case of crystalline silicon, strong variations are seen in the L2,3 emission for excitation energies up to 30 eV above threshold. These variations are shown to be dependent on the crystalline order of the material and can be interpreted in terms of restrictions on the crystal momentum that arise in an inelastic scattering description of the combined absorption and emission. On the other hand this description is less relevant to the excitation-energy dependence of ionic insulators, in which strong phonon coupling removes these restrictions on crystal momentum. In the insulators B2O3 and BN strong variations in the emission are observed at threshold, upon creation of a core exciton: the exciton affects the emission through its influence on the phonon coupling as well as on the initial and final-state screening.