The quantitative effect of a deficiency of dietary iron upon iron-containing substances other than haemoglobin, ferritin and siderophilin cannot be regarded as being well established. Investigations have been few and the conclusions of the workers concerned are conflicting upon some points.

Background As a result of aging, skeletal muscle undergoes atrophy and a decrease in function. This age-related skeletal muscle weakness is known as “sarcopenia”. Sarcopenia is part of the frailty observed in humans. In order to discover treatments for sarcopenia, it is necessary to determine appropriate preclinical models and the genes and signaling pathways that change with age in these models. Methods and results To understand the changes in gene expression that occur as a result of aging in skeletal muscles, we generated a multi-time-point gene expression signature throughout the lifespan of mice and rats, as these are the most commonly used species in preclinical research and intervention testing. Gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, soleus, and diaphragm muscles from male and female C57Bl/6J mice and male Sprague Dawley rats were analyzed at ages 6, 12, 18, 21, 24, and 27 months, plus an additional 9-month group was used for rats. More age-related genes were identified in rat skeletal muscles compared with mice; this was consistent with the finding that rat muscles undergo more robust age-related decline in mass. In both species, pathways associated with innate immunity and inflammation linearly increased with age. Pathways linked with extracellular matrix remodeling were also universally downregulated. Interestingly, late downregulated pathways were exclusively found in the rat limb muscles and these were linked to metabolism and mitochondrial respiration; this was not seen in the mouse. Conclusions This extensive, side-by-side transcriptomic profiling shows that the skeletal muscle in rats is impacted more by aging compared with mice, and the pattern of decline in the rat may be more representative of the human. The observed changes point to potential therapeutic interventions to avoid age-related decline in skeletal muscle function.

Tin doped indium oxide (In 2 O 3 :Sn (ITO)) thin films RF sputtered under similar conditions on soda lime glass and single crystal silicon wafers (c-Si) are used to study near infrared optical absorption variations during film growth. The presence of strong free carrier absorption and phonon absorption in the low photon energy spectral range provides an opportunity to disentangle tailing effects extending in the near infrared to visible spectral range. Toward that end, a model describing ITO film optical properties in the form of the complex dielectric function (ε = ε 1 + iε 2 ) from ex situ ellipsometry collected over 0.4 to 4.1 meV, 0.035 to 0.4 eV, and 0.75 to 5.89 eV spectral range is developed to describe these features along with other higher energy electronic transitions. In situ real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) from 0.75 to 5.89 eV is used to track changes film structure and optical response during thin film growth. Optical emission spectroscopy indicates the plasma is very stable during deposition implying that film property changes with thickness are not correlated with changes in plasma chemistry. Film resistivity (ρ), mobility (µ), scattering time (τ), and carrier concentration (n) are determined from the free carrier absorption component of ε. Increased near infrared absorption manifested in ε obtained from RTSE data analysis is hypothesized to originate from enhancement of OH-group phonon absorption due to the presence of water molecules in the chamber at the beginning of growth.

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