Effect of a novel soy fermented product enriched with isoflavones and calcium on bone tissue of rats

The objective was to evaluate the effect of soy fermented product intake on the corporal weight and bone tissue of ovariectomized mature rats. This product was fermented with Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus jugurti and enriched with isoflavones and calcium. The animals were divided in 5 groups: sham-ovariectomized; ovariectomized; ovariectomized treated with soy fermented product enriched with isoflavones and calcium; ovariectomized treated with soy fermented product enriched with calcium and ovariectomized treated with non-fermented product enriched only with calcium. In order to evaluate the effect of the tested product on bone tissue (femur and tibia), the following parameters were analyzed: length; mechanical assay of three points; density (Archimedes principle); mineral content; calcium content; measure of the trabecular widths. The corporal weight of group treated with soy fermented product containing isoflavones and calcium showed no statistical difference from sham-ovariectomized group and trabecular widths tended to have larger than ovariectomized group. However, there was no significant difference to the other evaluated parameters in result of the diverse treatments. Thus, soy fermented product enriched with isoflavones and calcium inhibited the increasing of corporal weight caused by ovariectomy and revealed a tendency to trabecular protection after castration.     

Hay to reduce dietary cation-anion difference for dry dairy cows

Timothy grass has a lower dietary cation-anion difference [DCAD = (Na + K) - (Cl + S)] than other cool-season grass species. Growing timothy on low-K soils and fertilizing it with CaCl₂ could further decrease its DCAD. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of feeding low-DCAD timothy hay on dry dairy cows. Six nonpregnant and nonlactating cows were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square. Treatments were as follows: 1) control diet (control; DCAD = 296 mEq/kg of dry matter); 2) low-DCAD diet based on low-DCAD timothy hay (L-HAY; DCAD = - 24 mEq/kg of dry matter); and 3) low-DCAD diet using HCl (L-HCl; DCAD = - 19 mEq/kg of dry matter). Decreasing DCAD with L-HAY had no effect on dry matter intake (11.8 kg/d) or dry matter digestibility (71.5%). Urine pH decreased from 8.21 to 5.89 when L-HAY was fed instead of the control. Blood parameters that decreased with L-HAY were base excess (− 0.4 vs. 3.8 mM) and HCO₃⁻ (23 vs. 27 mM), and blood parameters that increased were Ca²⁺ (5.3 vs. 5.1 mg/dL), Cl⁻ (30.5 vs. 29.5 mg/dL), and Na⁺ (60.8 vs. 60.1 mg/dL). Compared with the control, L-HAY resulted in more Ca in urine (13.4 vs. 1.2 g/d). Comparing L-HAY with L-HCl, cow dry matter intake tended to be higher (11.5 vs. 9.8 kg/d), and blood pH was higher (7.37 vs. 7.31). Urine pH; total dry matter; Ca, K, P, and Mg apparent absorption; and Ca, K, Na, Cl, S, P, and Mg apparent retention were similar. Absorption as a percentage of intake of Na and Cl was lower for L-HAY as compared with L-HCl. In an EDTA-challenge test, cows fed L-HAY regained their initial level of blood Ca²⁺ twice as quickly as the control treatment (339 vs. 708 min); there were no differences between L-HAY and L-HCl. This experiment confirms that feeding low-DCAD hay is an effective means of decreasing the DCAD of rations and obtaining a metabolic response in dry dairy cows.     

Timothy hay with a low dietary cation-anion difference improves calcium homeostasis in periparturient Holstein cows

The current study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of feeding timothy (Phleum pratense L.) hay differing in dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) on the capability of cows to maintain calcium homeostasis around parturition. We hypothesized that feeding low-DCAD timothy hay during the prepartum period would induce a mild metabolic acidosis prepartum and improve calcium homeostasis postpartum with no effect on dry matter intake. Forty-one dry pregnant Holstein cows entering their second lactation or greater were used in a randomized complete block design. Timothy hay was obtained from an established timothy stand under a pivot irrigation system. Low-DCAD timothy hay was produced by fertilizing the area between the second and third pivot towers at a rate of 224 kg of CaCl₂/ha, and control timothy hay (high DCAD) was grown on the area between the fourth and fifth pivot towers of the same field. The chloride concentration was 1.07 and 0.15% on a dry matter (DM) basis, and the DCAD was 1.2 and 21.6 mEq/100 g of DM for the low- and high-DCAD timothy hay, respectively. Experimental diets, containing timothy hay at 63% of dietary DM, were fed ad libitum starting 30 d before the expected calving date. The DCAD values were 1.6 vs. 14.5 mEq/100 g of DM for the low- and high-DCAD timothy-based diets, respectively. At the beginning of the study, urine pH and blood bicarbonate concentration averaged 8.22 ± 0.06 and 28.5 ± 0.3 mM, respectively. The low-DCAD timothy diet decreased urine pH compared with the high-DCAD timothy diet on d 21 (7.75 vs. 8.31), d 14 (7.69 vs. 8.22), and d 7 (7.50 vs. 8.19) before calving, and it also decreased the prepartum blood bicarbonate concentration by 2 mM. In addition, cows fed the low-DCAD timothy diet had greater blood ionized calcium concentration prepartum (1.22 vs. 1.19 mM), greater blood ionized calcium concentration at 0 and 8 h after calving, and similar prepartum dry matter intake. These results indicate that timothy hay differing in DCAD affects the acid-base balance of periparturient dairy cows, and that low-DCAD timothy hay improves calcium homeostasis postpartum with no negative effect on dry matter intake.     

Exergy: its potential and limitations in environmental science and technology

New technologies, either renewables-based or not, are confronted with both economic and technical constraints. Their development takes advantage of considering the basic laws of economics and thermodynamics. With respect to the latter, the exergy concept pops up. Although its fundamentals, that is, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, were already established in the 1800s, it is only in the last years that the exergy concept has gained a more widespread interest in process analysis, typically employed to identify inefficiencies. However, exergy analysis today is implemented far beyond technical analysis; it is also employed in environmental, (thermo)economic, and even sustainability analysis of industrial systems. Because natural ecosystems are also subjected to the basic laws of thermodynamics, it is another subject of exergy analysis. After an introduction on the concept itself, this review focuses on the potential and limitations of the exergy conceptin (1) ecosystem analysis, utilized to describe maximum storage and maximum dissipation of energy flows (2); industrial system analysis: from single process analysis to complete process chain analysis (3); (thermo)economic analysis, with extended exergy accounting; and (4) environmental impact assessment throughout the whole life cycle with quantification of the resource intake and emission effects. Apart from technical system analysis, it proves that exergy as a tool in environmental impact analysis may be the most mature field of application, particularly with respect to resource and efficiency accounting, one of the major challenges in the development of sustainable technology. Far less mature is the exergy analysis of natural ecosystems and the coupling with economic analysis, where a lively debate is presently going on about the actual merits of an exergy-based approach.     

Mechanical characterization of fourth generation composite humerus

Mechanical data on upper extremity surrogate bones, supporting use as biomechanical tools, is limited. The objective of this study was to characterize the structural behaviour of the fourth-generation composite humerus under simulated physiologic bending, specifically, stiffness, rigidity, and mid-diaphysial surface strains. Three humeri were tested in four-point bending, in anatomically defined anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) planes. Stiffness and rigidity were derived using load-displacement data. Principal strains were determined at the anterior, posterior, medial, and lateral surfaces in the humeral mid-diaphysial transverse plane of one specimen using stacked rosettes. Linear structural behaviour was observed within the test range. Average stiffness and rigidity were greater in the ML (918 +/- 18 N/mm; 98.4 +/- 1.9 Nm2) than the AP plane (833 +/- 16 N/mm; 89.3 +/- 1.6 Nm2), with little inter-specimen variability. The ML/AP rigidity ratio was 1.1. Surface principal strains were similar at the anterior (5.41 micro epsilon/N) and posterior (5.43 micro epsilon/N) gauges for AP bending, and comparatively less for ML bending, i.e. 5.1 and 4.5 micro epsilon/N, at the medial and lateral gauges, respectively. This study provides novel strain and stiffness data for the fourth-generation composite humerus and also adds to published construct rigidity data. The presented results support the use of this composite bone as a tool for modelling and experimentation.     

Prospects for advanced electron cyclotron resonance and electron beam ion source charge breeding methods for EURISOL

As the most ambitious concept of isotope separation on line (ISOL) facility, EURISOL aims at producing unprecedented intensities of post-accelerated radioactive isotopes. Charge breeding, which transforms the charge state of radioactive beams from 1+ to an n+ charge state prior to post-acceleration, is a key technology which has to overcome the following challenges: high charge states for high energies, efficiency, rapidity and purity. On the roadmap to EURISOL, a dedicated R&D is being undertaken to push forward the frontiers of the present state-of-the-art techniques which use either electron cyclotron resonance or electron beam ion sources. We describe here the guidelines of this R&D.     

Effect of a new fermented soy milk product on serum lipid levels in normocholesterolemic adult men

This study was undertaken to verify the effect of a daily intake of a new fermented soy milk produced with Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus jugurti on the serum lipid levels in normocholesterolemic middle-aged men. The study was randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled and was performed for a period of 6 weeks. Forty-four normocholesterolemic healthy, male volunteers, aged 40-55 years old were randomly separated in two groups: The F-group received 200 ml of the fermented product daily and the P-group received 200 ml of placebo (chemically fermented). The blood samples were drawn initially and after 3 and 6 weeks and serum values for total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride were determined. The LDL-cholesterol value was estimated. No significant changes in the fermented group (F) were observed for total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol or triglyceride levels, while the HDL-cholesterol level was significantly higher (p < or = 0.05) after 6 weeks. The total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels were significantly higher (p < or = 0.05) in the placebo group (P), but no changes were found for the HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels during the experimental period. In conclusion, the intake of 200 ml/day of the fermented soy milk, produced with E. faecium and L. jugurti, for 6 weeks, did not affect the serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, and led an increase of 10% in the HDL-cholesterol level.     

Redox Chemistry and [Au(CN)(2)] in the Formation of Gold Metabolites

The role of hypochlorite ion, which can be generated by the enzyme myleoperoxidase, in the biochemistry of gold(I) anti-arthritic drugs was investigated. Sodium hypochlorite (OCl(-)) directly and rapidly oxidizes AuSTm, Au(CN)(2) (-), AuSTg (gold thioglucose) and auranofin (Et(3)PAuSATg). The resulting gold(III) species were detected by an Ion Chromotography Ion-Pairing technique that was developed to distinguish gold(I) and gold(III). Formation of Au(III) was also demonstrated spectrophotometrically after the conversion to AuCl(4) (-). The reactions of AuSTm, AuSTg, and auranofin are complex and gold(III) appears only after the initial oxidation of the thiolate (and phosphine) ligands.The enzymatic reaction, using MPO with H(2)O(2) and Cl(-) as substrates, leads to slow oxidation of Au(CN)(2) (-), AuSTm or AuSTg. The extent and rate of reaction depend on the concentrations of MPO, H(2)O(2), and Au(I). The continued presence of Au(I) during the initial stages of reaction (oxidation of the thiolates in AuSTm and AuSTg) and the conversion to Au(III) in the latter stages of the reaction were demonstrated. Au(CN)(2) (-), a gold metabolite, binds tightly to serum albumin. Unlike other gold(I) complexes, aurocyanide reacts almost negligibly at Cys-34 via ligand exchange. Instead, there is a strong association (K(1) = 5.5 x 10(4) and K(2) = 7.0 x 10(3); n(1) = 0.8 and n(2) = 3) of intact Au(CN)(2) (-). The full extent of binding is revealed only by equilibrium methods such as NMR or ultrafiltration; the bound gold dissociates extensively on conventional gel-exclusion columns and partially on Penefesky spun columns.The immunological and pharmacological significance of these results are discussed.     

Compressive mechanical properties of bovine cortical bone under varied loading rates

Bone tissue functions in varied mechanical systems of the body under static and dynamic conditions. Therefore, it is essential to understand the mechanical responses of bone at varied loading rates, especially those at fast loading rates. This study has investigated the effect of loading rate on the compressive mechanical properties of bovine cortical bone. Bone specimens of 3.85 mm in diameter and 7.7 mm in length were compressed longitudinally with the loading rates of 2 to 2000 mm/s (corresponding strain rates of 0.26 to 260 s(-1)). As a result, bovine cortical bone showed high linear elasticity when the loading rate was slow, and exhibited three definite regions of linear elasticity, plastic deformation, and densification at faster loading rates. The elastic modulus showed no dependency on the loading rate. Compressive strength, strain at fracture, and toughness increased as the loading rate increased under the condition that the loading rates were slower than each critical loading rate of 1000, 100, and 1500 mm/s, respectively. However, all showed no significant changes when the loading rates were faster than the corresponding critical loading rates. In conclusion, as the loading rate increased, changes in the compressive mechanical parameters were different depending on the parameter and the loading rate range. Compressive mechanical behaviour of bovine cortical bone showed a brittle nature under high strain rates (strain rates > 13 s(-1)). These findings should be reflected in the biomimetic simulation of biomaterials for bone tissue repair and engineering.