Effect of cooking on nitrate in dehydrated soups

Nitrate levels in dry powder soups were measured before and after cooking by a modified cadmium-Griess method. In 36 different kinds of soups, from three manufacturers, no nitrate was lost on cooking in accordance with the manufacturers' directions, even when simmered for up to 25 min.     

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR): A critical overview on the most promising applications of molecular scissors in oral medicine

The scientific community is continuously working to translate the novel biomedical techniques into effective medical treatments. CRISPR-Cas 9 system (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats-9), commonly known as the “molecular scissor”, represents a recently developed biotechnology able to improve the quality and the efficacy of traditional treatments, related to several human diseases, such as chronic diseases, neurodegenerative pathologies and, interestingly, oral diseases. Of course, dental medicine has notably increased the use of biotechnologies to ensure modern and conservative approaches: in this landscape, the use of CRISPR-Cas-9 system may speed and personalize the traditional therapies, ensuring a good predictability of clinical results. The aim of this critical overview is to provide evidence on CRISPR efficacy, taking into specific account its applications in oral medicine.     

Ultrastructural characteristics of the lung of <i>Melanophryniscus stelzneri stelzneri</i> (Weyenberg, 1875) (Anura,Bufonidae)

The lung of the toad, Melanophryniscus stelzneri stelzneri was studied using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. In M.s.stelzneri the parenchyma forms a polygonal network arrangement, therefore the parenchyma is edicular. These spaces are delimited by the interconnection of third order septa which are covered by respiratory epithelium. Small patches of ciliated epithelium without goblet cells appear irregularly distributed on the septa. The respiratory epithelium consists of one type of pneumocyte, which shows characteristics of both type I and type II alveolar cells of higher vertebrates. The pneumocytes are irregular in shape and possess attenuated cytoplasmic processes, which spread around the capillaries to form the outer layer of the air-blood barrier. These cells contain different types of cytoplasmic bodies: electron dense bodies, multivesicular bodies and lamellar bodies. Dense bodies are probably the precursors of lamellar bodies and the multivesicular bodies are incorporated into the latter. Neuroepithelial bodies appear randomly distributed over the septa. These bodies are separated from the lumen of the lung by thin cytoplasmic processes of neighbouring pneumocytes. The air-blood barrier consists of three layers: epithelium, interstitial space and endothelium.
The relatively simple pulmonary structure of M.s.stelzneri is due to a lower degree of partitioning of the pulmonary lumen in comparison to the lung of other bufonid anurans, could be correlated with a well developed cutaneous and buccopharingeal respiration. The testing of this hypothesis awaits further studies.     

The Genes Encoding the Transcription Factor yTAFII60, the G4p1 Protein and a Putative Glucose Transporter are Contained in a 12·3 kb DNA Fragment on the Left Arm of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Chromosome VII

We report the nucleotide sequence of a DNA fragment of 12 325 base pairs from the left arm of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosome VII. Inspection of the coding capacity revealed 11 open reading frames (ORFs) longer than 100 amino acids. Five ORFs are significantly homologous to known proteins. The region encoding ORF G2985 corresponds (100%) to the gene encoding the yeast TATA binding protein-associated factor TAF_II60. The G3075 ORF is 47·8% identical to the hypothetical yeast protein YB88. G3080 shows 36·7% identity to the eel calmodulin. G3085 shows 94·9% identity with the published sequence of the quadruplex DNA binding protein G4p1. G3090 reveals 46·7% identity with the probable glucose transport protein yBR1625. The DNA sequence has been submitted to the EMBL data library under Accession Number X97644. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microorganisms and lipolysis in the ripening of dry fermented sausages

The actual roles of two strains of microorganisms ( Micrococcus -12 and Lactobacillus -56) isolated from Spanish dry sausages have been studied by using an aseptic method for making experimental sausages. The fermentation of sugars by lactobacilli is clearly demonstrated by the pH changes and the nitrate and nitrite reduction by micrococci is inferred by the changes in the sausage colour. The lipolysis occurring during ripening of experimental sausages seems to be mainly due to the lipases from meat rather than those elaborated by the organisms used.