Lipidomic Analysis of Plasma from Healthy Men and Women Shows Phospholipid Class and Molecular Species Differences between Sexes

The phospholipid composition of lipoproteins is determined by the specificity of hepatic phospholipid biosynthesis. Plasma phospholipid 20:4n-6 and 22:6n-3 concentrations are higher in women than in men. We used this sex difference in a lipidomics analysis of the impact of endocrine factors on the phospholipid class and molecular species composition of fasting plasma from young men and women. Diester species predominated in all lipid classes measured. 20/54 Phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) species were alkyl ester, 15/48 phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) species were alkyl ester, and 12/48 PtdEtn species were alkenyl ester. There were no significant differences between sexes in the proportions of alkyl PtdCho species. The proportion of alkyl ester PtdEtn species was greater in women than men, while the proportion of alkenyl ester PtdEtn species was greater in men than women. None of the phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) or phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) molecular species contained ether-linked fatty acids. The proportion of PtdCho16:0_22:6, and the proportions of PtdEtn O-16:0_20:4 and PtdEtn O-18:2_20:4 were greater in women than men. There were no sex differences in PtdIns and PtdSer molecular species compositions. These findings show that plasma phospholipids can be modified by sex. Such differences in lipoprotein phospholipid composition could contribute to sexual dimorphism in patterns of health and disease.     

In situ measurements of human cough aerosol hygroscopicity

The airborne dynamics of respiratory droplets, and the transmission routes of pathogens embedded within them, are governed primarily by the diameter of the particles. These particles are composed of the fluid which lines the respiratory tract, and is primarily mucins and salts, which will interact with the atmosphere and evaporate to reach an equilibrium diameter. Measuring organic volume fraction (OVF) of cough aerosol has proved challenging due to large variability and low material volume produced after coughing. Here, the diametric hygroscopic growth factors (GF) of the cough aerosol produced by healthy participants were measured in situ using a rotating aerosol suspension chamber and a humidification tandem differential mobility analyser. Using hygroscopicity models, it was estimated that the average OVF in the evaporated cough aerosol was 0.88 ± 0.07 and the average GF at 90% relative humidity (RH) was 1.31 ± 0.03. To reach equilibrium in dry air the droplets will reduce in diameter by a factor of approximately 2.8 with an evaporation factor of 0.36 ± 0.05. Hysteresis was observed in cough aerosol at RH = ∼35% and RH = ∼65% for efflorescence and deliquescence, respectively, and may depend on the OVF. The same behaviour and GF were observed in nebulized bovine bronchoalveolar lavage fluid.     

Self‐assembled centimetre‐sized rods obtained in the oxidation of o‐phenylenediamine and aniline

Morphologically well‐defined rods of approximately 1 cm in length are effectively and economically obtained by mixing ortho‐phenylenediamine (30 mmol L^?1) with ammonium persulfate (12.5 mmol L^?1) in an acidic solution (0.37 mol L^?1 HCl) at room temperature with and without the presence of 50 mmol L^?1 aniline. These self‐assembled, morphologically uniform products can be potentially scaled up and used as morphological templates to fabricate well‐defined structures of other materials such as conducting polymers. The products were characterized using Raman, UV‐visible, high‐resolution NMR (¹H and ¹³C) and mass spectroscopies, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis. Apart from certain differences in visual appearance and in X‐ray diffractograms, other analytical data suggest that there are no structural changes upon addition of aniline into the reaction mixture. NMR and mass spectra imply that all syntheses carried out either with or without aniline result in a mixture of two products, attributed to 2,3‐phenazinediamine and 3‐aminophenazin‐2‐ol. A formation mechanism based on hydrogen bonding and π–π stacking has been proposed. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

Ensuring the future of functional foods

Consumption of functional foods suggests a strategy to reduce the incidence of chronic health disorders. This message has resonated with consumers and driven market growth. Functional food research has significantly increased over the last decade but few studies have addressed the bioavailability of active ingredients for clinical efficacy. Baked goods such as bread, biscuits and cake are popular categories for innovation due to their widespread consumption. These new developments have often impacted on organoleptic properties of the finished products and thus consumer acceptance. Blending of bioactive ingredients may overcome this deficit. However, an understanding of the role of the microbiome in health has indicated that the efficacy of functional foods is unlikely to be uniform within the population. Further growth in the functional foods market, is likely to require greater evidence of the bioavailability of active ingredients, clinical effect and support for health claims by regulators especially in the EU.     

A review of varietal change in roots,tubers and bananas: consumer preferences and other drivers of adoption and implications for breeding

This review of the literature on varietal change in sub-Saharan Africa looks in detail at adoption of new varieties of bananas in Uganda, cassava in Nigeria, potato in Kenya, sweetpotato in Uganda and yams in Côte d’Ivoire. The review explored three hypotheses about drivers of varietal change. There was a strong confirmation for the hypothesis that insufficient priority given to consumer-preferred traits by breeding programmes contributes to the limited uptake of modern varieties (MVs) and low varietal turnover. Lack of evidence meant the second hypothesis of insufficient attention to understanding and responding to gender differences in consumer preferences for quality and post-harvest traits was unresolved. The evidence on the third hypothesis about the informal seed system contributing to slow uptake of MVs was mixed. In some cases, the informal system has contributed to rapid uptake of MVs, but often it appears to be a barrier with inconsistent varietal naming a major challenge.     

Probing the Positions of TeO Moieties in the Channels of the MoVNbTeO M1 Catalyst: A Density Functional Theory Model Study

Catalysis Letters - With hybrid DFT calculations applied to periodic models of the bulk MoVNbTeO M1 catalyst, we examined how [TeO]2+ species in the hexagonal channels of this material stabilize...     

Time‐series and extended Karhunen–Loève analysis of turbulent drag reduction in polymer solutions

Direct numerical simulations and statistical analysis techniques are used to study the drag‐reducing effect of polymer additives on turbulent channel flow in minimal domains. Additionally, a new formulation of Karhunen–Loève decomposition for viscoelastic flows is introduced, allowing the dominant features of the polymer stress fields to be characterized. In minimal channels, there are intervals of “active” and “hibernating” turbulence that display very different structural and energetic characteristics; the present work illustrates how the statistics of these intervals evolve over the entire range of drag reduction (DR) levels. The effect of viscoelasticity on minimal channel turbulence is twofold: first, it strongly suppresses the active turbulent dynamics that predominate in Newtonian flow and second, at sufficiently high Weissenberg number it stabilizes the dynamics of hibernating turbulence, allowing it to predominate in the maximum drag reduction regime. In this regime, the stress fluctuations become delocalized from the wall region, encompassing the entire flow domain. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 1460–1475, 2014     

Mechanism of Action of AminoCBIs: Highly Reactive but Highly Cytotoxic Analogues of the Duocarmycins

Duocarmycins are highly cytotoxic natural products that have potential for development into anticancer agents. Herein we describe proposed but previously unidentified NH analogues of the DNA‐alkylating subunit and characterise these by solvolysis studies, NMR and computational modelling. These compounds are shown to be the exclusive intermediates in the solvolysis of their seco precursors and to possess very similar structural features to the widely studied O‐based analogues, apart from an unusually high basicity. The measured pK_a of 10.5 implies that the NH compounds are fully protonated under physiological conditions. Remarkably, their extremely high reactivity (calculated hydrolysis rate 10⁸ times higher for protonated NH compared to the neutral O analogue) is still compatible with potent cytotoxicity, provided the active species is formed in the presence of cells. These surprising findings are of relevance to the design of duocarmycin‐based tumour‐selective therapies.     

Binding Mode and Structure–Activity Relationships around Direct Inhibitors of the Nrf2–Keap1 Complex

An X‐ray crystal structure of Kelch‐like ECH‐associated protein (Keap1) co‐crystallised with (1S,2R)‐2‐[(1S)‐1‐[(1,3‐dioxo‐2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐isoindol‐2‐yl)methyl]‐1,2,3,4‐tetrahydroisoquinolin‐2‐carbonyl]cyclohexane‐1‐carboxylic acid (compound (S,R,S)‐ 1 a ) was obtained. This X‐ray crystal structure provides breakthrough experimental evidence for the true binding mode of the hit compound (S,R,S)‐ 1 a , as the ligand orientation was found to differ from that of the initial docking model, which was available at the start of the project. Crystallographic elucidation of this binding mode helped to focus and drive the drug design process more effectively and efficiently.     

Use of in-stream reservoirs to reduce bacterial contamination of rural watersheds

An investigation into bacterial water quality problems was conducted on an interconnected stream and irrigation system within the Oldman River Basin of southern Alberta, Canada. Levels of indicator bacteria, including fecal coliforms, generic Escherichia coli and fecal streptococci, were repeatedly measured in streams and irrigation return canals of this river basin during the summer of 2001. Bacterial-loading segments of the irrigation/stream system were identified through a comparison of indicator bacteria levels in pairs of upstream and downstream sites. Mann-Whitney U-tests indicated that reservoirs significantly reduced bacterial counts. A temporal comparison of E. coli counts and river discharges suggested that these indicator bacteria do not originate from within in-stream sediments. Site-specific as well as cumulative inputs from a variety of non-point sources are likely to be responsible for the high downstream levels of indicator bacteria in this water system. The use of management practices such as in-stream reservoirs may significantly reduce contamination, and increase the quality of limited rural water supplies to allow their reuse and safe discharge into downstream water sources. The identification of bacteria-loading river/canal segments could also be used to prioritize restoration projects.