Effectivity in the use of protein supplements in resistance training: systematic review

To increase strength and lean body mass, protein has become one of the most popular supplements among athletes. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of protein supplementation on body composition. A systematic review of the randomized controlled trials (RCT), published in MEDLINE/PubMed and SciELO up to April 10, 2009, was conducted. All RCT conducted in healthy subjects with interventions of six or more weeks were included. Nine studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and three of them had level 3 of evidence. Among these studies, the increase of lean mass ranged from 0.8 to 1.9 kg. However, the study with the longest term had duration of 12 weeks. Therefore, the evidence does not support the recommendation for the consumption of protein supplements among healthy individuals.     

Effect of protein source and resistance training on body composition and sex hormones

Background  

Evidence suggests an inverse relationship between soy protein intake and serum concentrations of male sex hormones. Anecdotal evidence indicates that these alterations in serum sex hormones may attenuate changes in lean body mass following resistance training. However, little empirical data exists regarding the effects of soy and milk-based proteins on circulating androgens and exercise induced body composition changes.     

The role of dietary protein intake and resistance training on Myosin heavy chain expression

During resistance training the muscle undergoes many changes. Possibly the most profound and significant changes are those that occur in the muscles contractile proteins. Increases in these contractile proteins are one of the primary factors contributing to myofibrillar hypertrophy. The most abundant muscle protein is myosin, which comprises 25% of the total muscle protein. Due to the large amount of skeletal muscle that is composed of myosin, changes in this fiber may have profound effects on skeletal muscle size and strength. The myosin molecule is made up of 6 subunits, 2 very large heavy chains, and 4 smaller light chains. The myosin heavy chain (MHC) accounts for 25-30% of all muscle proteins making its size an important factor in skeletal muscle growth. In conjunction with resistance training, dietary protein intake must be adequate to illicit positive adaptations. Although many studies have evaluated the role of dietary protein intake on skeletal muscle changes, few have evaluated the MHC specifically. Research has clearly defined the need for dietary protein and resistance training to facilitate positive changes in skeletal muscle. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the current literature on the effects of dietary protein and resistance training on the expression of the myosin heavy chain.     

Sesame protein: A review and prospectus

Sesame is one of the earliest condiments and crops grown for edible oil. Sesame is consumed directly as sweetmeat, a “peanut butter-like” product, a candy ingredient, bread condiments, and snack foods. The world production of sesame is about 2,000,000 metric tons. China and India are the largest producers but internally consume their production. Sudan is the largest exporter of seed. Sesame contains 50% oil, which is highly resistant to oxidation, and 25% protein, which has a unique balance of amino acids. Dehulling of sesame for human consumption is important since the hull contains 2–3% oxalic acid, which chelates calcium and has a bitter flavor. Dehulled, defatted meal contains 60% protein, is bland, and contains limited qualities of flatulence-causing sugars and high quantities of phytic acid. Aqueous processing yields isolated protein containing 72% protein and recovers 56% of the seed protein. Sesame protein is very stable to heat and contains large quantities of methionine. Sesame meal has a PER of about 1.35. Sesame is low in lysine and requires supplementation or can be blended with soy protein to give PERs nearly equivalent to casein. Sesame protein is composed of nearly 80% α-globulin and 20% β-globulin. Limited attempts have been made to characterize these 2 fractions. Sesame protein has low solubility that limits food applications in its native form. Sesame protein performs better than other oilseeds in baking applications. Production of sesame is limited to countries where labor is plentiful and inexpensive until indehiscent varieties and/or improved mechanical harvesting techniques are developed. However, intense breeding and engineering research programs are in progress.     

A procedure for assessing the change in flame spread characteristics of paints when subjected to washing

A Collaborative Programme of work was carried out by two laboratories to asscess a procedure for identifying paint systems which possess poor ‘in service’ lives by virtue of being repeatedly washed. The small scale surface spread of flame apparatus as described in BS 476 part 7 was used to measure any change in the surface spread of flame characteristic of eight coating system, applied to two substrates, as a result of washing the coated surfaces. The results indicate that both laboratories ranked the paints in the same order and the reproducibility of the proposed washing procedure was good. The most consistent results were obtained when the coating systems were applied to standard hardboard. It is suggested that flame retardant coating system having poor resistance to washing would be identified if a limit of changes of average spread of flame were set at 75 mm. This investigation was carried out in support of the activities of BSI committee PVC/12, Fire Retardant Paints.     

Adsorptive behavior of a globular protein with a monoglyceride monolayer spread on the aqueous surface

The dynamics of surface pressure(π) and of surface concentration (Г) of a¹⁴C radiolabeled β-lactoglobulin, a globular protein, adsorbed onto a spread monolayer of 1-monopalmitoyl-rac glycerol (named commonly as a monoglyceride), at the air-water interface were measured. The adsorption of¹⁴C labeled β lactoglobulin was enhanced at short times when C-16 monoglyceride of 73.4 and 24.7 μg was spread on the aqueous surface. However, the amounts of protein adsorbed at the steady state (after 10 h) were lowered with the values being 0.8 and 1.2 mg/m², respectively. Spreading of such amount of monoglyceride that forms a dense packed monolayer onto air-water interface led to complete displacement of the protein from the aqueous surface after 2.5 h, possibly because of the surface pressure and exclusion effects.     

Dietary fat in the prevention of cardiovascular disease — a review

In developed countries atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the reason for about 50% of all deaths. With growing prosperity coronary heart disease (CHD) is becoming the major cause of premature death. Most complications of atherosclerosis occur unexpectedly and more than 50% of the patients developing a myocardial infarction do not survive more than one year. Because of the severe morbidity and high mortality primary prevention is likely to be the only solution. Epidemiological studies show a strong, positive relationship between plasma cholesterol concentrations and the incidence of CHD. People who immigrate from low‐risk to high‐risk areas usually acquire similar plasma cholesterol levels as the native population and a similar CHD risk. This demonstrates that environmental rather than genetic factors lead to the differences in cardiovascular risk and supports the notion that nutrition and lifestyle play a major role. The association between dietary intake of fat and cholesterol and the extent of atherosclerosis and CHD has been recognized in previous studies. The amount of saturated fat in the diet correlates stronger with the incidence of CHD than with total fat intake. The consumption of unsaturated fatty acids, however, appears to be beneficial, since it is inversely correlated with the plasma cholesterol concentration and risk of myocardial infarction. Lately additional nutritional factors like trans fatty acids with a negative influence on risk as well as positive factors like linolenic acid have attracted much attention. In conclusion, as a challenge to public health, preventive medicine needs to focus on changes in dietary habits with priority, particularly fat modification. A nutrition low in total fat primarily avoiding saturated and trans fatty acids, but rich in fruit and vegetables should be recommended.     

Selection and sensitivity of pellet dimensions and operating parameters to maximize production rate

The manufacture of pellets from extruded plastic strands is modeled as a constrained nonlinear programming problem. The objective is to maximize the production rate by choice of pellet dimensions and pelletizing machine operating parameters. A general solution strategy leading to identification of a globally maximum production rate for any numerical case is given. It is shown that increases in the maximum production rate can be obtained by selective relaxation of the constraints. A numerical example is presented and discussed.     

Inhibition,passivity and resistance: A review of acceptable mechanisms

The relations between corrosion inhibition and passivity, and their importance in resistant alloys, are pointed out. The production and maintenance of protective films on metal surfaces is discussed. Films are considered to be the major factor producing passivity.     

Dietary protein supplementation. Fundamentals and examples of practical application

Involving the most expensive of all the nutrients required by the body, the biological utilization of dietary protein remains an important topic, particularly to Third World countries wherein protein supplies are frequently limited. Protein supplementation of cereals and other foodstuffs is often used as a means of increasing protein intake. Supplementation not only increases protein intake but often also changes the physiological usability of the protein component of the resultant mixture. Employing an updated biological method for assessment of protein nutritive value, the author investigated the nature of the change in protein assimilability as a result of graded changes in the proportions of certain proteins combined pairwise into single mixtures. Data are presented on the basis of which the digestibility and/or assimilability of the protein component of a given mixture can be estimated. Lastly, the author indicates the need to evaluate high-protein foods and protein supplements in terms of, not only protein content relative to cost, but also of inherent nutritive value and complementary effect.     

International fertilizer development center training and technical assistance activities: A review

The mission of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) is to assist developing countries in increasing food production through increased and more efficient use of fertilizers. To this end, IFDC has conducted training programs and implemented technical assistance activities designed to develop and transfer fertilizer technology appropriate to the needs of farmers in the tropics and subtropics. IFDC is committed to helping developing countries to strengthen all components of their fertilizer sector to ensure sustainable crop production through the efficient supply and use of fertilizer.     

Advances in protein structure prediction and de novo protein design: A review

This review provides an exposition to the important problems of (i) structure prediction in protein folding and (ii) de novo protein design. The recent advances in protein folding are reviewed based on a classification of the approaches in comparative modeling, fold recognition, and first principles methods with and without database information. The advances towards the challenging problem of loop structure prediction and the first principles method, ASTRO-FOLD, along with the developments in the area of force-fields development have been discussed. Finally, the recent progress in the area of de novo protein design is presented with focus on template flexibility, in silico sequence selection, and successful peptide and protein designs.     

Radiation chemical studies of protein reactions: Radiation dose and viscosity change

When protein was irradiated by gamma rays from a cobalt 60 source, an activated state was caused. An empirical equation for the viscosity change was obtained, and the phenomena were explained on the basis of the molecular mechanism. The general equation for the viscosity change is given by η_red = (b + a log R)(1 ? e^?kt), where η_red is the reduced viscosity of the solution, R is the gamma radiation dose, and t is time.     

Inhomogeneous distribution of platinum and ionomer in the porous cathode to maximize the performance of a PEM fuel cell

A proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell model, accounting for the combined water transport mechanism, ionomer swelling, water phase‐transfer, two‐phase flow and transport processes, is developed. The inhomogeneous distributions of Pt and ionomer inside the catalyst layer (CL) are numerically studied to achieve an optimal cell performance for two types of oxygen reduction reaction catalysts at different loadings. Results indicate that the optimal variation in loading through the thickness of the electrode (slopes) of Pt catalyst and ionomer vary with conditions of operation. An optimal platinum slope increases the agglomerate effectiveness factor and decreases the second Damköhler number near the CL‐membrane interface. An optimal ionomer slope increases the CL porosity near the GDL‐CL interface and decreases the mass transport resistance of reactant through the ionomer film. Their interaction shows that the optimal platinum slope is a tradeoff between the electrochemical active surface area and porosity at high current densities. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2017     

Clarification of red raspberry juice using microfiltration with gas backwashing: A viable strategy to maximize permeate flux and minimize a loss of anthocyanins

Red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) juice was produced by maceration of raspberry pulp at 50 °C for 2 h using 400 mg kg^?1 Klerzyme^®150 enzymatic pectolitic preparation followed by raw juice clarification with gelatin and bentonite or cross-flow membrane filtration. A minimal loss of anthocyanins from 630 to 540 mg l^?1 was obtained when the juice was clarified using a ceramic multichannel microfilter (MF) with a pore size of 0.2 μm. A light transmission at 625 nm in MF permeate was above 85% and the residual pectin (900 mg l^?1) was completely removed. During ultrafiltration through ceramic or polysulfone membranes with a molecular weight cut-off of 30–300 kDa, the content of anthocyanins was reduced to 220–370 mg l^?1, but a light transmission at 625 nm was as high as 96%. The permeate flux in MF was maintained at high values above 170 l m^?2 h^?1 at 3 bar for more than 2 h by backwashing the membrane with a compressed air every 6 min for 1 min. The cake compression at high pressures was avoided by short filtration times between backwashing.