Effect of food intake on protein quality measured in chicks by traditional or biochemical methods

Previous studies have shown that the activities of the hepatic enzymes xanthine dehydrogenase and nucleoside phosphorylase, as well as the uric acid excreted, can be used to determine the quality of the protein consumed in chickens, in a short time and using a small amount of the test protein. A common observation in protein quality evaluation is that the food intake of the control animals is considerably greater than that observed in those receiving proteins of low quality. Since this can affect the results, this study measured the quality of garbanzo bean and black bean proteins in chickens fed these beans ad libitum, feeding the bean diets at the level observed in the controls (soy protein+methionine) by enteral intubation or pair feeding the controls with the amount of food consumed by the chickens receiving the bean diets. In every case, protein quality was determined by protein efficiency ratio, net protein utilisation or the biochemical methods used in this study. The results showed that, when fed ad libitum, the animals assigned to the bean diets exhibited a lower food intake than the controls but, by tube feeding, food intake was made equal in both groups. Equal consumption, between these groups, was also obtained by reducing the amount of food offered to the controls to the levels measured in the groups assigned to the bean diets (pair feeding). These feeding strategies had a marked effect on growth, carcass protein content, protein catabolism and also in the results of protein quality. Thus, the control whose intake was reduced grew less, accumulated less protein in tissues and catabolised more of the protein consumed than the control fed ad libitum. In contrast, the chickens assigned to the bean diets, but whose food intake was increased by tube feeding, grew better, accumulated more protein in tissues and catabolised less protein. In general, the results of these experiments confirm the effectiveness of the biochemical methods for estimating protein quality and indicate that the protein quality of both garbanzo beans and black beans increased when it was measured at a food intake equivalent to that measured in the control animals. Since the overall purpose of this study was to evaluate techniques for protein quality determination meant to be applicable to humans nutrition rather than poultry nutrition, single proteins were used instead of combinations of proteins. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry.     

Changes in phenolic composition of apple juices by HPLC with direct injection

An analytical procedure for the quantitative determination of the major polyphenols in apple juices which successfully employs a RP-HPLC system without prior treatment of the sample is described. Apple juices were clarified by microfiltration and ultrafiltration without previous treatment. Polyphenols monitored were influenced by clarification technology employed for stabilising the apple juices. The p-coumaric acid derivative was significantly affected by membrane type and filtration time, while (−)-epicatechin and phloridzin were influenced by filtration time. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry.     

Spherical Silica Functionalized by 2-Naphthalene Methanol Luminophores as a Phosphorescence Sensor

Photoluminescence is known to have huge potential for applications in studying biological systems. In that respect, phosphorescent dye molecules open the possibility to study the local slow solvent dynamics close to hard and soft surfaces and interfaces using the triplet state (TSD: triplet state solvation dynamics). However, for that purpose, probe molecules with efficient phosphorescence features are required with a fixed location on the surface. In this article, a potential TSD probe is presented in the form of a nanocomposite: we synthesize spherical silica particles with 2-naphthalene methanol molecules attached to the surface with a predefined surface density. The synthesis procedure is described in detail, and the obtained materials are characterized employing transmission electron microscopy imaging, Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Finally, TSD experiments are carried out in order to confirm the phosphorescence properties of the obtained materials and the route to develop phosphorescent sensors at silica surfaces based on the presented results is discussed.     

TET3- and OGT-Dependent Expression of Genes Involved in Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Endometrial Cancer

TET3 is a member of the TET (ten-eleven translocation) proteins family that catalyzes the conversion of the 5-methylcytosine into 5-hydroxymethylcytosine. TET proteins can also affect chromatin modifications and gene expression independently of their enzymatic activity via interactions with other proteins. O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT), the enzyme responsible for modification of proteins via binding of N-acetylglucosamine residues, is one of the proteins whose action may be dependent on TET3. Here, we demonstrated that in endometrial cancer cells both TET3 and OGT affected the expression of genes involved in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), i.e., FOXC1, TWIST1, and ZEB1. OGT overexpression was caused by an increase in TWIST1 and ZEB1 levels in HEC-1A and Ishikawa cells, which was associated with increased O-GlcNAcylation of histone H2B and trimethylation of H3K4. The TET3 had the opposite effect on gene expressions and histone modifications. OGT and TET3 differently affected FOXC1 expression and the migratory potential of HEC-1A and Ishikawa cells. Analysis of gene expressions in cancer tissue samples from endometrial cancer patients confirmed the association between OGT or TET3 and EMT genes. Our results contribute to the knowledge of the role of the TET3/OGT relationship in the complex mechanism supporting endometrial cancer progression.     

Electrical Properties of Sputter-deposited ZrO2-based Pt/ZrO2/Si Capacitors

Pt/ZrO2/Si sandwich structures where ZrO2 is deposited by radio frequency （r.f.） magnetron sputtering using a Zr target in an atmosphere of O2/Ar gas mixture, were fabricated and the effects of the O2/Ar flow ratio in the reactive sputtering process, the annealing temperature, the ZrO2 film thickness on the structure, the surface roughness of ZrO2 films and the electric properties of Pt/ZrO2/Si metal-oxide-semiconductor （MOS） capacitors were investigated. The optimum process parameters of the Pt/ZrO2/Si capacitor based on reactively sputtered-ZrO2 determined in such a way as the capacitance is maximized and the leakage current, the oxide charge, and the interface trap density are minimized that is the O2/Ar flow ratio of 1.5, the annealing temperature of 800℃, and the film thickness of 10 nm. Also the conduction mechanism in the Pt/ZrO2/Si capacitor has been discussed.     

Identification of Tumor Antigens in Ovarian Cancers Using Local and Circulating Tumor-Specific Antibodies

Ovarian cancers include several disease subtypes and patients often present with advanced metastatic disease and a poor prognosis. New biomarkers for early diagnosis and targeted therapy are, therefore, urgently required. This study uses antibodies produced locally in tumor-draining lymph nodes (ASC probes) of individual ovarian cancer patients to screen two separate protein microarray platforms and identify cognate tumor antigens. The resulting antigen profiles were unique for each individual cancer patient and were used to generate a 50-antigen custom microarray. Serum from a separate cohort of ovarian cancer patients encompassing four disease subtypes was screened on the custom array and we identified 28.8% of all ovarian cancers, with a higher sensitivity for mucinous (50.0%) and serous (40.0%) subtypes. Combining local and circulating antibodies with high-density protein microarrays can identify novel, patient-specific tumor-associated antigens that may have diagnostic, prognostic or therapeutic uses in ovarian cancer.     

Dissimilarity of the oxidations of rapeseed and butter oil triacylglycerols and their mixtures in the absence of tocopherols

Although fatty acid composition is the most important attribute used to control oxidation stability, all edible oils are affected by lipid oxidation irrespective of whether they are highly unsaturated or not. The aim of the study was to compare the oxidation of rapeseed oil (RO) and butter oil (BO) triacylglycerols (TAGs) and their mixtures containing 10% or 20% of the other. Oxidation of the TAGs at 40°C was followed by formation of primary and secondary products. Statistical methods were used to interpret the data. The RO and BO TAGs and their mixtures began to oxidise without any induction periods. In the RO TAGs more hydroperoxides and p‐anisidine reactive compounds were formed than in the BO TAGs. The BO TAGs oxidised more than would be expected by their fatty acid composition. High susceptibility of BO TAGs to oxidation was caused by the easy breakdown of their hydroperoxides. Heptadienal and heptenal were specific products of oxidised RO TAGs and heptanal and nonenal of oxidised BO TAGs. Mixtures of RO and BO TAGs behaved according to which was dominant in the mixture. However, as little as 10% of RO or BO TAG introduced its specific oxidation products to the mixture. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Alleviating mechanical degradation of hexacyanoferrate via strain locking during Na+insertion/extraction for full sodium ion battery

Generation of large strains upon Na+intercalation is one of the prime concerns of the mechanical degradation of Prussian blue(PB)and its analogs.Structural cons...