Modulation of lipid metabolism by polyphenol‐rich grape skin extract improves liver steatosis and adiposity in high fat fed mice

This study investigated the influence of polyphenol‐rich grape skin extract (GSE) on adiposity and hepatic steatosis in mice fed a high fat diet (HFD) and its underlying mechanisms based on adipose and hepatic lipid metabolism. C57BL/6J mice were fed a normal diet or a HFD (20% fat, w/w) with or without GSE (0.15%, w/w) for 10 weeks. The supplementation of GSE significantly lowered body weight, fat weight, plasma free fatty acid level, and hepatic lipid accumulation compared to the HFD group. Plasma leptin level was significantly lower, while the plasma adiponectin level was higher in the GSE group than in the HFD group. GSE supplementation significantly suppressed the activities of lipogenic enzymes in both adipose and liver tissues, which was concomitant with β‐oxidation activation. Furthermore, GSE reversed the HFD‐induced changes of the expression of genes involved in lipogenesis and β‐oxidation in the liver. These findings suggest that GSE may protect against diet‐induced adiposity and hepatic steatosis by regulating mRNA expression and/or activities of enzymes that regulate lipogenesis and fatty acid oxidation in the adipose tissue and liver.     

Antibacterial activity of xanthorrhizol isolated from Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb. against foodborne pathogens

Xanthorrhizol, isolated from the ethanol extract of Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb., is a sesquiterpene compound with a molecular weight of 218. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of xanthorrhizol against foodborne pathogens. The antibacterial activity of xanthorrhizol was measured in terms of the MIC and the MBC. MICs and MBCs of xanthorrhizol against Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Typhimurium, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus were 8, 16, 8, 8, 16, 8 microg/ml and 16, 32, 16, 16, 16, 16 microg/ml, respectively. The bactericidal study, as determined by the viable cell count method, revealed that xanthorrhizol treatment at 4 x MIC reduced viable cells by at least 6 to 8 log for all six foodborne pathogens in 4 h. Xanthorrhizol maintained its antibacterial activity after thermal treatments (121 degrees C, 15 min) under various pH ranges (pH 3.0, 7.0, and 11.0). These results strongly suggest that xanthorrhizol, conferring strong antibacterial activity with thermal and pH stability, can be effectively used as a natural preservative to prevent the growth of foodborne pathogens.     

Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy coupled with multivariate analysis for measurement of acesulfame-K in diet foods

ABSTRACT:  Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was investigated as a method for analysis of acesulfame-K content after a simple extraction procedure for certain commercial diet food samples. Partial least squares (PLS) models were developed for prediction of acesulfame-K using select spectral ranges on the basis of relevant IR absorption bands associated with acesulfame-K. The acesulfame-K content of test food samples was predicted accurately in the fingerprint region between 1100 and 1300 cm⁻¹ with a maximum prediction error of 9.82% when compared with conventional HPLC method. The PLS was found to be a consistently better predictor when both PLS and principal component regression (PCR) analyses were used for quantification of acesulfame-K. The developed procedure was further validated by comparing with HPLC results as well as recovery studies. As a quick tool, the method developed is expected to be used for routine estimation of acesulfame-K in commercial products.     

Monoclonal-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of zearalenone in cereals

A monoclonal antibody against zearalenone (ZEA) was produced and used successfully to develop a direct competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DC-ELISA) for the analysis of ZEA in cereals. This DC-ELISA had a limit of detection of 0.15 +/- 0.02 microg l(-1) and an IC50 value of 1.13 +/- 0.16 microg l(-1). Matrix interference was minimized by dilution of the sample extract before ELISA assays. Aqueous methanol (80%) gave good extraction efficiencies, and the recovery from spiked rice, barley, and corn samples averaged between 87 and 112%. Although ZEA was detected in seven (9%) of 80 rice samples and in eight (16%) of 50 barley samples, the concentration of ZEA in samples was around or below the limit of detection of DC-ELISA. Among 38 corn samples, ZEA was detected in nine (24%) samples in the range 41.0-909.8 microg kg(-1). Re-analysis of the ELISA-positive corn samples by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) confirmed that seven (18%) corn samples were positive. The ZEA results for corn showed very good agreement between DC-ELISA and a commercial AgraQant zearalenone kit (r2 = 0.98). Thus, the monoclonal antibody-based DC-ELISA could be applied to the preliminary screening of ZEA contamination when analysis of a large sample number is needed.     

Effects of gamma irradiation on the development and reproduction of Plodia interpunctella (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

The inhibitory effects of gamma irradiation were demonstrated on the development and reproduction including egg hatch, pupation, adult eclosion and oviposition of Plodia interpunctella. Failure of all these events increased with increasing doses from 0.1 to 1.0 kGy. However, the rates of developmental inhibition were different among three behavioral events. Egg hatch was almost completely inhibited by 0.5 kGy and higher doses. Pupation was completely inhibited by 0.25 kGy, but adult eclosion was not completely inhibited even by 1.0 kGy. In addition, different age groups within the egg and final larval stages differed in their susceptibility to 0.1 and 0.25 kGy doses; the rates of both hatching and pupation were lower when young individuals were irradiated. Fecundity and hatchability of eggs were greatly reduced when pupae were irradiated at 0.1 kGy and completely inhibited at 0.25 kGy and higher doses. This suggests that although some adults eclosed from pupae irradiated at 0.25 kGy and higher doses, they were not able to lay eggs. Our results suggest that irradiation at 0.5 kGy is appropriate for the inhibition of development and reproduction of P. interpunctella.     

Service life prediction of repaired concrete structures under chloride environment using finite difference method

Service life of concrete structures under chloride environment can be predicted by formulations based on the mechanism of chloride ion diffusion. This mechanism can be mathematically described using the partial differential equation (PDE) of the Fick’s second law. One-dimensional PDE can be solved analytically by assuming constant surface chloride ion concentration and constant diffusion coefficient. However, the solution becomes more complicated when two additional conditions are included, i.e., concrete cover repair or replacement and time dependent variation of the surface chloride ion concentration and diffusion coefficient. In this paper, a numerical finite difference based formulation is proposed to effectively accommodate these two additional conditions. By virtue of numerical computation, the nonlinear initial chloride ion concentration can be treated in point-wise manner and both the time dependent surface chloride ion concentration and diffusion coefficient can be iteratively updated. Based on a Crank–Nicolson scheme within the finite difference method, a proper formulation accounting for space-dependent diffusion coefficient was derived; chloride ion concentration profiles are obtained and the service life of repaired concrete structures under chloride environment is predicted. Numerical examples and observations are finally presented.     

Inhibition of lysophospholipase D activity by fish egg extracts

Lysophospholipase D (lysoPLD) is known to convert lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) to lysophosphatidic acid (LPA). In this study, we examined the inhibitory effect of fish egg extracts, containing lipids, on bovine lysoPLD activity. Fish eggs extracts were tested for the inhibition of lysoPLD activity, and the inhibitory action was expressed as 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀). Among fish egg extracts of 20 fish species, the most potent inhibition was expressed by Hairtail egg extract (IC₅₀, 0.07 ± 0.01 mg egg weight/mL), followed by extract of Spanish mackerel egg extract (0.11 ± 0.02 mg egg weight/mL) and extract of Pacific saury egg (0.48 ± 0.03 mg egg weight/mL). In ESI/MS analysis, major lysoPLD-inhibitory lipid components in egg extracts were identified to be species of LPC, LPA and fatty acid. From these results, it is suggested that the strong inhibition of lysoPLD activity by fish egg extracts might be ascribed to the presence of lysophospholipids. In a separate study, enzymatic oxidation using lipoxygenase or non-enzymatic oxidations such as HOCl oxidation or Cu²⁺-catalyzed oxidation enhanced the inhibitory activity to some extent, suggesting that the oxidation of polyunsaturated lysophospholipids might contribute to the increase of lysoPLD-inhibitory action. Taken together, it is suggested that fish eggs may contain potent lipid inhibitors of lysoPLD, and that the inhibitory action of lipid inhibitors was enhanced by oxidative process.     

Memory retention process by balancing the neutral energy point in a brain-inspired system

This article proposes a memory retention strategy in a knowledge network structure in order to make a more efficient intelligent system. The structure and management strategy of the memory have a great influence on the efficiency of the system. In this approach, the concept of neutral energy is introduced, which is used to represent the state of the knowledge node. The energy value of the node was designed to manage the memory retention and recall process in a brain-inspired system. This strategy was applied to a virtual memory and tested with sample data.     

Empirical analysis of risk-taking behavior in IT platform migration decisions

Information technology (IT) platform migration incurs a great deal of risk because of the massive rewriting of legacy systems and a wide range of new technology adoptions. Therefore IT platform decisions need to be made in a mindful manner because of the high degree of investment risk. However, more aggressive migrations, compared to the global trend, to an open system have been observed in Korean organizations. This phenomenon defies the common understanding of IT investment risk and encourages the investigation of the elusive characteristics underlying IT investment decisions. The effect of IT decision-makers’ perceptions and risk propensity on their IT platform migration decisions is examined in the context of risky decisions. In addition to risk perception, decision-makers’ risk propensity also has a significant effect on IT investment decisions. By observing the monarchical IT governance and IT-biased careers of decision-makers, some implications of large-scale IT investment decisions are derived.     

Microstructure development in mechanically alloyed yttria dispersed austenitic steels

Austenitic oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys containing 0.5 and 5 wt.% yttria were prepared from elemental powders (Fe–20% Ni–14% Cr–2.5% Mo–2.5% Al–2% Mn) by mechanical alloying. The powders were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), paying particular attention to the behavior of yttria. XRD and high-resolution TEM analyses show that yttria does not form a solid solution with austenite; unlike in ferritic ODS alloys, where it dissolves. Milling induces the formation of the thermodynamically favorable yttrium aluminum perovskite (YAP). Alumina from the aluminum powder in the starting blend, formed in the initial stages of milling using oxygen available from the other elemental powders, combines with yttria to form YAP. The yttria content does not affect alloy formation but reduces the crystallite size and strain significantly in the 5% yttria composition. TEM analysis of hot-pressed compacts reveals nanocrystalline particles of yttria, yttrium aluminum garnet and YAP.