Digestibility and nutritional value of crude oil from three amaranth species

Oils from a selection ofAmaranthus caudatus, A. hypochondriacus andA. cruentus were extracted with hexane. The crude oils were analyzed for acid value, saponification and iodine number, and were included in basal casein diets for rat studies at 5 and 10% levels to replace equal amounts of refined cottonseed oil. The oils fromA. cruentus andA. hypochondriacus were similar in the oil properties studied and different fromA. caudatus. At either 5 or 10% food intake levels, weight gain and PER were not statistically different from values reported for cottonseed oil. True digestibility of amaranth oil was lower than that of cottonseed oil.A. cruentus oil gave the lowest digestibility. Oil levels induced statistical differences in food intake and digestibility. Oils fromA. caudatus, A. hypochondriacus and cottonseed induced similar serum cholesterol levels, while oil fromA. cruentus gave statistically higher values. Hemoglobin, hematocrit and serum proteins were similar among all groups. Microscopic analysis of the organs of the rats revealed some changes that were also found in cottonseed oil-fed rats. It was concluded that crude amaranth oil has lower digestibility than cottonseed oil, but that it is not responsible for growth-depressing effects when the seed is fed raw as compared to processed materials.     

Regulation of phosphatidylinositol turnover,calcium metabolism and enzyme secretion by phorbol dibutyrate in neutrophils

The action of the tumor promoter, phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu), on rabbit peritoneal and human neutrophils is associated with stimulation of¹⁴C-arachidonic acid incorporation into phospholipids within 1–2 min. Stimulated¹⁴C-arachidonate incorporation was relatively selective for phosphatidylinositol (PI) in rabbit neutrophils. In contrast, the secretory response of human neutrophils to PDBu coincided with stimulated label incorporation into phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidic acid (PA) and PI. Significant increases in label incorporation were observed with PDBu concentrations as low as 2 nM, and the dose response of stimulated label incorporation paralleled that of evoked lysozyme secretion. A parallel, but partial, inhibition of PDBu-stimulated PI labeling and enzyme release was observed after exposing rabbit neutrophils to calcium-deprived medium, whereas calcium deprivation failed to significantly depress either of these stimulant actions of PDBu in human neutrophils. Further, in rabbit neutrophils PDBu elicited an increase in cell associated⁴⁵Ca. However, PDBu was unable to promote the incorporation of³²P orthophosphate into PI or enhance phospholipase A₂ activity in broken cells. These findings suggest that one expression of the interaction between phorbol esters and their receptors on neutrophils involves the turnover of arachidonic acid in phospholipids. This stimulated turnover of arachidonate may be a critical step in the cascade of events associated with neutrophil activation.     

Variability for oil and fatty acid composition in castorbean varieties

Thirty-six castorbean varieties were surveyed for oil and fatty acid composition, in order to determine variability of these seed compounds. A large variability of seed oil percentage was observed, ranging from 39.6 to 59.5%. Concerning the fatty acids, little variability was observed for ricinoleic acid, which was the most abundant in the oil, ranging from 83.65 to 90.00%. The other fatty acids appeared in small concentrations and showed a small range: 0.87 to 2.35, 0.68 to 1.84, 2.96 to 5.64, 3.19 to 5.98, and 0.34 to 0.91%, for palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acid, respectively. Non-significant correlations were observed between fatty acids and seed oil percentage. However, significant correlations were observed among fatty acid concentrations: positive and negative ones. These significant correlations could be associated with the biosynthetic pathways of the fatty acids, which are not fully elucidated. They suggest, however, that selection for a particular fatty acid will tend to increase those positively correlated, and decrease those negative ones. Selection and plant breeding techniques could then be applied to modify the oil content of the castorbean seeds, considering the variability observed. For the fatty acid composition, however, the variability was not large enough to make substantial changes in their concentrations by selection procedures. More varieties should be surveyed to find out if such variability is available.     

The allelopathic mechanisms of dominance in bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) in Southern California

Bracken,Pteridium aquilinum, exerts a strong dominance over associated plants throughout much of its worldwide range. Associated plants are often severely inhibited or even excluded from dense stands of the fern. This study investigated the various aspects of herb suppression in bracken stands and assessed the contribution of the various forms of interference between plants to the establishment and maintenance of bracken dominance. It was shown that competition for soil moisture, light, and nutrients could not account for the lack of herbs in bracken stands. Further, uniformity of soil pH, texture, water-holding capacity, and organic matter content ruled out variability in physical factors as a cause. Baiting and trapping experiments showed that the higher concentration of animal activity inside the bracken stands contributed significantly to the pattern of herb suppression, but only against select species. The maintenance of this pattern in the animal-free Santa Cruz Island stands indicates the importance of another factor, allelopathy. It was found that phytotoxins leached from the dead, standing bracken fronds with the first few rains of the wet season were largely responsible for herb suppression. These toxins were isolated in raindrip and from soil inside the fern stands. Removal of the fronds from the stand before the rains could leach them resulted in reinvasion by the herbs after several seasons, and, conversely, placing fronds over the herbs in the grassland brought about herb inhibition. A number of known allelopathic chemicals were tentatively identified from bracken leachates. The importance of the interaction of allelopathy with other factors of plant interference is illustrated by bracken.     

护肤品的功效性评价方法综述

现代科学技术,尤其是生物技术和计算机技术的飞速发展和广泛应用,给化妆品行业带来了全新的发展机遇,赋予化妆品以一定的功效性是新世纪化妆品发展的重要趋势.近20年来,人们对化妆品的要求已从洁肤、润肤为目的的基础护肤品向美白、祛皱为目的的功效性化妆品方向发展.     

A mixed boundary-value problem of elasticity with parabolic boundary

Summary The mixed boundary-values problem of elasticity with parabolic boundary when the prescribed displacement is parabolic has been reduced to the solution of the non-homogeneous Hilbert problem following the method of complex variable. The result has been compared with that obtained byParia [5] for parabolic boundary with prescribed constant displacement as a particular case.

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Zusammenfassung Das gemischte Randwertproblem der Elastizitätstheorie wird für parabolische Berandung auf die Lösung des inhomogenen Hilbert-Problems unter Benützung der komplexen Methode zurückgeführt. Die Randverschiebung wird durch ein Polynom zweiten Grades dargestellt. Das Ergebnis wird mit dem vonParia [5] verglichen, das als Sonderfall konstante Verschiebungen am parabolischen Rand vorschreibt.

     

Approximation mit Exponentialsummen

Zusammenfassung Für die Approximation mit Exponentialsummen ist die beste Approximation imTschebyscheffschen Sinne eindeutig, abgesehen von bisher nicht erkannten Ausnahmen. Eindeutigkeit liegt dagegen immer bei der Anpassung mit positiven Exponentialsummen vor. Daß diese Familie eine andere Struktur hat als die bekannten Verallgemeinerungen linearer Funktionenfamilien, zeigt sich am Charakter des Alternantenkriteriums.

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Summary In this paper we investigate the approximation by sums of exponentials in the sense ofChebyshev. The best approximation is shown to be unique apart from exceptions not previously recognized. However, there is always uniqueness, when only sums of positive exponentials are considered. This family has a structure which is different from that of other generalizations of linear families of functions. This feature is reflected in the criterion on the alternations of the error curve.

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Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institut für Neutronenphysik und Reaktortechnik     

Some theorems of the eddy-current theory

Contents In the paper, theorems for the electric vector potentialT and magnetic scalar potentialU are discussed, which occur in the boundary-value problems for eddy currents induced in a conducting block by an external magnetic field. Uniqueness of the solution is examined. An integral representation of the scalar potentialU is derived for a nonmagnetic conductor. It is shown that for a thin metallic shell the integrodifferential equation results from general formulas related to the block.

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Einige Theoreme der Wirbelstromtheorie

Übersicht In der Arbeit werden drei Theoreme für das elektrische VektorpotentialT und das magnetische SkalarpotentialU beschrieben, die in den Randwertaufgaben für in einem metallischen Block durch das äußere magnetische Feld induzierte Wirbelströme auftreten. Es wird bewiesen, daß eine solche Randwertaufgabe eine eindeutige Lösung hat, wenn das Vektorpotential auf dem Rand gleich Null ist. Eine Integralrepräsentation des Skalarpotentials wird abgeleitet. Es wird gezeigt, daß die Integrodifferentialgleichung für eine dünne metallische Hülle aus allgemeinen, den Block betreffenden Formeln hervorgeht.

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List of principal symbols e coordinate unit vector - H magnetic intensity - J current density - T electric vector potential - U magnetic scalar potential - permeability - conductivity - V boundary of regionV     

A robust kinematic hardening rule for cyclic plasticity with ratchetting effects

Summary A robust kinematic hardening rule is proposed which appropriately blends the deviatoric stress rate rule and the Tseng-Lee rule in order to satisfy both the experimental observations made by Phillips et al. [1]–[5] and the nesting of the yield surface to the limit surface. The work presented in Part I is confined to the theoretical formulation of kinematic hardening rule with limited correlation to experimental results. A more general expression for the plastic modulus is proposed. The expressions proposed by McDowell and by Dafalias can be obtained as a special case of the proposed expression. An additional parameter is introduced that reflects the dependence of the plastic modulus on the angle between the deviatoric stress rate tensor and the direction of the limit backstress relative to the yield backstress.