Ascorbic acid consumption and serum levels in smokers and non-smokers adult men in Hermosillo,Sonora, México

Ascorbic acid is one of the important antioxidant nutrients that can aid in the prevention of oxidative cellular damage. Adequate dietary intake is essential as humans can not synthesize this vitamin. It has been reported that smokers require higher dietary intakes to maintain their serum levels. The objective of this study was to determine serum levels of ascorbic acid in young male smokers and non smokers in the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. In addition, their dietary intake of ascorbic acid was determined by a 24 h dietary recall. The dietary intake of ascorbic acid in 12 smokers was 64 +/- 11 mg/d and in 13 non smokers it was 70 +/- 12 mg/d. The smokers in this study did not meet the dietary recommendation of 100 mg/d. Serum ascorbic acid values in smokers and non smokers were 24.2 +/- 6.9 mumol/L and 30.9 +/- 3.7 mumol/L respectively. No significant difference was found among the 2 groups. Although the average serum ascorbic acid values fell within the range considered normal, 50% of the smokers had individual values that were below 23 mumol/L, indicating that these subjects have hipovitaminosis. A positive correlation between intake and serum levels was obtained for smokers (r = 0.71; p = 0.03). The results of this study suggest smokers may be at increased risk for chronic diseases due to their low intake and low serum levels of ascorbic acid.     

Current Perspectives on Synthetic Compartments for Biomedical Applications

Nano- and micrometer-sized compartments composed of synthetic polymers are designed to mimic spatial and temporal divisions found in nature. Self-assembly of polymers into compartments such as polymersomes, giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), layer-by-layer (LbL) capsules, capsosomes, or polyion complex vesicles (PICsomes) allows for the separation of defined environments from the exterior. These compartments can be further engineered through the incorporation of (bio)molecules within the lumen or into the membrane, while the membrane can be decorated with functional moieties to produce catalytic compartments with defined structures and functions. Nanometer-sized compartments are used for imaging, theranostic, and therapeutic applications as a more mechanically stable alternative to liposomes, and through the encapsulation of catalytic molecules, i.e., enzymes, catalytic compartments can localize and act in vivo. On the micrometer scale, such biohybrid systems are used to encapsulate model proteins and form multicompartmentalized structures through the combination of multiple compartments, reaching closer to the creation of artificial organelles and cells. Significant progress in therapeutic applications and modeling strategies has been achieved through both the creation of polymers with tailored properties and functionalizations and novel techniques for their assembly.     

Composition and food properties of Pachyrhizus ahipa roots and starch

The aims of this work were to evaluate productivity and postharvest handling conditions for ahipa roots; to establish a starch extraction procedure and to characterise the morphological, physicochemical and pasting properties of ahipa starch. Plants were grown in Misiones (Argentina), evaluating three planting densities and the application of a flower pruning (FP) practice. FP increased roots yield without modifying the functional properties of the starch. Storage assays allowed to rule out refrigeration and select 25 °C as an appropriate temperature. Starch extraction yield was 56.54 g 100 g^?1 roots (dry basis). Amylose content was 10.75%. The starch diffractograms were assigned to a type C pattern. Ahipa starch pastes gelatinised at relatively low temperature and showed low retrogradation tendency under refrigeration conditions. Rheological properties indicated that ahipa starch might be adequate as a food thickener. Thus, native ahipa starch seems to be an alternative to other traditional starch sources.     

Lithiumpyridinyl‐Driven Synthesis of High‐Purity Zero‐Valent Iron Nanoparticles and Their Use in Follow‐Up Reactions

The synthesis of zero‐valent iron (Fe(0)) nanoparticles in pyridine using lithium bipyridinyl ([LiBipy]) or lithium pyridinyl ([LiPy]) is presented. FeCl₃ is used as the most simple starting material and reduced either in a [LiBipy]‐driven two‐step approach or in a [LiPy]‐driven one‐pot synthesis. High‐quality nanoparticles are obtained with uniform, spherical shape, and mean diameters of 2.9 ± 0.5 nm ([LiBipy]) or 4.1 ± 0.7 nm ([LiPy]). The as‐prepared, high purity Fe(0) nanoparticles are monocrystalline. In addition to particle characterization (high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering), composition and purity are examined in detail based on electron diffraction, X‐ray powder diffraction, elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. Due to their small size and high purity, the Fe(0) nanoparticles are highly reactive. They can be used in follow‐up reactions to obtain a variety of iron compounds, which is exemplarily shown for the transformation to iron carbide (Fe₃C) nanoparticles, the reaction with sulfur to obtain FeS nanoparticles, or the direct reaction with pentamethylcyclopentadiene to FeCp*₂ (Cp*: pentamethylcyclopentadienyl).     

Enhanced high-order information extraction for multiphase batch process fault monitoring

Conventional independent component analysis (ICA) monitoring methods extract the feature information of process data by selecting more important independent components (ICs), which discard a small part of ICs that may contain useful information for faults, leading to unsatisfactory monitoring results. However, when the number of sampling points is greater than that of process variables, the ICA monitoring model does not work well. To address the aforementioned problems, a novel monitoring method, multiphase enhanced high-order information extraction (MEHOIE), is proposed in this paper. The entire production process was first divided into several steady phases and transition phases by the affinity propagation (AP) phase partitioning method. The enhanced high-order information extraction (EHOIE) model was then built in each phase for fault monitoring. Finally, the algorithm was applied in the penicillin simulation platform and industrial microbial pharmaceutical process. The flexibility and superiority of this algorithm were verified by comparing it with other conventional methods.     

Cross-cultural aging in cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being.

The present study examined age and cultural differences in cognitive and affective components of subjective well-being. A sample of 188 American and Chinese young and older adults completed surveys measuring self-life satisfaction, perceived family's life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. Across cultures, older adults reported lower negative affect than did young adults. Americans reported higher self-life satisfaction, perceived family's life satisfaction, and positive affect than did Chinese. In addition, perceived family's life satisfaction was more related to self-life satisfaction for Chinese than for Americans. Findings are discussed in light of socioemotional selectivity theory and theories on culture and self-construal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Isolation and characterisation of six novel mycobacteriophages and investigation of their antimicrobial potential in milk

Using Mycobacterium smegmatis as a rapidly growing host, six mycobacteriophages were isolated from a variety of environmental sources and characterised by restriction endonuclease digestion. All six phages had long, non-contractile tails and isometric heads characteristic of Siphoviridae and were relatively heat-stable up to 72 °C and generally retained infectivity at pH4–pH10 for 60 min. Each individual phage, when tested against M. smegmatis in both growth media and reconstituted milk, typically reduced host numbers by up to 7 logs. When all 6 phages were combined as a cocktail in milk, a strong bactericidal effect on M. smegmatis was observed over 96 h, evidenced by a 9-log reduction in host cell numbers. These results achieved against M. smegmatis, indicate that mycophages may have a potential application as anti-mycobacterial agents when used against more virulent pathogens such as Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, which has been detected in both raw and pasteurised milk.     

Development and neuronal dependence of cutaneous sensory nerve formations: Lessons from neurotrophins

Null mutations of genes from the NGF family of NTs and their receptors (NTRs) lead to loss/reduction of specific neurons in sensory ganglia; conversely, cutaneous overexpression of NTs results in skin hyperinnervation and increase or no changes in the number of sensory neurons innervating the skin. These neuronal changes are paralleled with loss of specific types of sensory nerve formations in the skin. Therefore, mice carrying mutations in NT or NTR genes represent an ideal model to identify the neuronal dependence of each type of cutaneous sensory nerve ending from a concrete subtype of sensory neuron, since the development, maintenance, and structural integrity of sensory nerve formations depend upon sensory neurons. Results obtained from these mouse strains suggest that TrkA positive neurons are connected to intraepithelial nerve fibers and other sensory nerve formations depending from C and Aδ nerve fibers; the neurons expressing TrkB and responding to BDNF and NT‐4 innervate Meissner corpuscles, a subpopulation of Merkell cells, some mechanoreceptors of the piloneural complex, and the Ruffini's corpuscles; finally, a subpopulation of neurons, which are responsive to NT‐3, support postnatal survival of some intraepithelial nerve fibers and Merkel cells in addition to the muscle mechanoreceptors. On the other hand, changes in NTs and NTRs affect the structure of non‐nervous structures of the skin and are at the basis of several cutaneous pathologies. This review is an update about the role of NTs and NTRs in the maintenance of normal cutaneous innervation and maintenance of skin integrity. Microsc. Res. Tech. 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Molecular scale conductance photoswitching in engineered bacteriorhodopsin

Bacteriorhodopsin (BR) is a robust light-driven proton pump embedded in the purple membrane of the extremophilic archae Halobacterium salinarium . Its photoactivity remains in the dry state, making BR of significant interest for nanotechnological use. Here, in a novel configuration, BR was depleted from most of its endogenous lipids and covalently and asymmetrically anchored onto a gold electrode through a strategically located and highly responsive cysteine mutation; BR has no indigenous cysteines. Chemisorption on gold was characterized by surface plasmon resonance, reductive striping voltammetry, ellipsometry, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). For the first time, the conductance of isolated protein trimers, intimately probed by conducting AFM, was reproducibly and reversibly switched under wavelength-specific conditions (mean resistance of 39 ± 12 MΩ under illumination, 137 ± 18 MΩ in the dark), demonstrating a surface stability that is relevant to potential nanodevice applications.     

Direct visualization of symmetry breaking during janus nanoparticle formation

The straight-forward synthesis of Janus nanoparticles composed of Ag and AgBr is reported. For their formation, cucurbit[n]uril (CB)-stabilized AgBr nanoparticles are first generated in water by precipitation. Subsequent irradiation with an electron beam transforms a fraction of each AgBr nanoparticle into Ag(0) , leading to well-defined Janus particles, stabilized by the binding of CB to the surface of both AgBr and Ag(0) . With the silver ion reduction being triggered by the electron beam, the progress of the transformation can be directly monitored with a transmission electron microscope.