Negative and positive components of psychological masculinity and femininity and their relationships to self-reports of neurotic and acting out behaviors.

Negatively valued masculinity (M–) and femininity (F–) personality scales were developed to supplement the positively valued Masculinity (M+) and Femininity (F+) scales of J. T. Spence and R. L. Helmreich"s (1978) Personal Attributes Questionnaire. (M–) consisted of traits that had been judged to be (a) more typical of males than females, (b) undesirable in both sexes, and (c) agentic or instrumental in content. Two (F–) scales were developed, both containing stereotypically feminine, undesirable traits, one set of traits referring to communionlike characteristics and the other to verbal passive–aggressive qualities. In 220 male and 363 female undergraduates significant sex differences in the predicted direction were found on all scales. In both sexes, low and nonsignificant correlations were found between parallel positive and negative scales, but highly significant negative correlations were found between positive and negative cross-sex scales. Findings provide additional evidence for the multidimensionality of masculinity and femininity. Scores on a self-esteem measure were positively correlated with M+ and F+, uncorrelated with M–, and negatively correlated with the F– scales. Different patterns were associated with 2 types of problem behaviors. Neuroticism was most highly correlated (negatively) with M+, and acting out behavior was most strongly correlated (positively) with M–. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metabolism of linolenic acid in developing brain: I. Incorporation of radioactivity from 1-14C linolenic acid into brain fatty acids

Twelve-thirteen day old rats were given 1-¹⁴C linolenic acid by intraperitoneal injection. Fatty acids were isolated from the brains of animals sacrificed at the end of 8 and 48 hr and 15 and 45 days. Eight hr after the tracer, radioactivity was found neither in 18∶3 nor its endproduct, 22∶6, and palmitate was the most highly radioactive component. At longer intervals, 22∶6 seemed to retain much of the radioactivity, whereas palmitate showed a precipitous decline in radioactivity. Initial oxidation of linolenate and sparing of the linolenate complexed with polar lipids are discussed.     

Adjustment in aging: The roles of life stress, hassles, and self-efficacy.

Examined the relationship of life stress, daily hassles, and perceived self-efficacy to adjustment in a community sample of 32 men and 32 women (aged 65–75 yrs). In a structured interview, negative life change events, daily hassles, self-efficacy, depression, psychosomatic symptoms, and negative well-being were assessed. Both negative life events and daily hassles were related to psychological distress and physical symptoms for men, and hassles were associated with psychological distress and physical symptoms for women. An inverse relationship between self-efficacy and maladjustment was also found. Hassles showed the most powerful relationship to distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group sequential testing in dental clinical trials with longitudinal data on multiple outcome variables

In this article, methods are proposed for design and analysis of clinical trials that gather longitudinal data on multiple outcome variables. A valid test of the null hypothesis of no treatment group differences can be obtained for any choice of a working alternative hypothesis and a working covariance matrix for the outcome variables. Increased power can be achieved by accurate modeling of the true treatment effect and covariance structure. Implementation of the procedure is simple using existing software for generalized estimating equations. The procedure is an extension of the 'derived variable' technique (univariate analysis applied to a linear combination of the outcome variables) and also of O'Brien's generalized least squares test. The procedure is extended to allow sequential testing using an arbitrary division of the total type I error rate among repeated hypothesis tests. The methods are illustrated by the design of a study on the safety of dental amalgam fillings, which served as the motivation for the research.     

Major pathway of imipramine metabolism is catalyzed by cytochromes P-450 1A2 and P-450 3A4 in human liver

The metabolism of imipramine by human liver microsomes was examined using a combination of five strategies. Human hepatic microsomes produced N-desmethylimipramine (84%), 2-hydroxyimipramine (10%), and 10-hydroxyimipramine (6%). Preincubation of human hepatocytes in culture with beta-naphthoflavone and macrolides exclusively induced the formation of desmethylimpramine (552%, p < 0.05, and 234%, p < 0.003, respectively). Correlations were obtained between rates of imipramine demethylation and cytochrome P-450 (P-450) 1A2 (r = 0.88, p < 0.001) and P-450 3A (r = 0.80, p < 0.02) concentrations in human liver microsomal preparations from 13 different subjects. Anti-P-450 1A2 and anti-P-450 3A antibodies selectively inhibited N-demethylation (80% and 60%, respectively). N-Demethylation was completely inhibited when anti-1A2 and anti-3A were added simultaneously. Kinetic studies with human microsomes confirm the contribution of two different enzymes in the N-demethylation. The Km of 1A2 was similar to the high affinity Km in human liver microsomes, whereas the Km of 3A was similar to the low affinity Km in human liver microsomes. P-450 1A2 was apparently more efficient than 3A4 (lower Km and higher Vmax) but was expressed in much lower concentration. Human P-450s 1A2 and 3A4 expressed in yeast efficiently produced desmethylimipramine. These results suggest that P-450 1A2 and P-450 3A4 are the major enzymes involved in imipramine N-demethylation in human hepatic microsomes. Similar experiments were conducted using P-450 2D6, and they confirmed that P-450 2D6 catalyzes imipramine 2-hydroxylation. Interindividual variations in 3A4 hepatic content may explain the large variations in imipramine blood levels observed after uniform dosages and thus may explain the variations in clinical efficacy. Caution might be advised in the clinical use of tricyclic antidepressants when drugs are also administered that induce or inhibit P-450s 3A4 and 1A2.     

Influence of inulin on bread: Kinetics and physico-chemical indicators of the formation of volatile compounds during baking

The influence of inulin on the formation and release of white bread volatiles was studied during baking, using an innovative on-line baking extraction device. Kinetic studies were performed to follow the development of crust physical properties and the formation of volatiles responsible for the flavour of breads having different amounts of inulin. It was demonstrated that inulin accelerated the formation of the bread crust and the Maillard reaction. It led to breads with an overall quality similar to that of non-enriched breads, but baked for a shorter time. Correlations between some crust properties and the amount of Maillard volatiles were determined. They showed that crust water activity, moisture and clearness could be good indicators of the Maillard reaction during the baking of bread.     

On the Effect of Tastant Excluded Fillers on Sweetness and Saltiness of a Model Food

ABSTRACT: In this study, the effect on taste due to the addition of air bubbles to a water-based gel was investigated. The gel phase contained either sucrose to give a sweet taste or sodium chloride to give a salty taste. For the sweet gels, taste intensities were evaluated for samples with different volume fractions of the air bubbles (up to 40%, v/v) and different concentrations of the sucrose. For the salty gels, samples were evaluated at 40% volume fraction of air bubbles. It was found that a reduction of the sodium chloride or sucrose by the same weight percentage as the volume fraction of the air bubbles in the samples gave equal taste perception as the nontastant-reduced samples. Moreover, saltiness and sweetness perception were clearly enhanced at 40% volume fractions of air bubbles if the sodium chloride or sucrose was not reduced. Thus, the overall tastes of the samples appeared to depend mainly on the concentration levels of the salt or the sucrose in the aqueous phase irrespective of the volume fraction of the air bubbles. However, the air bubbles were found to change the texture and appearance of the samples. It has been demonstrated that the inclusion of air bubbles offers scope for the reduction of sodium chloride or sucrose in food products.     

Biobased packaging for improving preservation of fresh common mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus L.)

Freshness of common mushrooms was related to the internal atmosphere composition during modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) experiments at 20 °C and 80% RH with stretchable polyvinylchloride (PVC) film, paper, and the same paper coated with a wheat gluten solution. MAP with the stretchable film led to a detrimental deterioration of mushrooms after only one day of storage: dark brown blotches appeared and almost 30% of mushrooms exhibited open veil. This was due to the formation of condensed water at the inner surface of the material and onto mushrooms combined to a high O₂ partial pressure (16 kPa) in the headspace. Wheat gluten (WG) coated paper was the most effective to improve the shelf-life of mushrooms since it allowed the preservation of a fair colour, unbroken veils, and an acceptable texture during 3 days. This beneficial effect was attributed to the combination of a medium CO₂ (9.5 kPa) and low O₂ (2.5 kPa) partial pressure, without condensation. The main drawback of using WG-coated paper was its high water vapour permeability that led to an important weight loss (3.8 wt.% on day 3). However it did not affect the overall quality of mushrooms within the storage duration.

Industrial relevance

Even with the development of micro-perforated materials that provide the largest range of O₂ and CO₂ permeability values, several limitations are still encountered for synthetic MAP applications such as

– an insufficient perm-selectivity ratio that remains lower than 6 (value of 1 for micro-perforated material): generated atmosphere cannot reach both low O₂ and low CO₂ partial pressures and then are not adapted to CO₂-sensitive fresh produces.

– unattractive water condensation at the inner surface of the packaging that might occur due to a low water vapour permeability, favouring the development of microorganisms.

– their non biodegradability.

Previous studies reported a high selectivity ratio and a high water vapour permeability for biodegradable materials made from crops proteins (wheat gluten, for instance) that appeared well adapted for fresh fruits and vegetables preservation. However, despite low cost and such interesting functional properties, these materials exhibited poor mechanical properties and cannot be used as packaging material. Combination with other materials, such as cellulosic fibres, appeared to one way to get round this major drawback without losing its biodegradability. Indeed paper exhibits an environmental-friendliness potential (recyclability, sustainability, biodegradability, and compostability) and a high versatility in food packaging.By choosing common mushrooms, known to be sensitive to high CO₂ content, and a stretchable PVC film, commonly used to over-wrap mushrooms in tray (on European market), we demonstrate that this material was greatly less effective than a new biobased material (wheat gluten film coated onto paper) developed in collaboration with Smurfit Worldwide Research Center. This work confirms the interest in developing functionalised paper based packaging material with agro-based polymers adapted to the storage of fresh fruits and vegetable storage in ambient temperature.