Fluorescent staining with bromocresol purple: A rapid method for determining yeast cell dead count developed as an assay of killer toxin activity

A method is described for detecting yeast cells with plasma membrane damage, based on cell staining with bromocresol purple (BCP) which has a convenient fluorescence after entering the cells at pH below 5·2. The method was used to determine the activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae pore-forming killer toxin K1 in commonly used lethal units. The BCP test is rapid and as precise as the plating test.     

A Large 16*16 IF Analog Switch Matrix for Personal Communications Satellites

A 16 input and 16 output channels single chip intermediate frequency range (160 MHz) analog switch matrix for personal communication satellites has been designed and processed by using a commercial 1.2 µm BiCMOS technology. The circuit has low power consumption (,2W) and low insertion loss with maximum output power of 0 dBm.     

CSs and USs: What's the difference?

Differences in processing representations of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli (CSs and UCSs) may result from either their temporal order in training (i.e., CSs precede UCSs) or the greater biological significance of UCSs. The CS- and UCS-preexposure effects were used to probe this question. These effects are similar except that context extinction between preexposure and training more readily attenuates the UCS- than the CS-preexposure effect. In Experiments 1, 2, and 5, context extinction following preexposure to the stimulus that later served as Event 1 in Event 1?→?Event 2 pairings alleviated the response deficit due to Event 1 preexposure if Event 1 was biologically significant. In Experiments 3 and 4, context extinction alleviated the response deficit due to Event 2 preexposure if Event 2 was biologically significant. Thus, biological significance and not temporal order determines how a representation will be processed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability of the intense sweetener neohesperidine DC during yogurt manufacture and storage

The stability of the intense sweetener neohesperidine dihydrochalcone (DC) has been assessed during yogurt manufacture and storage. No significant decomposition was detected during and after milk pasteurization, the fermentation process and storage for 6 weeks at 3 °C. In addition, the maximum authorized concentration of neohesperidine DC did not affect the rate of acidification by lactic acid bacteria during the fermentation process. Taken together, these results suggest that neohesperidine DC can be added to milk products and will remain stable throughout pasteurization and fermentation processes.     

Sensory profile,acceptability, and their relationship for diabetic/reduced calorie chocolates

The purpose of this study was to determine the sensory properties and acceptability of lab developed prototypes of conventional, diabetic (with no sugar), and diabetic/reduced calorie milk chocolates (no sugar and 25% calorie reduction) with high-intensity sweeteners, sucralose and stevioside, and partial fat replacement with whey protein concentrate (WPC). PLS was performed in order to relate sensory properties and consumer acceptability and to determine drivers of liking and disliking. There was no difference between conventional, diabetic and diabetic/reduced calorie milk chocolates for brightness, cocoa aroma, cocoa butter aroma, and cocoa flavor (p > 0.05). Acceptability was higher for sucrose substitution by sucralose than by stevioside and partial fat replacement reduced acceptability of flavor even more (p ? 0.05). Crucial attributes which determine consumer acceptability in samples are sweet aroma, melting rate, and sweetness, whereas bitterness, bitter aftertaste, adherence, and sandiness were drivers of disliking.     

Standardized analytical methods

The International Energy Agency — Bioenergy Agreement — Biomass Conversion Annex VII — Standardized Analytical Methods Activity has been ongoing for the past three years. Participating countries are Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. The goal is to provide researchers and technology developers with information on reliable methods in use, or proposed, for characterizing feedstocks, process intermediates, and end products from biomass conversion to fuels, energy-intensive chemicals, and electric power. Accurate compositional analyses of biomass feedstocks and lignins are important for the commercialization of these technologies. This international activity provided and tested selected analytical methods for use in the characterization of a wide range of biomass feedstocks and lignins. Two round robins were conducted, one on the analysis of whole biomass feedstocks and the other on analysis of lignins.

The biomass feedstock round robin utilized four biomass samples very carefully prepared by the National Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). This round robin tested a specified procedure aimed at providing a summative analysis of the materials. The lignin round robin utilized five commercial grade lignins, and a ball milled enzyme lignin. A very wide range of techniques were used to characterize the lignins, permitting comparison of results from different methods. The results of the two round robins were presented and discussed at the IEA Pre-symposium on Modern Methods of Analyses of Wood, Annual Plants, and Lignins, in New Orleans, USA, November 1991, attended by 110 scientists from over 20 countries.     

Dynamical constraints on pictorial action lines.

Pictorial action lines are an effective way of portraying movement in a static drawing. When such lines emanate from the backs of characters, they can give a sense of the path or style of movement. Seven experiments assessed whether photographic streak lines (lines that depict actual movement paths) can, in and of themselves, be informative about the act that produced them. Lines were produced as a darkly clad actor with point-lights attached to his major joints performed a number of actions in front of an open-lens camera. Completely naive Ss had little success identifying events in these photographs. Once Ss were told of the photographic technique, however, striking proficiency was achieved. Subtle distinctions (e.g., whether the movement was forward or backward or performed while wearing weights) were made for some of the events. Results are discussed in terms of various treatments of pictorial information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of cleavage of ether linkages on physicochemical properties of coals

Coals of different rank were treated with naphthalene anion in tetrahydrofuran. It was found that, as in the case of coal of 87.8% C (daf), large amounts of unreactive oxygen bonds, possibly of the ether type, were cleaved. Cleavage of these ether linkages led to a lowering of the melting point and, in some types of coals, to a large increase in dilatation and a substantial increase in Gieseler fluidity.     

Structural features of a polypeptide carrier promoting secretion of a β-lactamase fusion protein in yeast

Escherichia coli β-lactamase was secreted into the culture medium of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in biologically active form, when fused to the C-terminus of the hsp150δ-carrier. The hsp150δ-carrier is an N-terminal fragment of the yeast hsp150 protein, having a signal peptide and consisting mostly of a 19 amino acid peptide repeated 11 times in tandem. Here we expressed the hsp150δ-carrier fragment alone in S. cerevisiae. Apparently due to a positional effect of the gene insertion, large amounts of the hsp150δ-carrier were synthesized. About half of the de novo synthesized carrier molecules were secreted into the culture medium, the rest remaining mostly in the pre-Golgi compartment. The extensively O-glycosylated carrier fragment was purified from the culture medium under non-denaturing conditions. Circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that it had no regular secondary structure. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that a non-glycosylated synthetic peptide, the consensus sequence of the repetitive 19 amino acid peptide, also lacked secondary structure. The unstructured carrier polypeptide may facilitate proper folding and secretion of heterologous proteins attached to it.     

Chemical structure of coal macerals in Balmer 10 coal and fusinite from Illinois coal as indicated by reductive alkylation

A Canadian Cretaceous coking coal from the Balmer 10 seam, Fernie, British Columbia, was separated by sink-and-float methods into vitrinite and a semifusinite-rich fraction. A portion of the vitrinite fraction was oxidized in air at 100 °C for 72 h to destroy the coking properties. The fresh vitrinite, oxidized vitrinite, and semifusinite of the Balmer coal, and the fusinite from Illinois coal, were each subjected to the reductive alkylation procedure of Sternberg, to cleave the ether linkages and octylate the products. The oxygen functional groups before and after ether cleavage were determined, as were the extractabilities by benzene of the octylated products. Thus the molecular weights of the benzenesoluble fractions of the octylated cleavage products were: fresh vitrinite 1930, oxidized vitrinite 1830, and fusinite 1490. The molecular-weight distribution of the octylated cleavage products was estimated by volatility analysis, which demonstrated the presence of much lower-molecular-weight material. Dilatation analysis of fresh and oxidized vitrinite showed that after cleavage of the ether linkages with potassium in tetrahydrofuran, the two could be brought to the same state. The dilatation behaviour of semifusinite after cleavage of the ether links and octylation showed only contraction, whereas the oxidized vitrinite treated in a similar manner exhibited a large dilatation.