Fractionation of polyphenol-enriched apple juice extracts to identify constituents with cancer chemopreventive potential

Apples and apple juices are widely consumed and rich sources of phytochemicals. The aim of the present study was to determine which apple constituents contribute to potential chemopreventive activities, using a bioactivity-directed approach. A polyphenol-enriched apple juice extract was fractionated by various techniques. Extract and fractions were tested in a series of test systems indicative of cancer preventive potential. These test systems measured antioxidant effects, modulation of carcinogen metabolism, anti-inflammatory and antihormonal activities, and antiproliferative potential. Regression analyses indicated that 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging potential correlated with the sum of low molecular weight (LMW) antioxidants (including chlorogenic acid, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols) and procyanidins, whereas peroxyl radicals were more effectively scavenged by LMW compounds than by procyanidins. Quercetin aglycone was identified as a potent Cyp1A inhibitor, whereas phloretin and (-)-epicatechin were the most potent cyclooxygenase 1 (Cox-1) inhibitors. Aromatase and Cyp1A inhibitory potential and cytotoxicity toward HCT116 colon cancer cells increased with increasing content in procyanidins. Overall, apple juice constituents belonging to different structural classes have distinct profiles of biological activity in these in vitro test systems. Since carcinogenesis is a complex process, combination of compounds with complementary activities may lead to enhanced preventive effects.     

Thermal stability and long-chain fatty acid positional distribution on glycerol of argan oil

The primary aim of this study was to determine the oxidative stability of argan oils by using peroxides and conjugated diene hydroperoxides measurements as analytical indicators. Both food and cosmetic argan oils were investigated. Their oxidative stability was also determined by monitoring the relative changes of their fatty acid profiles by ¹H NMR. In addition, valuable information regarding minor components as well as the acyl positional distribution, were obtained for both grades by high field ¹H and ¹³C NMR, respectively. Given that the cosmetic and food grades have a similar profile and content of phenolic antioxidants, vitamers, and squalene, it appears that the ratio of fatty acid aliphatic to bisallylic CH₂ groups, much higher in argan oils than in other vegetable oils, is responsible for their higher thermal stability.     

Food-coping strategy index applied to a community of farm-worker households in South Africa

BACKGROUND: In South Africa, households living in informal urban settlements, in rural areas, and on commercial farms experience various levels of dietary variety, food intake, and household hunger. Low incomes, poor food production and availability, and low spending power characterize these households. Households employ various food-coping strategies to alleviate food stress or poor food availability. OBJECTIVE: To apply an existing food-coping strategy (FCS) index to assess household hunger and its usefulness in identifying the level of food stress and the patterns of food coping in farm-worker households. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data were gathered from women (18 to 57 years of age) responsible for food provision in a small farm-worker community in Fouriesburg, South Africa. A structured food-coping questionnaire and a standardized FCS index were used to gather data. RESULTS: The two most common FCS used were relying on cheaper food (chicken feet, diluted soya-mince soup) or less preferred food (meat bones) and employing food-seeking strategies (gathering wild foods), followed by consumption of seed stock (maize) and reduced portion sizes (protein foods and side dishes), resulting in starch-based diets of poor variety. Seasonal strategies varied according to the level of food stress experienced. Patterns of food coping were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Negative FCS (limiting food choices, only consuming starchy staples) may cause poor health status. The FCS index was effectively used to assess farm-worker household food-coping behavior (early, clear signals of the level of food distress). These results could be used to allocate appropriate food aid (type of food) and to design nutrition education programs focused on positive FCS (food gathering or bartering) in a particular community to prevent suboptimal nutritional status.     

Gas-on-gas competition in Shanghai

In common with other major economic centres in China, Shanghai's energy consumption has been increasing rapidly to support the high growth rate of its economy. To achieve rational, efficient and clean use of energy, together with improved environmental quality within the city, the Shanghai municipal government has decided to expand the supply and utilization of natural gas. Shanghai plans to increase the share of natural gas in its primary energy mix to 7 per cent by 2010, up from 3 per cent in 2005. This increase in natural gas demand has to be matched with a corresponding increase in supply. To date, the Shanghai region has relied on offshore extracted natural gas but this supply is limited due to the size of the reserves. Since 2005, the West–East pipeline has provided an alternative for Shanghai but demands from other regions could reduce the potential for expanding supplies from that source. Since domestic production will not be sufficient to meet demand in the near future, Shanghai is building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal at the Yangshan deep-water port that would allow an additional supply of more than 3 billion cubic meters per year of natural gas. Malaysia has already committed to supply LNG to the Shanghai terminal at a price that is significantly higher than the wholesale “city-gate” price for natural gas transported via pipeline, but still lower than the gas price to end-use consumers. The presence of both an LNG terminal and a transmission pipeline that connects Shanghai to domestic gas-producing regions will create gas-on-gas competition. This study assesses the benefits of introducing such competition to one of China's most advanced cities under various scenarios for demand growth. In this paper, the impact of imported LNG on market concentration in Shanghai's gas market will be analysed using the Herfindahl–Hirschmann index (HHI) and the residual supply index (RSI). Our results show that Shanghai remains a supply-constrained gas market that will continue to rely upon gas supplies from the western provinces and imported LNG. After 2017, the gas market in Shanghai can be regarded as unconcentrated since its HHI fall below 1800 under a very high growth scenario. In terms of RSI, the gas market can be considered competitive at low, moderate and high growth consumption between 2012 and 2015.     

The family environment as a moderator of psychosocial outcomes following traumatic brain injury in young children.

Objective: This study sought to determine whether the family environment moderates psychosocial outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI) in young children. Method: Participants were recruited prospectively from consecutive hospital admissions of 3- to 6-year-old children, and included 19 with severe TBI, 56 with complicated mild/moderate TBI, and 99 with orthopedic injuries (OI). They completed 4 assessments across the first 18 months postinjury. The initial assessment included measures of parenting style, family functioning, and the quality of the home. Children's behavioral adjustment, adaptive functioning, and social competence were assessed at each occasion. Mixed model analyses examined the relationship of the family environment to psychosocial outcomes across time. Results: The OI and TBI groups differed significantly in social competence, but the family environment did not moderate the group difference, which was of medium magnitude. In contrast, group differences in behavioral adjustment became more pronounced across time at high levels of authoritarian and permissive parenting; among children with severe TBI, however, even those with low levels of permissive parenting showed increases in behavioral problems. For adaptive functioning, better home environments provided some protection following TBI, but not over time for the severe TBI group. These 3-way interactions of group, family environment, and time postinjury were all of medium magnitude. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the family environment moderates the psychosocial outcomes of TBI in young children, but the moderating influence may wane with time among children with severe TBI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improved confidence limits for low-dose carcinogenic risk assessment from animal data

An improved procedure is presented for estimating low-dose risks from dichotomous animal data. Based on the multistage model of cancer, the procedure gives a maximum likelihood fit to the experimental data. Because the model is approximately linear in the low-dose range, the procedure may be considered to be a generalized method for linear extrapolation which uses all of the data. The extrapolation procedure is different from an earlier procedure based upon the multistage model in that two improved methods are put forward for calculating statistical confidence limits. (One is a linearized approximation of the other.) A further innovation is a recommendation for the integration of several data sets in the calculation of risk levels.     

Potential Field from an Active Nerve in an Inhomogeneous, Anisotropic Volume Conductor?The Forward Problem

This paper presents an analytic method for determining the potential distribution within an idealized cylindrical limb that contains an active nerve trunk. The limb also contains a major inhomogeneity (a bone) and skeletal muscle, both of which are assumed to be anisotropic.     

Accuracy in interpersonal perception: A social relations analysis.

For the past 30 years, the study of accuracy in person perception has been a neglected topic in social and personality psychology. Research in this area was stopped by a critique of global accuracy scores by Cronbach and Gage. They argued that accuracy should be measured in terms of components. Currently, interest in the topic of accuracy is rekindling. This interest is motivated, in part, by a reaction to the bias literature. We argue that modern accuracy research should (a) focus on measuring when and how people are accurate and not on who is accurate, (b) use each person as both judge and target, and (c) partition accuracy into components. The social relations model (Kenny & La Voie, 1984) can be used as a paradigm to meet these requirements. According to this model, there are four types of accuracy, only two of which are generally conceptually interesting. The first, called individual accuracy, measures the degree to which people's judgments of an individual correspond to how that individual tends to behave across interaction partners. The second, called dyadic accuracy, measures the degree to which people can uniquely judge how a specific individual will behave with them. We present an example that shows high levels of individual accuracy and lower levels of dyadic accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)