The influence of complexing agents on the solubility and absorption of aluminium in rats exposed to aluminium in water

The influence of citrate (0-31mm), fluoride (0 or 2.6mM) and silicate (0 or 2.6mM) on the absorption of Al (0-18mM) was studied in rats. We tested the hypothesis that the solubility and absorption of Al increases in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract in the presence of the complexing agents. Male rats were exposed for 6 or 7 weeks to soluble Al in acidic drinking water (pH 2.5-3.0) with or without the complexing agents. At the end of exposure Al was fractionated in the stomach content, in order to study if the solubility of Al was changed after ingestion. Al absorption was estimated by Al analysis of the right femur bone. Speciation calculations indicated that citrate and fluoride caused formation of soluble Al-citrate (97%) and -fluoride (>60%) complexes in the water. Silicate did not affect the theoretical speciation. In all cases, a large fraction of soluble Al became insoluble in the stomach after ingestion. The concentration of soluble Al increased only in the presence of citrate or a mixture of fluoride and silicate, but citrate was the only complexing agent that influenced the absorption of Al in the rat. This indicates that the form of Al may be changed in the GI tract when soluble drinking-water Al is ingested, and that the solubility of Al in drinking water and GI tract may not be good predictors of the bioavailability of Al even when chelating agents are present.     

The contagion of self-focus within a dyad.

Tested the hypothesis, suggested by C. H. Cooley (1902) and others, that the self-focused state of one person in a dyad triggers self-focus in the other dyad member. A corollary hypothesis concerned perspective-taking performance as a function of self-focused attention within the dyad. 62 female undergraduates interacted with a confederate whose ostensible tendency toward self-focus was manipulated by means of a bogus questionnaire shown to each S. As shown by the Private Self-Consciousness scale, Ss interacting with a presumed high-self-focus partner tended to become self-focused themselves. The perspective-taking measure, which required Ss to take the other's perspective into account in solving a maze, revealed that perceiving the other as highly self-focused facilitated perspective-taking performance among Ss who were low in measured self-focused attention. Results support the hypothesis and are congruent with the symbolic interactionist position. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of Oxygen Transmission Rate of the Packages, Light, and Storage Temperature on the Oxidative Stability of Extruded Oat Packaged in Nitrogen Atmosphere

The effect of oxygen transmission rate of the packages (including the use of an oxygen absorber), light, and temperature on the sensory stability of extruded oat pellets packaged in nitrogen atmosphere was studied over a period of 3 mo. A realistic approach for determining the maximum limit for the headspace O₂‐concentration in packages for products susceptible to oxidation was proposed. By predicting the O₂‐concentration in alternative packages by the Ambient Oxygen Ingress Rate method, the packages can easily be compared to select those not exceeding the experimentally determined maximum oxygen limit in the headspace during a certain time.     

Immediate spatial order memory and item memory in sixth-grade children as a function of reader ability.

16 good and 16 poor 6th-grade readers served as Ss. Exp I tested immediate order memory for strings of 4 and 6 consonants that were either redundant (R) or nonredundant (NR) based on positional frequencies of letters in printed English. Both reader groups were better in retrieving order for R strings; poor readers were inferior to good readers on both R and NR 6-letter strings. Exp II tested for immediate order memory and immediate item memory for strings of 8 digits and strings of 8 consonants. Good readers were better than poor readers on all tasks. However, order memory appeared to be more strongly related to reading ability than was item memory. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microbiological Characteristics of Enhancement Solutions

The objective of this study was to assess the survival of Escherichia coli K‐12 in solutions of ingredients used for enhancing meat products and to evaluate the effect of potentially lethal temperatures. Enhancement solutions were prepared to contain water only (W); water + salt + phosphate (control, C); water + salt + phosphate + sodium lactate (SL); water + salt + phosphate + sodium acetate (SA); or water + salt + phosphate + lactate + diacetate (SLDA). The SLDA solution resulted in the highest log reduction of E. coli K‐12 followed by SL. Heating solutions to 70 °C resulted in about a 4 log reduction, whereas heating to 60 °C produced about a 2 log reduction. For samples with an initial microbial load of 10⁶ colony‐forming units (CFU)/mL, addition of SL and heating to 50 °C resulted in about a 2 log reduction, addition of SA gave <0.5 log reduction, whereas addition of the SLDA combination produced a > 4.0 log reduction. The SLDA combination could allow for lower heating temperatures to achieve similar microbial reductions.     

Concurrent outbreaks of Shigella sonnei and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infections associated with parsley: implications for surveillance and control of foodborne illness

In recent years, the globalization of the food supply and the development of extensive food distribution networks have increased the risk of foodborne disease outbreaks involving multiple states or countries. In particular, outbreaks associated with fresh produce have emerged as an important public health concern. During July and August 1998, eight restaurant-associated outbreaks of shigellosis caused by a common strain of Shigella sonnei occurred in the United States and Canada. The outbreak strain was characterized by unique pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns. Epidemiologic investigation determined that the illness was associated with the ingestion of parsley at four restaurants; at the other four restaurants, the majority of the people who contracted the illness ate parsley. Isolates from patrons in two unrelated restaurant-associated enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) outbreaks in Minnesota shared a common serotype and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern. Parsley was the implicated or suspected source of both ETEC outbreaks. In each of the outbreak-associated restaurants, parsley was chopped, held at room temperature, and used as an ingredient or garnish for multiple dishes. Infected food workers at several restaurants may also have contributed to the propagation of the outbreak. The sources of parsley served in outbreak-associated restaurants were traced, and a 1,600-acre farm in Baja California, Mexico, was identified as a likely source of the parsley implicated in six of the seven Shigella outbreaks and as a possible source of the parsley implicated in the two ETEC outbreaks. Global food supplies and large distribution networks demand strengthened laboratory and epidemiologic capacity to enable state and local public health agencies to conduct foodborne disease surveillance and to promote effective responses to multistate outbreaks.     

Effects of modified corn gluten meal on quality characteristics of a model emulsified meat product

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of soy protein isolate (SPI), three forms of native corn gluten meal on sensory, color and textural characteristics of an emulsified meat product. The meals included native corn gluten meal (CGM) that had been ph-adjusted from 4.4 to 6.6 and particle size reduced to either ～38 (MC38) or ～7 μm (MC7). When judged by a trained sensory panel, all CGM-based substances contributed the same degree of CGM off-odor intensity, but significantly lowered pork odor intensity when compared to SPI-containing products and controls. SPI and all CGM-based substances increased grain-like odor. Visual off-color was apparent in all meat products containing CGM-based substances. Instrumental color evaluation indicated that products containing CGM-based substances were lighter, more yellow colored than control and SPI-containing products. However, sensory denseness, springiness and cohesiveness, and texture profile analyses of meat products were not affected.