Growth, yield and seed composition of native Australian legumes with potential as grain crops

BACKGROUND: Many Australian native legumes grow in arid and nutrient‐poor environments. Yet few Australian herbaceous legumes have been investigated for domestication potential. This study compared growth and reproductive traits, grain yield and seed composition of 17 native Australian legumes with three commercial grain legumes. RESULTS: Seed yields of seven native legumes were > 40% of Cicer arietnum, with highest seed yields and harvest indices in Glycine sp. (14.4 g per plant, 0.54 g g^?1) and Lotus cruentus (10.2 g per plant, 0.65 g g^?1). Five native species flowered earlier than field pea (Pisum sativa) (109 days), though many were slower to flower and set seed. Largest seeds were found in Glycine canescens (17 mg), with seed of other native species 14 times smaller than commercial cultivars. Seed composition of many native legumes was similar to commercial cultivars (200–330 g protein kg^?1 dry weight (DW), 130–430 g dietary fibre kg^?1 DW). Two Cullen species had high fat content (>110 g kg^?1 DW) and Trigonella sauvissima had the highest crude protein content (370 g kg^?1 DW). CONCLUSION: The seed composition and reproductive traits of some wild native Australian legumes suggest they could offer potential as grain crops for soils and environments where the current grain legumes are uneconomic. Further evaluation of genetic diversity, especially for seed size, overall productivity, and reproductive development is needed. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Micronutrient mineral and folate content of Australian and imported dried fruit products

A selection of Australian and imported fresh and dried fruit products, including sultanas, Sunmuscats, Carina currants, Zante currants, apricots, and prunes, were analyzed for selected minerals (Ca, Mg, Na, S, B, Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Mo, and Se), folate and vitamin C, and the capacity of dried fruits for dietary provision of these micronutrients evaluated. Micro-nutrients were concentrated by a factor of 3-5 in dried fruits compared with their fresh fruit counterparts and were consequently present in nutritionally significant levels, in contrast to fresh fruit. Australian dried sultanas, Carina currant, Zante currant, apricots, and prunes contained Cu, Fe, K, and Mn at levels of >20% of daily Required Dietary Intake (RDI, taken as the average for adult men and women as nominated by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council) and Sunmuscats contained Cu, Fe, and K at >20% of RDI. All dried fruits studied contained boron in the range of 1.5 to 5.4 mg per 100 g; however, the RDI for boron has not been defined by the NHMRC at the present time. All sultanas and currants studied contained folate at levels of 10-20% of RDI per 100 g. Experimental drying methods significantly affected folate levels with higher folate content in non-ground versus ground-based drying methods. Of the micro-nutrients supplying >20% of RDI, folate represents a particular nutrient for which the mean daily intake of adult Australians is typically inadequate. This study shows that dried fruit consumption, in contrast with fresh fruit, can provide significant proportions of daily requirements of several micronutrients, particularly folate.     

Mother's milk: A medium for transmission of cues reflecting the flavor of mother's diet.

Reported that 24 nursling rat pups poisoned following ingestion of 1/2-cc of milk from a female rat eating a diet different from that of their own mother showed an aversion to that female's diet during weaning. A 2nd experiment showed that pups fed 31/2-cc meals of milk from a female rat and which were not poisoned showed a slightly increased preference for that female's diet at weaning. Results are interpreted as offering additional evidence that (a) a mother's milk contains gustatory cues reflecting the flavor of her diet and (b) these cues are sufficient to influence dietary preference at weaning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Potential Source of B. licheniformis Contamination During Whey Protein Concentrate 80 Manufacture

The objective of this study was to determine the possible source of predominant Bacillus licheniformis contamination in a whey protein concentrate (WPC) 80 manufacturing plant. Traditionally, microbial contaminants of WPC were believed to grow on the membrane surfaces of the ultrafiltration plant as this represents the largest surface area in the plant. Changes from hot to cold ultrafiltration have reduced the growth potential for bacteria on the membrane surfaces. Our recent studies of WPCs have shown the predominant microflora B. licheniformis would not grow in the membrane plant because of the low temperature (10 °C) and must be growing elsewhere. Contamination of dairy products is mostly due to bacteria being released from biofilm in the processing plant rather from the farm itself. Three different reconstituted WPC media at 1%, 5%, and 20% were used for biofilm growth and our results showed that B. licheniformis formed the best biofilm at 1% (low solids). Further investigations were done using 3 different media; tryptic soy broth, 1% reconstituted WPC80, and 1% reconstituted WPC80 enriched with lactose and minerals to examine biofilm growth of B. licheniformis on stainless steel. Thirty‐three B. licheniformis isolates varied in their ability to form biofilm on stainless steel with stronger biofilm in the presence of minerals. The source of biofilms of thermo‐resistant bacteria such as B. licheniformis is believed to be before the ultrafiltration zone represented by the 1% WPC with lactose and minerals where the whey protein concentration is about 0.6%.     

Decision rules for determining terrestrial movement and the consequences for filtering high-resolution global positioning system tracks: a case study using the African lion (Panthera leo)

The combined use of global positioning system (GPS) technology and motion sensors within the discipline of movement ecology has increased over recent years. This is particularly the case for instrumented wildlife, with many studies now opting to record parameters at high (infra-second) sampling frequencies. However, the detail with which GPS loggers can elucidate fine-scale movement depends on the precision and accuracy of fixes, with accuracy being affected by signal reception. We hypothesized that animal behaviour was the main factor affecting fix inaccuracy, with inherent GPS positional noise (jitter) being most apparent during GPS fixes for non-moving locations, thereby producing disproportionate error during rest periods. A movement-verified filtering (MVF) protocol was constructed to compare GPS-derived speed data with dynamic body acceleration, to provide a computationally quick method for identifying genuine travelling movement. This method was tested on 11 free-ranging lions (Panthera leo) fitted with collar-mounted GPS units and tri-axial motion sensors recording at 1 and 40 Hz, respectively. The findings support the hypothesis and show that distance moved estimates were, on average, overestimated by greater than 80% prior to GPS screening. We present the conceptual and mathematical protocols for screening fix inaccuracy within high-resolution GPS datasets and demonstrate the importance that MVF has for avoiding inaccurate and biased estimates of movement.     

Using health status surveys in medical consultations

The goal of this research was to identify patients' preferences for physician inquiry into various aspects of health status and to examine whether the preconsultation availability of health status data (collected from the SF-36 Health Status Questionnaire) influenced the physician's conduct during the consultation. Results from 58 prenatal patient visits yielded the following findings. First, patients expressed strong preferences for physicians to ask about the patient's perceptions of health in general and about physical dimensions of health status such as pain, vitality, and role limitations due to physical functioning. Patients also were more satisfied when doctors were perceived as having asked about these issues. Second, patients varied considerably in their preferences for physician inquiries into psychosocial issues such as social functioning, mental health, and role limitations due to emotional problems. Approximately half the patients wanted these matters discussed, whereas the remainder either did not care or preferred that doctors not ask about these topics. Third, the preconsultation availability of health status information had little effect on the degree to which physicians asked about the patient's health-related quality of life. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Defining the positive tilt test: a study of healthy adults with moderate acute blood loss

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To define a set of orthostatic vital signs that minimize the frequency of false-positives among healthy individuals while maximizing sensitivity in detecting acute moderate blood loss and to determine the sensitivity and specificity of this optimized tilt test in detecting acute moderate blood loss. DESIGN AND INTERVENTION: Postural vital signs were recorded in a standardized manner before and after 450-mL phlebotomy. Paired comparisons were done for a variety of criteria for a positive tilt test using receiver-operating characteristic curves. SETTING AND TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS: Three hundred forty-five healthy euvolemic adult volunteer blood donors were tested at three community blood donation centers over a one-year period. Subjects were prospectively divided into group 1 (less than age 65; 301) and group 2 (age 65 or older; 44). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: For each combination of pulse and blood pressure in group 1, a change in pulse alone had the same or higher sensitivity with at least the same specificity. Pulse alone was similarly superior in group 2 compared with previously published combinations of pulse and blood pressure. Even the optimized tilt test had limited sensitivity in detecting acute moderate blood loss with high specificity. CONCLUSION: In applying the tilt test to young adults without cardiovascular disease, pulse measurement usually is all that is necessary.     

The refinement of retinotectal projection on tectal whole mount during the regeneration of the goldfish optic nerve labeled with DiI anterogradely

Radiographic computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are the procedures of choice in the diagnosis of patients with suspected pituitary gland abnormalities. Several cases are presented where the diagnostic value of such procedures in patients with diseases affecting the pituitary gland is demonstrated.     

Chinese and American college students'' body-image: perceived body shape and body affect

We established an in vitro model of the phagocytosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by human peripheral blood monocytes to evaluate the subsequent inhibition of intracellular replication of the organism. Highly purified T cells (94% CD3(+)/CD16(-)) or natural killer (NK) cells (96% CD16(+)/CD3(-)) isolated by Percoll discontinuous density gradient of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were incubated with M. tuberculosis-infected monocyte monolayers. Monocytes were lysed immediately and at 4, 7, and 10 d after infection for quantification of intracellular replication, which was assessed by quantitative plating techniques as colony-forming units (CFU). Whereas control monocytes permitted intracellular replication, T cells activated monocytes to kill 77% (p < 0.01) of intracellular M. tuberculosis compared with control monocytes by 10 d after infection. NK cells activated monocytes to kill 84% (p < 0.01) of M. tuberculosis in comparison with control monocytes. Lymphokine (IL-2)-activated-killer (LAK) cells were capable of activating monocytes to kill 97% (p < 0.01) of the intracellular organisms compared with control monocytes. In purified protein derivative (PPD)-positive donors, PPD-specific-CD4(+) lymphocytes stimulated monocytes to kill intracellular M. tuberculosis in a Class II major histocompatibility complex-restricted manner. In contrast, in PPD-negative donors, CD4(-) lymphocytes activated monocytes in a genetically unrestricted manner. Both T cell supernatant and NK cell supernatant generated from cocultivation with M. tuberculosis-infected monocytes also activated monocytes to augment mycobactericidal function. In conclusion, T cells, NK cells, LAK cells, and their supernatants activated mycobactericidal function of monocytes, although these pathways of activation differed in terms of antigenic specificity and genetic restriction.