Digestibility and allergenicity assessment of enzymatically crosslinked β‐casein

Crosslinking enzymes are frequently used in bioprocessing of dairy products. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of enzymatic crosslinking on IgE binding, allergenicity and digestion stability of β‐casein (CN). β‐CN was crosslinked by transglutaminase, tyrosinase, mushroom tyrosinase/caffeic acid and laccase/caffeic acid. The IgE binding to β‐CN was compared in vitro by CAP inhibition assay, ELISA inhibition as well as ex vivo by basophil activation assay. Crosslinked CNs were digested by simulated gastric fluid for 15 and 60 min and obtained digests analyzed for their ability to inhibit IgE binding by CAP inhibition assay and SDS‐PAGE. The ability of crosslinked CNs to activate basophils was significantly reduced in seven patients in the case of CN crosslinked by laccase and moderately reduced in the case of tyrosinase/caffeic acid crosslinked CN (in two cow's milk allergy patients tested with different allergen concentrations). The response to various crosslinked CNs differed individually among patients' sera tested by ELISA inhibition assay. The presence of caffeic acid hampered digestion by pepsin, and this effect was most pronounced for the tyrosinase/caffeic acid crosslinked CN. The laccase/caffeic acid and mushroom tyrosinase/caffeic acid had the highest potential in mitigating IgE binding and allergenicity of the β‐CN out of all investigated enzymes. The presence of a small phenolic compound also increased digestion stability of β‐CN.     

Association of lumbar artery narrowing, degenerative changes in disc and endplate and apparent diffusion in disc on postcontrast enhancement of lumbar intervertebral disc

Objective  A decreased supply of nutrition to the intervertebral disc can lead to disc degeneration. Nutrient supply can be simulated in vivo by measuring gadolinium enhancement of the disc. We aimed to study the changes associated with disc degeneration that may have effect on the nutrition of the disc, i.e. lumbar artery narrowing, Modic changes, endplate defects, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in nucleus pulposus. Patients and methods  Twenty male volunteers underwent a lumbar spine examination at 1.5 T for anatomical imaging, diffusion weighted imaging, magnetic resonance angiography, and for T1 relaxation time quantification of contrast enhancement of intervertebral disc. Results  Enhancement of the disc increased with degeneration. Disc space narrowing associated strongly with the enhancement (Pearson’s correlation coefficient 0.46, P < 0.001). The enhancement rate in discs adjacent to Modic type 2 changes was 24%, adjacent to type 1/2 changes 58%, and 13% in the absence of Modic changes. Discs adjacent to endplate defects enhanced 32% compared to 10% of normal endplates. Lumbar artery narrowing or ADC in the disc were not associated with the enhancement. Conclusion  Increased enhancement of a degenerated disc is associated mostly with disc space narrowing and with the presence of degenerative endplate changes and endplate defects.     

Effects of stimulation parameters on behavior elicited by stimulation of the hypothalamic defense area.

Elicited agonistic behavior by stimulating the ventromedial hypothalamus of 22 domestic cats. 12 different behavioral components were rated separately. Behavioral alerting, mydriasis, retraction of ears, piloerection, hissing, and protrusion of claws were the most characteristic components. The parameters of the stimulus were shown to be important determinants of the nature of the behavior. Results suggest that either discrete central neural circuits for the different components of agonistic behavior are diffusively organized within the ventromedial hypothalamus, or the components result from a general activation of neurons subserving discrete fixed-action patterns, the resultant behavior being determined by different factors, such as the intensity of the activation. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Burning characteristics of selected substances: influence of suppression with water

The influence of suppression with water spray on the burning characteristics and composition of fire effluents of nylon, polypropylene and two industrial chemicals was investigated. The experiments were performed using a controlled‐atmosphere cone calorimeter in which the ventilation conditions could be altered. The water spray was applied with a single horizontally positioned nozzle. In the experiments time to ignition, rate of heat release, sample weight and smoke production as well as the composition of the fire effluents were measured; the chemical analysis techniques employed were Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. The results give quantified information on the effects that water application may have on the burning and the properties of the exhaust gases. A comparison with results of similar experiments with no water application reveal notable changes, e.g. in the production of the toxic fire effluents. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Leakage analysis of packages by the electrolytic test

The microhole tester is a new laboratory instrument for detection of leakage in packages. The instrument is based on electrolytic conductance measurement using direct current and it quantifies the summarized hole size in a package. In this study the reliability and validity of the microhole tester have been evaluated by testing different kinds of aseptic, retorted and gas flushed packages containing both solid and viscous products. In the case of gas flushed packages filled with a solid food product the instrument detected 100% of the leaking packages with artificially made microholes with diameters of 7–356 μm after emptying the packages of food. Retorting tended to block the holes with food and lowered the sensitivity. In the case of retorted packages with viscous food the microhole tester reliably detected hole sizes larger than 25 μm. Adding a surface active agent, poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), to the retorted packages with totally blocked holes greatly improved the reliability of the instrument and reduced the testing time. The percentage of detected packages with totally blocked microholes with diameters between 30 and 60 μm was improved from 10–55% without PEO to 83–100% with PEO added to the package. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Children's hedonic response to berry products: Effect of chemical composition of berries and hTAS2R38 genotype on liking

The hedonic response of 104 healthy children, recruited from day-care centres and schools, to 12 different berry products with varying content of added sugar was studied. The berries used as ingredients were blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum), sea buckthorn (Hippophaë rhamnoides), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea). Another aim of the study was to study the effects of the chemical composition of berries as well as children’s hTAS2R38 taste receptor genotypes on liking. The most liked product was bilberry with yoghurt, followed by bilberry juice, dried bilberries, and lingonberry rye bread. The most disliked products were sea buckthorn juice, sea buckthorn berries with yoghurt, and oatmeal with blackcurrant powder and berry oil. High total organic acid concentration was strongly related with a poor average liking score of the berries/berry products. A total of four different alleles of hTAS2R38 gene were observed in the study. Of the genotyped children, 45% were bitter taste insensitive individuals of the genotype AVI/AVI, and 40% were of the genotype PAV/AVI. Children of the genotype PAV/AVI were reported using more vegetables, but not berries, than the AVI/AVI children. The results also show that the liking scores of the children of the AVI/AVI, PAV/AVI, and PAV/PAV genotypes differed from each other, and that the familiarity of a berry product is likely to be an important factor in liking.     

Synthesis of Wideband Linear-Phase FIR Filters with a Piecewise-Polynomial-Sinusoidal Impulse Response

A method is presented to synthesize wideband linear-phase finite-impulse-response (FIR) filters with a piecewise-polynomial-sinusoidal impulse response. The method is based on merging the earlier synthesis scheme proposed by the authors to design piecewise-polynomial filters with the method proposed by Chu and Burrus. The method uses an arbitrary number of separately generated center coefficients instead of only one or none as used in the method by Chu–Burrus. The desired impulse response is created by using a parallel connection of several filter branches and by adding an arbitrary number of center coefficients to form it. This method is especially effective for designing Hilbert transformers by using Type 4 linear-phase FIR filters, where only real-valued multipliers are needed in the implementation. The arithmetic complexity is proportional to the number of branches, the common polynomial order for each branch, and the number of separate center coefficients. For other linear-phase FIR filter types the arithmetic complexity depends additionally on the number of complex multipliers. Examples are given to illustrate the benefits of this method compared to the frequency-response masking (FRM) technique with regard to reducing the number of coefficients as well as arithmetic complexity.     

Black currant seeds as a nutrient source in breakfast cereals produced by extrusion cooking

 Press residue from black currant juice production was used for the development of a nutritious breakfast cereal manufactured using an extrusion process at high temperatures. The milled residual fraction with crushed seeds contained significant amounts of essential fatty acids, minerals and dietary fibre. The maximal useful amount of this ingredient, about 30%, was reached in a mix containing 30% oat flour and oat bran, 30% potato starch, 7.5% sugar, 1.5% malt extract and 1% salt. In a model product the total fat content was 3%, with the proportions of major fatty acids as follows: linoleic acid 43 mol-%, oleic acid 20 mol-%, α-linolenic acid 12 mol-%, γ-linolenic acid 9 mol-% and stearidonic acid 2 mol-%. During the extrusion process the unsaturated fatty acids were not lost in quantifiable amounts. The product also contained approximately 20% total dietary fibre and plenty of Ca (1.9 g/kg), Mg (1 g/kg) and Fe (59 mg/kg). Received: 13 November 1997