A role for whey-derived lactoferrin and immunoglobulins in the attenuation of obesity-related inflammation and disease

Obesity is a strong predictive factor in the development of chronic disease and has now superseded undernutrition as a major public health issue. Chronic inflammation is one mechanism thought to link excess body weight with disease. Increasingly, the gut and its extensive population of commensal microflora are recognized as playing an important role in the development of obesity-related chronic inflammation. Obesity and a high fat diet are associated with altered commensal microbial communities and increased intestinal permeability which contributes to systemic inflammation as a result of the translocation of lipopolysaccharide into the circulation and metabolic endotoxemia. Various milk proteins are showing promise in the prevention and treatment of obesity and chronic low-grade inflammation via reductions in visceral fat, neutralization of bacteria at the mucosa and reduced intestinal permeability. In this review, we focus on evidence supporting the potential antiobesogenic and anti-inflammatory effects of bovine whey-derived lactoferrin and immunoglobulins.     

North–South divide: contrasting impacts of climate change on crop yields in Scotland and England

Effects of climate change on productivity of agricultural crops in relation to diseases that attack them are difficult to predict because they are complex and nonlinear. To investigate these crop–disease–climate interactions, UKCIP02 scenarios predicting UK temperature and rainfall under high- and low-CO₂ emission scenarios for the 2020s and 2050s were combined with a crop-simulation model predicting yield of fungicide-treated winter oilseed rape and with a weather-based regression model predicting severity of phoma stem canker epidemics. The combination of climate scenarios and crop model predicted that climate change will increase yield of fungicide-treated oilseed rape crops in Scotland by up to 0.5 t ha⁻¹ (15%). In contrast, in southern England the combination of climate scenarios, crop, disease and yield loss models predicted that climate change will increase yield losses from phoma stem canker epidemics to up to 50 per cent (1.5 t ha⁻¹) and greatly decrease yield of untreated winter oilseed rape. The size of losses is predicted to be greater for winter oilseed rape cultivars that are susceptible than for those that are resistant to the phoma stem canker pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans. Such predictions illustrate the unexpected, contrasting impacts of aspects of climate change on crop–disease interactions in agricultural systems in different regions.     

Full geometry dependence of index contrast in photorefractive polymer composites

Detailed analysis of the relationship between the experimental geometry and the holographic contrast in photorefractive polymers is important for applications, such as angle multiplexing in holographic data storage. In this paper the field dependent photogeneration efficiency is introduced into the complete reorientational model to provide a full account of the electric field and geometrical dependence of the index contrast. The interaction of a local grating and the photorefractive grating is also considered. A simplification for acute angles between writing beams is described. Experimental verification by use of four-wave mixing and transmission ellipsometry reveals an excellent agreement between theory and measurement.     

Managing People to Promote Innovation

There is growing evidence available to suggest that Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is an important predictor of organizational performance. Drawing upon organizational learning perspectives, we argue that HRM systems also have the potential to promote organizational innovation. We present longitudinal data from thirty‐five UK manufacturing organizations to suggest that effective HRM systems – incorporating sophisticated approaches to recruitment and selection, induction, appraisal and training – predict organizational innovation in products and production technology. We further show that organizational innovation is enhanced where there is a supportive learning climate, and inhibited (for innovation in production processes) where there is a link between appraisal and remuneration.     

Theory of spatiochromatic image encoding and feature extraction

We consider how to interpret, filter, and cross-correlate complex-value color (hue and saturation) images by using a single discrete Fourier transform: the spatiochromatic discrete Fourier transform. The model defines new types of spatiochromatic oriented sinusoidal gratings, termed rainbow gratings, which encode the variation of color over space. We demonstrate how color-opponent detectors observed within the vertebrate visual system can be easily defined by linear filters within this representation. This model also allows us to filter and detect both spatial and chromatic patterns in images by using a single cross-correlation procedure. In doing so, we explore a new form of the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality applied to complex-valued scalar products. Results demonstrate the power of this form of spatiochromatic matched filtering in detecting signals embedded in such a significant amount of noise that they are not visible to the unaided human eye.     

Conformations of linear chains. Systematics and suggestions for nomenclature

There are six categories of calculated favored dihedral angles in linear M(n)X(2n+2) chains. The Prelog-Klyne nomenclature is not helpful for classifying them, and we propose the following labels and symbols: A, anti, reserved for torsional angles within a few degrees of 180 degrees; T, transoid, omega approximately 165 degrees; D, deviant, omega approximately 150 degrees; O, ortho, omega approximately 90 degrees; G, gauche, omega approximately 60 degrees; C, cisoid, omega approximately 40 degrees. With the exception of C, all of these categories have been observed in alkanes, perfluoroalkanes, or oligosilanes.     

A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method for the quantification of bioavailability and bioconversion of beta-carotene to retinol in humans

A method based on high-performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (APCI LC-MS) was developed for the quantification of the bioavailability of retinyl palmitate and beta-carotene and the bioconversion of beta-carotene to retinol in humans. Following oral administration of [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,19,20-13C10]-retinyl palmitate and [12,13,14,15,20,12',13',14',15',20'-13C10]-beta-carotene at physiological doses to children between 8 and 11 years of age, blood samples were drawn and serum was prepared. Retinol and beta-carotene were extracted from 0.2- and 1.0-mL serum samples, respectively, and analyzed using reversed-phase HPLC with a C30 column interfaced to an APCI mass spectrometer. Unlike other LC-MS assays for carotenoids, no additional purification steps were necessary, nor was any derivatization of retinol or beta-carotene required. APCI LC-MS showed a linear detector response for beta-carotene over 4 orders of magnitude. Using selected ion monitoring to record the elution profile of protonated circulating beta-carotene at m/z 537 and [13C10]-beta-carotene at m/z 547, the limit of detection was determined to be 0.5 pmol injected on-column. To assess the ratio of labeled to unlabeled retinol, selected ion monitoring was carried out at m/z 269, 274, and 279. These abundant fragment ions corresponded to the loss of water from the protonated molecule of circulating retinol, [13C5]-retinol (metabolically formed from orally administered [13C10]-beta-carotene), and [13C10]-retinol (formed by hydrolysis of [13C10]-retinyl palmitate). The ratios of labeled to unlabeled retinol and the ratio of labeled to unlabeled beta-carotene were calculated. Combined with standard HPLC measurement of beta-carotene and retinol concentration and a mathematical model, these results showed that this simple LC-MS method can be used to quantify beta-carotene bioavailability and its bioconversion to retinol at physiologically relevant doses.     

An educational tool to illustrate cost-effectiveness in diagnostic pathways for coronary artery disease

Rapid increases in healthcare costs have led to increased interest in the cost-effectiveness of medical interventions. Coronary artery disease is responsible for a significant share of total healthcare spending, and therefore economic evaluations of medical procedures to treat the condition are potentially very important. We have developed a spreadsheet model as an educational tool that can be used to illustrate cost-effectiveness in the selection of diagnostic pathways (a "work-up" strategy of tests designed to reach a final diagnosis) for coronary artery disease. The model, in Microsoft Excel, is easy to use, requiring no specialist computer knowledge. It is menu-driven and the user navigates the model via a number of on-screen buttons. A data entry screen allows the user to customize the data for the key model parameters, making it possible to take into account location-specific features. The data entry screen also allows the user to undertake sensitivity analysis and rate "what if" scenarios. The model demonstrates how sensitive the cost-effectiveness of different diagnostic pathways is to the pretest probability of disease. This package could also be used as a decision support tool, although it is important to recognize some of its limitations for this purpose.     

Doping Mechanism and Permittivity Correlations in Nd-Doped BaTiO3

BaTiO₃ forms an extensive range of solid solutions with Nd₂O₃ by means of the double substitution mechanism: Ba + Ti 2Nd, as shown by both a phase diagram study and Rietveld refinement using powder neutron diffraction data. The solid solutions have the general formula Ba_1-xTi_1-xNd_2xO₃Odxd0.12 at 1300°C and 1300°C and O dxd at 1400°C. With increasing x, the symmetry changes from tetragonal to cubic at x 0.09. The sharp permittivity maximum at 127°C in stoichiometric BaTiO₃ broadens very rapidly with increasing x and gradually moves to lower temperatures: this appears to be because, with substitution of Nd onto Ti sites, formation of the ferroelectric domains is increasingly difficult because of the presence of dipole-inactive Nd³⁺ ions on the Ti sites.