超高压杀菌技术在乳品中的应用

超高压杀菌技术在食品加工中的商业应用已经有20多年的历史,而第一次在乳品中应用的实验可追溯至1899年。该项技术和其他的杀菌方法一样通常用于杀死食品中的致病菌和腐败菌。恒天然公司经过多年的研究改进了该技术,在杀死大部分或全部的有害微生物的同时使食品中的营养成分成功的得以保留下来,以此创造崭新的功能性产品。正如名称所示,超高压杀菌技术采用非常高的压力作为杀菌方法替代热处理杀菌,从而达到保藏食品的目的。这种技术类似于把食品放置于海洋深处一段时间,然后再把食品从海洋深处打捞出来,唯一不同之处在于超高压杀菌技术采用的压力要远远高于食品在海洋中承受的压力。例如马里亚纳海沟的最深处的压力大约在1OOOBar左右,而超高压杀菌技术采用的压力可以高达7000Bar。目前超高压杀菌技术已经在果汁、果酱、水产品和肉制品等行业得以应用,恒天然公司开创了其在乳品和含有乳原料的产品中的应用。恒天然公司对超高压杀菌技术经过长达4年的研究,到目前为止已经在30多个国家取得或正在申请包括在酸奶和发酵食品、乳蛋白和酶处理、包含活性成分的食品中应用的专利。     

EMT Molecular Signatures of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms

Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are relatively rare neoplasms occurring predominantly in the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas. Their heterogeneity poses challenges for diagnosis and treatment. There is a paucity of markers for characterisation of NEN tumours. For routine diagnosis, immunohistochemistry of the NEN-specific markers CgA and synaptophysin and the proliferation marker Ki-67 are used. These parameters, however, are qualitative and lack the capacity to fully define the tumour phenotype. Molecules of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) are potential candidates for improved tumour characterisation. Using qRT-PCR, we measured mRNA levels of 27 tumour markers, including 25 EMT-associated markers, in tumour tissue and matched non-tumour tissues for 13 patients with pancreatic NENs. Tissue from patients with three different grades of tumour had distinctly different mRNA profiles. Of the 25 EMT-associated markers analysed, 17 were higher in G3 tissue relative to matched non-tumour tissue, including CD14, CD24, CD31, CD44, CD45, CD56, CK6, CK7, CK13, CK20, NSE, CDX2, CgA, DAXX, PCNA, laminin and Ki-67. The differences in levels of seven EMT-associated markers, Ki-67, DAXX, CD24, CD44, vimentin, laminin and PDX1 plus CgA and NSE (neuroendocrine markers) enabled a distinct molecular signature for each tumour grade to be generated. EMT molecules differentially expressed in three tumour grades have potential for use in tumour stratification and prognostication and as therapeutic targets for treatment of neuroendocrine cancers, following validation with additional samples.     

Non-Mouse Models of Atherosclerosis: Approaches to Exploring the Translational Potential of New Therapies

Cardiovascular disease is the largest single cause of disease-related mortality worldwide and the major underlying pathology is atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis develops as a complex process of vascular lipid deposition and retention by modified proteoglycans, endothelial dysfunction and unresolved chronic inflammation. There are a multitude of current therapeutic agents, most based on lowering plasma lipid levels, but, overall, they have a lower than optimum level of efficacy and many deaths continue to arise from cardiovascular disease world-wide. To identify and evaluate potential novel cardiovascular drugs, suitable animal models that reproduce human atherosclerosis with a high degree of fidelity are required as essential pre-clinical research tools. Commonly used animal models of atherosclerosis include mice (ApoE^−/−, LDLR^−/− mice and others), rabbits (WHHL rabbits and others), rats, pigs, hamster, zebrafish and non-human primates. Models based on various wild-type and genetically modified mice have been extensively reviewed but mice may not always be appropriate. Thus, here, we provide an overview of the advantages and shortcomings of various non-mouse animal models of atherosclerotic plaque formation, and plaque rupture, as well as commonly used interventional strategies. Taken together, the combinatorial selection of suitable animal models readily facilitates reproducible and rigorous translational research in discovering and validating novel anti-atherosclerotic drugs.     

Introduction to the Mini-Series: The State of Developing University Faculty in School Psychology: Current Status and Perspectives on the Future.

This introduction provides an overview of the purpose of this special issue and the articles included. The shortage of school psychologists entering academic careers has been an issue since the time of the Thayer Conference in 1954 and has become increasingly salient in recent years. It is hoped that these articles provide suggestions for training program faculty interested in increasing the number of their graduates who enter academic careers, and stimulate discussion on issues related to doctoral-level training and academic school psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Oscillator-Strength Sum Rule in the Cuprates

The oscillator-strength sum rule played an important role in the firstwork on the energy gap of superconductors by Tinkham. Recently, asmall but measurable depletion in the sum rule integral has beenobserved at optical frequencies in the cuprates. It has been suggestedthat this behavior contradicts what is expected of traditional modelsof superconductivity. We disagree with this conclusion. We show thatthis depletion is consistent with earlier Thermal DifferenceReflectance (TDR) measurements and their interpretation within thestrong coupling extension of the BCS theory, as evidence of anelectronic contribution to the pairing interaction at energies between1.0 and 2.0 eV for these materials. We show quantitative agreementwith the magnitude of the depletion and agreement with recent workwith ARPES on the dispersion and lifetime of quasiparticles from thesame model. We have located the two transitions responsible for theelectronic contribution from TDR measurements of the thermalderivative of the dielectric function.     

针锋相对 尼康数码相机十款新品发布

佳能的新品大爆发很精彩,但老冤家尼康不会任之演独角戏,于是紧随其后为世人呈现了精彩纷呈的秋季新品。在两款重头数码单反相机的带领下,尼康以十款新品与佳能四大系列的八款新品形成了针锋相对之势,接下来二者大唱对手戏的局面注定是不可避免的了。     

Lose–lose agreements in interdependent decision making.

Two people in an interdependent decision-making situation may have compatible interests; however, they often fail to realize this and settle on an outcome less favorable to both parties than another readily available solution. People sometimes settle for less favorable outcomes even when they realize they have compatible interests. The authors refer to this failure to identify and optimize compatible interests as the lose–lose effect, which means a faulty belief or judgment about another person's interests and an outcome or agreement that fails to capitalize on shared interests. Whether the people involved are individuals or organizations, lose–lose agreements result in reduced prosperity and satisfaction for both parties. The authors present a meta-analytic review of 32 experiments that document the pervasiveness of lose–lose agreements. They examine the relationship between the judgments people make about others' interests and lose–lose agreements and the effects of practice on both. They review theoretical explanations of lose–lose agreements. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational stages and processes of change for continuous quality improvement in health care.

This article provides an overview of the transtheoretical model of change (TTM, or stage model) and how it can guide the development of stage-matched interventions to increase physicians' readiness for continuous quality improvement (CQI) in health care. In addition, this article describes the development and initial validation of two TTM measures—stages and processes of change—designed to assess the extent to which hospitals are engaging in activities that can facilitate individual providers' movement through the stages of change for CQI. 299 Ss participated in the study. A majority (57%) of informants reported that their organizations were in the maintenance stage for CQI. Organizational-level processes of change differed significantly across the stages: Hospitals in the precontemplation stage tended to use the processes least, and hospitals in the maintenance stage tended to use them most. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MR imaging contrast enhancement based on intermolecular zero quantum coherences

A new method for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based on the detection of relatively strong signal from intermolecular zero-quantum coherences (iZQCs) is reported. Such a signal would not be observable in the conventional framework of magnetic resonance; it originates in long-range dipolar couplings (10 micrometers to 1 millimeter) that are traditionally ignored. Unlike conventional MRI, where image contrast is based on variations in spin density and relaxation times (often with injected contrast agents), contrast with iZQC images comes from variations in the susceptibility over a distance dictated by gradient strength. Phantom and in vivo (rat brain) data confirm that iZQC images give contrast enhancement. This contrast might be useful in the detection of small tumors, in that susceptibility correlates with oxygen concentration and in functional MRI.     

Loss of plectin causes epidermolysis bullosa with muscular dystrophy: cDNA cloning and genomic organization

Plectin is a widely expressed high molecular weight protein that is involved in cytoskeleton-membrane attachment in epithelial cells, muscle, and other tissues. The human autosomal recessive disorder epidermolysis bullosa with muscular dystrophy (MD-EBS) shows epidermal blister formation at the level of the hemidesmosome and is associated with a myopathy of unknown etiology. Here, plectin was found to be absent in skin and cultured keratinocytes from an MD-EBS patient by immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation, suggesting that plectin is a candidate gene/protein system for MD-EBS mutation. The 14800-bp human plectin cDNA was cloned and sequenced. The predicted 518-kD polypeptide has homology to the actin-binding domain of the dystrophin family at the amino terminus, a central rod domain, and homology to the intermediate filament-associated protein desmoplakin at the carboxyl terminus. The corresponding human gene (PLEC1), consisting of 33 exons spanning >26 kb of genomic DNA was cloned, sequenced, and mapped to chromosomal band 8q24. Homozygosity by descent was observed in the consanguineous MD-EBS family with intragenic plectin polymorphisms. Direct sequencing of PCR-amplified plectin cDNA from the patient's keratinocytes revealed a homozygous 8-bp deletion in exon 32 causing a frameshift and a premature termination codon 42 bp downstream. The clinically unaffected parents of the proband were found to be heterozygous carriers of the mutation. These results establish the molecular basis of MD-EBS in this family and clearly demonstrate the important structural role for plectin in cytoskeleton-membrane adherence in both skin and muscle.