Gluten-free cakes with walnut flour: a technological,sensory, and microstructural approach

Walnut flour (WF), a by-product of walnut oil production, is characterised by high polyunsaturated fatty acids, proteins, and fibre contents and presents suitability for bakery products. However, when using non-traditional ingredients, it is essential to evaluate the effect on the quality properties of the final product. So, this work aimed to assess the impact of WF on the technological, physicochemical, and sensory properties of gluten-free (GF) cakes. WF was added at a flour blend (cassava (CS) and maize (MS) starches and rice flour) at 0, 10%, 15%, and 20%. The results showed that WF modified starch gelatinisation, increased amylose–lipid complex (ALC) content, and made crumbs easier to chew. Besides, the total dietary fibre (TDF) and protein content significantly increased. Cakes with 15% WF presented the highest specific volume (SV) and no differences in overall acceptability with respect to control. Hence, WF is a suitable ingredient for gluten-free bakery products.     

Defining Dry Eye from a Clinical Perspective

Over the past decades, the number of patients with dry eye disease (DED) has increased dramatically. The incidence of DED is higher in Asia than in Europe and North America, suggesting the involvement of cultural or racial factors in DED etiology. Although many definitions of DED have been used, discrepancies exist between the various definitions of dry eye disease (DED) used across the globe. This article presents a clinical consensus on the definition of DED, as formulated in four meetings with global DED experts. The proposed new definition is as follows: “Dry eye is a multifactorial disease characterized by a persistently unstable and/or deficient tear film (TF) causing discomfort and/or visual impairment, accompanied by variable degrees of ocular surface epitheliopathy, inflammation and neurosensory abnormalities.” The key criteria for the diagnosis of DED are unstable TF, inflammation, ocular discomfort and visual impairment. This definition also recommends the assessment of ocular surface epitheliopathy and neurosensory abnormalities in each patient with suspected DED. It is easily applicable in clinical practice and should help practitioners diagnose DED consistently. This consensus definition of DED should also help to guide research and clinical trials that, to date, have been hampered by the lack of an established surrogate endpoint.     

Crosstalk between Nutrition,Insulin, Juvenile Hormone,and Ecdysteroid Signaling in the Classical Insect Model,Rhodnius prolixus

The rigorous balance of endocrine signals that control insect reproductive physiology is crucial for the success of egg production. Rhodnius prolixus, a blood-feeding insect and main vector of Chagas disease, has been used over the last century as a model to unravel aspects of insect metabolism and physiology. Our recent work has shown that nutrition, insulin signaling, and two main types of insect lipophilic hormones, juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroids, are essential for successful reproduction in R. prolixus; however, the interplay behind these endocrine signals has not been established. We used a combination of hormone treatments, gene expression analyses, hormone measurements, and ex vivo experiments using the corpus allatum or the ovary, to investigate how the interaction of these endocrine signals might define the hormone environment for egg production. The results show that after a blood meal, circulating JH levels increase, a process mainly driven through insulin and allatoregulatory neuropeptides. In turn, JH feeds back to provide some control over its own biosynthesis by regulating the expression of critical biosynthetic enzymes in the corpus allatum. Interestingly, insulin also stimulates the synthesis and release of ecdysteroids from the ovary. This study highlights the complex network of endocrine signals that, together, coordinate a successful reproductive cycle.     

The effect of neighbourhood on rodent communities: an example from Pampean agroecosystems

Pampean region agroecosystems are devoted to agricultural and farming activities, but in the crop field matrix there are relicts of remnant natural habitats. Poultry farms mainly harbour commensal species as house mice and rats, which are rarely present in surrounding habitats. We assessed if neighbourhood to poultry farms affect the presence of Mus musculus in crop fields and their borders, and if rodent community in poultry farms is influenced by the species present in surrounding crop fields and borders. We found that habitat had a significant effect on the abundance of M. musculus. This species showed higher abundance in poultry farms than in crop field borders. Calomys laucha was the unique native species that was captured in farm sheds. We found higher abundance of native species in crop field borders than in crop fields independent of the proximity to the poultry farms. We conclude that rodent communities in poultry farms are little influenced by the surroundings, and show a dominance of M. musculus independently of the presence of native rodent species in neighbour habitats. On the other hand, farms do not export M. musculus to surrounding habitats, and borders only function as corridors for dispersal among farms, while crop fields are rarely used.     

Myotrophic effects of muscle extracts obtained at different intervals after denervation

BACKGROUND: The assessment of return of function within dysfunctional myocardium after acute myocardial infarction (MI) using contractile reserve has been primarily qualitative. Magnetic resonance (MR) myocardial tagging is a novel noninvasive method that measures intramyocardial function. We hypothesized that MR tagging could be used to quantify the intramyocardial response to low-dose dobutamine and relate this response to return of function in patients after first MI. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty patients with a first reperfused MI (age, 53+/-12 years; 16 male; 11 inferior MIs) were studied. Patients underwent breath-hold MR-tagged short-axis imaging on day 4+/-2 after MI at baseline and during dobutamine infusion at 5 and 10 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1). At 8+/-1 weeks after MI, patients returned for a follow-up MR tagging study without dobutamine. Quantification of percent intramyocardial circumferential segment shortening (%S) was performed. Low-dose dobutamine MRI was well tolerated. Overall, mean %S was 15+/-11% at baseline (n=227 segments), increased to 16+/-10% at 5 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1) dobutamine (P=NS), 21+/-10% at peak (P<0.0001 versus baseline and 5 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1), and 18+/-10% at 8 weeks (P<0.004 versus baseline and peak). The increase in %S with peak dobutamine was greater in dysfunctional myocardium (103 segments, +9+/-10%) than in normal tissue (124 segments, +4+/-12%, P<0.0001). In dysfunctional regions, %S also increased from 6+/-7% at baseline to 14+/-10% at 8 weeks after MI (P<0.0001). In dysfunctional regions that responded normally to peak dobutamine (> or =5% increase in %S), the increase in %S from baseline to 8 weeks after MI (+9+/-9%) was greater than in those regions that did not respond normally (+5+/-9%, P<0.04). Midmyocardial and subepicardial response to dobutamine were predictive of functional recovery, but the subendocardial response was not. CONCLUSIONS: The response of intramyocardial function to low-dose dobutamine after reperfused MI can be quantified with MR tagging. Dysfunctional tissue after MI demonstrates a larger contractile response to dobutamine than normal myocardium. A normal increase in shortening elicited by dobutamine within dysfunctional midwall and subepicardium predicts greater functional recovery at 8 weeks after MI, but the response within the subendocardium is not predictive.     

Synthesis,Structural Analysis,and Biological Evaluation of Thioxoquinazoline Derivatives as Phosphodiesterase 7 Inhibitors

PDE7 inhibitors regulate pro‐inflammatory and immune T‐cell functions, and are a potentially novel class of drugs particularly useful for treatment of a wide variety of immune and inflammatory disorders. Structural optimization of thioxoquinazoline derivatives led to new compounds with very interesting profiles as PDE7 or PDE7/PDE4 dual inhibitors, which may be further developed as new drugs for inflammatory and neurological diseases.

     

MicroRNA Profiling of B Cell Subsets from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients Reveals Promising Novel Biomarkers

MicroRNAs control the differentiation and function of B cells, which are considered key elements in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, a common micro(mi)RNA signature has not emerged since published data includes patients of variable ethnic background, type of disease, and organ involvement, as well as heterogeneous cell populations. Here, we aimed at identifying a miRNA signature of purified B cells from renal and non-renal severe SLE patients of Latin American background, a population known to express severe disease. Genome-wide miRNA expression analyses were performed on naive and memory B cells and revealed two categories of miRNA signatures. The first signature represents B cell subset-specific miRNAs deregulated in SLE: 11 and six miRNAs discriminating naive and memory B cells of SLE patients from healthy controls (HC), respectively. Whether the miRNA was up or down-regulated in memory B cells as compared with naive B cells in HC, this difference was abolished in SLE patients, and vice versa. The second signature identifies six miRNAs associated with specific pathologic features affecting renal outcome, providing a further understanding for SLE pathogenesis. Overall, the present work provided promising biomarkers in molecular diagnostics for disease severity as well as potential new targets for therapeutic intervention in SLE.     

Changes in the swimming activity and the glutathione S-transferase activity of Jenynsia multidentata fed with microcystin-RR

We report the effects of sublethal doses of microcystin-RR (MC-RR) on the swimming activity of Jenynsia multidentata as well as the simultaneous response of its detoxication system by measuring glutathion S-transferase (GST) activities in the liver and brain of fish. MC-RR was applied on the food pellets at doses of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 microg g(-1). Swimming activity was recorded 10 min each hour over 24h by using a computer-based image processing system, which facilitates quantification of two measures of fish swimming behaviour (average velocity, movement percentage). Results show that low levels of cyanotoxin increased the swimming activity, while the highest dose used produced significant changes with respect to control group only since approximately 20 h of exposure, when the swimming activity was decreased. On the other hand, GST activity was significantly increased only in the liver and brain of fish fed with the highest MC-RR dose. Both results suggest that fish are reacting to the stress caused by low doses of MC-RR by increasing their swimming activity, raising further questions on the probable neurotoxicity of MCs, and presenting the behavioural change as a good biomarker of early toxic stress. On the other hand, fish reduced their swimming speed at the highest MC-RR dose, when the detoxication activity began, which can be hypothesized to be a reallocation of their energy, favouring detoxication over swimming activity.