Normality and impairment following profound early institutional deprivation: A longitudinal follow-up into early adolescence.

Longitudinal analyses on normal versus impaired functioning across 7 domains were conducted in children who had experienced profound institutional deprivation up to the age of 42 months and were adopted from Romania into U.K. families. Comparisons were made with noninstitutionalized children adopted from Romania and with nondeprived within-U.K. adoptees placed before the age of 6 months. Specifically, the validity of the assessment, the degree of continuity and change in levels of functioning from 6 to 11 years, and the factors in the pre- and postadoption environment accounting for heterogeneity in outcome were examined. Pervasive impairment was significantly raised in children experiencing institutional deprivation for ≥6 months of life, with a minority within this group showing no impairment. There was no additional significant effect of duration of deprivation beyond the 6-month cutoff, and few other predictors explained outcome. The pattern of normality/impairment was mainly established by 6 years of age, with considerable continuity at the individual level between 6 and 11 years. The findings are discussed in terms of the possibility of a sensitive period for development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aflatoxin B1 contamination of shrimp feeds and its effect on growth and hepatopancreas of pre-adult Penaeus monodon

A survey of aflatoxin B₁ (AFLB₁) levels in commonly used commercial shrimp finisher feeds in the Philippines showed a various range of values from not detected to 120 μg kg^?1 using high-performance thin-layer chromatography. Six experimental diets were prepared to contain various levels of AFLB₁ based on survey results to determine the effects of such contamination in pre-adult shrimp Penaeus monodon (17.5 ± 0.6 g). Results showed that shrimps fed diets containing AFLB₁ greater than or equal to 73.8 μg kg^?1 gave comparatively poor growth rate and higher susceptibility to shell diseases. No AFLB₁ residues were detected in sampled whole shrimp tissues after 62 days of exposure to AFLB₁ containing diets indicating a low potential for transmission of the toxin from edible shrimp tissues to consumers. Histopathological alterations in the hepatopancreas of shrimp chronically exposed to AFLB, were observed in all samples. The degree of alterations correlated with the level of AFLB₁. Based on growth performance, pre-adult shrimps can tolerate AFLB₁ levels of up to 52.3 μg kg^?1 in the feeds although histopathological changes were already evident in the tissues of shrimps given diets with 26.5 μg kg^?1 AFLB₁.     

Intracellular Ca2+ Signaling in Protozoan Parasites: An Overview with a Focus on Mitochondria

Ca²⁺ signaling has been involved in controling critical cellular functions such as activation of proteases, cell death, and cell cycle control. The endoplasmatic reticulum plays a significant role in Ca²⁺ storage inside the cell, but mitochondria have long been recognized as a fundamental Ca²⁺ pool. Protozoan parasites such as Plasmodium falciparum, Toxoplasma gondii, and Trypanosoma cruzi display a Ca²⁺ signaling toolkit with similarities to higher eukaryotes, including the participation of mitochondria in Ca²⁺-dependent signaling events. This review summarizes the most recent knowledge in mitochondrial Ca²⁺ signaling in protozoan parasites, focusing on the mechanism involved in mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uptake by pathogenic protists.     

Design of active and stable oxygen reduction reaction catalysts by embedding Co<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>O<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">y</Emphasis></Subscript> nanoparticles into nitrogen-doped carbon

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is essential in research pertaining to life science and energy. In applications, platinum-based catalysts give ideal reactivity, but, in practice, are often subject to high costs and poor stability. Some cost-efficient transition metal oxides have exhibited excellent ORR reactivity, but the stability and durability of such alternative catalyst materials pose serious challenges. Here, we present a facile method to fabricate uniform Co _x O _y nanoparticles and embed them into N-doped carbon, which results in a composite of extraordinary stability and durability, while maintaining its high reactivity. The half-wave potential shows a negative shift of only 21 mV after 10,000 cycles, only one third of that observed for Pt/C (63 mV). Furthermore, after 100,000 s testing at a constant potential, the current decreases by only 17%, significantly less than for Pt/C (35%). The exceptional stability and durability results from the system architecture, which comprises a thin carbon shell that prevents agglomeration of the Co _x O _y nanoparticles and their detaching from the substrate.

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A note on thue systems with a single defining relation

A combinatorial characterization is given for those one-rule Thue systems of the form {(w ₁,w ₂)} with 0 |w ₂||ov(w ₁)| that are Church-Rosser. Here ov(w ₁) denotes the longest proper self-overlap ofw ₁. Further, it is shown that a Thue system of this form is Church-Rosser if and only if there is an equivalent Thue system that is Church-Rosser.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. MCS83-14977. It was performed while the first author was visiting the Department of Mathematics of the University of California at Santa Barbara.     

A note on classes of complements and the LBA problem

Summary The complements of an AFL form an AFL if and only if is closed under length-preserving universal quantification. The complements of the context-sensitive languages form a principal AFL with a hardest set L ₁. The context-sensitive languages are closed under complementation if and only if L ₁ is context-sensitive.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grants MCS76-10076 and DCR74-15091     

MIL-100(Fe) Sub-Micrometric Capsules as a Dual Drug Delivery System

Nanoparticles of metal–organic frameworks (MOF NPs) are crystalline hybrid micro- or mesoporous nanomaterials that show great promise in biomedicine due to their significant drug loading ability and controlled release. Herein, we develop porous capsules from aggregate of nanoparticles of the iron carboxylate MIL-100(Fe) through a low-temperature spray-drying route. This enables the concomitant one-pot encapsulation of high loading of an antitumor drug, methotrexate, within the pores of the MOF NPs, and the collagenase enzyme (COL), inside the inter-particular mesoporous cavities, upon the formation of the capsule, enhancing tumor treatment. This association provides better control of the release of the active moieties, MTX and collagenase, in simulated body fluid conditions in comparison with the bare MOF NPs. In addition, the loaded MIL-100 capsules present, against the A-375 cancer cell line, selective toxicity nine times higher than for the normal HaCaT cells, suggesting that MTX@COL@MIL-100 capsules may have potential application in the selective treatment of cancer cells. We highlight that an appropriate level of collagenase activity remained after encapsulation using the spray dryer equipment. Therefore, this work describes a novel application of MOF-based capsules as a dual drug delivery system for cancer treatment.     

Survival of Lactobacillus casei (LC-1) adhered to prebiotic vegetal fibers

This study evaluated the survival of Lactobacillus casei (LC-1) when adhered to four different dehydrated prebiotic fibers. After vacuum drying in oat bran with 9% β-glucan and green banana flour, LC-1 viability was 79% and 76%, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed no morphological changes in the cells adhered to these fibers, and the addition of trehalose as a cell protectant had a positive and significant effect on the survival of LC-1. At different storage temperatures, oat bran had the highest stability as well as in simulated gastrointestinal conditions, where LC-1 that adhered to the oat bran had greater viability (7.1 log CFU g^? 1) than in the free form (2.4 log CFU g^? 1). In the sensory evaluation, the probiotic oat bran added to a dairy fruit beverage was well accepted by consumers.Industrial relevanceThe diversification of food products and the growing interest in health life requires from food industry innovations and new products for this. Probiotic cultures into non-dairy products is still an innovation and a challenge to the functional food segment. The development of an oat bran with LC-1 adhered is important for the functional food industries because the probiotic can be viable during dehydration and storage at room temperature. In addition the LC-1 is protected under simulated gastrointestinal conditions without compromising sensory acceptability.     

Ascorbic acid: a review of its chemistry and reactivity in relation to a wine environment

Extensive reviews of research are available on the use of ascorbic acid, and its consequent degradation pathways, in physiological conditions or food matrices. However, very little information can be found for wine-related systems. This review highlights the relevant chemistry and reactivity of ascorbic acid with a focus on its behavior and potential behavior in a wine environment. The review describes the use of ascorbic acid as a complementary antioxidant preservative to sulfur dioxide along with the metal-catalyzed and radical-dependent manner by which it achieves this role. The relevant degradation products of ascorbic acid in aerobic and anaerobic conditions are presented as well as the interaction of these degradation products with sulfur dioxide and other wine-relevant sulfur compounds. Limitations in existing knowledge, especially regarding the crossover between the antioxidant and pro-oxidant roles of ascorbic acid, are identified.