Interaction between dietary protein and fat in triglyceride metabolism in the rat: Effects of soy protein and menhaden oil

The objective of the present study was to determine the mechanisms by which dietary proteins interact with dietary lipids in the regulation of triglyceridemia in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=56) were subjected to 28-d experimental diets containing different combinations of proteins (20% w/w) and lipid sources (14% w/w): (i) casein-menhaden oil, (ii) casein-beef tallow, (iii) soy protein-menhaden oil, and (iv) soy protein-beef tallow. Significant protein-lipid interactions were observed on triglyceridemia and hepatic cholesterol in fasted rats. The combination of casein and beef tallow was associated with high plasma TG and hepatic cholesterol concentrations, which were reduced by substitution either of soy for casein or of menhaden oil for beef tallow. Therefore, triglyceridemia and liver cholesterol remained low with soy protein feeding, independently of the lipid source, as well as with menhaden oil feeding, regardless of the protein source. The menhaden oil diets reduced plasma cholesterol, hepatic TG, and TG secretion compared with beef tallow diets independently of the dietary protein source. Modifying the source of dietary proteins and lipids had no effect on post-heparin plasma lipoprotein lipase activity. These results demonstrate that soy protein can lower rat triglyceridemia relative to casein when associated with beef tallow consumption, whereas menhaden oil can attenuate hypertriglyceridemia when rats are fed casein. The data further suggest that part of the hypotriglyceridemic effect of soy protein in the rat may be mediated by reduced hepatic lipid synthesis, as is the case for menhaden oil.     

Links between friendship relations and early adolescents’ trajectories of depressed mood.

The present study examined to what extent different types of friendship experiences (i.e., friendlessness, having depressed friends, and having nondepressed friends) are associated with early adolescents’ longitudinal trajectories of depressed mood. On the basis of a sample of 201 youths (108 girls, 93 boys), we identified 3 distinct longitudinal profiles of depressed mood from Grade 5 (age 11) through Grade 7 (age 13): one group with consistently low levels of depressed mood, another group showing a sharp increase in depressed mood from late childhood through early adolescence, and a 3rd group with consistently high levels of depressed mood from late childhood through early adolescence. Subsequent analyses revealed that, compared to friendless youths, youths with nondepressed friends showed less elevated trajectories of depressed mood, whereas youths with depressed friends showed more elevated trajectories. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of added salt and increase in ionic strength on skim milk electroacidification performances

Bipolar-memibrane electroacidification (BMEA) technology which uses the property of bipolar membranes to split water and the demineralization action of cation-exchange membranes (CEM), was tested for the production of acid casein. BMEA has numerous advantages in comparison with conventional isoelectric precipitation processes of proteins used in the dairy industry. BMEA uses electricity to generate the desired ionic species to acidify the treated solutions. The process can be precisely controlled, as electro-acidification rate is regulated by the effective current density in the cell. Water dissociation at the bipolar membrane interface is continuous and avoids local excess of acid. In-situ generation of dangerous chemicals (acids and bases) reduces the risks associated with the handling, transportation, use and elimination of these products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of BMEA in different conditions of added ionic strength (p(added) = 0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 M) and added salt (CaCl2, NaCl and KCl). The combination of KCl and p(added) = 0.5 M gave the best results with a 45% decrease in energy consumption. The increased energy efficiency was the result of a decrease in the anode/cathode voltage difference. This was due to an increase of conductivity, produced by addition of salt, necessary to compensate for the lack of sufficiently mobile ions in the skim milk. However, the addition of salts, irrespective of type or ionic strength, increased the required operation time. The protein profile of isolates were similar under all experimental conditions, except at 1.0 M-CaCl2.     

Characterization and Quantification of Selenoprotein P: Challenges to Mass Spectrometry

Selenoprotein P (SELENOP) is an emerging marker of the nutritional status of selenium and of various diseases, however, its chemical characteristics still need to be investigated and methods for its accurate quantitation improved. SELENOP is unique among selenoproteins, as it contains multiple genetically encoded SeCys residues, whereas all the other characterized selenoproteins contain just one. SELENOP occurs in the form of multiple isoforms, truncated species and post-translationally modified variants which are relatively poorly characterized. The accurate quantification of SELENOP is contingent on the availability of specific primary standards and reference methods. Before recombinant SELENOP becomes available to be used as a primary standard, careful investigation of the characteristics of the SELENOP measured by electrospray MS and strict control of the recoveries at the various steps of the analytical procedures are strongly recommended. This review critically discusses the state-of-the-art of analytical approaches to the characterization and quantification of SELENOP. While immunoassays remain the standard for the determination of human and animal health status, because of their speed and simplicity, mass spectrometry techniques offer many attractive and complementary features that are highlighted and critically evaluated.     

Comparison of Electrochemical and Chemical Acidification of Skim Milk

The purpose of this study was to compare chemical and electrochemical acidification, in order to identify differences between the two acidification procedures. The results reveal differences in the acidification profiles obtained with the two methods. Whereas chemical acidification showed a salting‐in effect from addition of salts, bipolar‐membrane electroacidification (BMEA) removes salts through electrochemical demineralization, favoring protein precipitation. Hence, at pH 4.6, all the caseins were precipitated by BMEA, while some were not yet precipitated by chemical acidification. Nevertheless, the chemical composition and the casein fraction composition of the isolates were the same for both chemical and electrochemical acidification.     

A fast algorithm for the hourly simulations of ground-source heat pumps using arbitrary response factors

Hourly energy simulations are an important part of the design and analysis of ground-source heat pump systems. In order to evaluate the fluid temperature in the borehole of a geothermal heat pump system, most of the current models express the heat transfer rate as a sum of step changes in heat transfer rate. The borehole temperature is then computed as a superposition of the different contributions of each time step. The main difference between the different models lies in the way the step response is computed. Since all these methods are based on a convolution scheme, long time simulations are very time consuming. Many load aggregation algorithms have been proposed in order to reduce this computational time. In a previous paper we proposed a new algorithm to evaluate the overall response which was much faster than the classical aggregation schemes. However this new algorithm was based on the cylindrical source step response for a single borehole. In this paper, we present a generalization of this scheme for any kind of step response making it a very powerful tool for hourly simulations.     

Real-time dynamic substructuring testing of viscous seismic protective devices for bridge structures

This paper presents a real-time dynamic substructuring (RTDS) test program carried out on bridge structures equipped with two innovative viscous seismic protective devices: a seismic damping unit and a shock transmission unit. In the RTDS tests, the seismic protective units were physically tested in the laboratory using a high performance dynamic actuator imposing, in real time, the displacement time histories obtained from numerical simulations being run in parallel. The integration scheme used in the test program was the Rosenbrock-W variant, and the integration was performed using The MathWorks’ Simulink and XPC target computer environment. The numerical counterpart included the bridge columns and the additional energy dissipation properties. The nonlinear response of these components was accounted for in the numerical models. The tests were run under various ground motions, and the influence of modeling assumptions such as damping and initial stiffness was investigated. Finally, the test results are compared to the predictions from nonlinear dynamic time history analyses performed using commercially available computer programs. The results indicate that simple numerical modeling techniques can lead to accurate prediction of the displacement response of bridge structures equipped with the seismic protective systems studied.     

The R1 subunit of herpes simplex virus ribonucleotide reductase is a good substrate for host cell protein kinases but is not itself a protein kinase

The N terminus of the R1 subunit of herpes simplex virus type 2 ribonucleotide reductase is believed to be a protein kinase domain mainly because the R1 protein was phosphorylated in a protein kinase assay on blot. Using Escherichia coli and adenovirus expression vectors to produce R1, we found that, whereas the reductase activity of both recombinant proteins was similar, efficient phosphorylation of R1 and casein in the presence of Mg2+ was obtained only with the R1 purified from eukaryotic cells. Phosphorylation of this R1, in solution or on blot, results mainly from the activity of casein kinase II (CKII), a co-purifying protein kinase. Labeling on blot occurs from CKII leakage off the membrane and its subsequent high affinity binding to in vivo CKII-phosphorylated R1. CKII target sites were mapped to an acidic serine-rich segment of the R1 N terminus. Improvement in purification of the R1 expressed in eukaryotic cells nearly completely abolished its phosphorylation potential. An extremely low level of phosphorylation observed in the presence of Mn2+ with the R1 produced in E. coli was probably due to an unidentified prokaryotic protein kinase. These results provide evidence that the herpes simplex virus type 2 R1 does not possess an intrinsic protein kinase activity.