Yield Stress and Microstructure of Set Yogurt Made from High Hydrostatic Pressure-Treated Full Fat Milk

ABSTRACT: Set yogurts were prepared from fortified milk subjected to the following processes: (a) Thermal process (85C,°C,35 min), (b) High hydrostatic pressure process (193 or 676 MPa for 5 or 30 min), and (c) Nonprocessed milk (control). Yogurts from milk treated with 676 MPa for 30 min exhibited similar yield stress and water-holding capacity (WHC) to yogurts from heated milk. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) micrographs exhibited small round casein micelle aggregates without appendages in yogurts from heated milk. Yogurts from milk treated with 193 MPa and untreated milk exhibited low yield stress, low WHC, and large clusters of coalesced micelles. Mechanisms for gel formation are discussed.     

The comparative characteristics of the Salmonella serotypes rarely encountered in the Maritime Territory

The results of the comparative study of the phenotypical properties and the plasmid profile of 63 strains of salmonellae, belonging to 44 serotypes of groups B, C1, C2, C3, D, E1, E4, F. The study revealed that strains of different serotypes had their individual plasmid profile. Strains of the same serotype of salmonellae isolated from similar sources had an identical plasmid profile, while strains isolated from different sources differed in their plasmid profiles, though they might have a similar phenotype. Plasmid analysis was shown to be an effective method for the intraspecific typing of rarely isolated Salmonella serotypes and suitable for use as the basis of the microbiological monitoring of salmonellae.     

Complete nucleotide sequence of HTLV-II isolate NRA: comparison of envelope sequence variation of HTLV-II isolates from U.S. blood donors and U.S. and Italian i.v. drug users

Seven cardiac electrophysiology stimulators from four manufacturers (Biotronik, Bloom, Digitimer and Medtronic) in common current use are reviewed. The stimulators differ in the features provided and the design adopted to achieve these features. The number of output channels ranges from one to four, the number of extra-stimuli available ranges from two to six, and these can be delivered as a variety of sequences. Some of the stimulators (Digitimer and Bloom) are modular while others (Biotronik and Medtronic 532 series) are of an integrated design comprising a single physical unit. The design of the Medtronic EP-2 has both integrated and modular characteristics. The features of the stimulators associated with input, output, control and the user interface are specifically reviewed. The features are also compared against the published recommendations of the American Heart Association. In addition, a summary of stimulator user comments from a number of electrophysiology centres is presented. All of the stimulators fulfil, or are close to fulfilling, basic electrophysiological requirements, but some provide more complex facilities such as would be required by specialist centres.     

Quantitative patterns in the clinical manifestations of radiation sickness in large laboratory animals exposed to radiation at superlethal doses. The quantitative patterns in the manifestations of radiation sickness in dogs

Radiation sickness manifestations have been studied in dogs exposed to electrons (electron energy 25 MeV) and gamma-neutron radiation (neutron energies of 0.37 and 1.2 MeV) in a wide dose range. Dose-response relationships have been calculated for mortality and some clinical manifestations of the intestinal and cerebral forms of radiation sickness. With regard to mortality, the highest effect has been observed for gamma-neutron radiation with a neutron energy of 1.2 MeV. For equal physical doses and for those equally effective in relation to mortality, clinical manifestations of damage are more prominent following exposure to electrons.     

Net glutamate release from astrocytes is not induced by extracellular potassium concentrations attainable in brain

Elevated extracellular potassium concentration ([K+]e) has been shown to induce reversal of glial Na+-dependent glutamate uptake in whole-cell patch clamp preparations. It is uncertain, however, whether elevated [K+]e similarly induces a net glutamate efflux from intact cells with a physiological intracellular milieu. To answer this question, astrocyte cultures prepared from rat and mouse cortices were incubated in medium with elevated [K+]e (by equimolar substitution of K+ for Na+), and glutamate accumulation was measured by HPLC. With [K+]e elevations to 60 mM, medium glutamate concentrations did not increase during incubation periods of 5-120 min. By contrast, 45 min of combined inhibition of glycolytic and oxidative ATP production increased medium glutamate concentrations 50-100-fold. Similar results were obtained in both rat and mouse cultures. Studies were also performed using astrocytes loaded with the nonmetabolized glutamate tracer D-aspartate, and parallel results were obtained; no increase in medium D-aspartate content resulted from [K+]e elevation up to 90 mM, whereas a large increase occurred during inhibition of energy metabolism. These results suggest that a net efflux of glutamate from intact astrocytes is not induced by any [K+]e attainable in brain.     

Seasonal variation in the role of grey squirrels as hosts of Ixodes ricinus, the tick vector of the Lyme disease spirochaete, in a British woodland

The partition of free fatty acids (FFA) to egg-phosphatidylcholine (egg-PC) and egg-phosphatidylethanolamine (egg-PE) vesicles was studied. Upon the addition of FFA to the suspension of vesicles, the pH of the aqueous phase changed depending on the length and saturation of the FFA hydrocarbon chain, as well as on the vesicle composition. The medium pH decreased faster if FFA was added to egg-PE as compared to egg-PC vesicles. The fluorescent free fatty acid indicator (ADIFAB) was used to measure the amount of FFA remaining in the aqueous phase. Most of the FFA added to the suspension of egg-PE vesicles remained in the aqueous phase, whereas in the presence of egg-PC vesicles the FFA partitioned preferentially into the lipid phase. The amount of FFA incorporated into the lipid bilayers was estimated by measuring the changes of pH at the lipid bilayer surface, using fluorescein-PE. At high surface concentrations of FFA, decreasing pH at the bilayer surface caused the protonation of FFA, and raised the pK of FFA at the bilayer surface from 5 to about 7. The partition of FFA in egg-PE vesicles was an order of magnitude lower than that in egg-PC vesicles. The incorporation amount was determined more by the molecular packing than by the nature of lipid headgroups, because steroylcaprioyl-PE, which preferred the bilayer structure, behaved more like egg-PC than egg-PE. Understanding FFA partition characteristics would help to interpret the hydrolysis measurements of phospholipids, and to explain many biological activities of FFA.     

A retrograde fluorescent-labeling study of direct relationship between the limbic (anterodorsal and anteroventral thalamic nuclei) and the visual system in the albino rat

Case-control methodology was used to assess lung cancer risk from exposure to arsenic in air, employing data from former workers in different units at the Chuquicamata copper mine and smelter complex. Thirty two workers from this complex were identified among the lung cancer deaths that occurred in the Northern region of Chile between 1987 and 1991. Each case was matched on age and sex, with controls that had a similar date of enrolment in the company. Available data on arsenic concentrations in air for six work sites were compiled from 1952 to 1991 and these were used to categorize the workplaces: Administrative area (1.6 micrograms/m3), Mine (2.3 micrograms/m3), Oxid Plant (3.1 micrograms/m3), Workshop and Services (9.8 micrograms/m3), Sulphur Plant (8.4 micrograms/m3) and Smelter (201.7 micrograms/m3). The results indicate an Odds Ratio of 5.7 (Fisher's p = 0.016) of dying from lung cancer among workers of the smelter compared with the rest of the workers.