The Ursinus Weekly, March 25, 1918

Zwinglian Society celebrates its forty-eighth anniversary • Prominent lawyer addresses students • Schaff prize essay: The spirit of Americanism • Choir renders sacred cantata • Don\u27t close the schools • Maxes vs. climaxes • The fable of the females insurgent • On the campus • Among the collegeshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/2555/thumbnail.jp

Some Concepts of Abstract Painting

This thesis attempts to present some philosophical and aesthetic concepts of the artist with regard to contemporary American abstract painting, and in terms of the artist&rsquo;s own creative work. Ten paintings, five of which are thesis paintings, have been used to illustrate the written portion of the thesis. Although abstract art is firmly rooted in the art of the past and has integrated and synthesized various art movements (particularly Expressionism and Abstraction), it is definitely a direct expression resulting from modern thought and forces. Formal art movements have been integrated to the extent that they can no longer be recognized as such. Contemporary American artists seem to express and abstract intuitively; their work may be said to have origins in such art movements as German Expressionism and Cubism, but now contains no conscious relationship to them. The thesis paintings are experimental and exploratory. They aim toward a dynamic and vital expression, and a communication of individual responses through a visual organization of the painting experience. A new reality results, which has as its stimulus the personal reactions of the artist to her environment; and the value of the completed paintings is the communication of those reactions through their artistic resolution in terms of plastic form, spatial tensions and stylistic concepts. The thesis paintings have been analyzed with reference to the contemplative periods of intellectual organization which have been accomplished through study of various aspects of contemporary American abstract painting and through individual creative exploration.</p

Aflatoxin M1 in milk and distribution and stability of aflatoxin M1 during production and storage of yoghurt and cheese

AbstractThe objective of this study was to investigate the incidence and occurrence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in Brazilian milk and infant formula. The distribution and stability of AFM1 in cheese and yoghurt were also determined. Milk samples and infant formula samples were purchased in Ribeirão Preto-SP, Brazil and were analyzed for AFM1 using immunoaffinity column purification, liquid chromatography separation and fluorescence detection. AFM1 was detected in 83% of the milk samples (>3 ng/kg) with levels ranging from 8 to 437 ng/kg for fluid milk, and 20–760 ng/kg for powdered milk. No AFM1 was found in infant formula. Processing and storage was shown to have little effect on AFM1 content in milk and milk products. Total AFM1 mass in milk was reduced by 3.2% in cheese and by 6% in yoghurt (pH 4.4). The mean concentration of AFM1 in curds was 1.9-fold higher and whey was 0.6-fold lower than in unprocessed milk

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent-Assay for Deoxynivalenol (DON)

Deoxynivalenol (DON), one of the trichothecene mycotoxins, is a worldwide contaminant of wheat and barley, especially when infected by Fusarium graminearum, the causative agent of an epidemic wheat disease called Fusarium Head Blight. Because of the high risk of DON ingestion and the possibility of frequent exposure, it is important to develop a rapid and highly sensitive method for easy identification and quantification of DON in grain samples. In this study, we have developed an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect DON in wheat. We conjugated 3-O-Hemisuccinyl-DON (3HS-DON) to Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Ovalbumin (OVA), and obtained DON-specific mice antisera. The indirect competitive ELISA revealed that the optimal concentration of mice serum and the coated antigen was 1/1600 and 1/1500, respectively. The antiserum cross-reacted with the trichothecenes 3-acetyl-DON and T-2 toxin, reaching about 55.2% and 6.3%, respectively, as compared with DON. Results showed that the assay could be performed satisfactorily using an extraction buffer containing less than 15% methanol. Recovery from DON was 82–93% in grains. The linear detection range of DON in grains was between 0.01 and 100 μg/mL

Isolation and Identification of a Strain of Aspergillus Tubingensis With Deoxynivalenol Biotransformation Capability

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is one of the most common contaminants of various foodstuffs. A biotransformation system was used in order to lessen the toxicity of DON. A strain of Aspergillus (NJA-1) was isolated from soil and cultured in an inorganic salt medium containing DON. Bt2a/Bt2b primers were used to amplify the β-tubulin gene of NJA-1. Sequence analysis the PCR product and morphology observation indicated that NJA-1 belonged to Aspergillus tubingensis (aerobic fungi). The DNA sequence information of the PCR product was deposited in GenBank (accession number DQ9025790). The DNA sequence had 99% similarity to the Aspergillus tubingensis accession number AY820009. An unknown compound in NJA-1 showed the ability to convert DON into another product. The molecular weight of the bioconversion product was 18.1 D (H2O) larger than that of DON. The analysis showed that DON could be hydrolyzed by NJA-1. The mean DON biotransformation rate was 94.4% after two weeks of cultivation. The finding presents a new method for DON biotransformation

Ochratoxin A in Roasted Coffee from French Supermarkets and Transfer in Coffee Beverages: Comparison of Analysis Methods

The OTA content of 30 roasted coffees purchased in French supermarkets was evaluated by two validated different methods: one using immunoaffinity column (IAC) clean-up after alkaline extraction; the second using toluene extraction under acidic conditions. OTA recoveries (0.5 to 5 µg/kg) ranged from 16–49% with the alkaline extraction method and 55–60% with the acidic method. OTA recoveries from prepared beverages were similar with all methods (75–80%). All samples containing OTA ranged from trace (<LOQ) to 11.9 µg/kg. About 20 to 140% of OTA passed through the beverages. Recoveries of over 100% of OTA in beverages were due to three types of interferences: (i) formation of open-ring OTA (OP-OA) during alkaline extraction, (ii) isomerization of OTA during roasting, and (iii) presence of the nonchlorinated analogue OTB. The first two types of interference generate OTA derivatives that are not recognized by OTA antibodies, while OTB cross-reacts with OTA-antibodies. These analytical problems will seriously impact the amount of OTA detected, especially at the levels close to the limits from the EU legislation. Underestimation of OTA could be highly dangerous for health

Mutagenicity of Ochratoxin A and Its Hydroquinone Metabolite in the SupF Gene of the Mutation Reporter Plasmid Ps189

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin that enhances renal tumor formation in the outer medulla of male rat kidney. Direct DNA damage and subsequent mutagenicity may contribute to these processes. In this study we have determined whether OTA in the absence or presence of activated rat liver microsomes (RLM) or redox-active transition metals (Fe(III) or Cu(II)) causes promutagenic DNA damage in the supF gene of the mutation reporter plasmid pS189 replicating in human Ad293 cells. In addition, we have assessed the mutagenicity of the hydroquinone metabolite (OTHQ) of OTA in the absence or presence of cysteine without added cofactors. Our results show that oxidation of OTA, either by RLM or by transition metal ions, activates OTA to a directly genotoxic mutagen(s). The Fe(III)/OTA system was the most potent mutagen in our experimental system, causing a 32-fold increase in mutant fraction (MF) above the spontaneous control MF. The Cu(II)/OTA system caused a 9-fold increase in MF, while a 6–10-fold increase in MF was observed for OTA in the presence of RLM. The OTHQ metabolite is also mutagenic, especially in the presence of cysteine, in which a 6-fold increase in MF was observed. Our data provide further insight into OTA bioactivation that may account for its in vivo mutagenicity in male rat kidney