Exercise alters and beta-alanine combined with exercise augments histidyl dipeptide levels and scavenges lipid peroxidation products in human skeletal muscle

Title on article: Exercise alters and β-alanine combined with exercise augments histidyl dipeptide levels and scavenges lipid peroxidation products in human skeletal muscl

Level of suicidal intent predicts overall mortality and suicide after attempted suicide: a 12-year follow-up study

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to comprehensively examine clinical risk factors, including suicide intent and hopelessness, for suicide and risk of death from all causes after attempted suicide over a 12-year follow-up period. METHODS: A systematic sample of 224 patients from consecutive cases of attempted suicide referred to health care in four Finnish cities between 1 January and 31 July 1990 was interviewed. RESULTS: After 12 years of follow-up 22% of these patients had died, 8% by committing suicide. The only statistically significant risk factor for eventual suicide was high scores on Beck's Suicidal Intention Scale. Male gender, older age, physical illness or disability and high scores on Beck's Suicidal Intention Scale predicted death overall. CONCLUSIONS: Following attempted suicide, high intention to kill oneself is a significant risk factor for both death from all causes and suicide

Letter to the Editor: Time to update the language of genetics from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century: a response to Schmidtke and Cornel

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Relating expert quality ratings of Australian Chardonnay wines to volatile composition and production method

Chardonnay is a neutral grape variety offering a diversity of wine styles that are popular among con­sumers. The links between wine production methods and Chardonnay wine volatile composition, as determinants of quality, require further elucidation. Over 80 commercial Australian Chardonnay wines were assessed by expert panelists who were asked to define four distinct levels of quality in a blind tasting. Wine aroma volatiles in each wine were analyzed by solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and multivariate sta­tistical techniques were used to examine the relationship between volatile composition and quality as defined by the experts. Of 39 aroma compounds quantified, nine volatiles (including cis- and trans-oak lactones, furfural, and diethyl succinate) correlated significantly and positively with Chardonnay wine quality, while 11 volatiles (including fruity esters and monoterpenoids) correlated negatively. Compounds associated with oak contact and malolactic fermentation were present at highest concentrations in higher-quality wines as perceived by wine experts. Lower scores were assigned to younger but less complex wines, which were richer in fruity esters and other grape-derived compounds. A model was developed using partial least squares regression based on these results, which permitted classification of the Chardonnay wines into high-, medium-, and low-quality brackets depending on their relative concentrations of cis- and trans-oak lactone, ethyl lactate, and 2-methyl-1-propanol (positive) and of 1-propanol and 1-hexanol (negative). There was a significant and positive correlation (r = 0.469, p <0.0001) between retail price and quality score, underlying the usefulness of price as an indicator of quality, although it failed to entirely explain quality (as judged by experts) and should therefore be used in conjunction with other quality cues. © 2017 by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture. All rights reserved

Quantifying molecular-level cell adhesion on electroactive conducting polymers using electrochemical-single cell force spectroscopy

Single Cell Force Spectroscopy was combined with Electrochemical-AFM to quantify the adhesion between live single cells and conducting polymers whilst simultaneously applying a voltage to electrically switch the polymer from oxidized to reduced states. The cell-conducting polymer adhesion represents the non-specific interaction between cell surface glycocalyx molecules and polymer groups such as sulfonate and dodecylbenzene groups, which rearrange their orientation during electrical switching. Single cell adhesion significantly increases as the polymer is switched from an oxidized to fully reduced state, indicating stronger cell binding to sulfonate groups as opposed to hydrophobic groups. This increase in single cell adhesion is concomitant with an increase in surface hydrophilicity and uptake of cell media, driven by cation movement, into the polymer film during electrochemical reduction. Binding forces between the glycocalyx and polymer surface are indicative of molecular-level interactions and during electrical stimulation there is a decrease in both the binding force and stiffness of the adhesive bonds. The study provides insight into the effects of electrochemical switching on cell adhesion at the cell-conducting polymer interface and is more broadly applicable to elucidating the binding of cell adhesion molecules in the presence of electrical fields and directly at electrode interfaces