Effects of Fermentation by Yeast and Amylolytic Lactic Acid Bacteria on Grain Sorghum Protein Content and Digestibility

Grain sorghum is an underutilized crop despite many advantages to its cultivation. A drought-tolerant plant with many pest-resistant cultivars, its applications are limited by problems with nutrient availability, particularly protein digestibility. Digestibility of grain sorghum protein is reduced by antinutritional compounds in the grain like tannins and phytates, and by moist-heat cooking. Some of these concerns can be mitigated by how the grain is processed. Fermentation is one processing method that can improve digestibility. Fermentation can also concentrate protein in a substrate. In this experiment, grain sorghum was subjected to different treatments and used as a substrate for yeast fermentation. Two species of yeast were tested; common baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and an amylolytic strain (Lipomyces kononenkoae). Effects of pasteurization or sterilization of the substrate, nitrogen supplementation, amyloglucosidase addition, and co-culture with an amylolytic lactic acid bacteria Lactobacillus amylovorous were examined. After 48 hours of incubation, baker’s yeast samples treated with enzyme increased in crude protein, from 9% in unfermented grain to approximately 27% after treatment. Nitrogen supplementation accelerates protein enrichment and is a significant factor at 24 hours of fermentation. Pepsin digestibility of fermented samples was improved compared to thermally processed controls. Phytates increased in concentrated high-protein samples, but the ratio of phytate to protein was reduced by both yeasts. Both types of yeast increased pepsin digestibility of sorghum protein compared to thermally processed control samples. L. kononenkoae reduced phytates in the substrate, but did not enrich protein content. The lactic co-culture had no significant effect on measured responses, but decreased incidence of spoilage and contamination of the fermentation samples. A fermentation with baker’s yeast can concentrate sorghum protein in a substrate if the grain starch is hydrolyzed first, and can increase digestibility as well

Colobinae evolution: Using GIS to map the distribution of leaf monkeys across Southeast Asia over time

The Colobinae, or leaf monkeys, are distributed geographically across Africa and Asia. Colobinae are specialized arborealists and leaf eaters with sacculated stomachs, sheering teeth, reduced thumbs, and very mobile shoulders. Colobinae diverged ~10.9 million year ago (Ma) from the Cercopithecidae in Africa, and Asian colobines appear in the fossil record in the late Miocene ~8.5 Ma. However, an incomplete fossil record means little is known about the evolutionary pressures that led to Asian colobine migration and diversification. Here, we use recent fossil discoveries and geospatial information to develop hypotheses about how geographic barriers played direct roles in Asian colobine evolution. Using ArcGIS, we plotted Miocene-epoch to Pleistocene-epoch fossil Colobinae collection sites with overlapping geospatial information including geographic barriers that may have influenced species distribution like the Himalayas and the Hengduan Mountains. We also included extant species’ presence, distributions, and species diversity to assess patterns of distribution over time. Data from each epoch were compared to track species distribution over time. Results suggest that combining fossil data, extant species’ distributions, and biogeographically relevant geospatial elements provides some parameters for where and when Colobine adaptions were selected for. For example, cold climate adaptions in certain Asian Colobines, especially Rhinopithecus, are not recent and have shaped how that genus is distributed today. These parameters can support powerful hypothesis building about the evolutionary histories of extant species adapting behaviorally and anatomically to densely forested South East Asia.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1134/thumbnail.jp

UVM Tobacco Use and Attitudes After Implementation of a Tobacco-Free Policy

Introduction: Widespread public health initiatives have led to falling smoking rates. Currently, 1,620 U.S. colleges have adopted smoke-free policies. In August 2015, the University of Vermont (UVM) adopted a tobacco-free policy that bans all forms of tobacco use on university property. The purpose of this study was to compare tobacco use and attitudes before and after policy implementation.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1230/thumbnail.jp

Fit for fire: A 10-week low-cost hift experiential learning initiative between underrepresented kinesiology undergraduates and hypertensive deconditioned firefighters improves their health and fitness

The aims of this study were to investigate the feasibility of an experiential learning initiative led by minority exercise science undergraduates and to observe the adaptations after a 10-week high-intensity functional training (HIFT) program in 34 underrepresented, hypertensive, and overweight/obese professional firefighters (PFF; age: 36.8 ± 11.0 years, body weight: 97.3 ± 21.5 kg, height: 181.7 ± 6.6 cm; BMI: 29.2 ± 4.9 kg/m2). Data were analyzed for muscular strength and endurance, cardiorespiratory endurance, body composition, agility, flexibility, and readiness for change. The PFFs trained two to three times weekly during their work shifts at vigorous intensity for 40 min. Their resting diastolic blood pressure and resting heart rate significantly decreased. Improvements in agility, muscular strength, and readiness for change were observed. This HIFT experiential learning initiative was feasible and beneficial and improved the PFFs’ health and physical fitness with limited resources. Accredited programs in exercise science participating in low-cost initiatives may aid in mitigating public service workers’ compensation and injury rates to better respond to occupational demands

Home Exercise Adherence in an Underserved Ecuadorian Community

Purpose: Physical therapy service learning projects and volunteer experiences in foreign countries are becoming more commonplace. Patients in underserved regions are not likely to receive therapy services regularly; therefore, adherence to a home exercise program (HEP) is critical. The primary purpose of this study was to observe home exercise adherence rates between the 1st and 2nd visits in an underserved population. The secondary purpose of this study was to determine specific factors that affect HEP adherence in this population. Methods: Consecutive patients seen in Santo Domingo, Ecuador were considered for participation in this observational study. All patients were recruited from one clinic or during home visits in the surrounding community over a 5 -month period by one physical therapist. To be included in the study, patients were required to display sufficient cognitive ability by stating their name, the date, their location, and their reason for being at that location, were at least 19 years of age, and had an impairment or functional limitation that was included in the physical therapy scope of practice. Patient demographics, medical history, and answers to questionnaires were collected on the initial visit. Immediately after the initial evaluation, patients were issued 5 home exercises . On the subsequent follow-up visit, adherence was measured with the Medical Outcomes Study General Adherence Items (MOSGAI). Adherence percentage, defined by the frequency in which the patient performed all the exercises as prescribed, was calculated. In order to evaluate potential factors affecting HEP adherence, separate Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed on the categorical variables (gender, marital status, education, employment, duration of symptoms, and comorbidities) and separate Spearman correlation tests were performed on the continuous data (age, pain level, and sport injury rehabilitation adherence scale - SIRAS). Alpha was set at p ≤.05 a priori. Results and Conclusion: A total of 40 patients satisfied the eligibility criteria and agreed to participate, of which 29 (mean age 55, SD 14) were seen for a second visit. Of the patients who returned for a second visit, the median (interquartile range) MOSGAI score was 24 (21-29) and the average adherence percentage was 73%. Age was negatively correlated with the MOSGAI (p = 0.008, r = - 0.60), while the SIRAS was positively correlated with the MOSGAI (p = 0.002, r = 0.52 ). Exercise adherence in this population was similar to previously reported data, but in areas where access to health care is limited, it may be even more important to im prove adherence. It is possible that both age and the level of adherence observed by the physical therapist during the first visit helped predict HEP adherence in this population. Innovation: Volunteer physical therapists serving in this community should proactively explore strategies to increase adherence in patients with these characteristics

SUMOylation of DISC1: a potential role in neural progenitor proliferation in the developing cortex

DISC1 is a multifunctional, intracellular scaffold protein. At the cellular level, DISC1 plays a pivotal role in neural progenitor proliferation, migration, and synaptic maturation. Perturbation of the biological pathways involving DISC1 is known to lead to behavioral changes in rodents, which supports a clinical report of a Scottish pedigree in which the majority of family members with disruption of the DISC1 gene manifest depression, schizophrenia, and related mental conditions. The discrepancy between modest evidence in genetics and strong biological support for the role of DISC1 in mental conditions suggests a working hypothesis that regulation of DISC1 at the protein level, such as posttranslational modification, may play a role in the pathology of mental conditions. In this study, we report on the SUMOylation of DISC1. This posttranslational modification occurs on lysine residues where the small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) and its homologs are conjugated to a large number of cellular proteins, which in turn regulates their subcellular distribution and protein stability. By using in silico, biochemical, and cell-biological approaches, we now demonstrate that human DISC1 is SUMOylated at one specific lysine 643 (K643). We also show that this residue is crucial for proper neural progenitor proliferation in the developing cortex

Synthetic Studies of Neoclerodane Diterpenes from Salvia divinorum: Role of the Furan in Affinity for Opioid Receptors

Further synthetic modification of the furan ring of salvinorin A (1), the major active component of Salvia divinorum, has resulted in novel neoclerodane diterpenes with opioid receptor affinity and activity. A computational study has predicted 1 to be a reproductive toxicant in mammals and is suggestive that use of 1 may be associated with adverse effects. We report in this study that piperidine 21 and thiomorpholine 23 have been identified as selective partial agonists at kappa opioid receptors. This indicates that additional structural modifications of 1 may provide ligands with good selectivity for opioid receptors but with reduced potential for toxicity