Consumer Perception of Bread Quality

Bread contains a wide range of important nutritional components which provide a positive effect on human health. However, the consumption of bread in Belgium is declining during the last decades. This is due to factors such as changing eating patterns and a increasing choice of substitutes like breakfast cereals and fast foods. The aim of this study is to investigate consumer’s quality perception of bread towards sensory, health and nutrition attributes. Consumer’s quality perception of bread seams to be determined by sensory and health attributes. Three clusters of consumers are identified based on these attributes. In the first cluster, consumers’ quality perception of bread is not dependent on the health attributes it embraces, but to some extent on sensory attributes. For the second cluster, both health and sensory attributes appear to influence quality perception. In the third cluster only sensory attributes appear to be important in determining quality perception, though in a negative direction. The results of this study will possibly help health professionals and policy makers to systematically inform the consumers about the positive effects of bread and its components. Furthermore, firms can use the result to build up a tailor-made marketing strategy.Consumer, Quality perception, Bread, Demand and Price Analysis, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Messenger RNA electroporation: an efficient tool in immunotherapy and stem cell research.

Over the last decades medicine has developed tremendously, but still many diseases are incurable. The last years, cellular (gene) therapy has become a hot topic in biomedical research for the potential treatment of cancer, AIDS and diseases involving cell loss or degeneration. Here, we will focus on two major areas within cellular therapy, cellular immunotherapy and stem cell therapy, that could benefit from the introduction of neo-expressed genes through mRNA electroporation for basic research as well as for clinical applications. For cellular immunotherapy, we will provide a state-of-the-art on loading antigen-presenting cells with antigens in the mRNA format for manipulation of T cell immunity. In the area of stem cell research, we will highlight current gene transfer methods into adult and embryonic stem cells and discuss the use of mRNA electroporation for controlling guided differentiation of stem cells into specialized cell lineages

Variation in amylose concentration to enhance wheat flour extrudability

Composition and functionality of five waxy wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes were elaborately investigated and related to end-product attributes of extrudates. As such, the interaction between starch biopolymers and protein in extrusion processing could be studied. Furthermore, the effect of an increasing amylose-concentration was studied by the use of blends. Waxy genotypes absorbed more water, gave rise to stiffer doughs and had higher onset and peak gelatinization temperature. In contrast, a lower pasting temperature and final viscosity and higher peak viscosity and breakdown could be observed. The volume percentage of small starch granules showed to be negatively correlated with peak temperature and positively with final viscosity and holding strength as well as with extrudate hardness. This was also positively correlated with amylose concentration. Expansion index was highest at a slightly decreased amylose concentration of 16.6%. Markedly higher moisture content for all amylose-free extrudates was attributed to a combination of increased solubility of amylopectin and reduced water evaporation at die emergence. It was hypothesized that an interplay with protein content and composition was laying at the basis of the observed differences. Moreover, the altered pasting behavior of waxy wheat may enhance the extrudability of gluten containing wheat flour. Starch granule size distribution is related to extrudate texture. Amylose content affects expansion index, water absorption and texture of extrudates. Interaction between starch content and protein composition and quality was observed. Waxy genotypes are strongly varying in their protein composition and functionality. Maximum expansion was obtained for blends containing 25% waxy flour.The FWO, Research Foundation Flanders and VLIR-UOS Global Minds.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcshj2021Consumer ScienceFood Scienc

The effects of attentional bias modification on emotion regulation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In two experiments, we investigated the effects of Attentional Bias Modification (ABM) on emotion regulation, i.e. the manner in which people influence emotional experiences. We hypothesized that decreases in attentional bias to threat would impair upregulation and improve downregulation of negative emotions, while increases in attentional bias to threat would improve upregulation and impair downregulation of negative emotions. METHODS: Using the emotion-in-motion paradigm (Experiment 1, N = 60) and the visual search task (Experiment 2, N = 58), we trained participants to attend to either threatening or positive stimuli and we assessed emotion intensity while observing, upregulating, and downregulating emotions in response to grids of mixed emotional pictures. RESULTS: In Experiment 1, the attend positive group reported more positive emotions while merely watching grids of training pictures and the attend threat group showed impaired upregulation of negative affect. In Experiment 2, the attend threat group reported intensified negative emotions for all three instructions, while the attend positive group remained largely stable over time. LIMITATIONS: We cannot unequivocally attribute these changes in emotion regulation to changes in attentional bias, as neither of the experiments yielded significant changes in attentional bias to threat. CONCLUSIONS: By showing that attentional bias modification procedures affect the manner in which people deal with emotions, we add empirical weight to the conceptual overlap between attentional bias modification and emotion regulation

Graves Hyperthyroidism After Stopping Immunosuppressive Therapy in Type 1 Diabetic Islet Cell Recipients With Pretransplant TPO Autoantibodies

OBJECTIVE — After an initially successful islet cell transplantation, a number of patients return to C-peptide negativity, and therefore immunosuppressive therapy is discontinued. Some are then found to have developed Graves disease. We examined the risk of Graves disease after immunosuppression. RESEARCHDESIGNANDMETHODS — Immunosuppressive therapy was stopped in 13 type 1 diabetic islet cell recipients who had received one course of antithymocyte globulin and maintenance doses of mycophenolate mofetil and a calcineurin inhibitor. None had a history of thyroid disease. RESULTS — In four patients, clinical Graves hyperthyroidism was observed within 21 months after discontinuation and 30–71 months after the start of immunosuppressive therapy. All four patients exhibited a pretransplant positivity for thyroid peroxidase (TPO) autoantibod-ies, while the nine others were TPO negative pre- and posttransplantation. CONCLUSIONS — Type 1 diabetic recipients of islet cell grafts with pretransplant TPO autoantibody positivity exhibit a high risk for developing Graves hyperthyroidism after immu-nosuppressive therapy is discontinued for a failing graft. Diabetes Care 32:1817–1819, 2009 I slet cell transplantation has beenshown to reproducibly achieve meta-bolic correction in nonuremic type 1 diabetic patients (1,2). However, in the years following transplantation, several of them return to C-peptide negativity and thus to a discontinuation of their immu-nosuppressive therapy (2)

Enhancement of Polymeric Immunoglobulin Receptor Transcytosis by Biparatopic VHH

The polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) ensures the transport of dimeric immunoglobulin A (dIgA) and pentameric immunoglobulin M (pIgM) across epithelia to the mucosal layer of for example the intestines and the lungs via transcytosis. Per day the human pIgR mediates the excretion of 2 to 5 grams of dIgA into the mucosa of luminal organs. This system could prove useful for therapies aiming at excretion of compounds into the mucosa. Here we investigated the use of the variable domain of camelid derived heavy chain only antibodies, also known as VHHs or Nanobodies®, targeting the human pIgR, as a transport system across epithelial cells. We show that VHHs directed against the human pIgR are able to bind the receptor with high affinity (∼1 nM) and that they compete with the natural ligand, dIgA. In a transcytosis assay both native and phage-bound VHH were only able to get across polarized MDCK cells that express the human pIgR gene in a basolateral to apical fashion. Indicating that the VHHs are able to translocate across epithelia and to take along large particles of cargo. Furthermore, by making multivalent VHHs we were able to enhance the transport of the compounds both in a MDCK-hpIgR and Caco-2 cell system, probably by inducing receptor clustering. These results show that VHHs can be used as a carrier system to exploit the human pIgR transcytotic system and that multivalent compounds are able to significantly enhance the transport across epithelial monolayers

Contribution of limbic norepinephrine to cannabinoid-induced aversion

RATIONALE: The cannabinoid system has risen to the forefront in the development of novel treatments for a number of pathophysiological processes. However, significant side effects have been observed in clinical trials raising concerns regarding the potential clinical utility of cannabinoid-based agents. Understanding the neural circuits and neurochemical substrates impacted by cannabinoids will provide a better means of gaging their actions within the central nervous system that may contribute to the expression of unwanted side effects. OBJECTIVES: In the present study, we investigated whether norepinephrine (NE) in the limbic forebrain is a critical determinant of cannabinoid receptor agonist-induced aversion and anxiety in rats. METHODS: An immunotoxin lesion approach was combined with behavioral analysis using a place conditioning paradigm and the elevated zero maze. RESULTS: Our results show that the non-selective CB1/CB2 receptor agonist, WIN 55,212-2, produced a significant place aversion in rats. Further, NE in the nucleus accumbens was critical for WIN 55,212-2-induced aversion but did not affect anxiety-like behaviors. Depletion of NE from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis was ineffective in altering WIN 55,212-2-induced aversion and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that limbic, specifically accumbal, NE is required for cannabinoid-induced aversion but is not essential to cannabinoid-induced anxiety.This works was supported by PHS grant DA 020129. Ana Franky Carvalho was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/33236/2007)

Towards an optimal sampling strategy for assessing genetic variation within and among white clover (Trifolium repens L.) cultivars using AFLP

Cost reduction in plant breeding and conservation programs depends largely on correctly defining the minimal sample size required for the trustworthy assessment of intra- and inter-cultivar genetic variation. White clover, an important pasture legume, was chosen for studying this aspect. In clonal plants, such as the aforementioned, an appropriate sampling scheme eliminates the redundant analysis of identical genotypes. The aim was to define an optimal sampling strategy, i.e., the minimum sample size and appropriate sampling scheme for white clover cultivars, by using AFLP data (283 loci) from three popular types. A grid-based sampling scheme, with an interplant distance of at least 40 cm, was sufficient to avoid any excess in replicates. Simulations revealed that the number of samples substantially influenced genetic diversity parameters. When using less than 15 per cultivar, the expected heterozygosity (He) and Shannon diversity index (I) were greatly underestimated, whereas with 20, more than 95% of total intra-cultivar genetic variation was covered. Based on AMOVA, a 20-cultivar sample was apparently sufficient to accurately quantify individual genetic structuring. The recommended sampling strategy facilitates the efficient characterization of diversity in white clover, for both conservation and exploitation

L-Plastin nanobodies perturb matrix degradation, podosome formation, stability and lifetime in THP-1 macrophages

Podosomes are cellular structures acting as degradation ‘hot-spots’ in monocytic cells. They appear as dot-like structures at the ventral cell surface, enriched in F-actin and actin regulators, including gelsolin and L-plastin. Gelsolin is an ubiquitous severing and capping protein, whereas L-plastin is a leukocyte-specific actin bundling protein. The presence of the capping protein CapG in podosomes has not yet been investigated. We used an innovative approach to investigate the role of these proteins in macrophage podosomes by means of nanobodies or Camelid single domain antibodies. Nanobodies directed against distinct domains of gelsolin, L-plastin or CapG were stably expressed in macrophage-like THP-1 cells. CapG was not enriched in podosomes. Gelsolin nanobodies had no effect on podosome formation or function but proved very effective in tracing distinct gelsolin populations. One gelsolin nanobody specifically targets actin-bound gelsolin and was effectively enriched in podosomes. A gelsolin nanobody that blocks gelsolin-G-actin interaction was not enriched in podosomes demonstrating that the calcium-activated and actin-bound conformation of gelsolin is a constituent of podosomes. THP-1 cells expressing inhibitory L-plastin nanobodies were hampered in their ability to form stable podosomes. Nanobodies did not perturb Ser5 phosphorylation of L-plastin although phosphorylated L-plastin was highly enriched in podosomes. Furthermore, nanobody-induced inhibition of L-plastin function gave rise to an irregular and unstable actin turnover of podosomes, resulting in diminished degradation of the underlying matrix. Altogether these results indicate that L-plastin is indispensable for podosome formation and function in macrophages