Lactobacillus fermentum LAB 9-fermented soymilk with enriched isoflavones and antioxidants improved memory In vivo

This study examined lactic acid bacteria (LAB)-fermented soymilk for their ability in hydrolyzing glucosides to aglycones and corresponding antioxidant capacity and memory enhancing effect. Twelve LAB isolated from Malaysian fermented food and milk products were incubated in commercially available soymilk for 48 h. Generally, soymilk supported LAB growth and significantly increased (p<0.05) conversion to bioactive aglycone by 2.1-6.5 fold when compared to unfermented soymilk. Lactobacillus fermentum LAB 9- fermented soymilk, in particular, was presented with increased total phenolic content (+10%) as opposed to unfermented soymilk. Lactobacilli (LAB 10-12)- and pediococci (LAB 5)-fermented soymilk elicited maximal DPPH radical-scavenging activity. LAB 1, 7, 8, 9 and 12 exhibited significantly higher (p<0.05) ferrous ion chelating activity when compared to control. Interestingly, LAB 9 had significantly improved memory deficit (p<0.05) in LPS-challenged mice. LAB-enriched nutritional value of soymilk could be useful against oxidative stress and memory deficit

Cable properties and propagation velocity in a long single chain of simulated myocardial cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Propagation of simulated action potentials (APs) was previously studied in short single chains and in two-dimensional sheets of myocardial cells <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr><abbr bid="B2">2</abbr><abbr bid="B3">3</abbr></abbrgrp>. The present study was undertaken to examine propagation in a long single chain of cells of various lengths, and with varying numbers of gap-junction (g-j) channels, and to compare propagation velocity with the cable properties such as the length constant (<it>λ</it>).</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>Simulations were carried out using the PSpice program as previously described. When the electric field (EF) mechanism was dominant (0, 1, and 10 gj-channels), the longer the chain length, the faster the overall velocity (<it>θ</it>_ov). There seems to be no simple explanation for this phenomenon. In contrast, when the local-circuit current mechanism was dominant (100 gj-channels or more), <it>θ</it>_ovwas slightly slowed with lengthening of the chain. Increasing the number of gj-channels produced an increase in <it>θ</it>_ovand caused the firing order to become more uniform. The end-effect was more pronounced at longer chain lengths and at greater number of gj-channels.</p> <p>When there were no or only few gj-channels (namely, 0, 10, or 30), the voltage change (ΔV_m) in the two contiguous cells (#50 & #52) to the cell injected with current (#51) was nearly zero, i.e., there was a sharp discontinuity in voltage between the adjacent cells. When there were many gj-channels (e.g., 300, 1000, 3000), there was an exponential decay of voltage on either side of the injected cell, with the length constant (<it>λ</it>) increasing at higher numbers of gj-channels. The effect of increasing the number of gj-channels on increasing <it>λ </it>was relatively small compared to the larger effect on <it>θ</it>_ov. <it>θ</it>_ovbecame very non-physiological at 300 gj-channels or higher.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Thus, when there were only 0, 1, or 10 gj-channels, <it>θ</it>_ovincreased with increase in chain length, whereas at 100 gj-channels or higher, <it>θ</it>_ovdid not increase with chain length. When there were only 0, 10, or 30 gj-channels, there was a very sharp decrease in ΔV_min the two contiguous cells on either side of the injected cell, whereas at 300, 1000, or 3000 gj-channels, the voltage decay was exponential along the length of the chain. The effect of increasing the number of gj-channels on spread of current was relatively small compared to the large effect on <it>θ</it>_ov.</p

Genotypic variation in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] exotic germplasm collections for drought and disease tolerance

Citation: Kapanigowda, M., . . . & Little, C. (2013). Genotypic variation in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] exotic germplasm collections for drought and disease tolerance. SpringerPlus, 2, 650. https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-2-650Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] grain yield is severely affected by abiotic and biotic stresses during post-flowering stages, which has been aggravated by climate change. New parental lines having genes for various biotic and abiotic stress tolerances have the potential to mitigate this negative effect. Field studies were conducted under irrigated and dryland conditions with 128 exotic germplasm and 12 adapted lines to evaluate and identify potential sources for post-flowering drought tolerance and stalk and charcoal rot tolerances. The various physiological and disease related traits were recorded under irrigated and dryland conditions. Under dryland conditions, chlorophyll content (SPAD), grain yield and HI were decreased by 9, 44 and 16%, respectively, compared to irrigated conditions. Genotype RTx7000 and PI475432 had higher leaf temperature and grain yield, however, genotype PI570895 had lower leaf temperature and higher grain yield under dryland conditions. Increased grain yield and optimum leaf temperature was observed in PI510898, IS1212 and PI533946 compared to BTx642 (B35). However, IS14290, IS12945 and IS1219 had decreased grain yield and optimum leaf temperature under dryland conditions. Under irrigated conditions, stalk and charcoal rot disease severity was higher than under dryland conditions. Genotypes IS30562 and 1790E R had tolerance to both stalk rot and charcoal rot respectively and IS12706 was the most susceptible to both diseases. PI510898 showed combined tolerance to drought and Fusarium stalk rot under dryland conditions. The genotypes identified in this study are potential sources of drought and disease tolerance and will be used to develop better adaptable parental lines followed by high yielding hybrids

Numerical Study of N-Heptane Fuelled Hcci Under Different Air Fuel Ratio and Inlet Air Temperature

This paper examines on numerical modeling of Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine model using n-heptane as base fuel. The parameters used in this study is different air to fuel ratio (AFR) (25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50) and different air inlet temperature (25°C, 50°C, 75°C, 100°C). Performance and emission characteristics of n-heptane were investigated at constant engine speed of 1000 rpm in a HCCI engine model. The effects of inlet air temperature were also examined. The test results showed that brake power, brake mean effective pressure and brake specific fuel consumption decreased when increased AFR and inlet air temperature. Meanwhile, brake thermal efficiency shows an increase when increase when AFR and temperature of the inlet increased. The test results also showed that NOx, CO and HC emissions decreased with the increase of inlet air temperature for all AFR value. Overall, this numerical model can be used to predict the performance and emission of the HCCI engine

Metabolomics and pharmacogenetics based 5-fluorouracil monitoring in colorectal cancer patients

Objective: To provide quick and accurate clinical diagnostic tools those are currently not available leading to improper management of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Methods: The metabolomic profiles of 10 CRC patients treated with 5-fluorouracil and 24 healthy volunteers were analysed. The subjects were genotyped for UGT1A1*28, DPYD 1896 T>C and DPYD*5. Results: Our results show alterations in the metabolism of bile acid, glycolysis and fatty acid in patients. The distinctive metabolite profiles established using PLSDA identify several biomarkers for diagnostic use in clinical settings. The predictive PLSDA model revealed 100% accuracy of metabolites differentiating CRC patients and healthy volunteers. In addition, the metabolic profiles associated with different genotypes of DPYD and UGT1A1 explains the impact of genetic variation on differential drug responses. Conclusion: Pharmacogenetics and metabolomics profiles are potential platforms for more comprehensive monitoring of patient's disease progress and drug response. Further study is however needed to validate the use of biomarkers identified

The Evolution of Data Fusion Methodologies Developed to Reconstruct Coronary Artery Geometry From Intravascular Imaging and Coronary Angiography Data: A Comprehensive Review

Understanding the mechanisms that regulate atherosclerotic plaque formation and evolution is a crucial step for developing treatment strategies that will prevent plaque progression and reduce cardiovascular events. Advances in signal processing and the miniaturization of medical devices have enabled the design of multimodality intravascular imaging catheters that allow complete and detailed assessment of plaque morphology and biology. However, a significant limitation of these novel imaging catheters is that they provide two-dimensional (2D) visualization of the lumen and vessel wall and thus they cannot portray vessel geometry and 3D lesion architecture. To address this limitation computer-based methodologies and user-friendly software have been developed. These are able to off-line process and fuse intravascular imaging data with X-ray or computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) to reconstruct coronary artery anatomy. The aim of this review article is to summarize the evolution in the field of coronary artery modeling; we thus present the first methodologies that were developed to model vessel geometry, highlight the modifications introduced in revised methods to overcome the limitations of the first approaches and discuss the challenges that need to be addressed, so these techniques can have broad application in clinical practice and research

Review of the mathematical foundations of data fusion techniques in surface metrology

The recent proliferation of engineered surfaces, including freeform and structured surfaces, is challenging current metrology techniques. Measurement using multiple sensors has been proposed to achieve enhanced benefits, mainly in terms of spatial frequency bandwidth, which a single sensor cannot provide. When using data from different sensors, a process of data fusion is required and there is much active research in this area. In this paper, current data fusion methods and applications are reviewed, with a focus on the mathematical foundations of the subject. Common research questions in the fusion of surface metrology data are raised and potential fusion algorithms are discussed

Use of calculus of variations to determine the shape of hovering rotors of minimum power and its application to micro air vehicles

In this paper, calculus of variations and combined blade element and momentum theory (BEMT) are used to demonstrate that, in hover, when neither root nor tip losses are considered; the rotor, which minimizes the total power (MPR), generates an induced velocity that varies linearly along the blade span. The angle of attack of every blade element is constant and equal to its optimum value. The traditional ideal twist (ITR) and optimum (OR) rotors are revisited in the context of this variational framework. Two more optimum rotors are obtained considering root and tip losses, the ORL, and the MPRL. A comparison between these five rotors is presented and discussed. The MPR and MPRL present a remarkable saving of power for low values of both thrust coefficient and maximum aerodynamic efficiency. The result obtained can be exploited to improve the aerodynamic behaviour of rotary wing micro air vehicles (MAV). A comparison with experimental results obtained from the literature is presented

Stochastic Modeling of Intrusion-Tolerant Server Architectures for Dependability and Performance Evaluation

Coordinated Science Laboratory was formerly known as Control Systems LaboratoryDARPA / F30602-00-C-017