Storage effects of gel encapsulation on stability of chokeberry monomeric anthocyanins, procyanidins, color density, and percent polymeric color

Chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa) are an antioxidant-rich plant product due to their high content of polyphenols, especially anthocyanins and procyanidins. These polyphenols have been shown to provide protection against coronary heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer, as well as against oxidative stress, the main cause behind chronic diseases promoted by free radicals. The objective of this study was to determine the storage effects of gelatin encapsulation on monomeric anthocyanins, procyanidins, color density, and percent polymeric color of three gummy candies of different strengths formulated with a base of 25.4% chokeberry concentrate, 47.6% sucrose, 1.3% Splenda, and 0.025% potassium sorbate. The gum strengths varied by percentages of gelatin and water in the formulations, with 19.1:6.6, 17.8:7.9, and 16.5:9.2 ratios used to produce soft, medium, and hard strength gummies, respectively. Total monomeric anthocyanins, total procyanidins, color density, and percent polymeric color of the gummies were determined 1 day post-processing and after 2, 4, and 6 months of storage at refrigerated and room temperatures. Storage for 6 months at room temperature resulted in dramatic losses of monomeric anthocyanins (80-82%), total procyanidins (48-54%), and color density (76-80%). Anthocyanin losses during storage coincided with marked increases in percent polymeric color values indicating that anthocyanins and procyanidins underwent condensation reactions to form polymers. Refrigerated storage ameliorated losses of monomeric anthocyanins (61-65%), total procyanidins (17-22%), and color density (60-67%) over 6 months of storage compared to samples stored at ambient temperature. Refrigerated storage also ameliorated the increase in polymeric color values observed in samples stored at room temperature indicating condensation reactions responsible for polymer formation were retarded. Gum strength did not have a significant effect on retention of anthocyanins and procyanidins

Multiple Ontologies for Integrating Complex Phenotype Datasets

There has been an emergence of multiple large scale phenotyping projects in the rat model organism community as well as renewed interest in the ongoing phenotype data generated by thousands of researchers using hundreds of rat strains worldwide. Unfortunately, this data is scattered and is neither described nor formatted in a standardized manner. A system to integrate complex phenotype data from multiple sources and facilitate data mining and analysis is being developed using multiple ontologies.

*Introduction*
The potential value of integrating phenotype data from multiple sources (different laboratories, varying techniques to measure similar phenotypes, multiple strains) is enormous. Presented here is a data integration system for complex phenotype data from both large-scale and individual experiments and the taxonomy and ontologies that provide the backbone of this format. RGD along with Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) (Blake et al, 2009) and the Animal QTL Database (Hu and Reecy, 2007) is developing a Vertebrate Trait Ontology to represent morphological states and physiological processes to be used to annotate quantitative trait loci (QTL) and other data. RGD has also used the Mammalian Phenotype Ontology (Smith et al, 2005) for several years to indicate the relationship of genomic elements to abnormal phenotypes. The Vertebrate Trait Ontology represents what is being assessed, and the Mammalian Phenotype Ontology represents the conclusion that was made. The system presented here represents what was done to measure the trait in order to reach the conclusion. Because of the close relationship among these ontologies, care is being taken to ensure compatibility and similarity in structure using the phenotype properties in the Phenotypic Quality Ontology (PATO) for guidance. ("http://www.bioontology.org/wiki/index.php/PATO:Main_Page":http://www.bioontology.org/wiki/index.php/PATO:Main_Page) 

*Data Format and Ontologies*
Standardization of data types and relationships used to define the phenotype experiment and resulting data, and the ontologies to be used to standardize descriptive fields are being developed. For phenotype data, the major informational components include Researcher, Study, Experiment, Sample, Experimental Conditions and Clinical Measurement. A Rat Strain Taxonomy has been developed to standardize this information and provide the relationships among strains to allow investigators to retrieve and analyze phenotype data for strains that are related genetically. Two important aspects of a phenotype measurement include 1) what was measured and 2) how it was measured. The Clinical Measurement Ontology and the Measurement Method Ontology are being developed to standardize this information. In addition an Experimental Conditions ontology is under construction to allow integration of data measured under various conditions.

*Pilot Study Results*
Cardiovascular and biochemistry phenotype data from two major datasets have been integrated using the Rat Strain Taxonomy and the three phenotype related ontologies. A prototype data mining tool ("http://rgd.mcw.edu/rgdweb/":http://rgd.mcw.edu/rgdweb/) has also been developed that provides the user with options to begin a search with strains or any of the ontologies and make subsequent filter choices from the other ontologies. Choices presented to the user are restricted to those for which data is available and query tracking functions are provided to alert the user to the number of results being returned and the query choices made.

*References*
Blake JA, Bult CJ, Eppig JT, Kadin JA, Richardson JE; Mouse Genome Database Group, 2009 _Nucleic Acids Res_. Jan;37:D712-9.

HuZL, Reecy JM, Animal QTLdb: beyond a repository. A public platform for QTL comparisons and integration with diverse types of structural genomic information, 2007, _Mamm Genome_, Jan;18(1):1-4.

Smith CL, Goldsmith CA, Eppig JT. The Mammalian Phenotype Ontology as a tool for annotating, analyzing and comparing phenotypic information, _Genome Biol_. 2005 6(1):R7.
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Socialization and problem-solving in domestic cats (Felis catus)

There is evidence that an animal’s socialization towards humans and rearing environment can enhance their problem-solving ability. According to the social intelligence hypothesis, which states that intelligence evolved due to complex social environments, an animal’s social life should result in higher cognitive abilities. Domestic cats are capable of leading both solitary and social lives in their natural habitat, as well as in captive environments. I assessed both general problem-solving ability and the relationship between socialization and problem-solving ability, problem-solving speed, and latency to approach a novel apparatus in domestic cats. Twenty-four out of eighty-six cats solved the problem-solving task. There was also a significant relationship between the cats’ socialization with their problem-solving abilities, latency to solve, and latency to approach the apparatus. These results provide evidence that domestic cats are not only capable of problem-solving, but that their socialization towards humans influences their abilities

An Impossible Job? The View From the Urban Superintendent's Chair

Presents the results of a survey of superintendents of the 100 largest urban and ex-urban districts in the U.S. Examines how school leaders define their challenges and potential solutions

Internet Usage and State Sales Tax Competition

This paper examines the influence of increasing access to the Internet and increasing online purchasing on sales tax competition among the states. Prior research indicates that the tax rates set by a state’s geographical neighbors influence the tax rate set by the home state. As consumers gain access to the Internet and begin to participate in online shopping, their opportunity cost to participate in cross-border shopping decreases and their “mobility” may increase due to the ease of purchasing from vendors lacking nexus in the consumer’s home state. Thus, states may begin to respond less to the sales tax changes of their geographic neighbors and may begin to define competitors differently. I find that increases in both the percentage of the population having Internet access and the percentage of the population making online purchases influence the response of a state to its neighbors’ tax rates. Specifically, states with higher percentages of either of these measures have more positive response functions when examining the “effective Internet tax rate” definition of neighbor. States appear to respond only slightly to changes in the tax rates of their geographic neighbors. This paper also examines the influence of Internet usage on the sales tax revenues of the states by separating the influences of cross-border shopping through traditional means and through the Internet. Research finds that consumers who live near physical borders are more responsive to tax differences than are consumers who live farther from physical borders. As more consumers access the Internet and begin to purchase goods online, all consumers may become as responsive to tax differences as are those who live near physical borders. Thus, both traditional means of cross-border shopping and cross-border shopping through use of the Internet would be expected to influence the sales tax revenues of a state. Surprisingly, I find that sales tax revenue per capita appears to increase with an increase in my measure of Internet-based cross-border shopping. This may indicate that online shopping does not act entirely as a substitute for local forms of shopping but rather represents an increase in consumption

Father Me, Father Me Not and other stories

My preference for rooms with lots of windows full of yellow sunlight--and for dark-haired, affectionate men-- goes back to the house I grew up in. Often I\u27d stand in the back hallway between the kitchen and Father\u27s study and watch him sitting at his desk. He worked every evening on his sermons, his large hands turning pages in the winking blue light of the fluorescent lamp. That room was off-limits, and when he\u27d look up and right at me, saluting his gray-blond hair back from his forehead, I\u27d wonder why his face wouldn\u27t change. It took me a long time to realize that he really couldn\u27t see me there in the darkness. I wanted to go in there and have him talk to me the way he must have talked to people from the parish who would knock at the door sometimes, needing to talk. Those times he\u27d close both doors to the study, and I\u27d go up to my bedroom until he\u27d say my name at the bottom of the stairs. Before Mother had died, when I was seven, I\u27d spent my evenings with her

Political philosophy and private property : an evaluation of four main types of theory concerning ownership and distribution of property in a just society

Bibliography: leaves 164-168.This thesis takes as its starting point the beliefs that government should be neutral between the conceptions of the good life of its citizens; that it should take as one of its foremost goals the maximization of their freedom, and with a tentative acceptance of the view that individuals have natural rights. It attempts to answer the following questions: 1. Is there a natural right to property? 2. can an individual acquire exclusive control over an object independently of the actions or acquiescence of others? 3. Do private property rights infringe or protect freedom? 4. Is equality a desirable goal? If so, what form of equality should a society pursue? 5. Is a free society compatible with an egalitarian society? 6. Does it make sense to speak of distributive justice? In answer to the first two questions the author discusses and rejects John Locke's Labour Theory of Acquisition; in response to the others she discusses the theories of Karl Marx, G A Cohen, Robert Nozick, Michael Oakeshott, John Rawls, Alan Ryan and Ronald Dworkin and attempts conceptual analyses of "freedom", "equality", "justice" and "property". Finally, it is concluded that: 1. There is no natural right to property. 2. The form of property rights adopted requires the hypothetical consent of concerned parties. 3. Private property rights in areas of everyday contact are valuable - for privacy, autonomy and individuality. Security of property rights on a large scale, on the other hand, can threaten the freedom of others. 4. Equality is desirable. Rawls's version, that no inequality be permitted unless it improves the position of the worst-off, or a variant of this, best conforms to the constraint of 2. 5. This version of equality is compatible with freedom. 6. There are deep and conflicting intuitions regarding distributive justice