The effect of cocoa supplementation on hepatic steatosis, reactive oxygen species and LFABP in a rat model of NASH

Background Non alcoholic steatohepatitis is hypothesised to develop via a mechanism involving fat accumulation and oxidative stress. The current study aimed to investigate if an increase in oxidative stress was associated with changes in the expression of liver fatty acid binding protein in a rat model of non alcoholic steatohepatitis and whether cocoa supplementation attenuated those changes. Methods Female Sprague Dawley rats were fed a high fat control diet, a high fat methionine choline deficient diet, or one of four 12.5% cocoa supplementation regimes in combination with the high fat methionine choline deficient diet. Results Liver fatty acid binding protein mRNA and protein levels were reduced in the liver of animals with fatty liver disease when compared to controls. Increased hepatic fat content was accompanied by higher levels of oxidative stress in animals with fatty liver disease when compared to controls. An inverse association was found between the levels of hepatic liver fatty acid binding protein and the level of hepatic oxidative stress in fatty liver disease. Elevated NADPH oxidase protein levels were detected in the liver of animals with increased severity in inflammation and fibrosis. Cocoa supplementation was associated with partial attenuation of these pathological changes, although the severity of liver disease induced by the methionine choline deficient diet prevented complete reversal of any disease associated changes. Red blood cell glutathione was increased by cocoa supplementation, whereas liver glutathione was reduced by cocoa compared to methionine choline deficient diet fed animals. Conclusion These findings suggest a potential role for liver fatty acid binding protein and NADPH oxidase in the development of non alcoholic steatohepatitis. Furthermore, cocoa supplementation may have be of therapeutic benefit in less sever forms of NASH

Disparity Changes in 370 Ma Devonian Fossils: The Signature of Ecological Dynamics?

Early periods in Earth's history have seen a progressive increase in complexity of the ecosystems, but also dramatic crises decimating the biosphere. Such patterns are usually considered as large-scale changes among supra-specific groups, including morphological novelties, radiation, and extinctions. Nevertheless, in the same time, each species evolved by the way of micro-evolutionary processes, extended over millions of years into the evolution of lineages. How these two evolutionary scales interacted is a challenging issue because this requires bridging a gap between scales of observation and processes. The present study aims at transferring a typical macro-evolutionary approach, namely disparity analysis, to the study of fine-scale evolutionary variations in order to decipher what processes actually drove the dynamics of diversity at a micro-evolutionary level. The Late Frasnian to Late Famennian period was selected because it is punctuated by two major macro-evolutionary crises, as well as a progressive diversification of marine ecosystem. Disparity was estimated through this period on conodonts, tooth-like fossil remains of small eel-like predators that were part of the nektonic fauna. The study was focused on the emblematic genus of the period, Palmatolepis. Strikingly, both crises affected an already impoverished Palmatolepis disparity, increasing risks of random extinction. The major disparity signal rather emerged as a cycle of increase and decrease in disparity during the inter-crises period. The diversification shortly followed the first crisis and might correspond to an opportunistic occupation of empty ecological niche. The subsequent oriented shrinking in the morphospace occupation suggests that the ecological space available to Palmatolepis decreased through time, due to a combination of factors: deteriorating climate, expansion of competitors and predators. Disparity changes of Palmatolepis thus reflect changes in the structure of the ecological space itself, which was prone to evolve during this ancient period where modern ecosystems were progressively shaped

Diethylstilbestrol alters the morphology and calcium levels of growth cones of PC12 cells in vitro

Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a synthetic estrogen with carcinogenic properties. DES is known to alter cytoskeletal components, including the organization of actin stress fibres in C6 rat glioma cells. ln a test of the hypothesis that DES disrupts actin Filaments of growth cones in neuron-like cells, DES-induced changes in filopodial lengths were quantified in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells in vitro. DES significantly altered growth cone morphology, with collapse of growth cone filopodia and neurite retraction invariably occurring at a concentration of 10 MikroM. At 5 MikroM DES, transient reductions in total filopodiallengths occurred. At DES concentrations of 0.1 nM and 1 nM, reductions in total filopodiallengths occurred in a fraction of growth cones. Evidence exists which shows that growth cone activity and morphology are intimately linked to Ieveis of intracellular, free calcium and that DES increases such levels. Measurements of free intracellular calcium levels by fluorescence microscopy, at times concurrent with the DES-induced reduction in total filopodial lengths, showed that calcium levels were indeed significantly increased by 10 MirkoM DES. Labelling of filamentaus actin (f-actin) with FITC-phalloidin showed that the f-actin distribution in growth cones exposed to DES could not be differentiated from the distribution found in spontaneously retracting growth cones. Tagether with evidence which showed that growth cone motility was not affected, the results are taken to indicate that DES, rather than acting directly on the cytoskeleton, exerts its effects indirectly, by a calcium-induced destabilization of actin filaments in the growth cone

Application of salt whey in process cheese food made from young cheddar cheese containing exopolysaccharides.

The objective of this work was to use salt whey in making process cheese food (PCF) from young (3-wk-old) Cheddar cheese. To maximize the level of salt whey in process cheese, low salt (0.6%) Cheddar cheese was used. Because salt reduction causes undesirable physiochemical changes during extended cheese ripening, young Cheddar cheese was used in making process cheese. An exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing strain (JFR) and a non-EPS-producing culture (DVS) were applied in making Cheddar cheese. To obtain similar composition and pH in the EPS-positive and EPS-negative Cheddar cheeses, the cheese making protocol was modified in the latter cheese to increase its moisture content. No differences were seen in the proteolysis between EPS-positive and EPS-negative Cheddar cheeses. Cheddar cheese made with the EPS-producing strain was softer, and less gummy and chewy than that made with the EPS-negative culture. Three-week-old Cheddar cheese was shredded and stored frozen until used for PCF manufacture. Composition of Cheddar cheese was determined and used to formulate the corresponding PCF (EPS-positive PCF and EPS-negative PCF). The utilization of low salt Cheddar cheese allowed up to 13% of salt whey containing 9.1% salt to be used in process cheese making. The preblend was mixed in the rapid visco analyzer at 1,000 rpm and heated at 95°C for 3 min; then, the process cheese was transferred into copper cylinders, sealed, and kept at 4°C. Process cheese foods contained 43.28% moisture, 23.7% fat, 18.9% protein, and 2% salt. No difference in composition was seen between the EPS-positive and EPS-negative PCF. The texture profile analysis showed that EPS-positive PCF was softer, and less gummy and chewy than EPS-negative PCF. The end apparent viscosity and meltability were higher in EPS-positive PCF than in EPS-negative PCF, whereas emulsification time was shorter in the former cheese. Sensory evaluation indicated that salt whey at the level used in this study did not affect cheese flavor. In conclusion, process cheese, containing almost 13% salt whey, with improved textural and melting properties could be made from young EPS-positive Cheddar cheese

Application of salt whey in process cheese food made from young cheddar cheese containing exopolysaccharides

The objective of this work was to use salt whey in making process cheese food (PCF) from young (3-wk-old) Cheddar cheese. To maximize the level of salt whey in process cheese, low salt (0.6%) Cheddar cheese was used. Because salt reduction causes undesirable physiochemical changes during extended cheese ripening, young Cheddar cheese was used in making process cheese. An exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing strain (JFR) and a non-EPS-producing culture (DVS) were applied in making Cheddar cheese. To obtain similar composition and pH in the EPS-positive and EPS-negative Cheddar cheeses, the cheese making protocol was modified in the latter cheese to increase its moisture content. No differences were seen in the proteolysis between EPS-positive and EPS-negative Cheddar cheeses. Cheddar cheese made with the EPS-producing strain was softer, and less gummy and chewy than that made with the EPS-negative culture. Three-week-old Cheddar cheese was shredded and stored frozen until used for PCF manufacture. Composition of Cheddar cheese was determined and used to formulate the corresponding PCF (EPS-positive PCF and EPS-negative PCF). The utilization of low salt Cheddar cheese allowed up to 13% of salt whey containing 9.1% salt to be used in process cheese making. The preblend was mixed in the rapid visco analyzer at 1,000 rpm and heated at 95°C for 3 min; then, the process cheese was transferred into copper cylinders, sealed, and kept at 4°C. Process cheese foods contained 43.28% moisture, 23.7% fat, 18.9% protein, and 2% salt. No difference in composition was seen between the EPS-positive and EPS-negative PCF. The texture profile analysis showed that EPS-positive PCF was softer, and less gummy and chewy than EPS-negative PCF. The end apparent viscosity and meltability were higher in EPS-positive PCF than in EPS-negative PCF, whereas emulsification time was shorter in the former cheese. Sensory evaluation indicated that salt whey at the level used in this study did not affect cheese flavor. In conclusion, process cheese, containing almost 13% salt whey, with improved textural and melting properties could be made from young EPS-positive Cheddar cheese

Personalized News Through Content Augmentation and

This paper is concerned with the topic of personalized news assembly at the set-top box, based on augmented video. This is video complemented with additional information that is somehow relevant to the semantic video content. We touch upon the technique that is used for video augmentation, which is video subject detection followed by information searches on the subject. A focus of this paper is on subject detection implemented using traditional text analysis tools; video segmentation is based on these results and visual processing. We describe the architecture of such a system and the benefits to the consumer. Further we discuss a preliminary system that shows the viability of the concept. 1