Digestive metabolism of glucosinolates: a novel approach using urinary markers for estimating the release of glucosinolate breakdown products in the gastro-intestinal tract of mammals.

Glucosinolates have been implicated as a mediator of the cancer-protective properties of cruciferous vegetables. Enzymatic hydrolysis of glucosinolates by plant or microbial myrosinase yields a range of metabolites including beneficial isothiocyanates. Little is known about the fate of glucosinolates after their ingestion. Using urinary end-products of metabolism as markers, measurement of the production of isothiocyanates in the digestive tract of monogastric animals has been achieved. Initially, a range of isothiocyanates were administered to rats and their excretion as mercapturic acids was quantified. Relative recovery of different isothiocyanates was found to be consistent and predictable, allowing the use of artificial isothiocyanates as recovery standards in subsequent experiments. Subsequently, the relative influence of plant and bacterial myrosinase on isothiocyanate production was quantified in rats. A proportion of 0.80 (s.e.m. 0.076) of benzyl glucosinolate was hydrolysed to isothiocyanate by plant myrosinase. In the presence of both plant and microbial activity,, the proportion of benzyl isothiocyanate release was significantly decreased (0.50 s.e.m. 0.046, p < 0.01) suggesting microbial breakdown of isothiocyanates. The approach, adapted for use with human subjects, showed that the proportions of allyl isothiocyanate measured after ingestion of raw and cooked cabbage were 0.37 (s.e.m. 0.045) and 0.53 (s.e.m. 0.134) respectively in healthy male volunteers. A further experiment with rats established that isothiocyanate uptake in the distal digestive tract was significantly less than in the proximal intestine (0.12 s.e.m. 0.017 and 0.48 s.e.m. 0.029 respectively), suggesting a potential underestimation of isothiocyanate release in the distal digestive tract when using urinary markers. Finally, enhancement of bacterial fermentation by addition of inulin to the diet had little influence on isothiocyanate production in the gut. The findings suggested that the formation of the cancer-protective isothiocyanates was significant in vivo, thereby strengthening the evidence for a beneficial effect of cruciferous vegetables for health. The newly developed method opens up possibilities of concurrently exploring the digestive fate of isothiocyanates and the toxicity of carcinogenic compounds

Wet Chemical Method for Making Graphene-like Films from Carbon Black

Reduction of strongly oxidized carbon black by hydrazine hydrate yields water-insoluble graphene-like sheets that undergo to self-assembling in thin film on surfaces after drying. The height of a drop-casted graphene-like film was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) to be around 20 nm, corresponding to approximately 25 graphene-like layers. The oxidized carbon black and the corresponding reduced form were carefully characterized

Foissac – Perte de la Jonquière

Date de l'opération : 1978 - 1988 (FP) Inventeur(s) : Rouzaud François À l'issue de onze années de recherches codirigées par S. Cours, Henri Duday, M. Garcia et François Rouzaud, les opérations de fouilles ont été arrêtées en1988, avec l'aboutissement du programme initialement prévu. Découverte en 1965, la grotte de Foissac a été aménagée par les spéléologues inventeurs et ouverte au public en 1973. La partie accessible aux visiteurs correspond à celle investie par les Chalcolithiques, elle ..

Modélisation des déplacements de barrages

En dépit de leur immobilité apparente, les barrages se meuvent au cours de leur exploitation. Ils sont surveillés par le biais d'une activité dite d'auscultation d'ouvrages (exploitation de mesures de débit, de contraintes, de déplacement ...) qui permet de se prononcer sur leur état de santé. On se propose de mettre en oeuvre des algorithmes de soustraction de bruit - le bruit correspondant aux contributions perturbatrices de la côte et de la température -afin d'en extraire la composante utile : la composante de fatigue du barrage. Les algorithmes ont été adaptés au contexte non stationnaire des mesures (évolution des fonctions de transfert des ouvrages) ainsi qu'à l'irrégularité de la mesure de sortie et aux nonlinéarités existant entre certaines entrées-sorties

Psoriatic Arthritis and Burden of Disease: Patient Perspectives from the Population-Based Multinational Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (MAPP) Survey

Introduction: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is underdiagnosed and has a substantial impact on quality of life, disability, and work productivity. The population-based Multinational Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (MAPP) survey examined the impact of PsA on patients’ activities of daily living and unmet treatment needs. Methods: This large-scale, random digit dialing, telephone survey of patients self-reporting a diagnosis of psoriasis and/or PsA was conducted in North America and Europe. Results: In all, 3426 patients participated in the survey, including 712 (21%) who identified themselves as having PsA. Over half of the patients reported severe PsA involving more than four joints. Eighty-three percent of patients with PsA visited a health-care provider within the past 12 months. Approximately one-quarter saw their primary care provider or dermatologist most often for their disease; 37% responded that their rheumatologist was the health-care provider seen most often for PsA. Patients with PsA reported a substantial impact of disease on physical function. One-third of patients with PsA reported missing work because of their disease and PsA impacted their ability to work full time. Over half of the patients with PsA (58%) reported receiving no treatment or topical therapy only, leaving their joint disease untreated. Factors associated with lack of adherence were perceived lack of efficacy and concerns about long-term safety. Conclusions: The MAPP survey confirms that PsA has a significant impact on physical function and activities of daily living. Undertreatment of PsA suggests a need for improved screening and diagnosis as well as education about treatment options and adherence

Agouti signalling protein is an inverse agonist to the wildtype and agonist to the melanic variant of the melanocortin-1 receptor in the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

The melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) is a key regulator of mammalian pigmentation. Melanism in the grey squirrel is associated with an eight amino acid deletion in the mutant melanocortin-1 receptor with 24 base pair deletion (MC1RΔ24) variant. We demonstrate that the MC1RΔ24 exhibits a higher basal activity than the wildtype MC1R (MC1R-wt). We demonstrate that agouti signalling protein (ASIP) is an inverse agonist to the MC1R-wt but is an agonist to the MC1RΔ24. We conclude that the deletion in the MC1RΔ24 leads to a receptor with a high basal activity which is further activated by ASIP. This is the first report of ASIP acting as an agonist to MC1R