Prebiotics may alter bile salt hydrolase activity: Possible implications for cholesterol metabolism

Probiotics secrete bile salt hydrolase (BSH) which catalyses the deconjugation and excretion of bile salts in the GI tract altering cholesterol metabolism in the liver. Many probiotic preparations include prebiotics to promote probiotic growth but little is understood about how prebiotics affect BSH activity. In this study the ability of probiotic Lactobacilli species to deconjugate bile salts in the presence of various prebiotics was determined by measuring cholic acid release. The kinetic properties of BSH was assessed to determine the impact the prebiotics on bile salt deconjugation. When L. acidophilus NCTC 1723 was incubated with inulin (1%) there was a significant (p < 0.01) increase in cholic acid release by 0.16 nmol/min. Lactulose and lactobionic acid at 1% decreased cholic acid release to 0.2 nmol/min and 0.06 nmol/min respectively. In the presence of the pure BSH, inulin and lactulose (0-6%) altered Kₘ and Vₘₐₓ of the enzyme with a Kᵢ of 12% and 10.5% respectively. By contrast, lactobionic acid (2%) increased BSH activity two-fold (p < 0.01). These results confirm that prebiotics are capable of altering BSH activity in vitro. Similar changes in vivo could potentially affect the claimed health benefits of synbiotics particularly where the desired outcome is lowering of serum cholesterol

Project for the analysis of technology transfer Quarterly report, 13 Jul. - 12 Oct. 1968

Statistical characteristics of transfer data bank users, and outline of technology transfer and utilization instruction cours

Project for the analysis of technology transfer Quarterly evaluation report, 13 Oct. - 12 Dec. 1968

Technical support package usage documentation by technology transfer analysis projec

Purification, growth, and characterization of Zn(x)Cd(1-x)Se crystals

The purification of starting materials which were used in the growth of Zn(x)Cd(1-x)Se (x = 0.2) single crystals using the traveling solution method (TSM) is reported. Up to 13 cm long single crystals and as grown resistivities of 6 x 10(exp 12) ohm/cm could be achieved. Infrared and Raman spectra of Zn(0.2)Cd(0.8)Se are also presented and discussed

A simplified protocol for detecting two systemic bait markers (Rhodamine B and iophenoxic acid) in small mammals

We developed a method of quantifying levels of fluorescence in the whiskers of wild stoats (Mustela erminea) using fluorescence microscopy and Axiovision 3.0.6.1 software. The method allows for discrimination between natural fluorescence present in or on a whisker, and the fluorescence resulting from the ingestion of the systemic marker Rhodamine B (RB), although some visual judgement is still required. We also developed a new high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) protocol for detecting the systemic marker iophenoxic acid (IPA) in the blood of laboratory rats (Rattus norvegicus) and wild stoats. With this method, the blood of an animal that has consumed IPA can be tested for the presence of the foreign IPA compound itself. This is a more reliable test than the previous method, which measured the raised level of natural blood protein-bound iodine correlated with IPA absorption. The quantity of blood required from animal subjects is very small (10 μl), so the testing is less intrusive and the method can be extended to smaller species. The extraction technique uses methanol, rather than acids and heavy metal salts, thereby simplifying the procedure. Recovery of IPA is quantitative, giving a highly reliable reading. In experiments on captive rats the IPA method proved successful. Of 12 positively marked carcasses, two that had not been frozen for the 24 h before blood samples were taken showed relatively lower IPA levels. The same IPA detection method, as well as the whisker analysis for RB, was applied successfully to a population of wild stoats to which both Rhodamine B and IPA were made available at bait stations. The presence of both bait markers was detectable in rats for at least 21 days and in stoats for at least 27 days

ULAS J234311.93-005034.0: A gravitational lens system selected from UKIDSS and SDSS

We report the discovery of a new gravitational lens system. This object, ULAS J234311.93-005034.0, is the first to be selected by using the new UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS), together with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The ULAS J234311.93-005034.0 system contains a quasar at redshift 0.788 which is doubly imaged, with separation 1.4". The two quasar images have the same redshift and similar, though not identical, spectra. The lensing galaxy is detected by subtracting point-spread functions from R-band images taken with the Keck telescope. The lensing galaxy can also be detected by subtracting the spectra of the A and B images, since more of the galaxy light is likely to be present in the latter. No redshift is determined from the galaxy, although the shape of its spectrum suggests a redshift of about 0.3. The object's lens status is secure, due to the identification of two objects with the same redshift together with a lensing galaxy. Our imaging suggests that the lens is found in a cluster environment, in which candidate arc-like structures, that require confirmation, are visible in the vicinity. Further discoveries of lenses from the UKIDSS survey are likely as part of this programme, due to the depth of UKIDSS and its generally good seeing conditions.Comment: Accepted by MNRA

The experimental observation of Beliaev damping in a Bose condensed gas

We report the first experimental observation of Beliaev damping of a collective excitation in a Bose-condensed gas. Beliaev damping is not predicted by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and so this is one of the few experiments that tests BEC theory beyond the mean field approximation. Measurements of the amplitude of a high frequency scissors mode, show that the Beliaev process transfers energy to a lower lying mode and then back and forth between these modes. These characteristics are quite distinct from those of Landau damping, which leads to a monotonic decrease in amplitude. To enhance the Beliaev process we adjusted the geometry of the magnetic trapping potential to give a frequency ratio of 2 to 1 between two of the scissors modes of the condensate. The ratios of the trap oscillation frequencies $\omega_y / \omega_x$ and $\omega_z / \omega_x$ were changed independently, so that we could investigate the resonant coupling over a range of conditions.Comment: 4 pages including 5 fig

Using schedulers to test probabilistic distributed systems

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00165-012-0244-5. Copyright © 2012, British Computer Society.Formal methods are one of the most important approaches to increasing the confidence in the correctness of software systems. A formal specification can be used as an oracle in testing since one can determine whether an observed behaviour is allowed by the specification. This is an important feature of formal testing: behaviours of the system observed in testing are compared with the specification and ideally this comparison is automated. In this paper we study a formal testing framework to deal with systems that interact with their environment at physically distributed interfaces, called ports, and where choices between different possibilities are probabilistically quantified. Building on previous work, we introduce two families of schedulers to resolve nondeterministic choices among different actions of the system. The first type of schedulers, which we call global schedulers, resolves nondeterministic choices by representing the environment as a single global scheduler. The second type, which we call localised schedulers, models the environment as a set of schedulers with there being one scheduler for each port. We formally define the application of schedulers to systems and provide and study different implementation relations in this setting

Observation of harmonic generation and nonlinear coupling in the collective dynamics of a Bose condensate

We report the observation of harmonic generation and strong nonlinear coupling of two collective modes of a condensed gas of rubidium atoms. Using a modified TOP trap we changed the trap anisotropy to a value where the frequency of the m=0 high-lying mode corresponds to twice the frequency of the m=0 low-lying mode, thus leading to strong nonlinear coupling between these modes. By changing the anisotropy of the trap and exciting the low-lying mode we observed significant frequency shifts of this fundamental mode and also the generation of its second harmonic.Comment: 4 pages,3 figure

Rehabilitation Therapy in Older Acute Heart Failure Patients (REHAB-HF) trial: Design and rationale.

BACKGROUND: Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is a leading cause of hospitalization in older persons in the United States. Reduced physical function and frailty are major determinants of adverse outcomes in older patients with hospitalized ADHF. However, these are not addressed by current heart failure (HF) management strategies and there has been little study of exercise training in older, frail HF patients with recent ADHF. HYPOTHESIS: Targeting physical frailty with a multi-domain structured physical rehabilitation intervention will improve physical function and reduce adverse outcomes among older patients experiencing a HF hospitalization. STUDY DESIGN: REHAB-HF is a multi-center clinical trial in which 360 patients ≥60 years hospitalized with ADHF will be randomized either to a novel 12-week multi-domain physical rehabilitation intervention or to attention control. The goal of the intervention is to improve balance, mobility, strength and endurance utilizing reproducible, targeted exercises administered by a multi-disciplinary team with specific milestones for progression. The primary study aim is to assess the efficacy of the REHAB-HF intervention on physical function measured by total Short Physical Performance Battery score. The secondary outcome is 6-month all-cause rehospitalization. Additional outcome measures include quality of life and costs. CONCLUSIONS: REHAB-HF is the first randomized trial of a physical function intervention in older patients with hospitalized ADHF designed to determine if addressing deficits in balance, mobility, strength and endurance improves physical function and reduces rehospitalizations. It will address key evidence gaps concerning the role of physical rehabilitation in the care of older patients, those with ADHF, frailty, and multiple comorbidities