Effects of Aqueous Extract of Unpolished Dark Purple Glutinous Rice, Var Luem Pua, on ROS in SK-N-SH Cells and Scopolamine-induced Memory Deficit in Mice

Purpose: To investigate the antioxidative and memory-enhancing effects of aqueous extract of unpolished Thai rice strain of Luem Pua (LP) in SK-N-SH cells and scopolamine-induced memory deficit in mice.Methods: In SK-N-SH cells, viability was measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay while intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were quantified after pretreatment with LP (0, 200, 600 and 1000 μg/mL) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). In mice, memory was impaired by injecting 2 mg/kg/day scopolamine, for 18 consecutive days. On each day, mice were also force-fed with LP 0, 90 or 180 mg/kg. On the last 5 days of treatment, memory was tested using passive avoidance (PA) and Morris water maze (MWM) tests.Results: At concentration up to 1,000 μg/mL LP had no effect on SK-N-SH cell viability and significantly reduce intracellular ROS levels of SK-N-SH cells with or without H2O2. Mice that received 90 or 180 mg/kg LP showed a significant decrease in latency time in PA test and an increase in escape latency time in MWM test. These  data suggest that LP antagonizes the effect of scopolamine on memory.Conclusion: LP extract has anti-oxidative and memory-enhancing effects in cell culture and mice. The rice may be a nutraceutical helpful for promoting brain health. Keywords: Dark purple rice, Leum Pua rice, Reactive oxygen species, Memory, Scopolamine, Cell cultur

Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.: a rich source of lipophilic phytochemicals

The lipophilic extracts from the storage root of 13 cultivars of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) were evaluated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with the aim to valorize them and offer information on their nutritional properties and potential health benefits. The amount of lipophilic extractives ranged from 0.87 to 1.32% dry weight. Fatty acids and sterols were the major families of compounds identified. The most abundant saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were hexadecanoic acid (182-428 mg/kg) and octadeca-9,12-dienoic acid (133-554 mg/kg), respectively. β-Sitosterol was the principal phytosterol, representing 55.2-77.6% of this family, followed by campesterol. Long-chain aliphatic alcohols and α-tocopherol were also detected but in smaller amounts. The results suggest that sweet potato should be considered as an important dietary source of lipophilic phytochemicals.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Beach profile model with size-selective sediment transport. I: Laboratory experiment and sensitivity study

The response of physical models of beach profiles to random breaking waves was studied to investigate size-selective sediment transport and cross-shore profile evolution. Three types of beach profiles with different sediment mixtures were considered and subjected to waves until profiles reached equilibrium. Size-selective sediment transport was evident in the experiments, with the mean sediment size varying up to 20% along the beach profiles. Consistent coarsening and fining of the surface sediment in the experiments revealed size-selective sediment transport governed by cross-shore variations in energy dissipation, affecting important beach profile features such as sandbar structures and offshore and foreshore slopes. The theoretical basis of the transport phenomenon was described by analyzing the relationship between the transport processes and essential wave and hydrodynamic parameters obtained using a new set of numerical models. The results showed that beach profile changes and associated sediment grain sorting are most sensitive to instantaneous total water velocity and local energy flux under propagating waves. © 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers

Physical mapping of rDNA and heterochromatin in chromosomes of 16 Coffea species : a revised view of species differentiation

The chromosome organization among 15 wild diploid Coffea species and cultivated tetraploid C. arabica was determined by fluorochrome banding (CMA, DAPI) and double fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) of 5S and 18S rDNA achieved on the same chromosome plates. Two to five chromosome pairs (plus one putative chromosome B) are marked. Overall, there are two SAT-chromosome pairs for East African species and one for the Malagasy and the West and Central African species. 18S rDNA loci are telomeric and strongly marked the SAT-chromosome pairs. Generally, only one pericentromeric 5S rDNA locus characterized East African species, while an additional minor locus co-localized with the 18S rDNA-SAT locus for the Malagasy species and West and Central African species. A combination of rDNA FISH plus CMA and DAPI banding patterns enables identification of almost all the species, even those for which the genetic or botanical status is still being discussed. C. arabica clearly appears to be an allotetraploid species, including one genome from East Africa and one from West and Central Africa. However, since the minor 5S rDNA-SAT locus present in West/Central African genomes is not detected, two evolutionary hypotheses could be put forward for C. arabica. Considering only the diploid species, global trends are obvious in rDNA signal patterns, genome size variations, and geographic distribution of the species, but there are no clear evolutionary trends. However, complex interactions between these factors and environmental growing conditions exist, which have resulted in loss and gain of rDNA loci and probably also in copy repeat number variations in each rDNA family