Influence of protein concentration and coagulation temperature on rennet-induced gelation characteristics and curd microstructure

peer-reviewedThis study characterized the coagulation properties and defined the cutting window (CW; time between storage modulus values of 35 and 70 Pa) using rheometry for milk standardized to 4, 5, or 6% protein and set at 28, 32, or 36°C. Milks were standardized to a protein-to-fat ratio of approximately 1 by blending ultrafiltration retentate, skim milk, and whole milk. The internal curd microstructure for selected curd samples was analyzed with transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Lowering the coagulation temperature caused longer rennet coagulation time and time to reach storage modulus of 35 Pa, translating into a wider CW. It also led to a lower maximum curd-firming rate (MCFR) with lower firmness at 40 min at a given protein level. Increasing protein levels resulted in the opposite effect, although without an effect on rennet coagulation time at a given temperature. On coagulation at 28°C, milk with 5% protein resulted in a similar MCFR (∼4 Pa/min) and CW (∼8.25 min) compared with milk with 4% protein at 32°C, which reflects more standard conditions, whereas increasing milk to 6% protein resulted in more than doubling of the curd-firming rate (MCFR = 9.20 Pa/min) and a shorter CW (4.60 min). Gels set at 28°C had lower levels of rearrangement of protein network after 40 min compared with those set at 36°C. Protein levels, on the other hand, had no influence on the levels of protein network rearrangement, as indicated by loss tangent values. The internal structure of curd particles, as investigated by both scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, appeared to have less cross-linking and smaller casein aggregates when coagulated at 28°C compared with 36°C, whereas varying protein levels did not show a marked effect on aggregate formation. Overall, this study showed a marked interactive effect between coagulation temperature and protein standardization of milk on coagulation properties, which subsequently requires adjustment of the CW during cheesemaking. Lowering of the coagulation temperature greatly altered the curd microstructure, with a tendency for less syneresis during cutting. Further research is required to quantify the changes in syneresis and in fat and protein losses to whey due to changes in the microstructure of curd particles arising from the different coagulation conditions applied to the protein-fortified milk

Cx30 exhibits unique characteristics including a long half-life when assembled into gap junctions

In the present study we investigated the life cycle, trafficking, assembly and cell surface dynamics of a poorly characterized connexin family member, connexin 30 (Cx30; also known as GJB6), which plays a critical role in skin health and hearing. Unexpectedly, Cx30 localization at the cell surface and gap junctional intercellular communication was not affected by prolonged treatments with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi transport inhibitor brefeldin A or the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide, whereas Cx43 (also known as GJA1) was rapidly cleared. Fluorescent recovery after photobleaching revealed that Cx30 plaques were rebuilt from the outer edges in keeping with older channels residing in the inner core of the plaque. Expression of a dominant-negative form of Sar1 GTPase led to the accumulation of Cx30 within the ER, in contrast to a report that Cx30 traffics via a Golgi-independent pathway. Co-expression of Cx30 with Cx43 revealed that these connexins segregate into distinct domains within common gap junction plaques, suggesting that their assembly is governed by different mechanisms. In summary, Cx30 was found to be an unusually stable, long-lived connexin (half-life >12 h), which may underlie its specific role in the epidermis and cochlea

A review of the characteristics and treatment progress of 45 pregnant opiate addicts attending the Irish National Drug Advisory and Treatment Centre over a two year period.

The increase in the number of patients presenting to the National Drug Advisory and Treatment Centre addicted to opiates has been accompanied by an increase in the number of pregnant opiate addicts attending for treatment. Studies published in January 1982 referred to the emergence of maternal addiction as a serious problem in Ireland. Since then the escalation of this specific problem has continued and a programme designed to meet the needs of the pregnant addict was initiated at the clinic. This paper reviews the characteristics and treatment progress of 45 opiate addicts who were referred to the clinic over a two year period

Наукова спадщина О.О. Русова в контексті актуальних проблем української етнології

У лютому виповнилося 160 років з дня народження відомого вченого, етнографа, статистика та громадського діяча Олександра Русова.This article is devoted to the famous scholar, ethnographer, civil activist Oleksandr Rusov. All his work was concentrated on the study of Ukrainian folk, their history, life style and language. Among his most prominent works was the foundation of the statistics as the scholarly discipline and its use for the ethnographical studies. Special attention deserves his work “The Statistics of the Ukrainian Population of the European Russia”. His data on Ukrainian and Russian population in various regions at different historical times are very valuable for the contemporary scholars. He actively participated in Ukrainian cultural life: he was the organizer of the first Ukrainian plays on Kyiv stages, the editor of Prague edition of “Kobzar”, and participated in different social and cultural organizations

Example-based generation of graphical modelling environments

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42061-5_7Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) present numerous benefits like powerful domain-specific primitives, an intuitive syntax for domain experts, and the possibility of advanced code generation for narrow domains. While a graphical syntax is sometimes desired for a DSL, constructing graphical modelling environments is a costly and highly technical task. This relegates domain experts to play a passive role in their development and hinders a wider adoption of graphical DSLs. Targeting a simpler DSL construction process, we propose an example based technique for the automatic generation of modelling environments for graphical DSLs. This way, starting from examples of the DSL likely provided by domain experts using drawing tools like yED, our system is able to synthesize a graphical modelling environment that mimics the syntax of the provided examples. This includes a meta-model for the abstract syntax of the DSL, and a graphical concrete syntax supporting spatial relationships like containment or attachment. The system is implemented as an Eclipse plugin, and we demonstrate its usage on a running example in the home networking domain.Work supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (TIN2014-52129-R), the Madrid Region (S2013/ICE-3006), and the EU Commission (FP7-ICT-2013-10, #611125)

Induction of CYP2E1 activity in liver transplant patients as measured by chlorzoxazone 6-hydroxylation

Objective: To examine the phenotypic expression of CYP2E1 in liver transplant patients, as measured by the in vivo probe chlorzoxazone, and to evaluate CYP2E1 activity over me after transplantation. Methods: Thirty-three stable liver transplant: patients were given 250 mg chlorzoxazone within 1 year after transplantation as part of a multiprobe CYP cocktail; urine and blood were collected for 8 hours. Chlorzoxazone and 6-hydroxychlorzoxazone concentrations were determined by HPLC. Twenty-eight healthy control subjects, eight patients with moderate to severe liver disease, and four patients who had not received liver transplants were also studied for comparison. The chlorzoxazone metabolic ratio, calculated as the plasma concentration of 6-hydroxychlorzoxazone/chlorzoxazone at 4 hours after chlorzoxazone administration, was used as the phenotypic, index. In a subgroup of patients and control subjects, additional blood samples were obtained to allow for the calculation of chlorzoxazone pharmacokinetic parameters by noncompartmental methods. Results: The chlorzoxazone metabolic ratio for the liver transplant patients in the first month after transplantation (mean ± SD, 6.4 ± 5.1) was significantlp higher than that after 1 month after surgery (2.1 ± 2.0), when the chlorzoxazone metabolic ratio was not different from control subjects (0.8 ± 0.5). The chlorzoxazone metabolic ratios in the patients who had not received liver transplants (1.1 ± 0.7) were equivalent to those of healthy control subjects. The maximum observed 6-hydroxychlorzoxazone plasma concentration was 3046 ± 1848 ng/ml in seven liver transplant patients in the first month after surgery compared with 1618 ± 320 ng/ml in 16 healthy control subjects (p < 0.05). The maximum observed concentration of chlorzoxazone, the chlorzoxazone apparent oral clearance, and the formation clearance of 6-hydroxychlorzoxazone were also significantly different between the groups. Conclusions: We conclude that significant induction of CYP2E1, as indicated by the chlorzoxazone metabolic, ratio, occurs in the first month after surgery in liver transplant patients and that drugs that are substrates for CYP2E1 may require dosage alteration during that period. Contrary to expectations, drug metabolism is not uniformly depressed after liver transplantation