Fermentation of a skim milk concentrate with Streptococcus thermophilus and chymosin: structure, viscoelasticity and syneresis of gels

Fermentation of a reconstituted skim milk concentrate (8% protein) was investigated to elucidate the effects of various fermentation parameters on the structural, rheological and visual (wheying-off) properties of the resulting gels (pH 4.60). Fermentation trials were performed with non-exocellular polysaccharide-producing strains of Streptococcus thermophilus at various fermentation temperatures and at various chymosin levels. Oscillatory vane rheometry carried out on the intact gels (at 4 °C) showed that the level of chymosin had a significant impact on the gel strength (storage modulus G′). This can be explained by the arrangement of casein micelles into more compact aggregates and the enhanced fusion of aggregated casein micelles as revealed by transmission electron microscopy for the gels fermented with chymosin. Wheying-off of the stirred gels as measured by a centrifugation test (at 4 °C) and pore size of the intact gel structures investigated by scanning electron microscopy both increased with increasing level of chymosin and increasing fermentation temperature (resulting in an increase in acidification rate). A higher level of syneresis (wheying-off) is explained by the larger pore size, since larger pores present a lower resistance to the outflow of whey from the gel.     

Practical synthesis of 1-deoxy-d-xylulose and 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate allowing deuterium labelling

An optimised gram scale synthesis allows the production of 1-deoxy-d-xylulose and 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate with possible deuterium labelling at C-5. Such substrates are required for investigations on the mevalonate-independent 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol 4-phosphate pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis in bacteria and chloroplasts of phototrophic eukaryotes and for the biosynthesis of vitamins B₁ (thiamine diphosphate) and B₆ (pyridoxol phosphate) in bacteria.     

Solution conformation by NMR and molecular modeling of three sulfide-free somatostatin octapeptide analogs compared to angiopeptin

Summary The conformation in dimethylsulfoxide of the somatostatin derivative angiopeptin and of three disulfide-free analogs was estimated by two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy at room temperature. The resulting 3D molecular graphics were compared and shown to reflect the observed differences in the inhibition of restenosis after rat aorta balloon injury by these octapeptide inhibitors. Angiopeptin and its active analog 2 displayed a relatively rigid conformation of the cyclic hexapeptide backbone due to the presence of two well-defined hydrogen bonds, further stabilized by a third hydrogen bond outside the ring. No such constraints were detected for the two biologically inactive analogs, which, compared to 2, had a two-atom longer or shorter hexapeptide ring. The well-defined structure of compound 2 may serve as an improved pharmacophore for this new class of drugs.     

Synthesis, biochemical properties and molecular modelling studies of organometallic specific estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), the ferrocifens and hydroxyferrocifens: evidence for an antiproliferative effect of hydroxyferrocifens on both hormone-dependent and hormone-independent breast cancer cell lines

A series of ferrocene derivatives based upon the structure of the antiestrogenic drug tamoxifen or of its active metabolite hydroxytamoxifen has been prepared and named by analogy ferrocifens and hydroxyferrocifens. This series includes 1-[4-(O(CH(2))(n)NMe(2))phenyl]-1-phenyl-2-ferrocenyl-but-1-ene and 1-[4-(-O(CH(2))(n)NMe(2))phenyl]-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-ferrocenyl-but-1-ene, with n=2, 3, 5 and 8, and 1-[4-(-O(CH(2))(2)NMe(2))phenyl]-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-ferrocenylethene. Most of these molecules have been synthesised by McMurry cross-coupling of the appropriate ketones, except for the ethene complexes, which were prepared by a four-step reaction sequence starting from the ferrocenylacetic acid. All these compounds were obtained as mixtures of Z and E isomers. The isomers were separated in the cases of the ferrocenyl derivatives of tamoxifen and hydroxytamoxifen (n=2). No isomerisation of the Z and E isomers occurred in DMSO after one day, while a 50:50 mixture of the isomers was obtained within one hour in chloroform. The X-ray structure of (E)-1-[4-(-O(CH(2))(2)NMe(2))phenyl]-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-ferrocenyl-but-1-ene has been determined. The relative binding affinity (RBA) values of the hydroxyferrocifens for the estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) was good to moderate, with values decreasing progressively with the length of the basic chain. The RBA values found for the estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) are equal to or slightly less than those found for the alpha form. The lipophilicity of the hydroxyferrocifens are superior to the values found for estradiol and increase with lengthening of the chain. The antiproliferative effects of the four hydroxyferrocifens with n=2, 3, 5 and 8 were studied on four breast cancer cell lines (MCF7, MDA-MB231, RTx6 and TD5) possessing different levels of ERalpha. On MCF7 cells containing high levels of ERalpha, hydroxyferrocifens behave as antiestrogens. At a molarity of 1 microM the effect is close to that of hydroxytamoxifen (used for reference) when n=2 or 5, more marked when n=3, and weaker when n=8. Ferrocene alone has no effect. For the MDA-MB231 cells, classed as a hormone-independent breast cancer cell line, on the other hand, the hydroxyferrocifens show remarkable antiproliferative behaviour while the hydroxytamoxifen is completely inactive. Hydroxyferrocifens therefore show the unique property of being active both on hormone-dependent and on hormone-independent breast cancer cell lines. The molecular modelling study provides some clues for understanding of the antagonist effect of these molecules, while an additional cytotoxic effect due to the vectorised ferrocenyl unit is revealed in some occasions.     

Laser-excited atomic-fluorescence spectrometry in an electrothermal atomizer with Zeeman background correction

A pulsed excimer-pumped dye laser was used to excite atomic flourescence in graphite tube electrothermal atomizer. A 60-Hz ac magnitude field was applied around the atomizer and parallel to the excitation beam, for Zeeman background correction. The correction system was found to degrade the detection limits for silver, cobalt, indium, manganese, lead, and thallium by a factor of between 1 and 10. An increase in magnetic field strength, or a decrease in laser linewidth, should improve the detection limits, but was not possible here. For copper, the application of Zeeman background correction was unsuccessfull because the instrumentation was unable to resolve the sigma components from the laser emission profile sufficiently during the background correction measurement. For elements that exhibit sufficient Zeeman splitting, the linear dynamic range was the same with or without background correction Zeeman background correction was used to correct for scatter, in the resonance flourescence determination of manganese in a zinc chloride matrix and in mouse brain tissue.     

Combinatorial invariants for nets of conics in $$\mathrm {PG}(2,q)$$ PG ( 2 , q )

Designs, Codes and Cryptography - The problem of classifying linear systems of conics in projective planes dates back at least to Jordan, who classified pencils (one-dimensional systems) of conics...     

Weak convergence of nonparametric estimators of the multidimensional and multidimensional-multivariate renewal functions on Skorohod topology spaces

Statistical Inference for Stochastic Processes - This paper deals with the weak convergence of nonparametric estimators of the multidimensional and multidimensional-multivariate renewal functions...     

Independence versus indetermination: basis of two canonical clustering criteria

Advances in Data Analysis and Classification - This paper aims at comparing two coupling approaches as basic layers for building clustering criteria, suited for modularizing and clustering very...     

Incipience of quantum chaos in the spin-boson model

The peculiar spectral properties of the spinboson model make it suitable for an investigation of quantum nonintegrability effects and level statistics from a new perspective. For fixed spin quantum numbers, its energy spectrum consists of 2s+1 sequences of levels with no upper bound. These sequences are identified and labelled consecutively by means of a quantum invariant calculated from the time average of a non-stationary operator. For integrable cases, level repulsion (on the energy axis) is limited to states within each sequence. From the observed spectral properties, we infer a series ofs-dependent level-spacing distributions. They converge towards a Poisson distribution fors. For nonintegrable cases, level repulsion becomes a universal phenomenon, but the amount of repulsion between two states decreases with increasing separation (in label) of the two sequences to which they belong. For smalls, the quantum nonintegrability effects are compelling but not at all chaotic. Nevertheless, they contain all the ingredients necessary to produce the symptoms commonly described as indicators of quantum chaos. In this model, we can observe quantum chaos in the making under very controllable conditions.     

Coupling of the GB set property for ergodic averages

Let (Y,,,T) be an ergodic dynamical system. LetA be an nonempty subset ofL ²() such that , whereA=sup{||sȒt||₂ ,s, tA} andN(A, u) is the smallest number ofL ²()-open balls of radiusu, centered inA, enough to coverA. Let . We prove as a consequence of a more general result, thatC(A) is aGB subset ofL ²().