Neuromodulation by soy diets or equol: Anti-depressive &; anti-obesity-like influences,age- &; hormone-dependent effects

Background  

Soy-derived isoflavones potentially protect against obesity and depression. In five different studies we examined the influence of soy-containing diets or equol injections on depression, serotonin levels, body weight gain (BW) and white adipose tissue (WAT) deposition in female Long-Evans rats at various stages of life [rats were intact, ovariectomized or experienced natural ovarian failure (NOF)].     

Monolayers of rod-shaped and disc-shaped liquid crystalline compounds at the air-water interface

Calamitic (rod-shaped) and discotic (disc-shaped) thermotropic liquid crystalline (LC) compounds were spread at the air-water interface, and their ability to form monolayers was studied. The calamitic LCs investigated were found to form monolayers which behave analogously to conventional amphiphiles such as fatty acids. The spreading of the discotic LCs produced monolayers as well, but with a behaviour different from classical amphiphiles. The areas occupied per molecule are too small to allow the contact of all hydrophilic groups with the water surface and the packing of all hydrophobic chains. Various molecular arrangements of the discotics at the water surface to fit the spreading data are discussed.     

Mathematical analysis for impedance change with proteolytic digestion of gelatin

A mathematical analysis is proposed to demonstrate an inter-relationship between the proteolytic digestion of gelatin on the surface of an interdigitated gold electrode and the resulting rate of impedance change, at different collagenase concentrations, in a biosensor used to detect protease in solution. The impedance change due to digestion of the gelatin layer by collagenase for the overall digestion process was expressed in two different stages: an initial exponential period where the rate of impedance change with enzymic digestion was slow, leading to a critical thickness; after which there was a greater change in impedance associated with subsequent dissolution of the layer and partial or complete uncoating of the digits on the electrode surface. An inter-relationship between the rate of impedance change and collagenase concentration within the range 0.2-0.6 mg ml-1 was predicted for the early stages of the digestion process. A kinetic theory for the rapid rate of impedance change with collagenase concentrations could not be developed owing to the rate remaining almost constant for all concentrations of collagenase, after the critical thickness had been reached. An inter-relationship between the rate of impedance change and stirrer speed was also demonstrated.     

Implementation of radiotelemetry in a lab-in-a-pill format

A miniaturised lab-in-a-pill device has been produced incorporating a temperature and pH sensor with wireless communication using the 433.92 MHz ISM band. The device has been designed in order to enable real time in situ measurements in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and accordingly, issues concerning the resolution and accuracy of the data, and the lifetime of the device have been considered. The sensors, which will measure two key parameters reflecting the physiological environment in the GI (as indicators for disease) were both controlled by an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The data were sampled at 10-bit resolution prior to communication off chip as a single interleaved data stream. This incorporated a power saving serial bitstream data compression algorithm that was found to extend the service lifetime of the pill by 70%. An integrated on-off keying (OOK) radio transmitter was used to send the signal to a local receiver (base station), prior to acquisition on a computer. A permanent magnet was also incorporated in the device to enable non-visual tracking of the system. We report on the implementation of this device, together with an initial study sampling from within the porcine GI tract, showing that measurements from the lab-on-a-pill, in situ, was within 90% of literature values.     

Highly Enantiomerically Enriched Planar Chiral Naphthalene Tricarbonylchromium Complexes

Lithiation/electrophile trapping reactions were carried out with the highly enantiomerically enriched complex [Cr(5‐bromonaphthalene)(CO)₃]. Electrophile quenching with ClPPh₂, PhCHO, and (Me₃SiO)₂ afforded the enantiomerically enriched (>97 % ee) planar chiral 5‐substituted naphthalene complexes with PPh₂, CH(Ph)OH, and OH substituents, respectively. Very mild Pd‐catalyzed Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling reactions were developed and applied to the highly labile [Cr(5‐bromonaphthalene)(CO)₃] to give nine new planar chiral aryl‐, heteroaryl‐, alkynyl‐, and alkenylnaphthalene chromium complexes with high enantiomeric purity. The efficient ambient‐temperature coupling reactions with borinates prepared in situ were also applied to a number of chlorobenzene complexes and to aryl and vinyl halides.     

Selenium intake of Australian breast fed infants

A series of 20 mother-infant pairs were studied in Brisbane, Australia at 6–12 weeks post-partum. Mean breast milk selenium concentration (±SD) was 11.9±3.5 ng/g; infants' mean 24 hour selenium intakes (±SD) were 10.7±4.1 g. Mean selenium concentration in material blood was 101 (±SD 19) ng/g and in material serum 81 (±15) ng/g.     

Isolation of naturally occurring aluminium ligands using immobilized metal affinity chromatography for analysis by ESI-MS

Aluminium (iii) is one of the most abundant metal ions found in soil. Typically, Al(+3) is bound to minerals, but its bioavailability and toxicity toward vascular plants increases with increasing soil acidity. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, which live symbiotically on the roots of numerous woody plants, often confer Al(+3) resistance to host plants by reducing metal availability to the plant by unknown mechanisms. A potential mechanism of detoxification is binding of the Al(+3) by organic compounds that are exuded by the fungi into the surrounding soil and solution. A novel method has been developed to purify and characterize Al(+3) binding ligands from Pisolithus tinctorius exudate solutions using Al(+3) immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC), reversed phase chromatography, and mass spectrometry. Fungal exudates produced by P. tinctorius exhibit a strong binding capacity for Al(+3), allowing their selective enrichment and collection using this IMAC method. Elution of the ligands requires the use of high pH. RP-HPLC separation and elemental analysis of the IMAC elutent indicates that the Al(+3) and the exudate ligands both elute from the column but are not bound in a complex. Thus, reversed phase HPLC at pH 10 is used for separation of the ligands and Al(+3) prior to MS analysis. The strongest binding IMAC fraction is analyzed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in positive and negative ion modes. This report provides new methods for the direct purification and analysis of naturally occurring ligands that bind hard metal ions.     

Terahertz single pixel imaging based on a Nipkow disk

We describe a terahertz single pixel imaging system based on a Nipkow disk. Nipkow disks have been used for fast scanning imaging systems since the first experimental television was invented in 1926. In our work, a Nipkow disk with 24 scanning lines was used to provide an axial resolution of 2 mm/pixel. We also show that by implementing a microscanning technique the axial resolution can be further improved to 0.5 mm/pixel. Imaging of several objects was demonstrated to show that this simple scanning system is promising for fast or real time terahertz imaging applications.