Biochemical Characterization and In Vitro Digestibility of Protein Isolates from Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) By-Products for Salmonid Feed Applications

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) processing by-products (hemp cake and hemp seed hulls) were studied for their protein content, extraction of protein isolates (PIs), and their in vitro protein digestibility (IVPD). Crude protein contents of hemp cake and hemp seed hulls were 30.4% and 8.6%, respectively, calculated based on generalized N-to-P conversion factor (N × 5.37). Extraction efficiency of PIs from defatted biomass ranged from 56.0 to 67.7% with alkaline extraction (0.1 M NaOH) followed by isoelectric precipitation (1.0 M HCl). Nitrogen analysis suggested that the total protein contents of PIs extracted using three different alkaline conditions (0.5 M, 0.1 M, and pH 10.0 with NaOH) were >69.7%. The hemp by-product PIs contained all essential amino acids (EAAs) required for fish with leucine, valine, and phenylalanine belonging to the five dominant amino acids. Overall, glutamate was the dominant non-EAA followed by aspartate. Coomassie staining of an SDS-PAGE gel revealed strong presence of the storage protein edestin. High IVPD of >88% was observed for PIs extracted from hemp seeds and by-products when evaluated using a two-phase in vitro gastric/pancreatic protein digestibility assay. PIs extracted from by-products were further tested for their antioxidant activities. The tested PIs showed dose-dependent DPPH radical scavenging activity and possessed strong ORAC values > 650 μM TE/g.     

Influence of Test Specimen Geometry and Water Soaking on the In Vitro Cytotoxicity of Orthocryl®, Orthocryl® LC,Loctite® EA 9483 and Polypropylene

Depending on their composition, plastics have a cytotoxic potential that needs to be evaluated before they are used in dentistry, e.g., as orthodontic removable appliances. Relevant guidelines set out requirements that a potential new resin in the medical field must meet, with a wide scope for experimental design. In the present study, test specimens of different geometries consisting of varying polymers (Orthocryl^®, Orthocryl^® LC, Loctite^® EA 9483, Polypropylene) were soaked for different periods of time, then transferred to cell culture medium for 24 h, which was subsequently used for 24-h cultivation of A549 cells, followed by cytotoxicity assays (WST-1, Annexin V-FITC-propidium iodide (PI) flow cytometry). In this context, a reduction in the cytotoxic effect of the eluates of test specimens prepared from Orthocryl^® LC and Loctite^® EA 9483 was particularly evident in the Annexin V-FITC-PI assay when the soaking time was extended to 48 h and 168 h, respectively. Consistent with this, a reduced release of potentially toxic monomers into the cell culture medium, as measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, was observed when the prior soaking time of test specimens of all geometries was extended. Remarkably, a significant increase in cytotoxic effect was observed in the WST-1 assay, which was accompanied by a higher release of monomers when the thickness of the test sample was increased from 0.5 to 1.0 mm, although an elution volume adapted to the surface area was used. However, further increasing the thickness to 3.0 mm did not lead to an increase in the observed cytotoxicity or monomer release. Test specimens made of polypropylene showed no toxicity under all test specimen sizes and soaking time conditions. Overall, it is recommended to perform toxicity studies of test specimens using different geometries and soaking times. Thereby, the influence of the different specimen thicknesses should also be considered. Finally, an extension of the test protocols proposed in ISO 10993-5:2009 should be considered, e.g., by flow cytometry or monomer analysis as well as fixed soaking times.     

Supernovae and the Arrow of Time

Supernovae are explosions of stars and are a central problem in astrophysics. Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) and Richtmyer–Meshkov (RM) instabilities develop during the star’s explosion and lead to intense interfacial RT/RM mixing of the star materials. We handle the mathematical challenges of the RT/RM problem based on the group theory approach. We directly link the conservation laws governing RT/RM dynamics to the symmetry-based momentum model, derive the model parameters, and find the analytical solutions and characteristics of RT/RM dynamics with variable accelerations in the linear, nonlinear and mixing regimes. The theory outcomes explain the astrophysical observations and yield the design of laboratory experiments. They suggest that supernova evolution is a non-equilibrium process directed by the arrow of time.     

A rapid and selective HPLC‐UV method for the quantitation of efavirenz in plasma from patients on concurrent HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis treatments

Owing to heterogeneity in therapeutic response, efavirenz is of research and clinical interest. There is a need to quantitate it using noncostly and selective methods. A method for efavirenz quantitation in plasma containing HIV and tuberculosis drugs was developed. Chromatographic separation was carried out using a C₁₈ column. The mobile phase consisted of 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile, and was pumped at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. Efavirenz and ritonavir (internal standard) were monitored at 247 nm. Plasma proteins were precipitated by centrifugation. The analysis time was 6 min. The response was linear (r = 0.9997). The accuracy ranged between 98 and 115% (intraday) and between 99 and 117% (interday). The precision ranged from 1.670 to 4.087% (intraday) and from 3.447 to 13.347% (interday). Recovery ranged from 98 to 132%. Stability ranged between 99 and 123%. The selectivity was proven by analysis of drugs used for the management of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Plasma sample analysis showed an efavirenz retention time of 5.57 min and a peak plasma concentration of 2.4 µg/mL occurring at 2 h. This method is rapid and selective, and thus suitable for monitoring efavirenz in patients with HIV/AIDS alone or co‐infected with tuberculosis in a less resourced setting. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the addition of convex sets in the hyperbolic plane

Analogue to the definition $K + L := \bigcup_{x\in K}(x + L)$ of the Minkowski addition in the euclidean geometry it is proposed to define the (noncommutative) addition $K \vdash L := \bigcup_{0\, \leqsl\, \rho\,\leqsl\, a(\varphi),0\,\leqsl\,\varphi\,<\, 2\pi}T_{\rho}^{(\varphi)}(L)$ for compact, convex and smoothly bounded sets K and L in the hyperbolic plane $\Omega$ (Kleins model). Here $\rho = a(\varphi)$ is the representation of the boundary $\partial$ K in geodesic polar coordinates and $T_{\rho}^{(\varphi)}$ is the hyperbolic translation of $\Omega$ of length $\rho$ along the line through the origin o of direction $\varphi$. In general this addition does not preserve convexity but nevertheless we may prove as main results: (1) $o \in$ int $K, o \in$ int L and K,L horocyclic convex imply the strict convexity of $K \vdash L$, and (2) in this case there exists a hyperbolic mixed volume $V_h(K,L)$ of K and L which has a representation by a suitable integral over the unit circle.     

Monte Carlo simulation of phase separation and clustering in the ABV model

As a model for a binary alloy undergoing an unmixing phase transition, we consider a square lattice where each site can be either taken by an A atom, a B atom, or a vacancy (V), and there exists a repulsive interaction between AB nearest neighbor pairs. Starting from a random initial configuration, unmixing proceeds via random jumps of A atoms or B atoms to nearest neighbor vacant sites. In the absence of any interaction, these jumps occur at jump rates _A and _B, respectively. For a small concentration of vacancies (c _v=0.04) the dynamics of the structure factorS(k,t) and its first two momentsk ₁(t),k ₂ ² (t) is studied during the early stages of phase separation, for several choices of concentrationc _B of B atoms. Forc _B=0.18 also the time evolution of the cluster size distribution is studied. Apart from very early times, the mean cluster sizel(t) as well as the moments of the structure function depend on timet and the ratio of the jump rates (= _B/ _A) only via a scaled timet/(). Qualitatively, the behavior is very similar to the direct exchange model containing no vacancies. Consequences for phase separation of real alloys are briefly discussed.     

Acoustic features of male baboon loud calls: influences of context, age, and individuality

The acoustic structure of loud calls ("wahoos") recorded from free-ranging male baboons (Papio cynocephalus ursinus) in the Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana, was examined for differences between and within contexts, using calls given in response to predators (alarm wahoos), during male contests (contest wahoos), and when a male had become separated from the group (contact wahoos). Calls were recorded from adolescent, subadult, and adult males. In addition, male alarm calls were compared with those recorded from females. Despite their superficial acoustic similarity, the analysis revealed a number of significant differences between alarm, contest, and contact wahoos. Contest wahoos are given at a much higher rate, exhibit lower frequency characteristics, have a longer "hoo" duration, and a relatively louder "hoo" portion than alarm wahoos. Contact wahoos are acoustically similar to contest wahoos, but are given at a much lower rate. Both alarm and contest wahoos also exhibit significant differences among individuals. Some of the acoustic features that vary in relation to age and sex presumably reflect differences in body size, whereas others are possibly related to male stamina and endurance. The finding that calls serving markedly different functions constitute variants of the same general call type suggests that the vocal production in nonhuman primates is evolutionarily constrained.     

Valence band parameters and free exciton reduced mass of zinc telluride derived from free exciton magnetoreflectance

Reflectance spectra were measured on ZnTe in magnetic fields up to 18 T for B ? [100] and B ? [110]. The experiments yield renormalized valence band parameters $\text{γ}{}^1{}_2\text{= 0.83 ± 0.08}$ and $\text{γ}{}^1{}_3\text{= 1.30 ± 0.12}$, corresponding to bare parameters γ₂ = 0.95 ± 0.09 and γ₃ = 1.48 ± 0.14. From the free exciton Rydberg energy $\text{R}{}^1{}_0\text{= 12.8}\text{meV}$ we derive a reduced exciton polaron mass m₀ 0.080 ± 0.005 and a bare reduced mass m₀ 0.074 ± 0.005, corresponding to $\text{γ}{}^1{}_1\text{= 3.9 ± 0.7}$ and γ₁ = 4.4 ± 0.7 for an electron effective polaron mass $\text{m}{}^1{}_{\mathrm{e}}\text{= 0.116 m}{}_0$. We further calculate the exciton diamagnetic shift rate according to existing low-field theories modified by a variational calculation taking into account polaron effects and valid up to γ ? 1. The difference between experiment and theory is 10% and the agreement is considered satisfactory.     

Quantum Fourier Transform-Based Arithmetic Logic Unit on a Quantum Processor

This study proposes and construct a primitive quantum arithmetic logic unit (qALU) based on the quantum Fourier transform (QFT). The qALU is capable of performing arithmetic ADD (addition) and logic NAND gate operations. It designs a scalable quantum circuit and presents the circuits for driving ADD and NAND operations on two-input and four-input quantum channels, respectively. By comparing the required number of quantum gates for serial and parallel architectures in executing arithmetic addition, it evaluates the performance. It also execute the proposed quantum Fourier transform-based qALU design on real quantum processor hardware provided by IBM. The results demonstrate that the proposed circuit can perform arithmetic and logic operations with a high success rate. Furthermore, it discusses in detail the potential implementations of the qALU circuit in the field of computer science, highlighting the possibility of constructing a soft-core processor on a quantum processing unit.