Identification of novel peptides from goat milk casein that ameliorate high-glucose-induced insulin resistance in HepG2 cells.

In this study, we investigated the effect of goat milk casein hydrolysates on glucose consumption rate, intracellular glycogen concentration, and mRNA expression of gluconeogenesis-related genes, including phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (PCK1) and glucose-6-phosphatase catalytic subunit (G6PC), in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells. From the obtained hydrolysates, we also purified and characterized novel peptides that ameliorated high-glucose-induced insulin resistance in HepG2 cells. The 3-h hydrolysate caused the highest glucose consumption rate in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells. It also showed positive effects on promoting intracellular glycogenesis and reducing mRNA expression of PCK1 and G6PC. We separated the obtained hydrolysates into 3 fractions (F1, F2, and F3) by gel filtration chromatography; we further purified F1 using reversed-phase HPLC and identified peptides using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The bioactive peptides identified were SDIPNPIGSE (αS1-casein, f195-204), NPWDQVKR (αS2-casein, f123-130), SLSSSEESITH (ß-casein, f30-40), and QEPVLGPVRGPFP (ß-casein, f207-219). Our findings indicated that specific bioactive peptides from goat milk casein hydrolysates ameliorated insulin resistance in HepG2 cells that had been treated with high glucose. This is a first step toward determining whether goat milk casein hydrolysates can be used as food ingredients to ameliorate insulin resistance.

Approach for removing ghost-images in remote field eddy current testing of ferromagnetic pipes.

In the non-destructive testing of ferromagnetic pipes based on remote field eddy currents, an array of sensing coils is often used to detect local defects. While testing, the image that is obtained by sensing coils exhibits a ghost-image, which originates from both the transmitter and sensing coils passing over the same defects in pipes. Ghost-images are caused by transmitters and lead to undesirable assessments of defects. In order to remove ghost-images, two pickup coils are coaxially set to each other in remote field. Due to the time delay between differential signals tested by the two pickup coils, a Wiener deconvolution filter is used to identify the artificial peaks that lead to ghost-images. Because the sensing coils and two pickup coils all receive the same signal from one transmitter, they all contain the same artificial peaks. By subtracting the artificial peak values obtained by the two pickup coils from the imaging data, the ghost-image caused by the transmitter is eliminated. Finally, a relatively highly accurate image of local defects is obtained by these sensing coils. With proposed method, there is no need to subtract the average value of the sensing coils, and it is sensitive to ringed defects.

Genetic diversity of Saccharum spontaneum from geographical regions of China assessed by simple sequence repeats.

Saccharum spontaneum is the most variable wild relative of sugarcane with potential for use in sugarcane improvement programs. In order to help preserve and exploit this species, 152 accessions from eight major geographical regions in China, including Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Fujian, and Jiangxi provinces, were investigated by analyzing 20 simple sequence repeats (SSRs), including 11 genomic SSRs (gSSRs) and nine SSRs developed from expressed sequence tags (EST-SSRs). A total of 454 alleles were generated by the 20 SSRs, with 295 and 159 alleles detected by gSSRs and EST-SSRs respectively. The Mantel test showed significant correlation between genetic matrixes among the studied accessions revealed by gSSRs versus EST-SSRs, although the average polymorphism of EST-SSRs (17.7) was much lower than that of gSSRs (26.8). Among the eight provinces, collections from Guizhou were the most diverse and those from Guangdong were the most distinct. Clustering analysis and principal component analysis accordantly classified the accessions into four groups, which were "Southwest group", "Hainan group", "Guangdong group", and "Guangxi group", based on the geographical origin of the major accessions in each group, demonstrating that geographical factors play an important role in the pattern of genetic structure of Chinese S. spontaneum. As two (Guizhou and Yunnan) of the three provinces with highest genetic diversity are located in southwest China, we concluded that southwest China is the region with the highest genetic diversity of S. spontaneum.