Modification of the sterol profile in milk through feeding.

The fortification of milk with phytosterols is an increasingly common practice to enhance the sterol profile and offer consumers potential health benefits. This study investigated whether cattle feed can influence the profile of phytosterols and cholesterol in the milk produced as an alternative to direct fortification of milk. Five experiments were performed using feeds commonly used by Australian dairy farmers and selected formulated rumen-protected feeds. Statistical significances were observed for some individual plant sterols and cholesterol in milk under these differing feeding regimens compared with the respective controls. In the case of the phytosterols, where the daily recommended consumption is typically 2 g per day, the total phytosterols were <0.12 mg/100 mL of milk. An experiment using a rumen-protected feed with high phytosterol levels suggested a decreased transfer of cholesterol to the milk by as much as 20%, although further work is required to confirm these preliminary results. Overall, the study suggests that different feeding practices have minimal effect on the resulting sterol profile of the milk.

The significance of interactions between organic compounds on low pressure membrane fouling.

Fouling of hollow fibre microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes by solutions of pure organic compounds and mixtures of these compounds was studied with a backwashable membrane filtration apparatus. Small molecular weight compounds resulted in little fouling, while their polymeric analogues resulted in more severe fouling. Neutrally charged dextran resulted in minor, irreversible fouling, that was considered to be associated with blocking of small pores. Cationically charged chitosan produced gross fouling for which the extent of reversibility increased with salt addition. Anionically charged alginic acid resulted in gross irreversible fouling, except when being filtered by a hydrophilic membrane in the absence of calcium where a high degree of flux recovery was observed. Calcium addition to the alginic acid solutions resulted in gross fouling of all membranes and calcium bridging was considered to be responsible for this behaviour. Greater fouling occurred on the hydrophilic membrane compared to the hydrophobic membranes for bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions, and this was considered to be due to physical blocking of pores, because addition of calcium resulted in lower flux declines. Addition of BSA and calcium to alginic acid solutions resulted in lower flux recoveries for the alginic acid system, consistent with the proposition that interactions between polysaccharide and other compounds are required for irreversible fouling on hydrophilic membranes.

Imaging of deep vein thrombosis.

BACKGROUND: Deep vein thrombosis of the leg affects 1-2 per cent of the population with an annual incidence of 0.5-1 per 1000. It presents with non-specific symptoms and signs making clinical diagnosis difficult. Techniques to image and diagnose this condition are advancing rapidly. METHODS AND RESULTS: A literature review from 1980 to 2007 was undertaken using PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Medline and Embase. The most frequently used diagnostic test is duplex ultrasonography which is accurate above the knee and has a low cost, but is limited by inaccuracy when assessing the pelvic and distal veins and in diagnosing a new thrombosis in the post-thrombotic limb. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and sonographic elasticity imaging are more recent techniques that have shown promise in overcoming these limitations. However, their availability is currently restricted because they are expensive. Computed tomography (CT) is sensitive, specific and provides good imaging of the pelvis. It has the advantage that it can be performed at the same time as CT pulmonary angiography. CONCLUSION: MRI has some specific advantages over duplex ultrasonography, but requires refinement before it can be used clinically. Venography or CT venography should be considered when duplex scanning is inadequate.

Modelling steric effects in DNA-binding platinum(II)-am(m)ine complexes.

A repulsive energy strategy has been employed in an attempt to delineate the steric contribution to the biological profile of a variety of platinum-am(m)ine complexes. Thus, relative steric descriptors have been calculated for the amine ligands themselves by the Ligand Repulsive Energy (LRE) methodology. This has been extended to a Complex Repulsive Energy (CRE) strategy whereby the steric requirements of the approach of a metal complex to a site on a target molecule may be evaluated. Specifically, the monodentate approach of a variety of platinum-am(m)ine complexes to the N7 site of a guanine moiety has been considered. The steric descriptors thus obtained have been used in QSAR analysis, resulting in improved regression equations. Attempts have also been made to relate the above descriptors to various biological indicators for given series of complexes. These investigations suggest an optimum steric requirement for minimum toxicity, which could aid in the rational design of such agents.

The robustness of cognitively simple judgment in ecologies of Prisoner's Dilemma games.

Various authors have pointed to the fitness advantage from a capacity to recognize others' intentions in prisoner's dilemma games, yet cognitive mechanisms supporting such perceptiveness might be no more efficient than the simple and presumably inexpensive rule to 'assume that potential partners have the same behavioral intentions as yourself.' Laboratory findings have shown that this projecting heuristic can support the evolution of cooperative behavior absent perceptiveness, but that rule might be vulnerable to invasion by perceptive mutations. This paper shows that perceptive mutants are more likely to destroy an entire ecology of projectors (that would otherwise survive and prosper) than to successfully invade it, while projecting mutants have considerable success invading a population of perceptives. Mutant projectors' success happens when a cooperative ecology is created for them by the initial success of perceptive cooperators; within such an ecology, cooperative projectors have a competitive advantage over cooperative perceptives. Critical parameters are (1) the incidence of cooperativeness in the population and (2) the price of perceptiveness.

The effect of fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) cationic exchange purification on the crystallization of a monoclonal Fab fragment.

Fast protein liquid chromatography cationic exchange purification to homogeneity of a monoclonal Fab fragment has resulted in an improvement in the quality of crystals for X-ray diffraction studies. This improvement is displayed in a well-defined crystal morphology, reproducibility of crystal growth, and increased resolution of diffraction data.

The crystal and molecular structure of the polymeric copper (II) complex of inosine 5'-monophosphate. A comparison with the previously reported zinc analogue.

X-ray analysis of [Cu . (5'-IMP) . H2O] has shown a structure containing polymeric chains of composition [Cu.5'-IMP]n in which the copper atom is directly bound to N(7) of the base and to three oxygen atoms of different phosphate groups. Whereas the coordination geometry in the analogous zinc complex resembles a distorted tetrahedrom, that in the copper complex is a distorted square plane with weak axial interactions.