Quality and Occurrence of Mycotoxins in Tomato Products in the Brazilian Market.

Fungi are a major cause of reduction in agricultural yields and may contaminate food before, during and after harvest. Damage due to mycotoxins-producing fungi (secondary metabolites)goes beyond damage to fruit and may seriously compromise the quality of processed products, posing risks to food safety. In tomato fruits, Alternaria sp. is the main pathogen attacking fresh tomatoes.

Infection of tomatoes by Alternaria alternata is linked to injuries or to plant tissue fragility. In addition, other factors such as damages and the presence of free water due to rain, dew and excessive irrigation may induce the germination of spores on fruit surface. This fungus can penetrate fruit skin through injuries caused by mishandling, insect attacks and by calix scars. Measures to control production and growth of mycotoxins produced by A. alternata after harvest include maintaining products at temperatures below 7°C and storage periods shorter than ten days. Although the consumption of fresh tomatoes contaminated by A. Alternaria is unlikely, their use in processing is a reality.(Read more)

Selective Permeation of CO2 through Amine Bearing Facilitated Transport Membranes

The increase in the concentration of various hazardous gases in the atmosphere results in numerous environmental problems like global warming, greenhouse effect etc. A large number of research studies have been carried out on the process of capturing and storage of CO₂ fromgaseous mixture. Membranes and membrane processes are not a recent invention. The preparation of synthetic membrane and their utilization on a large industrial scale however are a more recent development which has rapidly gained a substantial importance due to the large number of practical application. Now a days; membranes are used to produce potable water from sea to clean industrial effluent and recover valuable constituent, purify or fractionate macromolecular mixture in food and drug industries and to separate gas and vapours.

They are also key component in energy conversion system and in artificial organs and drug delivery devices. Membrane technology is one of the most interestingtechnologies for its applications in various fields including Biologicalapplications. Lin et al.in his research study reported the substrate selectivity of Lysophospholipid Transporter (LplT ) involved in Membrane Phospholipids remodelling in Escherichia coli. Tong et al. Carried out their research study on the structural insight into substrate selection and catalysis of Lipid Phosphate Phosphates in the cell membrane

Racing for the True Metabolomics Signature of Coronary Artery Disease,

Since the introduction of metabolomics in late 1990s, researchers have been looking for the holy grail of cardiovascular diseases using this approach. However, despite several reports showing metabolomics markers successfully identifying coronaryartery disease (CAD), there is still lack of consensus on the true metabolomics signature of CAD.

Previous research has identified several metabolites related to gut microbiome, fatty acid metabolism, inflammation, steroid metabolism, sphingolipids, and phospholipids as biomarkers of CAD. Many of these biomarkers were either not validated or could not be replicated in other cohorts. Most of these studies were also done on collected samples obtained several years ago in dissimilar cohorts. There is therefore an inherent bias in using them either as a derivative or validation cohort. Limited participants or samples in each cohort also sometimes prohibit dividing a cohort into derivative and validation sub cohorts for identifying the true metabolomics signature of CAD. Furthermore, it also remains unclear whether the identified metabolite associated with CAD is causal or just a bystander.(Read more)

Production Performance, Slaughtering and Meat Quality of Different Breed Pigs

Pork is an important part of the human diet. With the improvement of living standard and strengthening awareness of diet and health, people pay more and more attention to the sensory quality and health careful function of animal production. Therefore, at the same time of guaranteeing health security and high lean pork production, how to improve the sensory quality of pork and produce high quality pork has become the urgent task of modern pig production. 

The genotype, nutrition, stress before slaughter, and the carcass fast cooling, which can affect the meat quality [1]. The quality of the pork has already become an important subject of collaborative research and concern in the field of the world pig science, meat science, animal genetics and breeding, feed industry and so on. The research results showed that there were many influencing factors in meat quality, but the main influence factors of meat quality are the improving varieties (genetic control) and nutritional regulation, and breed is the decisive factor.(Read more)

In Vitro Enhancement of Bacoside in Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri) Using Colchicine

Bacopa monnieri, a small herb, commonly called as Brahmi belongs to the family Scrophulariaceae. It grows in the humid climate, mainly distributed in damp and marshy tracts in the subtropical region of the Indian subcontinent. It requires a well-drained, moist, sandy loam soil, rich in organic matter and grows well at a temperature from 30°C to 40°C. Brahmi is an important Ayurvedic medicinal herb used for the improvement of intelligence, memory and revitalization of sensory organs.

The major chemical entity shown to be responsible for neuropharmacological effects and the nootropic action of B. monnieri is triterpenoid saponin. The medicinal properties of Bacopa monnieri responsible for improving memory related function have been attributed to the presence of different types of saponins such as Bacosides (A, B, C and D) called the “memory chemicals” i.e., important secondary metabolite. (Read more)

Time-Resolved Fluoro-immunoassays (TRFIA): A Novel Method For Fast And Efficient Screening Of Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer is a heterogeneous disease and occupies highest incidence in developed country. There are over 70,000 new cases of bladder cancer each year in the United States alone. The incidence of bladder cancer rises with age, peakingbetween age 50 years and 70 years, and is three times more common in men than in women . The high rate of recurrence is the feature of bladder cancer that makes effective detection means is crucial importance for bladder cancer patients.

The conventional method for bladder cancer detection is morphological examination of cytology samples or cystoscopic biopsies. Urine cytology is poorly differentiated tumors and time-consuming practice for both the patient and physician. The diagnosis and monitoring of bladder cancer are facilitated by the availability of newer, simpler urine based diagnostic tests.

E-Pharmacophore Model Assisted Discovery of Novel Antagonists of nNOS

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia characterized clinically with progressive cognitive decline and neuronal loss. Pathologically, AD affected brain shows accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles formed by the hyper phosphorylation of tau protein. Recent studies indicate that mitochondrial dysfunction, a pathological featurethat can be detected early in AD. Nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are a family of enzymes catalyzing the production of nitric oxide (NO), which functions as neuronal signalingmolecule. Altered expression of nNOS by the Aβ stimulus results in the formation of peroxy nitrite and reactive oxygen species. These peroxy-nitrite, nitrosylates the cytoplasmic protein tau and phosphorylates GSK-3β.

Nitrosylation of tau protein results in structural and conformational change of tau protein ensuring the destabilization of microtubule. This leads to dissociation of tau protein from microtubule and oligomerization of tau occurs to form neuro-fibrillary tangles (NFT’s). These tangles forms a physical road blocks within the neuronal cells and interrupts the neurotransmitter signaling.