Encapsulation of Vitamin E in Yogurt-Based Beverage Emulsions: Influence of Bulk Pasteurization and Chilled Storage on Physicochemical Stability and Starter Culture Viability.

Yogurt is a nutritious food that is regularly consumed in many countries around the world and is widely appreciated for its organoleptic properties. Despite its contribution to human dietary requirements, yogurt in its traditional recipe is a poor source of fat-soluble vitamins. To respond to consumer demands and further increase the nutritional value of this product, this work aimed to fortify yogurt with vitamin E by using emulsification as the method of encapsulation.

Folate deficiency promotes differentiation of vascular smooth muscle cells without affecting the methylation status of regulated genes.

Elevated serum homocysteine, an intermediate of cellular one-carbon metabolism, is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Folate deficiency increases serum homocysteine and may contribute to CVD progression. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) regulate vascular contractility, but also contribute to repair processes in response to vascular injury.

Effect of increasing fruit and vegetable intake by dietary intervention on nutritional biomarkers and attitudes to dietary change: a randomised trial.

Purpose: Low fruit and vegetable consumption is linked with an increased risk of death from vascular disease and cancer. The benefit of eating fruits and vegetables is attributed in part to antioxidants, vitamins and phytochemicals. Whether increasing intake impacts on markers of disease remains to be established.

Nutritional B vitamin deficiency alters the expression of key proteins associated with vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration in the aorta of atherosclerotic apolipoprotein E null mice.

Low B vitamin status is linked with human vascular disease. We employed a proteomic and biochemical approach to determine whether nutritional folate deficiency and/or hyperhomocysteinemia altered metabolic processes linked with atherosclerosis in ApoE null mice. Animals were fed either a control fat (C; 4 % w/w lard) or a high-fat [HF; 21 % w/w lard and cholesterol (0/15 % w/w)] diet with different B vitamin compositions for 16 weeks.

Differential effects of nutritional folic acid deficiency and moderate hyperhomocysteinemia on aortic plaque formation and genome-wide DNA methylation in vascular tissue from ApoE-/- mice.

Low folate intake is associated with vascular disease. Causality has been attributed to hyperhomocysteinemia. However, human intervention trials have failed to show the benefit of homocysteine-lowering therapies.

Nutritional B vitamin deficiency disrupts lipid metabolism causing accumulation of proatherogenic lipoproteins in the aorta adventitia of ApoE null mice.

Scope: Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death in the world. Low dietary folate, elevated homocysteine, and high circulating cholesterol are risk factors.

Methods And Results: We investigated whether folate and/or B vitamin deficiency would change lipoprotein and fatty acid metabolism and lipid accumulation in the aorta adventitia of ApoE null mice.

Blood folate status and expression of proteins involved in immune function, inflammation, and coagulation: biochemical and proteomic changes in the plasma of humans in response to long-term synthetic folic acid supplementation.

We used plasma proteomics to identify human proteins responsive to folate status. Plasma was collected from subjects treated with placebo or 1.2 mg of folic acid daily for 12 weeks in a randomized controlled trial.

Folate deficiency alters hepatic and colon MGMT and OGG-1 DNA repair protein expression in rats but has no effect on genome-wide DNA methylation.

Folate deficiency is implicated in human colon cancer. The effects of feeding rats a folate-deficient diet for 24 weeks on DNA damage (8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine), DNA repair [O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) and 8-oxoguanine-DNA glycosylase (OGG-1) activity], and epigenetic parameters (genome-wide cytosine methylation and indices of cellular methylation status) were investigated. Relative to control diet, the folate-deficient diet resulted in significantly reduced levels of serum ( approximately 80%; P < 0.

Pre-registration adult nurses' knowledge of safe transfusion practice: Results of a 12 month follow-up study.

This research project ascertained student nurses' knowledge retention of safe transfusion practice following a standardised teaching and learning programme (produced by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, United Kingdom (UK)) within a School of Nursing in Scotland, UK. Several studies including the Serious Hazard of Transfusion (SHOT) annual reports demonstrated that there are risks to the patient in receiving blood components: receiving the wrong blood was the most common risk associated with blood transfusion (Ottewill, 2003; SHOT, 2007). This evaluative study used a questionnaire to assess the level of knowledge students (n=118) attained on the day of the session, 4-6 months and 11-12 months following the session.

The response of human colonocytes to folate deficiency in vitro: functional and proteomic analyses.

Low folate intake is associated with colon cancer. We combined a proteomics and biochemical approach to identify proteins and pathways affected by folate deficiency in human colonocytes. Folate differentially altered activity and expression of proteins involved in proliferation [e.

The EU optimal blood use project.

The EU optimal blood use project (EUOBUP) is co-funded by the European Commission and led by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS). Its purpose is to develop, evaluate and disseminate a manual that provides practical guidance and support for those seeking to improve the safety of the clinical transfusion process and the effectiveness of the prescribing of blood components. We define the optimal use of blood components as the safe, clinically effective and efficient use of the scarce resource of donated human blood.

The influence of pulmonary receptors on respiratory drive in a rabbit model of pulmonary emphysema.

We have observed that pulmonary rapidly adapting receptor activity is greater in emphysematous rats than in controls. Pulmonary receptor activity, if modified by lung disease, may produce an inappropriate drive to breathe which may be perceived as dyspnoea. To investigate the efferent (drive) component of this hypothesis respiratory drive (phrenic nerve activity) was recorded in a rabbit model of emphysema.

Sensitivity of markers of DNA stability and DNA repair activity to folate supplementation in healthy volunteers.

We have previously reported that supplementation with folic acid (1.2 mg day(-1) for 12 week) elicited a significant improvement in the folate status of 61 healthy volunteers. We have examined effects of this supplement on markers of genomic stability.

The effects of cranberry juice consumption on antioxidant status and biomarkers relating to heart disease and cancer in healthy human volunteers.

Background: Consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease and cancer. This has been ascribed in part to antioxidants in these foods inactivating reactive oxygen species involved in initiation or progression of these diseases. Non-nutritive anthocyanins are present in significant amounts in the human diet.

The effect of short-term kaempferol exposure on reactive oxygen levels and integrity of human (HL-60) leukaemic cells.

Flavonoids may be a principal contributor to the cancer preventative activity of fruit- and vegetable-rich diets and there is interest in their use as dietary supplements. However, there is potential conflict between the cytoprotective and cytotoxic activities of flavonoids, and their efficacy as anti-cancer agents is unresolved. Here, the integrity and survival of HL-60 promyelocytic leukaemia cells following short-term (90 min) exposure to the dietary abundant flavonoid kaempferol (1-100 microM) is reported.

Dietary isothiocyanates inhibit Caco-2 cell proliferation and induce G2/M phase cell cycle arrest, DNA damage, and G2/M checkpoint activation.

Benzyl isothiocyanate and phenethyl isothiocyanate, two aromatic phytochemicals present in substantial concentrations in edible vegetables of the genus Brassica, were investigated for their effects on Caco-2 cell proliferation. Benzyl and phenethyl isothiocyanate inhibited DNA synthesis, with 50% inhibitory concentrations of 5.1 and 2.

DNA stability and lipid peroxidation in vitamin E-deficient rats in vivo and colon cells in vitro--modulation by the dietary anthocyanin, cyanidin-3-glycoside.

Background: Fruit and vegetable consumption protects against cancer. This is attributed in part to antioxidants such as vitamin E combating oxidative DNA damage. Anthocyanins are found in significant concentrations in the human diet.

Impact of folate deficiency on DNA stability.

Convincing evidence links folate deficiency with colorectal cancer incidence. Currently, it is believed that folate deficiency affects DNA stability principally through two potential pathways. 5,10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate donates a methyl group to uracil, converting it to thymine, which is used for DNA synthesis and repair.

Enhancing care for transfusion patients.

Frequent hospital attendance and excessive waiting times for treatments are often part of haematological patient care. Home platelet transfusions reduced hospital visits for patients. Hospital waiting times decreased and the quality of care improved.

Cryopreserved versus freshly isolated lymphocytes in human biomonitoring: endogenous and induced DNA damage, antioxidant status and repair capability.

Lymphocytes are routinely used in human biomonitoring to assess the potential toxic and cytoprotective effects of diet on both DNA damage and repair and, by implication, health. Logistically, samples may require to be cryopreserved and stored. How this affects cells used in human biomonitoring is often not considered.

Stimulus satiation: effects of repeated exposure to foods on pleasantness and intake.

Frequent and repeated exposure to foods produces stimulus satiation or monotony. To explore further the nature of stimulus satiation, two experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 investigated the influence of initial pleasantness and frequency of intake on monotony.

Stimulation of appetite by alcohol.

To investigate the effects of alcohol on appetite and food intake, 26 males attended the laboratory on three occasions. On each occasion, they were given a standard breakfast. Visual analog scale ratings of hunger, desire to eat and fullness (appetite ratings) were recorded from before breakfast until their return to the laboratory for lunch.

Folate deficiency in vitro induces uracil misincorporation and DNA hypomethylation and inhibits DNA excision repair in immortalized normal human colon epithelial cells.

Epidemiological studies have indicated that folic acid protects against a variety of cancers, particularly cancer of the colorectum. Folate is essential for efficient DNA synthesis and repair. Moreover, folate can affect cellular S-adenosylmethionine levels, which regulate DNA methylation and control gene expression.

Adaptation of pulmonary receptors in the spontaneously breathing anaesthetized rat.

It has been suggested that species with high breathing frequencies have pulmonary stretch receptors which adapt more rapidly than species with low breathing frequencies. This has proved not to be so. Our hypothesis is that this theory is in fact correct if modified so that overall rate of adaptation of afferent vagal activity, i.

A novel ultrasonic aerosol generator.

An ultrasonic aerosol generator constructed from a domestic humidifier is described which has been used to produce liquid aerosols for physiological investigations. The instrument was constructed from a Pifco domestic humidifier modified to include an energy guide to direct the oscillations of the transducer through the coupling water, which would normally be aerosolized, onto a small membrane based sample chamber containing the liquid to be aerosolized. The size distribution of the aerosol produced was found to be between 2 and 6 mm, optimum for diffuse intrapulmonary deposition.