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PubMed2000

Correlates of the "western" and "prudent" diet patterns in the us.

PURPOSE: Underlying the diversity and changeability of US eating habits are fundamental dietary patterns shaped by common sociohistorical experiences. Currently, little is known of what patterns exist or their associations with sociodemographic/lifestyle factors. We examined these issues in third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data.METHODS: Analyses were based on 5,794 US-born, white participants. Interviews included a 60-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and questions on sociodemographics and health behaviors. Dietary patterns were identified by principal components analysis on FFQ responses. Component scores representing intake level of each pattern were dichotomized at the median. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).RESULTS: We identified two primary dietary patterns-a "western" pattern characterized by processed and red meats, eggs, potatoes, and refined grains, and a "prudent" pattern characterized by cruciferous vegetables, greens, carrots, salads, and fresh fruits. The two patterns occurred across geographic regions and in both women and men. After age- and sex-adjustment, the "western" diet was associated with rural residence (OR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.7-2.2), working class status (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.2-1.6), and lack of high school completion (OR = 1.6, 95% CI 1.4-1.8). The "prudent" diet was associated with high school completion (OR = 2.8, 95% CI 2.5-3.3) and behaviors reflecting greater health awareness, such as daily physical activity (OR = 2.0, 95% CI 1.8-2.2), non-smoking (OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.8-2.4), and supplement use (OR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.6-2.0).CONCLUSIONS: The two dietary patterns resemble those found in previous US studies. Findings regarding correlates agree with social histories describing the emergence of those patterns. Principal components analysis is potentially useful for identifying fundamental dietary patterns for future investigations of diet-disease associations.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Banana starch breakdown in the human small intestine studied by electron microscopy.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the origin of the poor digestibility of banana starch granules in the human small intestine. DESIGN: The subjects received the same experimental meal. SETTING: Nutrition Research Unit, Laënnec Hospital, CHU, Nantes. SUBJECTS: Six healthy young subjects. INTERVENTIONS: The digestion of raw green banana flour in the upper part of the gut was studied by the intubation technique. After ingestion of 30 g banana flour mixed with a complex meal, ileal samples were continuously collected during 14 h. In order to determine the structural nature of this resistant starch, the dried ileal samples were observed with scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy was performed after treatment with periodic acid-thiosemicarbazide-silver nitrate. RESULTS: Banana starch proved very resistant to in vivo amylase hydrolysis since 84% of the starch ingested reached the terminal ileum. The microscopic observations showed that raw banana flour contained irregularly shaped dense starch granules with smooth surfaces. After their passage through the small intestine, starch granules appeared exocorroded, with porous surfaces, and some exhibited several irregular pits, crevices or holes by which the enzymes had penetrated and hydrolysed the inner part. Cell walls closely associated with starch granules could have hindered enzyme access to starch. CONCLUSIONS: Encapsulation could be partly responsible for the low digestibility of starch in banana flour, together with the intrinsic resistance of banana starch granules.

Digestion↗
PubMed1999

Nuclear matrix proteins and their potential applications to diagnostic pathology.

The nuclear matrix is the nonchromatin scaffolding of the cell nucleus that confers nuclear shape, organizes the nuclear chromatin, and regulates many important intranuclear biochemical events. Although our understanding of the nuclear matrix and its proteins is still evolving, it is clear that nuclear matrix proteins (NMPs) hold considerable promise as diagnostic tools for pathologists. Early evidence suggests that NMPs may be useful biomarkers of neoplastic disease in serum, body fluids, and tissues. NMPs are also potential candidates for use as tumor prognostic factors and targets of anticancer drugs. Moreover, NMPs may hold the key to understanding important cellular events, such as neoplastic transformation, steroid hormone binding, and apoptosis. Despite impressive gains made by cellular biologists and biochemists toward understanding the structure and function of the nuclear matrix, many of the potential applications of NMPs to diagnostic pathology are largely unexplored. Thus, NMPs should prove an exciting and fruitful area of investigation for experimental and clinical pathologists who are interested in developing diagnostic tests for detecting, quantitating, and characterizing these proteins in human tissues and body fluids and translating these applications into the clinical pathology laboratory.

Antigens, Nuclear↗
PubMed2001

The dream's navel between chaos and thought.

The authors begin by drawing attention to the problem of the transition from the biological to the psychic, noting that Freud himself, with his background in the neurosciences, grappled with it throughout his career. Certain recent paradigms more commonly applied to the natural sciences, such as in particular chaos and complexity theory, can in their view prove fruitful in psychoanalysis too, and it is shown how these notions are inherent in some of Freud's conceptions. The unconscious is stated to operate like a neural network, performing the kind of parallel processing used in the computing of highly complex situations, whereas the conscious mind is sequential. Dreams, in the authors' opinion, are organisers of the mind, imparting order to the turbulence of the underlying wishes and unconscious fantasies and structuring them through the dream work. Through dreams, the structured linearity of conscious thought can emerge out of the non-linear chaos of the drives. The dream's navel can be seen as the chaotic link, or interface, between the unconscious wish, which constitutes an attractor, and the conscious thought. The attractor may be visualised as having an hourglass or clepsydra shape, the narrow section being the dream's navel, and, being the same at any scale of observation, has the property of fractality.

Dreams↗
PubMed1999

Dopaminergic modulation of motor neuron activity and neuromuscular function in Drosophila melanogaster.

Dopamine is found in both neuronal and non-neuronal tissues in the larval stage of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and functions as a signaling molecule in the nervous system. Although dopaminergic neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) were previously thought solely to be interneurons, recent studies suggest that dopamine may also act as a neuromodulator in humoral pathways. We examined both application of dopamine on intact larval CNS-segmental preparations and isolated neuromuscular junctions (NMJs). Dopamine rapidly decreased the rhythmicity of the CNS motor activity. Application of dopamine on neuromuscular preparations of the segmental muscles 6 and 7 resulted in a dose-responsive decrease in the excitatory junction potentials (EJPs). With the use of focal, macro-patch synaptic current recordings the quantal evoked transmission showed a depression of vesicular release at concentrations of 10 microM. Higher concentrations (1 mM) produced a rapid decrement in evoked vesicular release. Dopamine did not alter the shape of the spontaneous synaptic currents, suggesting that dopamine does not alter the postsynaptic muscle fiber receptiveness to the glutaminergic motor nerve transmission. The effects are presynaptic in causing a reduction in the number of vesicles that are stimulated to be released due to neural activity.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

The fruitful flaws of strategy metaphors.

The business world is rife with metaphors these days, as managers look to other disciplines for insights into their own challenges. And metaphors can--despite their somewhat flaky image--be powerful catalysts for generating new business strategies. But metaphors are often improperly used, their potential left unrealized. We tend to look for reassuring parallels in business metaphors instead of troubling differences, the author contends. In fact, using metaphors to come up with new strategic perspectives begins to work only when the metaphors themselves don't work, or at least don't seem to. Take the following case in point. An insurance company's corporate headquarters put together a team of experts to discuss ways the firm might respond to the challenges of conducting business via the Internet. Once the team drafted a master plan, the idea was that it would be promulgated to the individual agents and offices of this widely dispersed organization. In a meeting with the company's top managers, the author talked about Charles Darwin's conceptual breakthrough in formulating the principles of evolution. As his overview of Darwin's theories about variation and natural selection gave way to questions, a heretical notion took shape: Those far-flung agents' offices, instead of being strategic liabilities in a suddenly virtual age, might instead be the mechanism for achieving an incremental but powerful corporate transformation in response to the changing business environment. But it was only when the evolutionary metaphor began to break down--when the elements of Darwin's theory clearly were at odds with the besieged insurance company's situation--that real strategic insight occurred. This anecdote offers, in a compressed form, an example of how the process of using metaphors can play out and what managers can learn from it.

Commerce↗
PubMed2000

Wingless gradient formation in the Drosophila wing.

BACKGROUND: Secreted signaling proteins of the Wingless (Wg)/Wnt, Hedgehog and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)/Decapentaplegic (Dpp) families function as morphogens to control growth and pattern formation during development. Although these proteins have been shown to act directly on distant cells in the developing limbs of the fruit fly Drosophila, little is known about how ligand gradients form in vivo. Wg protein is found in vesicles in Wg-responsive cells in the embryo and imaginal discs. It has been proposed that Wg may be transported by a vesicle-mediated mechanism. RESULTS: A novel method to visualize extracellular Wg protein was used to show that Wg forms an unstable gradient on the basolateral surface of the wing imaginal disc epithelium. Wg movement did not require internalization by dynamin-mediated endocytosis. Dynamin activity was, however, required for Wg secretion. By reversibly blocking Wg secretion, we found that Wg moves rapidly to form a long-range extracellular gradient. CONCLUSIONS: The Wg morphogen gradient forms by rapid movement of ligand through the extracellular space, and depends on continuous secretion and rapid turnover. Endocytosis is not required for Wg movement, but contributes to shaping the gradient by removing extracellular Wg. We propose that the extracellular Wg gradient forms by diffusion.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Characterization of elemental composition in kiwifruit grown in northern Iran.

Kiwifruit (Actinidia chinensis) has different varieties such as Hayward, Bruno, Monty, and Abbott. These varieties are different in taste, odor, shape, and some chemical compositions. This work reports the elemental analysis of Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Ca, Mg, K, and Na in the different varieties of Hayward, Bruno, Monty, and Abbott grown in northern Iran. Results from elemental analysis were determined using atomic absorption and emission spectroscopy. Distributions and amounts of metals for different varieties of kiwifruit have been investigated. Results have shown that the presence of elements varied with different varieties of kiwifruit. The soils in which the kiwifruits have been cultivated also have been analyzed.

Actinidia↗
PubMed2004

Speciation in Hawaiian angiosperm lineages: cause, consequence, and mode.

The biota of Hawaiian Islands is derived entirely from long distance dispersal, often followed by in situ speciation. Species descended from each colonist constitute monophyletic lineages that have diverged to varying degrees under similar spatial and temporal constraints. We partitioned the Hawaiian angiosperm flora into lineages and assessed morphological, ecological, and biogeographic characteristics to examine their relationships to variation in species number (S). Lineages with external bird dispersal (through adhesion) were significantly more species-rich than those with abiotic dispersal, but only weakly more species-rich than lineages with internal bird dispersal (involving fleshy fruits). Pollination mode and growth form (woody vs. herbaceous) had no significant effect on S, in contrast to studies of angiosperm families. S relates positively to the geographic and ecological range size of whole lineages, but negatively to local abundance and mean range sizes of constituent species. Species-rich lineages represent a large proportion of major adaptive shifts, although this appears to be an artifact of having more species. Examination of 52 sister species pairs in numerous lineages provides evidence for allopatric (including peripheral isolates) and parapatric (ecological) modes, with 15 cases of each. Although postspeciational dispersal may obscure these modes in many of the remaining cases, instances of sympatric and hybrid speciation are also discussed. Because speciation is both a consequence and a cause of ecological and biogeographic traits, speciation mode may be integral to relationships between traits. We discuss the role of speciation in shaping the regional species pool.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1991

Behavior of peripheral rods and their role in the life cycle of Myxococcus xanthus.

Myxococcus xanthus is a gram-negative bacterium with a complex life cycle including a developmental phase in which cells aggregate and sporulate in response to starvation. In previous papers, we have described a heretofore unsuspected layer of complexity in the development of M. xanthus: vegetatively growing cells differentiate into two cell types during development. In addition to the differentiation of spores within fruiting bodies, a second cell type, peripheral rods, arises outside fruiting bodies. The pattern of expression of proteins in peripheral rods is different from that of either vegetatively growing cells or spores, and peripheral rods express a number of recognized developmental markers. In this report, we examine four aspects of the biology of peripheral rods: (i) the influence of nutrients on the proportion of peripheral rods in a population of developing cells, (ii) the capacity of peripheral rods to recapitulate development, (iii) the development of peripheral rods on conditioned medium, and (iv) the ability of peripheral rods to resume growth on low amounts of exogenously added nutrients. The results of these studies suggest that peripheral rods play a significant role in the life cycle of M. xanthus by allowing the exploitation of low amounts or transient influxes of nutrients without the investment of energy in spore germination. The differentiation of vegetatively growing cells into two cell types that differ significantly in biology, shape, and localization within the population has been incorporated into a model of the life cycle of M. xanthus.

Cell Adhesion↗
PubMed1997

Chemotaxis to cAMP and slug migration in Dictyostelium both depend on migA, a BTB protein.

Chemotaxis in natural aggregation territories and in a chamber with an imposed gradient of cyclic AMP (cAMP) was found to be defective in a mutant strain of Dictyostelium discoideum that forms slugs unable to migrate. This strain was selected from a population of cells mutagenized by random insertion of plasmids facilitated by introduction of restriction enzyme (a method termed restriction enzyme-mediated integration). We picked this strain because it formed small misshapen fruiting bodies. After isolation of portions of the gene as regions flanking the inserted plasmid, we were able to regenerate the original genetic defect in a fresh host and show that it is responsible for the developmental defects. Transformation of this recapitulated mutant strain with a construct carrying the full-length migA gene and its upstream regulatory region rescued the defects. The sequence of the full-length gene revealed that it encodes a novel protein with a BTB domain near the N terminus that may be involved in protein-protein interactions. The migA gene is expressed at low levels in all cells during aggregation and then appears to be restricted to prestalk cells as a consequence of rapid turnover in prespore cells. Although migA- cells have a dramatically reduced chemotactic index to cAMP and an abnormal pattern of aggregation in natural waves of cAMP, they are completely normal in size, shape, and ability to translocate in the absence of any chemotactic signal. They respond behaviorally to the rapid addition of high levels of cAMP in a manner indicative of intact circuitry connecting receptor occupancy to restructuring of the cytoskeleton. Actin polymerization in response to cAMP is also normal in the mutant cells. The defects at both the aggregation and slug stage are cell autonomous. The MigA protein therefore is necessary for efficiently assessing chemical gradients, and its absence results in defective chemotaxis and slug migration.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

Brevipalpus-transmitted plant virus and virus-like diseases: cytopathology and some recent cases.

An increasing number of diseases transmitted by Brevipalpus mite species (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) is being identified that affect economically important plants such as citrus, coffee, passion fruit, orchids, and several ornamentals. All of these diseases are characterized by localized lesions (chlorotic, green spots, or ringspots) on leaves, stems, and fruits. Virus or virus-like agents are considered to be the causal agents, possibly transmitted in a circulative-propagative manner by Brevipalpus mites. The virus or virus-like particles are short, rod-like, or bacilliform, that induce two characteristic types of cell alteration: (1) 'Nuclear type'--nuclei of parenchyma and epidermal cells in the lesions often contain a large electron lucent inclusion. Short, naked, rod-like (40-50 nm x 100-110 nm) particles may be seen in the viroplasm or nucleoplasm and in the cytoplasm. These particles are commonly arranged perpendicularly on the membranes of the nuclear envelope or endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In a very few instances, they were found to be membrane-bound, within the ER cavities. (2) 'Cytoplasmic type'--short bacilliform particles (60-70 nm x 110-120 nm) are present within the cisternae of the ER and often have electron dense viroplasm of varied shapes present in the cytoplasm. Bacilliform particles may be seen budding into the ER lumen near the viroplasm. These particles resemble those of members of the Rhabdoviridae, but are shorter. The only sequenced virus of this group, orchid fleck virus (OFV), has a negative sense (bipartite) type ssRNA genome, but its organization is similar to known rhabdoviruses, which are monopartite. Both types of cytopathological effects have been found associated with citrus leprosis. In orchids, OFV has a 'nuclear type' of cytopathology, but in some species the 'cytoplasmic type' has been found associated with ringspot symptoms. In Hibiscus and Clerodendron, green spot symptoms have been associated with the cytoplasmic type of cell alteration, while chlorotic spots, in the same species, are associated with the nuclear type. In a few cases, both types of cytopathological effects have been found in the same tissue and cell.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Controlled release of sugar and toxicant from a novel device for controlling pest insects.

A novel biodegradable device, designed for long-lasting residual effectiveness of feeding stimulant (sugar) and insecticide (dimethoate) against apple maggot files and other insects, was formulated. The device is an 8-cm diameter fruit-mimicking sphere, consisting of 42-50% sugar entrapped in a mixture of gelatinized corn flour and wheat flour in the presence of glycerin, and coated with a layer of latex paint containing dimethoate and sugar. We found that the outer layer of paint prevents cracking of the sphere upon drying and creates a barrier to control the release of both sugar and dimethoate. Releases of each ingredient were screened first by chemical analysis and then by bioassays in the laboratory and in field cages against apple maggot flies. Chemical analysis demonstrated strong potential for controlled release of water-soluble feeding stimulant and water-insoluble insecticide measured as a function of the amount of rainfall and duration of exposure time. Field results showed greater than 70% insecticidal activity after 11 weeks of sphere exposure in an orchard. This device has the potential to be used for a variety of insect-control applications through manipulating its shape, color and texture into forms known to be attractive to target insects, and by employing various toxicants designed to be effective against such insects.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

A case-control study of dietary phytoestrogens and testicular cancer risk.

A few dietary studies have found elevated testicular cancer risks for higher red meat, fat, and milk intakes and lower intakes of fruits, vegetables, and fiber. Because hormonal modulation by dietary intake of plant estrogens could affect risk of testicular cancer, we chose to explore the possible relationship between dietary phytoestrogens and testicular cancer. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study of 159 testicular cancer cases diagnosed between 1990 and 1996 and 136 adult friend-matched controls at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Amounts of phytoestrogenic compounds in foods were added to the National Cancer Institute's DietSys program and then grouped into prelignans, lignans, flavonoids, isoflavonoids, phytosterols, and coumestrol for statistical analysis, expressed per 1,000 kcal. The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed, after adjustment for age, education, income, ethnicity, cryptorchidism, body mass index, baldness unrelated to therapy, severe acne in adolescence, early puberty, daily fiber and fat intake, and total daily calories, no discernable monotonic increased or decreased risk estimates across quartiles of phytoestrogen intake. A U-shaped pattern was observed for lignans and coumestrol. Further evaluation of this pattern by cubic spline parameterization did fit the data, but the data were also consistent with no effect. This hypothesis-generating study does not support the premise that dietary phytoestrogens increase or decrease testicular cancer risk in young men.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Practices of the pregnant self: compliance with and resistance to prenatal norms.

A major challenge of medical anthropology is to assess how biomedicine, as a vaguely-defined set of diverse texts, technologies, and practitioners, shapes the experience of self and body. Through narrative analyses of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 158 pregnant women in southern California, this paper explores how the culture of biomedicine, encountered formally at prenatal care check-ups and informally through diverse media, influences pregnant women's perceptions of appropriate prenatal behavior. In the spirit of recent social scientific work that draws on and challenges Foucauldian insights to explore social relations in medicine, we posit a spectrum of compliance and resistance to biomedical norms upon which individual prenatal practices are assessed. We suggest that pregnancy is, above all, characterized by a split subjectivity in which women straddle the authoritative and the subjugated, the objective and the subjective, and the haptic as well as the optic, in telling and often strategic ways. In so doing, we identify the intersection between the disciplinary practices of biomedicine and the practices of pregnant women as a means of furnishing more fruitful insights into the oft-used term "power" and its roles in constituting social relations in medicine.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Aechmea pectinata: a hummingbird-dependent bromeliad with inconspicuous flowers from the rainforest in south-eastern Brazil.

The pollination biology of Aechmea pectinata (Bromeliaceae) was studied in a submontane rainforest in south-eastern Brazil. This species has a mainly clumped distribution and its aggregated individuals are likely to be clones. From October to January, during the flowering period, the distal third of its leaves becomes red. The inflorescence produces 1-15 flowers per day over a period of 20-25 d. The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish-white coloured, tubular shaped with a narrow opening, and the stigma is situated just above the anthers. Anthesis begins at 0400 h and flowers last for about 13 h. The highest nectar volume and sugar concentration occur between 0600 and 1000 h, and decrease throughout the day. Aechmea pectinata is self-incompatible and therefore pollinator-dependent. Hummingbirds are its main pollinators (about 90 % of the visits), visiting flowers mainly in the morning. There is a positive correlation between the number of hummingbird visits per inflorescence and the production of nectar, suggesting that the availability of this resource is important in attracting and maintaining visitors. The arrangement of the floral structures favours pollen deposition on the bill of the hummingbirds. Flowers in clumps promote hummingbird territoriality, and a consequence is self-pollination in a broader sense (geitonogamy) as individuals in assemblages are genetically close. However, trap-lining and intruding hummingbirds promote cross-pollination. These observations suggest that successful fruit set of A. pectinata depends on both the spatial distribution of its individuals and the interactions among hummingbirds.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2005

Production, properties, and applications of hydrocolloid cellular solids.

Many common synthetic and edible materials are, in fact, cellular solids. When classifying the structure of cellular solids, a few variables, such as open vs. closed cells, flexible vs. brittle cell walls, cell-size distribution, cell-wall thickness, cell shape, the uniformity of the structure of the cellular solid and the different scales of length are taken into account. Compressive stress-strain relationships of most cellular solids can be easily identified according to their characteristic sigmoid shape, reflecting three deformation mechanisms: (i) elastic distortion under small strains, (ii) collapse and/or fracture of the cell walls, and (iii) densification. Various techniques are used to produce hydrocolloid (gum) cellular solids. The products of these include (i) sponges, obtained when the drying gel contains the occasionally produced gas bubbles; (ii) sponges produced by the immobilization of microorganisms; (iii) solid foams produced by drying foamed solutions or gels containing oils, and (iv) hydrocolloid sponges produced by enzymatic reactions. The porosity of the manufactured cellular solid is subject to change and depends on its composition and the processing technique. The porosity is controlled by a range of methods and the resulting surface structures can be investigated by microscopy and analyzed using fractal methods. Models used to describe stress-strain behaviors of hydrocolloid cellular solids as well as multilayered products and composites are discussed in detail in this manuscript. Hydrocolloid cellular solids have numerous purposes, simple and complex, ranging from dried texturized fruits to carriers of vitamins and other essential micronutrients. They can also be used to control the acoustic response of specific dry food products, and have a great potential for future use in countless different fields, from novel foods and packaging to medicine and medical care, daily commodities, farming and agriculture, and the environmental, chemical, and even electronic industries.

Acoustics↗
PubMed2000

The os penis of the frugivorous bat, Eidolon helvum (Kerr).

The os penis reported in some species of the mammalian order was observed in the juvenile and adult penes of the friguvorous African bat, Eidolon helvum. The morphology of the os penis in Eidolon helvum differs from that observed in bat species and other mammalian order. In the adult form it is large, disc-shaped and located at the distal segment of the penile organ. The proximal segment of the penis does not contain any bone. In the juvenile bat the os penis is made of two separate bones located longitudinally close to each other at the distal third of the penile tissue. The distal location in both the juvenile and the adult poses a question about the true function of this tissue. The bone may function in Eidolon helvum to support erection of the penis more for micturition than for intromission.

Age Factors↗