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.

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 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.