Protein Quality Evaluation of Some Commonly Consumed Bird Egg Varieties Using Amino Acid Scores.

Objective: Food proteins provide amino acids (AAs) and serve as building blocks of all vital organs, muscles, hormones, and biological fluids such as blood. Eggs are known as a good source of protein. This study compared the protein quality of bird eggs (raw and boiled), using their AA scores since some individuals consume raw eggs for various reasons. Research Methods. Eggs studied were exotic chicken, local chicken, turkey, quail, and guinea fowl eggs. The eggs were shelled and their contents (boiled and raw) lyophilized. The standard AOAC method (Kjeldahl) was used to determine protein content, while the amino acid composition was measured using an AA analyzer. The total AA scores were calculated based on the whole hen's egg AA profiles. Statistical significance was accepted at p < 0.05. Results: The Guinea fowl egg had the highest total amino acid score (TAAS) of 0.92. The other scores ranged as follows: 0.82 (quail) >0.81 (turkey) >0.75 (exotic chicken), and the lowest score was 0.65 (local chicken). The least scores were phenylalanine: 0.34 (exotic chicken), phenylalanine and serine: 0.36 (local chicken), leucine and aspartic acid: 0.41 (turkey), methionine: 0.31 (quail), and glutamic acid: 0.33 (guinea fowl). Also, guinea fowl egg had the highest total essential amino acid (TEAA) (49.6 g/100 g protein), i.e., % TEAA (55.1%), while exotic chicken egg had the lowest (41.1%), but the highest % NEAA (58.9%). Conclusion: Guinea fowl eggs had the highest EAA and TAA content. Its consumption should particularly be encouraged for children as this can significantly reduce the risk of protein-energy malnutrition and prevent protein deficiencies.

Beyond the mental pain: A case-control study on the contribution of schizoid personality disorder symptoms to medically serious suicide attempts.

BACKGROUND: Clinical and research findings have highlighted the role of interpersonal factors in suicidal behavior with high levels of intent and lethality. Schizoid personality disorder (SPD) is at the extreme end of interpersonal difficulties. Thus, we aimed to understand the contribution of SPD symptoms to suicide behavior and specifically to more lethal suicide attempts. METHOD: Four groups were investigated (N = 338): medically serious suicide attempters, medically non-serious suicide attempters, psychiatric and healthy controls. SPD symptoms, mental pain variants, and clinical characteristics were assessed. RESULTS: Overall, attempters were characterized by higher levels of most SPD symptoms. Solitary lifestyle and emotional detachment were higher among medically serious suicide attempters relative to less-serious attempters. Emotional detachment doubled the risk for high lethality, beyond mental pain variables. CONCLUSIONS: SPD symptoms of interpersonal difficulties and low levels of emotional expressions are important risk factors for more severe suicidal behavior. Implications for identification of at-risk groups for suicide are discussed.

Evidence for an association between the dopamine D3 receptor gene DRD3 and schizophrenia.

Association of the dopamine D3 receptor gene (DRD3) and schizophrenia was examined in unrelated Israeli and Italian schizophrenic patients and ethnically matched normal control subjects. In the combined sample, there was a significant excess of DRD3 allele 2 among the schizophrenic patients (chi2 = 4.70, d.f. 1, p = 0.03). Comparison of genotype frequencies revealed an excess of the 2-2 genotype in the combined schizophrenic sample (chi2 = 8.30, d.f. 1, p = 0.01) and in the non-Ashkenazi Israeli schizophrenics alone (chi2 = 5.70, d.f. 2, p = 0.05). DRD3 2-2 genotype conferred a significantly increased risk of schizophrenia (chi2 = 8.21, d.f. 1, p = 0.004; OR = 2.87, CI 95% = 1.36-5.76) in the combined sample and in the non-Ashkenazi Israeli schizophrenics (chi2 = 7.22, d.f. 1, p = 0.04; OR = 7.22, CI 95% = 1.04-24.83). In the combined and Italian samples, allele 2 was associated with early age of onset as was the 2-2 genotype in the combined sample and non-Ashkenazi group. The 2-2 genotype was associated with poor response to neuroleptics, particularly in the non-Ashkenazi, Israeli schizophrenics. The possibility that DRD3 or a locus in linkage disequilibrium with it may play a role in the transmission of schizophrenia, is considered in relation to previous positive and negative reports.

Encoding technique for design of zero-order (on-axis) Fraunhofer computer-generated holograms.

Diffractive optical elements able to generate zero-order (on-axis) distributions with phase as well as amplitude distributions are described. The proposed elements are surface relief plates, i.e., phase-only elements, that are based on the concept of computer-generated masks followed by common etching processes. The encoding method assumes fixed spatial partitioning of the cell and a phase-only value allocated to each subelement. The reconstructed amplitude and phase distributions contain imperfections (noise) resulting from the encoding process. Methods of error reduction and improvements are provided.