Influence of stabilizers on quality of sandesh from buffalo milk.

Buffalo milk standardized to solids-not-fat (SNF) to fat ratio of 1.4 was added separately with 0.1% (w/w) each of carrageenan, sodium alginate and carboxymethyl cellulose and then heated, cooled and coagulated to obtain chhana which was converted into sandesh by adding 1.5% (w/w) wheat flour and 25% (w/w) cane sugar followed by heating (40 min/kg chhana). The treated samples of sandesh were compared with control prepared similarly manner but without stabilizer. Addition of stabilizer decreased hardness, fracturability, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness of sandesh and improved sensory body and texture, colour and appearance as well as overall acceptability of the product when compared with control. Textural and sensory properties of different samples of sandesh indicated that the product made by adding carrageenan proved best. Carrageenan at 0.1% produced better results in terms of textural and sensory profile of sandesh as compared to 0, 0.075 and 0.125% (w/w) of carrageenan.

Breast Cancer with Paraneoplastic Syndrome in a 72 Year Old Male Patient.

Breast cancer in male is rare which accounts about 1% of all malignant breast neoplasm cases. Since paraneoplastic syndrome is unusual with male breast cancer, very few reported cases are found. A72- year-old gentleman presented with proximal myopathy in all four limbs was referred to Dr. Sirajul Islam Medical College and Hospital in April 2017. He had generalized wasting with reduced tone and reflexes. Planter responses were normal with intact sensory. There were typical Heliotrope rash bilaterally. In background, he had history of radical mastectomy due to stage IIA ductal carcinoma of left breast 7 years back. Three years later, he was found to have multiple metastases in lung and liver, however, deliberately discontinued chemotherapy after first dose. Currently he is on Tamoxifen. Two months back, he was diagnosed to have brain metastasis. Also his serum sodium level was low with low urine osmolality. Considering his background, we diagnosed him dermatomyositis with peripheal neuropathy & SIADH as paraneoplastic presentation of breast malignancy. Despite of normal CPK and NCV, we treated him with steroid as dermatomyositis can present with normal CPK. His myopathy improved after 2 weeks of steroid treatment. Fluid restriction increased his serum sodium level. The aim of reporting this case is to aware physicians about the aggressive nature of male breast cancer, its orthodox paraneoplastic presentation and to differentiate neuropathy from myopathy so that early treatment can improve the outcome.

Scaling of domain cascades in stripe and skyrmion phases.

The origin of deterministic macroscopic properties often lies in microscopic stochastic motion. Magnetic fluctuations that manifest as domain avalanches and chaotic magnetization jumps exemplify such stochastic motion and have been studied in great detail. Here we report Fourier space studies of avalanches in a system exhibiting competing magnetic stripe and skyrmion phase using a soft X-ray speckle metrology technique. We demonstrate the existence of phase boundaries and underlying critical points in the stripe and skyrmion phases. We found that distinct scaling and universality classes are associated with these domain topologies. The magnitude and frequency of abrupt magnetic domain jumps observed in the stripe phase are dramatically reduced in the skyrmion phase. Our results provide an incisive way to probe and understand phase stability in systems exhibiting complex spin topologies.

Publisher Correction: Scaling of domain cascades in stripe and skyrmion phases.

The original version of this Article contained an error in Fig. 4d, in which the label of the region to the left of the white dashed lines incorrectly read 'Order stripes'. The correct version states 'Disorder stripes'. This has been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Continuous Uptake or Saturation-Investigation of Concentration and Surface-Packing-Specific Hemin Interaction with Lipid Membranes.

Drug design and targeted delivery in cells serve as a flourishing area not only for scientific inquiry, owing to numerous clinical applications, but also for understanding cell interaction with exogenous materials. The membrane localization of heme and its analog hemin, one of the most biologically relevant planar organic molecule, is very important to understand the molecular mechanism of intercalation and adsorption of this cytotoxic molecule after its dissociation from proteins such as hemoglobin. Herein, we investigate the differential behavior of hemin on the soft membrane surfaces of phospholipids by synchrotron-based X-ray scattering techniques, Langmuir monolayer measurements, and molecular dynamics simulation. A continuous hemin uptake from the subphase and intercalation into and/or adsorption on to the membrane surface have been witnessed in a strong membrane surface packing-specific manner. Competitive interactions between hemin-membrane and hemin-hemin are proposed to be responsible for the critical hemin concentration. Up to the limit, a continuous hemin uptake is possible and beyond that the hemin-hemin interaction dominates, effectively reducing the hemin intercalation into the membrane. This structural model of the hemin-uptake process can be generalized to understand the localization and transport across membranes and also for the development and design of new drugs.

Growth of bimolecular films of three-tailed amphiphiles.

The three-tailed amphiphile ferric stearate molecule, which forms a bimolecular layer on water surface with molecules in the lower and upper layers in different conformations, has been studied to understand transfer and growth of bimolecular films on the surface of hydrophilic silicon substrates. This bimolecular film forms a two-dimensional lattice on water with a slightly distorted hexagonal lattice where both the in-plane and out-of-plane domain sizes are small. The film also showed larger microscopic rigidity compared to its macroscopic mechanical response. This asymmetric bimolecular layer was found to be preserved when the film is transferred on the substrates at different values of surface pressures ranging from 1 mN/m to near-collapse (55 mN/m). Both the upper and lower layers become denser and interfaces between these layers become sharper with increase in deposition pressure but the growths have different natures. The lower layer of transferred film is dense from 1 mN/m and, except for a steplike increase between 20 and 30 mN/m, changes slowly in density. The density of the upper molecular layer grows continuously with surface pressure.

Glass transition in ultrathin polymer films: a thermal expansion study.

The glass transition process gets affected in ultrathin films having thickness comparable to the size of the molecules. We observe systematic broadening of the glass transition temperature (T(g)) as the thickness of an ultrathin polymer film reduces below the radius of gyration but the change in the average T(g) was found to be very small. The existence of reversible negative and positive thermal expansion below and above T(g) increased the sensitivity of our thickness measurements performed using energy-dispersive x-ray reflectivity. A simple model of the T(g) variation as a function of depth expected from sliding motion could explain the results.

Dramatic enhancement of capillary wave fluctuations of a decorated water surface.

We have demonstrated by x-ray diffuse scattering that a bimolecular layer of a preformed three-tailed amphiphile, ferric stearate, drastically enhances capillary wave fluctuations on water surface due to a reduction in surface tension to 1 mN/m . The bimolecular layer is composed of molecules in symmetric configuration, on top of molecules in asymmetric configuration with ferric ions in contact with water. Unlike the usual Langmuir monolayers, this layer of molecules does not rupture under compression, but becomes thicker. This behavior mimics folding of a membrane on a liquid surface and is closely related to the cohesive interaction brought by the ferric ions. The low effective tension of this artificial membrane depends on the available area and reduces as the microscopic excess area increases.

Reversible monolayer-to-crystalline phase transition in amphiphilic silsesquioxane at the air-water interface.

We report on the counter intuitive reversible crystallisation of two-dimensional monolayer of Trisilanolisobutyl Polyhedral Oligomeric SilSesquioxane (TBPOSS) on water surface using synchrotron x-ray scattering measurements. Amphiphilic TBPOSS form rugged monolayers and Grazing Incidence X-ray Scattering (GIXS) measurements reveal that the in-plane inter-particle correlation peaks, characteristic of two-dimensional system, observed before transition is replaced by intense localized spots after transition. The measured x-ray scattering data of the non-equilibrium crystalline phase on the air-water interface could be explained with a model that assumes periodic stacking of the TBPOSS dimers. These crystalline stacking relaxes upon decompression and the TBPOSS layer retains its initial monolayer state. The existence of these crystals in compressed phase is confirmed by atomic force microscopy measurements by lifting the materials on a solid substrate.

Temporal changes in activities of enzymes reducing ring-A of progesterone in the fetus and placenta of the rat.

The development of delta4-5alpha-reductase and 3alpha- and 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases in rat fetuses and placentas was detected by the production of specific metabolites during in vitro incubation with progesterone. The metabolites, 5alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione, 3alpha-hydroxy-5alpha-pregnan-20-one, and 3beta-hydroxy-5alpha-pregnan-20-one, were identified by isolation and purification by thin-layer chromatography and reverse isotope dilution, followed by recrystallization of the free compound and a derivative. The delta4-5alpha-reductase and the 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase are associated with the particulate fraction. However, 3alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase is a soluble enzyme present in the supernatant fraction of homogenized placentas and fetuses. The activities of these enzymes were greater in the placenta than in the fetus. As pregnancy progresses, the activities increase in the fetus, but diminish in the placenta. Although the placenta secretes only marginal amounts of progesterone, it has a notable capacity to metabolize progesterone to 5alpha-reduced metabolites. The fetus has the ability to utilize progesterone as early as day 13, and its potential to convert progesterone into ring-A reduced products increases during gestation.

Otitis media in early childhood and its relationship to later verbal and academic performance.

The relationship between the occurrence of otitis media with effusion during the first 3 years of life and subsequent verbal and academic performance was examined in 61 socioeconomically disadvantaged children who attended a research day-care program. Study children were participants in a longitudinal study of child development in which the number of episodes of otitis media and duration of each otitis episode were reported prospectively from infancy. The incidence of otitis media was highest during the first 2 years of life. Bilateral otitis media accounted for 66% of the days with otitis media with effusion. Standardized tests of intelligence and academic performance were administered to the children when they were 3 1/2 to 6 years of age. No evidence of associations between measures of early childhood otitis media experience and these measures of verbal or academic functioning was found in this study population.

Secretion of progesterone during gestation in the rat.

The concentrations of progesterone and 5alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione in ovarian and uterine venous plasma and in the systemic circulation were measured during gestation in the rat. The steroids were quantified by radioimmunoassay after separation on silicic acid micro-columns with the solvent system hexane : ethyl acetate (5 : 2, v/v). The concentration of progesterone in the systemic circulation was highest on days 3--4 and 13--17 of pregnancy; throughout gestation, the concentration of 5alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione was low in relation to that of progesterone and showed no marked changes as gestation proceeded. The level of progesterone in ovarian venous effluent was 10--20 times higher than that in the uterine vein and 20--50 times greater than that in the systemic circulation. The rate of secretion of progesterone by the ovary was highest during days 13--17 of gestation and ovariectomy during this period markedly reduced the levels of progesterone in the peripheral circulation. The concentration of progesterone in the uterine venous effluent was raised compared with the concentration in plasma from the abdominal aorta, especially on days 7 and 9 of pregnancy. These results suggest that, in vivo, the rat placenta synthesizes small amounts of progesterone and secretes it into the maternal circulation. The ovary is the primary source of progesterone during pregnancy and the placental contribution is of secondary importance. Although 4-ene-5alpha-reductase enzyme(s) is present in the ovary and placenta, significant quantities of the reduced progestin 5alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione are not secreted into the systemic circulation during gestation in the rat.

Cytologic features of oocytes in the adult human ovary.

A broad survey of the cytologic features of follicular oocytes from sections of adult ovaries from donors with normal menstrual cycles, from patients with polycystic ovarian disease, and from patients treated with estrogen and progesterone for gynecologic disorders with no apparent ovarian pathology has been made in this study. On the basis of light microscopic observations, four basic types of oocytes could be recognized: (1) oocytes with nuclei containing diffused or filamentous chromatin, (2) oocytes with metaphase I chromosomes or an extruded polar body, (3) oocytes with nuclei possessing massive clumps of chromatin frequently associated with the nucleolus, and (4) degenerating oocytes with no distinguishing cytologic features. The numbers of oocytes in these different groups varied with the reproductive state of the donors: 34 to 35% were type 1 during proliferative and secretory phases; mature oocytes type 2 were 3.3%, and were found only during the late proliferative phase; and 41 to 46% were type 3 during both phases of the menstrucal cycle. Large numbers of oocytes from polycystic ovaries (77%) and from ovaries of patients treated with steroids (86%) were degenerating and frequently contained massive clumps of chromatin material associated with the nucleolus.

Insulin modulates neuronal plasma membrane development in human fetal spinal cord neurons in culture.

The number of intramembrane protein particles (IMP) in the protoplasmic face of the perikaryal plasma membrane was evaluated in neurons from 9 week-old and 12 week-old human fetal spinal cord in culture. An increased number of IMP was observed in membranes from 12 week-old fetal neurons when compared to membranes from 9 week-old fetal neurons. The addition of insulin (100-2500 microU/ml) to the culture media resulted in a significantly increased number of IMP in neuronal membranes. Incubation with glucose (1.5-6 mg/ml) did not modify the number of IMP and glucose did not potentiate the effect of insulin when both glucose (3 mg/ml) and insulin (500 microU/ml) were added to the culture media. The results suggest that insulin may modulate the development of neuronal membranes and that this effect is not mediated by an increased glucose utilization.

Assessment of the teratogenic potential of acrolein and cyclophosphamide in a rat embryo culture system.

Rat conceptuses were explanted from the uterus on day 10.5 of gestation. The embryos within the yolk-sacs were then transferred to culture bottles containing pure male rat serum either with or without liver microsomes and NADPH. Acrolein (AC), present worldwide in the environment and one of the intermediate metabolites of cyclophosphamide (CPA), was added to these culture mediums. The conceptuses were grown for a period of 48 h after which the morphological features and their degree of differentiation were examined and the DNA and protein contents determined. The effects produced by AC were compared with those obtained by CPA treatment, using the same culture conditions. AC treated embryos and yolk-sacs showed slight but statistically significant inhibition of growth at concentrations of 100 microM and 150 microM. Higher dose levels (200 microM and 250 microM) resulted in a drastic inhibition of growth and differentiation. However, no gross structural defects were observed at the dose-levels used. In contrast, conceptuses cultivated in the presence of CPA (350 microM), liver microsomes and NADPH showed characteristic morphologic lesions. Our findings indicate that AC is lethal to embryos within a narrow dose-range, but has no teratogenic potential. Therefore, AC is not the metabolite which is responsible for the teratogenic effects observed after CPA treatment in vivo. The results also demonstrate that the postimplantation embryo culture system can discriminate between embryolethal and teratogenic effects and that whole embryos in culture can respond to teratogens in a manner similar to embryos exposed in vivo.

Metabolism of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon in human term placenta influenced by cigarette smoke exposure.

The relative contributions of biologic and environmental factors on embryo-fetal development were elucidated in a population of pregnant women who were exposed to varying amounts of active cigarette smoke and women who were not exposed to cigarette smoke. The neonatal weight at birth, placental weight at delivery, duration of pregnancy, and placental xenobiotic (polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon, PAH) metabolism potential were assessed in this population. The overall metabolic capability in exposed and unexposed placental tissue was measured by in vitro assays using microsomes and a PAH substrate, benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). Toxicity potential was determined by B[a]P-metabolite-DNA adduct generation under the same incubation condition. Cigarette smoke exposure increased the overall PAH metabolism potential in placental tissues by approximately 200% (nonsmoker 176.2 +/- 33.6, n = 25; smoker 524.5 +/- 75.5, n = 32 pmol/mg protein) whereas PAH-DNA adduct formation potential did not increase significantly over the basal level (nonsmoker 5002 +/- 830, n = 15; smoker 6172 +/- 1443, n = 22 fmol B[a]P equivalent/mumol DNA/mg protein). Exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy is deleterious to fetal development as reflected by reduced neonatal weight at birth. In contrast, placental weight reduction is indistinct, but placentae expressed markedly augmented overall xenobiotic (PAH) metabolism capability in response to cigarette smoke exposure during pregnancy, indicating placental metabolism may be an important mediator of adverse effects induced by such xenobiotic exposure.

Sister-chromatid exchange analyses in rodent maternal, embryonic and extra-embryonic tissues: transplacental and direct mutagen exposures.

Sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) analyses were conducted in maternal, embryonic and extraembryonic tissues of pregnant rats and mice. The various tissues were substituted in vivo with 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) by implantation of a BrdU tablet in pregnant animals at mid-gestation. Following maternal exposure to 5-20 mg/kg cyclophosphamide, embryonic liver cells demonstrated dose-dependent SCE increases up to 10-fold that of control. Rat embryos revealed little intralitter variability for this transplacental effect. Maternal marrow and yolk sac cells examined in the rat also underwent significant increases in SCE, although to different extents. While marrow SCE frequencies were similar to those of embryo liver, yolk sac SCE frequencies were generally much lower. SCE analyses were also conducted in rat yolk sac cells substituted in vivo with BrdU and subsequently explanted to whole-embryo culture. In vitro exposure to cyclophosphamide at concentrations up to 100 microgram/ml had no SCE-inducing effect. However, similar exposures to phosphoramide mustard, a presumed metabolite of cyclophosphamide, caused dose-dependent increases in SCE up to 8-fold higher than control at 2 microgram/ml. Thus, cyclophosphamide appears to require maternal metabolic activation in order to cause an increased SCE frequency in yolk sac cells. The system described permits versatile SCE analyses which can help to define relative maternal and embryo tissue-specific sensitivities to chemical-induced genetic damage.

Sequential liquid-liquid extraction graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometric (GFAAS) and spectrophotometric determination of zirconium(IV) with calixarene hydroxamic acid.

A new calixarene hydroxamic acid, 25,26,27,28-tetrahydroxy-5,11,17,23-tetrakis (N-p-chlorophenyl) calix[4]arene hydroxamic acid (CPCHA) is synthesized and used for the extraction and graphite furnace atomic absorption determination of zirconium(IV). The extract is also determined spectrophotometrically as CPCHA-SCN complex having maximum absorbance at 447 nm with molar absorptivity 9.4x10(3) l mol(-1) cm(-1). The Beer's law obeys in the range of 1.0-9.5 ppm of zirconium. The graphite atomic absorption (GFAAS) increases the sensitivity by about 50 folds. The method is applied to the trace determination of zirconium(IV) in standard samples.

Reversible negative thermal expansion of polymer films.

A basic understanding of the properties of thin polymer films is of fundamental importance for developing applications in nanotechnology. Results of energy and angle dispersive x-ray reflectivity measurements on polymer thin films as a function of temperature exhibit reversible negative thermal expansion below the glass transition temperature T(g). Above T(g), the thickness expansion becomes almost equal to the expected bulk volume expansion. These results could be explained on the basis of evolution of disorder with temperature at the interfaces, chain entanglement and associated entropy changes.

Rodent whole-embryo culture as a teratogen screening method.

Postimplantation embryo techniques can sensitively detect compounds with adverse biological activity. The versatility of the in vitro embryo toxicity/teratogenicity screening assay has been augmented by the addition of adult hepatic metabolic activation systems, which influence the results for some compounds in the embryo culture system. In this assay, cyclophosphamide produces negative results without metabolic activation and positive results with activation; metabolic activation changes the results for cytochalasin D from positive to negative. Another improvement has been the evaluation of the embryo toxicity/teratogenicity of various water-immiscible solvents. As these studies revealed that sonicated corn oil/serum preparations were nontoxic at concentrations of up to 10% of the culture medium, these solvents can now be used to expose cultured embryos to water-insoluble compounds (e.g., chlorinated pesticides). This in vitro rodent whole-embryo culture makes it possible to investigate extremely rapid cell division and specific time-related morphogenic events. Because in vitro development so closely parallels that occurring in vivo, the in vitro embryo culture system appears to be particularly relevant for the detection of teratogenic and embryotoxic compounds. A variety of compounds have been assayed in vitro via a combination of metabolic activation system and/or water-insoluble chemical delivery systems. Correlation between the published results of the in vitro screening assay and the published results of in vivo embryo toxicology and teratology studies has been very good. However, most of the compounds used in in vitro testing have been strongly teratogenic, and little information is available on compounds that are not teratogenic in in vivo tests. There is also a good correlation between the concentrations of teratogenic agents that cause adverse effects in vitro and the in vivo teratogenic doses of these compounds.