Impacts of Starch and the Interactions Between Starch and Other Macromolecules on Wheat Falling Number.

Wheat with a low falling number (FN) has been particularly prevalent in recent years and has resulted in a loss of more than $140 million in a single year in the wheat industry in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. FN measurement is a standard method for the evaluation of grain α-amylase activity, and a low FN indicates a reduction in hot wholemeal paste viscosity due to sprouting damage. Recent studies show that a low FN may result from a developmental change of starch and adverse effects of non-α-amylase macromolecules on wheat. In this review, we describe the principles of FN measurement and the relationship between FN and α-amylase. We also discuss the isozymes, locations, and inhibitors of wheat α-amylase. The effects of various aspects of starch, which is the substrate of α-amylase, on wheat FN are also discussed, including starch structural characteristics (for example, starch granule architecture), starch susceptibility to α-amylase, and the interaction between starch and nonstarch macromolecules (for example, lipids). Studies on the effects of planting environments (for example, temperature) and agronomic practices (for example, irrigation and fertilization) on both starch paste viscosity and FN are also reviewed. This paper highlights the importance of considering the impacts of starch and the interactions of starch and other macromolecules, including wheat α-amylase, on wheat FN, which is important for developing strategies to solve the low FN problem.

Attentional orienting and executive control are affected by different types of meditation practice.

Several studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of meditation on attention. The present study investigated the relationship between focused attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM) meditation skills and the various functions of attention. In Experiment 1, we executed the attention network test and compared the performance of experts on dandao meditation with that of ordinary people on this test. The results indicated that the experts specializing in OM meditation demonstrated greater attentional orienting ability compared with those specializing in FA meditation and the control group. In addition, both expert groups registered improvements in their executive control abilities compared with the control group. In Experiment 2, we trained beginners in FA meditation for 3months. The results showed that the experimental group exhibited significantly enhanced executive control ability. We infer that FA meditation skills promote executive control function and OM meditation skills promote both executive control and attentional orienting functions.

Reduction of falling number in soft white spring wheat caused by an increased proportion of spherical B-type starch granules.

A low falling number (FN) in wheat indicates high α-amylase activity associated with poor end-use quality. We hypothesize starch - the substrate of α-amylase, can directly influence hot flour pasting properties and its susceptibility to α-amylase, which further affects viscosity. We examined the structural characteristics of starch in three soft white spring wheat cultivars grown in Idaho in 2013 (normal FN year) and 2014 (low FN year with pre-harvest rains). Our data surprisingly show that starch in some low FN wheat was not significantly degraded by α-amylase but had developmental changes with an increased proportion of B-type wheat starch. We reconstituted wheat starch and verified that starch with an increase of B-granules has a relatively low viscosity and high susceptibility to wheat α-amylase, which further facilitates the decrease of viscosity. The influence of starch structure and starch-enzyme interaction must be considered while developing a solution to the low FN issue.

Differential gene expression in gram-negative and gram-positive sepsis.

Sepsis is the most common cause of death in patients in the intensive care unit. Genome-wide gene expression analysis can provide insights into the molecular alterations of sepsis. Total mRNA was extracted from the livers of 6 uninfected control mice and 60 septic mice after infusion of either live Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus. Using a murine complementary DNA microarray system, changes in gene expression were monitored at six time points (uninfected, 2, 8, 24, 48, and 72 hours). Overall, 4.8% of 6,144 assessed genes were differentially regulated with a greater than twofold change across all time points. Most of the genes with altered expression were commonly present in gram-negative and gram-positive sepsis, but the expression levels of 17 genes were different between both types of sepsis at particular time points after infection. The microarray results support the hypothesis that both gram-positive and gram-negative sepsis share a final common pathway involved in the pathogenesis of sepsis, but certain genes are differentially expressed under distinct regulation. These results may provide insights into the pathogenesis of sepsis and may also help identify some altered genes that can serve as new targets for diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies.