247 research outputs found
Effect of high hydrostatic pressure processing (HHPP) on salmonella enterica in peanut butter
No full textAmerican consumers eat more than 700 million pounds of peanut butter each year, accounting for approximately half the edible use of peanuts in the United States. Salmonella is a unique microorganism that can survive in peanut butter as demonstrated by two large outbreaks in 2007 and 2008, creating the need for methods to augment and improve the current peanut butter manufacturing processes to make them even safer. High Hydrostatic Pressure Processing (HHPP) is a popular processing method used to process foods such as guacamole, meats, oysters, jellies and juices to ensure microbiological safety while retaining quality and organoleptic properties. The application of HHPP as an alternative processing method to inactivate Salmonella in peanut butter was the focus of this research. The objective of this research was to optimize the pressure and time conditions of HHPP for maximum inactivation of Salmonella inoculated in creamy peanut butter. It was found that at varying combinations of pressures between 400 and 600 MPa and hold times between 4 and 18 min, the reductions in Salmonella concentration in peanut butter, from an initial level of 106- 107 CFU/g, were only between 1.6 and 1.9 log CFU/g. This led to further exploration of the effect of (i) pressure cycling during HHPP, (ii) varying water activity of peanut butter, and (iii) added nisin in combination with HHPP. The maximum log reduction achieved in all cases was 2 log CFU/g. Salmonella was inactivated to below detection limit only when the water activity of peanut butter was increased to an extreme value of 0.96, rendering it unrecognizable as peanut butter. It can be concluded that HHPP is not a suitable processing method for significantly improving the microbiological safety of Salmonella contaminated peanut butter. However, the intriguing results from this research will sow the seeds for future research on the molecular mechanism associated with Salmonella survival in low water activity foods like peanut butter during HHPP.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Tanya D'souz
Treble Chorus, December 8, 1992
No full textRecorded during a live performance at Dalton Center Recital Hall, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, December 8, 1992, 8:00 p.m., the 168th concert of the School of Music’s 1992-1993 season.Treble Chorus, Thomas Kasdorf, conductor ; soloists (in the 2nd work): Sara Veenstra, soprano ; Athena Jenkins, soprano ; Trisha Ann Taraskiewicz, mezzo-soprano ; Amy Gibbens, flute ; Dennis DeSantis, percussion ; chamber orchestra (in the 3rd work): Pamela Butler, Pamela Olsen, violins ; Jonathan Ellis, viola ; Tanya Treat, cello ; Richard Roznowski, double bass ; Amy Gibbens, flute ; Tracy Christmas, oboe ; Kevin Vuorenmaa, clarinet ; Jason Zerban, bassoon.Sacred vocal music for women's chorus (SSAA); the 3rd work with chamber orchestra.Information from performance program.Marienlieder = Songs of Mary : op. 22. The angelic greeting ; Mary’s journey to the church ; Mary’s pilgrimage ; The hunter ; Call to Mary ; Magdalena ; Praise of Mary / Johannes Brahms ; arranged/trans. E. Harold Geer -- Five narrative carols : 1958. Adam lay ybounden ; Coventry carol ; Torches ; O little one ; Patapan / Lloyd Pfautsch -- Place of the blest : 1969. The carol of the rose ; The pelican ; The place of the blest ; Alleluia. Amen / Randall Thompson
Integrating Zooarchaeology and Paleoethnobotany: A Consideration of Issues, Methods, and Cases
No full textReview of Integrating Zooarchaeology and Paleoethnobotany: A Consideration of Issues, Methods, and Cases. Amber M. VanDerwarker and Tanya M. Peres, eds. 2010. Springer, New York. Pp. 317, 13 color illustrations, 13 black-and-white illustrations. $129.00 (hardback). ISBN 9781441909343
Small glutamine-rich tetratricopeptide repeat-containing protein alpha (SGTA) ablation limits offspring viability and growth in mice
No full textSmall glutamine-rich tetratricopeptide repeat-containing protein α (SGTA) has been implicated as a co-chaperone and regulator of androgen and growth hormone receptor (AR, GHR) signalling. We investigated the functional consequences of partial and full Sgta ablation in vivo using Cre-lox Sgta-null mice. Sgta(+/-) breeders generated viable Sgta(-/-) offspring, but at less than Mendelian expectancy. Sgta(-/-) breeders were subfertile with small litters and higher neonatal death (P < 0.02). Body size was significantly and proportionately smaller in male and female Sgta(-/-) (vs WT, Sgta(+/-) P < 0.001) from d19. Serum IGF-1 levels were genotype- and sex-dependent. Food intake, muscle and bone mass and adiposity were unchanged in Sgta(-/-). Vital and sex organs had normal relative weight, morphology and histology, although certain androgen-sensitive measures such as penis and preputial size, and testis descent, were greater in Sgta(-/-). Expression of AR and its targets remained largely unchanged, although AR localisation was genotype- and tissue-dependent. Generally expression of other TPR-containing proteins was unchanged. In conclusion, this thorough investigation of SGTA-null mutation reports a mild phenotype of reduced body size. The model's full potential likely will be realised by genetic crosses with other models to interrogate the role of SGTA in the many diseases in which it has been implicated.Lisa K. Philp, Tanya K. Day, Miriam S. Butler, Geraldine Laven-Law, Shalini Jindal, Theresa E. Hickey, Howard I. Scher, Lisa M. Butler, Wayne D. Tille
The effect of attention training on emotional vulnerability and food consumption following a stressor
No full textIndividuals with anxiety typically display an attentional bias toward threat that may contribute causally to the development and maintenance of anxiety. C. MacLeod, E. Rutherford, L. Campbell, G. Ebsworthy, and L. Holker (2002) showed that manipulating attentional bias toward and away from threat can modify emotional vulnerability. This experiment attempted to replicate and extend this finding to undergraduates (N = 67) reporting average anxiety, but above-average emotional overeating tendencies. An objective outcome was added (calories consumed during a "taste test".
Participants were double-blindly assigned to an "attend-neutral" attention training condition of the dot probe task (in which the probes replaced neutral words to train a bias toward neutral words) or an "attend-negative" condition (in which the probes replaced negative words). It was hypothesized that the attend-neutral group would report less negative affect following a stressor and consume fewer calories than the attend-negative group.
Reaction times to each of the two types of trials (where probes replaced neutral or negative words) showed high internal consistency. However, Cronbach's alpha for attentional bias scores (the difference between reaction times to detect probes replacing neutral words and probes replacing negative words) was low pre- and posttraining (.50 and .33).
Perhaps related to the dot probe task's low reliability, the attend-neutral group's bias score did not change. The attend-negative group, however, developed the predicted bias toward negative words. Contrary to predictions, both groups reported equivalent negative affect increases following the stressor and consumed equivalent calories during the "taste test." In exploratory analyses of the top one-third of the sample on trait anxiety, the attend-negative group showed a trend toward the predicted greater increase in negative affect following the stressor compared with the attend-neutral group, r = .39 (a medium effect size). The two groups, however, consumed equivalent calories. A clinically or subclinically anxious sample that displays a bias toward threat seems to increase the likelihood of training a bias away from threat. At 1-month follow-up, unexpectedly, the attend-negative group reported decreased general distress compared to the attend-neutral group, who reported an increase, possibly suggesting that training toward threat could function as exposure and decrease anxiety.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-128)
SGTA: A new player in the molecular co-chaperone game
No full textSmall glutamine-rich tetratricopeptide repeat-containing protein α (SGTA) is a steroid receptor molecular co-chaperone that may substantially influence hormone action and, consequently, hormone-mediated carcinogenesis. To date, published studies describe SGTA as a protein that is potentially critical in a range of biological processes, including viral infection, cell division, mitosis, and cell cycle checkpoint activation. SGTA interacts with the molecular chaperones, heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and HSP90, and with steroid receptor complexes, including those containing the androgen receptor. Steroid receptors are critical for maintaining cell growth and differentiation in hormonally regulated tissues, such as male and female reproductive tissues, and also play a role in disease states involving these tissues. There is growing evidence that, through its interactions with chaperones and steroid receptors, SGTA may be a key player in the pathogenesis of hormonally influenced disease states, including prostate cancer and polycystic ovary syndrome. Research into the function of SGTA has been conducted in several model organisms and cell types, with these studies showing that SGTA functionality is cell-specific and tissue-specific. However, very few studies have been replicated in multiple cell types or experimental systems. Although a broad range of functions have been attributed to SGTA, there is a serious lack of mechanistic information to describe how SGTA acts. In this review, published evidence linking SGTA with hormonally regulated disease states is summarized and discussed, highlighting the need for future research to more clearly define the biological function(s) of this potentially important co-chaperone.Lisa K. Philp, Miriam S. Butler, Theresa E. Hickey, Lisa M. Butler, Wayne D. Tilley, Tanya K. Da
A gene signature identified using a mouse model of androgen receptor-dependent prostate cancer predicts biochemical relapse in human disease
No full textMutations in the androgen receptor (AR) have been detected in experimental and clinical prostate tumors. Mice with enforced prostate-specific expression of one such receptor variant, AR-E231G, invariably develop prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia by 12 weeks and metastatic prostate cancer by 52 weeks. The aim of this study was to identify genes with altered expression in the prostates of AR-E231G mice at an early stage of disease that may act as drivers of AR-mediated tumorigenesis. The gene expression profile of AR-E231G prostate tissue from 12-week-old mice was compared to an equivalent profile from mice expressing the AR-T857A receptor variant (analogous to the AR-T877A variant in LNCaP cells), which do not develop prostate tumors. One hundred and thirty-two genes were differentially expressed in AR-E231G prostates. Classification of these genes revealed enrichment for cellular pathways known to be involved in prostate cancer, including cell cycle and lipid metabolism. Suppression of two genes upregulated in the AR-E231G model, ADM and CITED1, increased cell death and reduced proliferation of human prostate cancer cells. Many genes differentially expressed in AR-E231G prostates are also deregulated in human tumors. Three of these genes, ID4, NR2F1 and PTGDS, which were expressed at consistently lower levels in clinical prostate cancer compared to nonmalignant tissues, formed a signature that predicted biochemical relapse (hazard ratio 2.2, p 5 0.038). We believe that our findings support the value of this novel mouse model of prostate cancer to identify candidate therapeutic targets and/or biomarkers of human disease.Vanessa C. Thompson, Tanya K. Day, Tina Bianco-Miotto, Luke A. Selth, Guangzhou Han, Mervyn Thomas, Grant Buchanan, Howard I. Scher, Colleen C. Nelson, the Australian Prostate Cancer BioResource, Norman M. Greenberg, Lisa M. Butler and Wayne D. Tille
The significance of ancestral islands: Highland Scottish and regional identity in the works of Margaret Laurence and Alistair Macleod
No full textThe process of negotiating personal identity in a Canadian context is a complex one. It inevitably draws on many sources for identity markers, two of which include identification with a particular region and identification with a particular ethnic heritage. This thesis explores the constructed identities found in the fiction of two contemporary Canadian authors, Margaret Laurence and Alistair MacLeod, by focusing on the regional and ethnic identities represented in their texts. Laurence and MacLeod share an interest in a particular ethnic identity; the legacy of the Scottish Highlands figures prominently in most of their fictional works. But whereas Laurence explores this Highland heritage in fiction set primarily in western Canada, MacLeod explores a similar motif in short stories set in the Atlantic Provinces. Their similar tendencies to explore Highland Scots heritage in specific regional settings have, however, resulted in very different critical approaches to their works. Critics tend to read MacLeod'sexplorations of the Highland motif as a function of his regionalist bent, while they see Laurence's explorations of the same heritage as a function of a nationalist bent, despite the strong regionalist elements of her work. This thesis compares the ways in which Highland Scots heritage functions as a source of cultural identity in Laurence's final novel, 'The Diviners ', and MacLeod's collected short fiction. It explores the tensions within and between the regional identities that arise out of this identification with the Highland Scots tradition in these texts and seeks to compare their respective regional visions as they are represented in. relation to the Canadian nation
Moving Research Journals Online: Using Blogs to Teach Research-based Writing in First-Year Composition
No full textThe thesis describes a research study that evaluates replacing the research journal assignment with a research blog assignment. The study was conducted in Spring 2011 in the author\u27s ENGL 1102: Composition II class
Intentional single parenting by educated African-American and South African women: case studies, 2001
No full textThis study examined the factors that tend to lead to intentional single parenting of educated African-American and South African women. The study was based on the premise that four factors were the dominating dynamics behind a womans decision to intentionally single parent. A case study analysis approach was used to document data gathered from twelve women from America and South Africa. An interview scale and an interview grid were developed. The researcher found that the four factors were significant elements in determining intentional single parenting. These factors are l) the belief of an available mate shortage, 2) educational and financial attainment, 3) the age of a woman, and 4) the desire to mother. The conclusion drawn from the findings suggest that one factor, educational and financial attainment, outweighed the others with the respondents and that each country selected a different factor that determined its decision toward intentional single parenting. The results of this study clearly identified a Stages-of-Development model for Intentional Single Parenting
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