Creating Public Awareness of How Goats Are Reared and Milk Produced May Affect Consumer Acceptability

This study evaluated whether showing a video of the different ways of raising goats for milk affected consumer acceptability. Four combinations, 2 Videos (intensive [INT] and semiextensive [SEM] system) × 2 Milk Types (semiskimmed [S] and whole [W] milk), were evaluated by 70 habitual consumers of goat milk, who scored their liking and purchase intention during blind (B), expected (E), and informed (I) acceptability sessions. In the B session, consumers tasted both milk types without information. S samples were preferred over W samples. In the E session, SEM video created high expectations in terms of milk liking and purchase intent, whereas the opposite happened when showing INT video. In the I session, consumers showed a clear preference for combinations created using SEM video, regardless of milk type. W-SEM and S-INT were worse (negative disconfirmation) and better (positive disconfirmation) than expected, respectively. A complete assimilation toward expectations occurred only for S-INT. INT video adversely affected the acceptability of S samples. Concerning purchase intent, W-SEM and S-SEM were worse than expected, but the assimilation was complete only for S-SEM: SEM video increased purchase intent for S samples.     

Asymptotic distributions of kappa statistics and their differences with many raters,many rating categories and two conditions

In clinical research and in more general classification problems, a frequent concern is the reliability of a rating system. In the absence of a gold standard, agreement may be considered as an indication of reliability. When dealing with categorical data, the well‐known kappa statistic is often used to measure agreement. The aim of this paper is to obtain a theoretical result about the asymptotic distribution of the kappa statistic with multiple items, multiple raters, multiple conditions, and multiple rating categories (more than two), based on recent work. The result settles a long lasting quest for the asymptotic variance of the kappa statistic in this situation and allows for the construction of asymptotic confidence intervals. A recent application to clinical endoscopy and to the diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) is shortly presented to complement the theoretical perspective.     

S-D-lactoylglutathione in resting and activated human neutrophils

Zymosan particles opsonised with human serum factors functionally activate human neutrophils and induce a substantial modification of the human neutrophil cytosolic glyoxalase system. The activity of glyoxalase I increases and the activity of glyoxalase II decreases by 20-40% of their resting cell activities during the initial 10 min of activation. The cellular concentration of the glyoxalase intermediate S-D-lactoylglutathione increases by ca. 100% of resting cell levels during this period. This modification may be related to the ability of S-D-lactoylglutathione to stimulate the assembly of microtubules.     

Biosynthesis of immunoglobulin A (IgA). Secretion and addition of carbohydrate to monomer and polymer forms of a mouse myeloma protein

Cell suspensions of mouse plasma-cell tumour MOPC 315 secreting predominantly IgA (immunoglobulin A) monomer and dimer were incubated with radioactive leucine, mannose, galactose and fucose for various periods of time. The amounts of secreted and intracellular immunoglobulins were measured by co-precipitation with specific antibody, and the molecular species present were assessed by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels. Analysis of the secreted myeloma protein demonstrated that monomer and dimer IgA molecules are identical with respect to carbohydrate composition and rate of secretion. Within the cell, the myeloma protein is almost entirely accounted for by monomer units which either leave the cell as such or are polymerized with the addition of J chain close to the time of secretion. The results support the concept of a stepwise addition of carbohydrate residues to IgA immunoglobulin during the process of secretion. Similar patterns of carbohydrate assembly were found for the monomer or dimer molecules. Mannose residues are added at an early stage, whereas fucose is added close to the time of secretion. Galactose is also added early, but some may also be incorporated at a later stage. Control of IgA polymerization is considered unlikely to reflect regulation at the level of carbohydrate addition, and it is suggested that the critical controlling factor is the J chain.     

Human bone cell cultures: a new model for studying the mechanism of action of calcitonin

An investigation on cell cultures obtained from temporal human bone fragments showed that they provide a suitable model for studying the mechanism involved in calcitonin action on bone cells. Furthermore they demonstrated: a transitory increase in 45Ca uptake that returned to control values ten minutes after the hormone was added; a relation between 45Ca uptake and increased cAMP concentrations when these were measured at the same time intervals; a reproduction of the salmon calcitonin (sCT) effect after incubation of the cultures with either db-cAMP or db-cGMP and inhibition of 45Ca uptake and parallel decrease in cAMP levels with propanol. These results suggest that in human bone cell cultures, sCT acts as a temporary promoter of 45Ca uptake, probably by activating an adenylate-cyclase system through a beta-receptor.     

Independence with respect to Ca2+ changes of the neutrophil respiratory and secretory response to exogenous phospholipase C and possible involvement of diacylglycerol and protein kinase C

Exogenous phospholipase C induces in human neutrophils the activation of a respiratory burst, measured as O2 consumption and O-2 production, and of secretion of specific granules, measured as release of vitamin B-12 binding protein. The secretory response is minimal and follows the onset of the respiratory response. Studies carried out using cells prelabeled with [3H]glycerol and 32P on the molecular mechanism of the stimulations demonstrate that the effects are dependent on the formation of diacylglycerol by hydrolysis of different classes of glycerophospholipids. They are, however, independent of the activation of a 'phosphoinositide turnover' as occurs in cells stimulated with fMet-Leu-Phe. Furthermore, the respiratory and secretory responses to exogenous phospholipase C are not associated with modifications of cytosolic Ca2+ concentration, measured with the Quin-2 method, and of the release of bound Ca2+, measured with the membrane probe, chlorotetracycline. Apart from a quantitative difference, mostly regarding the ratio of the intensity of the respiratory and secretory responses, the effects caused by exogenous phospholipase C are qualitatively similar to those induced by phorbol myristate acetate and are probably linked to an involvement of protein kinase C, activated by diacylglycerol liberated in the plasma membrane.     

Controlled trial of methylprednisolone pulses and low dose oral prednisone for the minimal change nephrotic syndrome.

In a multicentre, randomised, prospective trial 89 patients (67 children and 22 adults) with the minimal change nephrotic syndrome were treated with three intravenous pulses of methylprednisolone followed by low dose oral prednisone for six months (group given methylprednisolone) or with high dose oral prednisone for four weeks followed by low dose oral prednisone for five months (control group). Five patients in the group given methylprednisolone and one in the control group did not respond initially. The time to response was shorter in children treated with methylprednisolone. No significant differences between the two groups were observed in the number of patients who relapsed or number of relapses per patient per year. Patients given methylprednisolone tended to relapse earlier than patients in the control group. Side effects related to treatment were significantly fewer in the group given methylprednisolone than in the control group. These data suggest that a short course of methylprednisolone pulses followed by low dose oral prednisone is only marginally less effective than a regimen of high dose oral steroids but can improve the ratio of risk to benefit associated with treatment of the minimal change nephrotic syndrome.     

Translocation from the chloroplast stroma into the thylakoid lumen allows expression of recombinant epidermal growth factor in transplastomic tobacco plants

Transgenic Research - Chloroplast transformation has many potential advantages for the production of recombinant proteins in plants. However, it has been reported that chloroplast expression of...