Physical and sensory properties of regular and reduced-fat pound cakes with added amaranth flour

The sum of wheat flour and corn starch was replaced by 10, 20, or 30% whole amaranth flour in both conventional (C) and reduced fat (RF) pound cakes. and the effects on physical and sensory properties of the cakes were investigated. RF presented 33% fat reduction. The increasing amaranth levels darkened crust and crumb of cakes, which decreased color acceptability. Fresh amaranth-containing cakes had similar texture characteristics to (he controls, evaluated both instrumentally and sensorially. Sensory evaluation revealed that replacement by 30% amaranth flour decreased C cakes overall acceptability scores, clue to its lower specific volume and darker color. Amaranth flour levels had no significant effect on overall acceptability of RF cakes. Hence, the sum of wheat flour and corn starch could be successfully replaced by up to 20% amaranth flour in C and up to 30% in RF pound cakes without negatively affecting sensory quality in fresh cakes. Moisture losses for all the cakes were similar, approximate to 1% per day during storage. After six days of storage, both C and RF amaranth-containing cakes had higher hardness and chewiness values than control cakes. Further experiments involving sensory evaluation during storage are necessary to determine the exact limit of amaranth flour replacement.

Evaluating the annual nature of juvenile rings in Bolivian tropical rainforest trees

Knowledge on juvenile tree growth is crucial to understand how trees reach the canopy in tropical forests. However, long-term data on juvenile tree growth are usually unavailable. Annual tree rings provide growth information for the entire life of trees and their analysis has become more popular in tropical forest regions over the past decades. Nonetheless, tree ring studies mainly deal with adult rings as the annual character of juvenile rings has been questioned. We evaluated whether juvenile tree rings can be used for three Bolivian rainforest species. First, we characterized the rings of juvenile and adult trees anatomically. We then evaluated the annual nature of tree rings by a combination of three indirect methods: evaluation of synchronous growth patterns in the tree- ring series, (14)C bomb peak dating and correlations with rainfall. Our results indicate that rings of juvenile and adult trees are defined by similar ring-boundary elements. We built juvenile tree-ring chronologies and verified the ring age of several samples using (14)C bomb peak dating. We found that ring width was correlated with rainfall in all species, but in different ways. In all, the chronology, rainfall correlations and (14)C dating suggest that rings in our study species are formed annually.

Upregulation of gp91(phox) Subunit of NAD(P)H Oxidase Contributes to Erectile Dysfunction Caused by Long-term Nitric Oxide Inhibition in Rats: Reversion by Regular Physical Training

OBJECTIVES To test the hypothesis that glyco protein 91phox (gp91(phox)) subunit of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate [NAD(P) H] oxidase is a fundamental target for physical activity to ameliorate erectile dysfunction (ED). Vascular risk factors are reported to contribute to ED. Regular physical exercise prevents cardiovascular diseases by increasing nitric oxide (NO) production and/or decreasing NO inactivation. METHODS Male Wistar rats received the NO synthesis inhibitor N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) for 4 weeks, after which animals were submitted to a run training program for another 4 weeks. Erectile functions were evaluated by in vitro cavernosal relaxations and intracavernous pressure measurements. Expressions of gp91(phox) subunit and neuronal nitric oxidase synthase in erectile tissue, as well as superoxide dismutase activity and nitrite/nitrate (NO(x)) levels were determined. RESULTS The in vitro acetylcholine-and electrical field stimulation-induced cavernosal relaxations, as well as the increases in intracavernous pressure were markedly reduced in sedentary rats treated with L-NAME. Run training significantly restored the impaired cavernosal relaxations. No alterations in the neuronal nitric oxidase synthase protein expression (and its variant penile neuronal nitric oxidase synthase) were detected. A reduction of NO(x) levels and superoxide dismutase activity was observed in L-NAME-treated animals, which was significantly reversed by physical training. Gene expression of subunit gp91(phox) was enhanced by approximately 2-fold in erectile tissue of L-NAME-treated rats, and that was restored to basal levels by run training. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows that ED seen after long-term L-NAME treatment is associated with gp91(phox) subunit upregulation and decreased NO bioavailability. Exercise training reverses the increased oxidative stress in NO-deficient rats, ameliorating the ED. UROLOGY 75: 961-967, 2010. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc.

Increased Activation of Stromal Interaction Molecule-1/Orai-1 in Aorta From Hypertensive Rats A Novel Insight Into Vascular Dysfunction

Disturbances in the regulation of cytosolic calcium (Ca(2+)) concentration play a key role in the vascular dysfunction associated with arterial hypertension. Stromal interaction molecules (STIMs) and Orai proteins represent a novel mechanism to control store-operated Ca(2+) entry. Although STIMs act as Ca(2+) sensors for the intracellular Ca(2+) stores, Orai is the putative pore-forming component of Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) channels at the plasma membrane. We hypothesized that augmented activation of Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+)/Orai-1, through enhanced activity of STIM-1, plays a role in increased basal tonus and vascular reactivity in hypertensive animals. Endothelium-denuded aortic rings from Wistar-Kyoto and stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats were used to evaluate contractions because of Ca(2+) influx. Depletion of intracellular Ca(2+) stores, which induces Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) activation, was performed by placing arteries in Ca(2+) free-EGTA buffer. The addition of the Ca(2+) regular buffer produced greater contractions in aortas from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats versus Wistar-Kyoto rats. Thapsigargin (10 mu mol/L), an inhibitor of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase, further increased these contractions, especially in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rat aorta. Addition of the Ca(2+) release-activated Ca(2+) channel inhibitors 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (100 mu mol/L) or gadolinium (100 mu mol/L), as well as neutralizing antibodies to STIM-1 or Orai-1, abolished thapsigargin-increased contraction and the differences in spontaneous tone between the groups. Expression of Orai-1 and STIM-1 proteins was increased in aorta from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats when compared with Wistar-Kyoto rats. These results support the hypothesis that both Orai-1 and STIM-1 contribute to abnormal vascular function in hypertension. Augmented activation of STIM-1/Orai-1 may represent the mechanism that leads to impaired control of intracellular Ca(2+) levels in hypertension. (Hypertension. 2009; 53[part 2]: 409-416.)

Cyclic Maximal Ideals of Rings of Differential Operators over Power Series Rings

In [3], Bratti and Takagi conjectured that a first order differential operator S=11 +...+ nn+ with 1,..., n, {x1,..., xn} does not generate a cyclic maximal left (or right) ideal of the ring of differential operators. This is contrary to the case of the Weyl algebra, i.e., the ring of differential operators over the polynomial ring [x1,..., xn]. In this case, we know that such cyclic maximal ideals do exist. In this article, we prove several special cases of the conjecture of Bratti and Takagi.

On the variations of the Betti numbers of regular levels of Morse flows

We generalize results in Cruz and de Rezende (1999) [7] by completely describing how the Beth numbers of the boundary of an orientable manifold vary after attaching a handle, when the homology coefficients are in Z, Q, R or Z/pZ with p prime. First we apply this result to the Conley index theory of Lyapunov graphs. Next we consider the Ogasa invariant associated with handle decompositions of manifolds. We make use of the above results in order to obtain upper bounds for the Ogasa invariant of product manifolds. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

ANTISYMMETRIC ELEMENTS IN GROUP RINGS II

Let R be a commutative ring, G a group and RG its group ring. Let phi : RG -> RG denote the R-linear extension of an involution phi defined on G. An element x in RG is said to be phi-antisymmetric if phi(x) = -x. A characterization is given of when the phi-antisymmetric elements of RG commute. This is a completion of earlier work.

Lie properties of symmetric elements in group rings

Let * be an involution of a group G extended linearly to the group algebra KG. We prove that if G contains no 2-elements and K is a field of characteristic p, 0 2, then the *-symmetric elements of KG are Lie nilpotent (Lie n-Engel) if and only if KG is Lie nilpotent (Lie n-Engel). (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A NOTE ON FREE GROUPS IN THE RING OF FRACTIONS OF SKEW POLYNOMIAL RINGS

Let L be a function field over the rationals and let D denote the skew field of fractions of L[t; sigma], the skew polynomial ring in t, over L, with automorphism sigma. We prove that the multiplicative group D(x) of D contains a free noncyclic subgroup.

On spectra of abelian group rings

In this paper we study the spectrum of integral group rings of finitely generated abelian groups G from the scheme-theoretic viewpoint. We prove that the (closed) singular points of Spec Z[G], the (closed) intersection points of the irreducible components of Spec Z[G] and the (closed) points over the prime divisors of vertical bar t(G)vertical bar coincide. We also determine the formal completion of Spec Z[G] at a singular point.

INVOLUTIONS AND FREE PAIRS OF BASS CYCLIC UNITS IN INTEGRAL GROUP RINGS

Let ZG be the integral group ring of the finite nonabelian group G over the ring of integers Z, and let * be an involution of ZG that extends one of G. If x and y are elements of G, we investigate when pairs of the form (u(k,m)(x*), u(k,m)(x*)) or (u(k,m)(x), u(k,m)(y)), formed respectively by Bass cyclic and *-symmetric Bass cyclic units, generate a free noncyclic subgroup of the unit group of ZG.

CENTRAL UNITS IN METACYCLIC INTEGRAL GROUP RINGS

In this article, we give a method to compute the rank of the subgroup of central units of ZG, for a finite metacyclic group, G, by means of Q-classes and R-classes. Then we construct a multiplicatively independent set u subset of Z(U(ZC(p,q))) and by applying our results, we prove that u generates a subgroup of finite index.

ALTERNATING UNITS AS FREE FACTORS IN THE GROUP OF UNITS OF INTEGRAL GROUP RINGS

Let G be a group of odd order that contains a non-central element x whose order is either a prime p >= 5 or 3(l), with l >= 2. Then, in U(ZG), the group of units of ZG, we can find an alternating unit u based on x, and another unit v, which can be either a bicyclic or an alternating unit, such that for all sufficiently large integers m we have that < u(m), v(m)> = < u(m)> * < v(m)> congruent to Z * Z.

SEMIPERFECT IPRI-RINGS AND RIGHT BEZOUT RINGS

We present a survey of some results on ipri-rings and right Bezout rings. All these rings are generalizations of principal ideal rings. From the general point of view, decomposition theorems are proved for semiperfect ipri-rings and right Bezout rings.

Involutions and free pairs of bicyclic units in integral group rings

If * : G -> G is an involution on the finite group G, then * extends to an involution on the integral group ring Z[G] . In this paper, we consider whether bicyclic units u is an element of Z[G] exist with the property that the group < u, u*> generated by u and u* is free on the two generators. If this occurs, we say that (u, u*)is a free bicyclic pair. It turns out that the existence of u depends strongly upon the structure of G and on the nature of the involution. One positive result here is that if G is a nonabelian group with all Sylow subgroups abelian, then for any involution *, Z[G] contains a free bicyclic pair.