It is known that idioms, proverbs, and slogans can become integrated into feelings like irritation, contemptuous attitudes, and even anger and disgust. Idioms making reference to insects, spiders, and other invertebrates occur in all languages, but they convey mostly negative content in people of Western cultural orientation. By analyzing a subgroup of insect and spider idioms related to food, eating, and digestion, the authors suggest that mirror neurons are activated in people that are exposed to the largely unfavorable content of such idioms. This could then lead the listener of such idioms to adopt the kind of negative attitude towards insects that is expressed in the idioms and to project it towards edible species.Amyloid β42 (Aβ42), a causative agent of Alzheimer's disease (AD), is derived extracellularly from Aβ precursor protein (APP) following the latter's cleavage by β-secretase, but not α-secretase. Protein kinase Cα (PKCα) activation is known to increase α-secretase activity, thereby suppressing Aβ production. Since Aβ42 oligomer formation causes potent neurotoxicity, APP modulation by PKC ligands is a promising strategy for AD treatment. Although bryostatin-1 (bryo-1) is a leading compound for this strategy, its limited natural availability and the difficulty of its total synthesis impedes further research. To address this limitation, Irie and colleagues have developed a new PKC activator with few side effects, 10-Me-Aplog-1, (1), which decreased Aβ42 in the conditioned medium of rat primary cerebral cortex cells. These results are associated with increased α-secretase but not PKCε-dependent Aβ-degrading enzyme. The amount of neuronal embryonic lethal abnormal vision (nELAV), a known β-secretase stabilizer, was reduced by treatment with 1. Notably, 1 prevented the formation of intracellular toxic oligomers. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/mm-102.html Furthermore, 1 suppressed toxic oligomerization within human iPS-derived neurons such as bryo-1. Given that 1 was not neurotoxic toward either cell line, these findings suggest that 1 is a potential drug lead for AD therapy.The synergistic efficacy of a combined treatment of mild heat (MH) and dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma in Bacillus cereus-contaminated red pepper powder was tested. A cocktail of three strains of B. cereus (NCCP 10623, NCCP 14579, ATCC 11778) was inoculated onto red pepper powder and then treated with MH (60 °C for 5-20 min) and DBD plasma (5-20 min). Treatment with MH and DBD plasma alone for 5-20 min resulted in reductions of 0.23-1.43 and 0.12-0.96 log CFU/g, respectively. Combined treatment with MH and DBD plasma was the most effective at reducing B. cereus counts on red pepper powder, and resulted in log-reductions of ≥ 6.0 log CFU/g. The largest synergistic values (4.24-4.42 log) against B. cereus in red pepper powder were obtained by the combination of 20 min MH and 5-15 min DBD plasma. The values of Hunter color ''L'', ''a'', and ''b'', were not significantly different from those of the untreated sample and that with the combination of MH (60 °C for 5-20 min) and DBD plasma (5-20 min). Also, no significant (p > 0.05) differences in pH values between samples were observed. Therefore, these results suggest that the combination of MH treatment and DBD plasma can be potentially utilized in the food industry to effectively inactivate B. cereus without incurring quality deterioration of red pepper powder.Resting energy expenditure (REE) comprises 60% of total energy expenditure and variations may be associated with gestational weight gain (GWG) or maternal diet. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of metabolic tracking on GWG and the association with maternal macronutrients. Pregnant women aged 29.8 ± 4.9 years (78.6% non-Hispanic, White) with gestational age (GA) less then 17 week were randomized to Breezing™ (n = 16) or control (n = 12) groups for 13 weeks. REE by Breezing™ indirect calorimetry, anthropometrics and dietary intake were collected every two weeks. Early (14-21 weeks), late (21-28 weeks), and overall (14-28 weeks) changes in macronutrients and GWG were calculated. The Breezing™ group had a significantly greater rate of GWG [F (1,23) = 6.8, p = 0.02] in the latter half of the second trimester. Late (-155.3 ± 309.2 vs. 207.1 ± 416.5 kcal, p = 0.01) and overall (-143.8 ± 339.2 vs. 191.8 ± 422.2 kcal, p = 0.03) changes in energy consumption were significantly different between Breezing™ and control groups, respectively. Early changes in REE were positively correlated with overall changes in carbohydrates (r = 0.58, p = 0.02). Regular metabolism tracking alone did not have an impact on GWG. Early shifts in REE might impact GWG later in pregnancy. Investigation in a larger population from preconception through postpartum is needed.Although the impact of oxidation on human health has been of growing interest, the oxidation of proteins, major component of meat, has received little attention. This paper describes the in vitro effect of five fluoroquinolones (FQs) on carbonylation of sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins of beef when found at concentrations close to the maximum residue limit (MRL). Samples were treated individually with the FQs, determining in each protein fraction the carbonyl index, protein content and oxidized proteins identification, using 2,4-dinitrophenyhydrazine (DNPH) alkaline assay, Western blot and Bradford methods, and mass spectrometry, respectively. Besides, the in vitro effect of these residues on gastric and duodenal digestion of proteins was evaluated. The carbonylation induced by FQs affected both protein fractions being significant with respect to the blank in 73.3% of cases. This damage was correlated with loss of solubility and digestibility, with sarcoplasmic proteins the most affected. Danofloxacin and enrofloxacin were the FQs with greatest oxidant effects, especially affecting glycolysis and glycogen proteins. Our results suggest that these residues induce irreversible oxidative damage on the main beef proteins and could affect their nutritional value.The environmental accumulation of plastics worldwide is a consequence of the durability of the material. Alternative polymers, marketed as biodegradable, present a potential solution to mitigate their ecological damage. However, understanding of biodegradability has been hindered by a lack of reproducible testing methods. We developed a novel method to evaluate the biodegradability of plastic samples based on the monitoring of bacterial respiration in aqueous media via the quantification of CO2 produced, where the only carbon source available is from the polymer. Rhodococcus rhodochrous and Alcanivorax borkumensis were used as model organisms for soil and marine systems, respectively. Our results demonstrate that this approach is reproducible and can be used with a variety of plastics, allowing comparison of the relative biodegradability of the different materials. In the case of low-density polyethylene, the study demonstrated a clear correlation between the molecular weight of the sample and CO2 released, taken as a measure of biodegradability.