Inulin effects on bioavailability of soy isoflavones and their calcium absorption enhancing ability

The effect of inulin on isoflavone absorption and the effect of isoflavones and synergy with inulin on calcium absorption in rats was investigated. Rats (n = 48) were divided into three groups and fed inulin (50 mg/g), isoflavone (8 mg/g) or inulin + isoflavone (50 mg/g + 8 mg/g) diets for 21 days. After a 2-h fast, rats were given (45)Ca orally or intraperitoneally, together with 25 mg of calcium as calcium acetate. Blood and femurs were collected 4 days later. Sera were analyzed for isoflavones using HPLC-MS, femurs for (45)Ca by beta-scintillation counting, and total femoral calcium by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Both groups fed isoflavones had similar and significantly higher weight-adjusted total femoral calcium content compared to the inulin-fed group (p < 0.0001). (45)Ca absorption was significantly higher (p < 0.01) when isoflavones were added to the diet, and serum equol was significantly lower (p < 0.01) when inulin was added to the diet containing isoflavones. We conclude that isoflavones enhance calcium absorption, without synergy from inulin, and that inulin decreases equol production.     

Retention and changes of soy isoflavones and carotenoids in immature soybean seeds (Edamame) during processing

Isoflavones and carotenoids in four experimental genotypes and Hutcheson cultivar soybeans were evaluated as a function of processing treatments and maturity. Total isoflavone and carotenoid contents were affected by genotypes and maturity stages (p < 0.0001). Total isoflavones ranged from 472 microg/g (in NTCPR93-40) to 2280 microg/g (in Hutcheson). Lutein contents ranged from 895 (in NTCPR93-286) to 2119 (in Honey Brown), and beta-carotene ranged from 291 (in Hutcheson) to 491 (in NICPR92-40) microg/100 g. Mean total isoflavone retention percentages in immature Hutcheson soybeans were 46% (boiling), 53% (freezing), and 40% (freeze-drying). Mean retentions of lutein and beta-carotene, respectively, were 92 and 73% in frozen, 62 and 62% in boiled, and 34 and 27% in freeze-dried soybeans. Boiling caused a substantial increase in daidzin, genistin, and genistein. The results show that post-harvest changes in total isoflavones and carotenoids in soybeans are influenced by processing methods, but genotype has an effect on isoflavone and carotenoid profiles during seed development.     

Did cooling oceans trigger Ordovician biodiversification? Evidence from conodont thermometry

The Ordovician Period, long considered a supergreenhouse state, saw one of the greatest radiations of life in Earth's history. Previous temperature estimates of up to approximately 70 degrees C have spawned controversial speculation that the oxygen isotopic composition of seawater must have evolved over geological time. We present a very different global climate record determined by ion microprobe oxygen isotope analyses of Early Ordovician-Silurian conodonts. This record shows a steady cooling trend through the Early Ordovician reaching modern equatorial temperatures that were sustained throughout the Middle and Late Ordovician. This favorable climate regime implies not only that the oxygen isotopic composition of Ordovician seawater was similar to that of today, but also that climate played an overarching role in promoting the unprecedented increases in biodiversity that characterized this period.     

Direct measurement of the preferred sense of NO rotation after collision with argon

The preferred sense of product molecule rotation (clockwise or counterclockwise) in a bimolecular collision system has been measured. Rotationally inelastic collisions of nitric oxide (NO) molecules with Ar atoms were studied by combining crossed molecular beams, circularly polarized resonant multiphoton ionization probing, and velocity-mapped ion imaging detection. The observed sense of NO product rotation varies with deflection angle and is a strong function of the NO final rotational state. The largest preferences for sense of rotation are observed at the highest kinematically allowed product rotational states; for lower rotational states, the variation with deflection angle becomes oscillatory. Quantum calculations on the most recently reported NO-Ar potential give good agreement with the observed oscillation patterns in the sense of rotation.