Economic growth and nutrition transition:an empirical analysis comparing demand elasticities for foods in China and Russia

This study provides empirical evidence on the link between economic growth and nutrition transition in two emerging econ-omies, China and Russia. Both countries have experienced rising average incomes,...     

Daily rhythms in plasma levels of homocysteine

Background  

There is accumulated evidence that plasma concentration of the sulfur-containing amino-acid homocysteine (Hcy) is a prognostic marker for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Both fasting levels of Hcy and post methionine loading levels are used as prognostic markers. The aim of the present study was to investigate the existence of a daily rhythm in plasma Hcy under strictly controlled nutritional and sleep-wake conditions. We also investigated if the time during which methionine loading is performed, i.e., morning or evening, had a different effect on the resultant plasma Hcy concentration.     

Individual and combined effects of pre- and post-anthesis temperature on protein composition of two malting barley cultivars

The present study has investigated the individual and combined influence of pre- and post-anthesis temperatures and cultivars on the protein composition in barley grains. Two barley cultivars were grown in soil and hydroponic systems in daylight chambers with different pre- and post-anthesis temperatures. Size exclusion (SE)-HPLC was used to evaluate the protein composition in mature barley grains. The results showed that individual and interactive effects of pre- and post-anthesis temperatures and cultivar variations influenced protein composition in the barley grains. Pre-anthesis temperature greatly affected the amounts of total sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) extractable proteins (TOTE) and explained 30% of the variation in TOTE. The barley cultivars accounted for 20% of the variation in TOTE. Variation in malting barley cultivars was found to influence the SDS extractable small monomers (41% of the variation). Percentage of SDS un-extractable polymeric proteins in total amount of polymeric proteins (%UPP) was governed by post-anthesis temperature, accounting for 11% of the variation and cultivar differences accounted for 7% of the variation. Thus, the climatic conditions during the specific growing period and a choice of cultivars played a major role in determining the protein composition and ultimately the malting quality of spring barley.     

The utility of the ‘Arable Weeds and Management in Europe’ database: Challenges and opportunities of combining weed survey data at a European scale

Over the last 30 years, many studies have surveyed weed vegetation on arable land. The ‘Arable Weeds and Management in Europe’ (AWME) database is a collection of 36 of these surveys and the associated management data. Here, we review the challenges associated with combining disparate datasets and explore some of the opportunities for future research that present themselves thanks to the AWME database. We present three case studies repeating previously published national scale analyses with data from a larger spatial extent. The case studies, originally done in France, Germany and the UK, explore various aspects of weed ecology (community composition, management and environmental effects and within-field distributions) and use a range of statistical techniques (canonical correspondence analysis, redundancy analysis and generalised linear mixed models) to demonstrate the utility and versatility of the AWME database. We demonstrate that (i) the standardisation of abundance data to a common measure, before the analysis of the combined dataset, has little impact on the outcome of the analyses, (ii) the increased extent of environmental or management gradients allows for greater confidence in conclusions and (iii) the main conclusions of analyses done at different spatial scales remain consistent. These case studies demonstrate the utility of a Europe-wide weed survey database, for clarifying or extending results obtained from studies at smaller scales. This Europe-wide data collection offers many more opportunities for analysis that could not be addressed in smaller datasets; including questions about the effects of climate change, macro-ecological and biogeographical issues related to weed diversity as well as the dominance or rarity of specific weeds in Europe.     

Determination of β‐Glucan Molecular Weight Using SEC with Calcofluor Detection in Cereal Extracts

A high‐performance size‐exclusion chromatography system (HPSEC) was set up with detection based on the specific binding of Calcofluor to β‐glucan for determination of amount and molecular weight of β‐glucan in different cereal extracts. To calibrate the HPSEC system, a purified β‐glucan was fractionated into narrow molecular weight ranges and the average molecular weight was determined before analysis on the HPSEC system. The detector response was similar for β‐glucans from oats and barley and appeared to be independent of molecular weight. Four different methods for extraction of β‐glucan from different cereal products were tested: two alkaline, one with hot water and added α‐amylase, and one with water and added xylanase. Inactivation of endogenous β‐glucanase was crucial for the stability of the extracts, even when extracting at high temperature or pH. Yields varied widely between the different extraction methods but average molecular weight and molecular weight distribution were similar. Extraction with sodium hydroxide generally gave a higher yield and molecular weight of β‐glucan in the extracts.