Which food-related behaviours are associated with healthier intakes of fruits and vegetables among women?

OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between shopping, food preparation, meal and eating behaviours and fruit and vegetable intake among women. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Community-based sample from metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. SUBJECTS: A sample of 1136 women aged 18-65 years, randomly selected from the electoral roll. RESULTS: Food-related behaviours reflecting organisation and forward-planning, as well as enjoyment of and high perceived value of meal shopping, preparation and consumption were associated with healthier intakes of fruits and vegetables. For example, women who more frequently planned meals before they went shopping, wrote a shopping list, enjoyed food shopping, planned in the morning what they will eat for dinner that night, planned what they will eat for lunch, reported they enjoy cooking, liked trying new recipes and who reported they sometimes prepare dishes ahead of time were more likely to consume two or more servings of vegetables daily. Conversely, women who frequently found cooking a chore, spent less than 15 minutes preparing dinner, decided on the night what they will eat for dinner, ate in a fast-food restaurant, ate takeaway meals from a fast-food restaurant, ate dinner and snacks while watching television and who frequently ate on the run were less likely to eat two or more servings of vegetables daily. CONCLUSIONS: Practical strategies based on these behavioural characteristics could be trialled in interventions aimed at promoting fruit and vegetable consumption among women.     

Detection of Babesia bigemina DNA in ticks by DNA hybridization using a nonradioactive probe generated by arbitrary PCR

The Dig-labeled probe specific to Babesia bigemina generated from monomorphic RAPD fragment of approximately 873 bp size amplified by a 10 mer CGGTGGCGAA, detected up to 100 ng of template DNA. This nonradioactive probe also detected B. bigemina in preparations of larval tick DNA from two of the five samples on dot-blot hybridization.     

Seed variability in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Madhuca longifolia</Emphasis> (Koenig) J. F. Macbride,a source of oil for use as bio-energy

Madhuca longifolia (Koenig) J. F. Macbride is native to India. Seeds contain 20–50% oil (Mahua oil) and the seed cake is used as manure. Mahua oil is used by rural communities for protection against storage pests. Almost all parts of this tree have medicinal properties. Four explorations and collection missions was conducted during July–October 2007 in Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry. This resulted in the collection of 55 accessions. Characterisation and analysis of 7 seed characters were done. The existence of enormous variability in seed length, thickness and 100 seed weight indicates scope for utilization of these accessions for selection of promising material for extraction of oil. Oil content of kernels has been evaluated. Kernel oil ranged from 44.43 to 61.50%. Three accessions IC556617 with 61.50, IC556632 with 60.80 and IC556632 with 60.55% of kernel oil are superior to the rest. Further collections in the site of these oil rich accessions are promising for more productive Madhuca longifolia genetic resources.     

High antigenic cross-reaction among the bacterial species responsible for diseases of cultured freshwater fishes and strategies to overcome it for specific serodiagnosis

Antigenic sharing among the most commonly bacterial pathogens such as Aeromonas hydrophila, Edwardsiella tarda and Pseudomonas fluorescens of Indian major carps has been studied using immunological reactions such as cross-agglutination, disc diffusion and indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The data were analysed using statistical analysis (SAS), version 6.12. The results showed high antigenic similarities among the bacterial whole cells, whole cell lysates, somatic 'O' antigens, lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and extracellular products (ECP). However, few or no similarities were observed in ECP components of <20kD. The present study indicates a need to develop differential diagnostic methods based on serology by choosing the highly specific less cross-reactive ECP antigen.     

High-level expression of SAG1 and GRA7 gene of Toxoplasma gondii (Izatnagar isolate) and their application in serodiagnosis of goat toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is a disease of economic importance in livestock, especially in sheep and goats, where it causes abortion. Although several serological tests are in use for diagnosis of infection, production of reliable reagents is a constraint. An 814 bp sequence coding for a truncated surface antigen surface antigen 1 (SAG1), a tachyzoite stage-specific protein, as well as a 657 bp sequence coding for granule protein 7 (GRA7), a dense granule protein were PCR amplified from the genomic DNA of T. gondii. The amplified products were ligated in pET-32b(+) and pET-32c(+) expression vectors, respectively and subsequently transformed into BL21(DE3)pLysS cells. A high-level expression of the histidine-tagged SAG1 and GRA7 fusion proteins were obtained after 7h of incubation. The recombinant proteins were purified using Ni-NTA column and were characterized by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and western blot analysis using reference positive sera from goat, rabbit and humans at 1:100 dilution. Subsequently, the diagnostic efficiency of the recombinant proteins, either individually or as a cocktail of the recombinant proteins, was assessed with 56 reference goat sera by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The immunoreactivity of the refolded SAG1 and GRA7 was evidenced by high OD values. The reactivity of the recombinant proteins as a cocktail preparation was more than that of individual proteins in ELISA and could detect accurately the infection in goats. This is the first report of serological detection of caprine toxoplasmosis by ELISA using a cocktail of recombinant Toxoplasma proteins.     

Methane production in unamended and rice-straw-amended soil at different moisture levels

 CH₄ production in an alluvial soil, unamended or amended with rice straw (1% w/w), was examined under nonflooded [–1.5 MPa, –0.01 MPa and 0 MPa (saturated) and flooded (1 : 1.25 soil to water ratio)] conditions during a 40-day incubation in closed Vacutainer tubes. CH₄ production was negligible at –1.5 MPa, but increased with an increase in the moisture level. Addition of rice straw distinctly increased CH₄ production in the soil at all moisture levels including –1.5 MPa. Evidence, in terms of the drop in redox potential and Fe²⁺ accumulated, suggested that the addition of rice straw hastened the reduction of the soil, even under nonflooded conditions; thus its addition stimulated even the nonflooded soil to produce CH₄ in substantial amounts. Our results indicate that many currently unidentified sources of CH₄, possibly including organic-amended nonflooded soils, may make a significant contribution to the global CH₄ budget. Received: 10 July 1997     

Effects of dietary zinc oxide and selenium nanoparticles on growth performance,immune responses and enzyme activity in rohu,Labeo rohita (Hamilton)

A 120‐day feeding trial was conducted to assess the effects of dietary supplementation of zinc oxide (ZnO) and selenium (Se) nanoparticles (NPs) on growth, immunological and enzymatic profiles in rohu, Labeo rohita. Fishes were fed with basal diet incorporated with laboratory‐synthesized nanoparticles, viz., zinc oxide nanoparticles—10 mg/kg and Se nanoparticles—0.3 mg/kg throughout the experimental period. At an interval of every 30 days, treated and control fishes were randomly collected and subjected to estimation of growth, non‐specific immune parameters and serum enzyme assays. It was observed that there was significant (p < 0.05) increase in growth and non‐specific immune parameters like respiratory burst, lysozyme and myeloperoxidase activities as compared to the control group (only basal diet). Serum enzymatic profiles such as lactate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase activities down‐regulated (p < 0.05) in treated group compared to control group, and superoxide dismutase and acetylcholine esterase activity up‐regulated in treated group. The relative percentage survival (RPS) found to be significantly higher in treated groups (60.00 ± 8.82%) as compared to control group (45.00 ± 6.17%) while challenged with virulent bacterial strain Aeromonas hydrophila. These results indicated that dietary supplementation of zinc oxide (ZnO) and selenium (Se) nanoparticles stimulates immunity and enhances resistance to bacterial infection in L. rohita.     

Microwave drying for safe storage and improved nutritional quality of green gram seed (Vigna radiata)

The present study describes the effect of the microwave-heating method on disinfestations and physico characteristics, viz., grain size, grain hardness, and nutritional quality, of the stored green gram seed. It has been observed that the use of the microwave-heating method not only prolongs the storage duration of the green gram seed but also enhances its nutritional quality. The effect of independent parameters, viz., microwave power level and time of exposure, on the moisture content, insect mortality, color, and antinutrient factor (phyic acid) was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM), with the optimized value for power of 808 W and time at 80 s. The optimally treated green gram seed has 8.9% moisture, 99.5% insect mortality, 2.22 Δa* (green color of seed), and 591.79 mg/100 g of antinutrient factor (phytic acid). The grain size (geometric mean diameter, D(m)) of the control (untreated) sample was 3.75 mm, and that of the microwave-treated sample using optimum conditions was 3.99 mm. The grain hardness of the control sample was 3.31 kg, and that of the microwave-treated sample using optimum conditions was 1.305 kg. In vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) of the control (untreated) sample was 83 ± 0.289%, and that of the microwave-treated sample using optimum conditions was 85 ± 0.296%. These values are significantly difference (p < 0.05). The mineral elements studied were Zn, Fe, Mg, Mn, Cu, K, Ca, and Na. The microwave treatment resulted in a non-significant (p < 0.05) effect for Mg, Mn, Cu, K, and Na but a significant (p < 0.05) effect for Zn, Ca, and Fe. The results indicate that the microwave heating not only increases the insect mortality but also reduces the moisture content and antinutritional factor (phytic acid), while the natural green color of the seed is not affected much. This study provides a novel and environmentally safe technique and increase in the nutritive quality.     

Amelioration of a highly alkaline soil by trees in northern India

Abstract. A study was carried out to compare the impact of 6-year-old plantations of Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) D.C., Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. Ex. D.C. and Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm. on the physical and chemical properties of sodic soil in the Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains of Uttar Pradesh, India. Soil properties under the three tree species showed significant improvement through a reduction in the pH, electrical conductivity, exchangeable sodium percentage, CaCO₃ and gypsum requirement, and by increase in organic C, total N, and available P and K. The six years of reclamation had achieved a marked reduction in exchangeable sodium (from 11.5 to 4.5 cmol_c kg⁻¹) to a depth of 1.5 m in the soil profile, whereas the levels of exchangeable calcium, magnesium and potassium had increased. There was also a significant reduction in soil bulk density (from 1.66 to 1.24 g cm⁻³) and increases in porosity, water holding capacity, field capacity, permeability and infiltration rate. The equilibrium infiltration rate after 455 min increased from 0.03 cm h⁻¹ in the control to 0.13 cm h⁻¹ under P juliflora and D. sissoo and 0.10 cm h⁻¹ under E. tereticornis . It is concluded that salt-tolerant tree species have a significant impact on soil properties, which could help to rehabilitate the sodic wastelands in the region.     

Changes in Plasma Concentrations of LH, FSH, Estradiol 17-β and Progesterone During Oestrus in Mithun (Bos frontalis)

The objective of the present study was to establish the changes in plasma concentrations of LH, FSH, estradiol 17-beta (E2) and progesterone (P4), as well as to understand their temporal relationships during oestrus in mithun (Bos frontalis). The experiment was conducted on 11 mithuns during third or fourth postpartum oestrous cycle. Since oestrus onset the jugular vein blood samples were collected every 2 h for 72 and 96 h, respectively from the animals without and with standing heat. The LH, FSH, E2 and P4 concentrations were estimated in plasma. The P4 concentration was fluctuated throughout the oestrus period and the average P4 concentration was found significantly (p<0.05) lower on the day of oestrus onset. The multiple rises in LH and FSH concentrations above the basal level in spike like fashion were observed throughout the oestrus period irrespective of the occurrence of standing heat. A significant (p<0.01) gradual increase in the average daily E2 concentration was observed till day 2 following oestrus onset irrespective of the occurrence of standing heat. A significant (p<0.05) simultaneous increase in LH, FSH and E2 concentrations and a transient increase in P4 concentration at approximately the time of standing heat onset were observed. During investigation a definite temporal coupling between LH and FSH rises was absent throughout the oestrus period. The results suggest that (1) the multiple short-duration low-amplitude LH and FSH surges during oestrus may be crucial for the final maturation of ovulatory follicle and subsequent ovulation in mithun; (2) a differential mechanism for controlling LH and FSH secretions probably exists in mithun.