Development of metabolic and contractile alterations in development of cancer cachexia in female tumor-bearing mice.

Cancer cachexia (CC) results in impaired muscle function and quality of life and is the primary cause of death for ~20-30% of cancer patients. We demonstrated mitochondrial degeneration as a precursor to CC in male mice, however, if such alterations occur in females is currently unknown. The purpose of this study was to elucidate muscle alterations in CC development in female tumor-bearing mice. 60 female C57BL/6J mice were injected with PBS or Lewis Lung Carcinoma at 8-week age, and tumors developed for 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks to assess the time course of cachectic development. In vivo muscle contractile function, protein fractional synthetic rate (FSR), protein turnover, and mitochondrial health were assessed. 3- and 4-week tumor-bearing mice displayed a dichotomy in tumor growth and were reassigned to High Tumor (HT) and Low Tumor (LT) groups. HT mice exhibited lower soleus, TA, and fat weights compared to PBS. HT mice showed lower peak isometric torque and slower one-half relaxation time compared to PBS. HT mice had lower FSR compared to PBS while E3 ubiquitin ligases were greater in HT compared to other groups. Bnip3 (mitophagy) and pMitoTimer red puncta (mitochondrial degeneration) were greater in HT while Pgc1α1 and Tfam (mitochondrial biogenesis) were lower in HT compared to PBS. We demonstrate alterations in female tumor-bearing mice where HT exhibited greater protein degradation, impaired muscle contractility, and mitochondrial degeneration compared to other groups. Our data provide novel evidence for a distinct cachectic development in tumor-bearing female mice compared to previous male studies.

CONSUMER SATISFACTION SURVEY OF A TRADITIONAL PRODUCT ON THE EXAMPLE OF “OSCYPEK” CHEESE

The aim of the research was to determine the level of consumer satisfaction of the selected traditional product, which was cheese type ‘oscypek’. The research materials of the original character were collected by direct interview method using a special research questionnaire. In the research took part 200 people who bought oscypek in a shop belonging to one of the producers of this cheese located in town of Żywiec. Consumer Satisfaction Index (CSI) method was used to determine the level of customer satisfaction. In total, 12 factors were selected for the assessment of satisfaction, among which the most important for the respondents were: taste, smell and price. The synthetic rate of customer satisfaction measured by the CSI method was 3.56. The obtained results allowed to determine the level of satisfaction of ‘oscypek’ consumers as good and indicated that for buyers of traditional food the qualitative features of the purchased products are of the greatest importance - especially related to the taste values of this type of products.

Changes in Consumer Food Preferences in EU Countries from 2001-2013

This paper attempts to rank EU countries according to changes in consumer food preferences between 2001 and 2013. The size of these changes was determined using a synthetic rate created for this purpose. This rate was intended to accommodate changes in consumption levels in 9 product groups per capita. It turns out that we may use the greatest possible measure of the structure’s dissimilarity as an analogy to the Gini coefficient, to express this rate. Using the “ar” measure to compare structures of food consumption in two separate three-year time periods for each country, scientists may rank and group the countries according to the value of changes in consumer food preferences.

The effectiveness of leucine on muscle protein synthesis, lean body mass and leg lean mass accretion in older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis

In the present study, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the ability of leucine supplementation to increase the muscle protein fraction synthetic rate and to augment lean body mass or leg lean mass in elderly patients. A literature search was conducted on Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases up to 31 December 2013 for clinical trials that investigated the administration of leucine as a nutrient that affects muscle protein metabolism and muscle mass in elderly subjects. The included studies were randomised controlled trials. The primary outcome for the meta-analysis was the protein fractional synthetic rate. Secondary outcomes included lean body mass and leg lean mass. A total of nine studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that the muscle protein fractional synthetic rate after intervention significantly increased in the leucine group compared with the control group (pooled standardised difference in mean changes 1·08, 95 % CI 0·50, 1·67; P< 0·001). No difference was found between the groups in relation to lean body mass (pooled standardised difference in mean changes 0·18, 95 % CI − 0·18, 0·54; P= 0·318) or leg lean mass (pooled standardised difference in mean changes 0·006, 95 % CI − 0·32, 0·44; P= 0·756). These findings suggest that leucine supplementation is useful to address the age-related decline in muscle mass in elderly individuals, as it increases the muscle protein fractional synthetic rate.

Low-Temperature Synthesis of Cordierite Using Magnesite

Cordierite (2MgO·2Al2O3·5SiO2) has a low density of 2.2 g/cm3 due to its high magnesium content. Because of its low thermal expansion coefficient of 1~2 x10-6 /°C, many studies are being conducted on the synthesis of cordierite with the expensive petalite as a replacement for lithium alumina silicate-based heat-resistant materials. The cordierite can be synthesized over a wide range: SiO2 at 50~70%, Al2O3 at 20~40%, and MgO at 10~30%. In this study, the range of chemical composition and temperature of cordierite synthesis is thoroughly investigated. In particular, we use natural materials (magnesite, kaolin and clay) to examine how thermal properties are affected by changes in crystal phase arising from the varying composition of MgO, SiO2 and Al2O3. We focused on factors leading to an increase in the rate of cordierite synthesis at temperatures below 1280 °C. From observing the synthetic rate over 1250~1280 °C, the sintered body at 1280 °C had a high synthetic rate greater than 80%. Magnesite was ball milled at constant intervals, and mean particle size was controlled to improve the synthetic rate of cordierite. As a result, the cordierite synthetic rate increased by more than 15% with decreasing the mean particle size of magnesite.