Nippon Flour Mills (Japan)

The ability to derive and maintain pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) from livestock species in defined media conditions will contribute to many new research avenues, including comparative embryology and xenotransplantation. In a new paper in Development, Masaki Kinoshita, Toshihiro Kobayashi, Hiroshi Nagashima, Ramiro Alberio, Austin Smith and colleagues describe their three-component medium, which supports long-term propagation of PSCs in the absence of feeders or serum factors. We caught up with the authors to find out more about their research and their future plans.

小麦粉の40%を米粉に置き換えた米粉混合パンの製パン性およびパン内相物性の経時的変化の減少を目的とし，デンプン損傷度の異なる2種類の米粉を配合して，米粉混合パンに及ぼす影響を調べた．デンプン損傷度が高い米粉は，水分保持力も高く，米粉粒子の形状，表面の微細構造に相違があった．実験室規模で製パンを行うと，デンプン損傷度が低い米粉（デンプン損傷度2.7%）のみを用いた場合より，これにデンプン損傷度の高い米粉を25%，50%配合した方がパンの内相物性の経時的変化が減少した．大量生産を想定し，実験工場規模で，それぞれの米粉を50%ずつ配合（デンプン損傷度8.2%）して製パンした結果，デンプン損傷度が高くなることで，配合した α-アミラーゼがより効果的に作用したと推察され，生地の硬化が抑制されたことで得られた米粉混合パンの内相物性（硬さ，凝集性）の経時的変化が減少したと考えられた．

Les Etats-Unis ont developpe depuis les annees 1960 un arsenal juridique d’application extraterritoriale qui contraint les relations internationales commerciales et financieres en s’appuyant sur un dispositif sophistique d’intelligence economique faisant appel aux nouvelles technologies de l’information. Le commerce agroalimentaire mondial n’echappe pas a ces restrictions, durement sanctionnees dans le cas des banques qui operent pour le compte des exportateurs. Sous le pretexte de lutte contre la corruption, ou visant des pays sous embargo, Washington soumet les contrevenants aux lois americaines. Cette guerre economique s’inscrit egalement dans la rivalite de leadership entre la Chine et les Etats-Unis.

Although the beneficial effects of dietary sphingolipids have recently been reported, the mechanism of their intestinal absorption has yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, the absorption and metabolism of dietary ceramides and glucosylceramides were evaluated by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis in the plasma of mice after a single oral administration. Ceramide molecules prepared from soy sauce lees (mainly composed of phytosphingosine and its derivatives) were undetectable or minor compounds in the plasma of control mice but appeared 1-6 h after administration. Rice glucosylceramide (mainly composed of sphingadienine) was endogenously detected in mouse plasma and showed a tendency to increase 1-6 h after administration by LC-MS/MS analysis. In addition, the ceramide molecules, which are hydrolysates of dietary glucosylceramide, were significantly increased in the plasma after administration. These findings strongly suggest that dietary ceramides and glucosylceramides are partly absorbed as intact molecules or hydrolysates.

BackgroundMaternal dietary exposures are considered to influence the development of infant allergies through changes in the composition of breast milk. Cohort studies have shown that ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in breast milk may have a beneficial effect on the preventing of allergies in infants; however, the underlying mechanisms remain to be investigated. We investigated how the maternal intake of dietary ω3 PUFAs affects fatty acid profiles in the breast milk and their pups and reduced the incidence of allergic diseases in the pups.MethodsContact hypersensitivity (CHS) induced by 2,4‐dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) and fluorescein isothiocyanate was applied to the skin in pups reared by mother maintained with diets mainly containing ω3 or ω6 PUFAs. Skin inflammation, immune cell populations, and expression levels of immunomodulatory molecules in pups and/or human cell line were investigated by using flow cytometric, immunohistologic, and quantitative RT‐PCR analyses. ω3 PUFA metabolites in breast milk and infant's serum were evaluated by lipidomics analysis using LC‐MS/MS.ResultsWe show that maternal intake of linseed oil, containing abundant ω3 α‐linolenic acid, resulted in the increased levels of ω3 docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) and its 14‐lipoxygenation products in the breast milk of mouse dams; these metabolites increased the expression of TNF‐related apoptosis‐inducing ligand (TRAIL) on plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) in their pups and thus inhibited infant CHS. Indeed, the administration of DPA‐derived 14‐lipoxygenation products to mouse pups ameliorated their DNFB CHS.ConclusionThese findings suggest that an inhibitory mechanism in infant skin allergy is induced through maternal metabolism of dietary ω3 PUFAs in mice.

パスタが押し出される時に，パスタの押出し用ダイスは様々な方向にいくつかの応力を受ける．この応力を定量的にかつ正確に見積もることができれば，パスタダイスと押出しマシンの設計において役立つ．このような背景のもとで，塑性加工シミュレーションソフト・DEFORM-3Dを用いて，応力の定量評価とパスタ流れの可視化を行った．その結果，（1）パスタの変形抵抗式をσ＝0.033 MPaと見積もった．（2）ダイスの応力分布を定量的に評価したところ，ダイスの縁で最大σeq＝18.3 MPaであることがわかった．（3）コンテナ内のパスタ流れを明確に可視化した．（4）パスタダイスの異なる穴で流速が異なることを明らかにした．

Heat-treated (120 °C for 120 min) rice flour showed high affinity to oil (oil-binding ability). This oil-binding ability could be observed by shaking the heat-treated rice flour (2.0 g), oil (4.0 mL), and water (20 mL) vigorously in a test tube, and the oil bound to the rice flour sank into the water. To examine the time-dependent levels of the oil-binding ability, rice flour was heat-treated at 120 °C for 10, 20, 40, 60, and 120 min, and the precipitated volume of oil/rice flour complex increased with an increase of the heating time. The oil-binding ability of the rice flour was not affected by the treatments with diethyl ether or boiled chloroform/methanol (2:1) solutions, which suggested no relationship to the oil in the rice flour, but was lost upon alkali (0.2% NaOH solution) or pepsin treatment, which suggested its relationship to the rice proteins.

The ceramide (Cer) content of skin and glucosylceramide (GlcCer) intake affect skin moisture conditions, but their mutual relation in skin remains unclear. For clarification of that mutual relation, carbon stable isotopes ((12)C and (13)C) are useful as a tracer. However, carbon isotopic measurement has not been applied to the study of clarifying their skin moisturizing effects. Therefore, we used gas chromatography / combustion / isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS) to ascertain the appropriate conditions for carbon isotopic measurements using synthesized Cer (SCer) in substitution for very low concentrations of Cer in skin. SCer was derivatized to trimethylsilylated SCer (TMS-SCer) quantitatively using N-trimethylsilylimidazole (TMSI) depending on the amount of SCer. The derivatization rates were 75-85%. Excess TMSI was removed using three cycles of hexane-water distribution. Under these conditions, carbon isotopic measurements of TMS-SCer conducted using GC-C-IRMS showed high repeatability and good inter-day variation (S.D. < 0.3‰). The carbon stable isotope ratio value (δ(13)C) of SCer calculated using a mass balance equation was compared with δ(13)C of underivatized SCer, which was regarded as the actual δ(13)C of SCer obtained using sealed tube combustion method. The difference between the calculated δ(13)C of SCer and δ(13)C of the underivatized SCer depended on the TMSI reagent supplier and on the number of hydroxyl groups to be derivatized in SCer. For accurate δ(13)C of Cer in skin using GC-C-IRMS, the measured δ(13)C of a target TMS-Cer must be calculated using a correction factor representing the difference in δ(13)C of underivatized standard SCer from that of TMS-standard SCer having a structure resembling that of the target Cer in skin. In addition, we show that the same lot of TMSI reagent from a specific supplier must be used throughout the experiments.