Publications

Quantitative genetics is the study of continuously varying traits which make up the majority of biological attributes of evolutionary and commercial interest. This book provides a much-needed up-to-date, in-depth yet accessible text for the field. In lucid language, the author guides readers through the main concepts of population and quantitative genetics and their applications. It is written to be approachable to even those without a strong mathematical background, including applied examples, a glossary of key terms, and problems and solutions to support students in grasping important theoretical developments and their relevance to real-world biology. An engaging, must-have textbook for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. Given its applied focus, it also equips researchers in genetics, genomics, evolutionary biology, animal and plant breeding, and conservation genetics with the understanding and tools for genetic improvement, comprehension of the genetic basis of human diseases, and conservation of biological resources.

Fingerprinting has become a powerful device in food authentication activities. Food products can be verified based on their chemical composition, geographical origin, specified botanical sources or possible adulterations by fingerprinting gas chromatographic chemical analysis and a subsequent multivariate data analysis. Although fingerprinting approaches have already been used successfully in many research projects, feasibility and employment in routine daily tests and food composition monitoring are not still widespread. Within this review, food fingerprinting studies in gas chromatographic methods for different food product categories were selected by a systematic search method. The studies were examined for chemometrics techniques, identification of effective variables, method validation and quality assurance parameters. In this way, the research activities could be considered as an effective starting point to establish fingerprinting techniques for food authentication in wide industrial scale in the future.

The linear least-squares analysis of 420 blood pressure (BP) profiles sampled for 48 hours in 233 pregnant women indicates a statistically significant BP elevation in women with gestational hypertension or preeclampsia as compared to healthy pregnant women in all three trimesters of gestation. These results provide sensitive parameters for use in early risk assessment and as a guide to preventive intervention during pregnancy.

Some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), particularly those with a high molecular mass, have been classified as probably being carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The significance of the determination of PAHs is reflected by the special attention the European Union is paying to regulating their maximum allowed levels in various types of foodstuffs. Like tobacco and smoked meats, alcoholic drinks can also contain these carcinogenic chemicals, as the latter have been detected in the charred insides of barrels, some ingredients such as caramel or the smoke released during the drying of germinated barley in beer or whisky. This paper determined the contents of seven PAHs in alcoholic beverages of variable alcoholic strength that had been aged in charred barrels for different times (months, years). The aim was to elucidate the dependence of the formation of seven PAHs on the type of charring (traditional or convective) used and the charring intensity (light, medium or heavy). Based on the results, the way the tree raw material is toasted strongly influences PAH levels in alcoholic drinks; thus, traditional charring produces increased amounts of PAHs from the wood relative to convective toasting. The sum of the analysed PAH concentrations in the aged alcoholic beverages studied ranged from zero for a white wine to 172 ng l(-1) for a 'brandy de jerez solera'. The carcinogenic indicator benzoapyrene was found at concentrations below 10 ng l(-1). These PAH concentrations in alcoholic beverages are very low relative to those in smoked and char-broiled foodstuffs. Any health hazards, however, can be minimized by using convective toasting to manufacture the barrels where the drinks are to be aged.

A detailed electron microscopy analysis is reported on the structure of silver nanoprisms synthesized by controlled photoinduced aggregation of Ag nanoparticles. Bending of the nanoprism (111) face is directly revealed in the presence of fringes in both bright and dark field TEM images, which are unequivocally assigned to bending contours. Such contours can be individually imaged through shifting of the objective aperture and selectively allowing transmission of the corresponding diffraction spot. The assignment of a bent structure is supported by images of the lateral sides of the prisms, and high-resolution images where apparent changes in the lattice constant are observed.

Living cells have several mechanisms to avoid acidic conditions created by excess protons. The protons are extruded to the extracellular space via the plasma membrane by various types of transporters such as the Na + /H + exchanger and monocarboxylate transporters, which hereby contribute to the exclusion of protons in the cells of metabolic tissues including the liver, skeletal muscle, and adipose tissue. Disturbances in the functioning of the transporters cause abnormal intracellular fluid pH of the cells and dysfunction of metabolic homeostasis, leading to the development of metabolic diseases and a decrease in physical fitness level. In addition to the intracellular fluid pH regulation, growing evidence shows that the fluid pH in the interstitial space around metabolic tissues is easily reduced due to weaker pH buffering capacity than that in the cytosol and blood circulation. Therefore, pH reduction in the interstitial fluid may cause the onset of metabolic dysfunction. In contrast, several dietary foods have direct and indirect benefits in maintaining the interstitial fluid pH to the normal range by improving buffering capacities, suppressing proton production, and activating proton transporters, which strengthen the effect of appropriate diet on metabolic health.

Chromatographers rightly regard Mass Spectrometry (MS) as more than just a detection method. It is, in fact, another separation technique, and it is orthogonal to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), that is, it relies on a different physical property of the analyte to effect separation. Although HPLC relies on the analyte affinity for a stationary phase, MS relies on the mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of ions derived from the compounds of interest. Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has become an indispensable tool for problem solving in virtually all analytical fields requiring "information-rich" chemical analysis. In the next decade, the LC-MS instrument market is expected to grow at more than twice the rate of the broader instrument market and will probably surpass gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as the leader of the so-called hyphenated techniques. The aim of this review is to facilitate the growth, efficiency, and discussion of the use of LC-MS in studies of chemical migration from food packaging materials and other materials intended to come into contact with food.

Variable Falle: Kolloide aus Goldnanopartikeln mit einer Beschichtung aus Poly(N-isopropylacrylamid)-Mikrogel (pNIPAM) können Moleküle je nach Temperatur auf verschiedene Art fixieren (siehe Schema). Die poröse pNIPAM-Schale verhindert eine elektromagnetische Kopplung zwischen den Metallpartikeln, sodass bei Messungen der oberflächenverstärkten Raman-Streuung (SERS) hoch reproduzierbare Ergebnisse erhalten werden. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as "Supporting Information". Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.