Analyzing Molecular Pathways between Maternal Obesity and Risk of Endometrial Cancer in F1 Mice Generations

From the Washington University Office of Undergraduate Research Digest (WUURD), Vol. 12, 05-01-2017. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Joy Zalis Kiefer, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Lindsey Paunovich, Editor; Helen Human, Programs Manager and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences Mentor: Kelle Mole

Impact of Maturity Level and Geometric Cuts of Natural Cheese on Processed Cheese Product Functionality

The study aimed to see the effect of maturity and different geometric cuts of Cheddar cheeses on processed cheese products (PCP) functional properties. Four Cheddar cheeses (mild, medium, sharp, and extra-sharp) were selected to manufacture PCP. The PCP made using extra-sharp Cheddar was soft and had higher meltability. The G′ and G″ values of mild and extra-sharp Cheddar PCP observed a similar trend, whereas medium and sharp Cheddar PCP followed a similar trend. In study 2, different geometric cuts, small cubes (SC), large cubes (LC), thin shreds (TN), and thick shreds (TK) of medium (M) and extra-sharp (ES) Cheddar cheese were used for PCP manufacture. The PCP with ES shreds (TN and TK) had higher meltability. The PCP with ES-TK was softer. In conclusion, maturation and geometric cuts significantly impacted the product\u27s functionality. Manufacturers should select proper cutting equipment to extract full functional benefits and possibly reduce emulsifying salt usage

Thermal imaging for estimating melting point in cheese: A cost-effective alternative to rheology

The melting characteristics of cheese play a pivotal role in determining functional performance in various applications. Measuring the meltability and melting point of cheese is a challenge and requires sophisticated equipment, a laboratory setup, and personnel training, and the cost can be prohibitive. Over the years, many tests have been developed to determine the meltability or melting point of cheese. Currently, the melting point of cheese is measured using a specialized instrument, a rheometer for dynamic stress rheology values, to calculate the transition temperature (tan δ). It measures the transition of cheese from the solid to the viscous phase as the cheese is heated. However, the test is time-consuming. A thermal infrared (IR) image camera and software analysis can be used to quickly measure cheese's meltability and melting point. The study was designed to develop a method to estimate the melting point of cheese using a thermal imaging camera, providing a more practical and cost-effective alternative to conventional rheological analysis. Commercial samples of cheeses, including natural Cheddar and various processed cheese slices, were procured from the market. The samples were analyzed for meltability using the tube melt, Schreiber melt, and rheological (G′, G″, and tan δ) tests. The thermal IR image camera test method was developed, and the data were processed using software to determine the melting point. The experiment was conducted in triplicate using different lots of cheese. The collected data were statistically analyzed using RStudio. The melt temperature points from the thermal image camera after 1 min were then correlated with the rheological analysis, and the R2 was calculated. The melt characteristics differed significantly according to cheese type. The melting points (tan δ) obtained using a rheometer for cheeses varied between 46.66°C and 64.33°C, and the corresponding values from image analysis were between 48.07°C and 64.61°C. The R2 values for the correlations ranged from 0.804 to 0.813, demonstrating a strong relationship between the rheological and image analysis methods. Additionally, thermal images identify the cheese's melting point and heat distribution. The detailed interpretation aids researchers in understanding the thermal properties and structural changes during melting, while also providing sales professionals with informative visual representations to effectively showcase product quality and performance. In conclusion, the study demonstrated that a thermal imaging method provides a practical, quick, and cost-effective approach for estimating the melting point in cheese compared with conventional rheological analysis and can be used on-site

Characterization of Fatty Acids and Nutritional Health Indicators of <i>Ghee</i> (Butteroil) Manufactured from Bovine Colostrum and Sweet Cream

Large-scale bovine colostrum production yields a significant byproduct called colostrum cream (CC). Colostrum cream is the byproduct of the industry where the colostrum is separated, and the colostrum milk is processed and converted into a colostrum formula and immunoglobulin colostrum powder. However, the disposal of CC poses sustainability challenges. CC composition differs significantly from milk fat and can be a valuable source of fatty acids (FAs) in the human diet. Ghee or butter oil manufactured from cream or butter is a product with almost 99.8% fat, with longer shelf life and a unique flavor. The study was planned to see the effect of FA profile and nutritional health indicators derived from FA profiles, such as the atherogenicity index (AI) and thrombogenicity index (TI) of CC, colostrum butter oil (CBO) samples, butter oil (BO), and sweet cream (SC), as they can significantly influence cardiovascular health. Three SC samples from a dairy plant and six CC samples were collected from a private company. BO and CBO samples were made in atmospheric conditions and analyzed for chemical composition and FA profiles in triplicates. SC and BO samples have higher levels of saturated and trans FAs. CC and CBO are richer in beneficial FAs. CBO offers a healthier profile with higher PUFA/SFAs and a lower AI and TI, which can be an essential source of FAs in the human diet and support sustainability

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices about Cervical Cancer and Screening among Nurses of a Tertiary Care Centre in Western India

Introduction: Nurses play a crucial role of enlightening commu- nity about need and availability of screening test so it is important to explore the knowledge, attitude and practices of nurses about cervical cancer and screening. Methodology: A pretested semi structured questionnaire used to carry out the study among nurses of a tertiary care centre in West- ern India. Observations: Out of total 103 nurses, 90.3% were married with mean age was 34 years. Majority (98%) were aware about cervical cancer while 73.8% agreed that it could be prevented. Major symp- toms of cervical cancer recognized were irregular bleeding (31.7%) & foul smelling vaginal discharge (34.2%). Nursing academic study (51.3%) was the leading source of all information. Risk fac- tors identified were Human Papilloma Virus (15.6%) and poor personal hygine (14.7%). As many as 62% nurses felt that they were not at risk of cervical cancer. Only 3.9% had received HPV vaccine. Conclusions: This study highlights major Knowledge, Attitude, Practice gap among nursing staff regarding cervical cancer

Maternal obesogenic diet induces endometrial hyperplasia, an early hallmark of endometrial cancer, in a diethylstilbestrol mouse model.

Thirty-eight percent of US adult women are obese, meaning that more children are now born of overweight and obese mothers, leading to an increase in predisposition to several adult onset diseases. To explore this phenomenon, we developed a maternal obesity animal model by feeding mice a diet composed of high fat/ high sugar (HF/HS) and assessed both maternal diet and offspring diet on the development of endometrial cancer (ECa). We show that maternal diet by itself did not lead to ECa initiation in wildtype offspring of the C57Bl/6J mouse strain. While offspring fed a HF/HS post-weaning diet resulted in poor metabolic health and decreased uterine weight (regardless of maternal diet), it did not lead to ECa. We also investigated the effects of the maternal obesogenic diet on ECa development in a Diethylstilbestrol (DES) carcinogenesis mouse model. All mice injected with DES had reproductive tract lesions including decreased number of glands, condensed and hyalinized endometrial stroma, and fibrosis and increased collagen deposition that in some mice extended into the myometrium resulting in extensive disruption and loss of the inner and outer muscular layers. Fifty percent of DES mice that were exposed to maternal HF/HS diet developed several features indicative of the initial stages of carcinogenesis including focal glandular and atypical endometrial hyperplasia versus 0% of their Chow counterparts. There was an increase in phospho-Akt expression in DES mice exposed to maternal HF/HS diet, a regulator of persistent proliferation in the endometrium, and no difference in total Akt, phospho-PTEN and total PTEN expression. In summary, maternal HF/HS diet exposure induces endometrial hyperplasia and other precancerous phenotypes in mice treated with DES. This study suggests that maternal obesity alone is not sufficient for the development of ECa, but has an additive effect in the presence of a secondary insult such as DES

Maternal diet reduces latency of ECa in DES treated mice.

Representative images of H&E slides at 20X (upper panels) and at 40X objective (lower panels), scale bars = 50 and 100 μm. (A). Phospho-HH3 staining of cells as a marker of proliferation (B). Quantification of pHH3 positive cells (C). Black arrow – intraluminal projections, white arrows – disorganized epithelial cells and red circle – nuclei containing 1–2 prominent nucleoli. Same letters mean there is no significant difference between conditions; different letters represent statistically significant differences at p<0.01.</p

Schematic representation of experimental model.

<p>Four-week-old C57Bl/6J female mice fed control (Chow, 13% kcal from fat) or a high-fat high-sugar (HF/HS; 59.4% kcal from fat) diet. After more than 4 weeks of dietary exposure, dams were mated to chow-fed C57Bl/6J studs. All resulting F1 pups were exposed to the mom’s diet in utero and during lactation. We had four cohorts as follow; F0 Chow -F1 Chow, F0 HF/HS -F1 Chow, F0 Chow - F1 HF/HS, F0 HF/HS - F1 HF/HS.</p