Minerals and trace elements in cow's milk occur as inorganic ions and salts or form complexes with proteins and peptides, carbohydrates, fats and small molecules. The main mineral binder or chelators of calcium are the caseins, alphas1-casein, alphas2-casein, beta-casein and kappa-casein, but also whey proteins and lactoferrin bind specific minerals like calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, sodium a...

Geochemical models of secondary mineral precipitation on Mars generally assume semiopen systems (open to the atmosphere but closed at the water-sediment interface) and equilibrium conditions. However, in natural multicomponent systems, the reactive surface area of primary minerals controls the dissolution rate and affects the precipitation sequences of secondary phases, and simultaneously, the ...

Dietary quality is an important limiting factor for proper nutrition in many resource poor settings, with a major concern, micronutrient bioavailability. High content of phytate present in soybean (Glycine max. L) chelates divalent essential mineral ions and reduces its bioavailability and thus dictates the nutritional role of this wonder crop. In this study, the changes in phytate, phytase act...

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 plays a major role in intestinal calcium transport. To determine what phenotypic abnormalities observed in vitamin D receptor (VDR)-ablated mice are secondary to impaired intestinal calcium absorption rather than receptor deficiency, mineral ion levels were normalized by dietary means. VDR-ablated mice and control littermates were fed a diet that has been shown to preve...

This study considers the role of distance to the African source on the amount of deposition. To this end, dry and wet deposition was measured at a site close to Africa (Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands, SCO) and at a distant site located in NE Spain (La Castanya, Montseny, MSY). Because of the important influence of African influence on the buildup of particles in the atmosphere, we...

The specific routes of biomineralization in nature are here explored using a tissue engineering approach in which bone is formed in porous ceramic constructs seeded with bone marrow stromal cells and implanted in vivo. Unlike previous studies this model system reproduces mammalian bone formation, here investigated at high temporal resolution. Different mineralization stages were monitored at di...

Demineralization of tooth mineral in the caries process was studied using a computer model that simulates a diffusion controlled dissolution process. The model consists of a two-compartment system. An acidic solution in the outer ("plaque") compartment was assumed to be large in volume so that its composition remained constant during the process. The solution in the inner ("lesion") compartment...

Recent studies have shown that nanoparticles exist in environmental water but the formation, characteristics and fate of such particles remain incompletely understood. We show here that surface water obtained from various sources (ocean, hot springs, and soil) produces mineralo-organic particles that gradually increase in size and number during incubation. Seawater produces mineralo-organic par...

Fe is an impurity in most leach liquors. Its coexistence with copper in leaching solution of chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) which is the most important mineral of copper creates major extraction problems. Hydrochloric acid dissolves both copper and iron during chloride leaching of this mineral. Separation of Fe from Cu is thus necessary to obtain pure copper. This paper presents a novel metho...