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The effects of oral administration of milk and soy milk kefirs on tumor growth in tumor-bearing mice and the mucosal immunoglobulin A response in mice were studied. Oral administration of milk and soy milk kefirs to mice inoculated with sarcoma 180 tumor cells resulted in 64.8% and 70.9% inhibition of tumor growth, respectively, compared with controls. In addition, oral administration of the two kefir types induced apoptotic tumor cell lysis. Total immunoglobulin A levels for tissue extracts from the wall of the small intestine were also significantly higher for mice fed a milk kefir or a soy milk kefir regimen for 30 days. These results suggest that milk and soy milk kefirs may be considered among the more promising food components in terms of cancer prevention and enhancement of mucosal resistance to gastrointestinal infection.

We show experimentally and theoretically that two readily observed effects in solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-radiation damping and the dipolar field-combine to generate bizarre spin dynamics (including chaotic evolution) even with extraordinarily simple sequences. For example, seemingly insignificant residual magnetization after a crusher gradient triggers exponential regrowth of the magnetization, followed by aperiodic turbulent spin motion. The estimated Lyapunov exponent suggests the onset of spatial-temporal chaos and the existence of chaotic attractors. This effect leads to highly irreproducible experimental decays that amplify minor nonuniformities such as temperature gradients. Imaging applications and consequences for other NMR studies are discussed.

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We introduce a new category of nanoparticle-based T 1 MRI contrast agents (CAs) by encapsulating paramagnetic chelated gadolinium(III), i.e., Gd 3+ ·DOTA, through supramolecular assembly of molecular building blocks that carry complementary molecular recognition motifs, including adamantane (Ad) and β-cyclodextrin (CD). A small library of Gd 3+ ·DOTA-encapsulated supramolecular nanoparticles (Gd 3+ ·DOTA⊂SNPs) was produced by systematically altering the molecular building block mixing ratios. A broad spectrum of relaxation rates was correlated to the resulting Gd 3+ ·DOTA⊂SNP library. Consequently, an optimal synthetic formulation of Gd 3+ ·DOTA⊂SNPs with an r 1 of 17.3 s −1 mM −1 (ca. 4-fold higher than clinical Gd 3+ chelated complexes at high field strengths) was identified. T 1 -weighted imaging of Gd 3+ ·DOTA⊂SNPs exhibits an enhanced sensitivity with a contrast-to-noise ratio (C/N ratio) ca. 3.6 times greater than that observed for free Gd 3+ ·DTPA. A Gd 3+ ·DOTA⊂SNPs solution was injected into foot pads of mice, and MRI was employed to monitor dynamic lymphatic drainage of the Gd 3+ ·DOTA⊂SNPs-based CA. We observe an increase in signal intensity of the brachial lymph node in T 1 -weighted imaging after injecting Gd 3+ ·DOTA⊂SNPs but not after injecting Gd 3+ ·DTPA. The MRI results are supported by ICP-MS analysis ex vivo. These results show that Gd 3+ ·DOTA⊂SNPs not only exhibits enhanced relaxivity and high sensitivity but also can serve as a potential tool for diagnosis of cancer metastasis.