Selenium (Se) concentrations were determined in human serum, rice and wheat flour sampled in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, and compared with those sampled in Tokyo. Japan. Serum levels of Se were significantly lower in Japanese Brazilians than Japanese living in Tokyo. The samples of rice consumed by Japanese Brazilians in São Paulo contained 22.7 ng Se/g on average, which was about half the s...

Background : A satisfactory nutritional status, as a result of optimal food intake, before conception and during pregnancy, is important for a successful pregnancy. Objective : To evaluate the energy and nutrient intake before conception and at mid-gestation in a group of pregnant women (n 50) in relation to the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR). Design : Pre-pregnant diet was studied by a...

Silviculturists use a variety of techniques, including repellents, to reduce browse damage by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to valuable eastern hardwood seedlings. Systemic selenium, sodium selenite, was evaluated with captive whitetailed deer for its repellency in white ash (Fraxinus americana) and black cherry (Prunus serotina) seedlings. Selenium had no effect in reducing browsi...

While there has been considerable attention devoted to the risks to high level consumers from mercury in freshwater fish, relatively little attention has been devoted to saltwater fish. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued advisories based on mercury for four saltwater species or groups of fish, there are few data on mercury levels generally, or on the risk these levels pos...

Despite its very low level in humans, selenium plays an important and unique role among the (semi)metal trace essential elements because it is the only one for which incorporation into proteins is genetically encoded, as the constitutive part of the 21st amino acid, selenocysteine. Twenty-five selenoproteins have been identified so far in the human proteome. The biological functions of some of ...