USING THE MINNESOTA FARM RECORDS DATA BASE: 1977-82 DATA

Farm Management,

Comparison of vegetable oils on the uptake of lutein and zeaxanthin by ARPE-19 cells

AIM: To compare the effect of vegetable oils on the uptake of lutein and zeaxanthin by adult retinal pigment epithelial (ARPE)-19 cells in vitro. METHODS: ARPE-19 cells were cultured in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium-F-12 supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum and 1% penicillin–streptomycin in a humidified 5% CO2 incubator maintained at 37℃. Cells were treated with 247 µmol/L lutein, 49 µmol/L zeaxanthin and 1% (v/v) of either coconut oil, corn oil, peanut oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, castor oil, or linseed oil for 48h. Lutein and zeaxanthin concentration in the cells were quantified by high performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: Among the oils tested, the highest lutein and zeaxanthin uptake was observed with coconut oil while the lowest was observed with linseed oil. CONCLUSION: ARPE-19 uptake of lutein and zeaxanthin are found to be dependent on the type of oils

Development of a sensitive multiplexed open circuit potential system for the detection of prostate cancer biomarkers

We report the development of a sensitive label-free, cost-effective detection system with simultaneous multi-channel measurement of open circuit potential (OCP) variations for the detection of prostate specific antigen (PSA). We demonstrate a significant increase of 600 times in the sensitivity as compared to the reported literature. To accurately measure OCP variations, a complete monolithic field-effect transistor (FET)-input ultra-low input bias current instrumentation amplifier is used to form the electronic circuit to measure the variation between a working electrode and a reference electrode. This amplifier electronic system setup provides a differential voltage measurement with high input impedance and low input bias current. Since no current is applied to the electrochemical system, a true and accurate measurement of the variation can be performed. This is the first report on the use of DNA aptamers with an OCP system where we employed a DNA aptamer against PSA. An optimised ratio of anti-PSA DNA aptamer with 6-mercapto-1-hexanol (MCH) was used to fabricate the aptasensor using gold electrodes. The electrodes are hosted in a cell with an automated flow system. A wide range of concentrations of PSA (0.1 to 100 ng/mL) were injected through the system. The sensor could potentially differentiate 0.1 ng/mL PSA from blank measurement, which is well below the required clinical range (&amp;gt;1 ng/mL). The sensor was also challenged with 4% human serum albumin and human kallikrein2 as control proteins where the sensor demonstrated excellent selectivity. The developed system can be further generalised to various other targets using specific probes.</p

Immunopathological Roles of Cytokines, Chemokines, Signaling Molecules, and Pattern-Recognition Receptors in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with unknown etiology affecting more than one million individuals each year. It is characterized by B- and T-cell hyperactivity and by defects in the clearance of apoptotic cells and immune complexes. Understanding the complex process involved and the interaction between various cytokines, chemokines, signaling molecules, and pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) in the immune pathways will provide valuable information on the development of novel therapeutic targets for treating SLE. In this paper, we review the immunopathological roles of novel cytokines, chemokines, signaling molecules, PRRs, and their interactions in immunoregulatory networks and suggest how their disturbances may implicate pathological conditions in SLE

Study of behavior of plastic modified bitumen by incorporating carbon black

In recent years, the performance of polymer modified bitumen has been widely studied. This study reports a research carried out to investigate the properties of polymer modified bitumen (PMB) by using polypropylene as modifier, carbon black as additives, to examine the optimum ratio of polypropylene to carbon black. With this objective, sample preparation using wet mixing method combining high shear mix was firstly performed. Subsequently, 18 samples were developed for the study, of which the polypropylene (PP) contents 10%, 12%, 14%, 16%, 18% and 20% with 2%, 3%, 4% of carbon black content. Afterwards, samples were characterized by standard tests (Dynamic Shear Rheometer and Viscosity), and all the test results showed improved performance. Finally, the results concluded that the optimum binder-PP ratio PMB for applying is 14% PP with 3% carbon black

A simple and highly sensitive electrochemical platform for detection of microRNAs

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in blood can act as fingerprints to many diseases including cancer. However, detection of low levels of these miRNAs in blood demands forvery sensitive techniques. Despite many reports available for miRNA detection, the available methodologies have drawbacks such as complexity, use of expensive enzymes, etc. We here report a new and simple electrochemical method to detect miRNAs by exploiting the intrinsic charges of the oligonucleotides and a simple amplification method with positively charged gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to monitor the changes in capacitance upon miRNA binding without the need for redox markers. miRNA detection was also obtained through measurements of open circuit potential (OCP) variations. We demonstrate a promising cost effective biosensor using both EIS and OCP with a detection limit of 1 fM, which can easily be expanded into miRNA/DNA microarray platforms