Preferential uptake of polyunsaturated fatty acids by colorectal cancer cells

Although a growing body of evidence suggests that colorectal cancer (CRC) is associated with alterations of fatty acid (FA) profiles in serum and tumor tissues, available data about polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content in CRC patients are inconclusive. Our study showed that CRC tissues contained more PUFAs than normal large intestinal mucosa. However, serum levels of PUFAs in CRC patients were lower than in healthy controls. To explain the mechanism of PUFA alterations in CRC, we measured FA uptake by the colon cancer cells and normal colon cells. The levels of PUFAs in colon cancer cell culture medium decreased significantly with incubation time, while no changes were observed in the medium in which normal colon cells were incubated. Our findings suggest that the alterations in tumor and serum PUFA profiles result from preferential uptake of these FAs by cancer cells; indeed, PUFAs are essential for formation of cell membrane phospholipids during rapid proliferation of cancer cells. This observation puts into question potential benefits of PUFA supplementation in CRC patients

Study of the Interactions of Ionic Liquids in IC by QSRR

The nature of ionic liquids (ILs) facilitates their analysis by ion chromatography which, unlike conventional high-performance liquid chromatography, enables analysis both of cations and anions. This paper describes a pioneering ion-chromatographic investigation of IL cations and statistical evaluation of quantitative structure–retention relationships with the objective of predicting the molecular mechanism responsible for retention. Eleven ionic liquid imidazolium and pyridinium cations were analyzed on a CS15 cation-exchange column by isocratic elution with acetonitrile–methanesulfonic acid mixtures. Structural descriptors of the cations obtained from molecular modeling were used to describe their hydrophobicity as determined by chromatography. The most statistically significant were three-term QSRR regression equations relating log kw to analyte n-octanol–water partition coefficient (log P), dipole moment (μ), solvent accessible surface area (ASAS), and hydration energy (HE). They indicate the important role of both hydrophobic and polar the retention of ILs on the CS15 column

The Composition of the Cuticular and Internal Free Fatty Acids and Alcohols from Lucilia sericata Males and Females

GC, GC–MS, and HPLC–LLSD analyses were used to identify and quantify cuticular and internal lipids in males and females of the blow-fly (Lucilia sericata). Sixteen free fatty acids, seven alcohols and cholesterol were identified and quantitatively determined in the cuticular lipids of L. sericata. Cuticular fatty acids ranged from C6 to C20 and included unsaturated entities such as 16:1n-9, 18:1n-9, 20:4n-3 and 20:5n-3. Cuticular alcohols (only saturated and even-numbered) ranged from C12 to C20 in males and C10 to C22 in females. Only one sterol was found in the cuticular lipids of both males and females. 23 free fatty acids, five alcohols and cholesterol were identified in the internal lipids. Internal fatty acids were present in large amounts—7.4 mg/g (female) and 10.1 mg/g (male). Only traces of internal alcohols (from C14 to C26 in males, from C14 to C22 in females) were found in L. sericata. Large amounts of internal cholesterol were identified in L. sericata males and females (0.49 and 0.97 mg/g of the insect body, respectively)

Analysis of indirect 'in situ' fish target-strength estimation methods

The paper analyzes existing in situ methods of fish target-strength estimation with speciał emphasis on an indirect method that utiłizes statistical manipulation on a backscattered acoustic echoes set. The inverse problem in question requires finding the unknown probability density distribution (PDF) of target strength in the logarithmic "domain" or PDF of a backscattering cross-section in the "domain" of absołute variabłes. These PDFs can be estimated by solving the so called "single-target single-beam integral equation", relating distributions of echo variable, target strength and beam pattem of the echo sounder transducer. In the presented analysis special attention is given to four newly developed TS-estimation methods, viz.: Expectation, Maximization and Smoothing (EMS), Discrete "MeIJin Deconvolution", Windowed Singular Value Decomposition (WSVD) and Regularization. These methods use more sophisticated estimation techniques than conventional deconvolution and related methods. A comparison of the resulting estimates obtained from the analyzed methods (using simulations as well as real data from acoustic surveys) eoneludes the paper

The statistics of fish echo traces - models and validation

Beam pattern probability density function (PDF) plays important role in indirect fish target strength estimation methods as it constitutes the kernel of any form of a "single-beam integral equation" that should be solved for unknown target strength PDP. Typically, the beam pattern PDF is calculated under the assumption of uniform spatial distribution of fish targets in beam pattern cross-section. However, in some cases this assumption can not be justified due to fish or vessel movement, and different number of fish echoes in fish traces. In the paper, two different models of fish traces statistics were investigated: one assuming the vessel movement with stationary fish and the other with stationary vessel and moving fish. Both approaches were modelled numerically and later verified experimentally using data obtained from a dual-beam system

The estimation of norwegian cod size distribution from acoustic data

The paper presents an algorithm for estimation the fish length distribution from acoustic target strength data. The theory of scattering from a tilted cylinder is used for modelling the fish directivity pattern of swimbladdered fish. The model allows for formulating the dependence of target strength on two main components; the maximum target strength and the fish directivity pattern. As both terms depend on fish length, the inverse technique used when processing is performed on introduced conditional distributions. The effect of fish tilt angle is in this way removed, or deconvolved from the target strength distribution.. The resulting fish maximum target strength distribution is further converted into fish length distribution using equivalent parameters for swimbladder morphology. The method is verified on actual data acquired during the Lofoten 2004 survey on spawning grounds of North East Arctic cod (Gadus morhua)