59 research outputs found
Simple methodology for the quantitative analysis of fatty acids in human red blood cells
In the last years, there has been an increasing
interest in evaluating possible relations between fatty acid
(FA) patterns and the risk for chronic diseases. Due to the
long life span (120 days) of red blood cells (RBCs), their
FA profile reflects a longer term dietary intake and was
recently suggested to be used as an appropriate biomarker
to investigate correlations between FA metabolism and diseases.
Therefore, the aim of this work was to develop and
validate a simple and fast methodology for the quantification
of a broad range of FAs in RBCs using gas chromatography
with flame ionization detector, as a more common
and affordable equipment suitable for biomedical and
nutritional studies including a large number of samples. For
this purpose, different sample preparation protocols were
tested and compared, including a classic two-step method
(Folch method) with modifications and different one-step methods, in which lipid extraction and derivatization were
performed simultaneously. For the one-step methods, different
methylation periods and the inclusion of a saponification
reaction were evaluated. Differences in absolute FA
concentrations were observed among the tested methods,
in particular for some metabolically relevant FAs such as
trans elaidic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid. The one-step
method with saponification and 60 min of methylation time
was selected since it allowed the identification of a higher
number of FAs, and was further submitted to in-house validation.
The proposed methodology provides a simple, fast
and accurate tool to quantitatively analyse FAs in human
RBCs, useful for clinical and nutritional studies.This work received financial support from the
European Union (FEDER funds through COMPETE) and National
Funds (FCT, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) through project
PTDC/SAU-ENB/116929/2010 and EXPL/EMS-SIS/2215/2013.
ROR acknowledges PhD scholarship SFRH/BD/97658/2013 attributed
by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Analyseren van duizenden druppels – Voedselveiligheidsrisico’s detecteren met droplet PCR
<p>Het ILVO ontwikkelt de nieuwe droplet digital PCR. Deze heeft ten opzichte van de kwantitatieve PCR als belangrijk voordeel dat een standaardcurve op basis van referentiemateriaal achterwege kan blijven. Zeker nu monsters gemakkelijker kunnen worden verdeeld in zeer kleine deeltjes of druppeltjes neemt de populariteit van deze methode toe bij het detecteren van pathogenen en virussen, maar ook voor ggo’s en allergenen.</p></p
Towards a History of Mass Violence in the Etat Indépendant du Congo, 1885-1908
The present article provides an up-to-date scholarly introduction to mass violence in the Etat Indépendant du Congo (Congo Free State, EIC). Its aims are twofold: to offer a point of access to the extensive literature and historical debates on the subject, and to make the case for exchanging the currently prevalent top-down narrative, with its excessive focus on King Leopold's character and motives, for one which considers the EIC's culture of violence as a multicausal, broadly based and deeply engrained social phenomenon.
The argument is divided into five sections. Following a general outline of the EIC's violent system of administration, I discuss its social and demographic impact (and the controversy which surrounds it) to bring out the need for more regionally focused and context sensitive studies. The dispute surrounding demographics demonstrates that what is fundamentally at stake is the place the EIC's extreme violence should occupy in the history of European ‘modernity’. Since approaches which hinge on Leopoldian exceptionalism are particularly unhelpful in clarifying this issue, I pause to reflect on how such approaches came to dominate the distinct historiographical traditions which emerged in Belgium and abroad before moving on to a more detailed exploration of a selection of causes underlying the EIC's violent nature. While state actors remain in the limelight, I shift the focus from the state as a singular, normative agent, towards the existence of an extremely violent society in which various individuals and social groups within and outside of the state apparatus committed violent acts for multiple reasons. As this argument is pitched at a high level of abstraction, I conclude with a discussion of available source material with which it can be further refined and updated
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