Effects of fatty acids on inflammatory markers studied in vivo and in vitro

Inflammation involves interactions amongst many different cell types as a defense mechanism of the body. Inflammation is also involved in cardiovascular disease (CVD). The role of long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFAs) in modulating the inflammatory response has been proposed. The aim of these studies is to investigate the effects of modest intakes of n-3 PUFAs on CVD risk factors especially inflammatory markers, including soluble adhesion molecules, in adult humans with and without CVD and to identify the effects of selected fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), on inflammatory responses, especially adhesion molecule expression in cultured human endothelial cells of different origin (fetal vs. adults; vein vs. artery).In the first in vivo study, healthy middle-aged men aged 35-60 years were randomized to 1.8 g/d EPA plus 0.23 g/d DHA (n = 9) or placebo oil (2.6 g/day medium-chain saturated fatty acids; n = 11) for 8 weeks. In a second in vivo study, patients awaiting carotid endarterectomy were randomised to 0.8 g/d EPA plus 0.67 g/d DHA (Omacor; n = 47) or olive oil (n = 53) as placebo for between 7 and 102 days until surgery. Supplementation with fish oil in healthy men resulted in a 363% increase in EPA and only a 13% increase in DHA in plasma phosphatidylcholine (PC). On the other hand, Omacor supplementation resulted in significantly increased EPA and DHA in plasma PC by 161% and 70%, respectively. In healthy subjects, there was very little effect of n-3 fatty acids on the risk factors measured (lipid profiles and inflammatory markers), apart from a reduction in plasma soluble intercellular molecule-1 (sICAM-1) concentration compared with placebo (P = 0.05). The change in plasma sICAM-1 concentration was significantly inversely associated with the change in DHA in plasma PC (r = -0.675; P = 0.001). Supplementation with Omacor, however, significantly decreased total plasma cholesterol, triacylglycerol (TAG) and LDL-cholesterol concentrations (P < 0.001) by 13%, 14%, and 5% respectively. In terms of inflammatory markers, supplementation with Omacor significantly decreased sE-selectin by 23% (P = 0.006) and sVCAM-1 by 25% (P < 0.0001), and had no significant effects on other plasma inflammatory markers including sICAM-1 even though trends toward decreases in these markers were observed. This study suggests some anti-inflammatory actions of moderate dose of Omacor in carotid endarterectomy patients. Based on correlation analysis between mRNA expression of inflammatory markers in plaque and plasma concentrations, it seems that soluble inflammatory markers cannot be used to reflect the expression of these molecules at the cell surface, i.e. in the vasculature or in the plaque.In the in vitro experiments the inflammatory stimulus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) up-regulated all three adhesion molecules studied at the protein (as assessed by ELISA) and the mRNA (as assessed by reverse transcription and real-time PCR) levels. VCAM-1 was affected by fatty acids to a greater extent than ICAM-1 or E-selectin. Amongst the fatty acids, DHA has the greatest and the most consistent effects on adhesion molecule protein expression. EPA was also a potent fatty acid inhibitor of adhesion molecule expression at the mRNA level. Some effects of stearic, oleic and arachidonic acids on adhesion molecules were also seen. The effects of fatty acids on the adhesion molecule expression were fatty acid, adhesion molecule and endothelial cell specific. The inhibitory effects of fatty acids were more pronounced in vein endothelial cells than arterial endothelial cells. The precise underlying mechanism on how fatty acids affect adhesion molecule expression remains to be clarified

機能性高分子をグラフトした天然ゴムの調製に関する研究

国立大学法人長岡技術科学大

Chemical composition and potential adulterants in coconut milk sold in Kuala Lumpur

The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical composition of six fresh coconut milk samples sold in Kuala Lumpur and to compare the results of chemical composition with pure coconut milk as reference using Malaysia Food Composition, USDA Fresh Coconut Milk Composition and USDA Canned Coconut Milk Composition. The possible source of adulterants that might present in coconut milk was also studied. Two fresh coconut milk samples from Pasar Imbi and Giant Cheras was anticipated to be adulterated with water and a source of carbohydrate in order to thicken the coconut milk. The protein content of fresh coconut milk sample from Pasar Imbi and Giant Cheras was 79.05% and 80.95%, respectively, lower compared to the reference, while the fat content was 53.38% and 60.96% lower compared to the value of the reference. However, the carbohydrate was 16.37% and 5.75%, while the moisture content was 12.84% and 25.77% higher compared to the value of the reference. From these two potentially adulterated coconut milk samples, only coconut milk from Pasar Imbi shown carbohydrate (corn flour) and water peaks of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. The spectra of fresh coconut milk adulterated with different concentration of corn flour were scanned and interpreted. Partial Least Square (PLS) regression was used to quantitatively determine the concentration of corn flour in the coconut milk. The linear equation of the validation obtained was y = 0.9161x + 0.3334 with R2= 0.9982 and RMSEC= 0.688. This can be suggested that FTIR could be a potential tool in determining the coconut milk adulteration with corn flour for future study

Polyethersulfone/HFO mixed matrix membrane for enhanced oily wastewater rejection

The recent growth of oil and gas industry has led to the increase of oily wastewater release. Membrane technology has been in the spotlight in recent advancement to treat the oily wastewater. Fouling due to surfactant adsorption and/or oil droplets plugging the pore has become one of the major hindrances in most of the research on oily wastewater treatment. In this work, self-synthesized hydrous ferric dioxide nanoparticles (HFO NPs) via chemical precipitation method were incorporated in polyethersulfone (PES) to fabricate a novel nanocomposite mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for ultrafiltration (UF). The morphologies and physicochemical properties of prepared HFO NPs and MMMs were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission electron microscope (TEM), contact angle goniometer, before further subjected to water permeation test and oil rejection test. It was found that contact angle of membrane decreased remarkably with an increase in HFO nanoparticle loading from 70° to 38° at which proved its improved hydrophilicity which led to a significant rise in permeate flux, achieving 168.06 L/m2h bar in comparison to 63.67 L/m2h bar shown by the plain PES membrane. Total rejection of oil (100% rejection) demonstrated by the MMMs has confirmed the superior potential of PES/HFO UF membrane for total purification of oily wastewater especially to be reused in oilfield and refinery processes as well as to be released to the environment

Development of multi criteria tacit knowledge acquisition framework (MC-TKAF) to support talent development intervention program in a Malaysian comprehensive university

In Higher Education Institutions (HEI), the process of retaining leadership succession is critical since it has involved the process in choosing the right person. The purpose is to steer the institutions to sustain organizations’ excellence for academic leadership and management (ALM) position. Many ALM of Malaysia HEIs are struggling to find the right successor to replace their roles as they do not have yet any firm criteria in evaluating the competence among their potential successors in their home institutions. This study aims to propose a multi criteria tacit knowledge acquisition framework (MC-TKAF) for supporting talent development intervention program in Malaysia HEIs. It will be based on cognitive apprenticeship, socialization and informal learning theory which mostly used in acquiring knowledge from expertise to overcome talent bottleneck among novice. The main process of this study will use Fuzzy Delphi among ALM in Malaysian HEIsto get consensus judgement about the right indicator to evaluate tacit knowledge competence. Three phases involved are: Phase 1 is to analyze the existing Tacit Knowledge Acquisition (TKA) by finding the suitable parameters to construct intended framework, Phase 2 is to use the findings in Phase 1 in order to develop a new framework of Tacit Knowledge Acquisition Framework (TKAF) that suits with HEI environment. Finally, Phase 3 is to evaluate the practicality of Tacit Knowledge Acquisition Framework (TKAF) by using Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach in supporting Talent Development Intervention Program. The objective of this paper is to propose the multi criteria tacit acquisition framework by using MCDM technique as a talent performance indicator. This paper basically will focus on Phase 1 of the research design. The constructed indicators in this paper could be served as a reference for the HEI industries to establish applicable talent performance indicators according to the properties of each TKA used

A conceptual framework on information co-creation: bridging the gap between organizations and consumers

Information quality (IQ) plays a dual role. In the context of organizations, information has been used by employees within an organization for working purposes and achieving targets. On the other hand, customers are also information users. They rely on information to stay informed, make decisions, comply with rules and exercise their rights and obligations. Literatures pointed out that there is a wide gap between information quality created and shared between organizations and their customers in which the latter is seemed at a disadvantage. This is simply because customers are seen as external to the organizations and passive. They are just merely the end recipients of goods and services. The aim of this paper is to propose a conceptual study to bridge the gap in information co-creation between organizations and customers. The novelty of the framework is to create a “winwin” situation for both parties. By using Information Systems Success (ISS) model, a personalized customer experience can be created by taking into consideration their voices and rights in the information co-creation process. As a result, a meaningful journey produces satisfied and empowered customers that tend to be loyal to organizations. This serves to reward the organizations in their long-term churn management

Assessment of health and nutritional status of lipid lowering supplement users in Kuala Lumpur

The nutritional and health status of dietary supplements users have been widely studied in other countries. However, few studies have examined lipid-lowering supplements users in Malaysia. Findings are inconsistent concerning the effectiveness of lipid-lowering supplements on cholesterol levels. Hence, this study was aimed to determine the health (physical, mental and social levels) and nutritional status (BMI, blood pressure and lipid profile) of lipid lowering supplement users. A cross sectional study of one hundred lipid lowering supplement subjects was conducted; body weight, height, blood pressure and lipid profile were measured. The results found that majority of the supplement users had normal physical, mental, and social health levels and normal level of lipid profiles, except for HDL-c and LDL-c than the non-users. Results also show an association (p<0.005) between lipid lowering groups (fish oil and flaxseed oil, soluble fiber and phytosterol) and body fat percentage (p=0.002). These findings suggest that in general lipid lowering supplements may have beneficial influence on the mental and social health status, and nutritional status (i.e. TC and TG, blood pressure, body fat percentage)

Adverse reactions to foods (ARFS) in children: parental knowledge, awareness and behaviour

This study aimed to assess parental knowledge, awareness and behaviour on Adverse Reactions to Foods (ARF) and its relation to family’s quality of life. In this cross-sectional study, 120 parents of children with documented ARFs in Selangor were recruited. Of these parents, 63.3% and 50.8% exhibited low levels of knowledge and awareness of ARFs, respectively. In terms of dietary practices, 31.7% avoided possible allergenic foods during pregnancy. The study found that 66.7% of children followed the childhood immunization schedule and 32.5% had symptomatic ARFs onset at age 36 months and above. Seafood appeared to be the main cause of ARFs (68%). ARFs appeared to be triggered mainly by environmental factors as reported by 46.7% of respondents. Nearly 56% of parents reported emotional responses associated with caring for ARF children while 8.8% and 17.5% found that ARFs affected relationships with family members and social acquaintances, respectively. A positive association was observed between specific levels of ARF knowledge and parental educational levels (p < 0.05). This findings represent an attempt to provide information for public education in a practical manner that can help optimize and sustain health benefits and overall community well-being

Gene selection for high dimensional data using k-means clustering algorithm and statistical approach

Microarray technology can measure thousands of genes which are useful for biologist to study and classify the cancer cells.However, this high dimensional data consists of large number of genes to be examined in regard of small samples size. Thus, selection of relevant genes is a challenging issue in microarray data analysis and has been a central research focus.This study proposed kmeans clustering algorithm to groups the relevant genes. Several statistical techniques such as Fisher criterion, Golub signal-to-noise, Mann Whitney rank and t-test have been used in deciding the clusters are well separated from one and others. Those genes with high discriminative score will later be used to train the k-NN classifier.The experimental results showed that the proposed gene selection methods able to identify differentially expressed genes with 0.86 ROC score