Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Markers of Oxidative Stress in Healthy Women

Purpose There is accumulating evidence that oxidative stress is an important contributor to carcinogenesis. We hypothesized that genetic variation in genes involved in maintaining antioxidant/ oxidant balance would be associated with overall oxidative stress. Methods We examined associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in MnSOD, GSTP1, GSTM1, GPX1, GPX3, and CAT genes and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), a blood biomarker of oxidative damage, in healthy white women randomly selected from Western New York (n = 1402). We used general linear models to calculate age-adjusted geometric means of TBARS across the variants. We also examined the associations within strata of menopausal status. Results For MnSOD, being heterozygous was associated with lower geometric means of TBARS (less oxidative stress), 1.28 mg/dL, compared to homozygous T-allele or homozygous Callele, 1.35 mg/dL, and 1.31 mg/dL correspondingly (p for trend = 0.01). This difference remained among postmenopausal women, 1.40 mg/dL for TT, 1.32 mg/dL for TC, and 1.34mg/dL for CC (p for trend 0.015); it was attenuated among premenopausal women. SNPs in the other genes examined (GSTP1, GSTM1, GPX1, GPX3, and CAT) were not associated with TBARS. Conclusions Our findings suggest that genetic variation in MnSOD gene may be associated with oxidative status, particularly among postmenopausal women

Screening of long chain imidazolium base ionic liquids for EPA and DHA extraction from microalgae using COSMO-RS model

Omega-3 Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids (Omega-3 PUFA) in various types including alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have many benefits for human health. The EPA and DHA from microalgae are favorable as the algal is farmed in a controlled environment that avoids harmful contamination such as methyl mercury and copper from the sea. Microalgae has the advantage of presenting neither an unpleasant odour nor a high amount of cholesterol. The presence of squalene and phytosterols in microalgae offer additional benefits to human health. The existing conventional methods of lipid extraction like soxhlet consume large amount of solvent and hence consider high toxic and energy intensive. Ionic liquids (ILs) are new classes of solvents that have the potential in extracting the microalgae lipid. ILs provide low vapor pressure, high thermal stability, non-toxicity and they can dissolve polar, non-polar and polymeric components. Very limited research has been conducted on extracting microalgae lipid especially PUFA using ILs therefore, this study aims to screen the potential ILs that can be used in the lipid extraction process. The screening was carried out using Continuum Solvation Models for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS) method to investigate the effect of different types of anions base ILs by calculate the activity coefficient value. It was found that the lowest activity coefficient has the best interaction between the solute and solvent. According to the results the lowest activity coefficient for EPA and DHA extraction belongs to [benzoate] as anion for the octyl-methyl imidazolium base ILs

Discovery and replication of microRNAs for breast cancer risk using genome-wide profiling

Genome-wide miRNA expression may be useful for predicting breast cancer risk and/or for the early detection of breast cancer

Sensor-based precision nutrient and irrigation management enhances the physiological performance, water productivity, and yield of soybean under system of crop intensification

Sensor-based decision tools provide a quick assessment of nutritional and physiological health status of crop, thereby enhancing the crop productivity. Therefore, a 2-year field study was undertaken with precision nutrient and irrigation management under system of crop intensification (SCI) to understand the applicability of sensor-based decision tools in improving the physiological performance, water productivity, and seed yield of soybean crop. The experiment consisted of three irrigation regimes [I1: standard flood irrigation at 50% depletion of available soil moisture (DASM) (FI), I2: sprinkler irrigation at 80% ETC (crop evapo-transpiration) (Spr 80% ETC), and I3: sprinkler irrigation at 60% ETC (Spr 60% ETC)] assigned in main plots, with five precision nutrient management (PNM) practices{PNM1-[SCI protocol], PNM2-[RDF, recommended dose of fertilizer: basal dose incorporated (50% N, full dose of P and K)], PNM3-[RDF: basal dose point placement (BDP) (50% N, full dose of P and K)], PNM4-[75% RDF: BDP (50% N, full dose of P and K)] and PNM5-[50% RDF: BDP (50% N, full P and K)]} assigned in sub-plots using a split-plot design with three replications. The remaining 50% N was top-dressed through SPAD assistance for all the PNM practices. Results showed that the adoption of Spr 80% ETC resulted in an increment of 25.6%, 17.6%, 35.4%, and 17.5% in net-photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr), stomatal conductance (Gs), and intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), respectively, over FI. Among PNM plots, adoption of PNM3 resulted in a significant (p=0.05) improvement in photosynthetic characters like Pn (15.69 µ mol CO2 m−2 s−1), Tr (7.03 m mol H2O m−2 s−1), Gs (0.175 µmol CO2 mol−1 year−1), and Ci (271.7 mol H2O m2 s−1). Enhancement in SPAD (27% and 30%) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) (42% and 52%) values were observed with nitrogen (N) top dressing through SPAD-guided nutrient management, helped enhance crop growth indices, coupled with better dry matter partitioning and interception of sunlight. Canopy temperature depression (CTD) in soybean reduced by 3.09–4.66°C due to adoption of sprinkler irrigation. Likewise, Spr 60% ETc recorded highest irrigation water productivity (1.08 kg ha−1 m−3). However, economic water productivity (27.5 INR ha−1 m−3) and water-use efficiency (7.6 kg ha−1 mm−1 day−1) of soybean got enhanced under Spr 80% ETc over conventional cultivation. Multiple correlation and PCA showed a positive correlation between physiological, growth, and yield parameters of soybean. Concurrently, the adoption of Spr 80% ETC with PNM3 recorded significantly higher grain yield (2.63 t ha−1) and biological yield (8.37 t ha−1) over other combinations. Thus, the performance of SCI protocols under sprinkler irrigation was found to be superior over conventional practices. Hence, integrating SCI with sensor-based precision nutrient and irrigation management could be a viable option for enhancing the crop productivity and enhance the resource-use efficiency in soybean under similar agro-ecological regions

Development of a grid-connected electricity supply system using solar energy

Producing energy can have many undesirable effects. Carbon emissions, nuclear waste, and other pollutants can cause much harm to the environment and cause health problems. And many energy sources are in finite supply. Not only does that drive prices up, but it also leads to political conflicts when people decide they are not willing to share. Above all the energy sources in use today, solar show the most long-term promise for solving the world’s energy problems. On any given day, 35,000 times the total amount of energy that humans use falls onto the face of the Earth from the sun. If people could just tap into a tiny fraction of what the sun is providing each day, our lives will be totally changed. Singapore, being in the equatorial region, is an ideal area to capture solar energy as sunlight is available throughout the year. As such, the Singapore government has already made their official intentions clear that and identify the photovoltaic industry as an emerging industry. The report provides the details for the development of a grid-connected electricity supply system. This report consists of 2 parts. The first part is the design and development of the inverter system. The inverter system consists of a basic DC-DC boost converter topology to boost the DC voltage from the charge controller to a higher voltage level for the DC-AC inverter and a single-phase full bridge inverter to convert the DC voltage to an AC voltage of 230Vac at 50Hz. Simulations were carried out using PSIM software for verification before hardware circuits were developed for actual implementation. The second part focuses on the studying of the photovoltaic (PV) module to find its I-V and P-V characteristics and maximum power point under various solar radiations. Finally, there would be a conclusion to give an overall summary of the project and recommendations for enhancement to improve the systems designed.Bachelor of Engineerin

A novel approach for noise prediction using Neural network trained with an efficient optimization technique

Aerofoil noise as self-noise is detrimental to system performance, in this paper NACA 0012 optimization parameters are presented for reduction in noise. Designing an aerofoil with little noise is a fundamental objective of designing an aircraft that physically and functionally meets the requirements. Aerofoil self-noise is the noise created by aerofoils interacting with their boundary layers. Using neural networks, the suggested method predicts aerofoil self-noise. For parameter optimization, the quasi-Newtonian method is utilised. The input variables, such as angle of attack and chord length, are used as training parameters for neural networks. The output of a neural network is the sound pressure level, and the Quasi Newton method further optimises these parameters. When compared to the results of regression analysis, the values produced after training a neural network are enhanced