Peanut oil press for developing countries

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-35).Despite the problems with obesity that the United States is facing today, malnutrition, caused in part by severely low dietary fat consumption, remains a problem among many people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the World Health Organization, one third of people in developing countries are malnourished as well as vitamin or mineral deficient. While villagers do not have access to commercially produced vegetable oil (a common source of dietary fat), nor are industrial scale oil extraction methods appropriate for small scale production. As a result, they turn to traditional methods, such as a mortar and pestle, to extract oil from peanuts, sunflower seeds, and other oil bearing seeds and nuts. This process is both time and labor intensive, and still does not yield sufficient amounts of oil to satisfy the need for it. The need for a small scale press is clear. This thesis introduces a simple design which achieves a yield of 46.9 mL per cup (U.S.) which matches the yield produced using industrial technologies. This corresponds to 153% increase in yield and 38.5% increase in rate over using traditional methods such as a mortar and pestle. The design consists of two fixed plates connected by four rods, with a third plate which slides along the four guide rods.(cont.) A standard scissor jack is the mechanism by which the necessary pressure of 800-1000 psi is generated to extract the oil. A peanut container with a removable bottom holds the peanuts as they are pressed, and holes drilled into its cylindrical face allow the oil to spill out into a collection dish underneath the container. The entire design is compact, with a footprint of one square foot and a height of 22 inches. This is 12 times smaller than the Beilenberg ram press, the standard for small scale presses currently used in developing countries. Experimental results of the loading profile as function of time show that the jack does not need to be turned continuously once the oil begins to appear. This requires significantly less strength than current methods of oil extraction. Although future work is recommended to further develop and improve the press, it shows promise of alleviating the need for such a device in many impoverished parts of the world.by Neera Jain and Somin Lee.S.B

Genetically engineering encapsulin protein cage nanoparticle as a SCC-7 cell targeting optical nanoprobe

Background - Protein cage nanoparticles are promising nanoplatform candidates for efficient delivery systems of diagnostics and/or therapeutics because of their uniform size and structure as well as high biocompatibility and biodegradability. Encapsulin protein cage nanoparticle is used to develop a cell-specific targeting optical nanoprobe. Results - FcBPs are genetically inserted and successfully displayed on the surface of encapsulin to form FcBP-encapsulin. Selectively binding of FcBP-encapsulin to SCC-7 is visualized with fluorescent microscopy. Conclusions - Encapsulin protein cage nanoparticle is robust enough to maintain their structure at high temperature and easily acquires multifunctions on demand through the combination of genetic and chemical modifications.ope

Dissipation patterns of acrinathrin and metaflumizone in Aster scaber

Abstract The establishment of preharvest residue limits (PHRLs) is important to minimize damage to producer and consumers caused by agricultural products which pesticide residue exceeds maximum residue limits (MRLs). Dissipation patterns of acrinathrin and metaflumizone in Aster scaber in greenhouse were studied during 10days in order to determine a pre-harvest interval after application. Acrinathrin and metaflumizone were applied in two different greenhouse, located in Taean-gun (field 1) and Gwangyang-si (field 2). Samples were collected at 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 10days after insecticides application. The recoveries of two insecticides analyzed by LC–MS/MS and HPLC–DAD were ranged from 77.1 to 111.3%. The half-lives of acrinathrin and metaflumizone residues respectively were 3.8 and 5.9days in field 1 and 9.2 and 4.5days in field 2. The PHRLs 10days before harvesting A. scaber were 0.610mg/kg (field 1), 0.946mg/kg (field 2) for acrinathrin, and 5.930mg/kg (field 1), 5.147mg/kg (field 2) for metaflumizone. This results can be used as basic data for the establishment of PHRL in A. scaber

The chemical composition of a new “mica sandwich” foraminiferal species from the East Coast of Korea: Capsammina crassa sp. nov.

We describe a new agglutinated monothalamous foraminiferal species, Capsammina crassa sp. nov., based on integrated observations of the test morphology and the chemical characteristics of materials composing the test. The new species was found at a depth of <60 m on the East coast of Korea. The test morphology is typical of the genus Capsammina, comprising two or more mica plates with a ring of finely agglutinated mineral grains sandwiched between them and surrounding the cell body. There is no distinct test aperture. Elemental analyses of the agglutinated grains revealed 15 different types of mineral grains of which quartz is the most abundant. The surface areas of grains exposed on fractured surfaces ranged from 1.6 to 7,700 μm2 and the large plate-like grains forming the upper and lower surfaces measured about 420–2,350 μm in maximum width. The new species is morphologically similar to C. patelliformis, however, the differences in size, distribution area and depth support that these two species are distinct. This discovery is the first record of the genus Capsammina from the North Pacific. Therefore, it extends the biodiversity and geographical distribution of the genus Capsammina, which has been reported only from the bathyal NE Atlantic. Our finding also suggests the possibility of additional discovery of monothalamous foraminifera from around Korea

Suppression of tobacco carcinogen-induced lung tumorigenesis by aerosol-delivered glycerol propoxylate triacrylate-spermine copolymer/short hairpin Rab25 rna complexes in female A/J mice

Background: Rab25, a member of Rab family of small guanosine triphosphatase, is associated with progression of various types of human cancers, including lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer-associated deaths around the globe. Methods: In this study, we report the gene therapeutic effect of short hairpin Rab25 RNA (shRab25) on 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK)-induced lung tumorigenesis in female A/J mice. Initially, mice (6 weeks old) were injected with single dose of NNK (2mg/0.1mL saline/mouse) by intraperitoneal injection to induce the tumor. Eight weeks later, shRab25 was complexed with glycerol propoxylate triacrylate-spermine (GPT-SPE) copolymer and delivered into tobacco-induced lung cancer models through a nose-only inhalation system twice a week for 2 months. Results: GPT-SPE/shRab25 largely decreased the tobacco-induced tumor numbers and tumor volume in the lungs compared to GPT-SPE- or GPT-SPE/shScr-delivered groups. Remarkably, aerosol-delivered GPT-SPE/shRab25 significantly decreased the expression level of Rab25 and other prominent apoptosis-related proteins in female A/J mice. The apoptosis in these mice was determined by detecting the expression level of Bcl-2, proliferating cell nuclear antigen, Bax, and further confirmed by TUNEL assay. Conclusions: Our results strongly confirm the tumorigenic role of Rab25 in tobacco carcinogen-induced lung cancer and hence demonstrate aerosol delivery of shRab25 as a therapeutic target for lung cancer treatment.

Perfusable micro-vascularized 3D tissue array for high-throughput vascular phenotypic screening

Microfluidic organ-on-a-chip technologies have enabled construction of biomimetic physiologically and pathologically relevant models. This paper describes an injection molded microfluidic platform that utilizes a novel sequential edge-guided patterning method based on spontaneous capillary flow to realize three-dimensional co-culture models and form an array of micro-vascularized tissues (28 per 1 × 2-inch slide format). The MicroVascular Injection-Molded Plastic Array 3D Culture (MV-IMPACT) platform is fabricated by injection molding, resulting in devices that are reliable and easy to use. By patterning hydrogels containing human umbilical endothelial cells and fibroblasts in close proximity and allowing them to form vasculogenic networks, an array of perfusable vascularized micro-tissues can be formed in a highly efficient manner. The high-throughput generation of angiogenic sprouts was quantified and their uniformity was characterized. Due to its compact design (half the size of a 96-well microtiter plate), it requires small amount of reagents and cells per device. In addition, the device design is compatible with a high content imaging machine such as Yokogawa CQ-1. Furthermore, we demonstrated the potential of our platform for high-throughput phenotypic screening by testing the effect of DAPT, a chemical known to affect angiogenesis. The MV-IMPACT represent a significant improvement over our previous PDMS-based devices in terms of molding 3D co-culture conditions at much higher throughput with added reliability and robustness in obtaining vascular micro-tissues and will provide a platform for developing applications in drug screening and development.This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2021R1A3B1077481). This study was also supported by a grant of the Korean Health Technol‑ ogy R&D Project, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (Grant No. HP20C0146010020), and by National Institutes of Health (R01HL141857 to YKH)

High inorganic phosphate intake promotes tumorigenesis at early stages in a mouse model of lung cancer

© 2015 Lee et al. Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is required by all living organisms for the development of organs such as bone, muscle, brain, and lungs, regulating the expression of several critical genes as well as signal transduction. However, little is known about the effects of prolonged dietary Pi consumption on lung cancer progression. This study investigated the effects of a highphosphate diet (HPD) in a mouse model of adenocarcinoma. K-rasLA1 mice were fed a normal diet (0.3% Pi) or an HPD (1% Pi) for 1, 2, or 4 months. Mice were then sacrificed and subjected to inductively coupled plasma mass/optical emission spectrometry and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometry analyses, western blot analysis, histopathological, immunohistochemical, and immunocytochemical analyses to evaluate tumor formation and progression (including cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and apoptosis), changes in ion levels and metabolism, autophagy, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and protein translation in the lungs. An HPD accelerated tumorigenesis, as evidenced by increased adenoma and adenocarcinoma rates as well as tumor size. However, after 4 months of the HPD, cell proliferation was arrested, and marked increases in liver and lung ion levels and in energy production via the tricarboxylic acid cycle in the liver were observed, which were accompanied by increased autophagy and decreased angiogenesis and apoptosis. These results indicate that an HPD initially promotes but later inhibits lung cancer progression because of metabolic adaptation leading to tumor cell quiescence. Moreover, the results suggest that carefully regulated Pi consumption are effective in lung cancer prevention

Multiscale Features and Mechanisms of Cortical Epileptiform Activity

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures that produce a distinct signature of hypersynchronous neural activity in electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. This phenomenon is generally attributed to hyperexcitability caused by an imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory activity in the brain. This model, however, does not sufficiently explain how seizures are generated since treatments that curb excitation and increase inhibition do not adequately treat 1/3 of epilepsy patients. These patients often turn to neurosurgical options to remove the culprit brain area suspected to be the origin of seizure activity. However, 1/4 of surgical patients fail to find adequate seizure relief, bringing into question the validity of how we identify, localize, and even conceive of epileptogenicity. The search for epileptogenic tissue is further complicated by the fact that seizures exhibit significantly different characteristics depending on the scale at which they are observed. Because observations do not readily translate across scales, accurate interpretation of clinical recordings requires in-depth understanding of seizure dynamics at various scales as well as knowledge of how these dynamics translate into recorded signals. To this end, the overall goal of this thesis is to gain a multiscale understanding of epileptiform activity using a combinination of signal analysis and mathematical modeling to develop mechanistically meaningful interpretations of clinical EEGs