Black currant seed oil feeding and fatty acids in liver lipid classes of guinea pigs

Guinea pigs were fed one of three diets containing 10% black currant seed oil (a source of gamma-linolenic (18∶3 n−6) and stearidonic (18∶4 n−3) acids), walnut oil or lard for 40 days. The fatty acid composition of liver triglycerides, free fatty acids, cholesteryl esters, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, cardiolipin, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine were determined. Dietary n−3 fatty acids found esterified in liver lipids had been desaturated and elongated to longer chain analogues, notably docosapentaenoic acid (22∶5 n−3) and docosahexaenoic acid (22∶6 n−3). When the diet contained low amounts of n−6 fatty acids, proportionately more of the n−3 fatty acids were transformed. Significantly more eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (20∶5 n−3) was incorporated into triglycerides, cholesteryl esters, phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine of the black currant seed oil group compared with the walnut oil group. Feeding black currant seed oil resulted in significant increases of dihomogamma-linolenic acid (20∶3 n−6) in all liver lipid classes examined, whereas the levels of arachidonic acid (20∶4 n−6) remained relatively stable. The ratio dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid/arachidonic acid was significantly (2.5-fold in PI to 17-fold in cholesteryl esters) higher in all lipid classes from the black currant seed oil fed group.     

An Interoperable Grid Information System for Integrated Resource Monitoring Based on Virtual Organizations

In many Grid infrastructures different kinds of information services are in use, which utilize different incompatible data structures and interfaces to encode and provide their data. Homogeneous monitoring of these infrastructures with the monitoring data being accessible everywhere independently of the middleware which provided it, is the basis for a consistent status reporting on the Grids’ resources and services. Thus, interoperability or interoperation between the different information services in a heterogeneous Grid infrastructure is required. Monitoring data must contain the identity of the affected Virtual Organization (VO) so that it can be related to the resources and services the VO has allocated to enable VO-specific information provision. This paper describes a distributed architecture for an interoperable information service, which combines data unification and categorization with policies for VO membership, VO resource management and data transformations. This service builds the basis for an integrated and interoperating monitoring of Grids, which provide their data to more than one VO and utilize heterogeneous information services.     

New synthesis method of HA/P(D,L)LA composites: study of fibronectin adsorption and their effects in osteoblastic behavior for bone tissue engineering

A novel synthetic method to synthesize hydroxyapatite/poly (D,L) lactic acid biocomposite is presented in this study by mixing only the precursors hydroxyapatite and (D,L) LA monomer without adding neither solvent nor catalyst. Three compositions were successfully synthesized with the weight ratios of 1/1, 1/3, and 3/5 (hydroxyapatite/(D,L) lactic acid), and the grafting efficiency of poly (D,L) lactic acid on hydroxyapatite surface reaches up to 84?%. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the hydroxyapatite particles were successfully incorporated into the poly (D,L) lactic acid polymer and X ray diffraction analysis showed that hydroxyapatite preserved its crystallinity after poly (D,L) lactic acid grafting. Differential scanning calorimetry shows that Tg of hydroxyapatite/poly (D,L) lactic acid composite is less than Tg of pure poly (D,L) lactic acid, which facilitates the shaping of the composite obtained. The addition of poly (D,L) lactic acid improves the adsorption properties of hydroxyapatite for fibronectin extracellular matrix protein. Furthermore, the presence of poly (D,L) lactic acid on hydroxyapatite surface coated with fibronectin enhanced pre-osteoblast STRO-1 adhesion and cell spreading. These results show the promising potential of hydroxyapatite/poly (D,L) lactic acid composite as a bone substitute material for orthopedic applications and bone tissue engineering.     

Finding Total Unimodularity in Optimization Problems Solved by Linear Programs

A popular approach in combinatorial optimization is to model problems as integer linear programs. Ideally, the relaxed linear program would have only integer solutions, which happens for instance when the constraint matrix is totally unimodular. Still, sometimes it is possible to build an integer solution with the same cost from the fractional solution. Examples are two scheduling problems (Baptiste and Schieber, J. Sched. 6(4):395–404, 2003; Brucker and Kravchenko, J. Sched. 11(4):229–237, 2008) and the single disk prefetching/caching problem (Albers et al., J. ACM 47:969–986, 2000). We show that problems such as the three previously mentioned can be separated into two subproblems: (1) finding an optimal feasible set of slots, and (2) assigning the jobs or pages to the slots. It is straigthforward to show that the latter can be solved greedily. We are able to solve the former with a totally unimodular linear program, from which we obtain simple combinatorial algorithms with improved worst case running time.     

Short‐Wave Infrared Sensor by the Photothermal Effect of Colloidal Gold Nanorods

Photodetection in the short‐wave infrared (SWIR) spectrum is a challenging task achieved often by costly low bandgap compound semiconductors involving highly toxic elements. In this work, an alternative low‐cost approach is reported for SWIR sensors that rely on the plasmonic‐induced photothermal effect of solution‐processed colloidal gold nanorods (Au NRs). A series of uniform solution‐processed Au NRs of various aspect ratios are prepared exhibiting a strong and well‐defined longitudinal localized surface plasmon resonance (L‐LSPR) maximum from 900 nm to 1.3 µm. A hybrid device structure is fabricated by applying Au NRs on the surface of a thermistor. Under a monochromatic illumination, hybrid Au‐NR/thermistor devices exhibit a clear photoresponse in the form of photoinduced resistance drop in the wavelength window from 1.0 to 1.8 µm. The photoresponsivity of such hybrid devices reaches a maximum value of 4.44 × 10⁷ Ω W^?1 at λ = 1.4 µm (intensity = 0.28 mW cm^?2), a wavelength in agreement with the L‐LSPR of the Au NRs applied. Colloidal Au NRs, capable to perform fast conversion between photon absorption and thermal energy, thus open an interesting avenue for alternative low‐cost SWIR photodetection.     

Evaluation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">flaA</Emphasis> Short Variable Region Sequencing,Multilocus Sequence Typing,and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for Discrimination between <Emphasis Type="Italic">Campylobacter jejuni</Emphasis> Strains

Discriminatory and robust typing methods are needed to improve the understanding of the dynamics of food-borne Campylobacter infections and epidemiology in primary animal production. To evaluate the strain discriminatory potential of typing methods, flaA short variable region (SVR) sequencing and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were applied on a collection of 102 epidemiologically related and unrelated Campylobacter jejuni strains. Previous application of FTIR spectroscopy for subtyping of Campylobacter has been limited. A subset of isolates, initially discriminated by flaA SVR sequencing, were further subjected to multilocus sequence typing (MLST). It was found that flaA SVR sequencing had a slightly higher discriminatory power than FTIR spectroscopy, based on the Simpson diversity index. The clustering of strains indicated that FTIR spectroscopy is indeed a suitable method for discrimination of Campylobacter. The isolates were assigned to six clusters based on flaA SVR sequences and nine clusters based on the FTIR spectroscopy profiles. Furthermore, the cluster analysis of flaA SVR sequences, MLST, and FTIR spectroscopy profiles showed a high degree of congruence, assigning the isolates to similar cluster structures. In conclusion, FTIR spectroscopy can be applied for subtyping of Campylobacter, and the high discriminatory potential of both flaA SVR sequencing and FTIR spectroscopy render them suitable screening methods for large numbers of strains.     

Quantification of Mixtures of C2 and C3 Hydroxy Acids and Products of Glycerol Oxidation by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Quantitative 13C NMR

The aim of this study was to develop an improved general method for detecting and quantifying mixtures of hydroxy acids and other products of glycerol oxidation in aqueous media, to prevent the confusions that can occur due to similarities and interactions between these compounds depending on media conditions. Standard potential products of glycerol oxidation—glycerol, glyceraldehyde, dihydroxyacetone, glyceric acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid, glyoxylic acid, oxalic acid, tartronic acid, and mesoxalic acid—were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and quantitative ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), in mixtures of known composition. The results obtained were concordant with the known compositions tested. HPLC was more accurate than quantitative ¹³C NMR for simple mixtures, but ¹³C NMR was required for complex mixtures containing dihydroxyacetone and glycerol, oxalic acid and mesoxalic acid, or glyoxylic acid and tartronic acid, pairs of compounds not well separated or detected by HPLC. As proof-of-concept, an unknown mixture generated by glycerol oxidation was analyzed by HPLC and quantitative ¹³C NMR. The results obtained were concordant and allowed accurate determination of the composition of the sample, which contained mesoxalic acid as the major product, with oxalic acid, tartronic acid, and glyceric acid as by-products.     

APOB CRISPR-Cas9 Engineering in Hypobetalipoproteinemia: A Promising Tool for Functional Studies of Novel Variants

Hypobetalipoproteinemia is characterized by LDL-cholesterol and apolipoprotein B (apoB) plasma levels below the fifth percentile for age and sex. Familial hypobetalipoproteinemia (FHBL) is mostly caused by premature termination codons in the APOB gene, a condition associated with fatty liver and steatohepatitis. Nevertheless, many families with a FHBL phenotype carry APOB missense variants of uncertain significance (VUS). We here aimed to develop a proof-of-principle experiment to assess the pathogenicity of VUS using the genome editing of human liver cells. We identified a novel heterozygous APOB-VUS (p.Leu351Arg), in a FHBL family. We generated APOB knock-out (KO) and APOB-p.Leu351Arg knock-in Huh7 cells using CRISPR-Cas9 technology and studied the APOB expression, synthesis and secretion by digital droplet PCR and ELISA quantification. The APOB expression was decreased by 70% in the heterozygous APOB-KO cells and almost abolished in the homozygous-KO cells, with a consistent decrease in apoB production and secretion. The APOB-p.Leu351Arg homozygous cells presented with a 40% decreased APOB expression and undetectable apoB levels in cellular extracts and supernatant. Thus, the p.Leu351Arg affected the apoB secretion, which led us to classify this new variant as likely pathogenic and to set up a hepatic follow-up in this family. Therefore, the functional assessment of APOB-missense variants, using gene-editing technologies, will lead to improvements in the molecular diagnosis of FHBL and the personalized follow-up of these patients.