Life Sciences Commons^™

A Review Of Alternative Proteins For Vegan Diets: Sources, Physico-Chemical Properties, Nutritional Equivalency, And Consumer Acceptance, Rutwick Surya Ulhas, Rajeev Ravindran, Alok Malviya, Anushree Priyadarshini, Brijesh K. Tiwari, Gaurav Rajauria

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Alternate proteins are gaining popularity as a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to animal-based proteins. These proteins are often considered healthier and are suitable for people following a vegetarian or vegan diet. Alternative proteins can be recovered from natural sources like legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds, while single cell proteins (mycoproteins), and algal proteins are being developed using cutting-edge technology to grow fungus, yeast and algal cells in a controlled environment, creating a more sustainable source of protein. Although, the demand for alternative protein products is increasing, there still happens to be a large gap in use among the …

Ultrasound 96 Probe Device Protocol For Cancer Cell Treatment, Aisling Field, Brijesh K. Tiwari, James F. Curtin, Julie R M Mondala, Janith Wanigasekara

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Ultrasound is a sound wave with frequencies ranging between 20 kHz and 20 MHz. Ultrasound is able to temporarily and repeatedly open the BBB safely and enhance chemotherapeutic delivery without adverse effects. This novel technique in drug delivery benefits from the powerful ability of ultrasound to produce cavitation activity. Cavitation is the generation and activity of gas-filled bubbles in a medium exposed to ultrasound. As the pressure wave passes through the media, gas bubbles expand at low pressure and contract at high pressure. This leads to oscillation which produces a circulating fluid flow known as microstreaming around the bubble with …

U-251mg Spheroid Generation Using Low Attachment Plate Method Protocol, Lara J. Carroll, Brijesh K. Tiwari, James F. Curtin, Janith Wanigasekara

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3D cell culture is a process used to grow cells in vitro to mimic an in vivo environment. 3D cell models are very useful for understanding disease mechanisms and exploring drug therapeutics. 3D cultures can be grown from cells taken from cancer organoids in patients. Once grown, they can be used to screen for small molecule drugs or they can be genetically modified in order to analyse disease pathways or predict the toxicity or efficacy of a drug treatment. These cultures decrease the need to use animals in research and provides more reliable results as it uses human physiology. This …

A Review Of The Influence Of Fathers On Children's Eating Behaviours And Dietary Intake, Stephanie Rahill, Aileen Kennedy, John Kearney

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The role of fathers in child rearing has changed in recent years due to an increase in maternal employment. Despite this, the majority of research has focused on maternal influences and behaviours in relation to child feeding. Therefore, the aims of the narrative review were: 1) to examine the role and responsibility of fathers in child feeding and the factors associated with paternal responsibility in child feeding; 2) to establish how paternal modelling, paternal diets, and paternal feeding practices relate to children's eating behaviours and dietary intake; and 3) to explore the role of maternal perceptions on paternal feeding roles, …

Nanostructured Materials For Food Applications: Spectroscopy, Microscopy And Physical Properties, Shubham Sharma, Swana Jaiswal, Brendan Duffy, Amit Jaiswal

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Nanotechnology deals with the matter of atomic or molecular scale. Other factors that define the character of a nanoparticle are its physical and chemical properties, such as surface area, surface charge, hydrophobicity of the surface, the thermal stability of the nanoparticle, and its antimicrobial activity. A nanoparticle is usually characterized by using microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Microscopic techniques are used to characterize the size, shape, and location of the nanoparticle by producing an image of the individual nanoparticle. Several techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy/high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM/HRTEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning …

Blunted Serum 25(Oh)D Response To Vitamin D3 Supplementation In Children With Autism, Conor Kerley, Basil Elnazir, Peter Greally, David Coghlan

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Introduction: Data suggest a potential role for vitamin D in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevention and treatment. It is likely that the serum response to vitamin D supplementation contributes to its effectiveness. Multiple factors affect serum vitamin D 25(OH)D response to supplementation.

Methods: We conducted post-hoc analysis of two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials (RCT) of vitamin D3 supplementation, one RCT involving children with ASD and another involving children with asthma. Both trials were conducted in the same geographic location (Dublin, Ireland, 53°N), conducted over Winter season and utilized the same vitamin D3 dose (2000 IU/day).

Results: We …

Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticle For Detection Of Fungi And Human Cutaneous Fungal Infections, Tobiloba Sojinrin, Kangze Liu, Joao Conde, Hugh Byrne, James Curtin, Daxiang Cui, Furong Tian

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Fungi, which are common in the environment, can cause a multitude of diseases. Warm, humid conditions allow fungi to grow and infect humans via the respiratory, digestive and reproductive tracts, genital area and other bodily interfaces. Fungi can be detected directly by microscopy, using the potassium hydroxide (KOH) test, which is the gold standard and most popular method for fungal screening. However, this test requires trained personnel operating specialist equipment, including a fluorescent microscope and culture facilities. As most acutely infected patients seek medical attention within the first few days of symptoms, the optimal diagnostic test would be rapid and …

Quantification Of Trace Metals In Infant Formula Premixes Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, Raquel Cama-Moncunill, Maria Piedad Casado-Gavalda, Xavier Cama-Moncunill, Maria Markiewicz-Keszycka, Yash Dixit, Patrick J. Cullen, Carl Sullivan

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Infant formula is a human milk substitute generally based upon fortified cow milk components. In order to mimic the composition of breast milk, trace elements such as copper, iron and zinc are usually added in a single operation using a premix. The correct addition of premixes must be verified to ensure that the target levels in infant formulae are achieved. In this study, a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) system was assessed as a fast validation tool for trace element premixes. LIBS is a promising emission spectroscopic technique for elemental analysis, which offers real-time analyses, little to no sample preparation and …

Towards 3d In Vitro Models For The Study Of Cardiovascular Tissues And Disease, Claire M. Brougham, Alan J. Ryan, Carolina D. Garciarena, Steve W. Kerrigan, Fergal J. O'Brien

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The field of tissue engineering is developing biomimetic biomaterial scaffolds which are showing increasing therapeutic potential for the repair of cardiovascular tissues. However, a major opportunity exists to use them as 3D in vitro models for the study of cardiovascular tissues and disease in addition to drug development and testing. These in vitro models can span the gap between 2D culture and in vivo testing thus reducing cost, time and the ethical burden of current approaches. This review outlines the progress to date and requirements for the development of ideal in vitro 3D models for blood vessels, heart valves and …

Raman Spectroscopic Analysis Of Human Skin Tissue Sections Ex-Vivo: Evaluation Of The Effects Of Tissue Processing And Dewaxing, Syed Mehmood Ali, Franck Bonnier, Ali Tfayli, Helen Lambkin, Kathleen Flynn, Vincent Mcdonagh, Claragh Healy, Thomas Lee, Fiona Lyng, Hugh Byrne

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Raman spectroscopy coupled with K-means clustering analysis (KMCA) is employed to elucidate the biochemical structure of human skin tissue sections, and the effects of tissue processing. Both hand and thigh sections of human cadavers were analysed in their unprocessed and formalin fixed paraffin processed (FFPP) and subsequently dewaxed forms. In unprocessed sections, KMCA reveals clear differentiation of the stratum corneum, intermediate underlying epithelium and dermal layers for sections from both anatomical sites. The stratum corneum is seen to be relatively rich in lipidic content; the spectrum of the subjacent layers is strongly influenced by the presence of melanin, while that …

Quantitative Reagent-Free Detection Of Fibrinogen Levels In Human Blood Plasma Using Raman Spectroscopy, Kelvin Poon, Fiona Lyng, Peter Knief, Orla L. Howe, Aidan Meade, James Curtin, Hugh Byrne, Joseph Vaughan

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Fibrinogen assays are commonly used as part of clinical screening tests to investigate haemorrhagic states, for detection of disseminated intravascular coagulation and as a predictor of a variety of cardiovascular events. The Clauss assay, which measures thrombin clotting time, is the most commonly used method for measuring fibrinogen levels. Nevertheless, inconsistencies are present in inter-manufacturer reagent sources, calibration standards and methodologies. Automated coagulation analysers, which measure changes in optical density during the prothrombin time (PT-Fg), have found use in many hospitals. However, the PT-Fg method is found to give falsely elevated values due to varying choices of calibrants, reagents and …

An Investigation Of The Subtype Diversity Of Clinical Isolates Of Irish Clostridium Difficile Ribotypes 027 And 078 By Repetitive-Extragenic Palindromic Pcr, Denise Drudy, K. Solomon, S. Murray, L. Scott, S. Mcdermott,, A. Martin, C. O’Donoghue, M. Skally, K. Burns, L. Fenelon, F. Fitzpatrick,, L. Kyne, S. Fanning

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A repetitive-extragenic palindromic PCR (rep-PCR) subtyping method (DiversiLab) in conjunction with ribotyping, toxinotyping and antimicrobial-susceptibility testing was used to detect subtypes within Clostridium difficile ribotypes 027 and 078. Clinical isolates of ribotypes 027 (toxinotype III) (n530) and 078 (toxinotype V) (n523) were provided by health-care facilities across the Republic of Ireland over 2 months in 2006 and 1 month in 2009. Ribotype 027 isolates were significantly more related to each other (9 different subtype profiles) when compared to ribotype 078 isolates (14 different profiles) (P50.001; cut-off .90 % similarity). Almost half of ribotype 078 isolates (45.5 %) showed no relationship …

High-Density Screening Reveals A Different Spectrum Of Genomic Aberrations In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients With ‘Stereotyped’ Ighv3-21 And Ighv4-34 B-Cell Receptors, Millaray Marincevic, Nicola Cahill, Rebeqa Gunnarsson, Anders Isaksson, Mahmoud Mansouri, Hanna Göransson, Markus Rasmussen, Mattias Jansson, Fergus Ryan, Karin Karlsson, Hans-Olov Adami, Fred Davi, Jesper Jurlander, Gunnar Juliusson, Kostas Stamatopoulos, Richard Rosenquist

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Background The existence of multiple subsets of chronic lymphocytic leukemia expressing ‘stereotyped’ Bcell receptors implies the involvement of antigen(s) in leukemogenesis. Studies also indicate that ‘stereotypy’ may influence the clinical course of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, for example, in subsets with stereotyped IGHV3-21 and IGHV4-34 B-cell receptors; however, little is known regarding the genomic profile of patients in these subsets. Design and Methods We applied 250K single nucleotide polymorphism-arrays to study copy-number aberrations and copy-number neutral loss-of-heterozygosity in patients with stereotyped IGHV3-21 (subset #2, n=29), stereotyped IGHV4-34 (subset #4, n=17; subset #16, n=8) and non-subset #2 IGHV3-21 (n=13) and …

Combining Cytotoxic And Immune-Mediated Gene Therapy To Treat Brain Tumors, James Curtin, Gwendalyn King, Marianela Candolfi, Remy Greeno, Kurt Kroeger, Pedro Lowenstein, Maria Castro

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Glioblastoma (GBM) is a type of intracranial brain tumor, for which there is no cure. In spite of advances in surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, patients die within a year of diagnosis. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop novel therapeutic approaches for this disease. Gene therapy, which is the use of genes or other nucleic acids as drugs, is a powerful new treatment strategy which can be developed to treat GBM. Several treatment modalities are amenable for gene therapy implementation, e.g. conditional cytotoxic approaches, targeted delivery of toxins into the tumor mass, immune stimulatory strategies, and these will all …

Identification Of Fatty Acid Oxidation Disorder Patients With Lowered Acyl-Coa Thioesterase Activity In Human Skin Fibroblasts, Mary Hunt, Jos Ruiter, Petra Mooyer, Carlo W T Van Roermond, Rob Ofman, Lodewig Ijlst, Ronald J A Wanders

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Background: Acyl-CoA thioesterases are enzymes that hydrolyze acyl-CoAs to the free fatty acid and coenzyme A (CoASH). These enzymes have been identified in several cellular compartments and are thought to regulate intracellular levels of acyl-CoAs, free fatty acids and CoASH. However, to date no patients deficient in acyl-CoA thioesterases have been identified. Design: Acyl-CoA thioesterase activity was measured in human skin fibroblasts. Western blot analysis was used to determine Type-II acyl-CoA thioesterase protein levels in patients. Results: Activity was found in human fibroblasts with all saturated acyl-CoAs from C4:0- to C18:0-CoA, with highest activity detected with lauroyl-CoA and myristoyl-CoA (C12:0 …

Gene Therapy And Targeted Toxins For Glioma, James Curtin, Gwendalyn King, Marianela Candolfi, Kurt Kroeger, Pedro Lowenstein, Maria Castro

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The most common primary brain tumor in adults is glioblastoma. These tumors are highly invasive and aggressive with a mean survival time of nine to twelve months from diagnosis to death. Current treatment modalities are unable to significantly prolong survival in patients diagnosed with glioblastoma. As such, glioma is an attractive target for developing novel therapeutic approaches utilizing gene therapy. This review will examine the available preclinical models for glioma including xenographs, syngeneic and genetic models. Several promising therapeutic targets are currently being pursued in pre-clinical investigations. These targets will be reviewed by mechanism of action, i.e., conditional cytotoxic, targeted …

Title, Fergus Ryan, D Devaney, Caroline Joyce, A Nestorowicz, M Permutt, Benjamin Glaser, Paul Thornton, David E. Barton

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Persistent hypoglycaemia in infancy is most commonly caused by hyperinsulinism. A case is reported of the somatic loss of the maternal 11p in an insulin secreting focal adenoma in association with a germline SUR-1mutation on the paternal allele in a baby boy with hyperinsulinism diagnosed at 49 days old. A reduction to homozygosity of an SUR-1 mutation is proposed as a critical part of the cause of focal hyperinsulinism.