Binding and degradation of native and acetylated low density lipoproteins by monocyte derived macrophages of normal and hypercholesterolemic rabbits

Low density lipoprotein (LDL) was isolated from normal rabbits and was modified with acetic anhydride. Blood monocyte derived macrophages from normal and hypercholesterolemic (HC) rabbits were cultured, and on the 8th day the cells were incubated with native and modified LDL to study their binding and degradation. Macrophages from both normal and hypercholesterolemic rabbits express a limited number of receptors for normal plasma LDL whereas they exhibit a large number of receptors for acetyl LDL. There was no significant difference between binding and degradation of acetyl LDL by normal or hypercholesterolemic cells. However, binding and degradation of native LDL by monocytes of hypercholesterolemic cells were significantly less (p<0.0001) in comparison to binding and degradation of native LDL by normal cells indicating that there is a feedback inhibitory pathway in the cell that inhibits the synthesis of LDL receptors in the presence of excess LDL.     

Early detection of prostate cancer: evaluating the diagnostic performance of prostate specific antigen by comparing with histological technique among africans

This study was conducted to investigate the diagnostic performance characteristics of prostate specific antigen (PSA) by comparing serum PSA value with histological findings in patients suspevted of having prostate cancer in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Nigeria. Clinical and Laboratory records were examined and collated for serum PSA values, together with histological findings of biopsy specimen, clinical diagnosis, age of patients, and mode of presentation. The serum PSA values were determined by ELECSYS 1010 autoanalysers Roche, Germany based on electrochemiluminescence immunoassay technique. The results show that serum PSA values increase with age in the assymptomatic non-cancer patients who came for medical check up but were within normal limit. In prostatic disease conditions PSA values were raised in benign prostatic hyperplasia 35.957± 4.0315ng/ml, in undifferentiated carcinoma 56.22±4.295ng/ml and adenocarcinoma >100ng/ml as compared to the normal range (0–4ng/ml). These cases were confirmed by histological diagnosis. It is concluded that PSA evaluations is a sensitive marker for prostate cancer but because of various other conditions that affect serum PSA concentration, other methods of investigations such as Digital Rectal examination, Trans Urethral Ultra-Sonography and histological examination should be combined to confirm diagnosis. Prognosis of patients will be better if early diagnosis is made.     

Method Development and Validation of Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Angiotensin-II in Human Plasma: Application to Study Interaction Between Atorvastatin & Olmesartan Drug Combination

Simple and sensitive Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LCMS/MS) method was developed and validated, then was implicated on hypertensive human subjects to study drug interaction of atorvastatin (ATVS) and Olmesartan (OLM) on status of Angiotensin-II (ANG-II). The ANG-II in plasma was extracted with 5 mL methanol containing 5 % formic acid through C₁₈ (cartridges) liquid–liquid extraction, dried and reconstituted with 1 mL of 16 % acetonitrile in 0.1 % formic acid in water. The chromatographic separation of ANG-II with a Agilent technology 6410 Triple quadrupole was carried multiple reaction monitoring scan mode with a Agilent 1290 Infinity LC system for UHPLC. The sample were separated on a (Thermo Scientific) Hy-Purity advance (50 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) using Mobile Phase A: 16 % acetonitrile in 0.1 % formic acid in water and Mobile Phase B: 0.1 % formic acid in methanol at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min, performed at ambient temperature. The mobile phase gradient of 16 % acetonitrile in water was linearly increased to 38 % acetonitrile over 10 min and subsequently the mobile-phase was increased to 100 % acetonitrile over 15 min. The developed method was validated for specificity, accuracy, precision, stability, linearity, sensitivity and recovery. The method was linear between peak area ratio of standard and internal standard over the range of 50–800 ng/mL. The method was successfully applied for the drug interaction study revealed levels of ANG-II were significantly higher in ATVS + OLM treatment condition as compared to individual treatment of OLM. This reflects the reason of low effectiveness of ATVS + OLM in combination instead of synergistic activity.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12291-014-0457-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Comparing age-wise reference intervals for serum creatinine concentration in a “Reality check” of the recommended cut-off

An increase in the communication within the healthcare services, both nationally and internationally, has strengthened the need for harmonization of measurements and reference intervals in laboratory medicine. In the present report, the calculated reference interval for serum creatinine (sCr) levels of healthy normal individuals (n=1121) in different sex and age groups are compared with the established interval. The calculated reference interval for sCr level was 0.4–1.3 mg/dL and 0.6 to 1.3 mg/dL in the age groups of 21–40 and 41–60 years respectively. The difference between the mean sCr values in total males and total females (age range 21–60 years) was statistically significant (p<0.0001); When male and female subjects were analyzed age-group wise, the data showed a significant difference in mean sCr values (p<0.0001) in three age groups (21–30, 31–40 and 41–50 years) however, in older age group (51–60 years), the difference was non-significant (p=0.07). The reference ranges were 0.7–1.3 and 0.4–1.0 mg/dL for males and females respectively where the lower limit was 0.1–0.2 units less than that of standard limits. An increase in the mean value of sCr was observed particularly in females with an increase in age. Hence it is of interest to validate an age specific reference ranges for sCr in our population.     

Diagnostic efficiency of amylase and type IV collagen in predicting chronic pancreatitis

Chronic pancreatitis, an irreversible inflammatory disease of the pancreas, is associated with the replacement of the destroyed parenchyma by extended development of fibrosis. Despite marked progress in diagnostic tools, no consensus has been reached in diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. In this study we examined the hematological and biochemical parameters among 40 chronic pancreatitis patients within 18 to 67 yrs. ESR level and ALP activity was elevated in 40% cases. Serum amylase activity increased in 32 patients and it showed significant correlation with ALP (r=0.458, p=0.003), CA-19.9 (r=0.556, p<0.001), and calcium level (r=−0.472, p=0.002). Type IV collagen level in chronic pancreatitis also elevated (164.4 ± 55.5 ng/ml) and showed negative significant correlation with calcium level (r= −0.505, p=0.001). However, no significant correlation was observed between amylase activity and type IV collagen (r=0.289, p= 0.07).     

Investigating Secondary Science Teachers’ Beliefs About Multiculturalism and its Implementation in the Classroom

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore secondary science teachers’ beliefs about multiculturalism and its implementation in their classrooms. Participants included nine secondary science teachers, with experience ranging from 1 to 15 years of teaching. Data were collected through interviews, using a semi-structured interview protocol (Kvale, 1996 Kvale, S. 1996. InterViews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing, London, , England: Sage Publications.  [Google Scholar]). The interviews were coded, analyzed, and grouped into five themes aligned with the multicultural dimensions developed by Banks and Banks (2007 Banks, J. A. 1999. An introduction to multicultural education (2nd ed.), Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.  [Google Scholar]): Content Integration, Knowledge Construction, Prejudice Reduction, Equity Pedagogy, and Empowering School Culture. Results of the research study indicated these participants harbored a general misconception that there was only one science; traditionally that has meant a Western Modern Science (WMS: Cobern & Loving, 2001). The research also suggests the participants in this study had limited knowledge pertaining to multiculturalism in their science classrooms. To these participants, Prejudice Reduction and Equity Pedagogy were the only two dimensions that were important when teaching science content.     

Kinetic regulation of MXene with water-in-LiCl electrolyte for high-voltage micro-supercapacitors

MXenes are one of the key materials for micro-supercapacitors (MSCs), integrating miniaturized energy-storage components with microelectronics. However, the energy densities of MSCs are greatly hampered by MXenes’ narrow working potential window (typically ≤0.6 V) in aqueous electrolytes. Here, we report the fabrication of high-voltage MXene-MSCs through the efficient regulation of reaction kinetics in 2D Ti₃C₂T_x MXene microelectrodes using a water-in-LiCl (WIL, 20 m LiCl) salt gel electrolyte. Importantly, the intrinsic energy-storage mechanism of MXene microelectrodes in WIL, which is totally different from traditional electrolytes (1 m LiCl), was revealed through insitu and exsitu characterizations. We validated that the suppression of MXene oxidation at high anodic potential occurred due to the high content of WIL regulating anion intercalation in MXene electrodes, which effectively broadened the voltage window of MXene-MSCs. Remarkably, the symmetric planar MXene-MSCs presented a record operating voltage of 1.6 V, resulting in an exceptionally high volumetric energy density of 31.7 mWh cm⁻³. With the ultra-high ionic conductivity (69.5 mS cm⁻¹) and ultralow freezing point (−57°C) of the WIL gel electrolyte, our MSCs could be operated in a wide temperature range of −40 to 60°C, and worked for a long duration even at −40°C, demonstrative of its practicality in extreme environments.     

Tuning 2D magnetism in Fe3+XGeTe2 films by element dopingOA

Two-dimensional(2D) ferromagnetic materials have been discovered with tunable magnetism and orbital-driven nodal-line features. Controlling the 2D magnetism in exfoliated nanoflakes via electric/magnetic fields enables a boosted Curie temperature(T_C) or phase transitions. One of the challenges, however, is the realization of high T_C2D magnets that are tunable, robust and suitable for large scale fabrication. Here, we report molecular-beam epitaxy growth of wafer-scale Fe     

Risk and Adversity,Parenting Quality,and Children's Social-Emotional Adjustment in Families Experiencing Homelessness

A multimethod, multi-informant design was used to examine links among sociodemographic risk, family adversity, parenting quality, and child adjustment in families experiencing homelessness. Participants were 245 homeless parents (M_age = 31.0, 63.6% African American) and their 4- to 6-year-old children (48.6% male). Path analyses revealed unique associations by risk domain: Higher sociodemographic risk predicted more externalizing behavior and poorer teacher–child relationships, whereas higher family adversity predicted more internalizing behavior. Parenting quality was positively associated with peer acceptance and buffered effects of family adversity on internalizing symptoms, consistent with a protective effect. Parenting quality was associated with lower externalizing behavior only when sociodemographic risk was below the sample mean. Implications for research and practice are discussed.