The edible fishes Etroplus suratensis and Arius arius were collected from two different sites of Vembanad backwaters. Accumulation of heavy metals such as zinc, cadmium, lead and copper in different ...tissues of these fishes were analysed. Kidneys showed maximum accumulation of all the metals in both the fishes. Lead and copper were high in Kumarakom (Site-I) and zinc and cadmium in Cochin (Site-2) of the Vembanad backwaters. The study revealed that both the fishes were highly contaminated with metals.
We have previously shown that cationic liposomes facilitate adeno-associated virus (AAV) plasmid transfections of primary and cultured cell types. To test the clinical feasibility of using ...genetically modified tumor vaccines for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancers, we have constructed an expression plasmid pMP6IL2 and investigated the use of liposome-mediated gene delivery into primary, uncultured human breast and ovarian tumor cells to produce interleukin 2 (IL-2)-secreting tumor cells. We have demonstrated significant levels of IL-2 expression in tumor cell lines and primary breast and ovarian tumor cells using this AAV-based expression plasmid complexed to cationic liposomes. Transfections with the non-AAV plasmid containing the identical expression cassette as the AAV plasmid induced IL-2 expression in the tumor cell line but failed to produce IL-2 in primary tumor cells. Significant levels of IL-2 were induced with the AAV plasmid regardless of liposome compositions used for transfection. The transfected breast cell line and primary tumor cells were able to express the transgene product for up to 28 days after lethal radiation. The transfection efficiency was comparable for both the tumor cell line and primary tumor cells and ranged from 20 to 50% for both cell types as assessed by intracellular IL-2 staining. Although the primary tumor cell preparations consist of mixed population of cells, at least 40% of the tumor cells expressed the transgene as assessed by immunostaining for IL-2. The ability to efficiently express transgenes in freshly isolated, nondividing tumor cells may potentiate active immunotherapy strategies for gene-based cancer treatment.
Cassava (tapioca, manihot) is consumed as a staple food in some developing countries. The intake of cassava has been linked to several diseases including fibrocalculous pancreatic diabetes (tropical ...calcific pancreatitis). There are few long-term studies on the effect of cassava ingestion on the pancreas in animal models. This article reports on the long-term (up to 1 yr) effects of cassava in the rat model. We found that cassava did not produce diabetes in the rat even after a year of cassava feeding. There were transient changes in serum insulin and lipase levels, but the significance of these findings are not clear. There was no histopathological evidence of either acute or chronic pancreatitis, but there were changes of toxic hepatitis in the liver. In conclusion, chronic cassava ingestion up to a year does not lead to either diabetes or chronic pancreatitis in the rat model.
Continuous flow pulsed light (PL) system was designed and fabricated with a residence time of 3.5 s at a flow rate of 100 ml/min to study the effect on microbial quality of the fruit juice. The ...circuit was designed to deliver pulse energy between 12.6 and 756 J/cm2 with a flash lasted 360 μs at a frequency of three pulses per second. Tender coconut water, pineapple and orange juice was treated with different input voltage (500–1000 V) to the lamp, distance of the lamp exposed to the sample (5–15 cm) and treatment time (15–45 s) to reduce the population of aerobic plate count (APC), yeast and mold. Box–Behnken design (BBD) was used to optimize the PL process parameters. The process condition was optimized based on the microbial reduction rate. The optimized condition was input voltage of 1492, 1499, and 1486 V, distance of 7.6, 10.2, and 5.3 cm, and treatment time of 43 s (12 passes), 44 s (13 passes), and 45 s (13 passes) for tender coconut water, pineapple and orange juice, respectively at the target of five log reduction for APC and four log reduction for Y&M. These results recommend that a continuous flow PL system could improve the microbial safety of the fruit juice. PL is a nonthermal method for inactivating food microbes, extending food's shelf life. For industrial purposes, the batch system is virtually impossible. As a result, continuous flow systems for liquid foods can provide a better way to handle large volumes. The optimized setup was found to achieve a microbial death rate of at least 5 log CFU/ml, consistent with FDA guidelines for fruit juice. The BBD of response surface methodology helps in optimizing the process parameters such as input voltage of the lamp, distance of the PL lamp to treatment tube and treatment time. The resulting mathematical model provides the PL process conditions for designing the equipment for different fruit beverages to obtain microbiologically safe products.
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