Browsing by Subject "EPA"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Controversial benefits of Omega-3 fatty acid (fish oil)
    (2009-09-18) Whitehair, Lance
    Fish oil or omega-3 fatty acids are popular supplements. There is debt as to whether fish oil gives cardiovascular benefit particularly with mortality outcomes. A recent systematic review is referenced.
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    EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA: The Search for Meaningful Regulation of Interstate Pollution Under the Clean Air Act
    (Minnesota Journal of Law, Science and Technology, 2013-07-01) Dooley, Bryan
    EME Homer City Generation, L.P. v. EPA illustrates the difficulty the EPA faces as it attempts to formulate effective and efficient regulation of cross-border environmental harm within the boundaries created by the Clean Air Act. The decision imposes new limitations on the EPA’s ability to enact and enforce regional solutions to what is a fundamentally regional problem. Meanwhile, downwind states continue to bear the public health and regulatory burdens resulting from upwind contributions to poor air quality. This Comment analyzes the implications of EME Homer City Generation for future attempts at meaningful regulation of interstate air pollution. Part I briefly examines the historical failures of federal regulation to adequately address the problem and recent attempts to regulate under the Act. Part II discusses the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, the EME Homer City Generation decision, and prospects for future regulation in detail. This Comment concludes that the EPA should appeal the decision to the Supreme Court and it should be overturned. If the decision is allowed to stand, amendment of the Clean Air Act is necessary to allow regulation of interstate air pollution that is effective and not unnecessarily burdensome.
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    Understanding The Regulation Of Adipogenesis And Adipocyte Metabolism In Obesity
    (2015-08) Zhao, Ming
    Inflammation in hypertrophic adipose tissue is a critical inducer of adipose tissue dysfunction, which ultimately leads to systemic insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Elevation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced by high fat diet has been recently proposed to be one of the potential mechanisms contributing to the development of inflammation and metabolic dysfunction of adipose tissue in obesity. Therefore, it is of interest to expand our understanding of LPS effect on adipocyte metabolism and to identify the molecular mechanism by which LPS deteriorates adipose tissue metabolism. In the first study, we investigated the effect of LPS on the adipogenic capacity and cellular senescence of adipocyte progenitors by using stromal-vascular (SV) cells isolated from inguinal adipose tissue of C57BL/6 mice. We found that LPS treatment for 24-hour prior to the induction of differentiation led to the inhibition of adipogenesis. In addition, LPS induced features of premature senescence of SV cells. Further studies showed that LPS treatment caused a reduction in Zfp423 and PPARγ expression in SV cells, suggesting that LPS impairs pre-adipocyte differentiation. In the second study, we explored the role of endosomal/lysosomal protein NPC2 (Niemann-Pick disease, Type C2) in regulating lysosomal activity and in mediating LPS effect on adipocyte inflammation and function. NPC2 knockdown reduced lysosomal protease cathepsin B levels and impaired autophagy-lysosomal activity in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Interestingly, NPC2 knockdown diminished LPS effect on inflammatory response and blunted LPS-induced glucose uptake in adipocytes. In the third study, we determined the effect of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) on promoting metabolic health of adipocytes, specifically the browning of subcutaneous white adipocytes. When added to SV cell cultures during 8-day adipocyte differentiation, EPA significantly increased the expression of thermogenic genes as well as mitochondrial DNA content. These results indicate that EPA enhances energy expenditure capacity by recruiting beige adipocytes. In summary, we have demonstrated a new mechanism by which LPS disrupts adipogenesis and adipocyte metabolism. We have also characterized the role of NPC2 as an important molecular mediator of LPS-induced adipocyte inflammation and the effect of EPA on promoting the browning of subcutaneous adipocytes.
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    Utilization of oil crop residues for enhanced algae based production of lipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and protein
    (2013-12) Wang, Zhen
    Microalgae are capable of synthesizing many high value compounds, such as lipids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and proteins, and therefore considered potential feedstock for production of biodiesel, nutraceuticals, and animal feeds. The synthesis and accumulation of lipids, PUFAs, and proteins are influenced by such factors as microalgae strain, trophic conversion mode of growth, nutrient supply, and light and temperature conditions. Regulation of these factors must take cost issue into account. The goal of this research was to investigate the use of oil crop biomass residue (OCBR), a low-cost material from oil extraction plants, to cultivate specific algae strains for targeted production of lipids, PUFAs, and proteins. The specific objectives of present thesis were: 1) to optimize the conditions for acid hydrolysis of OCBR for best yield and desirable profile of nutrients; 2) to evaluate microalgae growth on different OCBR media; 3) to characterize the chemical compositions especially the lipid, protein and EPA contents in the harvested algal biomass as affected by culture media; 4) to study the effect of temperature and growth phase on algae EPA synthesis.The one-factor-at-a-time experimental design was used to optimize the acid hydrolysis conditions based on the key nutrient level including the total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) in the hydrolysates. The optimal conditions were found to be using 3 % sulfuric acid and hydrolyzing residues at 90 °C for 20 hrs. The hydrolysates (OCBR media) produced under the optimal conditions were used to cultivate two algae strains, namely UM258 and UM268. The results from 5 days of cultivation showed that the best OCBR media supported faster algae growth than artificial media, with maximal algal biomass yield of 2.7 g/L and 3 g/L, respectively. Moreover, the total lipids after 5 days cultivation for UM258 and UM268 were 54 % and 35%, respectively. The OCBR also promoted protein accumulation in UM 268 compared with artificial media. Temperature-time interaction-effect on EPA synthesis was observed. Temperature of 20 °C and time of longer than 6 days of cultivation (after algae reach stationary phase), were found optimal for EPA accumulation for UM258 with EPA reaching 18% in total fatty acids. The results suggest that OCBR media are an excellent alternative for algae growth and have great potential for large scale productions of algae based ingredients for biodiesel, high value foods and animal feeds.