In studies of serum, in the early 1930s, from patients with pneumonia, a factor was found. It could agglutinate certain pneumococcal species. This factor, which later became known as C-reactive protein (CRP), increased sharply during the early and middle stages of the disease. CRP was identified as an acute phase protein and found especially in bacterial infections. CRP is synthesized in the liver by stimulation of interleukin 6 (IL-6), which is produced by the monocytes, and consists of five non-covalently bound subunits. The aim of this study was to compare two different analytical instruments (Vitros 5.1 FS Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics and QuikRead CRP Orion Diagnostica) for CRP analysis. In this study, Vitros 5.1 FS is used as a reference instrument. QuikRead CRP is a small instrument intended for patient-near testing. Vitros 5.1 FS (Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics a Johmon-Johmon Company, Rochester, NY, U.S.A) is a fully automated instrument for measuring various analytes of clinical importance in body fluids. For analysis of CRP, plasma is used. The amount of CRP is obtained by measuring turbidity at a specific wavelength in an Immuno-turbidimetric reaction. QuikRead CRP (Orion Diagnostica, Espoo, Finland) is an immuno-turbidimetric test in which micro-particles coated with anti-human CRP are used to measure the amount of CRP in whole blood, plasma or serum. Comparison between Vitros 5.1 FS and QuikRead CRP for the P-CRP analysis shows a good correlation (R= 0.997) of the mean value from the analysis I, II and III.  An intercept of -8.52 shows a decrease in the values of CRP for QuikRead comparatively Vitros 5.1 FS.  Bland-Altman-plot shows a slightly increased spread of results. Paired T-test shows that Vitros 5.1 FS and QuikRead CRP does not produces the same results. This study shows that QuikRead CRP is a user-friendly instrument that fits well in near patient testing. QuikRead CRP and Vitros 5.1 FS did not give the same results of P-CRP. This does not affect the results in regards to distinguish a viral infection (10-50 mg / L) from a bacterial infection (> 100 mg / L).

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Abstract C-reactive protein (CRP) is able to bind phosphocholine in the presence of calcium ions. According to a previous functional property of CRP, we tried to develop an affordable and cheap high sensitive nephelometric CRP assay using soy oil. Serum samples were measured by Nephelometer BNII (Siemens), by mixing the serum with diluted soy oil emulsion (Intralipid ® 20%) and Tris-calcium buffer (PH 7.5). The measurement took place after 12 min incubation time at 37°C by measuring the agglutination between CRP and phosphocholine. Results from our automated functional assay were compared with results obtained using an immunoturbidimetric CRP assay. Results showed a good correlation coefficient for method comparison between functional nephelometric CRP assay and immunoturbidimetric CRP assay, r = 0.895, significance level p <0.0001. The limit of detection for the functional nephelometric CRP assay was 0.1 mg/L. However, the within run % CV values for the functional assay were 6.1 % (20 mg/L), 4.7 % (50 mg/L) and 4.5 % (100 mg/L). The between-run % CV values were 17.6 % (20 mg/L), 18.8 % (50 mg/L), and 11.3 % (100 mg/L). The new functional nephelometric CRP assay enables high sensitive CRP measurement in serum in the range of 0.1 mg/L to 300 mg/L. The functional assay could be used for veterinary analysis due to the ability to measure CRP according to the functional properties, not the morphological properties which depend on specific antibodies.

This project is concerned with method development in mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics in order to find putative biomarkers for early pregnancy ofdomesticated dogs. It is of importance for dog breeders to know whether the dogsbecome pregnant post-mating. Unlike humans, dogs are not known to possess aspecific hormone that indicates fetal development; therefore other biomarkers mustbe investigated. The approach of choice in this project was to look at proteins throughMS-based proteomics. For this purpose, serum samples from 11 pregnant dogs (case,different breeds) and 7 non-pregnant dogs (control, all beagle dogs) were sampledbefore-hand at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Each dog wassampled Day 1, Day 8, Day 15, Day 22 and Day 29 after optimal mating. Twodifferent proteomics approaches were conducted: Bottom-up (“Shotgun”) proteomicsand targeted proteomics (“targeted analysis”). In this study, Label-free Quantification(LFQ) was employed, which is a relative quantitative technique. The massspectrometer of choice was the Quadrupole-Orbitrap QExactive plus massspectrometer coupled to a nano-Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC).Method optimization was done with respect to concentration of samples prior to MSanalysis, as well as different LC-gradients. From shotgun screening experiments, itwas possible to identify 252 proteins. Ultimately, 9 proteins were investigated usingtargeted final analysis: CRP, SERPINC1, CP, PROS1, SERPING1, A2M, AGP,SERPINA1 and HP. For targeted final analysis, 21 peptides were considered.Calibration curves were constructed using 8 of the 21 targeted peptides; 1 peptide perprotein, except for HP which had 2 peptides per protein. The SERPINA1 and CPproteins had no appropriate peptides for targeted final analysis and were thusexcluded. It was confirmed that CRP was up-regulated in case dogs compared tocontrol dogs. The other investigatedproteins showed no significant signs of regulation. In order to improve the results; itwould be desirable to include more dogs in the study which would benefit thestatistics of protein regulation. However, the use of isotopic labeled standards andemployment of a Parallel Reaction Monitoring (PRM) method should be prioritizedfor obtaining absolute quantitative data.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Christine Wilson / For five generations, Lauver Family Farms has been founded upon faith, family, and farming near Rockwell City, IA. It is these core principles and beliefs that drive everyday actions through conservation minded decisions, community involvement, and a passion for the land. Presently, the farm is operated by Grandfather Don Lauver, Father Kevin Lauver, and sons Andrew and Jacob Lauver. The Lauver Family Farm was originally purchased in 1942 by Joseph Gordon, who at his peak held 700 acres in his name. In 1945 Glen and Viola Lauver purchased what is now Lauver Family Farms, located on the Des Moines Lobe land region of Iowa. The Des Moines Lobe is a glacial lobe encompassing rich, heavy soils with high organic matter, requiring dredge ditches and tiling in many areas. Through a commitment to conservation, corn and soybean acres are rotated annually. With regard to corn cultivation and planting practices, soybean stubble is field cultivated once, followed by planting. On soybean ground, the corn stalks are disk ripped, and then field cultivated twice before planting soybeans. The goal is to minimize trips through the field by exhibiting these conservation tillage practices. If land has much slope or erosion potential, then it is only disked and then planted. Currently, the farm is comprised of 400 acres of row crops and 50 acres of wetland, 30 acres on the Home Farm and 20 acres on the Obye Farm, enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program in 2002. Kevin and Don Lauver, the primary decision makers, requested an analysis of the environmental and economic impact of the Conservation Reserve Program on the farm. By taking acres out of production for at least 10 to 15 years that perennially drown due to often wet soil conditions, they will be able to utilize the Conservation Reserve Program as a risk management tool. Now, Lauver Family Farms is faced with a decision to determine if a 10 or 15 year enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program has the greatest economic and environmental return, since the current enrollment expires in 2016. Procedures and methods were established to meet the purpose of this thesis to determine which option was the most profitable long-term for the operation. The purpose includes evaluating the sources of data relevant to Lauver Family Farms decision by utilizing decision tools to make a collective decision on the future of the farmland and opportunity costs analyzed. Lauver Family Farms’ objective for this project was to determine how the Conservation Reserve Program provides a return on the investment of the decision to re-enroll, or even enroll more acres in the program. This analysis will be used each time an enrollment decision must be made, and will be of significant importance as sons Andrew and Jacob Lauver make management decisions in the years to come.

The study was initiated to examine magnesium intake, supplementation and their relation to inflammation. Magnesium is the second most abundant extracellular ion following potassium. Outside the cell, magnesium can be found in bone tissue, cardiac muscle tissue, other tissues and in the blood. Magnesium form compounds which operate in several essential metabolic processes in the body. Magnesium deficiency may have an impact on insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction, which may result in an increased level of inflammation. Increased inflammation over a longer period has been seen to increase the risk of common lifestyle induced diseases such as diabetes type II and coronary heart diseases. The study of magnesium and its influence on inflammation is thereby becoming important and interesting for all societies and in their effort to find solutions to maintain and increase the well-being of its individuals. The study is a literature study based on searches made in One Search and Pub Med databases. A total of ten studies were included, five for magnesium intake and five for supplementation. The majority of the studies showed a significant correlation between increased magnesium intake, dietary and supplementary, with decreased levels of inflammatory biomarkers and hints that magnesium might have a role in the inflammation process. What needs to be taken into account is that fiber intake in two studies attenuated magnesium’s inverse relation to inflammation. In addition of a decrease in inflammatory biomarker levels the risk for developing diabetes type II seemed to decrease as well with an increased intake of magnesium in one of the studies. Further studies need to be executed in order to establish the role of magnesium in inflammation and optimal dosage for prevention of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. / Studien undersöker magnesiumintag och supplementering med magnesium samt dess inverkan på inflammation. Magnesium är den vanligast förekommande jonen intracellulärt efter kalium.  Extracellulärt magnesium förekommer i benvävnad, hjärtmuskelvävnad och i blodet. Magnesium bildar ämnen som medverkar i flera viktiga metabola processer i kroppen. Magnesiumbrist kan ha en inverkan på insulin resistans och endotel dysfunktion som följaktligen skulle kunna resultera i en ökad nivå av inflammation. Ökad inflammation under en längre tid har visat sig öka risken för vanliga livsstilssjukdomar som diabetes typ II och hjärt- och kärlsjukdomar. Forskning om magnesium och dess effekt på inflammation blir därmed viktig och intressant för samhällen i deras strävan att hitta lösningar till att bibehålla och öka välmåendet hos populationen. Studien är en litteraturstudie och är grundad på sökningar via databaserna One Search och Pub Med. Totalt tio studier inkluderades i arbetet, fem som undersökte magnesiumintag och inflammation samt fem som undersökte supplementering av magnesium och inflammation. Majoriteten av studierna visade på en signifikant korrelation mellan ett ökat magnesiumintag, via kosten och kosttillskott, och minskade nivåer av biomarkörer för inflammation. Det antyder att magnesium kan ha en roll i inflammationsprocessen. I de två studier som mätte fiberintaget var relationen mellan magnesiumintag och inflammation försvagad. Utöver en minskning av biomarkörer för inflammation sågs en minskad risk för att utveckla diabetes typ II vid ett ökat magnesiumintag i en av studierna. Fler studier krävs för att fastställa magnesiums betydelse vid inflammation samt den optimala doseringen för prevention av metabola och kardiovaskulära sjukdomar.

Growing populations and industrialized agriculture practices have eradicated much of the United States wetlands along river floodplains. One program available for the restoration of floodplains is the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The current research explores the effects CRP land change has on flooding zones, utilizing Flood Modeller and HEC-RAS. Modelling in both one-dimensional and two-dimensional approaches were tested and analyzed for the same river reach. Flood Modeller is proven a viable tool for flood modeling within the United States when compared to HEC-RAS. Application of the software is used in the Nodaway River system located in the western halves of Iowa and Missouri, to model the effects of introducing new forest areas within the region. Flood stage during the conversion first decreases in the early years, before rising to produce greater heights. Flow velocities where CRP land is present are reduced for long-term scopes. Velocity reduction occurs as the Manning’s roughness values increase due to tree diameter and brush density. Flood zones become more widespread with the implementation of CRP. Comparing one-dimensional and two-dimensional flood mapping zones, the two-dimensional model shows less inundation. CRP land cover effects evolve over time, with the greatest impact appearing at the end of the contract.

In einer Studie wurde der Zusammenhang pathologischer Werte von C-Reaktivem Protein (295 Fälle)- - sowie Leukozyten-Anzahlen (292 Fälle) einerseits und dosiskorrigierter Serumkonzentration der Antipsychotika Haloperidol, Risperidon, Olanzapin, Quetiapin und Aripiprazol andererseits mittels therapeutischem Drug Monitoring bestimmter Serumkonzentrationen sowie pathologische CRP (295 Fälle)- und Leukozyten (292 Fälle)-Werte ausgewertet. Zielsetzung der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, den Einfluss von Entzündung, gemessen durch CRP-Wert und Leukozyten, auf die dosiskorrigierten Antipsychotika-Serumkonzentrationen zu untersuchen. In der Quetiapin-Stichprobe konnte ein signifikanter Zusammenhang von pathologischen CRP-Werten und der dosiskorrigierten Serumkonzentration berechnet werden. In der Olanzapin-Stichprobe ergab sich ein trendmäßiger Zusammenhang von pathologischen CRP-Werten und der dosiskorrigierten Serumkonzentration. Dosiskorrigierte Serumkonzentrationen über der therapeutischen Obergrenze waren in der Quetiapin-Stichprobe mit pathologischen CRP-Werten assoziiert. In keiner Stichprobe konnte ein signifikanter Zusammenhang von Leukozyten-Anzahl und dosiskorrigierter Serumkonzentration aufgezeigt werden. Wir konnten damit erstmals einen signifikanten Zusammenhang von Entzündung und Serumkonzentration für Quetiapin (und partiell auch Olanzapin) zeigen. Klinische Konsequenz sollte - vor allem bei älteren Patienten - eine Quetiapin (und auch Olanzapin-)-Dosisanpassung unter inflammatorischen Bedingungen sein, um das Risiko verstärkter bzw. sogar toxischer Nebenwirkungen durch einen Anstieg der Serumkonzentration zu minimieren. Weitere Studien mit einer größeren Fallzahl für die anderen hier untersuchten und nicht signifikant assoziiert gefundenen Antipsychotika sind erforderlich, um das Risiko erhöhter Serumkonzentrationen unter inflammatorischen Bedingungen für diese ausschließen zu können. Darüber hinaus sind weitere Untersuchungen mit Berücksichtigung anderer auf CYP-Ebene interagierender Faktoren wie Komedikation, körperlichen Begleiterkrankungen, Raucherstatus oder Polymorphismen sinnvoll, um Risikogruppen noch genauer definieren zu können. / In this study, the relationship between pathological values of C-reactive protein (295 cases) and leukocyte counts (292 cases) on the one hand and dose-corrected serum concentrations of the antipsychotics haloperidol, risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine and aripiprazole on the other hand were evaluated by therapeutic drug monitoring of certain serum concentrations as well as pathological CRP (295 cases) and leukocyte values (292 cases). The objective of the present study was therefore to investigate the influence of inflammation, measured by CRP value and leukocytes, on the dose-corrected antipsychotic serum concentrations. The Quetiapin sample showed a significant correlation between pathological CRP values and dose-corrected serum concentration. In the olanzapine sample, there was a trend correlation between pathological CRP values and the dose-corrected serum concentration. Dose-corrected serum concentrations above the therapeutic limit were associated with pathological CRP levels in the quetiapine sample. In no sample could a significant correlation between leukocyte count and dose-corrected serum concentration be demonstrated. For the first time we were able to show a significant correlation between inflammation and serum concentration for quetiapine (and partially also olanzapine). Clinical consequence - especially in older patients - should be a quetiapine (and also olanzapine) dose adjustment under inflammatory conditions in order to minimize the risk of increased or even toxic side effects due to an increase in serum concentration. Further studies with a larger number of cases for the other antipsychotics investigated here and not significantly associated are necessary to exclude the risk of increased serum concentrations under inflammatory conditions. In addition, further investigations with consideration of other factors interacting at the CYP level such as comedication, concomitant physical diseases, smoking status or polymorphisms are useful in order to be able to define risk groups even more precisely.

Dietary flaxseed has cardioprotective effects that may be achieved through its rich content of the omega-3 fatty acid, alpha linolenic acid (ALA). We investigated the effects of dietary flaxseed both with and without an atherogenic cholesterol-enriched diet to determine the effects of dietary flaxseed on the expression of the adipose cytokines leptin and adiponectin. Rabbits were fed one of four diets: a regular (RG) diet, or a regular diet with added 0.5% cholesterol (CH), or 10% ground flaxseed (FX), or both (CF) for 8 weeks. Levels of leptin and adiponectin expression were assessed by RT-PCR in visceral adipose tissue. Consumption of flaxseed significantly increased plasma and adipose levels of ALA. Leptin, but not adiponectin, mRNA expression was lower in CH animals and was elevated in CF animals. Changes in leptin expression were strongly and positively correlated with adipose ALA levels and inversely correlated with levels of en face atherosclerosis. Our data demonstrate that the type of fat in the diet as well as its caloric content can specifically influence leptin expression. The findings support the hypothesis that the beneficial cardiovascular effects associated with flaxseed consumption may be related to a change in leptin expression.

Dietary flaxseed has cardioprotective effects that may be achieved through its rich content of the omega-3 fatty acid, alpha linolenic acid (ALA). We investigated the effects of dietary flaxseed both with and without an atherogenic cholesterol-enriched diet to determine the effects of dietary flaxseed on the expression of the adipose cytokines leptin and adiponectin. Rabbits were fed one of four diets: a regular (RG) diet, or a regular diet with added 0.5% cholesterol (CH), or 10% ground flaxseed (FX), or both (CF) for 8 weeks. Levels of leptin and adiponectin expression were assessed by RT-PCR in visceral adipose tissue. Consumption of flaxseed significantly increased plasma and adipose levels of ALA. Leptin, but not adiponectin, mRNA expression was lower in CH animals and was elevated in CF animals. Changes in leptin expression were strongly and positively correlated with adipose ALA levels and inversely correlated with levels of en face atherosclerosis. Our data demonstrate that the type of fat in the diet as well as its caloric content can specifically influence leptin expression. The findings support the hypothesis that the beneficial cardiovascular effects associated with flaxseed consumption may be related to a change in leptin expression.