Effectiveness of Antioxidants on Cell Viability in Beta-amyloid Exposed PC12 Cells

Objectives Beta-amyloid (BA) is toxic to cells, and leads to cell damage, decreasing cell viability. Certain antioxidants, however, have been shown to prevent BA induced cell damages. The purpose of this research was to determine whether antioxidants affect the viability of PC12 cells that have been exposed to BA. Methods PC12 cells (2 × 105 cells/ml) were treated with secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) at either a concentration of 50 μM or 100 μM, superoxide dismutase (SOD) at a concentration of 100 U/ml, catalase (CAT) at a concentration of 100 U/ml, or a combination of both SOD and CAT for two hours. Following the antioxidant treatment, cells were treated with BA at a concentration of 10 μM for 24 hours. Once the cell treatments were completed, cell viability was measured using an MTT assay. Student's t-test was performed to determine significance (P < 0.05) between the treated cells and the control cells (no antioxidant or BA treatment). Results The results showed that there were no significant changes in cell viability in antioxidant treated cells that were exposed to BA compared to the control cells. The only cells that showed a significant change in cell viability compared to the control were the cells treated with SOD + CAT and no BA. Conclusions PC12 cells treated with antioxidants remained just as viable after being exposed to BA as control cells that were not treated with antioxidants or exposed to BA. These results indicate that SDG, an antioxidant found in flaxseed, as well as SOD and CAT, may be an effective method in the prevention of damage caused by BA in PC12 cells. Funding Sources This research was funded by the College of Human Sciences and Education at North Dakota State University.

University of Florida Potato Variety Trial Spotlight: Goldrush

‘Goldrush’ is a russet potato variety commonly grown for the fresh potato market particularly for baking and boiling. It was selected from the progeny of a cross between ND450-3Russ and Lemhi Russet at North Dakota State University (Johansen et al. 1993). It was released in 1992 from the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station. ‘Goldrush’ demonstrates high yield and good tuber characteristics compared to its commercial standard ‘Atlantic’. Tuber production and quality results provided in this spotlight are summarized from various trials conducted by the UF/IFAS Hastings Agricultural and Extension Center from 2005 to 2019, except 2012. This is a minor revision with an added author. Originally published 5/2017.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1299

Nonparametric Methods for the Nondecreasing Ordered Hypothesis in a Mixed Design

Aims: Introduce two new test statistics in testing for the nondecreasing alternative in a mixed design consisting of a Completely Randomized Portion and a Randomized Complete Block Portion. Study Design: Simulation study comparing four test statistics for the nondecreasing alternative in a mixed design consisting of a CRD and an RCBD portion. The test statistics included two new test statistics and two existing test statistics. Random samples were taken from three different types of underlying distributions. Different percentages of the CRD portion will be considered as well as different sample sizes. Powers were estimated based on a variety location parameter shifts. Three, four, and five populations were considered. Place and Duration of Study: The simulation study took place on the campus of North Dakota State University during the calendar year 2019. Methodology: Levels of significance for each of the three types of underlying distributions, when the RCBD portion was larger than the CRD portion, when the CRD portion was larger than the RCBD portion, and when the CRD portion was equal to the RCBD portion, and when the number of populations were 3, 4, and 5. Results: Regardless of the underlying population types, the proposed test statistics did better than the existing test statistics when the difference between the last two parameters is large. This was true for 3, 4, and 5 populations. Conclusion: When the differences between the last two parameters is large, the two new test statistics performed better. Otherwise, the existing test statistics are better. In both cases, it is better to use the combined test statistic that first standardizes the individual test statistics for the CRD and RCBD portions before adding them together.

From the Chair

It is an honor to serve as the chair of GODORT. For those of you who do not know me, I first worked with state and federal information while at the New Mexico State Library. I left the Land of Enchantment for Big Sky Country in 2011. At the University of Montana I took on the role of regional for the first time, and fell in love with that fabulous collection. I eventually learned that the state nickname did not apply to Missoula with an inversion layer during a nasty fire season. I moved to Fargo in the middle of winter to start at North Dakota State University in 2018, just a few months before our Past Chair started.