Adaptation to an MCFA-rich diet : effect on gastric tolerance, the capacity for MCFA oxidation, and performance while ingesting exogenous carbohydrate and structured oils during endurance exercise : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sport Science at Massey University

Introduction: Elevating the availability of fatty-acids to the muscle can potentially benefit endurance exercise performance by reducing intramuscular-glycogen utilisation. Digestion of triglycerides containing long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs) is slow, and fatty acids must pass through the carnitine palmityl transferase (CPT) transport system to enter the mitochondria, which potentially limits fat oxidation during prolonged-heavy exercise. Conversely, medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are rapidly digested and their constituent fatty acids (MCFAs) by-pass the CPT transport system. Ingestion of MCFAs may therefore supply mitochondrial acetyl-CoA, potentially reducing the requirement for glycolytic flux during exercise. However, studies comparing carbohydrate (CHO) with CHO-containing MCFA-rich exercise supplements have revealed inconsistent results, probably because of the variation in gastrointestinal (GI) distress suffered by participants associated with MCT ingestion. Purpose: To investigate whether 2-weeks of dietary adaptation to MCFA-rich supplements reduces the severity of gastrointestinal (Gl) distress, or increases the rate of MCFA oxidation during endurance exercise. A decrease in ratings of GI distress, or an increase in MCFA oxidation was anticipated to lead to performance benefits. Method: Nine well-trained male endurance cyclists participated in a double-blind, pseudo-randomised. triple-crossover protocol. Participants were 37 ± 7.26 years, 81.36 ± 7.67 kg. training at least 8-10 h per week and riding competitively. Mean VO2 max and peak power output (PPO) were 4.84 ± 0.46 L-min-1 and 357.33 ± 20.55 W respectively. The effects of a 2-week MCFA-rich diet +13 C-enriched MCFA+CHO exercise supplement (MC-MC) on GI distress, MCFA-oxidation rate and sprint performance variables were compared against a 2-week LCFA-rich diet with either: (a) a13 C-enriched MCFA+CHO exercise supplement (LC-MC), or (b) a CMO-only supplement (LC-CHO). Dietary and exercise MCFA-rich supplements were consumed in the form of randomised-structured triacylglycerols made with a 3:1 molar ratio of MC- and LCFAs randomly esterified to glycerol backbones. Participants followed a controlled training regime whilst on the diets. The performance test consisted of a 3-h ride at 50% PPO followed by 10 maximal sprints. At rest and every 20-min throughout the ride, participant ratings of GI and exertion sensations were recorded, followed by external respiratory-gas analysis, collection of a breath sample for breathl3 C-enrichment analysis, a venous blood sample and ingestion of a supplement. Similarly, after sprints 1, 4, 7 and 10 participants recorded their GI ratings followed by a blood sample. Results: Peak MCFA-oxidation rates were 0.38 g-min-1(95% Cl 0.31-0.47) and 0.43 g-min-1(0.30-0.61, p-value = 0.21) in the MC-MC and LC-MC conditions respectively, but there was no evidence for CHO sparing following MCFA adaptation. Participant ratings of GI distress decreased slightly during exercise with 2-weeks of a diet high in MCFAs relative to LCFAs. Ratings of reflux, bloatedness, nausea, and urge to vomit were, respectively, 1.34 (0.88-3.14), 1.03 (0.74-2.27), 0.81 (0.62-1.69) and 0.93 (0.64-245) scale units lower in the MC-MC condition relative to LC-MC. The attenuation in GI distress corresponded with a tendency toward increased sprint mean power, which was 3.4% (± 5.9%, 0.25) higher in the MC-MC condition relative to LC-MC. However, sprint mean power was still lower in both the MC-MC (6.8% ± 2.8%, <0.0001) and LC-MC (10.4% ± 5.5%, 0.0004) conditions relative to LC-CHO. Mechanism covariate analysis illustrated a negative effect of the GI distress marker nausea on sprint performance. For every 1 unit increase in nausea for the MC-MC and LC- MC conditions, sprint power decreased by 6 W (± 3.8,0.004) relative to LC-CHO. Conclusion: No clear metabolic adaptation was evident with high dietary MCFA relative to LCFA. In addition, MCFA-rich exercise supplements caused a decrement in performance relative to CHO ingestion in both MC-MC and LC-MC conditions, suggesting that light- moderate GI distress still causes substantial performance detriments. There was little evidence to support the ingestion of randomised structured triglycerides high in MCFA with the intention of enhancing endurance performance

Cho and Pak reply to Lamm et al. comment on "A Convergent Series for the QED Effective Action"

Cho and Pak reply to Lamm et al. [hep-th/0007108] comment on "A Convergent Series for the Effective Action of QED" [hep-th/0006057].Comment: 1 pag

A Note on the Hybrid Equilibrium in the Besley-Smart Model

This note shows that there is always a non-empty set of parameter values for which the hybrid equilibrium in the Besley and Smart(2003) model is unstable in the sense of Cho and Kreps. This set may include all the parameter values for which a hybrid equilibrium exists. For these parameter values, it is shown that a fully separating equilibrium always exists, which is Cho-Kreps stable. In this equilibrium, the good incumbent distorts ?scal policy to signal his type. An implication is that equilibrium in their model is not (generically) unique.

Assessment of metal exposure (uranium and copper) in fatty acids and carbohydrates profiles of Calamoceras marsupus larvae (Trichoptera) and Alnus glutinosa

Physiological changes were explored in fatty acids (FA) and carbohydrate (CHO) composition in the shredder Calamoceras marsupus larvae (Trichoptera) and leaf litter (C. marsupus food) exposed to copper and uranium under natural and experimental conditions. We measured FA and CHO content in leaf litter and larvae specimens from reference and impacted streams, and exposed for 5 weeks to four realistic environmental concentrations of copper (35 μg L−1 and 70 μg L−1) and uranium (25 μg L−1 and 50 μg L−1). Regarding FA, (1) leaf litter had a reduced polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) content in metal treatments, s (14 to 33% of total FA), compared to natural conditions (≥39% of total FA). Leaf litter exposed to uranium also differed in saturated FA (SFA) composition, with lower values in natural conditions and higher values under low uranium concentrations. (2) C. marsupus had/showed low PUFA content under Cu and U exposure, particularly in high uranium concentrations. Detritivores also decreased in PUFA under exposure to both metals, particularly in high uranium concentrations. On the other hand, (1) microorganisms of the biofilm colonizing leaf litter differed in CHO composition between natural (impacted and reference) and experimental conditions, with glucose and galactose being consistently the most abundant sugars, found in different amounts under copper or uranium exposure; (2) CHO of detritivores showed similar high galactose and fucose concentrations in contaminated streams and high copper treatments, whereas low copper treatment showed distinct CHO profiles, with higher mannose, glucose, arabinose, and fucose concentrations. Our study provides evidence of metal exposure effects on FA and CHO contents at different trophic levels, which might alter the quality of food flow in trophic websFil: Tagliaferro, Marina Beatriz. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Rocha, Carolina. Universidad de Coimbra. Facultad de Ciencias E Tecnología. Departamento de Ciencias Da Vida; PortugalFil: Marques, Joao Carlos. Universidad de Coimbra. Facultad de Ciencias E Tecnología. Departamento de Ciencias Da Vida; Portugal. Marine And Environmental Sciences Centre; PortugalFil: Goncalves, Ana Marta. Universidad de Coimbra. Facultad de Ciencias E Tecnología. Departamento de Ciencias Da Vida; Portugal. Marine And Environmental Sciences Centre; PortugalVIII Congreso Argentino de la Sociedad de Toxicología y Química AmbientalMar del PlataArgentinaSociedad de Toxicología y Química Ambienta

Dietary protein and energy interactions in African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

In order to investigate the interactions of dietary protein and energy and their utilisation by African catfish, Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) (12.43 ± 0.05 g), a series of four nutritional experiments (triplicate groups of 20 fish per 30-L tank at 28 ± 1°C, for 8 weeks) were carried out using fish meal based diets. Optimum dietary protein to energy ratio (P/E ratio) and optimum lipid to carbohydrate ratio (L/CHO ratio) were investigated. Based on optimised dietary P/E ratio and L/CHO ratio, optimum feeding regime and compensatory growth were also investigated in this species. In the experiments to optimise P/E ratio and L/CHO ratio fish were offered each diet at 5% of their body weight per day adjusted fortnightly. In the optimum feeding regime experiments, fish were offered each diet to appetite or to a restricted level. The restricted regimes were achieved by offering fish decreasing fixed feeding rates with increasing dietary protein level. Studies on compensatory growth were conducted in two phases each of 4 weeks. In the first phase, triplicate groups of 30 fish and in the second phase triplicate groups of 20 fish (per 30-L tank) were offered the diet in six mixed feeding schedules at two feeding regimes i.e. appetite and restricted. The restricted regime was achieved by offering fish 1% (maintenance ration) of their body weight per day adjusted after fortnightly weighing. Optimum dietary P/E and L/CHO ratios were 20.54-mg protein/kJ of GE and 0.40 g/g respectively, with a crude protein level over 40% and gross energy of more than 20 kJ/g GE. The results of investigating feeding regimes suggest that dietary protein level could be reduced from over 40% to 35% by feeding to appetite based on the above optimised dietary P/E and L/CHO ratios. Addition of dietary energy as lipid at varying protein levels resulted in increased growth, protein and energy utilisation in C. gariepinus. Based on optimised dietary P/E ratio, dietary carbohydrate levels were increased (with concomitant reduction in dietary lipid levels) resulting in a trend towards higher growth performance, protein and energy utilisation. Protein and energy utilisation did not vary (P 0.05) with feeding regime or dietary protein level. C. gariepinus showed partial compensatory growth under alternating periods of feeding a restricted (maintenance requirements) and appetite ration and also showed higher feed, protein, lipid and energy utilisation efficiencies in comparison to appetite feeding.Increase in dietary lipid produced an increment in carcass lipid deposition, both in whole body and liver in all studies. Fish in all treatments did not show significant differences (P 0.05) in body protein content. Optimum P/E ratio studies, with varying dietary protein and energy level, produced higher liver glycogen, plasma glucose and plasma triglycerides at higher dietary carbohydrate level with lower protein diets. In the studies to optimise lipid to CHO ratio comparatively lower (P 0.05) plasma glucose and plasma cholesterol deposition were observed while no consistent trends were found in liver glycogen deposition in fish fed higher dietary lipid with concomitant lower CHO levels. Studies on optimising feeding regime, with varying protein levels, did not show any significant differences (P 0.05) in liver glycogen, plasma glucose, plasma triglycerides and plasma cholesterol in response to dietary treatment. In all studies fish fed the experimental diets showed insignificant differences (P 0.05) in plasma amino acid levels and digestive enzyme activities (protease and lipase) while intestinal -amylase activity increased with increasing dietary carbohydrate level. Histological examination of intestine & liver in all studies showed no abnormalities. In conclusion, these studies suggest that manipulation and optimisation of dietary protein and energy intakes plays a very significant role in African catfish, Clarias gariepinus nutrition

FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMPENGARUHI KINERJA COMPLAINT HANDLING OFFICER (CHO) DI UNIT KERJA CALL CENTER TELKOMSEL MAKASSAR

&nbsp; Abstract Complaint Handling Officer (CHO) must perform according to the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) set by the company and to this day the Telkomsel Makassar Call Center CHO can successfully achieve the set targets. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that influence the performance of the Complaint Handling Officer in the Telkomsel Call Center work unit. The research method used is quantitative associative method. This method is used to test whether there is influence fromPersonal Factor, Leadership Factor, Team Factor, System Factor, Contextual / &nbsp;Situational Factor to Performance Complaint Handling Officer at Call Center Unit Telkomsel Makassar. Methods of data analysis of this study are applying normality test, regression analysis, and hypothesis test with the help of SPSS version 21. Partial research results, the relationship of personal factors have no positive and significant effect on the performance of CHO with probability value is 0.592. leadership factors do not have a positive and significant effect on the performance of CHO with a probability value of 0.910. there is a positive and significant influence of team factor on CHO performance with probability value is 0,014. system factor has no positive and significant effect on performance with probability value that is 0,650. there is no positive and significant influence of environmental factor on CHO performance with probability value is 0,878. Simultaneously (F test) all independent variables are personal, leadership, team, system, contextual / situational no significant and significant to CHO performance, with probabiltas value (sign) 0.052. It can be said that personal, leadership, team, system and contextual / situational factors together do not affect CHO performance. &nbsp;Abstrak Petugas Complaint Handling Officer (CHO) harus memiliki kinerja sesuai&nbsp; Key Performance Indicator (KPI) yang telah ditetapkan oleh perusahaan dan sampai saat ini CHO Call Center Telkomsel Makassar bisa berhasil mencapai target - target yang telah ditetapkan tersebut. Adapun tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi Kinerja Complaint Handling Officer pada Unit kerja Call Center Telkomsel Makassar. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah&nbsp; metode kuantitatif assosiatif, metode ini digunakan untuk menguji ada tidaknya pengaruh dari &nbsp;personal factor, leadership&nbsp; factor, team factor, system factor, contextual/situasional factor&nbsp; terhadap kinerja complaint handling officer pada unit kerja Call Center Telkomsel Makassar. Metode analisis data penelitian ini menggunakan uji normalitas, analisis regresi, dan uji hipotesis dengan bantuan SPSS versi 21. Hasil penelitian secara parsial, hubungan faktor personal tidak memiliki pengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap kinerja CHO dengan nilai probabilitasnya yaitu 0,592. Faktor kepemimpinan tidak berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap kinerja CHO dengan nilai probabilitas yaitu 0,910. ada pengaruh positif dan signifikan dari faktor team terhadap kinerja CHO dengan nilai probabilitasnya yaitu 0,014. Faktor sistem tidak berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap kinerja dengan nilai probabilitasnya yaitu 0,650. Tidak ada pengaruh positif dan signifikan dari faktor lingkungan&nbsp; terhadap kinerja CHO dengan nilai probabilitasnya yaitu 0,878. Secara simultan (uji F) semua variabel bebas yaitu personal, leadership, team, system, kontextual/situasional tidak berpengaruh dan signifikan terhadap kinerja CHO,&nbsp; dengan nilai probabiltas (sign) 0,052. Dapat dikatakan bahwa faktor personal, leadership, team system dan contextual/situasional secara bersama – sama tidak berpengaruh terhadap kinerja CHO. &nbsp

Development and application of a bioassay for follicle-stimulating hormone : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Physiology at Massey University

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is involved in the regulation and maintenance of vital reproductive processes, such as gametogenesis, follicular development and ovulation. Produced in the anterior pituitary, FSH is a glycoprotein hormone that exists as a family of isohormones. Follicle-stimulating hormone concentrations have traditionally been measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). However, results generated using RIA are a determination of the immunological activity of FSH. The potential of FSH to generate a biological response cannot be measured by RIA. Therefore, the identification of physiologically significant differences in the activity of these isoforms requires the use of assay systems that can differentiate between the biological activity of the FSH isoforms. Commonly used assays for measuring the biological activity of FSH are based on the measurement of aromatase activity in cultured rat Sertoli cells following stimulation with FSH. However, these assays have an inherently high ethical cost involved due to the use of primary tissue culture. In addition, the variation in these assays associated with differences between animals is difficult to eliminate. Recently a bioassay for human FSH has been described based on FSH stimulation of cyclic AMP production by a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line stably expressing the human FSH receptor (FSH-R). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of this CHO FSH-R cell line expressing the human receptor for FSH to be used as a bioassay to measure the biological activity of ovine FSH. The receptor cell line bioassay described in this study is based on the ability of FSH to stimulate cAMP production by cultured CHO FSH-R cells. Optimisation of the culture system to enable the bioactivity of ovine FSH to be measured by bioassay was undertaken. This involved optimising the density of cultured cells, the time in culture and time exposed to FSH and the most suitable dose range for FSH. The influence of matrix effects, such as those exerted by serum was also investigated. The specificity of the assay towards FSH was also determined as was the sensitivity, accuracy and precision of the assay. No stimulation of cAMP production was seen in CHO FSH-R cells following treatment with α-FSH, β-FSH, LH, TSH, GH, prolactin or vasopressin at concentrations up to 10 μg/ml. Although the methodology used differed slightly depending on the presence or absence of serum, all assayed were performed using the following methods and materials. Freshly thawed FSH-R cells were bulked up in culture, and aliquots of 1 x 105 to 5 x 105 cells/well dispensed into 48 well culture dishes and incubated overnight at 37°C. The assay culture media was then replaced with 0.25 ml fresh media (α-MEM + 0.1% BSA + 0.25 mM 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine) containing varying doses of NIH-FSH-RP2 (RP2) FSH preparations or FSH containing samples, and the cells incubated for 4 hours at 37°C. The assay culture media was then removed and stored frozen at -20°C until assayed for cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) by RIA. Once optimal assay conditions were determined, the CHO FSH-R cell bioassay was used to measure FSH concentrations in ovine serum, pituitary extracts and medium from cultures of ovine pituitary cells. It was found that the concentrations of FSH in serum from intact sheep was close to the detection limit of the assay. Thus, while FSH concentrations could be measured in serum from some sheep, other animals had concentrations that were too low to be accurately measured by the bioassay in its present form. The assay was, however, well suited to measuring FSH concentrations in serum from sheep that had elevated concentrations of FSH. In one study, FSH concentrations measured by the bioassay were compared to those measured by RIA in sheep that had been ovariectomised and then hypophysectomised. It was found that the profile of FSH concentrations following hypophysectomy was similar whether measured by RIA or by bioassay (R2=0.7513), though absolute concentrations sometimes differed. This suggested that the immunoassay and bioassay were not always measuring the same characteristics of FSH. The assay was also used to measure FSH concentrations in samples of ovine hypophyseal venous blood. However, the results obtained for these samples indicated a poor correlation between FSH concentrations obtained by bioassay and RIA. Levels of bioactive FSH in hypophyseal venous blood fluctuated markedly and were up to 10-fold higher than the associated RIA concentrations. The CHO-cell bioassay was also found to be very suitable for measuring pituitary concentrations of FSH. In one study, pituitary extracts underwent chromatography and the separated isoforms of FSH were analysed by bioassay and RIA. Again, there was excellent correlation (R2=0.9328) between the concentrations of FSH measured both assay types. However, some differences were apparent suggesting a discrepancy in the biological and immunological characteristics of different FSH isoforms. The bioassay was also used to measure FSH concentrations in media from pituitary cells in tissue culture where serially diluted samples displayed good parallelism with the RP2 FSH standard curve. Results of this study demonstrate that the CHO FSH-R cell bioassay is suitable for measuring the biological activity of ovine FSH in a variety of biological fluids. The use of a permanent cell line eliminates the high ethical cost associated with primary tissue culture that other bioassay systems have. The inherent variation associated with culture systems utilising tissue from different sources is also avoided. The sensitivity of the bioassay is suitable for measuring FSH in surgically altered sheep or hypophyseal blood concentrations where FSH levels are generally higher than those in the peripheral circulation. In addition to blood samples, the bioassay is also excellent for monitoring FSH activity in pituitary extracts and in media from tissue culture. However, the sensitivity of the bioassay currently does not always allow measurement of bioactive FSH concentrations in serum samples with low FSH levels. In summary, the CHO FSH-R cell bioassay described in this study offers a useful alternative to RIA and other bioassays for monitoring the biological activity of ovine FSH and its isoforms in various biological fluids. It is concluded that this convenient and robust bioassay may have considerable application in future investigations of ovine FSH bioactivity

E-democracy: exploring the current stage of e-government

Governments around the world have been pressured to implement e-Government programs in order to improve the government-citizen dialogue. The authors of this article review prior literature on such efforts to find if they lead to increased democratic participation ("e-Democracy") for the affected citizens, with a focus on the key concepts of transparency, openness, and engagement. The authors find that such efforts are a starting point toward e-Democracy, but the journey is far from complete