The Link Between Gut Microbiota Metabolism and Host Gluconeogenesis by Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide

The gut microbiota (GM) plays a beneficial role in host metabolism. In mammals, the GM ferments dietary fiber into short chain fatty acids (SCFA), like propionate, that improves glucose metabolism. Rats fed a propionate diet increased intestinal gluconeogenic (IGN) gene expression, which was blocked by treatment with the neurotoxin, capsaicin, suggesting a neuronal-dependent mechanism. We hypothesized that the gut neuropeptide, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), links GM derived propionate to IGN expression. We fed VIP deficient mice a 5% propionate chow diet (n=60) for 2 weeks and measured mRNA levels for GN genes by dPCR. Basel intestinal and liver GN mRNA expression was dysregulated by the loss of VIP. GN mRNA levels in liver were differentially altered in males versus females fed a propionate diet in a VIP-dependent manner. We conclude that VIP regulates basal intestinal and hepatic GN mRNA expression and mediates propionate induced GN mRNA changes in liver

A two-stage estimate of underemployment of the male and female labor force, by county, Tennessee, 1960 and 1970

The State of Tennessee has generally lagged behind the national standard of economic growth and prosperity. However, the gap has narrowed during the decade of the 50\u27s and 60\u27s. The labor force has been a dominant factor behind the state economic growth during this period. In spite of this fact, studies on the subject of quantitative measurement of underemployment of labor force at the county level of the state, particularly on a periodic basis, are rare in the available literature. The main concern of this study has been an attempt to define, and isolate underemployment as a specific dimension of manpower study, quantifying it in terms of man labor work units unutilized and specify-ing the number of factors affecting this aspect of labor force utiliza-tion in the State of Tennessee in two time period 1960 and 1970. More specifically, the objective has been a two-stage estimation of the state male and female labor force underemployment by county in the above two time periods. The data used in this study were obtained entirely from the secondary sources. In the first stage, underemployment of the state male and female labor force by county were estimated mathematically for the year 1970. This was based on Williams and Glasgow\u27s technique used by U.S.D.A. in estimating underemployment of the male and female labor force by county for the entire United States for the year 1960. In the second stage, a regression model was applied where the mathematical estimate of underemployment for the year 1960 and 1970 were used as the dependent variable and an alternative set of variables were selected as the estimating or independent variables. The mathematical estimate showed that female labor force underemployment has increased in all 95 counties of the state from the year 1960 to 1970 compared to the increase in 35 counties for male labor force. This was due to the fact that female labor force income earning capacity attributed to the factors such as age-color mix, educational status, labor force participation status and employment status has increased in more counties of the state than the increase for male labor force income earning capacity. The outcome of the second stage estimate confirms the result of the first stage which was an increase in underemployment rate for female labor force from 1960 to 1970. This was reflected in the changes in size and magnitude of the coefficients of the first group of independent variables. However, in general the statistical model for male labor force performed very respectably in terms of R2, and standard error of estimate and overall level of significance. The statistical test for any structural change between the pairs of the regression equations of the second-stage estimate model shows that there was no structural difference between the year 1960 and 1970 least square estimate of the male labor force, while the structure of the least square estimate of underemployment for the female labor force has changed during this period. The test also shows that there was no structural difference between the male and female labor force underemployment estimate in 1960\u3e while the structure of the least square estimate of underemployment was different between male and female labor force in 1970

Collective Effects in Linear Spectroscopy of Dipole-Coupled Molecular Arrays

We present a consistent analysis of linear spectroscopy for arrays of nearest neighbor dipole-coupled two-level molecules that reveals distinct signatures of weak and strong coupling regimes separated for infinite size arrays by a quantum critical point. In the weak coupling regime, the ground state of the molecular array is disordered, but in the strong coupling regime it has (anti)ferroelectric ordering. We show that multiple molecular excitations (odd/even in weak/strong coupling regime) can be accessed directly from the ground state. We analyze the scaling of absorption and emission with system size and find that the oscillator strengths show enhanced superradiant behavior in both ordered and disordered phases. As the coupling increases, the single excitation oscillator strength rapidly exceeds the well known Heitler-London value. In the strong coupling regime we show the existence of a unique spectral transition with excitation energy that can be tuned by varying the system size and that asymptotically approaches zero for large systems. The oscillator strength for this transition scales quadratically with system size, showing an anomalous one-photon superradiance. For systems of infinite size, we find a novel, singular spectroscopic signature of the quantum phase transition between disordered and ordered ground states. We outline how arrays of ultra cold dipolar molecules trapped in an optical lattice can be used to access the strong coupling regime and observe the anomalous superradiant effects associated with this regime.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures main tex

Carrier Recombination and Generation Rates for Intravalley and Intervalley Phonon Scattering in Graphene

Electron-hole generation and recombination rates for intravalley and intervalley phonon scattering in Graphene are presented. The transverse and the longitudinal optical phonon modes ($E_{2g}$-modes) near the zone center ($\Gamma$-point) contribute to intravalley interband carrier scattering. At the zone edge ($K(K')$-point), only the transverse optical phonon mode ($A'_{1}$-mode) contributes significantly to intervalley interband scattering with recombination rates faster than those due to zone center phonons. The calculated recombination times range from less than a picosecond to more than hundreds of picoseconds and are strong functions of temperature and electron and hole densities. The theoretical calculations agree well with experimental measurements of the recombination rates of photoexcited carriers in graphene.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figure

Molecular Seesaw: How Increased Hydrogen Bonding Can Hinder Excited-State Proton Transfer

A previously unexplained effect in the relative rate of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) in related indole derivatives is investigated using both theory and experiment. Ultrafast spectroscopy [J. Phys. Chem. A, 2015, 119, 5618–5625] found that although the diol 1,3-bis(2-pyridylimino)-4,7-dihydroxyisoindole exhibits two equivalent intramolecular hydrogen bonds, the ESIPT rate associated with tautomerization of either hydrogen bond is a factor of 2 slower than that of the single intramolecular hydrogen bond in the ethoxy-ol 1,3-bis(2-pyridylimino)-4-ethoxy-7-hydroxyisoindole. Excited-state electronic structure calculations suggest a resolution to this puzzle by revealing a seesaw effect in which the two hydrogen bonds of the diol are both longer than the single hydrogen bond in the ethoxy-ol. Semiclassical rate theory recovers the previously unexplained trends and leads to clear predictions regarding the relative H/D kinetic isotope effect (KIE) for ESIPT in the two systems. The theoretical KIE predictions are tested using ultrafast spectroscopy, confirming the seesaw effect

Top and side gated epitaxial graphene field effect transistors

Three types of first generation epitaxial graphene field effect transistors (FET) are presented and their relative merits are discussed. Graphene is epitaxially grown on both the carbon and silicon faces of hexagonal silicon carbide and patterned with electron beam lithography. The channels have a Hall bar geometry to facilitate magnetoresistance measurements. FETs patterned on the Si-face exhibit off-to-on channel resistance ratios that exceed 30. C-face FETs have lower off-to-on resistance ratios, but their mobilities (up to 5000 cm2/Vs) are much larger than that for Si-face transistors. Initial investigations into all-graphene side gate FET structures are promising

Hot Carrier Transport and Photocurrent Response in Graphene

Strong electron-electron interactions in graphene are expected to result in multiple-excitation generation by the absorption of a single photon. We show that the impact of carrier multiplication on photocurrent response is enhanced by very inefficient electron cooling, resulting in an abundance of hot carriers. The hot-carrier-mediated energy transport dominates the photoresponse and manifests itself in quantum efficiencies that can exceed unity, as well as in a characteristic dependence of the photocurrent on gate voltages. The pattern of multiple photocurrent sign changes as a function of gate voltage provides a fingerprint of hot-carrier-dominated transport and carrier multiplication.Comment: 4 pgs, 2 fg

Ultrafast Optical-Pump Terahertz-Probe Spectroscopy of the Carrier Relaxation and Recombination Dynamics in Epitaxial Graphene

The ultrafast relaxation and recombination dynamics of photogenerated electrons and holes in epitaxial graphene are studied using optical-pump Terahertz-probe spectroscopy. The conductivity in graphene at Terahertz frequencies depends on the carrier concentration as well as the carrier distribution in energy. Time-resolved studies of the conductivity can therefore be used to probe the dynamics associated with carrier intraband relaxation and interband recombination. We report the electron-hole recombination times in epitaxial graphene for the first time. Our results show that carrier cooling occurs on sub-picosecond time scales and that interband recombination times are carrier density dependent.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Reprogramming of Human Peripheral Blood Cells to Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent cells derived from the inner cell mass of the developing embryo that have the capacity to differentiate into every cell type of the adult (Evans and Kaufman, 1981, Martin, 1981, Martin and Evans, 1975 and Thomson et al., 1998). The generation of patient-specific pluripotent cells is therefore an important goal of regenerative medicine. A major step to achieve this was the recent discovery that ectopic expression of defined transcription factors induces pluripotency in somatic cells (Lowry et al., 2008, Park et al., 2008b, Takahashi et al., 2007 and Yu et al., 2007). Until now, the most common source from which to derive human iPSCs has been skin fibroblasts (Lowry et al., 2008, Park et al., 2008a, Park et al., 2008b, Takahashi et al., 2007 and Yu et al., 2009). However, the requirement for skin biopsies and the need to expand fibroblast cells for several passages in vitro represent a hurdle that must be overcome to make iPSC technology broadly applicable. Peripheral blood can be utilized as an easily accessible source of patient tissue for reprogramming. Here we derived iPSCs from frozen human peripheral blood samples. Some of the iPSCs had rearrangements of the T cell receptor (TCR), indicating that T cells can be reprogrammed to pluripotency.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 5-RO1-HDO45022)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 5-R37-CA084198)National Institutes of Health (U.S.). (Grant 5-RO1-CA087869)National Center for Research Resources (U.S.) (Grant UL1 RR025758