Exercise Training Reduces Liver Fat and Increases Rates of VLDL Clearance, but not VLDL Production in NAFLD

Context Randomised controlled trials in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have shown that regular exercise, even without calorie restriction, reduces liver steatosis. A previous study has shown that 16 weeks supervised exercise training in NAFLD did not affect total VLDL kinetics. Objective To determine the effect of exercise training on intrahepatocellular fat (IHCL) and the kinetics of large triglyceride-(TG)-rich VLDL1 and smaller denser VLDL2 which has a lower TG content. Design A 16 week randomised controlled trial. Patients 27 sedentary patients with NAFLD. Intervention Supervised exercise with moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or conventional lifestyle advice (control). Main outcome Very low density lipoprotein1 (VLDL1) and VLDL2-TG and apolipoproteinB (apoB) kinetics investigated using stable isotopes before and after the intervention. Results In the exercise group VO2max increased by 31±6% (mean±SEM) and IHCL decreased from 19.6% (14.8, 30.0) to 8.9% (5.4, 17.3) (median (IQR)) with no significant change in VO2max or IHCL in the control group (change between groups p<0.001 and p=0.02, respectively). Exercise training increased VLDL1-TG and apoB fractional catabolic rates, a measure of clearance, (change between groups p=0.02 and p=0.01, respectively), and VLDL1-apoB production rate (change between groups p=0.006), with no change in VLDL1 -TG production rate. Plasma TG did not change in either group. Conclusion An increased clearance of VLDL1 may contribute to the significant decrease in liver fat following 16 weeks of exercise in NAFLD. A longer duration or higher intensity exercise interventions may be needed to lower plasma TG and VLDL production rate

Probing cortical excitability using rapid frequency tagging

Frequency tagging has been widely used to study the role of visual selective attention. Presenting a visual stimulus flickering at a specific frequency generates so-called steady-state visually evoked responses. However, frequency tagging is mostly done at lower frequencies (&lt;30 Hz). This produces a visible flicker, potentially interfering with both perception and neuronal oscillations in the theta, alpha and beta band. To overcome these problems, we used a newly developed projector with a 1440 Hz refresh rate allowing for frequency tagging at higher frequencies. We asked participants to perform a cued spatial attention task in which imperative pictorial stimuli were presented at 63 Hz or 78 Hz while measuring whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG). We found posterior sensors to show a strong response at the tagged frequency. Importantly, this response was enhanced by spatial attention. Furthermore, we reproduced the typical modulations of alpha band oscillations, i.e., decrease in the alpha power contralateral to the attentional cue. The decrease in alpha power and increase in frequency tagged signal with attention correlated over subjects. We hereby provide proof-of-principle for the use of high-frequency tagging to study sensory processing and neuronal excitability associated with attention

Probing cortical excitability using rapid frequency tagging

Objetivo: Conocer el grado de sobrecarga del cuidador de Adultos Mayores con demencia en el servicio de geriatría del Hospital Nacional Almanzor Aguinaga Asenjo. Julio – noviembre 2015. Materiales y métodos: Diseño descriptivo transversal. Se incluyó en el estudio a 44 personas mayores de 18 años que tengan como mínimo 3 meses cuidando al adulto mayor con demencia. Se utilizó a toda la población. Se confeccionó una ficha de recolección de datos, que comprende datos sociodemográficos del cuidador y de la enfermedad del adulto mayor y el test de Zarit y Zarit que mide el grado de sobrecarga de los cuidadores. Resultados: Se entrevistó a un total de 44 cuidadores, de los cuales el 81.82% fueron mujeres con una edad 48 años que ejercían su función 88 horas por semana en promedio. El 38.64% de cuidadores presentaron sobrecarga ligera y la totalidad de la población no recibió capacitaciones. Conclusiones: La sobrecarga intensa de los cuidadores no es muy frecuente, esto nos otorga un panorama de tranquilidad para el cuidado de los adultos mayores con demencia. Ser mujer, tener la edad de 48 años, las 88 horas por semana, los estudios primarios, estado civil casado y ser pariente son características comunes en los cuidadores de adultos mayores

Models for Enhanced Absorption in Inhomogeneous Superconductors

We discuss the low-frequency absorption arising from quenched inhomogeneity in the superfluid density rho_s of a model superconductor. Such inhomogeneities may arise in a high-T_c superconductor from a wide variety of sources, including quenched random disorder and static charge density waves such as stripes. Using standard classical methods for treating randomly inhomogeneous media, we show that both mechanisms produce additional absorption at finite frequencies. For a two-fluid model with weak mean-square fluctuations <(d rho_s)^2 > in rho_s and a frequency-independent quasiparticle conductivity, the extra absorption has oscillator strength proportional to the quantity <(d rho_s)^2>/rho_s, as observed in some experiments. Similar behavior is found in a two-fluid model with anticorrelated fluctuations in the superfluid and normal fluid densities. The extra absorption typically occurs as a Lorentzian centered at zero frequency. We present simple model calculations for this extra absorption under conditions of both weak and strong fluctuations. The relation between our results and other model calculations is briefly discussed

Conservation and divergence of protein pathways in the vertebrate heart

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the western world. Attaining a mechanistic understanding of human heart development and homeostasis and the molecular basis of associated disease states relies on the use of animal models. Here, we present the cardiac proteomes of 4 model vertebrates with dual circulatory systems: the pig (Sus scrofa), the mouse (Mus musculus), and 2 frogs (Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis). Determination of which proteins and protein pathways are conserved and which have diverged within these species will aid in our ability to choose the appropriate models for determining protein function and to model human disease. We uncover mammalian- and amphibian-specific, as well as species-specific, enriched proteins and protein pathways. Among these, we find and validate an enrichment in cell-cycle–associated proteins within Xenopus laevis. To further investigate functional units within cardiac proteomes, we develop a computational approach to profile the abundance of protein complexes across species. Finally, we demonstrate the utility of these data sets for predicting appropriate model systems for studying given cardiac conditions by testing the role of Kielin/chordin-like protein (Kcp), a protein found as enriched in frog hearts compared to mammals. We establish that germ-line mutations in Kcp in Xenopus lead to valve defects and, ultimately, cardiac failure and death. Thus, integrating these findings with data on proteins responsible for cardiac disease should lead to the development of refined, species-specific models for protein function and disease states

Beyond energy efficiency in evaluating sustainable development in planning and the built environment

The EU has set the policy target of reducing energy use by 20% by the year 2020. Therefore, a substantial consumption decrease is needed in the built environment sector. Despite the great energy efficiency improvements in households, recent energy consumption data analyses show that these targets will unlikely be reached. The general aim of this study is to point out the need to define new indicators and evaluation approaches in urban planning and the built environment which are based on the concept of ‘energy subsidiarity', focusing on local renewable resources rather than on current approaches based on energy efficiency. This concept correlates energy consumption with the energy supply from local renewable resources and is here proposed as the new urban planning evaluation approach toward a sustainable built environment. In the paper, the ‘Jevons Paradox' concept and the ‘energy rebound effect' phenomenon are used to demonstrate how current approaches based on energy efficiency, alone, cannot lead to a remarkable reduction of energy consumption. This is also supported by data on European energy consumption and European energy efficiency in the built environment. Finally, a number of well-known European ecological districts (‘eco-districts') are analysed in terms of sustainable energy strategy as well as energy efficiency and energy balance. This study shows that there is a contradiction between the purpose of some of the eco-districts to be low consumption (or low impacts), and the district renewable energy balance. Only a few of the analysed eco-districts are able to cover energy needs by using renewable energy obtained in the surrounding area. In most of the cases, the focus of the districts' activities is on energy efficiency. According to the ‘Jevons Paradox' and ‘energy rebound effect' paradigm, energy efficiency alone will unlikely lead to an effective reduction in resources' consumption. These results point out the need for a radical shift toward the development of new approaches in the assessment and management of the built environment for sustainabilit

Demagnetization via Nucleation of the Nonequilibrium Metastable Phase in a Model of Disorder

We study both analytically and numerically metastability and nucleation in a two-dimensional nonequilibrium Ising ferromagnet. Canonical equilibrium is dynamically impeded by a weak random perturbation which models homogeneous disorder of undetermined source. We present a simple theoretical description, in perfect agreement with Monte Carlo simulations, assuming that the decay of the nonequilibrium metastable state is due, as in equilibrium, to the competition between the surface and the bulk. This suggests one to accept a nonequilibrium "free-energy" at a mesoscopic/cluster level, and it ensues a nonequilibrium "surface tension" with some peculiar low-T behavior. We illustrate the occurrence of intriguing nonequilibrium phenomena, including: (i) Noise-enhanced stabilization of nonequilibrium metastable states; (ii) reentrance of the limit of metastability under strong nonequilibrium conditions; and (iii) resonant propagation of domain walls. The cooperative behavior of our system may also be understood in terms of a Langevin equation with additive and multiplicative noises. We also studied metastability in the case of open boundaries as it may correspond to a magnetic nanoparticle. We then observe burst-like relaxation at low T, triggered by the additional surface randomness, with scale-free avalanches which closely resemble the type of relaxation reported for many complex systems. We show that this results from the superposition of many demagnetization events, each with a well- defined scale which is determined by the curvature of the domain wall at which it originates. This is an example of (apparent) scale invariance in a nonequilibrium setting which is not to be associated with any familiar kind of criticality.Comment: 26 pages, 22 figure

Monte Carlo Methods for Estimating Interfacial Free Energies and Line Tensions

Excess contributions to the free energy due to interfaces occur for many problems encountered in the statistical physics of condensed matter when coexistence between different phases is possible (e.g. wetting phenomena, nucleation, crystal growth, etc.). This article reviews two methods to estimate both interfacial free energies and line tensions by Monte Carlo simulations of simple models, (e.g. the Ising model, a symmetrical binary Lennard-Jones fluid exhibiting a miscibility gap, and a simple Lennard-Jones fluid). One method is based on thermodynamic integration. This method is useful to study flat and inclined interfaces for Ising lattices, allowing also the estimation of line tensions of three-phase contact lines, when the interfaces meet walls (where "surface fields" may act). A generalization to off-lattice systems is described as well. The second method is based on the sampling of the order parameter distribution of the system throughout the two-phase coexistence region of the model. Both the interface free energies of flat interfaces and of (spherical or cylindrical) droplets (or bubbles) can be estimated, including also systems with walls, where sphere-cap shaped wall-attached droplets occur. The curvature-dependence of the interfacial free energy is discussed, and estimates for the line tensions are compared to results from the thermodynamic integration method. Basic limitations of all these methods are critically discussed, and an outlook on other approaches is given

Just a guy in pajamas? Framing the blogs in mainstream US newspaper coverage (1999—2005)

When new technologies are introduced to the public, their widespread adoption is dependent, in part, on news coverage (Rogers, 1995).Yet, as weblogs began to play major role in the public spheres of politics and journalism, journalists faced a paradox: how to cover a social phenomenon that was too large to ignore and posed a significant threat to their profession. This article examines how blogs were framed by US newspapers as the public became more aware of the blogging world. A content analysis of blog-related stories in major US newspapers from 1999 to 2005 was conducted. Findings suggest that newspaper coverage framed blogs as more beneficial to individuals and small cohorts than to larger social entities such as politics, business and journalism. Moreover, only in the realm of journalism were blogs framed as more of a threat than a benefit, and rarely were blogs considered an actual form of journalism.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline