Ingestion of 10 Grams of Whey Protein Prior To a Single Bout of Resistance Exercise Does Not Augment Akt/Mtor Pathway Signaling Compared To Carbohydrate

Background: This study examined the effects of a whey protein supplement in conjunction with an acute bout of lower body resistance exercise, in recreationally-active males, on serum insulin and insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and Akt/mTOR signaling markers indicative of muscle protein synthesis: insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), AKT, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p70S6 kinase (p70S6K) and 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1). Methods: In a randomized, double-blind, cross-over design, 10 males ingested 1 week apart, either 10 g of whey protein (5.25 g EAAs) or carbohydrate (maltodextrose), 30 min prior to a lower-body resistance exercise bout. The resistance exercise bout consisted of 4 sets of 8-10 reps at 80% of the one repetition maximum (RM) on the angled leg press and knee extension exercises. Blood and muscle samples were obtained prior to, and 30 min following supplement ingestion and 15 min and 120 min post-exercise. Serum and muscle data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA. Results: No significant differences were observed for IGF-1 (p \u3e 0.05). A significant main effect for Test was observed for serum insulin (p \u3c 0.01) at 30 min post-ingestion and 15 and 120 min post-exercise, with no Supplement x Test interaction (p \u3e 0.05). For the Akt/MTOR signaling intermediates, no significant Supplement x Test interactions were observed (p \u3e 0.05). However, significant main effects for Test were observed for phosphorylated concentrations of IRS, mTOR, and p70S6K, as all were elevated at 15 min post-exercise (p \u3c 0.05). Additionally, a significant main effect for Test was noted for 4E-BP1 (p \u3c 0.05), as it was decreased at 15 min post-exercise. Conclusion: Ingestion of 10 g of whey protein prior to an acute bout of lower body resistance exercise had no significant preferential effect compared to carbohydrate on systemic and cellular signaling markers indicative of muscle protein synthesis in untrained individuals

The Evolution of American Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia

American interests in Southeast Asia have received ample scholarly attention in the wake of the Vietnam War. Much of this material seeks to understand how policies in the first post-war years led to American military involvement in Vietnam. A sizable body of work is also devoted to U.S. policy in Indonesia in its first years of independence. But very few of these studies trace American interests in the region before 1940. Previous concerns for Southeast Asia are usually summed up in a few sentences that dismiss them as minor commercial interests of private companies. However, the development of American policy in Southeast Asia was not as sudden as these studies suggest. Since the late nineteenth century, the United States had become increasingly concerned with Southeast Asia. The process was a gradual one, but in no way did America\u27s interest in the region start fresh in 1945. Several large scale continuities in American policy in Southeast Asia during the first half of the twentieth century can be observed. First among these was a gradual and ongoing expansion of United States interests in the region. American involvement through the mid-nineteenth century was limited principally to trade in spices and a few other non-essential commodities. American exports to Southeast Asia were relatively unimportant. Then, in the late nineteenth century, American trade with Southeast Asia began to expand. Southeast Asia took on a new significance as a market for American manufactures. By the 1920\u27s, however, interest in Southeast Asia as a buyer of American goods was preempted by concern for the region as a supplier of vital raw materials. The oil and rubber resources of the Netherlands East Indies were of special concern to the United States. Within ten years, however, military and security concerns gradually supplanted these economic interests. For the first time, events in Southeast Asia became an important strategic issue for the United States. After World War II, American policy entered a new era. While economic and security concerns continued no factor into American policy decisions in Southeast Asia after 1945, they were subordinated to larger ideological questions like the future of the European colonial empires and the spread of communism

The Evolution of American Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia

American interests in Southeast Asia have received ample scholarly attention in the wake of the Vietnam War. Much of this material seeks to understand how policies in the first post-war years led to American military involvement in Vietnam. A sizable body of work is also devoted to U.S. policy in Indonesia in its first years of independence. But very few of these studies trace American interests in the region before 1940. Previous concerns for Southeast Asia are usually summed up in a few sentences that dismiss them as minor commercial interests of private companies. However, the development of American policy in Southeast Asia was not as sudden as these studies suggest. Since the late nineteenth century, the United States had become increasingly concerned with Southeast Asia. The process was a gradual one, but in no way did America\u27s interest in the region start fresh in 1945. Several large scale continuities in American policy in Southeast Asia during the first half of the twentieth century can be observed. First among these was a gradual and ongoing expansion of United States interests in the region. American involvement through the mid-nineteenth century was limited principally to trade in spices and a few other non-essential commodities. American exports to Southeast Asia were relatively unimportant. Then, in the late nineteenth century, American trade with Southeast Asia began to expand. Southeast Asia took on a new significance as a market for American manufactures. By the 1920\u27s, however, interest in Southeast Asia as a buyer of American goods was preempted by concern for the region as a supplier of vital raw materials. The oil and rubber resources of the Netherlands East Indies were of special concern to the United States. Within ten years, however, military and security concerns gradually supplanted these economic interests. For the first time, events in Southeast Asia became an important strategic issue for the United States. After World War II, American policy entered a new era. While economic and security concerns continued no factor into American policy decisions in Southeast Asia after 1945, they were subordinated to larger ideological questions like the future of the European colonial empires and the spread of communism

Density Estimation and Wavelet Thresholding via Bayesian Methods: A Wavelet Probability Band and Related Metrics Approach to Assess Agitation and Sedation in ICU Patients

A wave is usually defined as an oscillating function that is localized in both time and frequency. A wavelet is a “small wave”, which has its energy concentrated in time providing a tool for the analysis of transient, non-stationary, or time-varying phenomena. Wavelets have the ability to allow simultaneous time and frequency analysis via a flexible mathematical foundation. Wavelets are well suited to the analysis of transient signals in particular. The localizing property of wavelets allows a wavelet expansion of a transient component on an orthogonal basis to be modelled using a small number of wavelet coefficients using a low pass filter. This wavelet paradigm has been applied in a wide range of fields, such as signal processing, data compression and image analysis

Wavelet Signatures and Diagnostics for the Assessment of ICU Agitation-Sedation Protocols

The use of quantitative modelling to enhance understanding of the agitation-sedation (A-S) system and the provision of an A-S simulation platform are key tools in this area of patient critical care. A suite of wavelet techniques and metrics based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) are developed in this chapter which are shown to successfully establish the validity of deterministic agitation-sedation (A-S) models against empirical (recorded) dynamic A-S infusion profiles. The DWT approach is shown to provide robust performance metrics of A-S control and also yield excellent visual assessment tools. This approach is generalisable to any study which investigates the similarity or closeness of bivariate time series of, say, a large number of units (patients, households etc) and of disparate lengths and of possibly extremely long length. This work demonstrates the value of the DWT for assessing ICU agitation-sedation deterministic models, and suggests new wavelet based diagnostics by which to assess the A-S models

Soil-Pile Interaction in Liquefiable Cohesionless Soils During Earthquake Loading

A procedure for soil-pile-structure interaction analyses under earthquake loading is presented, using two computer programs: DESRA and SPASM. DESRA solves for free-field site response, including liquefaction, using a two-phase pore-pressure and effective stress soil model. Resulting displacement and pore pressure time histories are then transferred to SPASM for soil-pile-structure interaction solutions. The procedure is compared with a conventional approach consisting of a linear dynamic structural model and a separate nonlinear pseudo static pile model. The SPASM method was found to be useful in practical design of platforms to withstand earthquake loading. When significant superstructure-foundation interaction is expected, uncertainty in the interaction phenomena leads to a range of design results if the conventional approach is used. The SPASM method can provide more definite and realistic design parameters

The acute neurotoxicity of mefloquine may be mediated through a disruption of calcium homeostasis and ER function in vitro

BACKGROUND: There is no established biochemical basis for the neurotoxicity of mefloquine. We investigated the possibility that the acute in vitro neurotoxicity of mefloquine might be mediated through a disruptive effect of the drug on endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium homeostasis. METHODS: Laser scanning confocal microscopy was employed to monitor real-time changes in basal intracellular calcium concentrations in embryonic rat neurons in response to mefloquine and thapsigargin (a known inhibitor of the ER calcium pump) in the presence and absence of external calcium. Changes in the transcriptional regulation of known ER stress response genes in neurons by mefloquine were investigated using Affymetrix arrays. The MTT assay was employed to measure the acute neurotoxicity of mefloquine and its antagonisation by thapsigargin. RESULTS: At physiologically relevant concentrations mefloquine was found to mobilize neuronal ER calcium stores and antagonize the pharmacological action of thapsigargin, a specific inhibitor of the ER calcium pump. Mefloquine also induced a sustained influx of extra-neuronal calcium via an unknown mechanism. The transcription of key ER proteins including GADD153, PERK, GRP78, PDI, GRP94 and calreticulin were up-regulated by mefloquine, suggesting that the drug induced an ER stress response. These effects appear to be related, in terms of dose effect and kinetics of action, to the acute neurotoxicity of the drug in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Mefloquine was found to disrupt neuronal calcium homeostasis and induce an ER stress response at physiologically relevant concentrations, effects that may contribute, at least in part, to the neurotoxicity of the drug in vitro

Stoichiometric and Stable Isotope Ratios of Wild Lizards in an Urban Landscape Vary with Reproduction, Physiology, Space and Time

Spatial and temporal variation in stoichiometric and stable isotope ratios of animals contains ecological information that we are just beginning to understand. In both field and lab studies, stoichiometric or isotopic ratios are related to physiological mechanisms underlying nutrition or stress. Conservation and ecosystem ecology may be informed by isotopic data that can be rapidly and non-lethally collected from wild animals, especially where human activity leaves an isotopic signature (e.g. via introduction of chemical fertilizers, ornamental or other non-native plants or organic detritus). We examined spatial and temporal variation in stoichiometric and stable isotope ratios of the toes of Uta stansburiana (side-blotched lizards) living in urban and rural areas in and around St. George, Utah. We found substantial spatial and temporal variation as well as context-dependent co-variation with reproductive physiological parameters, although certain key predictions such as the relationship between δ15N and body condition were not supported. We suggest that landscape change through urbanization can have profound effects on wild animal physiology and that stoichiometric and stable isotope ratios can provide unique insights into the mechanisms underlying these processes