15,736 research outputs found
Prevalence of Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency in Women with Obesity Syndrome: Assessment by Pancreatic Fecal Elastase 1
Background. Previous research on the combined association of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and exocrine pancreas insufficiency may have been limited by restricted age variability and a lack of representation of both body weight and body mass index. There are still too few conclusive reports about conspicuous vitamin D metabolism according to pancreatic fecal elastase 1 (FE1) in obese patients. Methods. Between May 2004 and July 2008, we investigated in 125 female patients with obesity syndrome at an average age of approximately 52.9 years as well as in age-matched 80 healthy female controls the prevalence of pancreas insufficiency. Serum levels of PTH, total calcium, and D3 vitamins calcitriol and calcifediol, as well as the concentration of fecal elastase 1 (FE1) were determined in patients and controls. Results. In 75 female nondiabetic patients with obesity syndrome (BMI 35 †40âkg/m2), calcifediol was markedly decreased (25.0 ± 4.9âng/mL) compared to controls (50.2 ± 14.7ânmol/L; P < 0.01). FE1 level was significantly decreased in obese subjects compared to controls ( P < 0.01). Calcifediol was significantly lower in patients with morbid obesity (for calcifediol,  P < 0.05). Conclusion. In obese females, pancreatic FE1 in feces confirms the extent of vitamin D supply, and thus shows a vitamin D3 deficiency, depending on the loss of stool content. There seems to be a connection between the loss of exocrine function and the increasing body mass index. Pancreas insufficiency, as detected by low FE1 concentrations, is frequent in obese patients. However, the BMI is an additional factor for lowered fecal excretion of FE1
Eber und Börge im Vergleich â Auswirkungen der Kastration auf agonistisches und sexuell motiviertes Verhalten unter ökologischen Haltungsbedingungen
Nach dem Verbot der betĂ€ubungslosen Ferkelkastration nach VO (EG) 889 (2008) zum 01.01.2012 stellt die Ebermast eine mögliche Alternative fĂŒr die ökologische Schweinefleischerzeugung dar. Im Rahmen des Projektes âEbermast im Verbund: Entwicklung eines Konzepts fĂŒr die Produktion, Schlachtung, Verarbeitung und Vermarktung ökologisch erzeugter Eber entlang der Wertschöpfungsketteâ ist es ein Ziel, das AusmaĂ möglichen unerwĂŒnschten Verhaltens, wie agonistische Interaktionen und Aufreitverhalten der Eber, mit dem von Börgen unter praxisĂŒblichen ökologischen Haltungsbedingungen zu vergleichen und wichtige Einflussfaktoren hierauf zu identifizieren. Auch mögliche Verletzungsfolgen sollen einbezogen werden. Aus einer Zwischenauswertung werden hier erste Ergebnisse zum AusmaĂ des genannten Verhaltens und der Verletzungsfolgen vorgestellt. 9 Gruppen Eber und 7 Gruppen Börge wurden mit einem Lebendgewicht von etwa 80 kg auf vier ökologischen Praxisbetrieben beobachtet. Agonistische Interaktionen (Kopfschlagen, BeiĂen, Kampf und Besteigen ohne sexuelle Motivation) und Besteigen mit sexueller Motivation wurden mittels kontinuierlicher VerhaltenszĂ€hlung (continuous behaviour sampling) jeweils ĂŒber die ersten 15 Minuten einer jeden Lichtstunde von zusammenhĂ€ngenden 48h-Aufnahmen ausgewertet. Zum selben Zeitpunkt wurden zusĂ€tzlich die Verletzungen bei den 109 Ebern und 91 Börgen gezĂ€hlt. Eber zeigten bezĂŒglich aller erhobener Verhaltensparameter gegenĂŒber den Börgen signifikant höhere HĂ€ufigkeiten bzw. Dauern. Dagegen konnten hinsichtlich der Verletzungsscores zwischen Ebern und Börgen keine signifikanten Unterschiede festgestellt werden. Die Untersuchung wird fortgesetzt
Saturation of Cs2 Photoassociation in an Optical Dipole Trap
We present studies of strong coupling in single-photon photoassociation of
cesium dimers using an optical dipole trap. A thermodynamic model of the trap
depletion dynamics is employed to extract absolute rate coefficents. From the
dependence of the rate coefficient on the photoassociation laser intensity, we
observe saturation of the photoassociation scattering probability at the
unitarity limit in quantitative agreement with the theoretical model by Bohn
and Julienne [Phys. Rev. A, 60, 414 (1999)]. Also the corresponding power
broadening of the resonance width is measured. We could not observe an
intensity dependent light shift in contrast to findings for lithium and
rubidium, which is attributed to the absence of a p or d-wave shape resonance
in cesium
Growth Hormone (GH)-Releasing Peptide Stimulation of GH Release from Human Somatotroph Adenoma Cells: Interaction with GH-Releasing Hormone, Thyrotropin- Releasing Hormone, and Octreotide.
The synthetic hexapeptide GH-releasing peptide (GHRP; His-D-Trp-Ala-Trp-D-Phe-Lys-NH2) specifically stimulates GH secretion in humans in vivo and in animals in vitro and in vivo via a still unknown receptor and mechanism. To determine the effect of GHRP on human somatotroph cells in vitro, we stimulated cell cultures derived from 12 different human somatotroph adenomas with GHRP alone and in combination with GH-releasing hormone (GHRH), TRH, and the somatostatin analog octreotide. GH secretion of all 12 adenoma cultures could be stimulated with GHRP, whereas GHRH was active only in 6 adenoma cultures. In GHRH-responsive cell cultures, simultaneous application of GHRH and GHRP had an additive effect on GH secretion. TRH stimulated GH release in 4 of 7 adenoma cultures; in TRH-responsive cell cultures there was also an additive effect of GHRP and TRH on GH secretion. In 5 of 9 adenoma cultures investigated, octreotide inhibited basal GH secretion. In these cell cultures, GHRP-induced GH release was suppressed by octreotide. In 5 of 5 cases, the protein kinase-C inhibitor phloretin partly inhibited GHRP-stimulated GH release, but not basal GH secretion. In summary, GH secretion was stimulated by GHRP in all somatotroph adenomas investigated, indicating that its unknown receptor and signaling pathway are expressed more consistently in somatotroph adenoma cells than those for GHRH, TRH, and somatostatin. Our data give further evidence that GHRP-stimulated GH secretion is mediated by a receptor different from that for GHRH or TRH, respectively, and that protein kinase-C is involved in the signal transduction pathway. Because human somatotroph adenoma cell cultures respond differently to various neuropeptides (GHRH, TRH, somatostatin, and others), they provide a model for further investigation of the mechanism of action of GHRP-induced GH secretion
Bone mineral density in human immunodeficiency virus-1 infected men with hypogonadism prior to highly-active-antiretroviral-therapy (HAART)
Alterations of bone metabolism have been observed in numerous studies of HIV-infected patients. Sex steroids are known to profoundly influence bone mass and bone turnover. Hypogonadism is common in HIV-infection. Therefore, we performed a cross sectional study of 80 male HIV-infected patients without wasting syndrome, and 20 healthy male controls, in whom we analyzed urine and serum samples for both calciotropic hormones and markers of bone metabolism and of endocrine testicular function. Bone mineral density (BMD) was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry both in the lumbar spine and Ward's triangle of the left hip. None of the patients received highly-active-antiretroviral-therapy (HAART). Compared to eugonadal HIV-infected patients, subjects with hypogonadism (n = 32; 40%) showed statistically significant decrease of serum osteocalcin (p < 0.05) and elevated urinary excretion of crosslinks (p < 0.05). However, we found 13 and 15, respectively, patients with osteopenia (t-score -1.0 to -2.5 SD below normal) of the lumbar spine. The dissociation between bone formation and resorption and the reduction of of BMD (p < 0.05) is stronger expressed in patients with hypogonadism. Habitual hypogonadism appears to be of additional relevance for bone metabolism of male HIV-positive patients prior to HAART
Evidence for non-stellar rest-frame near-IR emission associated with increased star formation in galaxies at
We explore the presence of non-stellar rest-frame near-IR () emission in galaxies at . Previous studies identified
this excess in relatively small samples and suggested that such non-stellar
emission, which could be linked to the polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons feature or hot dust emission, is associated with an
increased star formation rate (SFR). In this Letter, we confirm and quantify
the presence of an IR excess in a significant fraction of galaxies in the
3D-HST GOODS catalogs. By constructing a matched sample of galaxies with and
without strong non-stellar near-IR emission, we find that galaxies with such
emission are predominantly star-forming galaxies. Moreover, star-forming
galaxies with an excess show increased mid- and far-IR and H emission
compared to other star-forming galaxies without. While galaxies with a near-IR
excess show a larger fraction of individually detected X-ray active galactic
nuclei (AGNs), an X-ray stacking analysis, together with the IR-colors and
H profiles, shows that AGNs are unlikely to be the dominant source of
the excess in the majority of galaxies. Our results suggest that non-stellar
near-IR emission is linked to increased SFRs and is ubiquitous among
star-forming galaxies. As such, the near-IR emission might be a powerful tool
to measure SFRs in the era of the James Webb Space Telescope.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Formation of ultracold LiCs molecules
We present the first observation of ultracold LiCs molecules. The molecules
are formed in a two-species magneto-optical trap and detected by two-photon
ionization and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The production rate
coefficient is found to be in the range 10^{-18}\unit{cm^3s^{-1}} to
10^{-16}\unit{cm^3s^{-1}}, at least an order of magnitude smaller than for
other heteronuclear diatomic molecules directly formed in a magneto-optical
trap.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
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