Exercise training-induced PPARβ increases PGC-1α protein stability and improves insulin-induced glucose uptake in rodent muscles

This study aimed to investigate the long-term effects of training intervention and resting on protein expression and stability of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β/δ (PPARβ), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-α (PGC1α), glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4), and mitochondrial proteins, and determine whether glucose homeostasis can be regulated through stable expression of these proteins after training. Rats swam daily for 3, 6, 9, 14, or 28 days, and then allowed to rest for 5 days post-training. Protein and mRNA levels were measured in the skeletal muscles of these rats. PPARβ was overexpressed and knocked down in myotubes in the skeletal muscle to investigate the effects of swimming training on various signaling cascades of PGC-1α transcription, insulin signaling, and glucose uptake. Exercise training (Ext) upregulated PPARβ, PGC-1α, GLUT4, and mitochondrial enzymes, including NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (NUO), cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COX1), citrate synthase (CS), and cytochrome c (Cyto C) in a time-dependent manner and promoted the protein stability of PPARβ, PGC-1α, GLUT4, NUO, CS, and Cyto C, such that they were significantly upregulated 5 days after training cessation. PPARβ overexpression increased the PGC-1α protein levels post-translation and improved insulin-induced signaling responsiveness and glucose uptake. The present results indicate that Ext promotes the protein stability of key mitochondria enzymes GLUT4, PGC-1α, and PPARβ even after Ext cessation

Localized Lasso for High-Dimensional Regression

We introduce the localized Lasso, which is suited for learning models that are both interpretable and have a high predictive power in problems with high dimensionality $d$ and small sample size $n$. More specifically, we consider a function defined by local sparse models, one at each data point. We introduce sample-wise network regularization to borrow strength across the models, and sample-wise exclusive group sparsity (a.k.a., $\ell_{1,2}$ norm) to introduce diversity into the choice of feature sets in the local models. The local models are interpretable in terms of similarity of their sparsity patterns. The cost function is convex, and thus has a globally optimal solution. Moreover, we propose a simple yet efficient iterative least-squares based optimization procedure for the localized Lasso, which does not need a tuning parameter, and is guaranteed to converge to a globally optimal solution. The solution is empirically shown to outperform alternatives for both simulated and genomic personalized medicine data

Effectiveness of Wikis for Team Projects in Education

From its humble beginnings, wikis have evolved in both business organizations and educational institutions, catering to, among other uses, training and education. The current work examines wikis in the context of collaborative learning project teams and aims to address a visible gap in research. Much previous work is but prescriptive guidelines and self reflections. While attempts exist in dealing with some assessments of wiki-related teams, these works chiefly use shortterm teams and place their emphasis on merely outcomes. We advocate examination of mature teams as well as the interaction processes that happen while teams operate. The current study pays attention to four inputs highlighted as salient previously: learners’ prior wiki experience, instructor＇s support, age and gender. It offers in-depth understanding of wiki effectiveness in collaborative learning environments, operationalized using project teams. A theoretical model is developed using the lens of the functional perspective, proposing wikis to positively affect learning outcomes of academic achievement, self-reported learning, process satisfaction, positive social environment and a sense of community, through the processes of task-related and socioemotional activities. The model posits that the inputs will enhance these activities. Tested using two separate wikis (Mediawiki and Confluence) over a protracted period of one semester, our findings show strong support for wiki effectiveness, contributing to research areas including wikis and small groups. With sound basis, the paper puts forth a framework for conceptualizing the notion of levels in segregating wiki systems, permitting derivation of implications for wiki dedevelopment and instructional use. Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol3/iss3/2

Water resource problems of energy projects in the Colorado River Basin

The successful development of western coal and oil shale deposits is dependent, to a significant degree, on the availability of adequate water supplies. EQL is involved in a study of the aggregate effects of various energy activities in the upper Colorado River Basin on downstream water quantity and quality. These activities will tend to reduce the available water in the river, and could increase its salinity, which is already so high as to interfere with downstream domestic and agricultural use

Removal of steroid estrogens in carbonaceous and nitrifying activated sludge processes

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Chemosphere. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.A carbonaceous (heterotrophic) activated sludge process (ASP), nitrifying ASP and a nitrifying/denitrifying ASP have been studied to examine the role of process type in steroid estrogen removal. Biodegradation efficiencies for total steroid estrogens (ΣEST) of 80 and 91% were recorded for the nitrifying/denitrifying ASP and nitrifying ASP respectively. Total estrogen biodegradation (ΣEST) was only 51% at the carbonaceous ASP, however, the extent of biodegradation in the absence of nitrification clearly indicates the important role of heterotrophs in steroid estrogen removal. The low removal efficiency did not correlate with biomass activity for which the ASPcarbonaceous recorded 80 μg kg−1 biomass d−1 compared to 61 and 15 μg kg−1 biomass d−1 at the ASPnitrifying and ASPnitrifying/denitrifying respectively. This finding was explained by a moderate correlation (r2 = 0.55) between total estrogen loading (ΣEST mg m−3 d−1) and biomass activity (μg ΣEST degraded kg−1 d−1) and has established the impact of loading on steroid estrogen removal at full-scale. At higher solids retention time (SRT), steroid estrogen biodegradation of >80% was observed, as has previously been reported. It is postulated that hydraulic retention time (HRT) is as important as SRT as this governs both reaction time and loading. This observation is based on the high specific estrogen activity determined at the ASPcarbonaceous plant, the significance of estrogen loading and the positive linear correlation between SRT and HRT.Public Utilities Board of Singapore, Anglian Water Ltd., Severn Trent Water Ltd., Thames Water Utilities Ltd., United Utilities Plc., and Yorkshire Water Services Ltd

Chemoreception: Identifying Friends and Foes

SummaryThe vomeronasal organ detects chemical cues that trigger sexual, aggressive and defensive behaviors. An in situ hybridization analysis has identified the specificities of nearly a hundred VNO receptors and elucidated the logic by which they encode these cues

The relation between the frequency distributions of sieve diameters and fall velocities of sediment particles

A relation between the frequency distributions of sieve diameters and fall velocities is developed. The relation shows that if the sieve diameters of a sediment are log-normally distributed, the fall velocities will also have this distribution, but with a different standard deviation which can be calculated. The results of detailed measurements of the fall velocities of two different natural sands are presented, and the distributions of fall velocities are found to be in good agreement with the predicted distributions. The sedimentation diameters determined from the measured fall velocities agree very well with those predicted from the sieve diameters by the Inter-Agency Committee on Water Resources [1957]