Wisconsin Hmong experiences with hemodialysis

Includes bibliographical references

Covalent Modification of Synthetic Hydrogels with Bioactive Proteins via Sortase-Mediated Ligation

Synthetic extracellular matrices are widely used in regenerative medicine and as tools in building in vitro physiological culture models. Synthetic hydrogels display advantageous physical properties, but are challenging to modify with large peptides or proteins. Here, a facile, mild enzymatic postgrafting approach is presented. Sortase-mediated ligation was used to conjugate human epidermal growth factor fused to a GGG ligation motif (GGG-EGF) to poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels containing the sortase LPRTG substrate. The reversibility of the sortase reaction was then exploited to cleave tethered EGF from the hydrogels for analysis. Analyses of the reaction supernatant and the postligation hydrogels showed that the amount of tethered EGF increases with increasing LPRTG in the hydrogel or GGG-EGF in the supernatant. Sortase-tethered EGF was biologically active, as demonstrated by stimulation of DNA synthesis in primary human hepatocytes and endometrial epithelial cells. The simplicity, specificity, and reversibility of sortase-mediated ligation and cleavage reactions make it an attractive approach for modification of hydrogels.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (5R01EB010246)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (5UH2TR000496)Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies (W911NF-09-0001)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (1T32GM008334)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Microphysiological Systems Program (W911NF-12-2-0039)Begg New Horizon Fund for Undergraduate Research at MITNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Biotechnology Training Program NIH/NIGMS 5T32GM008334))Biophysical Instrumentation FacilityVirginia and Daniel K. Ludwig Graduate FellowshipSwiss National Science Foundation (Postdoctoral Fellowship

Thermal Starch Properties in Corn Belt and Exotic Corn Inbred Lines and Their Crosses

More knowledge is needed about variability of starch functional traits in adapted and exotic germplasm and possible genetic effects of these traits before conducting rigorous inheritance studies and breeding programs for starch quality. We studied and compared the range of variability for starch functional traits in a set of Corn Belt inbred lines with a set of exotic inbred lines from Argentina, Uruguay, and South Africa. Reciprocal hybrids of some of the lines within each set were compared with their parents. Functional traits were examined by using differential scanning calorimetry on starch extracted from single kernels of genotypes. The set of Corn Belt lines had a wider range of values for most traits than did the set of exotic lines. For both sets of lines, the maximum value for peak height index was as high as that previously reported for the waxy endosperm mutant. Although the Corn Belt lines exhibited a wider range of values for range of retrogradation than the exotic lines, the exotic lines showed a wider range of values for percentage retrogradation. Hybrid values were not consistently higher, lower, midpoint, or similar with respect to the values of their parents. This was true regardless of germplasm type or functional trait. Reciprocal cross values showed trends suggesting reciprocal differences, although there was no trend suggesting greater effect of the female parent. These traits seem to be controlled by many modifying effects in addition to major effects. Results indicate that sufficient variability exists in Corn Belt germplasm to conduct breeding and inheritance studies effectively and that there should be potential for breeding for functional traits

A novel approach to model cumulative stress:Area under the s-factor curve

OBJECTIVE: Using a large longitudinal sample of adults from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, the present study extended a recently developed hierarchical model to determine how best to model the accumulation of stressors, and to determine whether the rate of change in stressors or traditional composite scores of stressors are stronger predictors of health outcomes.METHOD: We used factor analysis to estimate a stress-factor score and then, to operationalize the accumulation of stressors we examined five approaches to aggregating information about repeated exposures to multiple stressors. The predictive validity of these approaches was then assessed in relation to different health outcomes.RESULTS: The prediction of chronic conditions, body mass index, difficulty with activities of daily living, executive function, and episodic memory later in life was strongest when the accumulation of stressors was modeled using total area under the curve (AUC) of estimated factor scores, compared to composite scores that have traditionally been used in studies of cumulative stress, as well as linear rates of change.CONCLUSIONS: Like endogenous, biological markers of stress reactivity, AUC for individual trajectories of self-reported stressors shows promise as a data reduction technique to model the accumulation of stressors in longitudinal studies. Overall, our results indicate that considering different quantitative models is critical to understanding the sequelae and predictive power of psychosocial stressors from midlife to late adulthood.</p

Teaching Matters, Volume 2: Essays by the faculty and staff at the University of Maine at Farmington

Essays by the faculty and staff at the University of Maine at Farmington.https://scholarworks.umf.maine.edu/publications/1087/thumbnail.jp

Analisis Pengaruh Budaya Organisasi Dan Kompensasi Terhadap Kinerja Karyawan Dengan Motivasi Sebagai Variabel Intervening (Studi Kasus Pada PT. Lg Bagian Penjualan Indonesia Semarang)

The problems that occurred in the employee portion of sales LG Indonesia Semarang is adecline in performance is indicated by not achieving the target for 2015. The employeeperformance and motivation is also thought to be influenced by factors of organizationalculture and also compensation deemed not feasible by most employees. This study aimedto analyze the influence of organizational culture on the motivation and compensationand employee performance parts sales LG Indonesia Semarang. The population used inthis study were all employees of LG Indonesia Semarang. The sampling technique usedwas purposive sampling. Criteria samples taken were all employees of the salesdepartment LG Indonesia Semarang who have worked more than two years are 71nurses. The method of collecting the data in this study using questionnaires andinterviews. Methods of data analysis using path analysis. Based on the research,organizational culture and compensation have a positive effect on motivation andperformance, while motivation is also a positive effect on performance. Based on theresults Sobel Test to determine whether there is mediating the relationship between theindependent and dependent variables, it is known that motivation mediates the effect ofcompensation and organizational culture on performance

Kajian Pengelolaan Lahan Subdas Secang Kulonprogo YOGYAKARTA

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi kemampuan lahan, menyusun arahan penggunaanlahan dan mengkaji pengelolaan lahan SubDAS Secang. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitianadalah sampel terpilih pada 48 satuan lahan. Penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kemampuan lahanSubDAS Secang terdiri atas kelas lahan I seluas 187 ha, kelas lahan II seluas 147 ha, kelas lahan IIIseluas 515,2 ha, kelas lahan IV seluas 1522,7 ha, kelas lahan V seluas 7,3 ha dan kelas lahan VI seluas1223,2 ha. Arahan penggunaan lahan SubDAS Secang berupa pertanian lahan basah seluas 326,85 ha,kawasan permukiman dan budidaya tanaman semusim seluas 200,55 ha, kawasan budidaya tanamanlahan kering seluas 525,81 ha, kawasan budidaya tanaman tahunan seluas 1981,31 ha, kawasanpenyangga seluas 716,54 ha. Pengelolaan lahan memberikan pedoman pemanfaatan lahan; daerah hilirsebagai daerah pemanfaatan untuk pertanian irigasi; daerah tengah diperuntukan permukiman danpembudidayaan tanaman lahan kering; serta daerah hulu sebagai daerah imbuhan diperuntukkanwanatani dan hutan penyangga

Chaoborus and Gasterosteus Anti-Predator Responses in Daphnia pulex Are Mediated by Independent Cholinergic and Gabaergic Neuronal Signals

Many prey species evolved inducible defense strategies that protect effectively against predation threats. Especially the crustacean Daphnia emerged as a model system for studying the ecology and evolution of inducible defenses. Daphnia pulex e.g. shows different phenotypic adaptations against vertebrate and invertebrate predators. In response to the invertebrate phantom midge larvae Chaoborus (Diptera) D. pulex develops defensive morphological defenses (neckteeth). Cues originating from predatory fish result in life history changes in which resources are allocated from somatic growth to reproduction. While there are hints that responses against Chaoborus cues are transmitted involving cholinergic neuronal pathways, nothing is known about the neurophysiology underlying the transmission of fish related cues. We investigated the neurophysiological basis underlying the activation of inducible defenses in D. pulex using induction assays with the invertebrate predator Chaoborus and the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus. Predator-specific cues were combined with neuro-effective substances that stimulated or inhibited the cholinergic and gabaergic nervous system. We show that cholinergic-dependent pathways are involved in the perception and transmission of Chaoborus cues, while GABA was not involved. Thus, the cholinergic nervous system independently mediates the development of morphological defenses in response to Chaoborus cues. In contrast, only the inhibitory effect of GABA significantly influence fish-induced life history changes, while the application of cholinergic stimulants had no effect in combination with fish related cues. Our results show that cholinergic stimulation mediates signal transmission of Chaoborus cues leading to morphological defenses. Fish cues, which are responsible for predator-specific life history adaptations involve gabaergic control. Our study shows that both pathways are independent and thus potentially allow for adjustment of responses to variable predation regimes

Consumers' salient beliefs regarding dairy products in the functional food era: a qualitative study using concepts from the theory of planned behaviour

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Inadequate consumption of dairy products without appropriate dietary substitution may have deleterious health consequences. Social research reveals the factors that may impede compliance with dietary recommendations. This is particularly important given the recent introduction of functional dairy products. One of the challenges for public health professionals is to demonstrate the efficacy of nutrition education in improving attitudes toward nutrient rich foods. The aim of this study was to explore the salient beliefs of adult weight loss trial participants regarding both traditional and functional dairy products and to compare these with a control group not exposed to nutrition education.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Six focus groups were conducted, three with weight loss trial completers (<it>n </it>= 15) that had received nutrition education and three with individuals from the same region (<it>n </it>= 14) to act as controls. Transcribed focus groups were coded using the Theory of Planned Behaviour theoretical framework.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Non-trial participants perceived dairy foods as weight inducing and were sceptical of functional dairy products. A lack of time/ability to decipher dairy food labels was also discussed by these individuals. In contrast trial participants discussed several health benefits related to dairy foods, practised label reading and were confident in their ability to incorporate dairy foods into their diet. Normative beliefs expressed were similar for both groups indicating that these were more static and less amenable to change through nutrition education than control and behavioural beliefs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Nutrition education provided as a result of weight loss trial participation influenced behavioural and control beliefs relating to dairy products. This study provides a proof of concept indication that nutrition education may improve attitudes towards dairy products and may thus be an important target for public health campaigns seeking to increase intake of this food group.</p