Evaluating Multipulse Integration as a Neural-Health Correlate in Human Cochlear-Implant Users: Relationship to Psychometric Functions for Detection

In electrical hearing, multipulse integration (MPI) describes the rate at which detection threshold decreases with increasing stimulation rate in a fixed-duration pulse train. In human subjects, MPI has been shown to be dependent on the psycho- physically estimated spread of neural excitation at a high stimulation rate, with broader spread predicting greater integration. The first aim of the present study was to replicate this finding using alternative methods for measuring MPI and spread of neural excitation. The second aim was to test the hypothesis that MPI is related to the slope of the psychometric function for detection. Specifically, a steep d’ versus stimulus level function would predict shallow MPI since the amount of current reduction necessary to compensate for an increase in stimulation rate to maintain threshold would be small. The MPI function was measured by obtaining adaptive detection thresholds at 160 and 640 pulses per second. Spread of neural excitation was measured by forward-masked psychophysical tuning curves. All psychophysical testing was performed in a monopolar stimulation mode (MP 1 þ 2). Results showed that MPI was correlated with the slopes of the tuning curves, with broader tuning predicting steeper MPI, confirming the earlier finding. However, there was no relationship between MPI and the slopes of the psychometric functions. These results suggest that a broad stimulation of the cochlea facilitates MPI. MPI however is not related to the estimated neural excitation growth with current level near the behavioral threshold, at least in monopolar stimulation

Effect of Early Growth Cultivation on Beans and Sweet Corn

Investigations involving four cultivation treatments were conducted at the Utah State University Greenville Experimental Farm to determine the effect of these treatments on yields of beans and sweet corn. The effects of the different treatments on soil water content, soil temperature, and weed control in beans and corn were investigated. The effect of cultivation on the degree of root rot infection and the effect of different planting dates were also investigated in the bean study. The pre-emergence treatment (ridged just before the plants emerge) produced a 48 percent greater bean yield and a 40 percent greater corn yield than the control treatment (no cultivation). The planting-ridge treatment (ridged at planting time) produced 21 percent greater bean yield than the control treatment. The post-emergence treatment (cultivated after the plants emerged) yielded 10 percent more beans and 20 percent more corn than the control treatment. The second and third planting dates produced 16 and 42 percent, respectively, greater bean yields than the first planting date. The pre-emergence treatment had a higher soil water content and soil temperature than the other methods in both the beans and corn. The pre-emergence treatment had 50 percent less root rot infection than the control treatment. The planting-ridge treatment had 30 percent less root infection than the control and the post-emergence root infection was 17 percent less than the control. The root rot infection in the second and third plantings was 15 and 32 percent, respectively, less than the first planting. The order of best weed control was: pre-emergence, planting-ridge, and post-emergence. The pre-emergence treatment produced the most favorable results in all aspects of the study

Relationship between protein O -linked glycosylation and insulin-stimulated glucose transport in rat skeletal muscle following calorie restriction or exposure to O -(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucopyranosylidene)amino- N -phenylcarbamate

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65566/1/j.1365-201X.2004.01403.x.pd

Extent and prevalence of post-exercise and nocturnal hypoglycemia following peri-exercise bolus insulin adjustments in individuals with type 1 diabetes

To detail the extent and prevalence of post-exercise and nocturnal hypoglycemia following peri-exercise bolus insulin dose adjustments in individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) using multiple daily injections of insulins aspart (IAsp) and degludec (IDeg)

Impairments in Site-Specific AS160 Phosphorylation and Effects of Exercise Training

The purpose of this study was to determine if site-specific phosphorylation at the level of Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160) is altered in skeletal muscle from sedentary humans across a wide range of the adult life span (18–84 years of age) and if endurance- and/or strength-oriented exercise training could rescue decrements in insulin action and skeletal muscle AS160 phosphorylation. A euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp and skeletal muscle biopsies were performed in 73 individuals encompassing a wide age range (18–84 years of age), and insulin-stimulated AS160 phosphorylation was determined. Decrements in whole-body insulin action were associated with impairments in insulin-induced phosphorylation of skeletal muscle AS160 on sites Ser-588, Thr-642, Ser-666, and phospho-Akt substrate, but not Ser-318 or Ser-751. Twelve weeks of endurance- or strength-oriented exercise training increased whole-body insulin action and reversed impairments in AS160 phosphorylation evident in insulin-resistant aged individuals. These findings suggest that a dampening of insulin-induced phosphorylation of AS160 on specific sites in skeletal muscle contributes to the insulin resistance evident in a sedentary aging population and that exercise training is an effective intervention for treating these impairments

A Low Dose of Dietary Resveratrol Partially Mimics Caloric Restriction and Retards Aging Parameters in Mice

Resveratrol in high doses has been shown to extend lifespan in some studies in invertebrates and to prevent early mortality in mice fed a high-fat diet. We fed mice from middle age (14-months) to old age (30-months) either a control diet, a low dose of resveratrol (4.9 mg kg−1 day−1), or a calorie restricted (CR) diet and examined genome-wide transcriptional profiles. We report a striking transcriptional overlap of CR and resveratrol in heart, skeletal muscle and brain. Both dietary interventions inhibit gene expression profiles associated with cardiac and skeletal muscle aging, and prevent age-related cardiac dysfunction. Dietary resveratrol also mimics the effects of CR in insulin mediated glucose uptake in muscle. Gene expression profiling suggests that both CR and resveratrol may retard some aspects of aging through alterations in chromatin structure and transcription. Resveratrol, at doses that can be readily achieved in humans, fulfills the definition of a dietary compound that mimics some aspects of CR

Structure and Functional Analysis of the RNA- and Viral Phosphoprotein-Binding Domain of Respiratory Syncytial Virus M2-1 Protein

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) protein M2-1 functions as an essential transcriptional cofactor of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) complex by increasing polymerase processivity. M2-1 is a modular RNA binding protein that also interacts with the viral phosphoprotein P, another component of the RdRp complex. These binding properties are related to the core region of M2-1 encompassing residues S58 to K177. Here we report the NMR structure of the RSV M2-158–177 core domain, which is structurally homologous to the C-terminal domain of Ebola virus VP30, a transcription co-factor sharing functional similarity with M2-1. The partial overlap of RNA and P interaction surfaces on M2-158–177, as determined by NMR, rationalizes the previously observed competitive behavior of RNA versus P. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we identified eight residues located on these surfaces that are critical for an efficient transcription activity of the RdRp complex. Single mutations of these residues disrupted specifically either P or RNA binding to M2-1 in vitro. M2-1 recruitment to cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, which are regarded as sites of viral RNA synthesis, was impaired by mutations affecting only binding to P, but not to RNA, suggesting that M2-1 is associated to the holonucleocapsid by interacting with P. These results reveal that RNA and P binding to M2-1 can be uncoupled and that both are critical for the transcriptional antitermination function of M2-1