Construction of a doxycycline inducible adipogenic lentiviral expression system

To provide a tool for research on regulating adipocyte differentiation, tetracycline inducible (Tet on) lentiviral expression vectors under the control of an adipose-specific promoter were constructed. The lowest basal expression in the absence of doxycycline and most efficient dose-dependent, doxycycline-induced transient overexpression was observed using vectors constructed with a combination of Tetracycline Responsive Element (TRE) and reverse tetracycline-controlled TransActivator advanced (rtTAadv), transfected in white (3T3-L1) and brown (HIB-1B) preadipocytes cell lines. The results demonstrate that doxycycline adipogenic inducible expression can be achieved using a pLenti TRE / rtTA adv under the control of the truncated aP2 promoter in HIB-1B preadipocytes

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads

Out in the wild, far-away places of the big and still unpeopled west,- in the cañons along the Rocky Mountains, among the mining camps of Nevada and Montana, and on the remote cattle ranches of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona,- yet survives the Anglo-Saxon ballad spirit that was active in secluded districts in England and Scotland even after the coming of Tennyson and Browning. This spirit is manifested both in the preservation of the English ballad and in the creation of local songs. Illiterate people, and people cut off from newspapers and books, isolated and lonely,- thrown back on primal resources for entertainment and for the expression of emotion,- utter themselves through somewhat the same character of songs as did their forefathers of perhaps a thousand years ago. In some such way have been made and preserved the cowboy songs and other frontier ballads contained in this volume

Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp

The Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp does not purport to be an anthology of Western verse. As its title indicates, the contents of the book are limited to attempts, more or less poetic, in translating scenes connected with the life of a cowboy. The volume is in reality a by-product of my earlier collection, Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads

Substitution of starch for palm oil during gestation: Impact on offspring survival and hepatic gene expression in the pig

Piglet neonatal mortality rates are high (∼20%), so nutritional strategies to reduce this are highly desirable. Maternal fat substitution (FS) may promote the preweaning survival of piglets by improving their energy status. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of FS throughout pregnancy on offspring viability, together with the gene expression of stress-related markers in the liver. Sixteen pregnant sows were randomly allocated to one of two isocaloric diets, control (C) or FS in the form of palm oil, fed from 0 to 110 days gestation. Glucose tolerance was examined on Day 108. Median and low birthweight offspring were allocated to tissue sampling at either 7 days or 6 months postnatal age. In response to a glucose tolerance test, FS sows exhibited a raised glucose area under the curve with no change in basal glucose. Average piglet mortality (up to Day 28) was increased fourfold in the FS group, with surviving median-sized piglets exhibiting significantly lower fatty acid binding protein 1 (FABP1) expression at 7 days. There were no effects on the abundance of any other stress- or metabolic-related genes examined. Thus, this study demonstrates that maternal FS throughout gestation causes maternal glucose intolerance that may be linked to the observed increase in piglet mortality. However, the surviving offspring do not exhibit any detectable differences in postnatal growth or hepatic gene profile in later life.</p