Maternal Inflammation at Mid-gestation in Pregnant Rats Impairs Fetal Muscle Growth and Development at Term

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Low birth weight resulting from preterm birth and/or IUGR is an underlying factor in 60–80% of perinatal death worldwide, and is particularly common in developing countries (UNICEF, 2008). Furthermore, studies have linked IUGR and the associated fetal malnutrition to increased incidence of metabolic syndrome in adult life (Barker et al., 1993; Godfrey and Barker, 2000). The “thrifty phenotype hypothesis” developed by David Barker (Hales et al., 1991) states that IUGR-associated fetal malnutrition forces the fetus to spare nutrients by altering tissue-specific metabolism in order to survive. In utero, adaptive changes disproportionately impact skeletal muscle development, growth, and metabolism (Yates et al., 2016). Skeletal muscle is responsible for the majority of insulin-stimulated glucose utilization, and adaptive restriction in muscle growth capacity helps to spare glucose in the IUGR fetus but result in lifelong deficits in muscle mass and metabolic homeostasis (Brown and Hay, 2016). Skeletal muscle growth requires proliferation, differentiation, and fusion of myoblast into new muscle fibers early in gestation and fusion with existing fibers in the third trimester of pregnancy (Zhu et al., 2004). This process can be impaired by inflammation from resident macrophages within skeletal muscle. Classically activated M1 macrophages are pro-inflammatory but can polarize to an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype that inhibits cytokine production and stimulates tissue repair by producing growth factors (Mantovani et al., 2004; Kharraz et al., 2013). The acute effects of inflammatory factors on myoblast function have been investigated in vitro (Frost et al., 1997; Guttridge et al., 2000), and we postulate that inflammatory stress may have similar effects on fetal myoblasts in utero. Impaired myoblast function and the resulting decrease in muscle growth capacity affect long-term metabolic health. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of sustained maternal inflammation at mid-gestation on fetal mortality, muscle growth, and metabolic parameters at term

Effect of distillers grains or corn supplementation frequency on forage intake and digestibility

ABSTRACT: Ten ruminally cannulated heifers (BW = 416 kg; SD = 24) were used to test the effect of the form and frequency of supplemental energy on forage DMI and digestibility. Five treatments were arranged in a replicated, 5 × 4 Latin rectangle (n = 8), and included no supplement (control), dry-rolled corn (DRC) fed daily, DRC fed on alternate days (DRC-A), dried distillers grains plus solubles (DDGS) fed daily, and DDGS fed on alternate days (DDGS-A). Supplements fed daily were fed at 0.40% of BW, whereas alternate day-fed supplements were fed at 0.80% of BW every other day. Chopped grass hay (8.2% CP) was fed to allow ad libitum DMI, and the intake pattern was measured. Control heifers had greater (P < 0.01) hay DMI than supplemented heifers (1.88 vs. 1.66% of BW daily, respectively), although total DMI was lower (P < 0.01) for control. Hay DMI did not differ (P = 0.45

Incorporating mindfulness: questioning capitalism

This paper engages with Buddhist critiques of capitalism and consumerism; and it challenges the capitalist appropriations of Buddhist techniques. We show how Buddhist modernism and Marxism/socialism can align, and how Engaged Buddhism spawns communalism and socially revolutionary impulses for sustainability and ecological responsibility within the framework of Buddhist thought and mindfulness traditions. Our case study of the Thai Asoke community exemplifies Buddhist communal mindfulness-in-action, explores successes and idiosyncrasies, and shows how communal principles can operate in such work-based communities

Delusions in frontotemporal lobar degeneration

We assessed the significance and nature of delusions in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), an important cause of young-onset dementia with prominent neuropsychiatric features that remain incompletely characterised. The case notes of all patients meeting diagnostic criteria for FTLD attending a tertiary level cognitive disorders clinic over a three year period were retrospectively reviewed and eight patients with a history of delusions were identified. All patients underwent detailed clinical and neuropsychological evaluation and brain MRI. The diagnosis was confirmed pathologically in two cases. The estimated prevalence of delusions was 14 %. Delusions were an early, prominent and persistent feature. They were phenomenologically diverse; however paranoid and somatic delusions were prominent. Behavioural variant FTLD was the most frequently associated clinical subtype and cerebral atrophy was bilateral or predominantly right-sided in most cases. We conclude that delusions may be a clinical issue in FTLD, and this should be explored further in future work

On the topology of adiabatic passage

We examine the topology of eigenenergy surfaces characterizing the population transfer processes based on adiabatic passage. We show that this topology is the essential feature for the analysis of the population transfers and the prediction of its final result. We reinterpret diverse known processes, such as stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP), frequency-chirped adiabatic passage and Stark-chirped rapid adiabatic passage (SCRAP). Moreover, using this picture, we display new related possibilities of transfer. In particular, we show that we can selectively control the level which will be populated in STIRAP process in Lambda or V systems by the choice of the peak amplitudes or the pulse sequence

Learning Behavioural Context

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.co

Mitigation and screening for environmental assessment

This article considers how, as a matter of law and policy, mitigation measures should be taken into account in determining whether a project will have significant environmental effects and therefore be subject to assessment under the EU Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive. This is not straightforward: it is problematic to distinguish clearly between an activity and the measures proposed to minimise or mitigate for the adverse consequences of the activity. The issue is a salient one in impact assessment law, but under-explored in the literature and handled with some difficulty by the courts. I argue that there is an unnecessarily and undesirably narrow approach currently taken under the EIA Directive, which could be improved upon by taking a more adaptive approach; alternatively a heightened standard of review of ‘significance’, and within this of the scope for mitigation measures to bring projects beneath the significance threshold, may also be desirable

Fullerene-based materials research and development. LDRD final report

The chemistry and physical properties of fullerenes, the third, molecular allotrope of carbon, have been studied using both experimental and computational techniques. Early computational work investigated the stability of fullerene isomers and oxides, which was followed by extensive work on hydrogenated fullerenes. Our work led to the first synthesis of a polymer containing C{sub 60} and the synthesis of the simplest hydrocarbon derivatives of C{sub 60} and C{sub 70}. The excellent agreement between theory and experiment ({plus_minus} 0.1 kcal/mol in the relative stability of isomers) has provided insight into the chemical nature of fullerenes and has yielded a sound basis for prediction of the structure of derivatized fullerenes. Such derivatives are the key to the preparation of fullerene-based materials

Critical animal and media studies: Expanding the understanding of oppression in communication research

Critical and communication studies have traditionally neglected the oppression conducted by humans towards other animals. However, our (mis)treatment of other animals is the result of public consent supported by a morally speciesist-anthropocentric system of values. Speciesism or anthroparchy, as much as any other mainstream ideologies, feeds the media and at the same time is perpetuated by them. The goal of this article is to remedy this neglect by introducing the subdiscipline of Critical Animal and Media Studies. Critical Animal and Media Studies takes inspiration both from critical animal studies – which is so far the most consolidated critical field of research in the social sciences addressing our exploitation of other animals – and from the normative-moral stance rooted in the cornerstones of traditional critical media studies. The authors argue that the Critical Animal and Media Studies approach is an unavoidable step forward for critical media and communication studies to engage with the expanded circle of concerns of contemporary ethical thinking