Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors or Angiotensin Receptor Blockers for Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials

ObjectivesWe sought to investigate the role of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) in preventing the new onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus.BackgroundDiabetes is a public health problem of epidemic proportions and its prevalence is on the rise. The typical American born today has a one in three chance of developing type 2 diabetes. This diagnosis is associated with an adverse cardiovascular prognosis and is considered the risk equivalent of established coronary disease. Even in high-risk individuals, diabetes is a preventable disease. Several studies have shown that ACE inhibitors and ARBs decrease the incidence of new-onset type 2 diabetes. However, the exact role of these agents in diabetes prevention has not yet been fully elucidated.MethodsWe conducted a meta-analysis of 12 randomized controlled clinical trials of ACE inhibitors or ARBs, identified through a MEDLINE search and a review of reports from scientific meetings, to study the efficacy of these medications in diabetes prevention.ResultsThis showed that ACE inhibitors and ARBs were associated with reductions in the incidence of newly diagnosed diabetes by 27% and 23%, respectively, and by 25% in the pooled analysis.ConclusionsThe use of an ACE inhibitor or ARB should be considered in patients with pre-diabetic conditions such as metabolic syndrome, hypertension, impaired fasting glucose, family history of diabetes, obesity, congestive heart failure, or coronary heart disease

Sex differences in contaminant concentrations of fish: a synthesis

Abstract A comparison of whole-fish polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and total mercury (Hg) concentrations in mature males with those in mature females may provide insights into sex differences in behavior, metabolism, and other physiological processes. In eight species of fish, we observed that males exceeded females in whole-fish PCB concentration by 17 to 43 %. Based on results from hypothesis testing, we concluded that these sex differences were most likely primarily driven by a higher rate of energy expenditure, stemming from higher resting metabolic rate (or standard metabolic rate (SMR)) and higher swimming activity, in males compared with females. A higher rate of energy expenditure led to a higher rate of food consumption, which, in turn, resulted in a higher rate of PCB accumulation. For two fish species, the growth dilution effect also made a substantial contribution to the sex difference in PCB concentrations, although the higher energy expenditure rate for males was still the primary driver. Hg concentration data were available for five of the eight species. For four of these five species, the ratio of PCB concentration in males to PCB concentration in females was substantially greater than the ratio of Hg concentration in males to Hg concentration in females. In sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), a very primitive fish, the two ratios were nearly identical. The most plausible explanation for this pattern was that certain androgens, such as testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone, enhanced Hg-elimination rate in males. In contrast, long-term elimination of PCBs is negligible for both sexes. According to this explanation, males not only ingest Hg at a higher rate than females but also eliminate Hg at a higher rate than females, in fish species other than sea lamprey. Male sea lamprey do not possess either of the above-specified androgens. These apparent sex differences in SMRs, activities, and Hg-elimination rates in teleost fishes may also apply, to some degree, to higher vertebrates including humans. Our synthesis findings will be useful in (1) developing sex-specific bioenergetics models for fish, (2) developing sex-specific risk assessment models for exposure of humans and wildlife to contaminants, and (3) refining Hg mass balance models for fish and higher vertebrates.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134637/1/13293_2016_Article_90.pd

Odor supported place cell model and goal navigation in rodents

Experiments with rodents demonstrate that visual cues play an important role in the control of hippocampal place cells and spatial navigation. Nevertheless, rats may also rely on auditory, olfactory and somatosensory stimuli for orientation. It is also known that rats can track odors or self-generated scent marks to find a food source. Here we model odor supported place cells by using a simple feed-forward network and analyze the impact of olfactory cues on place cell formation and spatial navigation. The obtained place cells are used to solve a goal navigation task by a novel mechanism based on self-marking by odor patches combined with a Q-learning algorithm. We also analyze the impact of place cell remapping on goal directed behavior when switching between two environments. We emphasize the importance of olfactory cues in place cell formation and show that the utility of environmental and self-generated olfactory cues, together with a mixed navigation strategy, improves goal directed navigation

Environmental context and contaminant biotransport by Pacific salmon interact to mediate the bioaccumulation of contaminants by stream-resident fish

1. The extent to which environmental context mediates the uptake of biotransported contaminants by stream-resident organisms is not understood. For example, there is no clear understanding of the extent to which contaminant type, instream characteristics, or resident fish identity interact to influence the uptake of contaminants deposited by Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) during their spawning runs. 2. To address this uncertainty, we sampled four stream-resident fish species from 13 watersheds of the Laurentian Great Lakes in locations with and without salmon across a gradient of instream and watershed characteristics. We determined the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and mercury (Hg) concentration along with the stable isotope ratio of C and N for each stream-resident fish. 3. We found that stream-resident fish PCB concentrations were 24-fold higher in reaches with salmon and were positively related to δ15N. In contrast, stream-resident fish Hg concentrations were similar or lower in reaches with salmon and either exhibited a negative or no relationship with δ15N. 4. Based upon AICc, stream-resident fish exhibited species-specific PCB concentrations that were positively related to salmon PCB flux. Hg burdens exhibited an interaction between fish length and salmon Hg flux – as salmon Hg inputs increased, Hg levels decreased with increasing resident fish length. We found no support for models that included the mediating influence of instream or watershed factors. Salmon eggs are enriched in PCBs but have very low Hg concentrations, so our results may be driven by the consumption of salmon eggs by stream-resident fish. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results highlight that contaminants bioaccumulate differently depending on contaminant type, species identity, and the trophic pathway to contamination. Consequently, consideration of the recipient food web and route of exposure is critical to understanding the fate of biotransported contaminants in ecosystems. The transfer of contaminants by migratory organisms represents an understudied stressor in ecology. Effective management of biotransported contaminants will require the delineation of “hot-spots” of biotransport and implementation of best management practices in those watersheds that receive contaminants from spawning salmon

Discovering Argumentative Patterns in Energy Polylogues: A Macroscope for Argument Mining

A macroscope is proposed and tested here for the discovery of the unique argumentative footprint that characterizes how a collective (e.g., group, online community) manages differences and pursues disagreement through argument in a polylogue. The macroscope addresses broader analytic problems posed by various conceptualizations of large-scale argument, such as fields, spheres, communities, and institutions. The design incorporates a two-tier methodology for detecting argument patterns of the arguments performed in arguing by an interactive collective that produces views, or topographies, of the ways that issues are generated in the making and defending of standpoints. The design premises for the macroscope build on insights about argument patterns from pragma-dialectical theory by incorporating research and theory on disagreement management and the Argumentum Model of Topics. The design reconceptualizes prototypical and stereotypical argument patterns for characterizing large-scale argumentation. A prototype of the macroscope is tested on data drawn from six threads about oil-drilling and fracking from the subreddit Changemyview. The implementation suggests the efficacy of the macroscope’s design and potential for identifying what communities make controversial and how the disagreement space in a polylogue is managed through stereotypical argument patterns in terms of claims/premises, inferential relations, and presentational devices

Abstracts from the 20th International Symposium on Signal Transduction at the Blood-Brain Barriers

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138963/1/12987_2017_Article_71.pd