Transforming Sitka Spruce Plantations

The TranSSFor project is comparing conventional thinning in Sitka spruce plantations with two alternative thinning regimes

Incretins play an important role in FFA4/GPR120 regulation of glucose metabolism by GW-9508

Aims: To assess the role of GPR120 in glucose metabolism and incretin regulation from enteroendocrine L- and K-cells with determination of the cellular localisation of GPR120 in intestinal tissue and clonal Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1)/Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide (GIP) cell lines. Main methods: Anti-hyperglycaemic, insulinotropic and incretin secreting properties of the GPR120 agonist, GW-9508 were explored in combination with oral and intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests (GTT) in lean, diabetic and incretin receptor knockout mice. Cellular localisation of GPR120 was assessed by double immunofluorescence. Key findings: Compared to intraperitoneal injection, oral administration of GW-9508 (0.1 μmol/kg body weight) together with glucose reduced the glycaemic excursion by 22–31 % (p &lt; 0.05-p &lt; 0.01) and enhanced glucose-induced insulin release by 30 % (p &lt; 0.01) in normal mice. In high fat fed diabetic mice, orally administered GW-9508 lowered plasma glucose by 17–27 % (p &lt; 0.05-p &lt; 0.01) and augmented insulin release by 22–39 % (p &lt; 0.05-p &lt; 0.001). GW-9508 had no effect on the responses of GLP-1 receptor knockout mice and GIP receptor knockout mice. Consistent with this, oral GW-9508 increased circulating total GLP-1 release by 39–44 % (p &lt; 0.01) and total GIP by 37–47 % (p &lt; 0.01-p &lt; 0.001) after 15 and 30 min in lean NIH Swiss mice. Immunocytochemistry demonstrated GPR120 expression on mouse enteroendocrine L- and K-cells, GLUTag cells and pGIP/Neo STC-1 cells. Significance: GPR120 is expressed on intestinal L- and K-cells and stimulates GLP-1/GIP secretory pathways involved in mediating enhanced insulin secretion and improved glucose tolerance, following oral GW-9508. These novel data strongly support the development of potent and selective GPR120 agonists as an effective therapeutic approach for diabetes.</p

Analysis of Pulse Propagation in Coupled Microstrip Transmission Lines

Coordinated Science Laboratory was formerly known as Control Systems LaboratoryJoint Services Electronics Program / N00014-84-C-014

Prognostic utility of human complement factor H related protein test (the BTA stat® Test)

The purpose of the study was to determine, in addition to well-known prognostic factors, histological grade, stage, tumour size and multiplicity, the correlation of BTA stat Test on disease free interval (DFI) on primary superficial bladder cancer. A total of 116 patients with newly diagnosed bladder cancer were evaluated in a prospective multicentre study. A voided urine sample was obtained prior to TURB and split for culture, cytology and BTA stat testing. Follow-up data for the patients were collected until the first recurrence or the last visit and the DFI was analysed by Kaplan–Meier method and Cox analysis. Ninety-seven of the 116 (83.6%) patients were eligible for analysis. The BTA stat Test was positive in 73 (75.3%) patients, whereas cytology detected 20 (20.6%) cases. The DFI was found to be shorter among patients with a positive BTA stat Test, and also among those with intermediate or high-grade tumours. The BTA stat Test result divided patients with grade 2 tumours into two prognostic groups, in that those testing positive had 68.6% risk of recurrence during the first year compared to 42.9% risk of those with a negative test result (P = 0.041). Although the effect of tumour size on DFI was notable, the difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.064). Number of tumours was not related to DFI, nor was the difference between different stage of tumour of significance. BTA stat Test is not only sensitive in detection of primary bladder cancer, but also might have some independent prognostic significance. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Latency differences and effects of selective attention to gratings in the central and right visual fields: II

The goals were to examine the temporal sequence in which visual information (such as visual field, spatial frequency) are processed and to determine whether different neural sources are activated when such features are attended versus not attended. These issues are basic to current models of visual selective attention. 10 refs., 4 figs

Costs of streamlined HIV care delivery in rural Ugandan and Kenyan clinics in the SEARCH Studys.

OBJECTIVES/DESIGN:As antiretroviral therapy (ART) rapidly expands in sub-Saharan Africa using new efficient care models, data on costs of these approaches are lacking. We examined costs of a streamlined HIV care delivery model within a large HIV test-and-treat study in Uganda and Kenya. METHODS:We calculated observed per-person-per-year (ppy) costs of streamlined care in 17 health facilities in SEARCH Study intervention communities (NCT: 01864603) via micro-costing techniques, time-and-motion studies, staff interviews, and administrative records. Cost categories included salaries, ART, viral load testing, recurring goods/services, and fixed capital/facility costs. We then modeled costs under three increasingly efficient scale-up scenarios: lowest-cost ART, centralized viral load testing, and governmental healthcare worker salaries. We assessed the relationship between community-specific ART delivery costs, retention in care, and viral suppression. RESULTS:Estimated streamlined HIV care delivery costs were $291/ppy. ART ($117/ppy for TDF/3TC/EFV [40%]) and viral load testing ($110/ppy for 2 tests/year [39$51/ppy), recurring costs ($5/ppy), and fixed costs ($7/ppy). Optimized ART scale-up with lowest-cost ART ($100/ppy), annual viral load testing ($24/ppy), and governmental healthcare salaries ($27/ppy), lowered streamlined care cost to$163/ppy. We found clinic-to-clinic heterogeneity in retention and viral suppression levels versus streamlined care delivery costs, but no correlation between cost and either retention or viral suppression. CONCLUSIONS:In the SEARCH Study, streamlined HIV care delivery costs were similar to or lower than prior estimates despite including viral load testing; further optimizations could substantially reduce costs further. These data can inform global strategies for financing ART expansion to achieve UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets

PENGARUH PROFITABILITAS, LEVERAGE, UKURAN PERUSAHAAN DAN CAPITAL INTENSITY TERHADAP PENGHINDARAN PAJAK (TAX AVOIDANCE) (Studi Pada Perusahaan Manufaktur Subsektor Makanan dan Minuman yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia Periode 2016-2020)

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memberikan gambaran profitabilitas, leverage, ukuran perusahaan dan capital intensity terhadap penghindaran pajak (tax avoidance) pada perusahan manufaktur subsektor makanan dan minuman yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia periode 2016-2020. Serta mengetahui pengaruh profitabilitas, leverage, ukuran perusahaan dan capital intensity terhadap penghindaran pajak (tax avoidance) Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode kuantitatif dengan pendekatan analisis deskriptif dan verifikatif. Populasi dari penelitian ini berjumlah 30 perusahaan menggunakan non propability sampling dengan teknik purposive sampling dengan jumlah sampel 20 perusahaan yang memenuhi kriteria. Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode studi kepustakaan (Library research) dan dokumenter. Teknik analisis yang dipakai dalam penelitian ini adalah uji asusmsi klasik, Uji Parsial t/uji wald, regresi logistik, korelasi (Eta test), koefisien determinasi (Nagelkerke’s R Square) Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Leverage secara parsial berpengaruh positif terhadap penghindaran pajak (tax avoidance) dengan kontribusi 34,7%. Profitabilitas, ukuran perusahaan dan capital intensity berpengaruh negatif terhadap penghindaran pajak (tax avoidance) dengan kontribusi pengaruh profitabilitas 32%, ukuran perusahaan 25%, dan capital intensity 29,6% Kata kunci: Profitabilitas , leverage, ukuran perusahaan, capital intensity, penghindaran pajak (tax avoidance