Oral Treatment with γ-Aminobutyric Acid Improves Glucose Tolerance and Insulin Sensitivity by Inhibiting Inflammation in High Fat Diet-Fed Mice

Adipocyte and β-cell dysfunction and macrophage-related chronic inflammation are critical for the development of obesity-related insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), which can be negatively regulated by Tregs. Our previous studies and those of others have shown that activation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors inhibits inflammation in mice. However, whether GABA could modulate high fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity, glucose intolerance and insulin resistance has not been explored. Here, we show that although oral treatment with GABA does not affect water and food consumption it inhibits the HFD-induced gain in body weights in C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, oral treatment with GABA significantly reduced the concentrations of fasting blood glucose, and improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in the HFD-fed mice. More importantly, after the onset of obesity and T2DM, oral treatment with GABA inhibited the continual HFD-induced gain in body weights, reduced the concentrations of fasting blood glucose and improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in mice. In addition, oral treatment with GABA reduced the epididymal fat mass, adipocyte size, and the frequency of macrophage infiltrates in the adipose tissues of HFD-fed mice. Notably, oral treatment with GABA significantly increased the frequency of CD4+Foxp3+ Tregs in mice. Collectively, our data indicated that activation of peripheral GABA receptors inhibited the HFD-induced glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and obesity by inhibiting obesity-related inflammation and up-regulating Treg responses in vivo. Given that GABA is safe for human consumption, activators of GABA receptors may be valuable for the prevention of obesity and intervention of T2DM in the clinic

A Faculty Workshop on Student Assessment

A faculty workshop was conducted that showcased assessment activities that could be incorporated into undergraduate and graduate geology courses. Fourteen different types of student assessment were presented. Workshop participants were asked to respond to questions about their familiarity and use of each type before and immediately following the workshop. In addition, they were asked to indicate how likely they would be to incorporate each type of assessment in their student grading practices in the future. Results suggest relatively high familiarity and use of the more traditional types of assessments (e.g., instructor- and commercially-produced pencil and paper exams, group projects, and presentations); however, most of the workshop participants indicated that they had no experience in using some of the more non-traditional types of assessments (e.g., performance/skills tests, community-based projects, and portfolios). Nonetheless, after attending the workshop, participants revealed a moderate intent to utilize these non-traditional means in their future classroom assessment practices, whereas faculty members who did not attend the workshop were more likely to incorporate commercially produced exam materials in their assessment of student learning

Great Plains workshop held to prepare for USArray deployment

Relative to most parts of North America, the Great Plains region, which is bordered by the Rocky Mountain Front on the west and the Mississippi River on the east, has been understudied in terms of the structure, formation, and evolution of the underlying crust, mantle, and core. The anticipated arrival of the USArray portable seismic stations, which will cover the entire United States regardless of surface geology and tectonic activities, and the deployment of the accompanying flexible array stations and the permanent seismic stations in this area, will fill this gap and address numerous problems related to the structure and dynamics of the Earth. Detailed information about USArraycan be found at http://www.earthscope.org/usarray/. To maximize the effectiveness of the upcoming USArray, formulate cooperative studies, and identify geologic targets for detailed studies using the flexible array stations of USArray, a pre-EarthScope Great Plains workshop was recently hosted by Kansas State University\u27s Department of Geology The workshop brought together about 40 geoscientists with interests ranging from surface processes to mantle dynamics, from about 25 institutions. Participants discussed scientific objectives related to USArray\u27s Great Plains coverage, with an emphasis on future collaborations to maximize our understanding of the geology of the Great Plains region, from the Earth\u27s surface to the core-mantle boundary. This will lead to a better understanding of the geologic development of cratonic regions, and provide valuable data for integrated studies of continental lithosphere and deep Earth structure over a wide range of scales

Electronic structure calculations for substitutional copper and monovacancies in silicon

Two different computer program packages based on the self-consistent local-spin-density approximation—aimpro and vasp—are employed in this study of substitutional copper CuSi and monovacancies VSi in silicon, including the effects of their charge state. The programs differ in the types of basis sets and pseudopotentials they use, each with their own relative merits, while being similar in overall quality. This approach aims to reduce uncertainty in the results, particularly for small or subtle effects, where the risk is greatest that the conclusions are affected by artifacts specific to a particular implementation. The electronic structures of the two defects are closely related, hence they are expected to behave in a similar manner. For both defects structural distortions resulting in lower point group symmetries than Td (the highest possible) are found. This is in good agreement with the results of previous studies of VSi. Much less is known about symmetry-lowering effects for CuSi; however, the electronic levels of CuSi have been measured accurately, while those for VSi are less accessible. Calculating them is a challenging task for theory. The strategy we adopt, based purely on comparing total energies of supercells in different charge states, with and without model defects, reproduces the three known levels for CuSi reasonably well. Satisfactory results are also obtained for VSi in so far as can be judged for this more complex case