The regulation of peripheral metabolism by gut-derived hormones

Enteroendocrine cells lining the gut epithelium constitute the largest endocrine organ in the body and secrete over 20 different hormones in response to cues from ingested foods and changes in nutritional status. Not only do these hormones convey signals from the gut to the brain via the gut-brain axis, they also act directly on metabolically important peripheral targets in a highly concerted fashion to maintain energy balance and glucose homeostasis. Gut-derived hormones released during fasting tend to be orexigenic and have hyperglycaemic potential. Conversely, gut hormones secreted postprandially generally promote satiety and facilitate glucose clearance. Although some of the metabolic benefits conferred by bariatric surgeries have been ascribed to changes in the secretory profiles of various gut hormones, the therapeutic potential of the enteroendocrine system as a viable target against metabolic diseases remain largely underexploited, except for incretin-mimetics. This review provides a brief overview of the physiological importance and highlights the therapeutic potential of the following gut hormones: serotonin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide, glucagon-like peptide 1, oxyntomodulin, peptide YY, insulin-like peptide 5, and ghrelin.Emily W.L. Sun, Alyce M. Martin, Richard L. Young and Damien J. Keatin

Engineering Spatial Analysis in Real Estate Applications

This paper considers the urban processes that real estate (RE) experts use in assessing the value of a certain property, based on characteristics of that property and its environment. The main objective is to illustrate the confluence of RE decisional processes and spatial analysis and to show how these techniques can be put to work together. This paper describes a software package specifically designed for supporting spatial analysis of urban data collections. This software can serve as a reference architecture for developing applications that support decisional processes in real estate. Based on geographical features, the computational environment supports appraisal of a wide range of real estate types and can also create analytical maps for use in developing plans and strategies. A case study demonstrates how the computational environment can improve the quality of the diagnosis of urban real estate in a region that has been selected for a prototype implementation