Enhancing energy and glucose metabolism by disrupting triglyceride synthesis: Lessons from mice lacking DGAT1

Although the ability to make triglycerides is essential for normal physiology, excess accumulation of triglycerides results in obesity and is associated with insulin resistance. Inhibition of triglyceride synthesis, therefore, may represent a feasible strategy for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Acyl CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1) is one of two DGAT enzymes that catalyze the final reaction in the known pathways of mammalian triglyceride synthesis. Mice lacking DGAT1 have increased energy expenditure and insulin sensitivity and are protected against diet-induced obesity and glucose intolerance. These metabolic effects of DGAT1 deficiency result in part from the altered secretion of adipocyte-derived factors. Studies of DGAT1-deficient mice have helped to provide insights into the mechanisms by which cellular lipid metabolism modulates systemic carbohydrate and insulin metabolism, and a better understanding of how DGAT1 deficiency enhances energy expenditure and insulin sensitivity may identify additional targets or strategies for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes

Moving Stationary State of Exciton-Phonon Condensate in Cu2O

We explore a simple theoretical model to describe the properties of Bose condensed para-excitons in Cu2O. Taking into account the exciton-phonon interaction and introducing a coherent phonon part of the moving condensate, we derive the dynamic equations for the exciton-phonon condensate. Within the Bose approximation for excitons, we discuss the conditions for the moving inhomogeneous condensate to appear in the crystal. We calculate the condensate wave function and energy and a collective excitation spectrum in the semiclassical approximation. The stability conditions of the moving condensate are analyzed by use of Landau arguments, and two critical velocities appear in the theory. Finally, we apply our model to describe the recently observed interference between two coherent exciton-phonon packets in Cu2O.Comment: 20 pages (LaTeX), one figure (.ps) incorporated by epsf. Submitted to Phys. Stat. Sol (B

Postoperative care in finger replantation. Our case-load and review of the literature

OBJECTIVE: Technical success of a finger replantation depends on several factors such as surgical procedure, type of injury, number of segments amputated, amputation level and individual patient factors. Among early complications that can occur in this type of surgery the onset of venous or arterial thrombosis is the most dreaded. Local irrigating solutions, oral and intravenous anticoagulants, thrombolytic agents, plasma expanders, vasodilating, and antiaggregant drugs are routinely used in patients undergoing microvascular procedures, but currently there is only a non-standardized practice based on anecdotal personal experience. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The aim of our study is to review selected literature relating to perioperative therapy in microsurgical digital replantation. We also report our case-load of 16 patients with finger avulsion describing our particular protocol for postoperative anticoagulation and restoration of fluid and electrolyte balance. RESULTS: Following our daily pharmacological protocol, the postoperative course of the replanted fingers was uneventful. The survival rate for finger replantations performed was 100% (n = 16) with no need for surgical revisions. CONCLUSIONS: The association Dextran-40/Heparin/fluids in the proposed standardized pro-weight pharmacological protocol is an optimal postoperative prophylactic/therapeutic plan to reduce the incidence of endovascular thrombosis after replantation, so ensuring high rate of success in microvascular surgery

Three-dimensional printing-based electro-millifluidic devices for fabricating multi-compartment particles

In this work, we demonstrate the use of stereolithographic 3D printing to fabricate millifluidic devices, which are used to engineer particles with multiple compartments. As the 3D design is directly transferred to the actual prototype, this method accommodates 3D millimeter-scaled features that are difficult to achieve by either lithographic-based microfabrication or traditional macrofabrication techniques. We exploit this approach to produce millifluidic networks to deliver multiple fluidic components. By taking advantage of the laminar flow, the fluidic components can form liquid jets with distinct patterns, and each pattern has clear boundaries between the liquid phases. Afterwards, droplets with controlled size are fabricated by spraying the liquid jet in an electric field, and subsequently converted to particles after a solidification step. As a demonstration, we fabricate calcium alginate particles with structures of (1) slice-by-slice multiple lamellae, (2) concentric core-shells, and (3) petals surrounding the particle centers. Furthermore, distinct hybrid particles combining two or more of the above structures are also obtained. These compartmentalized particles impart spatially dependent functionalities and properties. To show their applicability, various ingredients, including fruit juices, drugs, and magnetic nanoparticles are encapsulated in the different compartments as proof-of-concepts for applications, including food, drug delivery, and bioassays. Our 3D printed electro-millifluidic approach represents a convenient and robust method to extend the range of structures of functional particles.published_or_final_versio

Phonological Units in Spoken Word Production: Insights from Cantonese

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Inactivation of Dicer1 in Steroidogenic factor 1-positive cells reveals tissue-specific requirement for Dicer1 in adrenal, testis, and ovary

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The synthesis of microRNA (miRNA) is a multi-step process that requires the action of the ribonuclease Dicer1. Dicer1 is responsible for the final processing of miRNA and has been implicated in cellular processes such as proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation. Mouse embryos lacking <it>Dicer1 </it>die in early embryogenesis. In this study, we investigated whether <it>Dicer1 </it>is required for development of adrenal, testis, and ovary in mouse embryos.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To target <it>Dicer1 </it>deletion specifically in developing adrenals and gonads, we used Steroidogenic factor 1-cre (<it>Sf1/Cre</it>) line in which Cre recombinase is active in the progenitor cells of adrenals and gonads. Lack of <it>Dicer1 </it>in the SF1-positive cells did not affect formation and early differentiation of the adrenals and gonads. However, increasing numbers of apoptotic cells were first detected in the <it>Dicer1 </it>knockout adrenal cortex at 18.5 days post coitum (dpc), followed by apoptosis of somatic cells and germ cells in the testis at postnatal day 0. Affected adrenal and testes underwent complete degeneration 48 hrs after the onset of apoptosis. However, ovaries were not affected at least until postnatal day 5, when the animals died due to adrenal insufficiency.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>Dicer1 </it>is dispensable for formation and differentiation of fetal tissues derived from the SF1-positive adrenogonadal primordium. <it>Dicer1 </it>is essential for maintaining cell survival in adrenal and testis; however, development of the ovary from fetal stages to postnatal day 5 does not require the presence of <it>Dicer1</it>. Our results reveal a tissue-specific requirement of <it>Dicer1 </it>and microRNAs. Future research is needed to understand how the tissue-specific role of <it>Dicer1 </it>is established.</p

Resident Sentiment: Preliminary Conceptualization and Measurement

Understanding how residents view and react to tourism development is an important topic in tourism literature. To date, most studies focused on the formation and change of locals’ attitudes, whose predictive power to behaviors remains controversial. This study proposes “resident sentiment” as a more encompassing concept to describe local residents’ overall views of tourism development, with attitude as a constituent part. Further, the research team suggests two levels of sentiment: individual sentiment being an internal disposition shaped mainly by private encounters, and public sentiment being shared feelings and reactions resulted from dynamic, multilateral interactions among people. Guided by social exchange and social representations theories, personal experience, social interactions, and destination characteristics are proposed as potential sources of individual sentiment, and mass and social media as a proxy of a community’s public sentiment. A model is proposed to illustrate the determinants and consequences of resident sentiment and interrelationships among key variables

A study on the effect of resveratrol on lipid metabolism in hyperlipidemic mice

Background: The content of resveratrol is relatively high in Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc., and the resveratrol has the effect of blood vessel dilating, microcirculation improving, platelet aggregation inhibiting and anti-cancer. The objective of this paper was to study the effect of resveratrol on lipid metabolism in hyperlipidemia mice.Materials andMethods: Through the establishment of an experimental mouse model of hyperlipidemia, the effect of resveratrol on change in total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels in mouse serum were determined.Results: Resveratrol group can apparently reduce TC, TG, LDL-c and AI of hyperlipidemic mice in a dose effect manner.Conclusion: We concluded that resveratrol can effectively reduce blood lipid levels of hyperlipidemic mice.Keywords: Resveratrol; hyperlipidemia; TC; TG; HDL-c; LDL-

Improved delineation of short cortical association fibers and gray/white matter boundary using whole-brain three-dimensional diffusion tensor imaging at submillimeter spatial resolution.

Recent emergence of human connectome imaging has led to a high demand on angular and spatial resolutions for diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). While there have been significant growths in high angular resolution diffusion imaging, the improvement in spatial resolution is still limited due to a number of technical challenges, such as the low signal-to-noise ratio and high motion artifacts. As a result, the benefit of a high spatial resolution in the whole-brain connectome imaging has not been fully evaluated in vivo. In this brief report, the impact of spatial resolution was assessed in a newly acquired whole-brain three-dimensional diffusion tensor imaging data set with an isotropic spatial resolution of 0.85 mm. It was found that the delineation of short cortical association fibers is drastically improved as well as the definition of fiber pathway endings into the gray/white matter boundary-both of which will help construct a more accurate structural map of the human brain connectome