Altered structural and effective connectivity in anorexia and bulimia nervosa in circuits that regulate energy and reward homeostasis.

Anorexia and bulimia nervosa are severe eating disorders that share many behaviors. Structural and functional brain circuits could provide biological links that those disorders have in common. We recruited 77 young adult women, 26 healthy controls, 26 women with anorexia and 25 women with bulimia nervosa. Probabilistic tractography was used to map white matter connectivity strength across taste and food intake regulating brain circuits. An independent multisample greedy equivalence search algorithm tested effective connectivity between those regions during sucrose tasting. Anorexia and bulimia nervosa had greater structural connectivity in pathways between insula, orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum, but lower connectivity from orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala to the hypothalamus (P<0.05, corrected for comorbidity, medication and multiple comparisons). Functionally, in controls the hypothalamus drove ventral striatal activity, but in anorexia and bulimia nervosa effective connectivity was directed from anterior cingulate via ventral striatum to the hypothalamus. Across all groups, sweetness perception was predicted by connectivity strength in pathways connecting to the middle orbitofrontal cortex. This study provides evidence that white matter structural as well as effective connectivity within the energy-homeostasis and food reward-regulating circuitry is fundamentally different in anorexia and bulimia nervosa compared with that in controls. In eating disorders, anterior cingulate cognitive-emotional top down control could affect food reward and eating drive, override hypothalamic inputs to the ventral striatum and enable prolonged food restriction

Remote access for NAS: Supercomputing in a university environment

The experiment was designed to assist the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS) Project Office in the testing and evaluation of long haul communications for remote users. The objectives of this work were to: (1) use foreign workstations to remotely access the NAS system; (2) provide NAS with a link to a large university-based computing facility which can serve as a model for a regional node of the Long-Haul Communications Subsystem (LHCS); and (3) provide a tail circuit to the University of Colorado a Boulder thereby simulating the complete communications path from NAS through a regional node to an end-user

Fabry-Perot Measurements of the Dynamics of Globular Cluster Cores: M15 (NGC~7078)

We report the first use of the Rutgers Imaging Fabry-Perot Spectrophotometer to study the dynamics of the cores of globular clusters. We have obtained velocities for cluster stars by tuning the Fabry-Perot to take a series of narrow-band images at different wavelengths across one of the Na D (5890 AA) absorption lines. Measuring the flux in every frame yields a short portion of the spectrum for each star simultaneously. This proves to be a very efficient method for obtaining accurate stellar velocities; in crowded regions we are able to measure hundreds of velocities in 3-4 hours of observing time. We have measured velocities with uncertainties of less than 5 km/s for 216 stars within 1.5' of the center of the globular cluster M15 (NGC 7078). The paper is a uuencoded compressed postscript file

Alternate routes to the cell surface underpin insulin-regulated membrane trafficking of GLUT4

Insulin-stimulated delivery of glucose transporters (GLUT4) from specialized intracellular GLUT4 storage vesicles (GSVs) to the surface of fat and muscle cells is central to whole-body glucose. This translocation and subsequent internalization of GLUT4 back into intracellular stores transits numerous small membrane-bound compartments (internal GLUT4-containing vesicles; IGVs) including GSVs, but the function of these different compartments is not clear. Cellugyrin and sortilin define distinct populations of IGV; sortilin-positive IGVs represent GSVs, but the function of cellugyrin-containing IGVs is unknown. Here we demonstrate a role for cellugyrin in intracellular sequestration of GLUT4 in HeLa cells and have used a proximity ligation assay to follow changes in pairwise associations between cellugyrin, sortilin, GLUT4 and membrane trafficking machinery following insulin-stimulation of 3T3-L1 adipoctyes. Our data suggest that insulin stimulates traffic from cellugyrin- to sortilin- membranes, and that cellugyrin-IGVs provide an insulin-sensitive reservoir to replenish GSVs following insulin-stimulated exocytosis of GLUT4. Furthermore, our data support the existence of a pathway from cellugyrin-membranes to the surface of 3T3-L1 adipocytes that bypasses GSVs under basal conditions, and that insulin diverts traffic away from this into GSVs

The effect of betaine on nitric oxide and cardiovascular response to exercise

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of acute betaine (BT) supplementation, and exercise, on plasma nitric oxide (NO) levels and the related cardiovascular response (CVR). [This is an excerpt from the abstract. For the complete abstract, please see the document.

This Woman\u27s Work: Corrosive Power Structures, Gendered Labor and Weariness in Margaret Atwood\u27s The Handmaid\u27s Tale and Oryx and Crake

In her 2007 essay “Slow Death (Sovereignty, Obesity, Lateral Agency),” Lauren Berlant asserts that “in the scene of slow death, a condition of being worn out by the activity of reproducing life, agency can be an activity of maintenance” (759). This concept emphasizes the difficulty of maintaining one’s agency while experiencing chronic exhaustion, or what can be referred to as the “wearied state.” Utilizing Berlant’s theoretical framework, this thesis investigates the concept of weariness in two dystopic texts: Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) and Oryx and Crake (2003). The respective protagonists of The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake, Offred and Oryx, each struggle to maintain their agency in the dystopic societies that work to oppress them. Offred, by utilizing wordplay, locates a way to successfully navigate her weariness while simultaneously subverting these who hold power over her. Oryx, oppositely, fails to recognize the sexual power dynamics of her position as a sex slave. Oryx fails to locate her agency, which causes her to normalize her sexually traumatic past. Overall, this thesis argues that weariness need not be final if one makes no attempt to normalize traumatic experiences, remains privy to oppressive ideologies, and retains the ability to cope

In the Wake of Heins: Break Out Your Rulers Missouri It\u27s Time to Measure Your Levees

Following the trend in other states, Missouri recently adopted the comparative reasonableness rule for cases involving the diversion of surface water and groundwater. The rule of reasonableness allows a landowner to make reasonable use of the land even though water drainage and flow is altered, as long as the use does not cause unreasonable harm. Missouri’s change to the reasonableness rule from the common-enemy doctrine has yielded favorable results for plaintiffs seeking damages for improper water disposal, but the rule’s initial adoption has left courts with wide latitude in how it should be interpreted. In the last decade, courts have continually expanded the rule of reasonable use in regard to water drainage and disposal, but have not had the opportunity to address reasonable use as it pertains to floodwater, levees, and major flood-protection facilities. The Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District of Missouri had the opportunity to clarify these issues in Robinson v. Missouri State Highway & Transportation Commission, and it held that the rule of reasonableness apples retroactively to all flood-control measures, whether or not the flood-control method succeeded the rule’s adoption

Alien Registration- Pryor, Matilda J. (Monticello, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/34046/thumbnail.jp