Inhibition of acetylcholine release from guinea pig myenteric neurons by neuropeptide Y: GTP-binding protein mediation

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a unique peptide with wide distribution in central and peripheral nervous systems. In the guinea pig, NPY-positive fibers are prominent in the myenteric plexus. To test whether NPY inhibits myenteric plexus acetylcholine (ACh) release and to define mechanisms, a purified preparation of myenteric plexus neurons was derived from the teniae coli of neonatal guinea pigs and maintained in primary culture. Incubation of cultured neurons labeled with [3H]ACh in the presence of NPY (10-14-10-6M) significantly inhibited basal ACh release (83 +/- 16 to 58 +/- 11% of control). NPY significantly inhibited ACh release stimulated by potassium (55 mM); by adenylate cyclase agonists forskolin (10-6M) and cholera toxin (10-8M); and by calcitonin gene-related peptide, cholecystokinin octapeptide, and vasoactive intestinal peptide (each 10-8M). In each instance, the inhibitory effects of NPY were reversed by preincubation with pertussis toxin. Reversal of inhibitory effects by pertussis toxin suggests that the actions of NPY are mediated via an inhibitory GTP-binding protein.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29312/1/0000376.pd

Inhibition of pancreatic protein secretion by ghrelin in the rat

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65653/1/j.1469-7793.2001.0231k.x.pd

Functional protease-activated receptors in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus

Protease-activated receptors (PARs), a family member of G-protein coupled receptors, are present and functionally active in a wide variety of cells. The object of this study was to demonstrate the presence and function of PAR-1 and PAR-2 in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV).DMNV neurons were isolated from neonatal rat brainstems using micro-dissection and enzymatic digestion. Neurons were cultured in Neurobasal medium A containing 2% B27 supplement. Intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca 2 +  ] i ) was measured using fura-2 based microspectrometry. Expression of PARs was detected by RT-PCR and immunofluorescent staining.Thrombin and PAR-1 agonist peptide activate PAR-1 with a maximum change in [Ca 2 +  ] i expressed as δF/F0 of 229 ± 14% and 137 ± 7%, respectively. Trypsin and PAR-2 agonist peptide activate PAR-2 with a maximum δF/F0 change of 258 ± 12% and 242 ± 10%, respectively. Inhibition of phospholipase C (PLC) by U73312 (1 μm) decreased the maximal change in δF/F0 induced by PAR-1 activation from 140 ± 17% to 21 ± 3%, while the PAR-2-mediated maximal change in δF/F0 decreased from 185 ± 21% to 19 ± 6%. Blockade of IP3 receptor with 2APB inhibited the maximal change in δF/F0 due to PAR-1 and PAR-2 activation by 72 ± 13% and 71 ± 20% respectively. PAR-1 immnuoreactivity was present in DMV neurons. Increase in transcripts for PAR-1 and PAR-2 were detected in DMV tissues derived from IBD rats relative to control animals. Our results indicate that PAR-1 and PAR-2 are present in the DMV neurons, and their activation leads to increases in intracellular calcium via signal transduction mechanism that involves activation of PLC and the production of IP3.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79371/1/j.1365-2982.2009.01391.x.pd

Dendritic outgrowth of myenteric plexus neurons in primary culture

Myenteric plexus neurons derived from neonatal guinea pigs, when exposed to serum, demonstrated a characteristic pattern of growth, including a proliferating outgrowth zone of glial cells, peripheral extension of dendritic processes, and progressive dendritic growth. Serum effects upon dendritic growth, measured morphometrically, was strongly dose- and temporally dependent. Dendritic density was increased 10-fold (120 hr) by the addition of 6% serum, while mean dendritic length was increased 3-fold. Development of cholinergic function was reflected by release of [3H]ACh in response to cholecystokinin octapeptide, vasoactive intestinal peptide, substance P, and calcitonin gene-related peptide (10-10 and 10-8M).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30133/1/0000510.pd

Perspective: Web-based machine learning models for real-time screening of thermoelectric materials properties

The experimental search for new thermoelectric materials remains largely confined to a limited set of successful chemical and structural families, such as chalcogenides, skutterudites, and Zintl phases. In principle, computational tools such as density functional theory (DFT) offer the possibility of rationally guiding experimental synthesis efforts toward very different chemistries. However, in practice, predicting thermoelectric properties from first principles remains a challenging endeavor [J. Carrete et al., Phys. Rev. X 4, 011019 (2014)], and experimental researchers generally do not directly use computation to drive their own synthesis efforts. To bridge this practical gap between experimental needs and computational tools, we report an open machine learning-based recommendation engine (http://thermoelectrics.citrination.com) for materials researchers that suggests promising new thermoelectric compositions based on pre-screening about 25 000 known materials and also evaluates the feasibility of user-designed compounds. We show this engine can identify interesting chemistries very different from known thermoelectrics. Specifically, we describe the experimental characterization of one example set of compounds derived from our engine, RE12Co5Bi (RE = Gd, Er), which exhibits surprising thermoelectric performance given its unprecedentedly high loading with metallic d and f block elements and warrants further investigation as a new thermoelectric material platform. We show that our engine predicts this family of materials to have low thermal and high electrical conductivities, but modest Seebeck coefficient, all of which are confirmed experimentally. We note that the engine also predicts materials that may simultaneously optimize all three properties entering into zT; we selected RE12Co5Bi for this study due to its interesting chemical composition and known facile synthesis.We thank the National Science Foundation for support of this research through NSF-DMR 1121053, as well as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the DARPA SIMPLEX program N66001-15-C-4036. Additionally, this research made extensive use of shared experimental facilities of the Materials Research Laboratory: a NSF MRSEC, supported by NSF-DMR 1121053. MWG is thankful for support from NSERC through a Postgraduate Scholarship, support from the US Department of State through an International Fulbright Science & Technology Award, and support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska–Curie grant agreement No. 659764. BM and GJM are founders and significant shareholders in Citrine Informatics Inc

DETERMINING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN KINEMATIC SEQUENCING AND BASEBALL PITCH VELOCITY USING MARKERLESS MOTION CAPTURE

The purpose of this study was to determine how the timings and magnitudes of peak pelvis rotational velocity, peak trunk rotational velocity, peak elbow extension velocity, and peak shoulder internal rotation velocity affect pitch velocity. Eighty pitchers (187.2 ± 8.2cm, 89.3 ± 13.0kg, 20.1 ± 3.3yrs) had a minimum of 3 fastballs recorded and video was processed using pitchAITM. Average pitch velocity was 38.1 ± 2.5 m/s. A multilinear regression generated a significant prediction for pitch velocity (R2 = 0.368 and p \u3c 0.01). Pitcher weight (β = 0.535, p \u3c 0.001), peak pelvis rotational velocity timing (β = -0.157, p = 0.001), peak elbow extension timing (β = 0.122, p = 0.006), and peak shoulder internal rotation timing (β = -0.113, p = 0.018), were significant contributors to the multilinear model. In conclusion, player weight and their kinematic sequence metrics from pitchAITM can be significant predictors of pitch velocity

Light scattering shape diagnostics for nano-agglomerates

Motivated by light scattering experiments showing enhanced intensity of electric field aligned nano-agglomerates vs. randomly oriented nano-agglomerates, we address the theoretical basis for this effect by applying the theory of small angle Rayleigh-Debye-Gans light scattering to oriented nano-clusters generated by classical diffusion–limited cluster-cluster aggregation (DLCA). Based on more than 100 nano-clusters with 30 monomers and with 100 monomers, the ratio of the slopes of the inverse of the structure factor vs. the momentum transfer squared (S(q)ˉ¹ vs. q² ) for the partially aligned (aligned along the major axis but free to rotate about that axis) and randomly oriented clusters is well correlated with a linear fit to the shape anisotropy, defined as the ratio of the square of the major to minor principle radii of gyration. It is also shown that state of the art small-angle aerosol scattering measurements would have the angular resolution required to measure the shape anisotropy with 30 to 1000 nano-monomers with a size parameter of 0.15. For large q for nano-clusters with 30 to1000 monomers, it is shown from the simulations that S(q) for the partially aligned clusters is not proportional to q[suberscript -Df] , where D[subscript f] is the fractal dimension, as it is for randomly oriented clusters. Nano-clusters with a fixed orientation are shown to result in a structure factor with multiple peaks, which could be used to obtain more detailed information about particle structure than shape anisotropy. The measurements reported in the literature showing enhanced scattering for partially aligned soot agglomerates were for angle integrated measurements. Calculation of the integrated light scattering cross section for the same range of angles and polarization direction as the experiments indicate a significant enhancement of 70 % and 120 % for two representative aspect ratios. The smaller value overlaps with measured values of the scattering enhancement for oriented soot agglomerates in an electric field

Galanin inhibits rat pancreatic amylase release via cholinergic suppression

The effects of galanin on pancreatic exocrine function were examined using rat pancreatic tissues. In anesthetized rats, galanin (40 [mu]g/kg/h) decreased amylase secretion stimulated by 2-deoxy glucose (5.8 +/- 0.1 vs. 3.1 +/- 0.1 times basal) and cholecystokinin octapeptide (21.5 +/- 0.6 vs. 16.8 +/- 0.5), while not inhibiting bethanechol-stimulated secretion. In dispersed acini, there was no effect of galanin alone (10-8 to 10-13 M) on amylase release, nor did galanin (10-6 or 10-8 M) coincubation affect amylase release stimulated by bethanechol (10-3 to 10-7 M) or CCK-8 (10-8 to 10-13 M). Using pancreatic lobules, coincubation with galanin (10-6 M) suppressed 75 mM KCl-stimulated amylase secretion and ACh release (10.1 +/- 0.6% vs. 7.3 +/- 0.4%). Veratridine-stimulated (10-4 M) amylase secretion and ACh release (12.4 +/- 1.7% vs. 8.5 +/- 0.7%) were similarly diminished.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30085/1/0000456.pd