Low-carbohydrate diets affect energy balance and fuel homeostasis differentially in lean and obese rats

In parallel with increased prevalence of overweight people in affluent societies are individuals trying to lose weight, often using low-carbohydrate diets. Nevertheless, long-term metabolic consequences of those diets, usually high in (saturated) fat, remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated long-term effects of high-fat diets with different carbohydrate/protein ratios on energy balance and fuel homeostasis in obese (fa/fa) Zucker and lean Wistar rats. Animals were fed high-carbohydrate (HC), high-fat (HsF), or low-carbohydrate, high-fat, high-protein (LC-HsF-HP) diets for 60 days. Both lines fed the LC-HsF-HP diet displayed reduced energy intake compared with those fed the HsF diet (Zucker, -3.7%) or the HC diet (Wistar rats, -12.4%). This was not associated with lower weight gain relative to HC fed rats, because of increased food efficiencies in each line fed HsF and particularly LC-HsF-HP food. Zucker rats were less glucose tolerant than Wistar rats. Lowest glucose tolerances were found in HsF and particularly in LC-HsF-HP-fed animals irrespective of line, but this paralleled reduced plasma adiponectin levels, elevated plasma resistin levels, higher retroperitoneal fat masses, and reduced insulin sensitivity (indexed by insulin-induced hypoglycemia) only in Wistar rats. In Zucker rats, however, improved insulin responses during glucose tolerance testing and tendency toward increased insulin sensitivities were observed with HsF or LC-HsF-HP feeding relative to HC feeding. Thus, despite adverse consequences of LC-HsF diets on blood glucose homeostasis, principal differences exist in the underlying hormonal regulatory mechanisms, which could have benefits for B-cell functioning and insulin action in the obese state but not in the lean state.

Psychological Well-being Pada Aktivis Dakwah Kampus

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji  bagaimana psychological well-being para mahasiswa aktivis dakwah kampus (mahasiswa aktivis Islam) yang aktif dalam organisasi dakwah kampus yang awalnya tidak mereka minati. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Metode pengumpulan data adalah wawancara mendalam (in-depth interview) berdasarkan pedoman wawancara yang disusun menggunakan konsep psychological well--being dari Ryff. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa dua partisipan penelitian ini sebagai aktivis dakwah kampus memiliki psychological well-being yang positif terutama pada dimensi penerimaan diri, hubungan positif dengan orang lain, otonomi, tujuan hidup dan pertumbuhan pribadi. Namun aspek  ‘penguasaan lingkungan’ mereka cenderung rendah. Selain itu ada dua faktor yang mempengaruhi psychological well-being mereka yaitu: dukungan kelompok dan religiusitas. Kata kunci: Psychological well-being, mahasiswa Aktivis Islam

Kewirausahawanan Dan Karakteristik Individu Wirausaha Rambak Di Desa Bangsal Mojokerto

The research is a survey descriptive research at rambak home-business in Bangsal Village MojokertoRegency. The first research purpose is finding out entrepreneurship spirit consisted of self confidence,task and result orientation, risk taking, leadership, originality, and orientation for future. Second, tofind out individual characteristics consisted of sex, age, business time length, education, and income.Third, is to find out entrepreneurship spirit from individual characteristic in detail. Analytical tools usedare scale rank analysis and cross tabulation. The result of research show that the entrepreneurshipspirit consist of self confidence, task and result orientation, risk taking, leadership, originality, andorientation for future are carried out in home business. Then, the individual characteristics consist ofsex, age, business time length, education, and income

Relating visual and semantic image descriptors

This paper addresses the automatic analysis of visual content and extraction of metadata beyond pure visual descriptors. Two approaches are described: Automatic Image Annotation (AIA) and Confidence Clustering (CC). AIA attempts to automatically classify images based on two binary classifiers and is designed for the consumer electronics domain. Contrastingly, the CC approach does not attempt to assign a unique label to images but rather to organise the database based on concepts

Psychological Well-being Pada Aktivis Dakwah Kampus

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji  bagaimana psychological well-being para mahasiswa aktivis dakwah kampus (mahasiswa aktivis Islam) yang aktif dalam organisasi dakwah kampus yang awalnya tidak mereka minati. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif. Metode pengumpulan data adalah wawancara mendalam (in-depth interview) berdasarkan pedoman wawancara yang disusun menggunakan konsep psychological well--being dari Ryff. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa dua partisipan penelitian ini sebagai aktivis dakwah kampus memiliki psychological well-being yang positif terutama pada dimensi penerimaan diri, hubungan positif dengan orang lain, otonomi, tujuan hidup dan pertumbuhan pribadi. Namun aspek  ‘penguasaan lingkungan’ mereka cenderung rendah. Selain itu ada dua faktor yang mempengaruhi psychological well-being mereka yaitu: dukungan kelompok dan religiusitas. Kata kunci: Psychological well-being, mahasiswa Aktivis Islam

Warum rauchen Schizophreniepatienten?

Zusammenfassung: Patienten mit schizophrenen Störungen zeigen eine erhöhte Prävalenz der Nikotinabhängigkeit. Diese Arbeit beleuchtet die Zusammenhänge zwischen Schizophrenie und Nikotinkonsum. Es gibt deutliche Hinweise dafür, dass wesentliche Bereiche kognitiver Funktionen bei Patienten mit schizophrenen Erkrankungen durch Nikotin verbessert werden, insbesondere Daueraufmerksamkeit, gerichtete Aufmerksamkeit, Arbeitsgedächtnis, Kurzzeitgedächtnis und Wiedergabe aus dem Gedächtnis. Auch konnten in einigen Studien mittels ereigniskorrelierten Potenzialen (P50-Paradigma) und der Präpulsinhibition des akustisch ausgelösten Schreckreflexes gezeigt werden, dass präattentive Maße der Informationsverarbeitung, die eine zentrale Rolle in der Schizophrenie spielen, durch Gabe von Nikotin verbessert werden können. Weiterhin kann Rauchen die durch antipsychotische Medikamente hervorgerufenen extrapyramidalen Nebenwirkungen verbessern, und es induziert das Zytochrom P4501A2, das auch an der Metabolisierung einiger Neuroleptika beteiligt ist. Zusammenfassend kann festgestellt werden, dass die Nikotinzufuhr bei Patienten mit schizophrenen Störungen eine Form der "Selbstmedikation" darstellen könnte, um Defizite im Bereich Aufmerksamkeit, Kognition und Informationsverarbeitung zu verbessern und um Nebenwirkungen von Antipsychotika zu reduzieren. Mögliche pharmakotherapeutische Ansätze zur Behandlung der gestörten Neurotransmission am nikotinergen Azetylcholinrezeptor werden diskutier

Control of seminal fluid protein expression via regulatory hubs in Drosophila melanogaster

Highly precise, yet flexible and responsive coordination of expression across groups of genes underpins the integrity of many vital functions. However, our understanding of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is often hampered by the lack of experimentally tractable systems, by significant computational challenges derived from the large number of genes involved or from difficulties in the accurate identification and characterization of gene interactions. Here we used a tractable experimental system in which to study GRNs: the genes encoding the seminal fluid proteins that are transferred along with sperm (the ‘transferome’) in Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies. The products of transferome genes are core determinants of reproductive success and, to date, only transcription factors have been implicated in the modulation of their expression. Hence, as yet, we know nothing about the post-transcriptional mechanisms underlying the tight, responsive and precise regulation of this important gene set. We investigated this omission in the current study. We first used bioinformatics to identify potential regulatory motifs that linked the transferome genes in a putative interaction network. This predicted the presence of putative microRNA (miRNA) ‘hubs’. We then tested this prediction, that post-transcriptional regulation is important for the control of transferome genes, by knocking down miRNA expression in adult males. This abolished the ability of males to respond adaptively to the threat of sexual competition, indicating a regulatory role for miRNAs in the regulation of transferome function. Further bioinformatics analysis then identified candidate miRNAs as putative regulatory hubs and evidence for variation in the strength of miRNA regulation across the transferome gene set. The results revealed regulatory mechanisms that can underpin robust, precise and flexible regulation of multiple fitness-related genes. They also help to explain how males can adaptively modulate ejaculate composition

Landing together: how flocks arrive at a coherent action in time and space in the presence of perturbations

Collective motion is abundant in nature, producing a vast amount of phenomena which have been studied in recent years, including the landing of flocks of birds. We investigate the collective decision making scenario where a flock of birds decides the optimal time of landing in the absence of a global leader. We introduce a simple phenomenological model in the spirit of the statistical mechanics-based self-propelled particles (SPP-s) approach to interpret this process. We expect that our model is applicable to a larger class of spatiotemporal decision making situations than just the landing of flocks (which process is used as a paradigmatic case). In the model birds are only influenced by observable variables, like position and velocity. Heterogeneity is introduced in the flock in terms of a depletion time after which a bird feels increasing bias to move towards the ground. Our model demonstrates a possible mechanism by which animals in a large group can arrive at an egalitarian decision about the time of switching from one activity to another in the absence of a leader. In particular, we show the existence of a paradoxical effect where noise enhances the coherence of the landing process.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure