The Effects of an Acute Bout of Exercise on Hunger Hormones in Individuals at Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

Background: Hunger hormone levels are typically dysregulated in obese and diabetic populations, however; postprandial exercise has been shown to influence hunger hormone levels. Purpose: To determine if hunger hormones including acylated ghrelin and GLP-1 levels are altered in response to an acute bout (15 minutes) of walking in individuals at risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: Ten subjects at risk for prediabetes (fasting blood glucose 100–125mg/dL) participated in this randomized crossover design trial. Subjects arrived at the laboratory following an overnight fast and underwent one of two conditions: 1) Test meal with no walking (CON) or 2) Test meal followed by a 15-minute treadmill walk at preferred walking speed (WALK). Blood samples were taken over two hours and assayed for acylated ghrelin and active GLP-1. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare mean differences for all outcome variables. Results: There were no statistical differences in acylated ghrelin (F = 1.535, p = 0.247) or GLP-1 (F = 0.003, p = 0.955) concentrations between CON and WALK conditions at any time period. There was a main effect of time for ghrelin (F = 41.339; p \u3c 0.001). Post hoc analysis indicated a significant difference between baseline and 60 minutes (p \u3c 0.001) and between baseline and 120 minutes (p \u3c 0.001) for acylated ghrelin concentrations. No difference was found between 60 minutes and 120 minutes (p = 0.834). There was a main effect of time for GLP-1 (F = 17.968; p \u3c 0.001). Post hoc analysis indicated a significant difference between baseline and 60 minutes (p = 0.001) and between baseline and 120 minutes (p = 0.002) for GLP-1 concentrations. No difference was found between 60 minutes and 120 minutes (p = 0.665). There was no significant difference in the AUC for acylated ghrelin between the CON and WALK conditions (t = -1.257; p = 0.240). There was no significant difference in the AUC for GLP-1 between the CON and WALK conditions (t = -0.107; p = 0.918). Correlations between perceived hunger and biological hunger were weak and nonsignificant (p \u3e 0.05). Conclusion: A 15-minute walk performed shortly after a meal does not have a significant impact on hunger hormones including acylated ghrelin and active GLP-1 concentrations in individuals at risk for T2DM

Discovery of strongly blue shifted mid-infrared [NeIII] and [NeV] emission in ULIRGs

We report the discovery of blue shifted (delta(V) > 200 km/s) mid-infrared [NeIII] and/or [NeV] emission in 25 out of 82 ULIRGs (30% of our sample). The incidence of blue shifted [NeV] emission is even higher (59%) among the sources with a [NeV] detection -- the tell-tale signature of an active galactic nucleus (AGN). Sixteen ULIRGs in our sample, eleven of which are optically classified as AGN, have [NeIII] blue shifts above 200 km/s. A comparison of the line profiles of their 12.81um [NeII], 15.56um [NeIII] and 14.32um [NeV] lines reveals the ionization of the blue shifted gas to increase with blue shift, implying decelerating outflows in a stratified medium, photo-ionized by the AGN. The strong correlation of the line width of the [NeIII] line with the radio luminosity indicates that interaction of expanding radio jets with the dense ISM surrounding the AGN may explain the observed neon line kinematics for the strongest radio sources in this sample.Comment: Accepted for publication by ApJ Letters. 15 pages, 4 figure

Compensation of the Federal Judiciary: A Reexamination

The compensation of the federal judiciary has been a persistent issue since the enactment of the Judiciary Act of 1789. The problem has been traditionally perceived in the context of particular proposals for salary increases, but the underlying issues are much more fundamental than the concerns of the day. The institutional arrangements by which judicial compensation is determined and the factors which shape that determination have a profound impact on the fiscal and human resources of the judiciary, on the power relationships among the three branches of the national government, and, thereby, on the independence and quality of the judicial branch. Though many analogous problems are shared by state judges, those of the federal judiciary are of special concern. Its judges enjoy a salient prestige, its courts are distributed geographically throughout the country, and its relationship with Congress and the Executive Branch is unique. While the states differ widely in their approaches to judicial compensation, these differences no doubt reflect variations in local needs and priorities. The federal system itself, on the other hand, establishes a dichotomy which sets federal courts and judges apart from their state counterparts, implying separate consideration of their requirements. This analysis, therefore, will first examine and criticize the present system of compensation for federal judges. Next, an inquiry will be made into the purposes and goals that a compensation scheme for the federal judiciary should serve. Finally, a proposal for a new system of compensation will be offered, which, it is hoped, is responsive to presently perceived needs

Educational Plan for Certified Nursing Assistants in Long-Term Care Facilities on Assessing Pain of Residents with Dementia

Certified nursing assistants employed in long-term care agencies may have little education on the assessment of pain experienced by residents with dementia. The purpose of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Project was to develop an evidenced-based teaching plan for certified nursing assistants caring for residents with dementia in long-term care settings. The plan includes content on dementia, dementia symptoms, pain indicators, and pain assessment in residents with dementia, non-medicinal management strategies, and communication strategies for referring assessment findings to licensed practical and registered nurses. Supplemental PowerPoint™ slides were developed that match the teaching plan. The draft teaching plan was judged by health care professionals, expert in the care of residents in long-term care settings. The revised teaching plan and corresponding PowerPoint™ slides will be shared with long-term care settings

Detections of water ice, hydrocarbons, and 3.3um PAH in z~2 ULIRGs

We present the first detections of the 3um water ice and 3.4um amorphous hydrocarbon (HAC) absorption features in z~2 ULIRGs. These are based on deep rest-frame 2-8um Spitzer IRS spectra of 11 sources selected for their appreciable silicate absorption. The HAC-to-silicate ratio for our z~2 sources is typically higher by a factor of 2-5 than that observed in the Milky Way. This HAC `excess' suggests compact nuclei with steep temperature gradients as opposed to predominantly host obscuration. Beside the above molecular absorption features, we detect the 3.3um PAH emission feature in one of our sources with three more individual spectra showing evidence for it. Stacking analysis suggests that water ice, hydrocarbons, and PAH are likely present in the bulk of this sample even when not individually detected. The most unexpected result of our study is the lack of clear detections of the 4.67um CO gas absorption feature. Only three of the sources show tentative signs of this feature and at significantly lower levels than has been observed in local ULIRGs. Overall, we find that the closest local analogs to our sources, in terms of 3-4um color, HAC-to-silicate and ice-to-silicate ratios, as well as low PAH equivalent widths are sources dominated by deeply obscured nuclei. Such sources form only a small fraction of ULIRGs locally and are commonly believed to be dominated by buried AGN. Our sample suggests that, in absolute number, such buried AGN are at least an order of magnitude more common at z~2 than today. The presence of PAH suggests that significant levels of star-formation are present even if the obscured AGN typically dominate the power budget.Comment: 39 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The nature and evolution of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies: A mid-infrared spectroscopic survey

We report the first results of a low resolution mid-infrared spectroscopic survey of an unbiased, far-infrared selected sample of 60 ultraluminous infrared galaxies, using ISOPHOT-S on board ISO. We use the ratio of the 7.7um `PAH' emission feature to the local continuum as a discriminator between starburst and AGN activity. About 80% of all the ULIRGs are found to be predominantly powered by star formation but the fraction of AGN powered objects increases with luminosity. Observed ratios of the PAH features in ULIRGs differ slightly from those in lower luminosity starbursts. This can be plausibly explained by the higher extinction and/or different physical conditions in the interstellar medium of ULIRGs. The PAH feature-to-continuum ratio is anticorrelated with the ratio of feature-free 5.9um continuum to the IRAS 60um continuum, confirming suggestions that strong mid-IR continuum is a prime AGN signature. The location of starburst-dominated ULIRGs in such a diagram is consistent with previous ISO-SWS spectroscopy which implies significant extinction even in the mid-infrared. We have searched for indications that ULIRGs which are advanced mergers might be more AGN-like, as postulated by the classical evolutionary scenario. No such trend has been found amongst those objects for which near infrared images are available to assess their likely merger status.Comment: aastex, 4 eps figures. Revised version, accepted by ApJ (Letters