ESTROGEN RECEPTOR REGULATION OF GLUCOSE AND FAT METABOLISM IN THE SKELETAL MUSCLE AND ADIPOSE TISSUE

Clinical studies suggest that postmenopausal women are at an increased risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D), and hormone replacement therapy can ameliorate this risk. Considerable clinical and experimental evidence exists demonstrating the ability of estrogen to modulate glucose metabolism in insulin responsive tissues such as the skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. Specifically, previous studies suggest estrogen receptor α (ERα) is involved in estrogen-mediated regulation of metabolism and is critical for the maintenance of whole body insulin action. However, very little is known regarding the mechanisms of action of ERα in insulin-responsive tissues. In addition, clinical evidence demonstrates that many women gain weight following menopause. This increase in body weight is accompanied by an increase in abdominal adipose tissue, which greatly increases one's risk for T2D. These studies are supported by animal models of ovariectomy (OVX) in which removal of the ovaries results in increased total body weight and fat pad weight, which are ameliorated by estrogen treatment. However, the mechanism of estrogen's action remains unknown. The purpose of our studies was to determine the effect of an obesity promoting high-fat diet (HFD) on skeletal muscle and adipose tissue estrogen receptor regulation and glucose metabolism in female rats with and without OVX. Furthermore we determined the effects of specific ERα activation on skeletal muscle glucose metabolism and adipose tissue triglyceride regulation. We found that a HFD decreased whole body glucose intolerance, without decreasing insulin-stimulated skeletal muscle glucose uptake, as previously found in male animal models. In female animal models, the HFD-induced decrease in whole body glucose tolerance likely occurred from alterations in the adipose tissue such as decreased glucose transporter 4 and ERα protein levels and increased activation of stress kinases. Furthermore, specific activation of ERα increased glucose uptake and potentiated the insulin signaling pathway in skeletal muscle. In addition, specific ERα activation decreased body weight and fat pad weight, decreased proteins involved in lipogenesis, and increased proteins involved in lipolysis. This information suggests novel roles of ERα in skeletal muscle glucose metabolism and adipocyte regulation and may help explain the metabolic differences between premenopausal and postmenopausal women

Route 1's intangible heritage: the lost motels of College Park

Masters final project submitted to the Faculty of the Historic Preservation Program, School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Historic Preservation. HISP 710/711 final project, 2014.From the 1920s to the 1950s, tourist camps and motels were established along Route 1 in College Park, Maryland, to take advantage of the tourist traffic heading to and from Washington, D.C. Fifteen tourist camps and motels were identified within the project area, none of which survive in their original location or condition. They constitute the earliest stages in the development of roadside lodging and represent a variety of architectural styles which reflect their eras of construction, although most took the form of cabin camps. A variety of factors, some of which occurred on a national level, contributed to their decline, such as the construction of the Capital Beltway, the growth of the University of Maryland, the rise of referral, franchise, and company-owned hotels, and self-redevelopment to meet new demands. College Park’s roadside is an ever-changing environment that reflects the needs of each passing generation. These camps and motels, although no longer standing, are an important part of the story of America’s growing dependence on the automobile, which is evidenced by suburban development, as well as landscape and architectural design. Due to the intangible nature of these sites, creative methods of interpretation must be used to present their stories to the public, such as interpretive signage, a website, an iPhone app, history pin, driving tours, or a brochure

Garifuna Place-Making: Hope for the Guatemalan Nation

In this thesis I use the geographic framework of moral progress to analyze the few places within Guatemala that are being constructed by the Garinagu. I use specific criteria from the framework to judge whether or not the Garinagu are making moral progress based on information I acquired through my progressive fieldwork and literature. While Guatemalans have been struggling for more than a decade to experience more fully the Peace Accords, the unique Garifuna communities of Livingston and Puerto Barrios (and places within them, such as the schools, spiritual places, and the Garifuna Cultural Institute) encourage truth, diversity, and justice. I argue that making known this ongoing successful process of constructing and reconstructing the Garifuna communities could provide hope for the rest of the "hopelessly dichotomous" Guatemalan nation

The importance of 15O(a,g)19Ne to X-ray bursts and superbursts

One of the two breakout reactions from the hot CNOcycle is 15O(a,g)19Ne, which at low temperatures depends strongly on the resonance strength of the 4.033 MeV state in 19Ne. An experimental upper limit has been placed on its strength, but the lower limit on the resonance strength and thereby the astrophysical reaction rate is unconstrained experimentally. However, this breakout reaction is crucial to the thermonuclear runaway which causes type I X-ray bursts on accreting neutron stars. In this paper we exploit astronomical observations in an attempt to constrain the relevant nuclear physics and deduce a lower limit on the reaction rate. Our sensitivity study implies that if the rate were sufficiently small, accreting material would burn stably without bursts. The existence of type I X-ray bursts and superbursts consequently suggests a lower limit on the 15O(a,g)19Ne reaction rate at low temperatures.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, uses apj.sty, accepted for publ. in Astrophys.

Preparation and characterization of Fe/ Ah03 catalyst for steam reforming of ethanol

This project is mainly about the preparation of the alumina supported catalyst for the steam reforming of ethanol. The catalyst which needs to be prepared is Fe/Ah03. Mostly in industry steam reforming is mainly used for methanol and ethanol which source from the natural gas. This process widely used to obtain hydrogen gases which are one of the alternative sources of energy for fuel oil. The main problem in this project is how to prepare the Fe/Ah03 catalyst in a lab scale and to do the characterization of the catalyst itself. To obtain a well structured catalyst, a thorough research on the method of preparation is made which the scope covers mostly about precipitation and impregnation method. Both precipitation and impregnation methods have different steps in preparation which leads to the same output product which is the catalyst. Impregnation method will have the prepared solution having the metal precursor to fill in the pore structure of the support bodies while precipitation process consist of preparation of the support itself from the molecular level then follows the same steps in impregnation method. From the findings throughout certain researches in the industrial production, impregnation method implies better result in a lab scale production. Thus, further studies in impregnation method are required for the preparation of catalyst through experiment. Once the procedure and operating parameters are identified, then the experiments for the catalyst preparation will be conducted

Modelització de gasos en condicions supercrítiques. Validació del codi RHEA

El codi de simulació flowsolverRHEA, és un codi de simulació de gasos en condicions supercrítiques i està dissenyat per simulacions a gran escala. El present projecte s’integra en la mecànica de fluids i es basa en la validació del codi de simulació flowsolverRHEA utilitzant l’equació d’estat de Peng-Robinson. Es comença definint el codi de simulació, l’equació de Peng-Robinson i els 7 coeficients polinomials de Janaf-NASA. Un cop explicat el codi es procedeix a explicar el funcionament del codi i totes les seves limitacions. Per comprovar el funcionament de l’equació d’estat de Peng-Robinson es compara els resultats del codi amb les dades publicades del NIST i l’equació d’estat de gas ideal. En els annexos hi ha gràfiques que s’obtenen de les simulacions per diferents substàncies, pressions i temperatures. Aquestes gràfiques serveixen d’ajut per valorar si el flowsolverRHEA obtindrà un bon resultat abans d’utilitzar-lo. En la majoria de casos s’ha simulat fins a gairebé 30 vegades la pressió crítica. Un cop validat el codi de simulació es presenten els resultats obtinguts de les simulacions pels diferents gasos en forma de gràfiques i taules de resultats. S’ha de tenir en compte que les dades del NIST tenen certa incertesa. No tenir un resultat exacte a les dades del NIST no significa que el flowsolverRHEA no proporcioni un bon resultat. Quan el flowsolverRHEA es compara amb el model de gas ideal s’observa que és molt més fiable i exacte.El código de simulación flowsolverRHEA, es un código de simulación de gases en condiciones supercríticas y está diseñado para simulaciones a gran escala. El presente proyecto se integra en la mecánica de fluidos y se basa en la validación del código de simulación flowsolverRHEA utilizando la ecuación de estado de Peng-Robinson. Se empieza definiendo el código de simulación, la ecuación de Peng-Robinson y los 7 coeficientes polinomiales de Janaf-NASA. Una vez explicado el código se procede a explicar el funcionamiento del código y todas sus funciones. Para comprobar el funcionamiento de la ecuación de estado de Peng-Robinson se comparan los resultados del código con las dadas publicadas en el NIST y la ecuación de estados de gas ideal. En los anexos hay gráficas que se obtienen de las simulaciones para diferentes sustancias, presiones y temperaturas. Estas gráficas sirven de ayuda para valorar si el flowsolverRHEA tendrá un buen resultado antes de utilizarlo. En la mayoría de casos se ha simulado hasta casi 30 veces la presión crítica. Una vez validado el código de simulación se presentan los resultados obtenidos de las simulaciones para diferentes gases en forma de gráficos y de tablas. Hay que tener en cuenta que las dadas del NIST tienen cierta incerteza. No tener un resultado exacto a las dadas del NIST no significa que el flowsolverRHEA no de un buen resultado. Cuando el flowsolverRHEA se compara con el modelo de gas ideal se observa que es mucho mas fiable y exacto.The flowsolverRHEA simulation code, is a gas simulation code in supercritical conditions and is designed for large-scale simulations. The present project is integrated into fluid mechanics and is based on the validation of the flowsolverRHEA simulation code using the Peng-Robinson state equation. It begins by defining the simulation code, the Peng-Robinson equation, and the 7 Janaf-NASA polynomial coefficients. Once the code has been explained, the operation of the code and all its limitations are explained. To test the operation of the Peng-Robinson state equation, the results of the code are compared with the published data from NIST and the ideal gas state equation. In the appendices there are graphs obtained from the simulations for different substances, pressures and temperatures. These graphs help to assess whether the flowsolverRHEA will perform well before use. In most cases, the critical pressure has been simulated up to almost 30 times. Once the simulation code has been validated, the results obtained from the simulations for the different gases are presented in the form of graphs and tables of results. It should be noted that the NIST data has some uncertainty. Not having an exact result in NIST data does not mean that flowsolverRHEA does not provide a good result. When the flowsolverRHEA is compared to the ideal gas model it is observed to be much more reliable and accurate.

Physical Properties of Soils Altered by Invasive Pheretimoid Earthworms: Does Their Casting Layer Create Thermal Refuges?

Pheretimoid earthworms are invasive in hardwood forests of formerly glaciated regions in the USA. They alter the forest floor structure by creating an extensive, several cm-deep casting layer comprising loose macro-aggregates. Little is known about the physical properties of the casting layer and how they relate to earthworm ecology. Here, thermal and macropore properties of three forest soil textures (clay, silt, and sandy soils, with and without pheretimoids) were measured and compared to explore the possible relationships to their ecology. Thermal properties were significantly different between the casting layer (CAST) and original soil (NOCAST). Results indicate that CAST soils dampen temperature fluctuations occurring at the surface more than NOCAST soil. The increased dampening may be of particular importance to pheretimoid survival in forest fires and during spring when surface fluctuations could expose the hatchlings to fatal temperatures. Macropore volume, an indicator of ease of movement of pheretimoids, was significantly greater in CAST than NOCAST soil. Together, the ease of movement and greater temperature dampening of CAST soils may provide thermal refuges to pheretimoids from temperature variations outside the optimal range. This may improve their chances of survival in newly colonized areas where the climate differs from the original range.University of Vermont's Agricultural Research Station [1018366]; Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council, TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [2219]This research was funded by The University of Vermont's Agricultural Research Station (Hatch 1018366) and the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council, TUBITAK (International Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship 2219)