Exogenous GH can affect central nervous system function when given peripherally to animals and as a supplemental therapy to humans. This study tested whether GH crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB) ...by a specific transport system and found that both mice and rats have small but significant uptake of GH into the brain without a species difference. Determined by multiple-time regression analysis, the blood-to-brain influx transfer constants of 125I-labeled rat GH in mice (0.23 ± 0.07 μl/g·min) and rats (0.32 ± 0.04 μl/g·min) were comparable to those of some cytokines of similar size, with a half-time disappearance of 125I-GH of 3.8–7.6 min in blood. Intact 125I-GH was present in both serum and brain homogenate 20 min after iv injection. At this time, about 26.8% of GH in brain entered the parenchyma, whereas 10% was entrapped in endothelial cells. Neither excess GH nor insulin showed acute modulation of the influx, indicating lack of a saturable transport system for GH at the BBB. Binding and cellular uptake studies in cultured cerebral microvessel endothelial cells (RBE4) further ruled out the presence of high-capacity adsorptive endocytosis. The brain influx of GH by simple diffusion adds definitive value to the long-disputed question of whether and how GH crosses the BBB. The central nervous system effects of peripheral GH can be attributed to permeation of the BBB despite the absence of a specific transport system.
In situ deformation experiments were performed in a transmission electron microscope to investigate the mechanical properties of submicron-sized Pd40Cu30Ni10P20 metallic glass (MG) wires. Results ...show that the submicron-sized MG wires exhibit intrinsic ultrahigh tensile strength of ∼2.8GPa, which is nearly twice as high as that in their bulk counterpart, and ∼5% elastic strain approaching the elastic limits. The tensile strength, engineering strain at failure and deformation mode of the submicron-sized MG wires depend on the diameter of the wires.
This article extends the stochastic cell transmission model (SCTM) to simulate traffic flows on networks with stochastic demand and supply. The SCTM divides a roadway segment into cells and accepts ...the means and variances of stochastic travel demand and supply functions as exogenous inputs, and produces the corresponding cell traffic densities over time. This article defines the rules of flow propagation for freeway corridors, traffic merges/diverges and signalised junctions based on a kind of link-node model. In the numerical studies, we simulate the proposed model with a hypothetical network. We apply the SCTM to estimate the queues and delays at signalised intersections. Compared with some well-known delay and queue estimation formulas, e.g. Webster, Beckmann, McNeil and Akcelik, the results show good consistency between the SCTM and these formulas. In addition, the SCTM describes the temporal behaviour of the queue and delay distributions at signalised junctions with stochastic supply functions and (non-stationary) arrivals.
Many guidelines advocate measurement of total or low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), and triglycerides (TG) to determine treatment recommendations ...for preventing coronary heart disease (CHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This analysis is a comparison of lipid variables as predictors of cardiovascular disease.
Hazard ratios for coronary and cardiovascular deaths by fourths of total cholesterol (TC), LDL, HDL, TG, non-HDL, TC/HDL, and TG/HDL values, and for a one standard deviation change in these variables, were derived in an individual participant data meta-analysis of 32 cohort studies conducted in the Asia-Pacific region. The predictive value of each lipid variable was assessed using the likelihood ratio statistic.
Adjusting for confounders and regression dilution, each lipid variable had a positive (negative for HDL) log-linear association with fatal CHD and CVD. Individuals in the highest fourth of each lipid variable had approximately twice the risk of CHD compared with those with lowest levels. TG and HDL were each better predictors of CHD and CVD risk compared with TC alone, with test statistics similar to TC/HDL and TG/HDL ratios. Calculated LDL was a relatively poor predictor.
While LDL reduction remains the main target of intervention for lipid-lowering, these data support the potential use of TG or lipid ratios for CHD risk prediction.
Registration of ‘Ho 05‐961’ sugarcane Todd, J. R.; Hale, A. L.; Pan, Y.‐B. ...
Journal of plant registrations,
20/May , Volume:
16, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
‘Ho 05‐961’ (Reg. no. CV‐207, PI 699490) sugarcane (interspecific hybrids of Saccharum spp.) was evaluated and selected by scientists at the USDA‐ARS, working cooperatively with the Louisiana State ...University Agricultural Center and the American Sugar Cane League, Inc. It was released to growers in Louisiana in 2012. The cultivar was tested across the crop cycle (plant cane and first and second ratoons) at 11 farm locations and compared with HoCP 96‐540, the most widely grown cultivar in Louisiana at that time. The sucrose yield (Mg ha−1) of Ho 05‐961 was equivalent to HoCP 96‐540. Ho 05‐961 had sucrose content significantly higher for each crop, indicating moderately early maturity. The cultivar is moderately resistant to smut, brown rust, and leaf scald. HoCP 05‐961 is moderately susceptible to sugarcane mosaic caused by Sorghum mosaic virus and orange rust. It is moderately resistant to the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis F., and moderately responsive to glyphosate ripener. The high sucrose content of Ho 05‐961 makes it a useful addition to current commercial sugarcane cultivars available for Louisiana.
Core Ideas
Ho 05‐961 sugarcane cultivar was released to Louisiana growers.
The sucrose yield of Ho 05‐961 was equivalent to and sucrose content higher than the check cultivar.
Ho 05‐961 was moderately resistant to several sugarcane diseases.
High sucrose content makes Ho 05‐961 a useful addition to current sugarcane cultivars.
Motion capture data in an uncompressed form can be expensive to store, and slow to load and transmit. Current compression methods for motion capture data are primarily lossy and cause distortions in ...the motion data. In this paper, we present a lossless compression algorithm for motion capture data. First, we propose a novel Alpha Parallelogram Predictor (APP) to estimate the DOF (degree of freedom) of each child joint from those of its immediate neighbors and parents that have already been processed. The prediction parameter of the predictor, which is referred to as the alpha parameter, is adaptively chosen from a carefully designed lookup table. Second, we divide the predicted and actual values into three components: sign, exponent and mantissa. We then compress their corrections separately with context-based arithmetic coding. Compared with other lossless compression methods, our approach can achieve a higher compression ratio with a comparable compression time. It can be used in situations where lossy compression is not preferred.
Depression and anxiety have long been hypothesized to be related to an increased cancer risk. Despite the great amount of research that has been conducted, findings are inconclusive. To provide a ...stronger basis for addressing the associations between depression, anxiety, and the incidence of various cancer types (overall, breast, lung, prostate, colorectal, alcohol-related, and smoking-related cancers), individual participant data (IPD) meta-analyses were performed within the Psychosocial Factors and Cancer Incidence (PSY-CA) consortium.
The PSY-CA consortium includes data from 18 cohorts with measures of depression or anxiety (up to N = 319,613; cancer incidences, 25,803; person-years of follow-up, 3,254,714). Both symptoms and a diagnosis of depression and anxiety were examined as predictors of future cancer risk. Two-stage IPD meta-analyses were run, first by using Cox regression models in each cohort (stage 1), and then by aggregating the results in random-effects meta-analyses (stage 2).
No associations were found between depression or anxiety and overall, breast, prostate, colorectal, and alcohol-related cancers. Depression and anxiety (symptoms and diagnoses) were associated with the incidence of lung cancer and smoking-related cancers (hazard ratios HRs, 1.06-1.60). However, these associations were substantially attenuated when additionally adjusting for known risk factors including smoking, alcohol use, and body mass index (HRs, 1.04-1.23).
Depression and anxiety are not related to increased risk for most cancer outcomes, except for lung and smoking-related cancers. This study shows that key covariates are likely to explain the relationship between depression, anxiety, and lung and smoking-related cancers. PREREGISTRATION NUMBER: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=157677.
The effects of the deacetylation degree (DD) and preparation methods for chitosan on antimicrobial activity were evaluated. Chemically prepared chitin (CH-chitin) and microbiologically prepared ...chitin (MO-chitin) were obtained from shrimp shells. The CH-chitin and MO-chitin were further chemically deacetylated to obtain various chitosan products of which their DD ranged from low (47-53%) through medium DD (74-76%) to high (95-98%). In addition, MO-chitin was deacetylated also by various proteases. The antimicrobial activities of these products were evaluated in medium with pH 6.0. Neither the CH-chitin, MO-chitin nor protease-deacetylated chitinous products showed any antimicrobial activity. For chitosan, antimicrobial activity increased with increasing DD, and was stronger against bacteria than against fungi. The minimal lethal concentrations (MLC) of chitosan with a high DD against Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella dysenteriae, Staphylococcus aureus, Vibrio cholerae, and V. parahaemolyticus were all in the range of 50-200 p.p.m., whereas the MLC against Candida albicans and Fusarium oxysporum were 200 p.p.m. and 500 p.p.m., respectively. No antifungal activity was found at 2000 p.p.m. against Aspergillus fumigatus or A. parasiticus. Pretreatment of fish fillets (Oncorhynchus nereka) with 1% chitosan solution (high DD) for 3h retarded the increase in the volatile basic nitrogen content, as well as the counts for mesophiles, psychrotrophs, coliforms, Aeromonas spp., and Vibrio spp. The shelf life was consequently extended from 5 days to 9 days.
Background/Aims: The study aims to identify children's dietary patterns and explore the relationship between dietary patterns and respiratory diseases. Methods: Subjects were 2,397 fourth graders in ...14 Taiwanese communities who participated in the Taiwan Children Health Study. This study is based on an evaluation of dietary patterns, performed from April until June 2011. Information pertaining to respiratory disease was obtained by The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire, and dietary intake data obtained by food frequency questionnaire. Factor analysis and reduced rank regression (RRR) were both used to analyze dietary patterns. Results: Using factor analysis, it was found that children on a high-protein, high-fat, Western diet had a significantly higher risk of allergic rhinitis (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01-1.20). Lower ORs were noted for current wheezing, ever asthma and bronchitis in children eating a healthy diet than those on a high-protein, high-fat, Western diet. Using RRR, it was found that children on a high-protein, high-fat diet had significantly higher risks of allergic rhinitis (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.07-1.27), current wheezing (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.04-1.45) and bronchitis (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.09-1.46). Conclusions: A diet rich in fat and protein may increase the risk of respiratory disease in children.
Diabetes mellitus (DM) patients need to control their blood sugar level in order to achieve a good quality of life. This study was conducted using the health belief model (HBM), to explore the ...factors behind the bitter melon peptide (BMP) intake behavior and the role of self-efficacy in the model.
The subjects were type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Taiwan. A structured questionnaire was adopted from the theory of health belief model and modified specifically for this study as an instrument to survey 292 DM patients, of whom 51.03% were female, 75.68% were married, and 49.32% were aged 40 to 64 years old. The data were analyzed using
-tests, one-way ANOVA and regression.
Perceived susceptibility was the most sensitive in the response to the various demographic factors, whereas perceived barrier was the least sensitive. The HBM explained 38.0% of BMP intake behavior. Perceived benefits (β= 0.357) and perceived susceptibility (β= 0.348) were the major predictors. Self-efficacy mediated the relationship between perceived benefits and BMP intake behavior, as well as increased the variance explained to 51.30%.
The perceived benefits of taking BMP and perceived susceptibility to DM complications were the two major drivers acting on BMP intake behavior. The power of perceived benefits was mediated by self-efficacy in driving DM patients to take BMP regularly. Several ways of affecting perceived susceptibility and perceived benefits were suggested.
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