Post-absorptive glucose lowering in normal healthy individuals: An epidemiological observation

Post-absorptive glucose lowering (PALG) is observed in individuals with glucose intolerance and in healthy individuals. We report a prevalence of about 23% among healthy Asian Indians. Individuals with PALG are characterized by leaner phenotype, low body fat percentage, increased insulin sensitivity and higher fasting glucose levels. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Transport of sugars by the fat body of the silkworm, Bombyx mori

The transport of glucose and α-methyl glucoside into the fat body of the silkworm, Bombyx mori L., has been studied. Glucose is transported into the tissue by a mechanism similar to facilitated diffusion and α-methyl glucoside by a diffusion process. The uptake of these sugars is neither energy dependent nor coupled to a phosphotransferase system.

Accumulation of glycine in the fat body of the silkworm, bombyx mori L. [31]

INVESTIGATIONS of intestinal transport of amino-acids in the locust1,2 and silkworm3,4 have shown no evidence for active accumulation in a transport from the insect gut of amino-acids. When glycine-2-14C was administered in vivo to fifth instar larvae of the silkworm, 96 per cent of the radioactivity was incorporated into various tissues within 1 h whereas in vitro only 19 per cent of the activity was transported by the mid-gut of silkworm (unpublished work). These results suggested that continued absorption of glycine by the intestine could be aided by a facilitated diffusion mechanism in which amino-acids are rapidly removed from the site of absorption either by accumulation into other tissues or by degradation. Although the insect fat body has been assigned both accumulatory and dissimilatory roles5, the mechanism of accumulation of amino-acids has not been investigated. Our present experiments show that the silkworm fat body possesses an efficient mechanism for accumulating glycine and that both the accumulation and the release of glycine are metabolically controlled.

Temperature Distribution in Resin Impregnated Paper Insulation for Transformer Bushings

The overall reliability of a power transformer depends to a great extent on the sound operation of the bushings thereof. Oil impregnated paper (OIP) insulated bushings have been in use for a long time now. In many situations, it becomes necessary to avoid OIP insulation in bushings. In the recent past, a new technological breakthrough has been achieved whereby the OIP is replaced by epoxy resin impregnated crepe paper (RIP) insulation. This new system has several advantages over OIP and has now become the insulation of choice. However, its long time thermal and electrical performance need to be carefully assessed. This paper reports the results of a study of temperature distribution in the body of insulation, based on the ac conductivity of RIP insulation. A method of computing the maximum thermal voltage of this system is also given.

A differential geometric method for kinematic analysis of two- and three-degree-of-freedom rigid body motions

In this paper, we present a novel differential geometric characterization of two- and three-degree-of-freedom rigid body kinematics, using a metric defined on dual vectors. The instantaneous angular and linear velocities of a rigid body are expressed as a dual velocity vector, and dual inner product is defined on this dual vector, resulting in a positive semi-definite and symmetric dual matrix. We show that the maximum and minimum magnitude of the dual velocity vector, for a unit speed motion, can be obtained as eigenvalues of this dual matrix. Furthermore, we show that the tip of the dual velocity vector lies on a dual ellipse for a two-degree-of-freedom motion and on a dual ellipsoid for a three-degree-of-freedom motion. In this manner, the velocity distribution of a rigid body can be studied algebraically in terms of the eigenvalues of a dual matrix or geometrically with the dual ellipse and ellipsoid. The second-order properties of the two- and three-degree-of-freedom motions of a rigid body are also obtained from the derivatives of the elements of the dual matrix. This results in a definition of the geodesic motion of a rigid body. The theoretical results are illustrated with the help of a spatial 2R and a parallel three-degree-of-freedom manipulator.

A Model for the Temperature Distribution in Resin Impregnated Paper Bushings

Resin impregnated paper (RIP) is a relatively new insulation system recommended for the use in transformer bushings. In the recent past, RIP has acquired prominence as insulation in bushings, over conventional oil impregnated paper (OIP), in view of its overwhelming advantages the more important among them being low dielectric loss and possibility for positioning the bushing at any desired angle over the transformer. In addition, the fact that such systems do not pose problems of fire hazard is counted as a very important consideration. The disadvantage of RIP compared to OIP, however, is its much higher cost and involved manufacturing process. The temperature rise in RIP bushings under normal operating conditions is seen to be a difficult parameter to control in view of the limited options for effective cooling. It is therefore essential to take serious note of this aspect, to arrest rapid deterioration of bushing. The degradation of dry-type insulation such as RIP is often due to thermal stress. The long time performance thereof, depends strongly, on the maximum operating temperature. With this in view, the Authors have developed a theoretical model and computational method to study the temperature distribution in the body of insulation. The Authors consider that the basis for the model as being the temperature and electric stress aided AC conductivity. The ensuing heat balance (continuity) equations in 2-D cylindrical geometry are treated as a Dirichelet-Neumann boundary value problem.

Long-Term Sustained Release of Salicylic Acid from Cross-Linked Biodegradable Polyester Induces a Reduced Foreign Body Response in Mice

There has been a continuous surge toward developing new biopolymers that exhibit better in vivo biocompatibility properties in terms of demonstrating a reduced foreign body response (FBR). One approach to mitigate the undesired FBR is to develop an implant capable of releasing anti-inflammatory molecules in a sustained manner over a long time period. Implants causing inflammation are also more susceptible to infection. In this article, the in vivo biocompatibility of a novel, biodegradable salicylic acid releasing polyester (SAP) has been investigated by subcutaneous implantation in a mouse model. The tissue response to SAP was compared with that of a widely used biodegradable polymer, poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), as a control over three time points: 2, 4, and 16 weeks postimplantation. A long-term in vitro study illustrates a continuous, linear (zero order) release of salicylic acid with a cumulative mass percent release rate of 7.34 x 10(-4) h(-1) over similar to 1.5-17 months. On the basis of physicochemical analysis, surface erosion for SAP and bulk erosion for PLGA have been confirmed as their dominant degradation modes in vivo. On the basis of the histomorphometrical analysis of inflammatory cell densities and collagen distribution as well as quantification of proinflammatory cytokine levels (TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta), a reduced foreign body response toward SAP with respect to that generated by PLGA has been unambiguously established. The favorable in vivo tissue response to SAP, as manifest from the uniform and well-vascularized encapsulation around the implant, is consistent with the decrease in inflammatory cell density and increase in angiogenesis with time. The above observations, together with the demonstration of long-term and sustained release of salicylic acid, establish the potential use of SAP for applications in improved matrices for tissue engineering and chronic wound healing.

Evaluation of anti-obesity activities of ethanolic extract of Terminalia paniculata bark on high fat diet-induced obese rats

Background: The prevalence and severity of obesity and associated co-morbidities are rapidly increasing across the world. Natural products-based drug intervention has been proposed as one of the crucial strategies for management of obesity ailments. This study was designed to investigate the anti-obesity activities of ethanolic extract of Terminalia paniculata bark (TPEE) on high fat diet-induced obese rats. Methods: LC-MS/MS analysis was done for ethanolic extract of T. paniculata bark. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into six groups of six each, normal diet fed (NC), high fat diet-fed (HFD), HFD+ orlistat (standard drug control) administered, and remaining three groups were fed with HFD + TPEE in different doses (100,150 and 200 mg/kg b. wt). For induction of obesity rats were initially fed with HFD for 9 weeks, then, (TPEE) was supplemented along with HFD for 42 days. Changes in body weight, body composition, blood glucose, insulin, tissue and serum lipid profiles, atherogenic index, liver markers, and expression of adipogenesis-related genes such as leptin, adiponectin, FAS, PPARgamma, AMPK-1alpha and SREBP-1c, were studied in experimental rats. Also, histopathological examination of adipose tissue was carried out. Results: Supplementation of TPEE reduced significantly (P < 0.05) body weight, total fat, fat percentage, atherogenic index, blood glucose, insulin, lipid profiles and liver markers in HFD-fed groups, in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of adipogenesis-related genes such as Leptin, FAS, PPARgamma, and SREBP-1c were down regulated while Adiponectin and AMPK-1alpha were up regulated in TPEE + HFD-fed rats. Furthermore, histopathological examination of adipose tissue revealed the alleviating effect of TPEE which is evident by reduced size of adipocytes. Conclusions: Together, the biochemical, histological and molecular studies unambiguously demonstrate the potential anti adipogenic and anti obesity activities of TPEE promoting it as a formidable candidate to develop anti obesity drug.

Spectral intensity distribution of trapped

To calculate static response properties of a many-body system, local density approximation (LDA) can be safely applied. But, to obtain dynamical response functions, the applicability of LDA is limited bacause dynamics of the system needs to be considered as well. To examine this in the context of cold atoms, we consider a system of non-interacting spin4 fermions confined by a harmonic trapping potential. We have calculated a very important response function, the spectral intensity distribution function (SIDF), both exactly and using LDA at zero temperature and compared with each other for different dimensions, trap frequencies and momenta. The behaviour of the SIDF at a particular momentum can be explained by noting the behaviour of the density of states (DoS) of the free system (without trap) in that particular dimension. The agreement between exact and LDA SIDFs becomes better with increase in dimensions and number of particles.

Many-Body Localization in the Presence of a Single-Particle Mobility Edge

In one dimension, noninteracting particles can undergo a localization-delocalization transition in a quasiperiodic potential. Recent studies have suggested that this transition transforms into a many-body localization (MBL) transition upon the introduction of interactions. It has also been shown that mobility edges can appear in the single particle spectrum for certain types of quasiperiodic potentials. Here, we investigate the effect of interactions in two models with such mobility edges. Employing the technique of exact diagonalization for finite-sized systems, we calculate the level spacing distribution, time evolution of entanglement entropy, optical conductivity, and return probability to detect MBL. We find that MBL does indeed occur in one of the two models we study, but the entanglement appears to grow faster than logarithmically with time unlike in other MBL systems.