A hypoplastic model of skeletal muscle development displaying reduced foetal myoblast cell numbers, increased oxidative myofibres and improved specific tension capacity

The major component of skeletal muscle is the myofibre. Genetic intervention inducing over-enlargement of myofibres beyond a certain threshold through acellular growth causes a reduction in the specific tension generating capacity of the muscle. However the physiological parameters of a genetic model that harbours reduced skeletal muscle mass have yet to be analysed. Genetic deletion of Meox2 in mice leads to reduced limb muscle size and causes some patterning defects. The loss of Meox2 is not embryonically lethal and a small percentage of animals survive to adulthood making it an excellent model with which to investigate how skeletal muscle responds to reductions in mass. In this study we have performed a detailed analysis of both late foetal and adult muscle development in the absence of Meox2. In the adult, we show that the loss of Meox2 results in smaller limb muscles that harbour reduced numbers of myofibres. However, these fibres are enlarged. These myofibres display a molecular and metabolic fibre type switch towards a more oxidative phenotype that is induced through abnormalities in foetal fibre formation. In spite of these changes, the muscle from Meox2 mutant mice is able to generate increased levels of specific tension compared to that of the wild type.

A sequential two meal challenge reveals abnormalities in postprandial TAG but not glucose in men with increasing numbers of metabolic syndrome components

Objective To examine the impact of increasing numbers of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components on postprandial lipaemia. Methods Healthy men (n = 112) underwent a sequential meal postprandial investigation, in which blood samples were taken at regular intervals after a test breakfast (0 min) and lunch (330 min). Lipids and glucose were measured in the fasting sample, with triacylglycerol (TAG), non-esterified fatty acids and glucose analysed in the postprandial samples. Results Subjects were grouped according to the number of MetS components regardless of the combinations of components (0/1, 2, 3 and 4/5). As expected, there was a trend for an increase in body mass index, blood pressure, fasting TAG, glucose and insulin, and a decrease in fasting high-density lipoprotein cholesterol with increasing numbers of MetS components (P≤0.0004). A similar trend was observed for the summary measures of the postprandial TAG and glucose responses. For TAG, the area under the curve (AUC) and maximum concentration (maxC) were significantly greater in men with ≥ 3 than < 3 components (P < 0.001), whereas incremental AUC was greater in those with 3 than 0/1 and 2, and 4/5 compared with 2 components (P < 0.04). For glucose, maxC after the test breakfast (0-330 min) and total AUC (0-480 min) were higher in men with ≥ 3 than < 3 components (P≤0.001). Conclusions Our data analysis has revealed a linear trend between increasing numbers of MetS components and magnitude (AUC) of the postprandial TAG and glucose responses. Furthermore, the two meal challenge discriminated a worsening of postprandial lipaemic control in subjects with ≥ 3 MetS components.

Law of large numbers for super-brownian motions with a single point source

We investigate the super-Brownian motion with a single point source in dimensions 2 and 3 as constructed by Fleischmann and Mueller in 2004. Using analytic facts we derive the long time behavior of the mean in dimension 2 and 3 thereby complementing previous work of Fleischmann, Mueller and Vogt. Using spectral theory and martingale arguments we prove a version of the strong law of large numbers for the two dimensional superprocess with a single point source and finite variance.

Software-based study of a non-sorting method for median calculation on a set of integer numbers

This paper presents a software-based study of a hardware-based non-sorting median calculation method on a set of integer numbers. The method divides the binary representation of each integer element in the set into bit slices in order to find the element located in the middle position. The method exhibits a linear complexity order and our analysis shows that the best performance in execution time is obtained when slices of 4-bit in size are used for 8-bit and 16-bit integers, in mostly any data set size. Results suggest that software implementation of bit slice method for median calculation outperforms sorting-based methods with increasing improvement for larger data set size. For data set sizes of N > 5, our simulations show an improvement of at least 40%.

Construction of the transcomplex numbers from the complex numbers

A geometrical construction of the transcomplex numbers was given elsewhere. Here we simplify the transcomplex plane and construct the set of transcomplex numbers from the set of complex numbers. Thus transcomplex numbers and their arithmetic arise as consequences of their construction, not by an axiomatic development. This simplifes transcom- plex arithmetic, compared to the previous treatment, but retains totality so that every arithmetical operation can be applied to any transcomplex number(s) such that the result is a transcomplex number. Our proof establishes the consistency of transcomplex and transreal arithmetic and establishes the expected containment relationships amongst transcomplex, complex, transreal and real numbers. We discuss some of the advantages the transarithmetics have over their partial counterparts.

Fish oil supplementation alters numbers of circulating endothelial progenitor cells and micro particles independent of eNOS genotype

Background Emerging cellular markers of endothelial damage and repair include endothelial microparticles (EMPs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) respectively. Effects of long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA) and influence of genetic background on these markers are not known. Objective This study investigated the effects of fish oil supplementation on both classical and novel markers of endothelial function in subjects prospectively genotyped for the Asp298 eNOS polymorphism and at moderate risk of CVD. Design 84 subjects with moderate risk of CVD (n=40 GG and n=44 GT/TT) completed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 8-week cross-over trial of fish oil supplementation providing 1.5 g/d LC n-3 PUFA. Effects of genotype and fish oil supplementation on the blood lipid profile, inflammatory markers, vascular function (EndoPAT) and numbers of circulating EPCs and EMP (flow cytometry) were assessed. Results There was no significant effect of fish oil supplementation on blood pressure, plasma lipids or plasma glucose, although there was a trend (P = 0.069) towards a decrease in plasma TG concentration after FO supplementation compared to placebo. GT/TT subjects tended to have higher levels of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, but vascular function was not affected by either treatment or eNOS genotype. Biochemical markers of endothelial function were also unaffected by treatment and eNOS genotype. In contrast, there was a significant effect of fish oil supplementation on cellular markers of endothelial function. Fish oil supplementation increased numbers of EPCs and reduced numbers of EMPs relative to the placebo, potentially favouring maintenance of endothelial integrity. There was no influence of genotype for any of the cellular markers of endothelial function, indicating that the effects of fish oil supplementation were independent of eNOS genotype. Conclusions Emerging cellular markers of endothelial damage, integrity and repair appear to be sensitive to potentially beneficial modification by dietary n-3 PUFA.

The multidimensional character of accounting numbers

This paper takes as its motivation debates surrounding the multiplicity of functions of accounting information. We are in particular interested in the existential function of accounting numbers and argue that numerical signs having discursive possibilities may acquire new meanings through reframing. Drawing on Goffman’s (1974) frame analysis and Vollmer’s (2007) work on three-dimensional character of numerical signs, we explore the ways in which numbers can go through instantaneous transformations and tell a new kind of story. In our analysis, we look at the main historical developments and current controversies surrounding accounting practice with a specific focus on scandals involving numerical signs as moments where our understandings and the discursive function of previously inoffensive signs shifts through a collective involvement. We map the purpose and usefulness of Vollmer’s three-dimensional framework in the analysis of selected financial accounting practices and scandals as examples of instances where numbers are reframed to suddenly perform a different existential function in context of their calculative and symptomatic dimensions.

The numbers of sample design for evaluation of the soil fertility

The determination of the amount of sample units that will compose the sample express the optimization of the workforce, and reduce errors inherent in the report of recommendation and evaluation of soil fertility. This study aimed to determine in three systems use and soil management, the numbers of units samples design, needed to form the composed sample, for evaluation of soil fertility. It was concluded that the number of sample units needed to compose the composed sample to determination the attributes of organic matter, pH, P, K, Ca, Mg, Al and H+Al and base saturation of soil vary by use and soil management and error acceptable to the mean estimate. For the same depth of collected, increasing the number of sample units, reduced the percentage error in estimating the average, allowing the recommendation of 14, 14 and 11 sample in management with native vegetation, pasture cultivation and corn, respectively, for a error 20% on the mean estimate.

On comparing two sequences of numbers and its applications to clustering analysis

A conceptual problem that appears in different contexts of clustering analysis is that of measuring the degree of compatibility between two sequences of numbers. This problem is usually addressed by means of numerical indexes referred to as sequence correlation indexes. This paper elaborates on why some specific sequence correlation indexes may not be good choices depending on the application scenario in hand. A variant of the Product-Moment correlation coefficient and a weighted formulation for the Goodman-Kruskal and Kendall`s indexes are derived that may be more appropriate for some particular application scenarios. The proposed and existing indexes are analyzed from different perspectives, such as their sensitivity to the ranks and magnitudes of the sequences under evaluation, among other relevant aspects of the problem. The results help suggesting scenarios within the context of clustering analysis that are possibly more appropriate for the application of each index. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the variations of the Betti numbers of regular levels of Morse flows

We generalize results in Cruz and de Rezende (1999) [7] by completely describing how the Beth numbers of the boundary of an orientable manifold vary after attaching a handle, when the homology coefficients are in Z, Q, R or Z/pZ with p prime. First we apply this result to the Conley index theory of Lyapunov graphs. Next we consider the Ogasa invariant associated with handle decompositions of manifolds. We make use of the above results in order to obtain upper bounds for the Ogasa invariant of product manifolds. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dependence of Response Functions and Orbital Functionals on Occupation Numbers

Explicitly orbital-dependent approximations to the exchange-correlation energy functional of density functional theory typically not only depend on the single-particle Kohn-Sham orbitals but also on their occupation numbers in the ground-state Slater determinant. The variational calculation of the corresponding exchange-correlation potentials with the optimized effective potential (OEP) method therefore also requires a variation of the occupation numbers with respect to a variation in the effective single-particle potential, which is usually not taken into account. Here it is shown under which circumstances this procedure is justified.