A high-fat diet increases body fat mass and up-regulates expression of genes related to adipogenesis and inflammation in a genetically lean pig

Because of their physiological similarity to humans, pigs provide an excellent model for the study of obesity. This study evaluated diet-induced adiposity in genetically lean pigs and found that body weight and energy intake did not differ between controls and pigs fed the high-fat (HF) diet for three months. However, fat mass percentage, adipocyte size, concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), insulin, and leptin in plasma were significantly higher in HF pigs than in controls. The HF diet increased the expression in backfat tissue of genes responsible for cholesterol synthesis such as Insig-1 and Insig-2. Lipid metabolism-related genes including sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), fatty acid synthase 1 (FASN1), diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2), and fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) were significantly up-regulated in backfat tissue, while the expression of proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α) and carnitine palmitoyl transferase 2 (CPT2), both involved in fatty acid oxidation, was reduced. In liver tissue, HF feeding significantly elevated the expression of SREBP-1c, FASN1, DGAT2, and hepatocyte nuclear factor-4α (HNF-4α) mRNAs. Microarray analysis further showed that the HF diet had a significant effect on the expression of 576 genes. Among these, 108 genes were related to 21 pathways, with 20 genes involved in adiposity deposition and 26 related to immune response. Our results suggest that an HF diet can induce genetically lean pigs into obesity with body fat mass expansion and adipose-related inflammation.     

新FRP技术加固钢筋混凝土矩形柱改善延性的试验研究

Reinforced concrete （RC） columns lacking adequately detailed transverse reinforcement do not possess the necessary ductility to dissipate seismic energy during a major earthquake without severe strength degradation. In this paper, a new retrofit method, which utilized fiber-reinforced plastics （FRP） confinement mechanism and anchorage of embedded bars, was developed aiming to retrofit non-ductile large RC rectangular columns to prevent the damage of the plastic hinges. Carbon FRP （CFRP） sheets and glass FRP （GFRP） bars were used in this test, and five scaled RC columns were tested to examine the function of this new method for improving the ductility of columns. Responses of columns were examined before and after being retrofitted. Test results indicate that this new composite method can be very effective to improve the anti-seismic behavior of non-ductile RC columns compared with normal CFRP sheets retrofitted column.     

La Littérature De Jeunesse Entre Normes Pédagogiques Et Littéraires : Le Cas Des Pays Francophones D’afrique

YOUTH LITERATURE IN THE CONTEXT OF PEDAGOGIC AND LITERARY NORMS: THE FRENCH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES OF AFRICA – There are two approaches to children’s and youth literature, one didactic, the other aesthetic. This gives rise to the following question: taking into account the fact that children’s literature aspires to be a literary form in its own right, should more weight be attibuted to its aesthetic value when evaluating it? This paper examines this question – which has in the past been the subject of highly controversial discussions in the German-speaking regions – by focusing on youth literature in the French-speaking coutries of Africa. The pedagogic dimension cannot be ignored when considering this literary context because it is so much a part of the post-colonial dynamic. Youth literature in the French-speaking countries of Africa echoes current realities. Examples are used to demonstrate how literature can deal with vital questions without neglecting the literary aspect.     

On mathematical understanding: perspectives of experienced Chinese mathematics teachers

Researchers have long debated the meaning of mathematical understanding and ways to achieve mathematical understanding. This study investigated experienced Chinese mathematics teachers’ views about mathematical understanding. It was found that these mathematics teachers embrace the view that understanding is a web of connections, which is a result of continuous connection making. However, in contrast to the popular view which separates understanding into conceptual and procedural, Chinese teachers prefer to view understanding in terms of concepts and procedures. They place more stress on the process of concept development, which is viewed as a source of students’ failures in transfer. To achieve mathematical understanding, the Chinese teachers emphasize strategies such as reinventing a concept, verbalizing a concept, and using examples and comparisons for analogical reasoning. These findings draw on the perspective of classroom practitioners to inform the long-debated issue of the meaning of mathematical understanding and ways to achieve mathematical understanding.     

Designing a machine to learn about the ethics of robotics: the N-reasons platform

We can learn about human ethics from machines. We discuss the design of a working machine for making ethical decisions, the N-Reasons platform, applied to the ethics of robots. This N-Reasons platform builds on web based surveys and experiments, to enable participants to make better ethical decisions. Their decisions are better than our existing surveys in three ways. First, they are social decisions supported by reasons. Second, these results are based on weaker premises, as no exogenous expertise (aside from that provided by the participants) is needed to seed the survey. Third, N-Reasons is designed to support experiments so we can learn how to improve the platform. We sketch experimental results that show the platform is a success as well as pointing to ways it can be improved.     

Effect of Vitamin E on sP-Selectin Levels in Pre-Eclampsia

P-selectin, a cell adhesion molecule is elevated in many inflammatory conditions including preeclampsia which is characterized by generalized endothelial dysfunction and vasoconstriction presumably due to free radicals or mediators released by defective placentation. Vitamin E has been documented to protect cell membranes from oxidative damage and also decrease platelet aggregation. The role of vitamin E in pre-eclampsia is contradictory and hence the study was undertaken. Soluble P-selectin was measured by ELISA and Vitamin-E levels in plasma was estimated spectrofluorometrically. In our study the effect of supplementation of 400 IU/day of Vitamin E (a-tocopheryl acetate) to patients of pre-eclampsia showed significant decreased levels of soluble P-selectin by 2nd week as compared to patients given placebo (P = 0.005). In this short period of study no direct correlations were observed between Vitamin E or P-selectin levels with blood pressure as well as with proteinuria. Future studies may focus on the effect of a-tocopheryl acetate or the phosphate form of Vitamin-E, recently proposed to be the more active form on other inflammatory markers like IL-6, an important stimuli of P-selectin release in pre-eclampsia.     

Participation,financial support and the marginal student

This paper examines differences between the decision-making of marginal and nonmarginal students about participation in higher education (HE). We distinguish between two kinds of marginality: being ‘borderline’ on account of prior achievements in school and being ‘unsure’ after taking prior achievement into account. We identify a significant minority of students in their final year of schooling who are unsure about participation in higher education even though they have prior school achievements typical of entrants to HE. Being ‘unsure’ is found to be unrelated to socioeconomic background, but it is associated with significantly different attitudes towards the potential benefits and risks of participation, different levels of knowledge about financial support that is available and different approaches to information search about participation in HE.

Three Walks Through Fictional Fens: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gaffer Samson’s Luck</Emphasis>

The paper discusses the children’s novel Gaffer Samson’s Luck (1984), by Jill Paton Walsh, from three different perspectives; those of a cultural geographer, a literary scholar and an English teacher. It is part of a larger research project on children’s perception of their place-related identities through reading and writing. The novel is used as a case study to develop a multidisciplinary approach, drawing upon theories of literature and reading, and a conceptualisation of space in cultural geography. Employing ideas from different disciplines, the paper offers an original interpretation of the text as well as innovative analytical tools for future research and for classroom application.