196,370 research outputs found
A metabolomics investigation on experimental interventions of acute alcohol consumption
No full textPhD (Biochemistry), North-West University, Potchefstroom CampusThis thesis, titled: "A metabolomics investigation on experimental interventions of acute alcohol consumption", deals with a current topic of global interest, namely, alcohol use and abuse. Alcohol abuse is associated with many serious, and even detrimental, health, social and economic consequences, and is one of the world’s leading risk factors for disability, morbidity and mortality. For these reasons it is a topic of growing concern in developing, as well as developed, countries. Alcohol is metabolized mainly in the liver by two nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent enzymes — alcohol dehydrogenase and, subsequently, aldehyde dehydrogenase. In both of these reactions oxidized NAD (NAD+) is reduced to NADH, which increases the NAHD:NAD+ ratio in hepatocytes. This ratio controls the activity of several key metabolic enzymes and the direction of many reversible metabolic reactions, and its disruption is known to result in perturbations of various metabolic pathways. Various studies examining the effects of, and diseases related to, chronic alcohol abuse have been performed in the last few decades. However, to date, no comprehensive metabolomics study on the effects of acute alcohol consumption has been done. Thus, with the guidance of experts in the fields of metabolism, metabolomics and biostatistics, the first extensive, multidisciplinary metabolomics cross-over intervention study into the effects of acute alcohol consumption on the urinary metabolite profiles of healthy, young males was designed, and is presented in this thesis. The study consisted of analysing urine samples, collected from experimental participants over a defined period of time following four interventions, on two different analytical platforms — proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy as an untargeted approach, and gas chromatography—mass spectrometry (GC—MS) as a semi-targeted approach. The results from these investigations demonstrated the power of applying metabolomics to this area of research and provided the opportunity to obtain a holistic view of the urinary metabolic profile resulting from acute alcohol consumption. From both of these approaches a list of metabolites perturbed by acute alcohol consumption could be compiled with the use of statistical analyses. Various metabolic pathways were seen to be disrupted, most of them due to the known alcohol-induced increased NADH:NAD+ ratio. Additionally, two urinary metabolites — sorbitol, from the 1H-NMR analysis, and 2-hydroxyisobutyric acid, from the GC—MS investigation — not previously known to be associated with the consequences of acute alcohol consumption were identified in the metabolic profiles of the experimental participants following acute alcohol consumption. These novel findings could possibly be used as a basis for determining biomarkers of acute alcohol consumption, which could have various health, economic and legal benefits. This thesis, the eventual product of a skilfully designed and diligently carried out scientific study, is compiled and presented in article format as per the requirements of North-West University. The scientific contributions made during this study to the existing alcohol-related scientific knowledge resulted in three publications. Two (1 and 3) have already been published, and one (2) has been accepted for publication. 1. Irwin, C., Van Reenen, M., Mason, S., Mienie, L.J., Westerhuis, J.A. & Reinecke, C.J. 2016. Contribution towards a metabolite profile of the detoxification of benzoic acid through glycine conjugation: an intervention study. PLOS ONE, 11(12):e0167309. doi:10.1371/journal.pone. 0167309. 2. Irwin, C., Van Reenen, M., Mason, S., Mienie, L.J., Wevers, R.A., Westerhuis, J.A. & Reinecke, C.J. The 1H-NMR-based metabolite profile of acute alcohol consumption: a metabolomics intervention study. 3. Irwin, C., Mienie, L.J., Wevers, R.A., Mason, S., Westerhuis, J.A., Van Reenen, M. & Reinecke, C.J. 2018. GC—MS-based urinary organic acid profiling reveals multiple dysregulated metabolic pathways following experimental acute alcohol consumption. Scientific Reports, 8:5775. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-24128-1.Doctora
Targeted proteomic response to coffee consumption
No full textPurpose
Coffee is widely consumed and implicated in numerous health outcomes but the mechanisms by which coffee contributes to health is unclear. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of coffee drinking on candidate proteins involved in cardiovascular, immuno-oncological and neurological pathways.
Methods
We examined fasting serum samples collected from a previously reported single blinded, three-stage clinical trial. Forty-seven habitual coffee consumers refrained from drinking coffee for 1 month, consumed 4 cups of coffee/day in the second month and 8 cups/day in the third month. Samples collected after each coffee stage were analyzed using three multiplex proximity extension assays that, after quality control, measured a total of 247 proteins implicated in cardiovascular, immuno-oncological and neurological pathways and of which 59 were previously linked to coffee exposure. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to test the relationship between coffee treatment and each protein.
Results
Two neurology-related proteins including carboxypeptidase M (CPM) and neutral ceramidase (N-CDase or ASAH2), significantly increased after coffee intake (P 0.05); 9, 8 and 29 of these proteins related to cardiovascular, immuno-oncological and neurological pathways, respectively, and the levels of 41 increased with coffee intake.
Conclusions
CPM and N-CDase levels increased in response to coffee intake. These proteins have not previously been linked to coffee and are thus novel markers of coffee response worthy of further stud
Cardiotocography plus ST analysis of fetal electrocardiogram compared with cardiotocography only for intrapartum monitoring: a randomized controlled trial
No full textLetter to the EditorMichelle E.M.H. Westerhuis, Gerard H.A. Visser, Karel G.M. Moons, Nicolaas P.A. Zuithoff, Ben Willem J. Mol, Anneke Kwe
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.
No full text"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states.
By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement.
To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Dr. Glendon Swarthout
No full textHosted by Roger M. Busfield, MSU Assistant Professor of Speech and Theater, Meet the Author is designed to introduce a general audience to a contemporary author and their work through in-depth interviews. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Glendon Swarthout, prolific author and English professor at MSU, and assistant professors Sam S. Baskett and Theodore B. Strandness
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
No full textFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
Variable importance in latent variable regression models
No full textThe quality and practical usefulness of a regression model are a function of both interpretability and prediction performance. This work presents some new graphical tools for improved interpretation of latent variable regression models that can also assist in improved algorithms for variable selection. Thus, these graphs provide visualization of the explanatory variables’ content of response related as well as systematic orthogonal variation at a quantitative level. Furthermore, these graphs are able to reveal and partition the explanatory variables into those that are crucial for both interpretation and predictive performance of the model, and those that are crucial for prediction performance but confounded by large contributions of orthogonal variation. Tools for assessment of explanatory variables may not only aid interpretation and understanding of the model but also be crucial for performing variable selection with the purpose of obtaining parsimonious models with high explanatory information content aswell as predictive performance. We show by example that by just using prediction performance as criterion for variable selection, it is possible to end up with a reducedmodel where the most selective variables are lost in the selection process
Intern experience at CH���M Hill, Inc.: an internship report
No full textIncludes author's vita"Submitted to the College of Engineering of Texas A&M University in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Engineering."Includes bibliographical referencesA review of the author's internship experience with CH���M HILL, Inc.
during the period September 1975 through May 1976 is presented. During this nine month
internship the author worked as an Engineer II in the Industrial Processes discipline of this
large consulting engineering firm... The author's prime responsibility was as one of three
lead design engineers on the design of a large wastewater treatment facility for a pulp mill
in Hoquiam, Washington owned by ITT Rayonier Inc. The work generally consisted of the design
of individual treatment units and associated piping and pumping. The purpose of the project
was to provide wastewater treatment capabilities that would satisfy the effluent limitations
(standards) imposed upon the mill by the State of Washington Department of Ecology and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The author's assignment also entailed necessary
interaction with the project manager and other CH���M HILL design engineers and support staff
members, the client's representatives, and representatives of two other consulting engineering
firms working on the project. Thus, the internship position at CH���M HILL provided considerable
experience coordinating the author's work with the work of other engineers, guiding the design
and administrative efforts of a support staff, and interacting regularly with the client and
other consulting firms. This broad exposure to a variety of engineering and organizational
problems provided a valuable educational experience
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