Follistatin secretion is enhanced by protein, but not glucose or fat ingestion in obese persons independently of previous gastric bypass surgery

Follistatin is secreted from the liver and is involved in the regulation of muscle mass and insulin sensitivity via inhibition of activin A in humans. The secretion of follistatin seems to be stimulated by glucagon and inhibited by insulin, but only limited knowledge on the postprandial regulation of follistatin exists. Moreover, results on postoperative changes after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) are conflicting with reports of increased, unaltered and lowered fasting concentrations of follistatin. In this study, we investigated postprandial follistatin and activin A concentrations after intake of isocaloric amounts of protein, fat or glucose in obese subjects with and without previous RYGB to explore the regulation of follistatin by the individual macronutrients. Protein intake enhanced follistatin concentrations similarly in the two groups, while glucose and fat ingestion did not change postprandial follistatin concentrations. Concentrations of activin A were lower after protein intake compared with glucose intake in RYGB. Glucagon concentrations were also particularly enhanced by protein intake and tended to correlate with follistatin in RYGB. In conclusion, we demonstrated that protein intake, but not glucose or fat, is a strong stimulus for follistatin secretion in obese subjects and that this regulation is maintained after RYGB surgery.

“I WANT TO SLEEP” BY CHEKHOV. POETICS “JUSTIFYING” VAR’KA

The author of the article proves that by means of poetics (at the spatio-temporal, motivic, subject-object, plot-compositional, speech and other levels), the deliberate involvement of physiological (the cry of an infant as a strong stimulus, the lack of description and concretization of the child) and medical data (receptive and cognitive disorders in humans with insufficient sleep) Chekhov “justifies” his heroine. Forcing the severity of the heroine’s emotional state, coupled with a change in the chronotope (night, the owners’ room; day, the owners’ apartment, front door, shop; night, the owners’ room), as a result, demonstrates an affective state (madness) that makes Var’ka insane at the time of the crime. Chronologically, Chekhov pushes the murder event to the very end of the work, gradually arousing in the reader empathy for Var’ka, for example, through a narrator who can see events through her eyes, and the specifics of the speech addressed to the heroine (orders, threats, insults) and of that coming from her (automatic purring lullaby). Within the work, in the course of the plot, the space of the heroine’s dream and reality dwindles the author thickens her emotional state; half-reality stratifies into the reality and dream, takes up more and more space and time and gradually turns into madness. The real, albeit indirect, murderers of the child are his parents.

Čo sa skrýva v guamile?: náhodné zistenia o pestovaní marihuany na okraji etnografického výskumu vo Uaxactúne, Guatemala.

Aim of this paper is to inform about accidental finds during anthropological research at Uaxactún, Guatemala. Paper explores participants' willingness to talk about illegal activities on site - more precisely about hemp cultivation. Data was obtained through semi-structured interview and participant observation at the site of Uaxactún, Guatemala, during July and August 2019. 18 respondents had taken part in research. Key find is that it seems that participants will to talk about illegal activities only if they feel to be in the same social group as the researcher is, otherwise the participant will provide misleading information. Another strong stimulus affecting obtained information seems to be the economical potential of taking part in the research.

Pengaruh Kombinasi Terapi Musik Dan Art Therapy Terhadap Tingkat Nyeri Pasien Kanker Payudara

Background : Cancer pain is a multidimensional experience of cancer patients that can affect all dimensions of the quality of life of patients. The capacity of one's attention to a condition is very limited, therefore to reduce the capacity of the process of pain required distraction or input of a strong stimulus that is fun, one of them with a combination of art therapy and music therapy. Objective : This study aims to determine the effect of a combination of music therapy and art therapy to the level of pain in breast cancer patients. Methode : This study uses quasi-experimental design involving 34 respondents selected by purposive sampling. Results : The results of this study indicate that there are significant differences in the level of pain after treatment between groups who only received standard analgesic and groups who received a combination of music therapy and art therapy with p-value = 0.008 (p <0.05). Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the combination of music therapy and art therapy is more effective for reducing pain in people living with breast cancer than only standard analgesic. Conclusion : The results of this study can be one of the intervention recommendations to reduce pain in breast cancer sufferers and encourage independence in the autonomy role of nurses.Keywords: art therapy, pain, breast cancer

Adrenergic C1 neurons are part of the circuitry that recruits active expiration in response to hypoxia

Breathing results from the interaction of two distinct oscillators: the preBötzinger Complex (preBötC) driving inspiration and the lateral parafacial region (pFRG) driving active expiration. The pFRG is silent during resting and become rhythmically active during high metabolic demand such as hypoxia. Catecholaminergic C1 cells are activated by hypoxia, which is a strong stimulus for active expiration. We hypothesized that the C1 cells and pFRG may constitute functionally distinct but interacting populations in order to contributes to control expiratory activity during hypoxia. We found that: a) C1 neurons are activated by hypoxia and project to pFRG region; b) active expiration elicited by hypoxia was blunted after blockade of ionotropic glutamatergic antagonist at the level of pFRG and c) selective depletion of C1 neurons eliminated the active expiration elicited by hypoxia. The results suggest that C1 cells may regulate the respiratory cycle including the active expiration under hypoxic condition.

Pengaruh Faktor Psikologis Terhadap Pengambilan Keputusan Wisatawan dalam Mengunjungi Taman Bunga Nusantara Kabupaten Cianjur

Psychological factors are factors inherent in the individual, which will affect how the various kinds of stimuli given by marketers, will affect consumer recognition of the needs, information seeking, and a variety of alternatives before deciding to make a visit or not. This research, entitled "The Influence of Psychological Factors on Tourist Decision to Visit Taman Bunga Nusantara Cianjur Regency" conducted in order to determine the psychological factors of tourist and the decision-making of tourist in visiting Taman Bunga Nusantara Cianjur Regency, as well as to analyze the influence of psychological factors towards tourist decision making to visit Taman Bunga Nusantara Cianjur Regency. The used method is accidental sampling. Respondents in this research were the visitors of Taman Bunga Nusantara as the location of the research, a total of 120 respondents. Based on the analysis, the firmest aspect of psychological factors is personality. As well as tourist decision in visiting Taman Bunga Nusantara was in the low category. Simultaneously, psychological factors significantly influence tourist decision in visiting Taman Bunga Nusantara Cianjur Regency. Based on the research results, the manager of the Taman Bunga Nusantara in order to create a marketing strategy that can affect consumers by providing a strong stimulus to be remembered very well by travelers.

Large and Small Dendritic Spines Serve Different Interacting Functions in Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity and Homeostasis

The laying down of memory requires strong stimulation resulting in specific changes in synaptic strength and corresponding changes in size of dendritic spines. Strong stimuli can also be pathological, causing a homeostatic response, depressing and shrinking the synapse to prevent damage from too much Ca2+influx. But do all types of dendritic spines serve both of these apparently opposite functions? Using confocal microscopy in organotypic slices from mice expressing green fluorescent protein in hippocampal neurones, the size of individual spines along sections of dendrite has been tracked in response to application of tetraethylammonium. This strong stimulus would be expected to cause both a protective homeostatic response and long-term potentiation. We report separation of these functions, with spines of different sizes reacting differently to the same strong stimulus. The immediate shrinkage of large spines suggests a homeostatic protective response during the period of potential danger. In CA1, long-lasting growth of small spines subsequently occurs consolidating long-term potentiation but only after the large spines return to their original size. In contrast, small spines do not change in dentate gyrus where potentiation does not occur. The separation in time of these changes allows clear functional differentiation of spines of different sizes.