Dietary polyunsaturated: saturated fatty acid ratio and selleck screening library TCF7L2 polymorphism independently predicted postprandial GIP response. Cytokeratin-18 fragments increased significantly postprandially

in both groups but more consistently in patients with NASH; their increase was predicted by postprandial adiponectin and FFA responses.

Conclusions: GIP response to SFA ingestion is prolonged in nondiabetic patients with NASH and is correlated with liver disease, an unfavorable dynamic adipokine profile, and beta cell dysfunction, which provides a rationale for GIP antagonism in these subjects. Am J Clin Nutr 2009; 89: 558-67.”
“P>Crop yields are significantly reduced by aluminum (Al) toxicity on acidic soils, which comprise up to 50% of the world’s find more arable land. Al-activated release of ligands (such as organic acids) from the roots is a major Al tolerance mechanism in plants. In maize, Al-activated root citrate

exudation plays an important role in tolerance. However, maize Al tolerance is a complex trait involving multiple genes and physiological mechanisms. Recently, transporters from the MATE family have been shown to mediate Al-activated citrate exudation in a number of plant species. Here we describe the cloning and characterization of two MATE family members in maize, ZmMATE1 and ZmMATE2, which co-localize to major Al tolerance QTL. Both genes encode plasma membrane proteins that mediate significant anion efflux Stattic when expressed in Xenopus oocytes. ZmMATE1 expression is mostly concentrated in root tissues, is up-regulated by Al and is significantly higher in Al-tolerant maize genotypes. In contrast, ZmMATE2 expression is not specifically localized to any particular tissue and does not respond to Al. [14C]-citrate efflux

experiments in oocytes demonstrate that ZmMATE1 is a citrate transporter. In addition, ZmMATE1 expression confers a significant increase in Al tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis. Our data suggests that ZmMATE1 is a functional homolog of the Al tolerance genes recently characterized in sorghum, barley and Arabidopsis, and is likely to underlie the largest maize Al tolerance QTL found on chromosome 6. However, ZmMATE2 most likely does not encode a citrate transporter, and could be involved in a novel Al tolerance mechanism.”
“Acute surgical patients are admitted to our regional hospital through the emergency department (ED) and through a new surgical assessment unit (SAU). The aim of this study was to compare the efficiency of the two units in seeing and assessing acute surgical patients, as well as patients’ satisfaction with their experiences in both units.

A patient satisfaction scoring questionnaire was distributed to 115 consecutive surgical patients attending the SAU and ED over an 8-week period. Patients’ impressions of waiting times, pain management and interactions with staff were detailed.