University of Cambridge

About: University of Cambridge is a education organization based out in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 118293 authors who have published 282289 publications receiving 14497093 citations. The organization is also known as: Cambridge University & Cambridge.

An Energy Budget for Signaling in the Grey Matter of the Brain

Abstract: Anatomic and physiologic data are used to analyze the energy expenditure on different components of excitatory signaling in the grey matter of rodent brain. Action potentials and postsynaptic effects of glutamate are predicted to consume much of the energy (47% and 34%, respectively), with the resting potential consuming a smaller amount (13%), and glutamate recycling using only 3%. Energy usage depends strongly on action potential rate--an increase in activity of 1 action potential/cortical neuron/s will raise oxygen consumption by 145 mL/100 g grey matter/h. The energy expended on signaling is a large fraction of the total energy used by the brain; this favors the use of energy efficient neural codes and wiring patterns. Our estimates of energy usage predict the use of distributed codes, with

Congenital leptin deficiency is associated with severe early-onset obesity in humans

Abstract: The extreme obesity of the obese (ob/ob) mouse is attributable to mutations in the gene encoding leptin, an adipocyte-specific secreted protein which has profound effects on appetite and energy expenditure We know of no equivalent evidence regarding leptin's role in the control of fat mass in humans We have examined two severely obese children who are members of the same highly consanguineous pedigree Their serum leptin levels were very low despite their markedly elevated fat mass and, in both, a homozygous frame-shift mutation involving the deletion of a single guanine nucleotide in codon 133 of the gene for leptin was found The severe obesity found in these congenitally leptin-deficient subjects provides the first genetic evidence that leptin is an important regulator of energy balance in humans

C-Reactive Protein and Other Circulating Markers of Inflammation in the Prediction of Coronary Heart Disease

Abstract: Background C-reactive protein is an inflammatory marker believed to be of value in the prediction of coronary events. We report data from a large study of C-reactive protein and other circulating inflammatory markers, as well as updated meta-analyses, to evaluate their relevance to the prediction of coronary heart disease. Methods Measurements were made in samples obtained at base line from up to 2459 patients who had a nonfatal myocardial infarction or died of coronary heart disease during the study and from up to 3969 controls without a coronary heart disease event in the Reykjavik prospective study of 18,569 participants. Measurements were made in paired samples obtained an average of 12 years apart from 379 of these participants in order to quantify within-person fluctuations in inflammatory marker levels. Results The long-term stability of C-reactive protein values (within-person correlation coefficient, 0.59; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.52 to 0.66) was similar to that of both blood pressure an...