The role of resistin in obesity and insulin resistance in humans is controversial. Therefore, resistin protein was quantitated by ELISA in serum of 27 lean [13 women/14 men, body mass index (BMI) 21.7 +/- 0.4 kg/m(2), age 33 +/- 2 yr] and 50 obese (37 women/13 men, BMI 49.8 +/- 1.5 kg/m(2), age 47 +/- 1 yr) subjects. There was more serum resistin protein in the obese (mean +/- SEM: 5.3 +/- 0.4 ng/ml; range 1.8-17.9) than lean subjects (3.6 +/- 0.4 ng/ml; range 1.5-9.9; P = 0.001). The elevation of serum resistin in obese humans was confirmed by Western blot as was expression of resistin protein in human adipose tissue and isolated adipocytes. There was a significant positive correlation between resistin and BMI (r = 0.37; P = 0.002). Multiple regression analysis with predictors BMI and resistin explained 25% of the variance in homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance score. BMI was a significant predictor of insulin resistance (P = 0.0002), but resistin adjusted for BMI was not (P = 0.11). The data demonstrate that resistin protein is present in human adipose tissue and blood, and that there is significantly more resistin in the serum of obese subjects. Serum resistin is not a significant predictor of insulin resistance in humans.

Buller CL, Loberg RD, Fan MH, Zhu Q, Park JL, Vesely E, Inoki K, Guan KL, Brosius FC III. A GSK-3/TSC2/mTOR pathway regulates glucose uptake and GLUT1 glucose transporter expression.

Research Summary: This study explores how external pressure for board gender diversity influences the increase of female directors. We propose that while external pressure has a positive effect on the increase of female directors on boards, it heightens the salience of gender in new director selection, making incumbent male directors more likely to treat the new female directors as outgroup members and consequently more likely to add them through addition of board seats rather than substitution of male directors. We further predict that new female directors added through additional board seats are less likely to serve on major board committees than those added through substitution of male directors. Results from a large sample of S&P 1,500 firms during 2004 to 2015 provide support our theoretical predictions. Managerial Summary: Our study intends to enhance the understanding of how external pressure influences a firm's decision to increase the number of female directors on the board. We find that, although external pressure makes firms more likely to increase female directors, firms tend to do it through the addition of board seats rather than through the replacement of incumbent male directors to the extent that the increase is a response to the external pressure. Moreover, we find that new female directors added through addition of board seats are less likely to serve on major board committees than those added through replacement of male directors. These findings suggest that external pressure has a positive but limited effect on countering the gender bias on corporate boards toward female directors. K E Y W O R D Sboard of directors, corporate governance, diversity, intergroup bias, female directors

We generated a Spot 14 null mouse to assess the role of Spot 14 in de novo lipid synthesis and report the Spot 14 null mouse exhibits a phenotype in the lactating mammary gland. Spot 14 null pups nursed by Spot 14 null dams gain significantly less weight than wild-type pups nursed by wild-type dams. In contrast, Spot 14 null pups nursed by heterozygous dams show similar weight gain to wild-type littermates. We found the triglyceride content in Spot 14 null milk is significantly reduced. We demonstrate this reduction is the direct result of decreased de novo lipid synthesis in lactating mammary glands, corroborated by a marked reduction of medium-chain fatty acids in the triglyceride pool. Importantly, the reduced lipogenic rate is not associated with significant changes in the activities or mRNA of key lipogenic enzymes. Finally, we report the expression of a Spot 14-related gene in liver and adipose tissue, which is absent in the lactating mammary gland. We suggest that expression of both the Spot 14 and Spot 14-related proteins is required for maximum efficiency of de novo lipid synthesis in vivo and that these proteins impart a novel mechanism regulating de novo lipogenesis.