Housing Turnover and First-home Buyers

While housing turnover varies over time, on average, around 6 per cent of the housing stock, or around 500 000 dwellings, change ownership each year. In 2009, first-home buyers accounted for an unusually large share of this turnover, although this share has since declined. As first-home buyers make greater use of mortgages to fund purchases than do repeat buyers, this shift in the composition of turnover helps to explain the recent divergence in movements in housing prices and loan approvals.housing market; housing turnover; first-home buyers

Applying metabolomics to cardiometabolic intervention studies and trials: past experiences and a roadmap for the future

Metabolomics and lipidomics are emerging methods for detailed phenotyping of small molecules in samples. It is hoped that such data will: (i) enhance baseline prediction of patient response to pharmacotherapies (beneficial or adverse); (ii) reveal changes in metabolites shortly after initiation of therapy that may predict patient response, including adverse effects, before routine biomarkers are altered; and( iii) give new insights into mechanisms of drug action, particularly where the results of a trial of a new agent were unexpected, and thus help future drug development. In these ways, metabolomics could enhance research findings from intervention studies. This narrative review provides an overview of metabolomics and lipidomics in early clinical intervention studies for investigation of mechanisms of drug action and prediction of drug response (both desired and undesired). We highlight early examples from drug intervention studies associated with cardiometabolic disease. Despite the strengths of such studies, particularly the use of state-of-the-art technologies and advanced statistical methods, currently published studies in the metabolomics arena are largely underpowered and should be considered as hypothesis-generating. In order for metabolomics to meaningfully improve stratified medicine approaches to patient treatment, there is a need for higher quality studies, with better exploitation of biobanks from randomized clinical trials i.e. with large sample size, adjudicated outcomes, standardized procedures, validation cohorts, comparison witth routine biochemistry and both active and control/placebo arms. On the basis of this review, and based on our research experience using clinically established biomarkers, we propose steps to more speedily advance this area of research towards potential clinical impact

Ideal Home Cooking

Published by Boxtree, 25 Eccleston Place, London in 1998. Typeset by Florencetype, Designed by Roger Hammond & printed & bound in Italy by New InterLitho. 191 p. col. ill., 28 cm.https://arrow.tudublin.ie/irckbooks/1120/thumbnail.jp

The emergence of proton nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics in the cardiovascular arena as viewed from a clinical perspective

The ability to phenotype metabolic profiles in serum has increased substantially in recent years with the advent of metabolomics. Metabolomics is the study of the metabolome, defined as those molecules with an atomic mass less than 1.5 kDa. There are two main metabolomics methods: mass spectrometry (MS) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy, each with its respective benefits and limitations. MS has greater sensitivity and so can detect many more metabolites. However, its cost (especially when heavy labelled internal standards are required for absolute quantitation) and quality control is sub-optimal for large cohorts. 1H NMR is less sensitive but sample preparation is generally faster and analysis times shorter, resulting in markedly lower analysis costs. 1H NMR is robust, reproducible and can provide absolute quantitation of many metabolites. Of particular relevance to cardio-metabolic disease is the ability of 1H NMR to provide detailed quantitative data on amino acids, fatty acids and other metabolites as well as lipoprotein subparticle concentrations and size. Early epidemiological studies suggest promise, however, this is an emerging field and more data is required before we can determine the clinical utility of these measures to improve disease prediction and treatment. This review describes the theoretical basis of 1H NMR; compares MS and 1H NMR and provides a tabular overview of recent 1H NMR-based research findings in the atherosclerosis field, describing the design and scope of studies conducted to date. 1H NMR metabolomics-CVD related research is emerging, however further large, robustly conducted prospective, genetic and intervention studies are needed to advance research on CVD risk prediction and to identify causal pathways amenable to intervention

The Effectiveness of a Volunteer-Delivered, Community-Based Lifestyle Modification Program (CHIP) For Reducing the Risk Factors Associated With Metabolic Syndrome

In the latter half of the 20th Century increases in the availability of inexpensive, energy-dense foods combined with an estimated 60-70% reduction in daily energy expenditure, created an “obesogenic” environment. The epidemic of obesity that has emerged has been associated with the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) which is a cluster of risk factors that are precursors to chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD), type II diabetes (T2D), stroke, and dementia. These chronic diseases are having a significant social and economic impact worldwide with their related morbidity and mortality.Epidemiological and interventional studies have shown that lifestyle interventions based on a low-fat, plant-based diet are effective for the management of MetS and associated chronic diseases. To date, the research has focused on lifestyle interventions delivered by professional facilitators, mostly in clinical settings. The primary aim of this dissertation was to examine the effectiveness of a lifestyle intervention known as the Coronary Health Improvement Program (CHIP), when delivered by volunteer facilitators to free-living participants in their community. The secondary aim of the dissertation was to examine the impact of selected participant factors including age, gender, religious affiliation, marital status, previous history, family history and body mass index on the participants’ responsiveness to the CHIP intervention.This study adopted a pre-test post-test design involving, a large cohort of 5070 individuals who participated in one of 178 community-based CHIP interventions delivered by volunteers between 2006 to 2009 in the United States and Canada.In 30 days, significant reductions (p \u3c 0.001) were recorded in body mass index (3.2%), total cholesterol (11.0%), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (13.0%), triglycerides (7.7%), fasting plasma glucose (6.1%) and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (4.9% and 5.3%, respectively). Stratification of the data revealed larger reductions in those participants who presented to the program with the greatest risk factor levels.Regardless of age, gender, marital status, religious affiliation, previous history, family history and body weight, participants in the CHIP intervention achieved significant improvements in the risk factors associated with MetS however these factors influenced the responsiveness of the participants to the program. In general, male participants achieved better results than the females, and males tended to achieve their best outcomes at a younger age than the female participants. Married participants achieved better outcomes than single, divorced or widowed participants. Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) participants had better risk profiles at baseline, however, the non-SDA participants achieved better outcomes during the intervention. Participants who had the highest body mass index (BMI) at baseline achieved the greatest changes in BMI, fasting plasma glucose and blood pressure, however, those participants with a BMI greater than 35 kg/m2 showed significantly less improvement in their lipid profile than those participants with a BMI between 25 and 35 kg/m2.It was concluded that significant reductions in the risk factors associated with MetS can be achieved in 30 days using the CHIP lifestyle intervention when delivered by volunteers to free-living participants in their local community. Significant reductions in risk factors associated with MetS can be achieved regardless of age, gender, marital status, religious affiliation or baseline biometrics. Utilising volunteers may therefore provide an effective and cost-efficient mode of delivering lifestyle interventions targeting MetS

An Analysis of the Coverage of Cooperatives in U.S. Introductory Business Textbooks

In the United States, cooperatives are an important form of business with an estimated 30,000 cooperatives operating and annual sales in excess of $654 billion. In spite of cooperatives importance to the U.S. economy, little is known about the coverage of cooperatives in textbooks used in introductory-level business classes. The purpose of this study is to provide the first comprehensive analysis of the coverage of cooperatives in introductory-level business textbooks used in principles-level business courses by discipline (e.g., accounting & management) at U.S. colleges and universities, and; critically analyze authors’ examples used to illustrate the cooperative form of business. Findings suggest a very small percentage of introductory-level business textbooks include a discussion about cooperatives along with other forms of business. Furthermore, where cooperatives are discussed, the coverage is limited and cooperative examples are not representative of the majority of cooperatives

Structures of tetrasilylmethane derivatives C(SiXMe2)4 (X = H, F, Cl, Br) in the gas phase and their dynamic structures in solution.

The structures of the molecules C(SiXMe2)4 (X = H, F, Cl, Br) have been determined by gas electron diffraction (GED). Ab initio calculations revealed nine potential minima for each species, with significant ranges of energies. For the H, F, Cl, and Br derivatives nine, seven, two, and two conformers were modelled, respectively, as they were quantum-chemically predicted to be present in measurable quantities. Variable-temperature 1H and 29Si solution-phase NMR studies and, where applicable, 13C NMR, 1H/29Si NMR shift-correlation, and 1H NMR saturation-transfer experiments are reported for C(SiXMe2)4 (X = H, Cl, Br, and also I). At low temperature in solution two conformers (one C1-symmetric and one C2-symmetric) are observed for each of C(SiXMe2)4 (X = Cl, Br, I), in agreement with the isolated molecule ab initiocalculations carried out as part of this work for X = Cl, Br. C(SiHMe2)4 is present as a single C1-symmetric conformer in solution at the temperatures at which the NMR experiments were performed