A cost effectiveness analysis of salt reduction policies to reduce coronary heart disease in four Eastern Mediterranean countries.

BACKGROUND: Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is rising in middle income countries. Population based strategies to reduce specific CHD risk factors have an important role to play in reducing overall CHD mortality. Reducing dietary salt consumption is a potentially cost-effective way to reduce CHD events. This paper presents an economic evaluation of population based salt reduction policies in Tunisia, Syria, Palestine and Turkey. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Three policies to reduce dietary salt intake were evaluated: a health promotion campaign, labelling of food packaging and mandatory reformulation of salt content in processed food. These were evaluated separately and in combination. Estimates of the effectiveness of salt reduction on blood pressure were based on a literature review. The reduction in mortality was estimated using the IMPACT CHD model specific to that country. Cumulative population health effects were quantified as life years gained (LYG) over a 10 year time frame. The costs of each policy were estimated using evidence from comparable policies and expert opinion including public sector costs and costs to the food industry. Health care costs associated with CHDs were estimated using standardized unit costs. The total cost of implementing each policy was compared against the current baseline (no policy). All costs were calculated using 2010 PPP exchange rates. In all four countries most policies were cost saving compared with the baseline. The combination of all three policies (reducing salt consumption by 30%) resulted in estimated cost savings of $235,000,000 and 6455 LYG in Tunisia;$39,000,000 and 31674 LYG in Syria; $6,000,000 and 2682 LYG in Palestine and$1,3000,000,000 and 378439 LYG in Turkey. CONCLUSION: Decreasing dietary salt intake will reduce coronary heart disease deaths in the four countries. A comprehensive strategy of health education and food industry actions to label and reduce salt content would save both money and lives

New LGT crystal for ultra-stable resonators

cited By 2International audienceAmong the crystals belonging to the langasite family, the Langatate (La3Ga5.5Ta0.5O14 also called LGT) seems to be the best candidate to substitute quartz crystal for acoustic waves applications and frequency output devices. But, its capability to substitute quartz depends on the crystalline quality of the production of the harvested boule. Indeed, the crystal quality (its homogeneity and its atomic structure as well as the amount of chemical impurities) can be very different from one supplier to another. So, to compare and analyze the strategic interest of this crystal, we start a sufficiently researched program, supported by the French DGA, to enable us to address the parameters of the growth process, implemented on Cristal Innov platform. The Langatate is an incongruent material grown from a ternary melt of La2O3 - Ga2O3 and Ta2O5 by the Czochralski technique along or in iridium crucible and slightly oxidizing atmosphere. Furthermore, a post-growth annealing was performed in the pulling machine immediately after growth and in other oven under vacuum or in oxidizing/reducing atmosphere. Post-growth annealing is necessary to remove the thermal stress induced by the growth that are revealed by shadowscopy and it will determine the color of the boule, which varies from colorless to orange or pale-green color. We attach to analyze the stoechiometry (i.e. the amount of the majors La, Ga, Ta) by Electron Probe Micro-Analysis (EPMA) and the impurities levels by femtosecond laser ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (fs LA-ICP-MS) of different LGT crystals from different suppliers. The presence of point defects and inhomogeneity of the crystal composition significantly affect the optical properties and can be also revealed by optical transmission spectra in UV-VIS and IR ranges. © 2014 IEEE

Czochralski crystal growth and characterization of large langatate (La3Ga5.5Ta0.5O14, LGT) crystals for SAW applications

International audience1.5 and 2 inch LGT, langatate (La$_3$Ga$_{5.5}$Ta$_{0.5}$O$_{14}$) crystals along the X[100], Y[120] and Z[001]-directions were successfully grown by the Czochralski technique under an argon/O$_2$ (0.1–0.5%) atmosphere. Homogeneous and defect-free crystals were obtained in a stationary stable regime. The ingot faceting is discussed as a function of growth direction. The interface shape is investigated as a function of the rotation rate. It is observed that crystal coloration depends on the growth atmosphere. Ga$_2$O$_3$ dendritic deposition on the crystal surface causes damage. It is shown that additional oxygen gas in the growth chamber limits melt decomposition and prevents the occurrence of dendrites. Surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators are produced from the LGT grown crystals

Czochralski crystal growth and characterization of large Langatate (La3Ga5.5Ta0.5O14, LGT) crystals for SAW application

International audience1.5 and 2 inch LGT langatate (La3Ga5.5Ta0.5O14) crystals along X[100], Y[120] and Z[001]-directions were successfully grown by the Czochralski technique under Argon/O2 (0.1-0.5%) atmosphere. Homogeneous and defects free crystals were obtained in a stationary stable regime. The ingots faceting is discussed as a function of growth direction. The interface shape is investigated as a function of the rotation rate. It is observed that crystals coloration depend on the growth atmosphere. Ga2O3 dendritic deposition on crystals surface causing damage. It is shown that additional oxygen gas in the growth chamber limits melt decomposition and prevent the dendrite occurrence. Surface acoustic weave (SAW) resonator are produced from the LGT grown crystals

Changes in Liver Proteome Expression of Senegalese Sole (Solea senegalensis) in Response to Repeated Handling Stress

The Senegalese sole, a high-value flatfish, is a good candidate for aquaculture production. Nevertheless, there are still issues regarding this species’ sensitivity to stress in captivity. We aimed to characterize the hepatic proteome expression for this species in response to repeated handling and identify potential molecular markers that indicate a physiological response to chronic stress. Two groups of fish were reared in duplicate for 28 days, one of them weekly exposed to handling stress (including hypoxia) for 3 min, and the other left undisturbed. Two-dimensional electrophoresis enabled the detection of 287 spots significantly affected by repeated handling stress (Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney U test, p<0.05), 33 of which could be reliably identified by peptide mass spectrometry. Chronic exposure to stress seems to have affected protein synthesis, folding and turnover (40S ribosomal protein S12, cathepsin B, disulfide-isomerase A3 precursor, cell-division cycle 48, and five distinct heat shock proteins), amino acid metabolism, urea cycle and methylation/folate pathways (methionine adenosyltransferase I α, phenylalanine hydroxylase, mitochondrial agmatinase, serine hydroxymethyltransferase, 3-hydroxyanthranilate 3,4-dioxygenase, and betaine homocysteine methyltransferase), cytoskeletal (40S ribosomal protein SA, α-actin, β-actin, α-tubulin, and cytokeratin K18), aldehyde detoxification (aldehyde dehydrogenase 4A1 family and aldehyde dehydrogenase 7A1 family), carbohydrate metabolism and energy homeostasis (fatty acid-binding protein, enolase 3, enolase 1, phosphoglycerate kinase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, aconitase 1, mitochondrial ATP synthase α-subunit, and electron-transfer flavoprotein α polypeptide), iron and selenium homeostasis (transferrin and selenium binding protein 1), steroid hormone metabolism (3-oxo-5-β-steroid 4-dehydrogenase), and purine salvage (hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase). Further characterization is required to fully assess the potential of these markers for the monitoring of fish stress response to chronic stressors of aquaculture environment