The effects of probiotic and selenium co-supplementation on parameters of mental health, hormonal profiles, and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in women with polycystic ovary syndrome 11 Medical and Health Sciences 1103 Clinical Sciences

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the co-administration of probiotic and selenium on parameters of mental health, hormonal profiles, and biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress in women with PCOS. Data on the effects of selenium and probiotic co-supplementation on mental health, hormonal and inflammatory parameters of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are scarce. This investigation was carried out to evaluate the effects of selenium and probiotic co-supplementation on mental health, hormonal and inflammatory parameters in women with PCOS. Methods: This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted on 60 subjects, aged 18-40 years old. Participants were randomly allocated into two groups to intake 8 � 109 CFU/day probiotic plus 200 μg/day selenium supplements (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 12 weeks. Hormonal and inflammatory parameters were measured at baseline and after the 12-week intervention. Results: Probiotic and selenium co-supplementation resulted in a significant improvement in beck depression inventory (β - 0.76; 95 CI, - 1.26, - 0.26; P = 0.003), general health questionnaire scores (β - 1.15; 95 CI, - 1.97, - 0.32; P = 0.007) and depression anxiety and stress scale scores (β - 1.49; 95 CI, - 2.59, - 0.39; P = 0.009) compared with the placebo. Furthermore, probiotic and selenium co-supplementation significantly reduced total testosterone (β - 0.26 ng/mL; 95 CI, - 0.51, - 0.02; P = 0.03), hirsutism (β - 0.43; 95 CI, - 0.74, - 0.11; P = 0.008), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (β - 0.58 mg/L; 95 CI, - 0.97, - 0.19; P = 0.004) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (β - 0.29 μmol/L; 95 CI, - 0.56, - 0.02; P = 0.03), and significantly increased total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (β + 84.76 mmol/L; 95 CI, + 48.08, + 121.44; P < 0.001) and total glutathione (GSH) levels (β + 26.78 μmol/L; 95 CI, + 4.33, + 49.23; P = 0.02) compared with the placebo. Conclusions: Overall, the co-administration of probiotic and selenium for 12 weeks to women with PCOS had beneficial effects on mental health parameters, serum total testosterone, hirsutism, hs-CRP, TAC, GSH and MDA levels. This study was prospectively registered in the Iranian website (www.irct.ir) for registration of clinical trials (http://www.irct.ir: IRCT20170513033941N22). Trial registration: IRCT20170513033941N22. © 2018 The Author(s)

Baseline characteristics of patients in the reduction of events with darbepoetin alfa in heart failure trial (RED-HF)

<p>Aims: This report describes the baseline characteristics of patients in the Reduction of Events with Darbepoetin alfa in Heart Failure trial (RED-HF) which is testing the hypothesis that anaemia correction with darbepoetin alfa will reduce the composite endpoint of death from any cause or hospital admission for worsening heart failure, and improve other outcomes.</p> <p>Methods and results: Key demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings, along with baseline treatment, are reported and compared with those of patients in other recent clinical trials in heart failure. Compared with other recent trials, RED-HF enrolled more elderly [mean age 70 (SD 11.4) years], female (41%), and black (9%) patients. RED-HF patients more often had diabetes (46%) and renal impairment (72% had an estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m2). Patients in RED-HF had heart failure of longer duration [5.3 (5.4) years], worse NYHA class (35% II, 63% III, and 2% IV), and more signs of congestion. Mean EF was 30% (6.8%). RED-HF patients were well treated at randomization, and pharmacological therapy at baseline was broadly similar to that of other recent trials, taking account of study-specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. Median (interquartile range) haemoglobin at baseline was 112 (106–117) g/L.</p> <p>Conclusion: The anaemic patients enrolled in RED-HF were older, moderately to markedly symptomatic, and had extensive co-morbidity.</p&gt

Relay selection and power allocation for energy efficiency maximization in hybrid satellite-UAV networks with CoMP-NOMA transmission

Abstract Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and coordinated multi-point (CoMP) are two fundamental techniques considered for the fifth generation (5 G) of wireless communications. In this paper, a hybrid satellite-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) relay network (HSURN) is proposed where the UAV relays (URs) employ CoMP transmission to serve the terrestrial users (UEs). Furthermore, all UEs associated with the CoMP-URs form a single NOMA cluster. For this model, an optimization problem is formulated subject to the minimum quality of services (QoSs) requirements of the UEs, transmission power budgets and, successive interference cancellation (SIC), to select URs and allocate their transmission powers for the energy efficiency (EE) maximization. With this insight, first, a computationally efficient sub-optimal UR selection scheme is proposed. Then, the powers are allocated to the selected URs via the Lagrange multipliers optimization (LMO) method. Due to the non-convex nature of the considered problem, it is relatively difficult to be solved. Hence, a metaheuristic teaching-learning-based optimization (TLBO) algorithm is employed to achieve an efficient solution. Simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed sub-optimal relay selection scheme and the TLBO-based power allocation method compared to the LMO conventional method. Besides, the obtained results also reveal that the CoMP-NOMA transmission in the proposed scenario significantly improves the spectral efficiency (SE) and outage probability (OP) of the system compared to non-comp NOMA transmission case

Retail Image As Seen Through Consumers' Eyes: Studying international retail image through consumer photographs of stores

The aim of this article is to explore how retail store image is perceived by consumers from different cultural backgrounds and with different degrees of awareness and experience of the retailer. The subject is IKEA, a retailer recognized as having a global approach to the markets in which it operates, resulting in a highly standardized approach to store branding. However, rather than employing traditional methodologies to elicit consumer perceptions of store image, we attempt to capture consumer perceptions through interpretations of the visual images generated by the participants themselves. The photo-elicitation method employed captured the different interpretations and meanings attached to commonly identified elements of store image and reinforced the central role played by the store itself in retail image formation