The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects is unique in a sense because it focuses on the most recent advances in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Genetics that are the basic components of Personalized Nutrition. The book also emphasizes the importance of evolutionary aspects of diet and exercise and the need to select foods that are consistent with the evolutionary aspects of diet because these are the foods that contain the nutrients that our genes are programmed to respond. This book is the antidote to ultra-processed foods and imitation foods that are proinflammatory and contribute to increases in chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. It is a book for Health! The aim of the book is to provide readers with the basic factual information necessary to comprehend the enormity and potential effects of nutrients and foods on overall health and well-being. This book should be of interest to the educated public, teachers, health professionals, physicians, medical students, nutritionists, dietitians, historians and policy makers

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects

The Healthiest Diet for You: Scientific Aspects is unique in a sense because it focuses on the most recent advances in Nutrition, Metabolism, and Genetics that are the basic components of Personalized Nutrition. The book also emphasizes the importance of evolutionary aspects of diet and exercise and the need to select foods that are consistent with the evolutionary aspects of diet because these are the foods that contain the nutrients that our genes are programmed to respond. This book is the antidote to ultra-processed foods and imitation foods that are proinflammatory and contribute to increases in chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular disease. It is a book for Health! The aim of the book is to provide readers with the basic factual information necessary to comprehend the enormity and potential effects of nutrients and foods on overall health and well-being. This book should be of interest to the educated public, teachers, health professionals, physicians, medical students, nutritionists, dietitians, historians and policy makers

Quadruplets and Quintuplets

A high-order pregnancy is always a challenge not only for the couple but also for the obstetrician, the pediatricians, the midwives, and the whole stuff of an obstetric clinic. The breakthroughs of infertility treatments have made more couples to postpone the birth of their children until they feel professionally and financially safe, many times after the age of 40. The advanced age of the mother puts extra pressure to the clinician for immediate success, leading to a rise of high-order pregnancies until the introduction of regulations and laws in many countries. The cost of a quadruplet and quintuplet pregnancy can be unbearable, not only financially but also psychologically. The management of such a pregnancy is also challenging since its beginning and to the end. Modern techniques and methods can also be difficult to be implemented on a quadruplet of quintuplet pregnancy because of the fear of losing four or five embryos at once. At the same time, the limited number of cases makes it almost impossible for studies to be made and guidelines to be established for most of the cases

Obstáculos para a implementação governamental de dietas saudáveis com base científica e como superá-los

The Bellagio Report on Healthy Agriculture, Healthy Nutrition, Healthy People was science-based but policy-oriented. The role and amount of healthy and unhealthy nutrients in foods that may underlie the epidemics of non-communicable diseases worldwide was extensively discussed, with attention to the relative content of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and also sugar, particularly fructose. The report concludes that sugar consumption, especially in the form of high energy fructose in soft drinks, poses a major and insidious health threat, and most diets are defficient in omega-3 fatty acids and too high in omega-6 fatty acids. The meeting established that: governments must elevate, as a matter of urgency, Nutrition to a national priority; access to a healthy diet should be considered a human right; and the lead responsibility for Nutrition should be placed in Ministries of Health rather than Agriculture so that the health requirements drive agricultural priorities, not vice versa.O Relatório de Bellagio sobre Agricultura Saudável, Alimentação Saudável, Populações Saudáveis foi baseado em ciência, mas politicamente orientado. Foram amplamente discutidos o papel e a quantidade de nutrientes saudáveis e não saudáveis em alimentos que podem estar subjacentes à epidemia de doenças não transmissíveis em todo o mundo, com atenção ao conteúdo relativo de ácidos graxos ômega-3 e ômega-6, e também de açúcar, especialmente frutose. O relatório conclui que o consumo de açúcar, principalmente na forma de frutose de alta energia em refrigerantes, representa uma grande e insidiosa ameaça à saúde, e a maioria das dietas é deficiente em ácidos graxos ômega-3 e muito rica em ômega-6 ácidos graxos. A reunião estabeleceu que: os governos devem elevar, como uma questão de urgência, a Nutrição para uma posição de prioridade nacional; o acesso a uma dieta saudável deve ser considerado um direito humano; e a responsabilidade principal sobre a Nutrição deve ser colocada nas mãos do Ministério da Saúde, em vez do da Agricultura, para que os requisitos de saúde conduzam as prioridades agrícolas, e não vice-versa

Group B streptococcus infection during pregnancy and infancy: estimates of regional and global burden

Background: Group B streptococcus (GBS) colonisation during pregnancy can lead to invasive GBS disease (iGBS) in infants, including meningitis or sepsis, with a high mortality risk. Other outcomes include stillbirths, maternal infections, and prematurity. There are data gaps, notably regarding neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI), especially after iGBS sepsis, which have limited previous global estimates. In this study, we aimed to address this gap using newly available multicountry datasets. Methods: We collated and meta-analysed summary data, primarily identified in a series of systematic reviews published in 2017 but also from recent studies on NDI and stillbirths, using Bayesian hierarchical models, and estimated the burden for 183 countries in 2020 regarding: maternal GBS colonisation, iGBS cases and deaths in infants younger than 3 months, children surviving iGBS affected by NDI, and maternal iGBS cases. We analysed the proportion of stillbirths with GBS and applied this to the UN-estimated stillbirth risk per country. Excess preterm births associated with maternal GBS colonisation were calculated using meta-analysis and national preterm birth rates. Findings: Data from the seven systematic reviews, published in 2017, that informed the previous burden estimation (a total of 515 data points) were combined with new data (17 data points) from large multicountry studies on neurodevelopmental impairment (two studies) and stillbirths (one study). A posterior median of 19·7 million (95% posterior interval 17·9–21·9) pregnant women were estimated to have rectovaginal colonisation with GBS in 2020. 231800 (114 100–455000) early-onset and 162 200 (70200–394 400) late-onset infant iGBS cases were estimated to have occurred. In an analysis assuming a higher case fatality rate in the absence of a skilled birth attendant, 91 900 (44800–187 800) iGBS infant deaths were estimated; in an analysis without this assumption, 58300 (26 500–125800) infant deaths from iGBS were estimated. 37100 children who recovered from iGBS (14600–96200) were predicted to develop moderate or severe NDI. 40500 (21500–66 200) maternal iGBS cases and 46200 (20 300–111300) GBS stillbirths were predicted in 2020. GBS colonisation was also estimated to be potentially associated with considerable numbers of preterm births. Interpretation: Our analysis provides a comprehensive assessment of the pregnancy-related GBS burden. The Bayesian approach enabled coherent propagation of uncertainty, which is considerable, notably regarding GBS-associated preterm births. Our findings on both the acute and long-term consequences of iGBS have public health implications for understanding the value of investment in maternal GBS immunisation and other preventive strategies

Integrated monitoring and evaluation and environmental risk factors for urogenital schistosomiasis and active trachoma in Burkina Faso before preventative chemotherapy using sentinel sites.

BACKGROUND: Over 1 billion of the world's poorest inhabitants are afflicted by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Integrated control programmes aimed at tackling these debilitating NTDs have been recently initiated, mainly using preventative chemotherapy. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of these integrated programs presents particular challenges over and above those required for single disease vertical programmes. We used baseline data from the National NTD Control Programme in Burkina Faso in order to assess the feasibility of an integrated survey design, as well as to elucidate the contribution of environmental variables to the risk of either Schistosoma haematobium, trachoma, or both among school-aged children. METHODS: S. haematobium infection was diagnosed by detecting eggs in urine. A trachoma case was defined by the presence of Trachomatous inflammation-Follicular (TF) and/or Trachomatous inflammation-Intense (TI) in either eye. Baseline data collected from 3,324 children aged 7-11 years in 21 sentinel sites across 11 regions of Burkina Faso were analyzed using simple and multivariable hierarchical binomial logistic regression models fitted by Markov Chain Monte Carlo estimation methods. Probabilities of the risk of belonging to each infection/disease category were estimated as a function of age, gender (individual level), and environmental variables (at sentinel site level, interpolated from national meteorological stations). RESULTS: Overall prevalence at the sentinel sites was 11.79% (95% CI: 10.70-12.89) for S. haematobium; 13.30% (12.14-14.45) for trachoma and 0.84% (0.53-1.15) for co-infections. The only significant predictor of S. haematobium infection was altitude. There were significant negative associations between the prevalence of active trachoma signs and minimum temperature, and air pressure. Conditional upon these predictors, these data are consistent with the two pathogens being independent. CONCLUSIONS: Urogenital schistosomiasis and trachoma constitute public health problems in Burkina Faso. Sentinel site (at school level) surveys for these two NTDs can be implemented simultaneously. However, to support MDA treatment decisions in Burkina Faso, the protocol used in this study would only be applicable to hypoendemic trachoma areas. More research is needed to confirm if these findings can be generalized to West Africa and beyond

Women Scientists Who Made Nuclear Astrophysics

Female role models reduce the impact on women of stereotype threat, i.e., of being at risk of conforming to a negative stereotype about one's social, gender, or racial group [1,2]. This can lead women scientists to underperform or to leave their scientific career because of negative stereotypes such as, not being as talented or as interested in science as men. Sadly, history rarely provides role models for women scientists; instead, it often renders these women invisible [3]. In response to this situation, we present a selection of twelve outstanding women who helped to develop nuclear astrophysics

A Framework for the Evaluation of Biosecurity, Commercial, Regulatory, and Scientific Impacts of Plant Viruses and Viroids Identified by NGS Technologies

Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies and bioinformatics have generated huge new opportunities for discovering and diagnosing plant viruses and viroids. Plant virology has undoubtedly benefited from these new methodologies, but at the same time, faces now substantial bottlenecks, namely the biological characterization of the newly discovered viruses and the analysis of their impact at the biosecurity, commercial, regulatory, and scientific levels. This paper proposes a scaled and progressive scientific framework for efficient biological characterization and risk assessment when a previously known or a new plant virus is detected by next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. Four case studies are also presented to illustrate the need for such a framework, and to discuss the scenarios.Peer reviewe

Crimping-induced structural gradients explain the lasting strength of poly L-lactide bioresorbable vascular scaffolds during hydrolysis

Biodegradable polymers open the way to treatment of heart disease using transient implants (bioresorbable vascular scaffolds, BVSs) that overcome the most serious complication associated with permanent metal stents—late stent thrombosis. Here, we address the long-standing paradox that the clinically approved BVS maintains its radial strength even after 9 mo of hydrolysis, which induces a ∼40% decrease in the poly L-lactide molecular weight (Mn). X-ray microdiffraction evidence of nonuniform hydrolysis in the scaffold reveals that regions subjected to tensile stress during crimping develop a microstructure that provides strength and resists hydrolysis. These beneficial morphological changes occur where they are needed most—where stress is localized when a radial load is placed on the scaffold. We hypothesize that the observed decrease in Mn reflects the majority of the material, which is undeformed during crimping. Thus, the global measures of degradation may be decoupled from the localized, degradation-resistant regions that confer the ability to support the artery for the first several months after implantation

Crimping-induced structural gradients explain the lasting strength of poly L-lactide bioresorbable vascular scaffolds during hydrolysis

Biodegradable polymers open the way to treatment of heart disease using transient implants (bioresorbable vascular scaffolds, BVSs) that overcome the most serious complication associated with permanent metal stents—late stent thrombosis. Here, we address the long-standing paradox that the clinically approved BVS maintains its radial strength even after 9 mo of hydrolysis, which induces a ∼40% decrease in the poly L-lactide molecular weight (Mn). X-ray microdiffraction evidence of nonuniform hydrolysis in the scaffold reveals that regions subjected to tensile stress during crimping develop a microstructure that provides strength and resists hydrolysis. These beneficial morphological changes occur where they are needed most—where stress is localized when a radial load is placed on the scaffold. We hypothesize that the observed decrease in Mn reflects the majority of the material, which is undeformed during crimping. Thus, the global measures of degradation may be decoupled from the localized, degradation-resistant regions that confer the ability to support the artery for the first several months after implantation