Dietary Patterns and Cognitive Function among Older Community-Dwelling Adults.

Diet may be an important modifiable risk factor for maintenance of cognitive health in later life. This study aimed at examining associations between common dietary indices and dietary patterns defined by factor analysis and cognitive function in older community-dwelling adults. Dietary information for 1499 participants from the Rancho Bernardo Study was collected in 1988⁻1992 and used to calculate the alternate Mediterranean diet score, Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI)-2010 score and factor scores derived from factor analysis of nutrients. Global cognitive function, executive function, verbal fluency and episodic memory were assessed at approximate four-year intervals from 1988⁻2016. Linear mixed models were used to examine associations between dietary patterns and cognitive trajectories. Estimates for the highest vs. lowest tertile in models adjusting for age, sex, education, energy intake, lifestyle variables and retest effect showed greater adherence to the Mediterranean score was associated with better baseline global cognitive function (β (95% CI) = 0.33 (0.11, 0.55)). The AHEI-2010 score was not significantly associated with cognitive performance. Higher loading on a plant polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)/vitamin E factor was associated with better baseline global cognitive function and executive function (β = 0.22 (0.02, 0.42) and β = -7.85 (-13.20, -2.47)). A sugar/low protein factor was associated with poorer baseline cognitive function across multiple domains. Dietary patterns were not associated with cognitive decline over time. Adherence to a healthy diet with foods high in PUFA and vitamin E and a low sugar to protein ratio, as typified by a Mediterranean diet, may be beneficial for cognitive health in late life

WITS: Women, Information Technology and Scholarship in the 1990s

The collective FemTechNet produced this video about a group at the University of Illinois in the 1990s known as WITS, Women, Information Technology, and Scholarship. Four former WITS members—Jenny Barrett, Leigh Estabrook, Gail Hawisher, and Angharad Valdivia--discuss with Sharon Irish the role of WITS on campus and in the broader IT world. Filmed in September 2013 in Urbana-Champaign.Center for Digital Inclusion, School of Information SciencesOpe

Global impacts of energy demand on the freshwater resources of nations

The growing geographic disconnect between consumption of goods, the extraction and processing of resources, and the environmental impacts associated with production activities makes it crucial to factor global trade into sustainability assessments. Using an empirically validated environmentally extended global trade model, we examine the relationship between two key resources underpinning economies and human well-being—energy and freshwater. A comparison of three energy sectors (petroleum, gas, and electricity) reveals that freshwater consumption associated with gas and electricity production is largely confined within the territorial boundaries where demand originates. This finding contrasts with petroleum, which exhibits a varying ratio of territorial to international freshwater consumption, depending on the origin of demand. For example, although the United States and China have similar demand associated with the petroleum sector, international freshwater consumption is three times higher for the former than the latter. Based on mapping patterns of freshwater consumption associated with energy sectors at subnational scales, our analysis also reveals concordance between pressure on freshwater resources associated with energy production and freshwater scarcity in a number of river basins globally. These energy-driven pressures on freshwater resources in areas distant from the origin of energy demand complicate the design of policy to ensure security of fresh water and energy supply. Although much of the debate around energy is focused on greenhouse gas emissions, our findings highlight the need to consider the full range of consequences of energy production when designing policy

Prevention of breast cancer using selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERMs)

Placebo controlled trials in over 25,000 women showed that tamoxifen reduced breast cancer risk by about 40% and osteoporotic fracture risk by about 32%. Similarly placebo controlled trials in nearly 18,000 women showed that raloxifene reduced breast cancer risk by 44–72% and osteoporotic fractures risk by 30–50%. A direct comparison of tamoxifen with raloxifene showed similar risk reduction for breast cancer and osteoporotic fractures with less toxicity for raloxifene

Physiological concentrations of bile acids down-regulate agonist induced secretion in colonic epithelial cells

In patients with bile acid malabsorption, high concentrations of bile acids enter the colon and stimulate Cl− and fluid secretion, thereby causing diarrhoea. However, deoxycholic acid (DCA), the predominant colonic bile acid, is normally present at lower concentrations where its role in regulating transport is unclear. Thus, the current study set out to investigate the effects of physiologically relevant DCA concentrations on colonic epithelial secretory function. Cl− secretion was measured as changes in short-circuit current across voltage-clamped T84 cell monolayers. At high concentrations (0.5–1 mM), DCA acutely stimulated Cl− secretion but this effect was associated with cell injury, as evidenced by decreased transepithelial resistance (TER) and increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. In contrast, chronic (24 hrs) exposure to lower DCA concentrations (10–200 μM) inhibited responses to Ca2+ and cAMP-dependent secretagogues without altering TER, LDH release, or secretagogue-induced increases in intracellular second messengers. Other bile acids – taurodeoxycholic acid, chenodeoxycholic acid and cholic acid – had similar antisecretory effects. DCA (50 μM) rapidly stimulated phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFr) and both ERK and p38 MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases). The EGFr inhibitor, AG1478, and the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide, reversed the antisecretory effects of DCA, while the MAPK inhibitors, PD98059 and SB203580, did not. In summary, our studies suggest that, in contrast to its acute prosecretory effects at pathophysiological concentrations, lower, physiologically relevant, levels of DCA chronically down-regulate colonic epithelial secretory function. On the basis of these data, we propose a novel role for bile acids as physiological regulators of colonic secretory capacity

High-density lipoprotein subclasses are a potential intermediary between alcohol intake and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease: The Rancho Bernardo Study

We conducted a cross-sectional study of NMR-derived HDL subclasses and alcohol intake among 2171 community-dwelling older adults with a large proportion of daily or near-daily alcohol consumers (44 %). We aimed to assess whether, in addition to increasing total HDL, alcohol may induce a beneficial shift in HDL particle size distribution. Participants were categorised based on reported alcohol intake (g per week) and on frequency (none, < 3 times/week, 3-4 times/week, ≥ 5 times/week). The association between alcohol intake and lipoprotein fractions was examined using sex-specific linear regression models adjusted for age, BMI, diabetes, current smoking, exercise and hormone therapy in women. There was a stepwise gradient with the highest weekly alcohol consumption associated with the highest total HDL size and greatest number of medium and large HDL particles, as well as higher total HDL concentrations (all P < 0.001); total small HDL did not differ. Alcohol-HDL size associations were similar in both sexes and did not differ by use of hormone replacement therapy in women. In conclusion, regular alcohol consumers had a higher number and percentage of large HDL particles than non-drinkers. These results suggest that one way that alcohol may decrease CVD is through potentially favourable changes in lipoprotein subclass composition

Allocating the Burdens of Climate Action: Consumption-Based Carbon Accounting and the Polluter-Pays Principle

Action must be taken to combat climate change. Yet, how the costs of climate action should be allocated among states remains a question. One popular answer—the polluter-pays principle (PPP)—stipulates that those responsible for causing the problem should pay to address it. While intuitively plausible, the PPP has been subjected to withering criticism in recent years. It is timely, following the Paris Agreement, to develop a new version: one that does not focus on historical production-based emissions but rather allocates climate burdens in proportion to each state’s annual consumption-based emissions. This change in carbon accounting results in a fairer and more environmentally effective principle for distributing climate duties

A better coefficient of determination for genetic profile analysis

Genome-wide association studies have facilitated the construction of risk predictors for disease from multiple Single Nucleotide Polymorphism markers. The ability of such "genetic profiles" to predict outcome is usually quantified in an independent data set. Coefficients of determination (R-2) have been a useful measure to quantify the goodness-of-fit of the genetic profile. Various pseudo-R-2 measures for binary responses have been proposed. However, there is no standard or consensus measure because the concept of residual variance is not easily defined on the observed probability scale. Unlike other nongenetic predictors such as environmental exposure, there is prior information on genetic predictors because for most traits there are estimates of the proportion of variation in risk in the population due to all genetic factors, the heritability. It is this useful ability to benchmark that makes the choice of a measure of goodness-of-fit in genetic profiling different from that of nongenetic predictors. In this study, we use a liability threshold model to establish the relationship between the observed probability scale and underlying liability scale in measuring R-2 for binary responses. We show that currently used R-2 measures are difficult to interpret, biased by ascertainment, and not comparable to heritability. We suggest a novel and globally standard measure of R-2 that is interpretable on the liability scale. Furthermore, even when using ascertained case-control studies that are typical in human disease studies, we can obtain an R-2 measure on the liability scale that can be compared directly to heritability. Genet. Epidemiol. 36:214-224, 2012. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc