Effects of drinking patterns on prospective memory performance in college students [pre-print]

OBJECTIVE: Traditional college students are at a critical juncture in the development of prospective memory (PM). Their brains are vulnerable to the effects of alcohol. METHOD: There were 123 third and fourth year college students, 19-23 years old, who completed the Self-Rating Effects of Alcohol (SREA), Modified Timeline Follow-back (TFLB), Brief Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Scale (BYAACS), and Alcohol Effects Questionnaire (AEQ) once per month on a secure online database, as reported elsewhere (Dager et al., 2013). Data from the 6 months immediately before memory testing were averaged. In a single testing session participants were administered the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition-Text Revision (MINI-DSM-IV-TR), measures of PM (event-based and time-based), and retrospective memory (RM). Based on the average score of six consecutive monthly responses to the SREA, TLFB, and AEQ, students were classified as nondrinkers, light drinkers, or heavy drinkers (as defined previously; Dager et al., 2013). Alcohol-induced amnesia (blackout) was measured with the BYAACS. RESULTS: We found a relationship between these alcohol use classifications and time-based PM, such that participants who were classified as heavier drinkers were more likely to forget to perform the time-based PM task. We also found that self-reported alcohol-induced amnesia (blackouts) during the month immediately preceding memory testing was associated with lower performance on the event-based PM task. Participants\u27 ability to recall the RM tasks suggested the PM items were successfully encoded even when they were not carried out, and we observed no relationship between alcohol use and RM performance. CONCLUSION: Heavy alcohol use in college students may be related to impairments in PM. (PsycINFO Database Recor

Improved insulin sensitivity and body composition, irrespective of macronutrient intake, after a 12 month intervention in adolescents with pre-diabetes; RESIST a randomised control trial

© 2014 Garnett et al..Background: A higher protein to carbohydrate ratio in the diet may potentiate weight loss, improve body composition and cardiometabolic risk, including glucose homeostasis in adults. The aim of this randomised control trial was to determine the efficacy of two structured lifestyle interventions, differing in dietary macronutrient content, on insulin sensitivity and body composition in adolescents. We hypothesised that a moderate-carbohydrate (40-45% of energy), increased-protein (25-30%) diet would be more effective than a high-carbohydrate diet (55-60%), moderate-protein (15%) diet in improving outcomes in obese, insulin resistant adolescents. Methods: Obese 10-17 year olds with either pre-diabetes and/or clinical features of insulin resistance were recruited at two hospitals in Sydney, Australia. At baseline adolescents were prescribed metformin and randomised to one of two energy restricted diets. The intervention included regular contact with the dietician and a supervised physical activity program. Outcomes included insulin sensitivity index measured by an oral glucose tolerance test and body composition measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at 12 months. Results: Of the 111 adolescents recruited, 85 (77%) completed the intervention. BMI expressed as a percentage of the 95th percentile decreased by 6.8% [95% CI: -8.8 to -4.9], ISI increased by 0.2 [95% CI: 0.06 to 0.39] and percent body fat decreased by 2.4% [95% CI: -3.4 to -1.3]. There were no significant differences in outcomes between diet groups at any time. Conclusion: When treated with metformin and an exercise program, a structured, reduced energy diet, which is either high-carbohydrate or moderate-carbohydrate with increased-protein, can achieve clinically significant improvements in obese adolescents at risk of type 2 diabetes.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Genome-Wide Diet-Gene Interaction Analyses for Risk of Colorectal Cancer

Dietary factors, including meat, fruits, vegetables and fiber, are associated with colorectal cancer; however, there is limited information as to whether these dietary factors interact with genetic variants to modify risk of colorectal cancer. We tested interactions between these dietary factors and approximately 2.7 million genetic variants for colorectal cancer risk among 9,287 cases and 9,117 controls from ten studies. We used logistic regression to investigate multiplicative gene-diet interactions, as well as our recently developed Cocktail method that involves a screening step based on marginal associations and gene-diet correlations and a testing step for multiplicative interactions, while correcting for multiple testing using weighted hypothesis testing. Per quartile increment in the intake of red and processed meat were associated with statistically significant increased risks of colorectal cancer and vegetable, fruit and fiber intake with lower risks. From the case-control analysis, we detected a significant interaction between rs4143094 (10p14/near GATA3) and processed meat consumption (OR = 1.17; p = 8.7E-09), which was consistently observed across studies (p heterogeneity = 0.78). The risk of colorectal cancer associated with processed meat was increased among individuals with the rs4143094-TG and -TT genotypes (OR = 1.20 and OR = 1.39, respectively) and null among those with the GG genotype (OR = 1.03). Our results identify a novel gene-diet interaction with processed meat for colorectal cancer, highlighting that diet may modify the effect of genetic variants on disease risk, which may have important implications for prevention. © 2014

Petrophysical, Geochemical, and Hydrological Evidence for Extensive Fracture-Mediated Fluid and Heat Transport in the Alpine Fault's Hanging-Wall Damage Zone

International audienceFault rock assemblages reflect interaction between deformation, stress, temperature, fluid, and chemical regimes on distinct spatial and temporal scales at various positions in the crust. Here we interpret measurements made in the hanging‐wall of the Alpine Fault during the second stage of the Deep Fault Drilling Project (DFDP‐2). We present observational evidence for extensive fracturing and high hanging‐wall hydraulic conductivity (∼10−9 to 10−7 m/s, corresponding to permeability of ∼10−16 to 10−14 m2) extending several hundred meters from the fault's principal slip zone. Mud losses, gas chemistry anomalies, and petrophysical data indicate that a subset of fractures intersected by the borehole are capable of transmitting fluid volumes of several cubic meters on time scales of hours. DFDP‐2 observations and other data suggest that this hydrogeologically active portion of the fault zone in the hanging‐wall is several kilometers wide in the uppermost crust. This finding is consistent with numerical models of earthquake rupture and off‐fault damage. We conclude that the mechanically and hydrogeologically active part of the Alpine Fault is a more dynamic and extensive feature than commonly described in models based on exhumed faults. We propose that the hydrogeologically active damage zone of the Alpine Fault and other large active faults in areas of high topographic relief can be subdivided into an inner zone in which damage is controlled principally by earthquake rupture processes and an outer zone in which damage reflects coseismic shaking, strain accumulation and release on interseismic timescales, and inherited fracturing related to exhumation

Compound heterozygous mutations in glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GARS) cause mitochondrial respiratory chain dysfunction

Glycyl-tRNA synthetase (GARS; OMIM 600287) is one of thirty-seven tRNA-synthetase genes that catalyses the synthesis of glycyl-tRNA, which is required to insert glycine into proteins within the cytosol and mitochondria. To date, eighteen mutations in GARS have been reported in patients with autosomal-dominant Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D (CMT2D; OMIM 601472), and/or distal spinal muscular atrophy type V (dSMA-V; OMIM 600794). In this study, we report a patient with clinical and biochemical features suggestive of a mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) disorder including mild left ventricular posterior wall hypertrophy, exercise intolerance, and lactic acidosis. Using whole exome sequencing we identified compound heterozygous novel variants, c.803C > T; p.(Thr268Ile) and c.1234C > T; p.(Arg412Cys), in GARS in the proband. Spectrophotometric evaluation of the MRC complexes showed reduced activity of Complex I, III and IV in patient skeletal muscle and reduced Complex I and IV activity in the patient liver, with Complex IV being the most severely affected in both tissues. Immunoblot analysis of GARS protein and subunits of the MRC enzyme complexes in patient fibroblast extracts showed significant reduction in GARS protein levels and Complex IV. Together these studies provide evidence that the identified compound heterozygous GARS variants may be the cause of the mitochondrial dysfunction in our patient