A red-fleshed apple rich in anthocyanins improves endothelial function, reduces inflammation, and modulates the immune system in hypercholesterolemic subjects: the AppleCOR study

The study determines the sustained and acute effects of a red-fleshed apple (RFA), rich in anthocyanins (ACNs), a white-fleshed apple (WFA) without ACNs, and an infusion from Aronia melanocarpa (AI) with an equivalent content of ACNs as RFA, on different cardiometabolic risk biomarkers in hypercholesterolemic subjects. A randomized, parallel study was performed for 6 weeks and two dose-response studies were performed at the baseline and after intervention. At 6 weeks, RFA consumption improved ischemic reactive hyperemia and decreased C-reactive protein and interleukine-6 compared to WFA consumption. Moreover, at 6 weeks, AI decreased P-selectin compared to WFA and improved the lipid profile. Three products reduced C1q, C4 and Factor B, and RFA and AI reduced C3. Although both RFA and AI have a similar ACN content, RFA, by a matrix effect, induced more improvements in inflammation, whereas AI improved the lipid profile. Anti-inflammatory protein modulation by proteomic reduction of the complement system and immunoglobulins were verified after WFA, AI and RFA consumption.This Applecor study was funded by Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (grant number: AppleCOR Project, AGL2016-76943-C2-2-R). The NFOC-Salut group is a consolidated research group of Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain (2014 SGR 873, 2017 SGR 522 and 2021 SGR817). We also want to thank the Calidad Pascual company, Bezoya (Aranda de Duero, Burgos, Spain) which provided the mineral water necessary for the preparation of the AI.Peer reviewe

Obesity Indexes and Total Mortality among Elderly Subjects at High Cardiovascular Risk: The PREDIMED Study

BackgroundDifferent indexes of regional adiposity have been proposed for identifying persons at higher risk of death. Studies specifically assessing these indexes in large cohorts are scarce. It would also be interesting to know whether a dietary intervention may counterbalance the adverse effects of adiposity on mortality.MethodsWe assessed the association of four different anthropometric indexes (waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI) and height) with all-cause mortality in 7447 participants at high cardiovascular risk from the PREDIMED trial. Forty three percent of them were men (55 to 80 years) and 57% were women (60 to 80 years). All of them were initially free of cardiovascular disease. The recruitment took place in 11 recruiting centers between 2003 and 2009.ResultsAfter adjusting for age, sex, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, intervention group, family history of coronary heart disease, and leisure-time physical activity, WC and WHtR were found to be directly associated with a higher mortality after 4.8 years median follow-up. The multivariable-adjusted HRs for mortality of WHtR (cut-off points: 0.60, 0.65, 0.70) were 1.02 (0.78–1.34), 1.30 (0.97–1.75) and 1.55 (1.06–2.26). When we used WC (cut-off points: 100, 105 and 110 cm), the multivariable adjusted Hazard Ratios (HRs) for mortality were 1.18 (0.88–1.59), 1.02 (0.74–1.41) and 1.57 (1.19–2.08). In all analyses, BMI exhibited weaker associations with mortality than WC or WHtR. The direct association between WHtR and overall mortality was consistent within each of the three intervention arms of the trial.ConclusionsOur study adds further support to a stronger association of abdominal obesity than BMI with total mortality among elderly subjects at high risk of cardiovascular disease. We did not find evidence to support that the PREDIMED intervention was able to counterbalance the harmful effects of increased adiposity on total mortality.Trial RegistrationControlled-Trials.com ISRCTN3573963

A high dietary glycemic index increases total mortality in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk

Objective: Different types of carbohydrates have diverse glycemic response, thus glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) are used to assess this variation. The impact of dietary GI and GL in all-cause mortality is unknown. The objective of this study was to estimate the association between dietary GI and GL and risk of all-cause mortality in the PREDIMED study. Material and Methods: The PREDIMED study is a randomized nutritional intervention trial for primary cardiovascular prevention based on community-dwelling men and women at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Dietary information was collected at baseline and yearly using a validated 137-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). We assigned GI values of each item by a 5-step methodology, using the International Tables of GI and GL Values. Deaths were ascertained through contact with families and general practitioners, review of medical records and consultation of the National Death Index. Cox regression models were used to estimate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and their 95% CI for mortality, according to quartiles of energy-adjusted dietary GI/GL. To assess repeated measures of exposure, we updated GI and GL intakes from the yearly FFQs and used Cox models with time-dependent exposures. Results: We followed 3,583 non-diabetic subjects (4.7 years of follow-up, 123 deaths). As compared to participants in the lowest quartile of baseline dietary GI, those in the highest quartile showed an increased risk of all-cause mortality [HR = 2.15 (95% CI: 1.15–4.04); P for trend = 0.012]. In the repeated-measures analyses using as exposure the yearly updated information on GI, we observed a similar association. Dietary GL was associated with all-causemortality only when subjects were younger than 75 years. Conclusions: High dietary GI was positively associated with all-cause mortality in elderly population at high cardiovascular risk

Circulating metabolites associated with objectively measured sleep duration and sleep variability in overweight/obese participants:A metabolomics approach within the SATIN study

Study Objectives To investigate the associations of circulating metabolites with sleep duration and sleep variability. We also assessed the ability of metabolites to discriminate between sleep duration and sleep variability categories. Methods Cross-sectional analyses were performed on baseline data from 205 participants with overweight/obesity in the “Satiety Innovation” (SATIN) study. A targeted metabolite profiling (n = 159 metabolites) approach was applied using three different platforms (nuclear magnetic resonance, liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry, and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry). Associations between circulating metabolite concentrations and accelerometer-derived sleep duration and variability in sleep duration were assessed using elastic-net regression analysis. Ten-fold cross-validation was used to estimate the discriminative accuracy of metabolites for sleep duration and sleep variability categories. Results A metabolite profile, including acyl-carnitines (C11:0/C5:1-DC/iso-C11:0, 2-M-C4:1/3-M-C4:1, C4:0), sphingomyelins (42:1, 33:1), glycerol, stearic acid, 2- and 3- hydroxyl-butyric acid, docosahexaenoic acid, serotonin, and phosphatidylcholine (34:2), was significantly associated with high sleep duration (4th plus 5th quintile). Ten metabolites, including acyl-carnitines (C18:1, C7:0, C6-OH), phosphatidylcholine (40:6, 37:4, 42:5), lyso-phosphatidylcholine (20:1), sucrose, glutamic acid, and triacylglycerol (52:4), were significantly associated with high sleep variability (4th plus 5th quintile). The area under the curve was 0.69 (95% CI: 0.62–0.75) and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.53–0.72) in the multimetabolite score for high sleep duration and sleep variability, respectively. The variance in sleep duration explained by metabolites was 7%. No metabolites were selected for prediction of sleep variability (continuous). Conclusions A small set of metabolites within distinct biochemical pathways were associated with high sleep duration and sleep variability. These metabolites appeared to moderately discriminate sleep duration and sleep variability categories

Real-time 3D-visualization of inspection manipulators in nuclear reactors

3D-visualisering är ett snabbt växande område, som med hjälp av den snabba utvecklingen av datorprestanda möjliggör allt mer komplexa och detaljerade visualiseringar. På företaget WesDyne TRC i Täby konstrueras och används manipulatorer för att inspektera reaktortankar i kärnkraftverk över hela världen. Manipulatorerna bär och manipulerar detektionsutrustning för att fjärrstyrt kunna utföra oförstörande provning. Provtagningarna är till för att upptäcka och karakterisera sprickor och andra defekter som kan förekomma i kärnreaktorer. En av företagets senaste och mest avancerade manipulatorfamiljer är T-Crawlern, som är designad för att arbeta i mycket begränsade utrymmen. T-Crawlerns arbetsområden är mellan den inre väggen av reaktortryckkärlet och bränslekärnan, samt även runt andra strukturer och hinder inom reaktortryckkärlet. Positionering och rörelser för fjärrstyrda fordon har alltid varit en utmaning, men de trånga utrymmena och bristen på visuella stödlinjer eller andra referenser där T-Crawlern verkar gör att svårigheterna är ovanligt stora. Det är denna kombination av problem som har lett fram till detta examensarbete. Ett 3D-visualiseringsprogram som exakt visar positionen och förflyttningarna av T-Crawlern i en detaljerad valfri reaktortank skapades i detta examensarbete genom att använda SolidWorks2010 och Microsoft Visual Basic 2008. Det finns flera inställningar och funktioner som är implementerade i insticksprogrammet för att öka användbarheten av programmet. Olika kameravinklar finns tillgängliga, inklusive en automatisk kamera som alltid följer manipulatorn och är riktad mot dess framsida. Prestanda har varit av stor betydelse och visualiseringsprogrammet flyter på mjukt på en stationär medeldator från 2010.3D visualization is a rapidly growing area, which with help of the rapid development of computer performance enables more complex and detailed visualizations. At the company WesDyne TRC in Täby, manipulators are developed and used for inspecting reactor tanks in nuclear power plants all over the world. The manipulators carry and manipulate detection equipment for remotely performing non-destructive testing (NDT). The testing is for detecting and characterizing cracks and other defects that may occur in nuclear reactors. One of WesDyne TRC’s most advanced recent manipulator types is the T-Crawler, which is a family of manipulators. The T-Crawlers are designed to operate within the very restricted spaces between the inner wall of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and the fuel core and other structures and obstacles within the RPV. Position monitoring and movement of remote vehicles is always a challenge, however the tight spaces and lack of visual sight lines or other references where the T-Crawler operates presents unusually large difficulties. It is this combination of problems that has led to this master thesis project. A 3D-visualization program that accurately displays the position and movements of the T-Crawler within a detailed model of a desired reactor tank was created in this master thesis, using SolidWorks 2010 and Microsoft Visual Basic 2008. There are several settings and functions that are implemented in the add-in for increasing the usability of the program. Different camera views are available, including an automatic camera that always follows the manipulator and shows a front view of it. Performance has been of great importance and the visualization program runs smoothly on an average desktop computer from 2010

Adherence to a Mediterranean-type diet and reduced prevalence of clustered cardiovascular risk factors in a cohort of 3204 high-risk patients

Background The Mediterranean food pattern (MeDiet) has been suggested to have beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors. Scarcity of assessment of this effect on large samples of patients at high risk is, however, observed. Our objective was to estimate the association between adherence to MeDiet and the prevalence of risk factors in 3204 asymptomatic high-risk patients. Design Cross-sectional assessment of baseline characteristics of participants in a primary prevention trial. Methods Participants were assessed by their usual primary-care physicians to ascertain the prevalence of diet-related cardiovascular risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, or obesity) using standard diagnostic criteria. A dietitian interviewed each participant to obtain a 14-point score measuring the degree of adherence to MeDiet. Results Adherence to MeDiet was inversely associated with individual risk factors and, above all, with the clustering of them. The multivariate adjusted odds ratio to present simultaneously the four risk factors for those above the median value of the MeDiet score was 0.67 (95% confidence interval: 0.53–0.85). The multivariate odds ratios for successive categories of adherence to MeDiet were 1 (ref.), 1.03, 0.85, 0.70 and 0.54 (P for trend ≤0.001). Conclusion Following a MeDiet was inversely associated with the clustering of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia among high-risk patients.The authors acknowledge the Navarra Regional Government (G41/2005), Generalitat Valenciana (ACOMP06109) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII, Spanish Ministry of Health) [Grants FIS-PI040233; FIS-PI042241, FIS-PI050514, FIS-PI050976, FIS-PI052368, FIS-PI042234, FIS-PI041828, FIS-PI051839, FIS-PI070240, RD06/0045/0000, Red Temática PRE-DIMED and CIBEROBN ‘CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CB06/03)'] for supporting this study. CIBEROBN (CB06/03) is an initiative of ISCIII.Peer reviewe

Dietary energy density and body weight changes after 3 years in the PREDIMED study.

The association of dietary energy density (ED) and overweight is not clear in the literature. Our aim was to study in 4259 of the PREDIMED trial whether an increase in dietary ED based on a higher adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern was associated with 3-year weight gain. A validated 137-item food-frequency questionnaire was administered. Multivariable-adjusted models were used to analyze the association between 3-year ED change and the subsequent 3-year body weight change. The most important weight reduction after 3-year follow-up was observed in the two lowest quintiles and the highest quintile of ED change. The highest ED increase was characterized by an increased intake of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and nuts and a decreased intake of other oils, vegetable and fruit consumption (p