Effects of Curcuma longa (turmeric) on postprandial plasma glucose and insulin in healthy subjects

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous animal studies have shown that <it>Curcuma (C.) longa </it>lowers plasma glucose. <it>C. longa </it>may thus be a promising ingredient in functional foods aimed at preventing type 2 diabetes. The purpose of the study is to study the effect of <it>C. longa </it>on postprandial plasma glucose, insulin levels and glycemic index (GI) in healthy subjects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fourteen healthy subjects were assessed in a crossover trial. A standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was administered together with capsules containing a placebo or <it>C. longa</it>. Finger-prick capillary and venous blood samples were collected before, and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min after the start of the OGTT to measure the glucose and insulin levels, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ingestion of 6 g <it>C. longa </it>had no significant effect on the glucose response. The change in insulin was significantly higher 30 min (<it>P </it>= 0.03) and 60 min (<it>P </it>= 0.041) after the OGTT including <it>C. longa</it>. The insulin AUCs were also significantly higher after the ingestion of <it>C. longa</it>, 15 (<it>P </it>= 0.048), 30 (<it>P </it>= 0.035), 90 (<it>P </it>= 0.03), and 120 (<it>P </it>= 0.02) minutes after the OGTT.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The ingestion of 6 g <it>C. longa </it>increased postprandial serum insulin levels, but did not seem to affect plasma glucose levels or GI, in healthy subjects. The results indicate that <it>C. longa </it>may have an effect on insulin secretion.</p> <p>Trial registration number</p> <p>NCT01029327</p

Modular Chemical Descriptor Language (MCDL): Stereochemical modules

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In our previous papers we introduced the Modular Chemical Descriptor Language (MCDL) for providing a linear representation of chemical information. A subsequent development was the MCDL Java Chemical Structure Editor which is capable of drawing chemical structures from linear representations and generating MCDL descriptors from structures.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this paper we present MCDL modules and accompanying software that incorporate unique representation of molecular stereochemistry based on Cahn-Ingold-Prelog and Fischer ideas in constructing stereoisomer descriptors. The paper also contains additional discussions regarding canonical representation of stereochemical isomers, and brief algorithm descriptions of the open source LINDES, Java applet, and Open Babel MCDL processing module software packages.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Testing of the upgraded MCDL Java Chemical Structure Editor on compounds taken from several large and diverse chemical databases demonstrated satisfactory performance for storage and processing of stereochemical information in MCDL format.</p

Search for time-dependent B0s - B0s-bar oscillations using a vertex charge dipole technique

We report a search for B0s - B0s-bar oscillations using a sample of 400,000 hadronic Z0 decays collected by the SLD experiment. The analysis takes advantage of the electron beam polarization as well as information from the hemisphere opposite that of the reconstructed B decay to tag the B production flavor. The excellent resolution provided by the pixel CCD vertex detector is exploited to cleanly reconstruct both B and cascade D decay vertices, and tag the B decay flavor from the charge difference between them. We exclude the following values of the B0s - B0s-bar oscillation frequency: Delta m_s < 4.9 ps-1 and 7.9 < Delta m_s < 10.3 ps-1 at the 95% confidence level.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures, replaced by version accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.D; results differ slightly from first versio

Promotion of mental health in young adults via mobile phone app: study protocol of the ECoWeB (emotional competence for well-being in Young adults) cohort multiple randomised trials

This is the final version. Available on open access from BMC via the DOI in this recordAvailability of data and materials: Anonymised datasets arising from this trial will be made available after the primary outcomes are published to researchers and other groups via request to a data committee within the Consortium via the University of Exeter’s open access data system Open Research Exeter (ORE). ECoWeB partners will have access to the final trial dataset, commensurate with the grant Consortium Agreement. The results will additionally be updated on ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04148508. The ECoWeB consortium plans to communicate trial results through peer-reviewed open access publications and direct reports to TSC, sponsor, and participants.BACKGROUND: Promoting well-being and preventing poor mental health in young people is a major global priority. Building emotional competence (EC) skills via a mobile app may be an effective, scalable and acceptable way to do this. However, few large-scale controlled trials have examined the efficacy of mobile apps in promoting mental health in young people; none have tailored the app to individual profiles. METHOD/DESIGN: The Emotional Competence for Well-Being in Young Adults cohort multiple randomised controlled trial (cmRCT) involves a longitudinal prospective cohort to examine well-being, mental health and EC in 16-22 year olds across 12 months. Within the cohort, eligible participants are entered to either the PREVENT trial (if selected EC scores at baseline within worst-performing quartile) or to the PROMOTE trial (if selected EC scores not within worst-performing quartile). In both trials, participants are randomised (i) to continue with usual practice, repeated assessments and a self-monitoring app; (ii) to additionally receive generic cognitive-behavioural therapy self-help in app; (iii) to additionally receive personalised EC self-help in app. In total, 2142 participants aged 16 to 22 years, with no current or past history of major depression, bipolar disorder or psychosis will be recruited across UK, Germany, Spain, and Belgium. Assessments take place at baseline (pre-randomisation), 1, 3 and 12 months post-randomisation. Primary endpoint and outcome for PREVENT is level of depression symptoms on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 at 3 months; primary endpoint and outcome for PROMOTE is emotional well-being assessed on the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale at 3 months. Depressive symptoms, anxiety, well-being, health-related quality of life, functioning and cost-effectiveness are secondary outcomes. Compliance, adverse events and potentially mediating variables will be carefully monitored. CONCLUSIONS: The trial aims to provide a better understanding of the causal role of learning EC skills using interventions delivered via mobile phone apps with respect to promoting well-being and preventing poor mental health in young people. This knowledge will be used to develop and disseminate innovative evidence-based, feasible, and effective Mobile-health public health strategies for preventing poor mental health and promoting well-being. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ( www.clinicaltrials.org ). Number of identification: NCT04148508 November 2019.European Union Horizon 202

Cardiovascular diseases and air pollution in Novi Sad, Serbia

Objectives: A large body of evidence has documented that air pollutants have adverse effect on human health as well as on the environment. The aim of this study was to determine whether there was an association between outdoor concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and a daily number of hospital admissions due to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Novi Sad, Serbia among patients aged above 18. Material and Methods: The investigation was carried out during over a 3-year period (from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009) in the area of Novi Sad. The number (N = 10 469) of daily CVD (ICD-10: I00-I99) hospital admissions was collected according to patients' addresses. Daily mean levels of NO2 and SO2, measured in the ambient air of Novi Sad via a network of fixed samplers, have been used to put forward outdoor air pollution. Associations between air pollutants and hospital admissions were firstly analyzed by the use of the linear regression in a single polluted model, and then trough a single and multi-polluted adjusted generalized linear Poisson model. Results: The single polluted model (without confounding factors) indicated that there was a linear increase in the number of hospital admissions due to CVD in relation to the linear increase in concentrations of SO2 (p = 0.015; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.144-1.329, R2 = 0.005) and NO2 (p = 0.007; 95% CI: 0.214-1.361, R2 = 0.007). However, the single and multi-polluted adjusted models revealed that only NO2 was associated with the CVD (p = 0.016, relative risk (RR) = 1.049, 95% CI: 1.009-1.091 and p = 0.022, RR = 1.047, 95% CI: 1.007-1.089, respectively). Conclusions: This study shows a significant positive association between hospital admissions due to CVD and outdoor NO2 concentrations in the area of Novi Sad, Serbia