Dietary determinants of changes in waist circumference adjusted for body mass index - a proxy measure of visceral adiposity

Background Given the recognized health effects of visceral fat, the understanding of how diet can modulate changes in the phenotype “waist circumference for a given body mass index (WCBMI)”, a proxy measure of visceral adiposity, is deemed necessary. Hence, the objective of the present study was to assess the association between dietary factors and prospective changes in visceral adiposity as measured by changes in the phenotype WCBMI. Methods and Findings We analyzed data from 48,631 men and women from 5 countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Anthropometric measurements were obtained at baseline and after a median follow-up time of 5.5 years. WCBMI was defined as the residuals of waist circumference regressed on body mass index, and annual change in WCBMI (¿WCBMI, cm/y) was defined as the difference between residuals at follow-up and baseline, divided by follow-up time. The association between energy, energy density (ED), macronutrients, alcohol, glycemic index (GI), glycemic load (GL), fibre and ¿WCBMI was modelled using centre-specific adjusted linear regression, and random-effects meta-analyses to obtain pooled estimates. Men and women with higher ED and GI diets showed significant increases in their WCBMI, compared to those with lower ED and GI [1 kcal/g greater ED predicted a ¿WCBMI of 0.09 cm (95% CI 0.05 to 0.13) in men and 0.15 cm (95% CI 0.09 to 0.21) in women; 10 units greater GI predicted a ¿WCBMI of 0.07 cm (95% CI 0.03 to 0.12) in men and 0.06 cm (95% CI 0.03 to 0.10) in women]. Among women, lower fibre intake, higher GL, and higher alcohol consumption also predicted a higher ¿WCBMI. Conclusions Results of this study suggest that a diet with low GI and ED may prevent visceral adiposity, defined as the prospective changes in WCBMI. Additional effects may be obtained among women of low alcohol, low GL, and high fibre intake

Origin of discrepancy between electrical and mechanical anomalies in lead-free (K,Na)NbO3 -based ceramics

[EN] Ferroelectric polymorphic phase coexistence, associated with either the presence of a morphotropic phase boundary or a temperature-driven polymorphic phase transition, is currently acknowledged as the key to high piezoelectric activity and is searched when new perovskite materials are developed, like lead-free alternatives to state-of-the-art Pb(Zr,Ti)O3. This requires characterization tools that allow phase coexistence and transitions to be readily identified, among which measurements of the temperature dependences of Young's modulus and mechanical losses by dynamical mechanical analysis stand out as a powerful technique to complement standard electrical characterizations. We report here the application of this technique to (K1-xNax)NbO3-based materials, which are under extensive investigation as environmentally friendly high sensitivity piezoelectrics. The elastic anomalies associated with the different phase transitions are identified and are shown to be distinctively shifted in relation to the dielectric ones. The origin of this discrepancy is discussed with the help of temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy and is proposed to be a characteristic of diffuse phase transitions.The authors would like to thank CAPES and the Sâo Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Grants No. 2012/08457-7 and No. 2013/00134-7, for the financial support. M.A. also acknowledges funding from MINECO through the MAT2014-58816-R Project.Peer Reviewe

Three-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau simulation of a vortex line displaced by a zigzag of pinning spheres

A vortex line is shaped by a zigzag of pinning centers and we study here how far the stretched vortex line is able to follow this path. The pinning center is described by an insulating sphere of coherence length size such that in its surface the de Gennes boundary condition applies. We calculate the free energy density of this system in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau theory and study the critical displacement beyond which the vortex line is detached from the pinning center.Comment: Submitted to special issue of Prammna-Journal of Physics devoted to the Vortex State Studie

Dietary intake of trans fatty acids in children aged 4–5 in Spain: The INMA cohort study

Trans fatty acid (TFA) intake has been identified as a health hazard in adults, but data on preschool children are scarce. We analyzed the data from the Spanish INMA Project to determine the intake of total, industrial and natural TFA, their main sources and the associated socio-demographic and lifestyle factors in children aged 4–5 (n = 1793). TFA intake was estimated using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire, and multiple linear regression was used to explore associated factors. The mean daily intakes of total, industrial and natural TFA were 1.36, 0.60, and 0.71 g/day, respectively. Ten percent of the children obtained >1% of their energy intake from TFA. The main sources of industrial TFA were fast food, white bread and processed baked goods. Milk, red and processed meat and processed baked goods were the main sources of natural TFA. Having parents from countries other than Spain was significantly associated with higher natural TFA (in mg/day) intake (β 45.5) and television viewing was significantly associated with higher industrial TFA intake (β 18.3). Higher fruits and vegetables intake was significantly associated with lower intakes of all TFAs, whereas higher sweetened beverages intake was significantly associated with lower total and natural TFA intake. Thus, total and industrial TFA intake was associated with less healthy food patterns and lifestyles in Spanish preschool children

New results on the mathematical foundations of asymptotic complexity analysis of algorithms via complexity spaces

Schellekens [The Smyth completion: A common foundation for denotational semantics and complexity analysis, Electron. Notes Theor. Comput. Sci. 1 (1995), pp. 211-232.] introduced the theory of complexity (quasi-metric) spaces as a part of the development of a topological foundation for the asymptotic complexity analysis of programs and algorithms in 1995. The applicability of this theory to the asymptotic complexity analysis of divide and conquer algorithms was also illustrated by Schellekens in the same paper. In particular, he gave a new formal proof, based on the use of the Banach fixed-point theorem, of the well-known fact that the asymptotic upper bound of the average running time of computing of Mergesort belongs to the asymptotic complexity class of n log(2) n. Recently, Schellekens' method has been shown to be useful in yielding asymptotic upper bounds for a class of algorithms whose running time of computing leads to recurrence equations different from the divide and conquer ones reported in Cerda-Uguet et al. [The Baire partial quasi-metric space: A mathematical tool for the asymptotic complexity analysis in Computer Science, Theory Comput. Syst. 50 (2012), pp. 387-399.]. However, the variety of algorithms whose complexity can be analysed with this approach is not much larger than that of algorithms that can be analysed with the original Schellekens method. In this paper, on the one hand, we extend Schellekens' method in order to yield asymptotic upper bounds for a certain class of recursive algorithms whose running time of computing cannot be discussed following the techniques given by Cerda-Uguet et al. and, on the other hand, we improve the original Schellekens method by introducing a new fixed-point technique for providing, contrary to the case of the method introduced by Cerda-Uguet et al., lower asymptotic bounds of the running time of computing of the aforementioned algorithms and those studied by Cerda-Uguet et al. We illustrate and validate the developed method by applying our results to provide the asymptotic complexity class (asymptotic upper and lower bounds) of the celebrated algorithms Quicksort, Largetwo and Hanoi.The authors are thankful for the support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, grant MTM2009-12872-C02-01.Romaguera Bonilla, S.; Tirado Peláez, P.; Valero Sierra, Ó. (2012). New results on the mathematical foundations of asymptotic complexity analysis of algorithms via complexity spaces. International Journal of Computer Mathematics. 89(13-14):1728-1741. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207160.2012.659246S172817418913-14Cerdà-Uguet, M. A., Schellekens, M. P., & Valero, O. (2011). The Baire Partial Quasi-Metric Space: A Mathematical Tool for Asymptotic Complexity Analysis in Computer Science. Theory of Computing Systems, 50(2), 387-399. doi:10.1007/s00224-010-9310-7Cull, P., & Ecklund, E. F. (1985). Towers of Hanoi and Analysis of Algorithms. The American Mathematical Monthly, 92(6), 407. doi:10.2307/2322448García-Raffi, L. M., Romaguera, S., & Sánchez-Pérez, E. A. (2002). Sequence spaces and asymmetric norms in the theory of computational complexity. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 36(1-2), 1-11. doi:10.1016/s0895-7177(02)00100-0García-Raffi, L. M., Romaguera, S., & Schellekens, M. P. (2008). Applications of the complexity space to the General Probabilistic Divide and Conquer Algorithms. Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 348(1), 346-355. doi:10.1016/j.jmaa.2008.07.026Künzi, H.-P. A. (2001). Nonsymmetric Distances and Their Associated Topologies: About the Origins of Basic Ideas in the Area of Asymmetric Topology. History of Topology, 853-968. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-0470-0_3Rodríguez-López, J., Romaguera, S., & Valero, O. (2008). Denotational semantics for programming languages, balanced quasi-metrics and fixed points. International Journal of Computer Mathematics, 85(3-4), 623-630. doi:10.1080/00207160701210653Rodríguez-López, J., Schellekens, M. P., & Valero, O. (2009). An extension of the dual complexity space and an application to Computer Science. Topology and its Applications, 156(18), 3052-3061. doi:10.1016/j.topol.2009.02.009Romaguera, S., & Schellekens, M. (1999). Quasi-metric properties of complexity spaces. Topology and its Applications, 98(1-3), 311-322. doi:10.1016/s0166-8641(98)00102-3Romaguera, S., & Valero, O. (2008). On the structure of the space of complexity partial functions. International Journal of Computer Mathematics, 85(3-4), 631-640. doi:10.1080/00207160701210117Romaguera, S., Schellekens, M. P., & Valero, O. (2011). The complexity space of partial functions: a connection between complexity analysis and denotational semantics. International Journal of Computer Mathematics, 88(9), 1819-1829. doi:10.1080/00207161003631885Schellekens, M. (1995). The Smyth Completion. Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, 1, 535-556. doi:10.1016/s1571-0661(04)00029-5Scott, D. S. 1970. Outline of a mathematical theory of computation. Proceedings of the 4th Annual Princeton Conference on Information Sciences and Systems. March26–271970, Princeton, NJ. pp.169–176

Correlates of overall and central obesity in adults from seven European countries: findings from the Food4Me Study

To identify predictors of obesity in adults and investigate to what extent these predictors are independent of other major confounding factors. Data collected at baseline from 1441 participants from the Food4Me study conducted in seven European countries were included in this study. A food frequency questionnaire was used to measure dietary intake. Accelerometers were used to assess physical activity levels (PA), whereas participants self-reported their body weight, height and waist circumference via the internet. The main factors associated (p < 0.05) with higher BMI per 1-SD increase in the exposure were age (β:1.11 kg/m2), intakes of processed meat (β:1.04 kg/m2), red meat (β:1.02 kg/m2), saturated fat (β:0.84 kg/m2), monounsaturated fat (β:0.80 kg/m2), protein (β:0.74 kg/m2), total energy intake (β:0.50 kg/m2), olive oil (β:0.36 kg/m2), sugar sweetened carbonated drinks (β:0.33 kg/m2) and sedentary time (β:0.73 kg/m2). In contrast, the main factors associated with lower BMI per 1-SD increase in the exposure were PA (β:-1.36 kg/m2), intakes of wholegrains (β:-1.05 kg/m2), fibre (β:-1.02 kg/m2), fruits and vegetables (β:-0.52 kg/m2), nuts (β:-0.52 kg/m2), polyunsaturated fat (β:-0.50 kg/m2), Healthy Eating Index (β:-0.42 kg/m2), Mediterranean diet score (β:-0.40 kg/m2), oily fish (β:-0.31 kg/m2), dairy (β:-0.31 kg/m2) and fruit juice (β:-0.25 kg/m2). These findings are important for public health and suggest that promotion of increased PA, reducing sedentary behaviours and improving the overall quality of dietary patterns are important strategies for addressing the existing obesity epidemic and associated disease burden

Consumption of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners and risk of cancer in the Spanish multicase-control study (MCC-Spain)

The study was partially funded by the “Accion Transversal del Cáncer”, approved on the Spanish Ministry Council on the 11th October 2007, by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER (PI08/1770, PI08/0533, PI08/1359, PS09/00773-Cantabria, PS09/01286-León, PS09/01903-Valencia, PS09/02078-Huelva, PS09/01662-Granada, PI11/01403, PI11/01889, PI11/00226, PI11/01810, PI11/02213, PI12/00488, PI12/00265, PI12/01270, PI12/00715, PI12/00150, PI14/01219, PI14/0613, PI15/00069, PI15/00914, PI15/01032, PI17CIII/00034); Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [MINECO] through the Instituto de Salud Carlos III [ISCIII] and Red Temática de Investigaci ondel Cáncer [RTICC] del ISCIII [RD12/0036/0036]); the European Commission grants FOOD-CT-2006-036224-HIWATE. ISGlobal acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019-2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S); MINECO (Spanish Ministry of Economy) fellowship (PRE2019-089038); Ramon y Cajal Fellowship RYC2020-029599 funded by MCIN (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and EI FSE “Invest in your future” (...)Palomar-Cros A, Straif K, Romaguera D, Aragonés N, Castaño-Vinyals G, Martin V, Moreno V, Gómez-Acebo I, Guevara M, Aizpurua A, Molina-Barceló A, Jiménez-Moleón JJ, Tardón A, Contreras-Llanes M, Marcos-Gragera R, Huerta JM, Pérez-Gómez B, Espinosa A, Hernández-Segura N, Obón-Santacana M, Alonso-Molero J, Burgui R, Amiano P, Pinto-Carbó M, Olmedo-Requena R, Fernández-Tardón G, Santos-Sánchez V, Fernández de Larrea-Baz N, Fernández-Villa T, Casabonne D, Dierssen-Sotos T, Ardanaz E, Dorronsoro A, Pollán M, Kogevinas M, Lassale

Mediterranean diet and type 2 diabetes risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study: the InterAct project.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) and risk of developing type 2 diabetes, across European countries. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We established a case-cohort study including 11,994 incident type 2 diabetic case subjects and a stratified subcohort of 15,798 participants selected from a total cohort of 340,234 participants with 3.99 million person-years of follow-up, from eight European cohorts participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. The relative Mediterranean diet score (rMED) (score range 0-18) was used to assess adherence to MDP on the basis of reported consumption of nine dietary components characteristic of the Mediterranean diet. Cox proportional hazards regression, modified for the case-cohort design, was used to estimate the association between rMED and risk of type 2 diabetes, adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: The multiple adjusted hazard ratios of type 2 diabetes among individuals with medium (rMED 7-10 points) and high adherence to MDP (rMED 11-18 points) were 0.93 (95% CI 0.86-1.01) and 0.88 (0.79-0.97), respectively, compared with individuals with low adherence to MDP (0-6 points) (P for trend 0.013). The association between rMED and type 2 diabetes was attenuated in people <50 years of age, in obese participants, and when the alcohol, meat, and olive oil components were excluded from the score. CONCLUSIONS: In this large prospective study, adherence to the MDP, as defined by rMED, was associated with a small reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in this European population