Association of fruit versus fruit juices with cardiometabolic risk in adolescent girls

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome, elevated blood pressure (BP), elevated cholesterol and type 2 diabetes mellitus are health conditions that increase cardiometabolic risk (CMR). Sleep, physical activity, diet, are modifiable risk factors for the prevention of cardiometabolic disorders. Dietary fiber which is associated with higher fruit and vegetable intakes is known to lower the effects of obesity-related health issues. Further, these foods have an abundance of beneficial vitamins and minerals as well as low energy density. There is controversial, however, regarding the effect of fruit juice intake on CMR, particularly due to its lower fiber content. The objectives of this research were to estimate the effect of intakes of whole fruit and fruit juice on CMR, including effects on Body Mass Index (BMI), overweight/obesity, hypertension/prehypertension, lipid, and blood glucose levels. METHODS: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s National Growth and Health Study (NGHS) cohort of white and black girls ages 9-10 years at baseline participated in a 10-year longitudinal study. Cardiometabolic outcomes included repeated measures of adiposity (e.g., body mass index (BMI)), and blood pressure, as well as laboratory measures such as fasting glucose and lipid levels. Linear regression and logistic regression were used to assess the association of fruit intake and fruit juice intake on CMR, while adjusting for age, race, tv/video, total vegetables, lean meat, and % calories from fat. Statistical Analysis Software (SAS Institute 15.2) analysis of data was performed. Results were considered statistically significant when p-value was <0.05. RESULTS: For girls in NGHS, BMI at the end of adolescence (ages 17-20 years) averaged to 21.3 kg/m2 for those who ate ≥0.75 cups of fruit and 22.1 kg/m2 for girls who ate <0.25 cups fruit. Similarly, girls with higher fruit juice consumption (≥0.75 cup-equivalents of juice per day) had a statistically significantly lower BMI than those with the lowest juice intake (<0.25 cup-eq/day). For each additional cup of whole fruit consumed on average per day between the ages of 9-17 was associated with 0.18 kg/m2 lower BMI (p<0.0001), after adjusting for age, race, tv/video viewing, total vegetable, lean meat intake, and % calories from fat. Adolescent girls (17 years or older) who drank < 0.25 or 0.25 - < 0.5 cup equivalent fruit juice were 1.60 or 1.63 (respectively) times more likely to become overweight (p-value 0.0005). Neither fruit intake nor fruit juice was associated with elevated fasting glucose risk or with high LDL risk. Whole fruit consumption was associated with a beneficial effect on HDL-cholesterol. Those with low whole fruit intake had a 1.42-fold increased risk of low HDL. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that 100% fruit juice and whole fruit consumption are both associated with beneficial effects on BMI and blood pressure among adolescent girls, suggesting that these foods may aid in the prevention of obesity and hypertension in the early adult years. KEY WORDS: adolescents, adiposity, body mass index, blood pressure, cardiometabolic health, dietary fiber, dyslipidemia, juice, glucose, metabolic syndrome, obesity, fruit

PROGRAMA GENER@T: Social Educational Programme for the Prevention of Dating Violence among Adolescents

The social educational program presented in this article, GENER@T, has been designed and developed as a response to the needs found in the diagnostic multimethod study descriptive which was carried out between 2008 and 2011. 701 adolescents from 5 State secondary schools in different parts of Spain took part in the study. The aim of the diagnosis was to detect social educational needs about gender based violence in adolescents of between 12 and 14. The program presented is innovative in the prevention of gender based violence in two ways: firstly it aims to anticipate the first dating relationships, aiming the intervention at the pre-adolescent stage and secondly the 24 sessions which make up the program means it can be applied transversally as an "optative subject" in a formal educational field or as a workshop in a non- formal educational field. The program "GENER@-T" consists of three parts: the first part is a presentation of its characteristics, the second part is a theoretic guide which records a summary of the content needed to carry out the sessions and the third part is a description of the activities, their objectives, content, techniques and resources needed

Hepatoprotective Phytopreparats in the Republic of Moldova

Catedra Farmacognozie şi Botanică farmaceutică USMF “N. Testemiţanu” Centrul de Cultivare a Plantelor Medicinale USMF “N. Testemiţanu”Hepatitis is a problem for the Republic of Moldova and the assessment of medicinal plants that improves the function of liver it is important from two points of view: social – medical and enomical. According to the World Health Organization, two milliards of people have been infected with hepatitis B virus, 350 milion became chronic carriers, and with high risk of infection with hepatitis D virus, about 170 million are infected with hepatitis C virus and more than 10 million with hepatitis D virus. Despite the fact of hepatitis infection decrease noticed in the country , the hepatitis morbidity index overwhelms a lot the indices in other countries. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the List of Authorized Medicines in the Republic of Moldova (vegetal products, medicinal species, phytodrugs used for their hepatoprotective effects), to assess these medicines according to their producer, the legal estate with medical prescription release or without (OTC, Rx) and their presence in pharmacies. The assessment of Authorized Medicines List in the Republic of Moldova shows that from 6386 recorded medicaments, 175 are hepatoprotective: vegetal products – 36, medicinal species – 62, single species phytodrugs – 37 and multicomponent phytodrugs– 40. Problema hepatitelor ramâne a fi stringentă pentru Republica Moldova şi prin urmare necesitatea evaluarii plantelor medicinale din flora Republicii Moldova cu acţiune hepatoprotectoare este incontestabilă, atât din punct de vedere medico – social, cât şi economic. Conform estimărilor Organizaţiei Mondiale a Sănătăţii, doua miliarde de personae au fost în contact cu virusul hepatitei B, dintre care 350 milioane au devenit purtători cronici şi, potenţial, au risc înalt de infectare cu virusul hepatitei D, circa 170 milioane sunt infectaţi cu virusul hepatitei C şi mai mult de 10 milioane – cu virusul hepatitei D. În pofida diminuării în ţară, indicele morbidităţii cu hepatită depăşeşte cu mult indicii altor ţări. Scopul cercetărilor întreprinse a fost evaluarea Nomenclatorului de Stat al Medicamentelor din Republica Moldova (produse vegetale, specii medicinale, fitopreparate hepatoprotectoare), estimarea acestor produse după producători, statutul legal de eliberare cu prescripţie medicală sau fără (OTC, Rx) şi prezenţa lor în farmacii. Reevaluarea fitopreparatelor cu acţiune hepatoprotectoare după Nomenclatorul de Stat al Medicamentelor Republicii Moldova denotă că din 6386 de medicamente înregistrate, 175 sunt hepatoprotectoare, dintre care: produse vegetale – 36; specii medicinale – 62; fitopreparate monocomponente – 37 şi fitopreparate multecomponente – 40. Cuvinte cheie: hepatite, incidenţă, Nomenclatorul de Stat al Medicamentelor Republicii Moldova, produse vegetale, specii medicinale, fitopreparate, hepatoprotectoare

Evaluarea stării de sănătate și aprecierea calității vieții a pacienților incluși în registrul electronic COVID-19

Background. COVID-19 infection remains a global health emergency with clinical and management challenges requiring comprehensive and relevant research. Objective of the study. Complex assessment of confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection treated in ten medical institutions in Chisinau for the analysis of the impact of the infection on health. Material and Methods. The software „Electronic Register of Patients COVID-19” was developed, based on a standardized form. In the register elaboration, the type, quality and scientific value of the information to be collected and stored shall be taken into account. The included data were selected from the files of COVID-19 patients hospitalized between 1.03.2020 - 30.06.2021. Results. The software was designed with 2 interactive subsystems: the information collection component, implemented in hospital medical institutions and processing component, implemented in Nicolae Testemițanu University. The registry included over 8000 patients with COVID-19, and their number continues to grow. Epidemiological, socio-demographic, clinical, paraclinical data and information on the clinical management of COVID-19 patients are stored securely with different access levels. The created software allows the selection, visualization, and statistical analysis of information with the generation of different reports according to pre-established or free criteria. Conclusion. The register facilitates research by rapidly processing data on hospitalized COVID-19 patients, is a valuable support for scientific researchers, and allows the life quality assessment of the hospitalized patients.Introducere. Infecția COVID-19 a rămas o urgență globală de sănătate cu provocări clinice și de management care necesită o cercetare comprehensivă și relevantă. Scopul. Evaluarea complexă a cazurilor confirmate cu infecția COVID-19 aflate la tratament în zece instituțiile medicale din municipiul Chișinău pentru analiza impactului infecției asupra stării de sănătate. Material și metode. S-a elaborat softul „Registrul electronic de evidență a pacienților COVID-19”, format în baza unui formular standardizat. La elaborarea registrului, s-a ținut cont de tipul, calitatea și valoarea științifică a informației care urmează a fi colectată și stocată. Datele incluse au fost selectate din fișele pacienților COVID-19 spitalizați în perioada 1.03.2020 – 30.06.2021. Rezultate. Softul a fost proiectat pe subsisteme interactive: componenta de colectare a informației, implementată în instituțiile medicale spitalicești și componenta de procesare a informației, implementată în USMF „N. Testemițanu”. Registrul a inclus peste 8000 de pacienți cu COVID-19, iar numărul lor continuă să crească. Datele epidemiologice, socio-demografice, clinice, paraclinice și informațiile cu privire la managementul clinic al pacienților cu COVID-19 sunt stocate în maximă siguranță cu diferite nivele de acces. Softul creat permite selectarea, vizualizarea și analiza statistică a informației cu generarea diferitor rapoarte conform criteriilor prestabilite sau libere. Concluzii. Registrul creat facilitează cercetările prin procesarea rapidă a datelor despre pacienții spitalizați cu COVID-19, este un suport valoros pentru cercetătorii științifici și permite evaluarea calității vieții pacienților spitalizați.Studiu realizat cu suportul proiectului 20.70086.12/COV(701050) „ Evaluarea stării de sănătate și aprecierea calității vieții a pacienților incluși în registrul electronic covid-19” din cadrul Programului de Stat (2020-2023), conducător de proiect: Costru Tudor, autoritatea contractantă: Agenția Națională pentru Cercetare și Dezvoltare

Financial resources management-Factor of sustainable development of the NGOs implementing social economy activities

The purpose of the paper is to approach the elements of financial management in terms of the structure of the incomes of the non-governmental organizations active in the field of social inclusion and to determine the way in which the strategies used to obtain these incomes fit the promotion of social economy as sustainable manner of support for the vulnerable groups. There are many economic activities which play an important role for the reinsertion of the vulnerable groups. The focus is on the inclusion of the Roma population, of the people with disabilities and of the young people living in placement centers. The NGOs mentioned several problems and difficulties they experienced in running these activities because the current regulations rather deter such initiatives and block the development of the social economy

Energy Disequilibrium Effects in Heat Treatment Equipment

The differences found between heat fluxes in different areas of the heat treatment equipment workspace, due to energy disequilibrium or due to improper positioning of loading, can cause non-uniform temperatures and heat stress distributions which will impair the quality of heat processing. In industrial practices, the unilateral heating is often requested for heat processing of certain products and, as a consequence, the heating rate represents a key factor which has to be known and controlled in order to avoid the possible disequilibrium occurring in the distribution of heat stresses. The paper aims to assess by calculation of asymmetric heating effects of heat treated products occurring by improper operation of heat treatment equipment or by improper positioning of loading in the heat treatment equipment workspace