The influence of a Mediterranean Diet with and without Red Wine on the Haemostatic and Inflammatory Parameters of Subjects with the Metabolic Syndrome

This 8 week study examined whether a Mediterranean diet supplemented with red wine, had an acute impact onsubjects diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome. Twelve non-smoking subjects with diagnostic criteria of themetabolic syndrome on minimal medication, consumed a Mediterranean-like diet for 4 weeks respectively withoutand with red wine. The amount of red wine consumed was 250 ml (26 grams of alcohol) per day for male and 180ml (19 grams) per day for female participants. A nutrigenetic profile for cardiovascular risk factors was performedon each participant. Fasting blood specimens were taken at baseline, after the diet and after the diet with wineinterventions for platelet function, procoagulants FVII and FVIII, von Willebrand’s factor, fibrinogen, tissueplasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, highly sensitive C-reactive protein and oxygen radicalabsorbance capacity (ORAC). After both periods of diet without wine and with wine, ORAC increased significantlycompared to baseline levels. Except for platelet H2O2 fluxes and FVII concentration, none of the haemostatic orinflammatory parameters changed significantly after the intervention periods compared with baseline levels.Genetic risk factors for cardiovascular disease were identified in all study participants and the potential genotypiceffects relevant to this study were generally in agreement with expected phenotypic response following the dietaryintervention. Our conclusions are that the period of intervention was too short for substantial changes inhaemostatic or in inflammatory parameters in subjects who already manifest some changes in their cardiovascularsystem and who showed diverse genetic profiles underlying increased cardiovascular risk

Planck pre-launch status: calibration of the Low Frequency Instrument flight model radiometers

The Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) on-board the ESA Planck satellite carries eleven radiometer subsystems, called Radiometer Chain Assemblies (RCAs), each composed of a pair of pseudo-correlation receivers. We describe the on-ground calibration campaign performed to qualify the flight model RCAs and to measure their pre-launch performances. Each RCA was calibrated in a dedicated flight-like cryogenic environment with the radiometer front-end cooled to 20K and the back-end at 300K, and with an external input load cooled to 4K. A matched load simulating a blackbody at different temperatures was placed in front of the sky horn to derive basic radiometer properties such as noise temperature, gain, and noise performance, e.g. 1/f noise. The spectral response of each detector was measured as was their susceptibility to thermal variation. All eleven LFI RCAs were calibrated. Instrumental parameters measured in these tests, such as noise temperature, bandwidth, radiometer isolation, and linearity, provide essential inputs to the Planck-LFI data analysis.Comment: 15 pages, 18 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

First radial velocity results from the MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA)

The MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) is a dedicated observatory of four 0.7m robotic telescopes fiber-fed to a KiwiSpec spectrograph. The MINERVA mission is to discover super-Earths in the habitable zones of nearby stars. This can be accomplished with MINERVA's unique combination of high precision and high cadence over long time periods. In this work, we detail changes to the MINERVA facility that have occurred since our previous paper. We then describe MINERVA's robotic control software, the process by which we perform 1D spectral extraction, and our forward modeling Doppler pipeline. In the process of improving our forward modeling procedure, we found that our spectrograph's intrinsic instrumental profile is stable for at least nine months. Because of that, we characterized our instrumental profile with a time-independent, cubic spline function based on the profile in the cross dispersion direction, with which we achieved a radial velocity precision similar to using a conventional "sum-of-Gaussians" instrumental profile: 1.8 m s$^{-1}$ over 1.5 months on the RV standard star HD 122064. Therefore, we conclude that the instrumental profile need not be perfectly accurate as long as it is stable. In addition, we observed 51 Peg and our results are consistent with the literature, confirming our spectrograph and Doppler pipeline are producing accurate and precise radial velocities.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PASP, Peer-Reviewed and Accepte

Growing Okra In Texas.

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Growing Garlic in Texas.

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Designing building energy efficiency programs for greenhouse gas reductions

Costs and benefits of building energy efficiency are estimated as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Pittsburgh, PA and Austin, TX. The analysis includes electricity and natural gas consumption, covering 75% of building energy consumption in Pittsburgh and 85% in Austin. Two policy objectives were evaluated: maximize GHG reductions given initial budget constraints or maximize social savings given target GHG reductions. This approach evaluates the trade-offs between three primary and often conflicting program design parameters: initial capital constraints, social savings, and GHG reductions. Results suggest uncertainty in local stocks, demands, and efficiency significantly impacts anticipated outcomes. Annual GHG reductions of 1 ton CO2 eq/capita/yr in Pittsburgh could cost near nothing or over $20 per capita annually. Capital-constrained policies generate slightly less social savings (a present value of a few hundred dollars per capita) than policies that maximize social savings. However, sectors and end uses targeted for intervention vary depending on policy objectives and constraints. Optimal efficiency investment strategies for some end uses vary significantly (in excess of 100%) between Pittsburgh and Austin, suggesting that resources and guidance conducted at the national scale may mislead state and local decision-makers. Results are used to provide recommendations for efficiency program administrators.Energy efficiency Climate change mitigation Optimization

The influence of a mediterranean diet with and without red wine on the haemostatic and inflammatory parameters of subjects with the metabolic syndrome.

Please help us populate SUNScholar with the post print version of this article. It can be e-mailed to: [email protected] Patologi

The influence of a Mediterranean diet with and without red wine on the haemostatic and inflammatory parameters of subjects with the metabolic syndrome

This 8 week study examined whether a Mediterranean diet supplemented with red wine, had an acute impact on subjects diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome. Twelve non-smoking subjects with diagnostic criteria of the metabolic syndrome on minimal medication, consumed a Mediterranean-like diet for 4 weeks respectively without and with red wine. The amount of red wine consumed was 250 ml (26 grams of alcohol) per day for male and 180 ml (19 grams) per day for female participants. A nutrigenetic profile for cardiovascular risk factors was performed on each participant. Fasting blood specimens were taken at baseline, after the diet and after the diet with wine interventions for platelet function, procoagulants FVII and FVIII, von Willebrand's factor, fibrinogen, tissue plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, highly sensitive C-reactive protein and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). After both periods of diet without wine and with wine, ORAC increased significantly compared to baseline levels. Except for platelet H2O2 fluxes and FVII concentration, none of the haemostatic or inflammatory parameters changed significantly after the intervention periods compared with baseline levels. Genetic risk factors for cardiovascular disease were identified in all study participants and the potential genotypic effects relevant to this study were generally in agreement with expected phenotypic response following the dietary intervention. Our conclusions are that the period of intervention was too short for substantial changes in haemostatic or in inflammatory parameters in subjects who already manifest some changes in their cardiovascular system and who showed diverse genetic profiles underlying increased cardiovascular risk.Articl