Food Intake and Dietary Glycaemic Index in Free-Living Adults with and without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

A recent Cochrane review concluded that low glycaemic index (GI) diets are beneficial in glycaemic control for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). There are limited UK data regarding the dietary GI in free-living adults with and without T2DM. We measured the energy and macronutrient intake and the dietary GI in a group (n = 19) of individuals with diet controlled T2DM and a group (n = 19) without diabetes, matched for age, BMI and gender. Subjects completed a three-day weighed dietary record. Patients with T2DM consumed more daily portions of wholegrains (2.3 vs. 1.1, P = 0.003), more dietary fibre (32.1 vs. 20.9 g, P < 0.001) and had a lower diet GI (53.5 vs. 57.7, P = 0.009) than subjects without T2DM. Both groups had elevated fat and salt intake and low fruit and vegetable intake, relative to current UK recommendations. Conclusions: Patients with T2DM may already consume a lower GI diet than the general population but further efforts are needed to reduce dietary GI and achieve other nutrient targets

Measurements of the Generalized Electric and Magnetic Polarizabilities of the Proton at Low Q2 Using the VCS Reaction

The mean square polarizability radii of the proton have been measured for the first time in a virtual Compton scattering experiment performed at the MIT-Bates out-of-plane scattering facility. Response functions and polarizabilities obtained from a dispersion analysis of the data at Q2=0.06 GeV2/c2 are in agreement with O(p3) heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. The data support the dominance of mesonic effects in the polarizabilities, and the increase of beta with increasing Q2 is evidence for the cancellation of long-range diamagnetism by short-range paramagnetism from the pion cloud

Impact of Short Term Consumption of Diets High in Either Non-Starch Polysaccharides or Resistant Starch in Comparison with Moderate Weight Loss on Indices of Insulin Sensitivity in Subjects with Metabolic Syndrome

This work was partly funded by the World Cancer Research Fund and the Rural and Environmental Research and Analysis Directorate (RERAD) of the Scottish Government as part of the base allocations to both the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health (University of Aberdeen) and Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Measurement of the Partial Cross Sections s(TT), s(LT) and [s(T)+epsilon*s(L)] of the p(e,e' pi+)n Reaction in the Delta(1232) Resonance

We report new precision p(e,e' pi+})n measurements in the Delta(1232) resonance at Q2 = 0.127(GeV/c)2 obtained at the MIT-Bates Out-Of-Plane scattering facility. These are the lowest, but non-zero, Q2 measurements in the pi+ channel. The data offer new tests of the theoretical calculations, particularly of the background amplitude contributions. The chiral effective field theory and Sato-Lee model calculations are not in agreement with this experiment

Dark matter search in a Beam-Dump eXperiment (BDX) at Jefferson Lab

MeV-GeV dark matter (DM) is theoretically well motivated but remarkably unexplored. This Letter of Intent presents the MeV-GeV DM discovery potential for a 1 m$^3$ segmented plastic scintillator detector placed downstream of the beam-dump at one of the high intensity JLab experimental Halls, receiving up to 10$^{22}$ electrons-on-target (EOT) in a one-year period. This experiment (Beam-Dump eXperiment or BDX) is sensitive to DM-nucleon elastic scattering at the level of a thousand counts per year, with very low threshold recoil energies ($\sim$1 MeV), and limited only by reducible cosmogenic backgrounds. Sensitivity to DM-electron elastic scattering and/or inelastic DM would be below 10 counts per year after requiring all electromagnetic showers in the detector to exceed a few-hundred MeV, which dramatically reduces or altogether eliminates all backgrounds. Detailed Monte Carlo simulations are in progress to finalize the detector design and experimental set up. An existing 0.036 m$^3$ prototype based on the same technology will be used to validate simulations with background rate estimates, driving the necessary R$\&$D towards an optimized detector. The final detector design and experimental set up will be presented in a full proposal to be submitted to the next JLab PAC. A fully realized experiment would be sensitive to large regions of DM parameter space, exceeding the discovery potential of existing and planned experiments by two orders of magnitude in the MeV-GeV DM mass range.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, submitted to JLab PAC 4

Measurement of the proton electric to magnetic form factor ratio from \vec ^1H(\vec e, e'p)

We report the first precision measurement of the proton electric to magnetic form factor ratio from spin-dependent elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from a polarized hydrogen internal gas target. The measurement was performed at the MIT-Bates South Hall Ring over a range of four-momentum transfer squared $Q^2$ from 0.15 to 0.65 (GeV/c)$^2$. Significantly improved results on the proton electric and magnetic form factors are obtained in combination with previous cross-section data on elastic electron-proton scattering in the same $Q^2$ region.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PR

Pivotal Roles for pH, Lactate, and Lactate-Utilizing Bacteria in the Stability of a Human Colonic Microbial Ecosystem.

Lactate can be produced by many gut bacteria, but in adults its accumulation in the colon is often an indicator of microbiota perturbation. Using continuous culture anaerobic fermentor systems, we found that lactate concentrations remained low in communities of human colonic bacteria maintained at pH 6.5, even when dl-lactate was infused at 10 or 20 mM. In contrast, lower pH (5.5) led to periodic lactate accumulation following lactate infusion in three fecal microbial communities examined. Lactate accumulation was concomitant with greatly reduced butyrate and propionate production and major shifts in microbiota composition, with Bacteroidetes and anaerobic Firmicutes being replaced by Actinobacteria, lactobacilli, and Proteobacteria Pure-culture experiments confirmed that Bacteroides and Firmicutes isolates were susceptible to growth inhibition by relevant concentrations of lactate and acetate, whereas the lactate-producer Bifidobacterium adolescentis was resistant. To investigate system behavior further, we used a mathematical model (microPop) based on 10 microbial functional groups. By incorporating differential growth inhibition, our model reproduced the chaotic behavior of the system, including the potential for lactate infusion both to promote and to rescue the perturbed system. The modeling revealed that system behavior is critically dependent on the proportion of the community able to convert lactate into butyrate or propionate. Communities with low numbers of lactate-utilizing bacteria are inherently less stable and more prone to lactate-induced perturbations. These findings can help us to understand the consequences of interindividual microbiota variation for dietary responses and microbiota changes associated with disease states.IMPORTANCE Lactate is formed by many species of colonic bacteria, and can accumulate to high levels in the colons of inflammatory bowel disease subjects. Conversely, in healthy colons lactate is metabolized by lactate-utilizing species to the short-chain fatty acids butyrate and propionate, which are beneficial for the host. Here, we investigated the impact of continuous lactate infusions (up to 20 mM) at two pH values (6.5 and 5.5) on human colonic microbiota responsiveness and metabolic outputs. At pH 5.5 in particular, lactate tended to accumulate in tandem with decreases in butyrate and propionate and with corresponding changes in microbial composition. Moreover, microbial communities with low numbers of lactate-utilizing bacteria were inherently less stable and therefore more prone to lactate-induced perturbations. These investigations provide clear evidence of the important role these lactate utilizers may play in health maintenance. These should therefore be considered as potential new therapeutic probiotics to combat microbiota perturbations

mRNA Levels of Placental Iron and Zinc Transporter Genes Are Upregulated in Gambian Women with Low Iron and Zinc Status.

Background: The role of the placenta in regulating micronutrient transport in response to maternal status is poorly understood.Objective: We investigated the effect of prenatal nutritional supplementation on the regulation of placental iron and zinc transport.Methods: In a randomized trial in rural Gambia [ENID (Early Nutrition and Immune Development)], pregnant women were allocated to 1 of 4 nutritional intervention arms: 1) iron and folic acid (FeFol) tablets (FeFol group); 2) multiple micronutrient (MMN) tablets (MMN group); 3) protein energy (PE) as a lipid-based nutrient supplement (LNS; PE group); and 4) PE and MMN (PE+MMN group) as LNS. All arms included iron (60 mg/d) and folic acid (400 μg/d). The MMN and PE+MMN arms included 30 mg supplemental Zn/d. In a subgroup of ∼300 mother-infant pairs, we measured maternal iron status, mRNA levels of genes encoding for placental iron and zinc transport proteins, and cord blood iron levels.Results: Maternal plasma iron concentration in late pregnancy was 45% and 78% lower in the PE and PE+MMN groups compared to the FeFol and MMN groups, respectively (P < 0.001). The mRNA levels of the placental iron uptake protein transferrin receptor 1 were 30-49% higher in the PE and PE+MMN arms than in the FeFol arm (P < 0.031), and also higher in the PE+MMN arm (29%; P = 0.042) than in the MMN arm. Ferritin in infant cord blood was 18-22% lower in the LNS groups (P < 0.024). Zinc supplementation in the MMN arm was associated with higher maternal plasma zinc concentrations (10% increase; P < 0.001) than in other intervention arms. mRNA levels for intracellular zinc-uptake proteins, in this case zrt, irt-like protein (ZIP) 4 and ZIP8, were 96-205% lower in the PE+MMN arm than in the intervention arms without added zinc (P < 0.025). Furthermore, mRNA expression of ZIP1 was 85% lower in the PE+MMN group than in the PE group (P = 0.003).Conclusion: In conditions of low maternal iron and in the absence of supplemental zinc, the placenta upregulates the gene expression of iron and zinc uptake proteins, presumably in order to meet fetal demands in the face of low maternal supply. The ENID trial was registered at www.controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN49285450

Target and beam-target spin asymmetries in exclusive pion electroproduction for Q2>1GeV2 . I. ep→eπ+n

Beam-target double-spin asymmetries and target single-spin asymmetries were measured for the exclusive π + electroproduction reaction γ ∗ p → n π + . The results were obtained from scattering of 6-GeV longitudinally polarized electrons off longitudinally polarized protons using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer at Jefferson Laboratory. The kinematic range covered is 1.1 &lt; W &lt; 3 GeV and 1 &lt; Q 2 &lt; 6 GeV 2 . Results were obtained for about 6000 bins in W ,   Q 2 ,   cos ( θ ∗ ) , and ϕ ∗ . Except at forward angles, very large target-spin asymmetries are observed over the entire W region. Reasonable agreement is found with phenomenological fits to previous data for W &lt; 1.6 GeV, but very large differences are seen at higher values of W . A generalized parton distributions (GPD)-based model is in poor agreement with the data. When combined with cross-sectional measurements, the present results provide powerful constraints on nucleon resonance amplitudes at moderate and large values of Q 2 , for resonances with masses as high as 2.4 GeV