Dietary patterns, insulin sensitivity and inflammation in older adults.

Background/objectivesSeveral studies have linked dietary patterns to insulin sensitivity and systemic inflammation, which affect risk of multiple chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dietary patterns of a cohort of older adults, and to examine relationships of dietary patterns with markers of insulin sensitivity and systemic inflammation.Subjects/methodsThe Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study is a prospective cohort study of 3075 older adults. In Health ABC, multiple indicators of glucose metabolism and systemic inflammation were assessed. Food intake was estimated with a modified Block food frequency questionnaire. In this study, dietary patterns of 1751 participants with complete data were derived by cluster analysis.ResultsSix clusters were identified, including a 'healthy foods' cluster, characterized by higher intake of low-fat dairy products, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish and vegetables. In the main analysis, the 'healthy foods' cluster had significantly lower fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance values than the 'breakfast cereal' and 'high-fat dairy products' clusters, and lower fasting glucose than the 'high-fat dairy products' cluster (P≤0.05). No differences were found in 2-h glucose. With respect to inflammation, the 'healthy foods' cluster had lower interleukin-6 than the 'sweets and desserts' and 'high-fat dairy products' clusters, and no differences were seen in C-reactive protein or tumor necrosis factor-α.ConclusionsA dietary pattern high in low-fat dairy products, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish and vegetables may be associated with greater insulin sensitivity and lower systemic inflammation in older adults

Jovian Auroral Ion Precipitation: X‐Ray Production From Oxygen and Sulfur Precipitation

Many attempts have been made to model X‐ray emission from both bremsstrahlung and ion precipitation into Jupiter's polar caps. Electron bremsstrahlung modeling has fallen short of producing the total overall power output observed by Earth‐orbit‐based X‐ray observatories. Heavy ion precipitation was able to reproduce strong X‐ray fluxes, but the proposed incident ion energies were very high ( urn:x-wiley:jgra:media:jgra55396:jgra55396-math-00011 MeV per nucleon). Now with the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter, there have been many measurements of heavy ion populations above the polar cap with energies up to 300–400 keV per nucleon (keV/u), well below the ion energies required by earlier models. Recent work has provided a new outlook on how ion‐neutral collisions in the Jovian atmosphere are occurring, providing us with an entirely new set of impact cross sections. The model presented here simulates oxygen and sulfur precipitation, taking into account the new cross sections, every collision process, the measured ion fluxes above Jupiter's polar aurora, and synthetic X‐ray spectra. We predict X‐ray fluxes, efficiencies, and spectra for various initial ion energies considering opacity effects from two different atmospheres. We demonstrate that an in situ measured heavy ion flux above Jupiter's polar cap is capable of producing over 1 GW of X‐ray emission when some assumptions are made. Comparison of our approximated synthetic X‐ray spectrum produced from in situ particle data with a simultaneous X‐ray spectrum observed by XMM‐Newton shows good agreement for the oxygen part of the spectrum but not for the sulfur part

Advanced adenoma diagnosis with FDG PET in a visibly normal mucosa: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An accurate, early diagnosis and treatment of adenomatous polyp can curtail progression to colorectal cancer. F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (F-18 FDG PET) reveals the biochemical changes associated with the development of many cancers which precede the appearance of gross anatomical changes that may be visualized during surgical resection or via imaging with MR or CT.</p> <p>Intervention</p> <p>We detail the history of a 64 year old female who had a whole-body FDG PET scan as a part of an employee wellness program. A dose of 12.2 mCi of F-18 labeled FDG was administered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A focal cecal uptake with a standardized uptake value (SUV) of 8.9 was found on the PET scan. Conversely, only normal mucosa was observed during a colonoscopy done 2 months after the PET scan. Motivated by the PET scan finding, the colonoscopist performed a biopsy which revealed a villous adenoma without high grade dysplasia. Pathology from tissue extracted during an exploratory laparatomy completed one month later found the lesion to be a villous adenoma with high grade dysplasia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Whole-body FDG PET scan revealed the biochemical metabolic changes in malignancy that preceded the appearance of any gross anatomical abnormality. A positive FDG PET scan indicative of colorectal cancer should be followed up with a colonoscopy and biopsy even in a visibly normal mucosa.</p

Building Babies - Chapter 16

In contrast to birds, male mammals rarely help to raise the offspring. Of all mammals, only among rodents, carnivores, and primates, males are sometimes intensively engaged in providing infant care (Kleiman and Malcolm 1981). Male caretaking of infants has long been recognized in nonhuman primates (Itani 1959). Given that infant care behavior can have a positive effect on the infant’s development, growth, well-being, or survival, why are male mammals not more frequently involved in “building babies”? We begin the chapter defining a few relevant terms and introducing the theory and hypotheses that have historically addressed the evolution of paternal care. We then review empirical findings on male care among primate taxa, before focusing, in the final section, on our own work on paternal care in South American owl monkeys (Aotus spp.). We conclude the chapter with some suggestions for future studies.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (HU 1746/2-1) Wenner-Gren Foundation, the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation (BCS-0621020), the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation, the Zoological Society of San Dieg

Association of Dietary Factors with Presence and Severity of Tinnitus in a Middle-Aged UK Population

Objective The impact of dietary factors on tinnitus has received limited research attention, despite being a considerable concern among people with tinnitus and clinicians. The objective was to examine the link between dietary factors and presence and severity of tinnitus. Design This study used the UK Biobank resource, a large cross-sectional study of adults aged 40–69. 171,722 eligible participants were asked questions specific to tinnitus (defined as noises such as ringing or buzzing in the head or ears). Dietary factors included portions of fruit and vegetables per day, weekly fish consumption (oily and non-oily), bread type, cups of caffeinated coffee per day, and avoidance of dairy, eggs, wheat and sugar. We controlled for lifestyle, noise exposure, hearing, personality and comorbidity factors. Results Persistent tinnitus, defined as present at least a lot of the time, was elevated with increased: (i) fruit/vegetable intake (OR = 1.01 per portion/day), (ii) bread (wholemeal/wholegrain, OR = 1.07; other bread, 1.20) and (iii) dairy avoidance (OR = 1.27). Persistent tinnitus was reduced with: (i) fish consumption (non-oily, OR = 0.91; oily, 0.95), (ii) egg avoidance (OR = 0.87) and (iii) caffeinated coffee consumption (OR = 0.99 per cup/day). Reports of “bothersome” tinnitus (moderate-severe handicap) increased with wholemeal/wholegrain bread intake (OR = 0.86). Reports of less frequent transient tinnitus increased with dairy avoidance (OR = 1.18) and decreased with caffeinated coffee (OR = 0.98 per cup/day) and brown bread (OR = 0.94). Conclusions This is the first population study to report the association between dietary factors and tinnitus. Although individually dietary associations are mostly modest, particular changes in diet, such as switching between foodstuffs, may result in stronger associations. These findings offer insights into possible dietary associations with tinnitus, and this may be useful when discussing management options in combination with other lifestyle changes and therapies

Adiposity in early, middle and later adult life and cardiometabolic risk markers in later life; findings from the British regional heart study.

OBJECTIVES: This research investigates the associations between body mass index (BMI) at 21, 40-59, 60-79 years of age on cardiometabolic risk markers at 60-79 years. METHODS: A prospective study of 3464 British men with BMI measured at 40-59 and 60-79 years, when cardiometabolic risk was assessed. BMI at 21 years was ascertained from military records, or recalled from middle-age (adjusted for reporting bias); associations between BMI at different ages and later cardiometabolic risk markers were examined using linear regression. Sensitive period, accumulation and mobility life course models were devised for high BMI (defined as BMI≥75th centile) and compared with a saturated BMI trajectory model. RESULTS: At ages 21, 40-59 and 60-79 years, prevalences of overweight (BMI≥25 kg/m2) were 12%, 53%, 70%, and obesity (≥30 kg/m2) 1.6%, 6.6%, and 17.6%, respectively. BMI at 21 years was positively associated with serum insulin, blood glucose, and HbA1c at 60-79 years, with increases of 1.5% (95%CI 0.8,2.3%), 0.4% (0.1,0.6%), 0.3% (0.1,0.4%) per 1 kg/m2, respectively, but showed no associations with blood pressure or blood cholesterol. However, these associations were modest compared to those between BMI at 60-79 years and serum insulin, blood glucose and HbA1c at 60-79 years, with increases of 8.6% (8.0,9.2%), 0.7% (0.5,0.9%), and 0.5% (0.4,0.7%) per 1 kg/m2, respectively. BMI at 60-79 years was also associated with total cholesterol and blood pressure. Associations for BMI at 40-59 years were mainly consistent with those of BMI at 60-79 years. None of the life course models fitted the data as well as the saturated model for serum insulin. A sensitive period at 50 years for glucose and HbA1c and sensitive period at 70 years for blood pressure were identified. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of men who were thin compared to more contemporary cohorts, BMI in later life was the dominant influence on cardiovascular and diabetes risk. BMI in early adult life may have a small long-term effect on diabetes risk

Occupational stress, work-home interference and burnout among Belgian veterinary practitioners

There have been few formal studies on stress in veterinary surgeons and, in the rare studies available, stress is not examined jointly through the levels of job strain and job engagement, the sources of stress in the issue of work environment and the work-home interference. The authors' goal in this study was to analyse job engagement, job strain, burnout, work-home interference and job stress factors among 216 Belgian veterinary surgeons. Rural practice was compared to small animal and mixed activity. The mean job strain and job engagement level in veterinary surgeons was not higher than what we found in other working populations. However, 15.6% of the group were found to be suffering from high burnout. Rural practitioners had a lower level of job engagement than small animal veterinary surgeons. These small animal practitioners had a lower level of job strain than the mixed practitioners. The level of burnout did not differ significantly across the three types of activity. In comparison to other Belgian and Dutch workers, veterinary surgeons perceived more negative work-home interference. Bovine and mixed practitioners were the most concerned with this problem. The two most important sources of stress reported by bovine practitioners were relations to farmers and working time management (including emergencies and availability)

Antibiotics Threaten Wildlife: Circulating Quinolone Residues and Disease in Avian Scavengers

Antibiotic residues that may be present in carcasses of medicated livestock could pass to and greatly reduce scavenger wildlife populations. We surveyed residues of the quinolones enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin and other antibiotics (amoxicillin and oxytetracycline) in nestling griffon Gyps fulvus, cinereous Aegypius monachus and Egyptian Neophron percnopterus vultures in central Spain. We found high concentrations of antibiotics in the plasma of many nestling cinereous (57%) and Egyptian (40%) vultures. Enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin were also found in liver samples of all dead cinereous vultures. This is the first report of antibiotic residues in wildlife. We also provide evidence of a direct association between antibiotic residues, primarily quinolones, and severe disease due to bacterial and fungal pathogens. Our results indicate that, by damaging the liver and kidney and through the acquisition and proliferation of pathogens associated with the depletion of lymphoid organs, continuous exposure to antibiotics could increase mortality rates, at least in cinereous vultures. If antibiotics ingested with livestock carrion are clearly implicated in the decline of the vultures in central Spain then it should be considered a primary concern for conservation of their populations

Foraging Behavior under Starvation Conditions Is Altered via Photosynthesis by the Marine Gastropod, Elysia clarki

It has been well documented that nutritional state can influence the foraging behavior of animals. However, photosynthetic animals, those capable of both heterotrophy and symbiotic photosynthesis, may have a delayed behavioral response due to their ability to photosynthesize. To test this hypothesis we subjected groups of the kleptoplastic sea slug, Elysia clarki, to a gradient of starvation treatments of 4, 8, and 12 weeks plus a satiated control. Compared to the control group, slugs starved 8 and 12 weeks displayed a significant increase in the proportion of slugs feeding and a significant decrease in photosynthetic capability, as measured in maximum quantum yield and [chl a]. The 4 week group, however, showed no significant difference in feeding behavior or in the metrics of photosynthesis compared to the control. This suggests that photosynthesis in E. clarki, thought to be linked to horizontally-transferred algal genes, delays a behavioral response to starvation. This is the first demonstration of a link between photosynthetic capability in an animal and a modification of foraging behavior under conditions of starvation