27 research outputs found
Feasibility evaluation and critical factor analysis for subway scheduling
In strategic subway scheduling stage, the conflict sometimes comes from different requirements of the subway operator. This study aims to investigate the significant factors concerning strategic subway scheduling problem and to develop an automatic procedure of feasibility analysis in subway scheduling. To this end, accurate simulation of train movement (via a simulator, named HAMLET) is applied first by considering the line geography, train performances, actual speed restrictions, etc. The critical elements of subway scheduling and their correlations are then studied and a bound structure of the critical factors is established. The feasibility of primary plan requirements is analysed with the restrictions of the bound structure. Infeasible aspects and possible adjustments are shortly discussed. Finally, the subsequent applications including schedule generation and optimization according to various objectives are indicated as well
Kinematic and kinetic patterns related to free-walking in Parkinson's disease
The aim of this study is to compare the properties of free-walking at a natural pace
between mild Parkinsonâs disease (PD) patients during the ON-clinical status and two control groups.
In-shoe pressure-sensitive insoles were used to quantify the temporal and force characteristics of a
5-min free-walking in 11 PD patients, in 16 young healthy controls, and in 12 age-matched healthy
controls. Inferential statistics analyses were performed on the kinematic and kinetic parameters
to compare groupsâ performances, whereas feature selection analyses and automatic classification
were used to identify the signature of parkinsonian gait and to assess the performance of group
classification, respectively. Compared to healthy subjects, the PD patientsâ gait pattern presented
significant differences in kinematic parameters associated with bilateral coordination but not in
kinetics. Specifically, patients showed an increased variability in double support time, greater gait
asymmetry and phase deviation, and also poorer phase coordination. Feature selection analyses
based on the ReliefF algorithm on the differential parameters in PD patients revealed an effect of
the clinical status, especially true in double support time variability and gait asymmetry. Automatic
classification of PD patients, young and senior subjects confirmed that kinematic predictors produced
a slightly better classification performance than kinetic predictors. Overall, classification accuracy of
groups with a linear discriminant model which included the whole set of features (i.e., demographics
and parameters extracted from the sensors) was 64.1
Changes in plasma fatty acid composition are associated with improvements in obesity and related metabolic disorders: A therapeutic approach to overweight adolescents
Background & aims: In recent years, obesity has reached alarming levels among children and adolescents. The study of plasma fatty acid (FA) composition, as a reflection of diet, and its associations with other parameters, that are closely linked to obesity and the cardiometabolic profile, may be useful for setting nutritional goals for obesity treatment and prevention. This study explored the relationship between plasma FA levels and body fat and cardiometabolic risk markers, in overweight adolescents.
Methods: A multidisciplinary weight loss program was followed by 127 overweight and obese adolescents aged 12-17 years old. Plasma FA composition, anthropometric indicators of adiposity and biochemical parameters were analyzed at baseline, two months (the end of the intensive intervention phase) and six months (the end of the extensive phase).
Results: While saturated fatty acid (SFA) and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels decreased significantly during the intervention, monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and n-3 PUFA showed the opposite trend. The decrease in SFA C14:0 was associated with a reduction in total and LDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein B and insulin. The increase in MUFAs, especially C18:1n-9, was related to a reduction in weight, fat mass, fat mass index and glucose. Regarding PUFAs, changes in the n-3 series were not associated with any of the parameters studied, whereas the reduction in n-6 PUFA5 was directly related to weight, fat mass, total and HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein Al, glucose and insulin, and inversely associated with diastolic blood pressure. The adolescents with greater weight loss presented significant changes in MUFAs, n-6 PUFA5 and C14:0.
Conclusions: Modifications in plasma FA composition were associated with adiposity reduction and cardiometabolic profile improvement in an anti-obesity program aimed at adolescents. The changes observed in FA composition were related to the success of the treatment, since the individuals most affected by these variations were those who presented the greatest weight loss
Relation between plasma antioxidant vitamin levels, adiposity and cardio-metabolic profile in adolescents: Effects of a multidisciplinary obesity programme
Background & aims
In vivo and in vitro evidence suggests that antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids may be key factors in the treatment and prevention of obesity and obesity-associated disorders. Hence, the objective of the present study was to determine the relationship between plasma lipid-soluble antioxidant vitamin and carotenoid levels and adiposity and cardio-metabolic risk markers in overweight and obese adolescents participating in a multidisciplinary weight loss programme.
Methods
A therapeutic programme was conducted with 103 adolescents aged 12â17 years old and diagnosed with overweight or obesity. Plasma concentrations of a-tocopherol, retinol, Ă-carotene and lycopene, anthropometric indicators of general and central adiposity, blood pressure and biochemical parameters were analysed at baseline and at 2 and 6 months of treatment.
Results
Lipid-corrected retinol (P < 0.05), Ă-carotene (P = 0.001) and a-tocopherol (P < 0.001) plasma levels increased significantly, whereas lipid-corrected lycopene levels remained unaltered during the treatment. Anthropometric indicators of adiposity (P < 0.001), blood pressure (P < 0.01) and biochemical parameters (P < 0.05) decreased significantly, whereas fat free mass increased significantly (P < 0.001). These clinical and biochemical improvements were related to changes in plasma lipid-corrected antioxidant vitamin and carotenoid levels. The adolescents who experienced the greatest weight loss also showed the largest decrease in anthropometric indicators of adiposity and biochemical parameters and the highest increase in fat free mass. Weight loss in these adolescents was related to an increase in plasma levels of lipid-corrected a-tocopherol (P = 0.001), Ă-carotene (P = 0.034) and lycopene (P = 0.019).
Conclusions
Plasma lipid-soluble antioxidant vitamin and carotenoid levels are associated with reduced adiposity, greater weight loss and an improved cardio-metabolic profile in overweight and obese adolescents
Deep-sequencing reveals broad subtype-specific HCV resistance mutations associated with treatment failure
A percentage of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients fail direct acting antiviral (DAA)-based treatment regimens, often because of drug resistance-associated substitutions (RAS). The aim of this study was to characterize the resistance profile of a large cohort of patients failing DAA-based treatments, and investigate the relationship between HCV subtype and failure, as an aid to optimizing management of these patients. A new, standardized HCV-RAS testing protocol based on deep sequencing was designed and applied to 220 previously subtyped samples from patients failing DAA treatment, collected in 39 Spanish hospitals. The majority had received DAA-based interferon (IFN) a-free regimens; 79% had failed sofosbuvir-containing therapy. Genomic regions encoding the nonstructural protein (NS) 3, NS5A, and NS5B (DAA target regions) were analyzed using subtype-specific primers. Viral subtype distribution was as follows: genotype (G) 1, 62.7%; G3a, 21.4%; G4d, 12.3%; G2, 1.8%; and mixed infections 1.8%. Overall, 88.6% of patients carried at least 1 RAS, and 19% carried RAS at frequencies below 20% in the mutant spectrum. There were no differences in RAS selection between treatments with and without ribavirin. Regardless of the treatment received, each HCV subtype showed specific types of RAS. Of note, no RAS were detected in the target proteins of 18.6% of patients failing treatment, and 30.4% of patients had RAS in proteins that were not targets of the inhibitors they received. HCV patients failing DAA therapy showed a high diversity of RAS. Ribavirin use did not influence the type or number of RAS at failure. The subtype-specific pattern of RAS emergence underscores the importance of accurate HCV subtyping. The frequency of âextra-targetâ RAS suggests the need for RAS screening in all three DAA target regions
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Dietary αâLinolenic Acid, Marine Ïâ3 Fatty Acids, and Mortality in a Population With High Fish Consumption: Findings From the PREvenciĂłn con DIeta MEDiterrĂĄnea (PREDIMED) Study
Background: Epidemiological evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of αâlinolenic acid (ALA), a plantâderived Ïâ3 fatty acid. It is unclear whether ALA is beneficial in a background of high marine Ïâ3 fatty acids (longâchain nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) intake. In persons at high cardiovascular risk from Spain, a country in which fish consumption is customarily high, we investigated whether meeting the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommendation for dietary ALA (0.7% of total energy) at baseline was related to allâcause and cardiovascular disease mortality. We also examined the effect of meeting the society's recommendation for longâchain nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (â„500 mg/day). Methods and Results: We longitudinally evaluated 7202 participants in the PREvenciĂłn con DIeta MEDiterrĂĄnea (PREDIMED) trial. Multivariableâadjusted Cox regression models were fitted to estimate hazard ratios. ALA intake correlated to walnut consumption (r=0.94). During a 5.9ây followâup, 431 deaths occurred (104 cardiovascular disease, 55 coronary heart disease, 32 sudden cardiac death, 25 stroke). The hazard ratios for meeting ALA recommendation (n=1615, 22.4%) were 0.72 (95% CI 0.56â0.92) for allâcause mortality and 0.95 (95% CI 0.58â1.57) for fatal cardiovascular disease. The hazard ratios for meeting the recommendation for longâchain nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n=5452, 75.7%) were 0.84 (95% CI 0.67â1.05) for allâcause mortality, 0.61 (95% CI 0.39â0.96) for fatal cardiovascular disease, 0.54 (95% CI 0.29â0.99) for fatal coronary heart disease, and 0.49 (95% CI 0.22â1.01) for sudden cardiac death. The highest reduction in allâcause mortality occurred in participants meeting both recommendations (hazard ratio 0.63 [95% CI 0.45â0.87]). Conclusions: In participants without prior cardiovascular disease and high fish consumption, dietary ALA, supplied mainly by walnuts and olive oil, relates inversely to allâcause mortality, whereas protection from cardiac mortality is limited to fishâderived longâchain nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.Controlled-trials.com/. Unique identifier: ISRCTN35739639