The StrongWomen Change Clubs: Engaging Residents to Catalyze Positive Change in Food and Physical Activity Environments

Introduction. The epidemic of obesity is a multifaceted public health issue. Positive policy and environmental changes are needed to support healthier eating and increased physical activity. Methods. StrongWomen Change Clubs (SWCCs) were developed through an academic-community research partnership between researchers at Cornell University and Tufts University and community partners (cooperative extension educators) in rural towns in seven U.S. states. Extension educators served as the local leader and each recruited 10–15 residents to undertake a project to improve some aspect of the nutrition or physical activity environment. Most residents had limited (or no) experience in civic engagement. At 6 and 12 months after implementation, the research team conducted key informant interviews with SWCC leaders to capture their perceptions of program process, benchmark achievement, and self-efficacy. Results. At 12 months, each SWCC had accomplished one benchmark; the majority had completed three or more benchmarks. They described common processes for achieving benchmarks such as building relationships and leveraging stakeholder partnerships. Barriers to benchmark achievement included busy schedules and resistance to and slow pace of change. Conclusion. Findings suggest that community change initiatives that involve stakeholders, build upon existing activities and organizational resources, and establish feasible timelines and goals can successfully catalyze environmental change

Run-to-tumble variability controls the surface residence times of E. coli bacteria

Motile bacteria are known to accumulate at surfaces, eventually leading to changes in bacterial motility and bio-film formation. We use a novel two-colour, three-dimensional Lagrangian tracking technique, to follow simultaneously the body and the flagella of a wild-type ${\it Escherichia~coli}$. We observe long surface residence times and surface escape corresponding mostly to immediately antecedent tumbling. A motility model accounting for a large behavioural variability in run-time duration, reproduces all experimental findings and gives new insights into surface trapping efficiency

Untargeted lipidomics uncovers lipid signatures distinguishing severe versus moderate forms of acutely decompensated cirrhosis

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Acutely decompensated of cirrhosis is a heterogeneous clinical entity associated with moderate mortality. In some patients, this condition develops quickly into a more often deadly acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), in which other organs such as the kidneys or brain fail. The aim of this study was to characterize the blood lipidome in a large series of patients with cirrhosis and identify specific signatures associated with acute decompensation and ACLF development. METHODS: Serum untargeted lipidomics was performed in 561 patients with acutely decompensated (AD) cirrhosis (518 without and 43 with ACLF) (discovery cohort) and in 265 AD patients (128 without and 137 with ACLF) in whom serum samples were available to perform repeated measurements during the 28-day follow-up (validation cohort). Analyses were also performed in 78 AD patients included in a therapeutic albumin trial, 43 patients with compensated cirrhosis and 29 healthy subjects. RESULTS: The circulating lipid landscape associated with cirrhosis was characterized by a generalized suppression, which was more manifest during acute decompensation and in non-surviving patients. By computing discriminating accuracy and the variable importance projection score for each of the 223 annotated lipids, we identified a sphingomyelin fingerprint specific for AD cirrhosis and a distinct cholesteryl ester and lysophosphatidylcholine fingerprint for ACLF. Liver dysfunction, mainly, and infections were the principal net contributors to these fingerprints, which were dynamic and interchangeable between AD patients whose condition worsened to ACLF and those who improved. Notably, blood lysophosphatidylcholine levels increased in these patients after albumin therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide insights into the lipid landscape associated with decompensation of cirrhosis and ACLF progression and identify unique noninvasive diagnostic biomarkers of advanced cirrhosis. LAY SUMMARY: Analysis of lipids in blood from patients with advanced cirrhosis reveals a general suppression of their levels in the circulation of these patients. A specific group of lipids known as sphingomyelins are useful to distinguish compensated from decompensated patients with cirrhosis. Another group of lipids designated cholesteryl esters further distinguish patients with decompensated patients who are at risk of developing organ failures

Oscillatory surface rheotaxis of swimming E. coli bacteria

Bacterial contamination of biological conducts, catheters or water resources is a major threat to public health and can be amplified by the ability of bacteria to swim upstream. The mechanisms of this rheotaxis, the reorientation with respect to flow gradients, often in complex and confined environments, are still poorly understood. Here, we follow individual E. coli bacteria swimming at surfaces under shear flow with two complementary experimental assays, based on 3D Lagrangian tracking and fluorescent flagellar labelling and we develop a theoretical model for their rheotactic motion. Three transitions are identified with increasing shear rate: Above a first critical shear rate, bacteria shift to swimming upstream. After a second threshold, we report the discovery of an oscillatory rheotaxis. Beyond a third transition, we further observe coexistence of rheotaxis along the positive and negative vorticity directions. A full theoretical analysis explains these regimes and predicts the corresponding critical shear rates. The predicted transitions as well as the oscillation dynamics are in good agreement with experimental observations. Our results shed new light on bacterial transport and reveal new strategies for contamination prevention.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Elevation of the antifibrotic peptide N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline: a blood pressure-independent beneficial effect of angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitors

Blockade of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is well recognized as an essential therapy in hypertensive, heart, and kidney diseases. There are several classes of drugs that block the RAS; these drugs are known to exhibit antifibrotic action. An analysis of the molecular mechanisms of action for these drugs can reveal potential differences in their antifibrotic roles. In this review, we discuss the antifibrotic action of RAS blockade with an emphasis on the potential importance of angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition associated with the antifibrotic peptide N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (AcSDKP)

Blood metabolomics uncovers inflammation-associated mitochondrial dysfunction as a potential mechanism underlying ACLF (vol 72, pg 688, 2020)

Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

French metabolomics and fluxomics network

International audienc

Style attributionnel et burn-out au travail : une analyse en cluster

International audienceIn the domain of the workplace, burnout appears as an important consequence of stressful events experienced by an individual. But how to define it, and what reality does this concept represent? The benefits of optimism, and particularly of an optimistic explanatory style, have also been demonstrated on a set of other variables such as health, performance and resilience. If an optimistic explanatory style is an important variable, what are the relationships that can be observed with burnout? The purpose of this study is to explore the links that exist between explanatory styles and burnout assuming that there are different types of profiles according to the styles of the individuals, whether they are actually optimistic or pessimistic, or neither one nor the other. Through a cluster analysis, the results of this study revealed: 1) the existence of three different profiles of explanatory styles, ranging from optimistic to pessimistic; and 2) it was indeed possible to associate levels of burnout with the profiles of these styles