Household Air Pollution Exposure and Influence of Lifestyle on Respiratory Health and Lung Function in Belizean Adults and Children: A Field Study

Citation: Kurti, S. P., Kurti, A. N., Emerson, S. R., Rosenkranz, R. R., Smith, J. R., Harms, C. A., & Rosenkranz, S. K. (2016). Household Air Pollution Exposure and Influence of Lifestyle on Respiratory Health and Lung Function in Belizean Adults and Children: A Field Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(7), 12. doi:10.3390/ijerph13070643Household air pollution (HAP) contributes to the global burden of disease. Our primary purpose was to determine whether HAP exposure was associated with reduced lung function and respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms in Belizean adults and children. Our secondary purpose was to investigate whether lifestyle (physical activity (PA) and fruit and vegetable consumption (FV)) is associated with reported symptoms. Belizean adults (n = 67, 19 Male) and children (n = 23, 6 Male) from San Ignacio Belize and surrounding areas participated in this cross-sectional study. Data collection took place at free walk-in clinics. Investigators performed initial screenings and administered questionnaires on (1) sources of HAP exposure; (2) reported respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms and (3) validated lifestyle questionnaires. Participants then performed pulmonary function tests (PFTs) and exhaled breath carbon monoxide (CO). There were no significant associations between HAP exposure and pulmonary function in adults. Increased exhaled CO was associated with a significantly lower forced expiratory volume in 1-s divided by forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) in children. Exposed adults experienced headaches, burning eyes, wheezing and phlegm production more frequently than unexposed adults. Adults who met PA guidelines were less likely to experience tightness and pressure in the chest compared to those not meeting guidelines. In conclusion, adults exposed to HAP experienced greater respiratory and non-respiratory symptoms, which may be attenuated by lifestyle modifications

Scattering solutions of the spinless Salpeter equation

A method to compute the scattering solutions of a spinless Salpeter equation (or a Schrodinger equation) with a central interaction is presented. This method relies on the 3-dimensional Fourier grid Hamiltonian method used to compute bound states. It requires only the evaluation of the potential at equally spaced grid points and yields the radial part of the scattering solution at the same grid points. It can be easily extended to the case of coupled channel equations and to the case of non-local interactions.Comment: 7 page

The potential link between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and post-exercise airway narrowing across puberty: a longitudinal cohort study

Citation: Emerson, S. R., Rosenkranz, S. K., Rosenkranz, R. R., Kurti, S. P., & Harms, C. A. (2016). The potential link between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and post-exercise airway narrowing across puberty: a longitudinal cohort study. Public Health Nutrition, 19(13), 2435-2440. doi:10.1017/s1368980015003109Objective The prevalence of asthma is rising, presenting serious public health challenges. Recent data suggest that sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption plays a role in asthma aetiology. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether SSB consumption is linked to post-exercise airway narrowing (predictor of asthma development) across puberty. Design Participants completed pulmonary function tests, physical activity and dietary habit questionnaires, and an exercise test to exhaustion. Setting Community in Manhattan, Kansas, USA. Subjects We recruited ten boys and ten girls from an original cohort of forty participants tested in our laboratory approximately 5 years prior. Participants were aged 97 (sd 09) years at baseline and 147 (sd 09) years at follow-up. Results Pre-puberty, boys consumed 68 (sd 48) servings/week and girls consumed 69 (sd 37) servings/week, while post-puberty boys consumed 115 (sd 53) servings/week and girls consumed 77 (sd 43) servings/week. Using Pearson correlation, SSB consumption was not significantly related to post-exercise airway narrowing at pre-puberty (r=-035, P=0130). In linear regression analyses, SSB consumption was significantly related to post-exercise airway narrowing post-puberty before (standardized =-060, P=0005) but not after (standardized =-033, P=0211) adjustment for confounders. Change in SSB consumption from pre- to post-puberty was significantly associated with post-exercise airway narrowing post-puberty (r=-061, P=0010) and change in post-exercise airway narrowing from pre- to post-puberty (r=-045, P=0048) when assessed via Pearson correlations. Conclusions These findings suggest a possible link between SSB consumption and asthma development during maturation. Reduced SSB intake may be a possible public health avenue for blunting rising asthma prevalence

Summation of blood glucose and TAG to characterise the 'metabolic load index'

Citation: Emerson, S. R., Haub, M. D., Teeman, C. S., Kurti, S. P., & Rosenkranz, S. K. (2016). Summation of blood glucose and TAG to characterise the 'metabolic load index'. British Journal of Nutrition, 116(9), 1553-1563. doi:10.1017/s0007114516003585Research points to postprandial glucose and TAG measures as preferable assessments of cardiovascular risk as compared with fasting values. Although elevated postprandial glycaemic and lipaemic responses are thought to substantially increase chronic disease risk, postprandial glycaemia and lipaemia have historically only been considered separately. However, carbohydrates and fats can generally 'compete' for clearance from the stomach, small intestine, bloodstream and within the peripheral cell. Further, there are previous data demonstrating that the addition of carbohydrate to a high-fat meal blunts the postprandial lipaemic response, and the addition of fat to a high-carbohydrate meal blunts the postprandial glycaemic response. Thus, postprandial glycaemia and lipaemia are interrelated. The purpose of this brief review is 2-fold: first, to review the current evidence implicating postprandial glycaemia and lipaemia in chronic disease risk, and, second, to examine the possible utility of a single postprandial glycaemic and lipaemic summative value, which will be referred to as the metabolic load index. The potential benefits of the metabolic load index extend to the clinician, patient and researcher

Effects of thirty and sixty minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on postprandial lipemia and inflammation in overweight men: a randomized cross-over study

Citation: Emerson, S. R., Kurti, S. P., Snyder, B. S., Sitaraman, K., Haub, M. D., & Rosenkranz, S. K. (2016). Effects of thirty and sixty minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on postprandial lipemia and inflammation in overweight men: a randomized cross-over study. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 13, 12. doi:10.1186/s12970-016-0137-8Background: The transient rise in blood lipids following a high-fat meal (HFM), known as postprandial lipemia, is linked to systemic inflammation and cardiovascular disease, but can be blunted by exercise. However, minimal research has investigated the effects of realistic exercise bouts on postprandial lipemia and inflammation in at-risk individuals. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise lasting 30 or 60 min performed the evening before a HFM, on postprandial lipemia and inflammation in overweight, insufficiently active men. Methods: In this randomized-crossover study, twelve participants remained sedentary (CON), or performed a brisk walk on a treadmill at 60 % VO2peak for either 30 min (EX-30) or 60 min (EX-60), after which they consumed a small snack (270 kcal) to partially replace exercise energy expenditure. Following a 12-h overnight fast, participants consumed a standard HFM (1 g fat/kg; 1 g CHO/kg; 1117.8 +/- 117.0 kcal). Blood draws were performed at baseline (pre-HFM) and 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 h post-HFM to assess glucose, insulin, lipids, and systemic inflammation. Results: There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in fasting triglycerides between EX-60 (118.7 +/- 68.3 mg/dL), CON (134.8 +/- 66.2 mg/dL) or EX-30 (135.5 +/- 85.4 mg/dL). There were no differences in peak, time-to-peak, total or incremental area-under-the-curve between trials for triglyceride response (p > 0.05). There was no significant main effect of time (p > 0.05) in IL-1ra, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10 or TNF-alpha from baseline to 8 h post-HFM in any trial. Conclusions: In summary, we found that in overweight, insufficiently active men, neither 30 nor 60 min of moderate-intensity exercise performed 12 h prior to a HFM attenuated postprandial lipemia or inflammation, which could potentially be explained by the partial caloric replacement of exercise energy expenditure

The effect of moderate intensity exercise in the postprandial period on the inflammatory response to a high-fat meal: an experimental study

Citation: Teeman, C. S., Kurti, S. P., Cull, B. J., Emerson, S. R., Haub, M. D., & Rosenkranz, S. K. (2016). The effect of moderate intensity exercise in the postprandial period on the inflammatory response to a high-fat meal: an experimental study. Nutrition Journal, 15, 13. doi:10.1186/s12937-016-0134-4Background: Consuming a high-fat meal (HFM) may lead to postprandial lipemia (PPL) and inflammation. Postprandial exercise has been shown to effectively attenuate PPL. However, little is known about the impact of postprandial exercise on systemic inflammation and whether PPL and inflammation are associated. The purpose of this study was to determine whether moderate intensity exercise performed 60 min following a true-to-life HFM would attenuate PPL and inflammation. Methods: Thirty-nine young adults (18-40 year) with no known metabolic disease were randomized to either a control group (CON) who remained sedentary during the postprandial period or an exercise (EX) group who walked at 60 % VO2peak to expend approximate to 5 kcal/kgbw one-hour following the HFM. Participants consumed a HFM of 10 kcal/kgbw and blood draws were performed immediately before, 2 h and 4 h post-HFM. Results: At baseline, there were no differences between EX and CON groups for any metabolic or inflammatory markers (p > 0.05). Postprandial triglycerides (TRG) increased from baseline to 4 h in the EX and CON groups (p 0.05). There was an increase in soluble vascular adhesion molecule (sVCAM-1) from baseline to 4 h (p = 0.027) for all participants along with a group x time interaction (p = 0.020). Changes in TRG were associated with changes in interleukin-10 (IL-10) from 0 to 2 h (p = 0.007), but were not associated with changes in any other inflammatory marker in the postprandial period (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Despite significant increases in PPL following a HFM, moderate intensity exercise in the postprandial period did not mitigate the PPL nor the inflammatory response to the HFM. These results indicate that in populations with low metabolic risk, PPL and inflammation following a HFM may not be directly related

Postprandial lipemic and inflammatory responses to high-fat meals: a review of the roles of acute and chronic exercise

Citation: Teeman, C. S., Kurti, S. P., Cull, B. J., Emerson, S. R., Haub, M. D., & Rosenkranz, S. K. (2016). Postprandial lipemic and inflammatory responses to high-fat meals: a review of the roles of acute and chronic exercise. Nutrition & Metabolism, 13, 14. doi:10.1186/s12986-016-0142-6Postprandial lipemia is an independent risk factor for development of cardiovascular disease. Postprandial inflammation following the prolonged elevation of triglycerides occurring subsequent to ingestion of high-fat meals, provides a likely explanation for increased disease risk. Substantial evidence has shown that acute exercise is an effective modality for attenuation of postprandial lipemia following a high-fat meal. However, much of the evidence pertaining to exercise intensity, duration, and overall energy expenditure for reducing postprandial lipemia is inconsistent. The effects of these different exercise variables on postprandial inflammation is largely unknown. Long-term, frequent exercise, however, appears to effectively reduce systemic inflammation, especially in at-risk or diseased individuals. With regard to an acute postprandial response, without a recent bout of exercise, high levels of chronic exercise do not appear to reduce postprandial lipemia. This review summarizes the current literature on postprandial and inflammatory responses to high-fat meals, and the roles that both acute and chronic exercise play. This review may be valuable for health professionals who wish to provide evidence-based, pragmatic advice for reducing postprandial lipemia and cardiovascular disease risk for their patients. A brief review of proposed mechanisms explaining how high-fat meals may result in pro-inflammatory and pro-atherosclerotic environments is also included

Calculations of time-dependent observables in non-Hermitian quantum mechanics: The problem and a possible solution

The solutions of the time independent Schrodinger equation for non-Hermitian (NH) Hamiltonians have been extensively studied and calculated in many different fields of physics by using L^2 methods that originally have been developed for the calculations of bound states. The existing non-Hermitian formalism breaks down when dealing with wavepackets(WP). An open question is how time dependent expectation values can be calculated when the Hamiltonian is NH ? Using the F-product formalism, which was recently proposed, [J. Phys. Chem., 107, 7181 (2003)] we calculate the time dependent expectation values of different observable quantities for a simple well known study test case model Hamiltonian. We carry out a comparison between these results with those obtained from conventional(i.e., Hermitian) quantum mechanics (QM) calculations. The remarkable agreement between these results emphasizes the fact that in the NH-QM, unlike standard QM, there is no need to split the entire space into two regions; i.e., the interaction region and its surrounding. Our results open a door for a type of WP propagation calculations within the NH-QM formalism that until now were impossible.Comment: 20 pages, 5 Postscript figures. To be Published in Physical Review