Modifiable risk factors associated with prediabetes in men and women: A cross-sectional analysis of the cohort study in primary health care on the evolution of patients with prediabetes

Background: Prediabetes is a high-risk state for diabetes development, but little is known about the factors associated with this state. The aim of the study was to identify modifiable risk factors associated with the presence of prediabetes in men and women. Methods: Cohort Study in Primary Health Care on the Evolution of Patients with Prediabetes (PREDAPS-Study) is a prospective study on a cohort of 1184 subjects with prediabetes and another cohort of 838 subjects without glucose metabolism disorders. It is being conducted by 125 general practitioners in Spain. Data for this analysis were collected during the baseline stage in 2012. The modifiable risk factors included were: smoking habit, alcohol consumption, low physical activity, inadequate diet, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity. To assess independent association between each factor and prediabetes, odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using logistic regression models. Results: Abdominal obesity, low plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol), and hypertension were independently associated with the presence of prediabetes in both men and women. After adjusting for all factors, the respective ORs (95% Confidence Intervals) were 1.98 (1.41-2.79), 1.88 (1.23-2.88) and 1.86 (1.39-2.51) for men, and 1.89 (1.36-2.62), 1.58 (1.12-2.23) and 1.44 (1.07-1.92) for women. Also, general obesity was a risk factor in both sexes but did not reach statistical significance among men, after adjusting for all factors. Risky alcohol consumption was a risk factor for prediabetes in men, OR 1.49 (1.00-2.24). Conclusions: Obesity, low HDL-cholesterol levels, and hypertension were modifiable risk factors independently related to the presence of prediabetes in both sexes. The magnitudes of the associations were stronger for men than women. Abdominal obesity in both men and women displayed the strongest association with prediabetes. The findings suggest that there are some differences between men and women, which should be taken into account when implementing specific recommendations to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes in adult population

Contribution of species abundance and frequency to aboveground forest biomass along an Andean elevation gradient

Aims: To determine whether species that contribute most to a plot's biomass are the most abundant (high local abundance at plot scale) or the most frequent (occur the most across plots at landscape scale), or both. In the tropical Andes, these patterns may change with elevation. This study assesses the contribution to plot's above-ground biomass (AGB) of the plant community abundance pattern –the prevalence of within-plot dominant species– and the over-occurrence of regionally frequent species, in an elevation gradient. Methods: We considered all trees ≥2.5 cm DBH from 446 0.1 ha plots in an Amazonia-Andes 260–4350 m elevation cline in N Bolivia. Plot AGB was calculated as the sum of AGBs for all stems contained. We grouped plots into four bins segregated by elevation and ran a bootstrap analysis over subsets of 58 random plots per bin with 100 iterations. Simpson evenness index (E) for all species in each plot was used as a measure for its species abundance. Values for each plot's species frequency was calculated as the mean of all species’ in the plot mean frequencies across the bin (i.e. the fraction of plots where each species occurs). We used linear models to correlate plot AGB with (1) elevation and mean annual precipitation (MAP), and (2) E, plot species frequency and elevation. We performed all analyses at the species, genus and family levels. Results: Plot AGB was related negatively with elevation, and thus positively with MAP, and also negatively with plot E and plot species frequency, all significant. Plot species abundance therefore contributes positively to explain the relationship with AGB along elevational gradients, while plot species frequency does so negatively (i.e. less frequent species contribute more to a plot's AGB across elevation). AGB, for both generic and familial levels was also significantly and negatively correlated with E, but not related with plot species frequency biomass at these taxonomic levels. Conclusions: Plot AGB was mainly associated with elevation and floristic composition where species, genera and families tended to be abundant at the local (plot) scale. Species that were less frequent at the regional scale contributed with more AGB regionally, while frequency at generic and familial scales did little to explain AGB patterns. This association seems stronger at lower elevations for all taxonomic levels while decreases toward higher elevation. Our study reveals a relationship between plot structural features like C stocks –influenced by species local abundances– and the distribution of taxa across the landscape

Fundamental species traits explain provisioning services by tropical American palms

The well-being of the global human population rests on provisioning services delivered by 12% of the Earth's ∼400,000 plant species. Plant utilization by humans is influenced by species traits, but it is not well understood which traits underpin different human needs. Here, we focus on palms (Arecaceae), one of the most economically important plant groups globally, and demonstrate that provisioning services related to basic needs, such as food and medicine, show a strong link to fundamental functional and geographic traits. We integrate data from 2,201 interviews on plant utilization from three biomes in South America—spanning 68 communities, 43 ethnic groups and 2,221 plant uses—with a dataset of 4 traits (leaf length, stem volume, fruit volume, geographic range size) and a species-level phylogeny7. For all 208 palm species occurring in our study area, we test for relations between their traits and perceived value. We find that people preferentially use large, widespread species rather than small, narrow-ranged species, and that different traits are linked to different uses. Further, plant size and geographic range size are stronger predictors of ecosystem service realization for palm services related to basic human needs than less-basic needs (for example, ritual). These findings suggest that reliance on plant size and availability may have prevented our optimal realization of wild-plant services, since ecologically rare yet functionally important (for example, chemically) clades may have been overlooked. Beyond expanding our understanding of how local people use biodiversity in mega-diverse regions, our trait- and phylogeny-based approach helps to understand the processes that underpin ecosystem service realization, a necessary step to meet societal needs in a changing world with a growing human population

Tenderización post-mortem de la carne de los distin- tos biotipos amparados por la igp ternera asturiana

Tenderization and μ-calpain activity were studied along post-mortem maduration (2 h to 21 d) on beef from different biotypes included in the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Ternera Asturiana attending to breed (Asturiana de los Valles, AV and Asturiana de la Montaña, AM) and genotype for myostatine mutation causing muscu- lar hypertrophy (mh/mh, mh/+ and +/+). This mutation produced significant differences in meat quality, promoting a faster pH decline and earlier activation of calpains, which resulted in faster proteolysis in AV(mh/mh and mh/+) biotypes, that showed earlier tenderization rate than normal (+/+) biotypes of both breeds. The results showed that differences among biotypes in pH and μ- calpain activity paralleled the tenderization process.Se estudió la actividad de la μ-calpaína y la tenderización a lo largo de la maduración post- mortem (de 2 h a 21 d) en carne procedente de distintos biotipos amparados por la Indicación Geográfica Protegida (IGP) Ternera Asturiana, según la raza (Asturiana de los Valles, AV y Asturiana de la Montaña, AM) y el genotipo para la mutación en el gen de la miostatina causante de la hipertrofia muscular (mh/mh, mh/+, +/+). Esta mutación produjo diferencias significativas en la evolución post-mortem de la calidad de la carne promoviendo un descenso más rápido del pH y una activación más temprana de las calpaínas y por tanto de la proteolisis en los biotipos AV (mh/mh y mh/+) que mostraron un ritmo de tenderización más temprano que la carne de los biotipos norma- les (+/+) de ambas razas. Los resultados indican que las diferencias encontradas entre biotipos en pH y actividad de μ-calpaína muestran un parale- lismo con el proceso de tenderización

KDIGO Controversies Conference on onco-nephrology: kidney disease in hematological malignancies and the burden of cancer after kidney transplantation

The bidirectional relationship between cancer and chronic kidney disease (CKD) is complex. Patients with cancer, particularly those with hematological malignancies such as multiple myeloma and lymphoma, are at increased risk of developing acute kidney injury and CKD. On the other hand, emerging evidence from large observational registry analyses have consistently shown that cancer risk is increased by at least 2- to 3-fold in kidney transplant recipients, and the observed increased risk occurs not only in those who have received kidney transplants but also in those on dialysis and with mild- to moderate-stage CKD. The interactions between cancer and CKD have raised major therapeutic and clinical challenges in the management of these patients. Given the magnitude of the problem and uncertainties, and current controversies within the existing evidence, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) assembled a global panel of multidisciplinary clinical and scientific expertise for a controversies conference on onco-nephrology to identify key management issues in nephrology relevant to patients with malignancy. This report covers the discussed controversies in kidney disease in hematological malignancies, as well as cancer after kidney transplantation. An overview of future research priorities is also discussed. © 2020 Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO