Smoking status in relation to serum folate and dietary vitamin intake

Objective Cigarette smoke itself is an abundant source of free radicals and a major cause of oxidative stress, to which plasma antioxidants function as a vital protective and counterbalancing mechanism. The objective of this study was to investigate into the relationship between smoking status and serum and dietary micronutrient concentrations. Design Cross-sectional study Subjects ' Setting 502 farmers from the Valley of Messara in Crete were randomly selected and examined. Complete three-day and 24-hr recall questionnaires were collected along with anthropometrical, physical activity and clinical data from all participating subjects. Results After adjusting for age, gender and number of fasting days adhered to per year, current smokers were found to have a lower dietary intake of vitamin C (112.1 mg vs. 136.4 mg, p = 0.03), fibre (16.6 g vs. 19.1 g, p = 0.006) and fruits and vegetables (339 g vs. 412 g, p = 0.014), while dietary vitamin B1 intake was found to be higher (1.7 mg vs. 1.4 mg, p = 0.02) in comparison to non/ex smokers. Dietary intake of meat, folate and vitami A, E, B2, B6 and B12 did not differ between the groups. Controlling age, gender, fasting days and dietary micronutrient intake, serum folate levels were found to be lower among smokers (geometric mean 15.3 nmol/L vs. 17.7 nmol/L, p = 0.023), while serum iron and vitamin B12 levels were not affected by smoking status. Conclusion Current smoking status affects dietary nutrient intake as well as plasma folate levels. The above coherence between antioxidant depletion and reduced antioxidant intake may predispose smokers to the premature development of tobacco related mortality and morbidity

Advanced Modalizing Problems

I present an internal problem for David Lewis’s genuine modal realism. My aim is to show that his analysis of modality is inconsistent with his metaphysics. I consider several ways of modifying the Lewisian analysis of modality, but argue that none are successful. I argue that the problem also affects theories related to genuine modal realism, including the stage theory of persistence and modal fictionalism

Study of subjects with indeterminate results in primary HIV screening

Η πρώτη αναφορά του συνδρόμου που σήμερα ονομάζεται Σύνδρομο Επίκτητης Ανοσολογικής Ανεπάρκειας ή AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), έγινε στις 5/6/1981 στο Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report του Κέντρου Ελέγχου και Πρόληψης Μεταδοτικών Νοσημάτων (CDC) των Η.Π.Α., με την ανακοίνωση πέντε περιστατικών. Με την εμφάνιση του AIDS στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του ’80, κλονίστηκε η πεποίθηση ότι οι λοιμώξεις [αντίθετα με μη μεταδοτικές νόσους όπως κακοήθειες, καρδιοπάθειες και εκφυλιστικές ασθένειες] δεν αποτελούσαν πια σοβαρή απειλή για τη δημόσια υγεία στις αναπτυγμένες χώρες. Αρχικά το AIDS χαρακτηρίστηκε σαν «σύνδρομο ομοφυλοφίλων» («gay syndrome») ή GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency), επειδή τα πρώτα κρούσματα διαγνώστηκαν σε προηγούμενα υγιείς νέους ομοφυλόφιλους άνδρες και τα κυριότερα συμπτώματα του συνδρόμου οφείλονταν σε ανοσοανεπάρκεια. Η ανακάλυψη όμως του ίδιου συνδρόμου σε αιμορροφιλικούς, δέκτες μετάγγισης αίματος και παραγώγων, χρήστες ενδοφλέβιων ναρκωτικών (IVDUs) και σεξουαλικούς συντρόφους αυτών, κλόνισε την υπόθεση του «gay syndrome» και το 1982 καθιερώθηκε διεθνώς η ονομασία AIDS. [...

Διερεύνηση ατόμων με αδιευκρίνιστα αποτελέσματα στον πρωτογενή έλεγχο για λοίμωξη HIV

Global illumination is an important factor when striving for photo realism in computergraphics. This thesis describes why this is the case, and why global illumination is considered acomplex problem to solve. The problem becomes even more demanding when considering realtime purposes. Resent research has proven it possible to produce global illumination in realtime. Therefore the subject of this thesis is to compare and evaluate a number of those methods. An implementation is presented based on the Imperfect shadow maps method, which per se isbased on instant radiosity and reflective shadow maps. The implementation is able to renderplausible global illumination effects in real time, for fully dynamic scenes. With conclusions that while it demonstrably is possible to provide believable global illum-ination in real time, it is not without shortcomings. In every case approximations or restrictionshas to be done to some extent, sometimes leading to wrong results. Though in most cases, notvisually unpleasing by a great deal. The final conclusion is that global illumination is possible on current hardware, with believablequality and good speed. Showing great potential for future implementations on next generationof hardware

Vitamin D and Exercise Performance in Professional Soccer Players

<div><p>Aim</p><p>The current study had two aims. The primary purpose was to examine the association between serum vitamin D levels and the ergometric evaluation of muscle strength, aerobic capacity, and speed in professional soccer players. The secondary aim was to evaluate the effects of the soccer off-season period on serum vitamin D levels.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Sixty-seven Caucasian male soccer players (age 25.6±6.2 and height 1.81±0.08 m), members of two Greek Superleague Soccer teams and one Football-league championship team participated in this study. Exercise performance testing for the determination of squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump (CMJ), 10 (10 m) and 20 meters (20 m) sprint performance, maximal oxygen consumption (VO₂max), anthropometry, and blood sampling were performed before (pre) and after (post) the six-week off-season period.</p><p>Results</p><p>Analysis of our results showed the following: (a) a significant correlations between serum vitamin D levels and performance parameters in both pre (SJ; P<0.001, CMJ; P<0.001, VO₂max; P<0.001, 10 m; P<0.001, and 20 m; P<0.001) and post (SJ; P<0.001, CMJ; P<0.001, VO₂max; P = 0.006, 10 m; P<0.001, and 20 m; P<0.001) experimental sessions. (b) Vitamin D concentration increased significantly (P<0.001) following the six-week off-season period compared to baseline, while at the same time all measured performance parameters decreased (SJ; P<0.001, CMJ; P<0.001, 10 m; P<0.001, 20 m; P<0.001, VO₂max; P<0.001).</p><p>Discussion</p><p>Our findings suggest that vitamin D levels are associated with the ergometric evaluation of muscle strength, as expressed by SJ and CMJ, sprinting capacity, and VO₂max in professional soccer players, irrespective the levels of performance. Furthermore, our data reaffirm the importance of UVB on serum vitamin D levels. Moreover, reductions in exercise training stress may also have beneficial effects on vitamin D levels, suggesting a possible association of its levels and the training-induced stress. Our results indicate a possibly bidirectional interaction between soccer performance indices and vitamin D levels.</p></div

Correlations (correlation coefficients and p-values) between Vitamin D levels and exercise performance parameters.

<p>Pre: measurement prior to the beginning of the off-season transition period;</p><p>Post: measurement at the end of the off-season transition period.</p

Discrepancy between exercise performance, body composition, and sex steroid response after a six-week detraining period in professional soccer players.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a six-week off-season detraining period on exercise performance, body composition, and on circulating sex steroid levels in soccer players. METHODS: Fifty-five professional male soccer players, members of two Greek Superleague Teams (Team A, n = 23; Team B, n = 22), participated in the study. The first two weeks of the detraining period the players abstained from any physical activity. The following four weeks, players performed low-intensity (50%-60% of VO2max) aerobic running of 20 to 30 minutes duration three times per week. Exercise performance testing, anthropometry, and blood sampling were performed before and after the six-week experimental period. RESULTS: Our data showed that in both teams A and B the six-week detraining period resulted in significant reductions in maximal oxygen consumption (60,31±2,52 vs 57,67±2,54; p<0.001, and 60,47±4,13 vs 58,30±3,88; p<0.001 respectively), squat-jump (39,70±3,32 vs 37,30±3,08; p<0.001, and 41,05±3,34 vs 38,18±3,03; p<0.001 respectively), and countermovement-jump (41,04±3,99 vs 39,13±3,26; p<0.001 and 42,82±3,60 vs 40,09±2,79; p<0.001 respectively), and significant increases in 10-meters sprint (1,74±0,063 vs 1,79±0,064; p<0.001, and 1,73±0,065 vs 1,78±0,072; p<0.001 respectively), 20-meters sprint (3,02±0,05 vs 3,06±0,06; p<0.001, and 3,01±0,066 vs 3,06±0,063; p<0.001 respectively), body fat percentage (Team A; p<0.001, Team B; p<0.001), and body weight (Team A; p<0.001, Team B; p<0.001). Neither team displayed any significant changes in the resting concentrations of total-testosterone, free-testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, Δ4-androstenedione, estradiol, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and prolactin. Furthermore, sex steroids levels did not correlate with exercise performance parameters. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the six-week detraining period resulted in a rapid loss of exercise performance adaptations and optimal body composition status, but did not affect sex steroid resting levels. The insignificant changes in sex steroid concentration indicate that these hormones were a non-contributing parameter for the observed negative effects of detraining on exercise performance and body composition

Vitamin D and Performance values in the two experimental periods.

<p>Pre: measurement prior to the beginning of the off-season transition period;</p><p>Post: measurement at the end of the off-season transition period.*significant difference at the level of significance p<0.05**, significant difference at the level of significance p<0.01.</p