Dietary total antioxidant capacity is inversely related to central adiposity as well as to metabolic and oxidative stress markers in healthy young adults

BACKGROUND: Dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) has been assumed as a useful tool to assess the relationship between the cumulative antioxidant food capacity and several chronic disorders. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the potential relationships of dietary TAC with adiposity, metabolic and oxidative stress markers in healthy young adults. METHODS: This study enrolled 266 healthy subjects (105 men/ 161 women; 22 ± 3 years-old; 22.0 ± 2.7 kg/m2). Dietary intake, anthropometry, blood pressure, lifestyle features, and biochemical data were assessed with validated procedures. RESULTS: In linear regression analyses, dietary TAC values were inversely associated with glycemia, total cholesterol:HDL-c ratio, triglycerides and oxidized-LDL concentrations, and positively associated with HDL-c concentrations, independently of gender, age, smoking status, physical activity, vitamin use supplement, waist circumference, energy intake, fatty acid intake. In addition, plasma TAC was negatively correlated with ox-LDL concentrations (r= -0.20, P = 0.003), independently of the assessed confounding variables. Finally, dietary TAC values were inversely related to waist circumference values (r= -0.17, P = 0.005) as well as to lower mild central obesity occurrence (waist circumference ≥ 80/ 94 cm for women/ men, respectively). CONCLUSION: Dietary TAC values are inversely associated with glucose and lipid biomarkers as well as with central adiposity measurements in healthy young adults, indicating dietary TAC as a useful tool to assess the health benefits of cumulative antioxidant capacity from food intake. In addition, the independent and inverse relationships of ox-LDL concentrations with dietary and plasma TAC respectively suggest a putative role of antioxidant rich-diet in the link between redox state and atherogenesis at early stage

Relationship of oxidized low density lipoprotein with lipid profile and oxidative stress markers in healthy young adults: a translational study

BACKGROUND: Despite oxidized low density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) plays important roles in the pro-inflammatory and atherosclerotic processes, the relationships with metabolic and oxidative stress biomarkers have been only scarcely investigated in young adult people. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess plasma ox-LDL concentrations and the potential association with oxidative stress markers as well as with anthropometric and metabolic features in healthy young adults. METHODS: This study enrolled 160 healthy subjects (92 women/68 men; 23±4 y; 22.0±2.9 kg/m2). Anthropometry, body composition, blood pressure, lifestyle features, biochemical data, and oxidative stress markers were assessed with validated tools. Selenium, copper, and zinc nail concentrations were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. RESULTS: Total cholesterol (TC), LDL-c and uric acid concentrations, TC-to-HDL-c ratio, and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity were positive predictors of ox-LDL concentrations, while nail selenium level (NSL) was a negative predictor, independently of gender, age, smoking status, physical activity. Those individuals included in the highest tertile of GPx activity (≥611 nmol/[mL/min]) and of NSL (≥430 ng/g of nail) had higher and lower ox-LDL concentrations, respectively, independently of the same covariates plus truncal fat or body mass index, and total cholesterol or LDL-c concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Ox-LDL concentrations were significantly associated with lipid biomarkers, GPx activity, uric acid concentration, and NSL, independently of different assayed covariates, in young healthy adults. These findings jointly suggest the early and complex relationship between lipid profile and redox status balance

Super-diffusive Transport Processes in Porous Media

The basic assumption of models for the transport of contaminants through soil is that the movements of solute particles are characterized by the Brownian motion. However, the complexity of pore space in natural porous media makes the hypothesis of Brownian motion far too restrictive in some situations. Therefore, alternative models have been proposed. One of the models, many times encountered in hydrology, is based in fractional differential equations, which is a one-dimensional fractional advection diffusion equation where the usual second-order derivative gives place to a fractional derivative of order α, with 1 < α ≤ 2. When a fractional derivative replaces the second-order derivative in a diffusion or dispersion model, it leads to anomalous diffusion, also called super-diffusion. We derive analytical solutions for the fractional advection diffusion equation with different initial and boundary conditions. Additionally, we analyze how the fractional parameter α affects the behavior of the solutions

HLA-A*32:01 is strongly associated with vancomycin-induced drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms

Background Vancomycin is a prevalent cause of the severe hypersensitivity syndrome drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) which leads to significant morbidity and mortality and commonly occurs in the setting of combination antibiotic therapy which impacts future treatment choices. Variations in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I in particular have been associated with serious T-cell mediated adverse drug reactions which has led to preventive screening strategies for some drugs. Objective To determine if variation in the HLA region is associated with vancomycin-induced DRESS. Methods Probable vancomycin DRESS cases were matched 1:2 with tolerant controls based on sex, race, and age using BioVU, Vanderbilt’s deidentified electronic health record database. Associations between DRESS and carriage of HLA class I and II alleles were assessed by conditional logistic regression. An extended sample set from BioVU was utilized to conduct a time-to-event analysis of those exposed to vancomycin with and without the identified HLA risk allele. Results Twenty-three individuals met inclusion criteria for vancomycin-associated DRESS. 19/23 (82.6%) cases carried HLA-A*32:01 compared to 0/46 (0%) of the matched vancomycin tolerant controls (p=1x10-8) and 6.3% of the BioVU population (n=54,249) (p=2x10-16). Time-to-event analysis of DRESS development during vancomycin treatment among the HLA-A*32:01 positive group indicated that 19.2% developed DRESS and did so within four weeks. Conclusions HLA-A*32:01 is strongly associated with vancomycin DRESS in a population of predominantly European ancestry. HLA-A*32:01 testing could improve antibiotic safety, help implicate vancomycin as the causal drug and preserve future treatment options with co-administered antibiotics

A performance analysis of tidal turbine conversion system based on control strategies

Energy efficient generation from renewable energy sources is of major concern nowadays. A horizontal axis marine current turbine (HAMCT) of diameter 1.9 m is modelled using the blade element momentum (BEM) scheme and the turbine output parameters are given as an input to the electrical system for a tip speed ratio (TSR) of 5 and a power coefficient of 0.4. The design aspects of a buck-boost converter with proportional integral (PI) and sliding mode controller (SMC) is investigated for HAMCT system, with the highest power output of about 15.6 kW for a water velocity of 3 m/s. A comparison between PI controller and SMC are analyzed for the tidal turbine conversion system to obtain the desired output voltage with high efficiency is discussed here. The dynamic variation on load side to be controlled with dual loop controller to regulate the output voltage and to optimize the input current. In this paper performance and resemblance of control techniques which include sliding mode controller and PI controller are analysed with step and bode plot response. The system is designed for an output voltage range of 0.38 kV to 2.4 kV which is suitable for DC microgrids. The performance of HAMCT coupled with PMSG and the power converter with a controller is modelled and designed under MATLAB/SIMULINK environment

Suppression of High-p_T Neutral Pion Production in Central Pb+Pb Collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 17.3 GeV Relative to p+C and p+Pb Collisions

Neutral pion transverse momentum spectra were measured in p+C and p+Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 17.4 GeV at mid-rapidity 2.3 < eta_lab < 3.0 over the range 0.7< p_T < 3.5 GeV/c. The spectra are compared to pi0 spectra measured in Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 17.3 GeV in the same experiment. For a wide range of Pb+Pb centralities (N_part < 300) the yield of pi0's with p_T > 2 GeV/c is larger than or consistent with the p+C or p+Pb yields scaled with the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions (N_coll), while for central Pb+Pb collisions with N_part > 350 the pi0 yield is suppressed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Central Pb+Pb Collisions at 158 A GeV/c Studied by Pion-Pion Interferometry

Two-particle correlations have been measured for identified negative pions from central 158 AGeV Pb+Pb collisions and fitted radii of about 7 fm in all dimensions have been obtained. A multi-dimensional study of the radii as a function of kT is presented, including a full correction for the resolution effects of the apparatus. The cross term Rout-long of the standard fit in the Longitudinally CoMoving System (LCMS) and the vl parameter of the generalised Yano-Koonin fit are compatible with 0, suggesting that the source undergoes a boost invariant expansion. The shapes of the correlation functions in Qinv and Qspace have been analyzed in detail. They are not Gaussian but better represented by exponentials. As a consequence, fitting Gaussians to these correlation functions may produce different radii depending on the acceptance of the experimental setup used for the measurement.Comment: 13 pages including 10 figure

Search for Disoriented Chiral Condensates in 158 AGeV Pb+Pb Collisions

The restoration of chiral symmetry and its subsequent breaking through a phase transition has been predicted to create regions of Disoriented Chiral Condensates (DCC). This phenomenon has been predicted to cause anomalous fluctuations in the relative production of charged and neutral pions in high-energy hadronic and nuclear collisions. The WA98 experiment has been used to measure charged and photon multiplicities in the central region of 158 AGeV Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS. In a sample of 212646 events, no clear DCC signal can be distinguished. Using a simple DCC model, we have set a 90% C.L. upper limit on the maximum DCC production allowed by the data.Comment: 20 Pages, LaTeX, uses elsart.cls, 8 eps figures included, submitted to Physics Letters

PCSK6 and Survival in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Rationale: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating disease characterized by limited treatment options and high mortality. A better understanding of the molecular drivers of IPF progression is needed. Objectives: To identify and validate molecular determinants of IPF survival. Methods: A staged genome-wide association study was performed using paired genomic and survival data. Stage I cases were drawn from centers across the United States and Europe and stage II cases from Vanderbilt University. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to identify gene variants associated with differential transplantation-free survival (TFS). Stage I variants with nominal significance (P < 5 x 10(-5)) were advanced for stage II testing and meta-analyzed to identify those reaching genome-wide significance (P < 5 x 10(-8)). Downstream analyses were performed for genes and proteins associated with variants reaching genome-wide significance. Measurements and Main Results: After quality controls, 1,481 stage I cases and 397 stage II cases were included in the analysis. After filtering, 9,075,629 variants were tested in stage I, with 158 meeting advancement criteria. Four variants associated with TFS with consistent effect direction were identified in stage II, including one in an intron of PCSK6 (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 6) reaching genome-wide significance (hazard ratio, 4.11 [95% confidence interval, 2.54-6.67]; P = 9.45 x 10(-9)). PCSK6 protein was highly expressed in IPF lung parenchyma. PCSK6 lung staining intensity, peripheral blood gene expression, and plasma concentration were associated with reduced TFS. Conclusions: We identified four novel variants associated with IPF survival, including one in PCSK6 that reached genome-wide significance. Downstream analyses suggested that PCSK6 protein plays a potentially important role in IPF progression