Nutrition Intervention Through a Social Media Platform on Nutrition Knowledge and CVD Risk Factors Amongst Firefighters

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of on-duty death for firefighters. Risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, and elevated cholesterol can be used as predictors in the prevention and intervention of CVD. Social media(SM)has become a popular platform for delivering health and wellness information. The aims of this study were to examine the utility of nutrition education through a dedicated social media platform (Instagram) for supporting and enhancing nutrition knowledge and in reducing CVD risk factors amongst firefighters. Methods: In a pilot study, firefighters (n=53) were exposed to a private IG account for 6 weeks. The intervention was delivering daily evidence-based nutrition information via the SM platform. A validated Questionnaire (ANSKQ) was administered before and after the 6-week intervention period. Nutrition knowledge, anthropometric and vitals data were collected pre-post intervention. Results: Data analysis is presented as the mean, ± SD,

“Cristal Tachycardias”: Origin of Right Atrial Tachycardias From the Crista Terminalis Identified by Intracardiac Echocardiography 11All editorial decisions for this article, including selection of referees, were made by a Guest Editor. This policy applies to all articles with authors from the University of California San Francisco.

AbstractObjectives. We sought to use intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) to identify the anatomic origin of focal right atrial tachycardias and to define their relation with the crista terminalis (CT).Background. Previous studies using ICE during mapping of atrial flutter and inappropriate sinus tachycardia have demonstrated an important relation between endocardial anatomy and electrophysiologic events. Recent studies have suggested that right atrial tachycardias may also have a characteristic anatomic distribution.Methods. Twenty-three consecutive patients with 27 right atrial tachycardias were included in the study. ICE was used to facilitate activation mapping in relation to endocardial structures. A 20-pole catheter was positioned along the CT under ICE guidance. ICE was also used to assist in guiding detailed mapping with the ablation catheter in the right atrium.Results. Of 27 focal right atrial tachycardias, 18 (67%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 46% to 83%) were on the CT (2 high medial, 8 high lateral, 6 mid and 2 low). ICE identified the location of the tip of the ablation catheter in immediate relation to the CT in all 18 cases. The 20-pole mapping catheter together with echocardiographic visualization of the CT provided a guide to the site of tachycardia origin along this structure. Radiofrequency ablation was successful in 26 (96%) of 27 (95% CI 81% to 100%) right atrial tachycardias.Conclusions. This study demonstrates that approximately two thirds of focal right atrial tachycardias occurring in the absence of structural heart disease will arise along the CT. Recognition of this common distribution may potentially facilitate mapping and ablation of these tachycardias

H-1-MRS of femoral red and yellow bone marrow fat composition and water content in healthy young men and women at 3 T

Objectives There is a discrepancy between studies suggesting that higher bone marrow fat saturation is associated with impaired health, and studies suggesting that erythropoiesis increases red bone marrow (RBM) fat saturation in young healthy individuals. Here, we seeked to elucidate these discrepancies by using long TE magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to study both yellow bone marrow (YBM) and RBM in the femur of healthy volunteers. Materials and methods Thirty-three young healthy volunteers (17 females), age range 20-31 years, underwent long TE H-1 MRS at 3.0 T of RBM and YBM fat composition in the left femur. The water content of the bone marrow depots was measured using short TE MRS. Results The female participants displayed a lower unsaturation in the sampled RBM volume (RBMV) than the males (P <0.01) without displaying a concomitant difference in YBM (P = 0.42). They also showed a higher water content and broader spectral linewidths in RBM (P = 0.04). The water content in RBM strongly associated with broader spectral linewidths (R = 0.887, P MUCH LESS-THAN 0.01) and inversely with RBMV fat unsaturation (R = - 0.365, P = 0.04). Discussion These results partly support the notion that females display higher rate of erythropoiesis and lower fat unsaturation in RBM.Peer reviewe

Sequential quasi-Monte Carlo: Introduction for Non-Experts, Dimension Reduction, Application to Partly Observed Diffusion Processes

SMC (Sequential Monte Carlo) is a class of Monte Carlo algorithms for filtering and related sequential problems. Gerber and Chopin (2015) introduced SQMC (Sequential quasi-Monte Carlo), a QMC version of SMC. This paper has two objectives: (a) to introduce Sequential Monte Carlo to the QMC community, whose members are usually less familiar with state-space models and particle filtering; (b) to extend SQMC to the filtering of continuous-time state-space models, where the latent process is a diffusion. A recurring point in the paper will be the notion of dimension reduction, that is how to implement SQMC in such a way that it provides good performance despite the high dimension of the problem.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of MCMQMC 201

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Family correlations of arsenic methylation patterns in children and parents exposed to high concentrations of arsenic in drinking water.

We investigated the evidence of a familial contribution to urinary methylation patterns in families ingesting arsenic in drinking water. Arsenic methylation can be assessed by measuring urinary levels of inorganic arsenic (InAs) and its methylated metabolites, monomethylarsonate (MMA), and dimethylarsinate (DMA). Methylation activity is reflected in the ratios: InAs/methylated arsenic (InAs/metAs) and MMA/DMA. Eleven families from Chile were selected because of their long-term exposure to very high levels of arsenic in drinking water (735-762 microg/L). Each family consisted of a father, a mother, and two children. We measured urinary arsenic and its methylated metabolites for each participant (n = 44). The intraclass correlation coefficients showed that 13-52% of the variations in the methylation patterns were from being a member of a specific family. Family correlations were calculated for father-mother, parent-child, and sibling-sibling pairs. Methylation patterns correlated strongly between siblings [r = 0.78 for InAs/metAs, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34-0.94; r = 0.82 for MMA/DMA, 95%CI, 0.43-0.95] compared to lower correlations in father-mother pairs (r = 0.18, r = -0.01, respectively), after adjustment for total urinary arsenic, age, and sex. Family correlations were not notably altered when adjustments were made for specific blood micronutrients (methionine, homocysteine, folate, vitamin B6, selenium, and vitamin B12 potentially related to methylation. We also report on a family pedigree with high prevalence of arsenic-induced effects. Participants from this family had low InAs/metAs values, which is consistent with increased toxicity of trivalent methylated arsenic species. Despite our small sample size, we observed that methylation patterns aggregate in families and are correlated in siblings, providing evidence of a genetic basis for the variation in arsenic methylation. Larger studies with more extensive pedigrees will need to be conducted to confirm these findings

Investigation of the Role of Mitochondrial DNA in Multiple Sclerosis Susceptibility

Several lines of evidence suggest that mitochondrial genetic factors may influence susceptibility to multiple sclerosis. To explore this hypothesis further, we re-sequenced the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) from 159 patients with multiple sclerosis and completed a haplogroup analysis including a further 835 patients and 1,506 controls. A trend towards over-representation of super-haplogroup U was the only evidence for association with mtDNA that we identified in these samples. In a parallel analysis of nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes, we also found a trend towards association with the complex I gene, NDUFS2. These results add to the evidence suggesting that variation in mtDNA and nuclear encoded mitochondrial genes may contribute to disease susceptibility in multiple sclerosis

DICER1 gene mutations in endocrine tumors

In this review, the importance of theDICER1gene in the function of endocrine cells is discussed. There is conclusive evidence thatDICER1mutations play a crucial role in the development, progression, cell proliferation, therapeutic responsiveness and behavior of several endocrine tumors. We review the literature ofDICER1gene mutations in thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary, pineal gland, endocrine pancreas, paragangliomas, medullary, adrenocortical, ovarian and testicular tumors. Although significant progress has been made during the last few years, much more work is needed to fully understand the significance ofDICER1mutations.</jats:p