DHA-Induced Perturbation of Human Serum Metabolome. Role of the Food Matrix and Co-Administration of Oat β-glucan and Anthocyanins

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been reported to have a positive impact on many diet-related disease risks, including metabolic syndrome. Although many DHA-enriched foods have been marketed, the impact of different food matrices on the effect of DHA is unknown. As well, the possibility to enhance DHA effectiveness through the co-administration of other bioactives has seldom been considered. We evaluated DHA effects on the serum metabolome administered to volunteers at risk of metabolic syndrome as an ingredient of three different foods. Foods were enriched with DHA alone or in combination with oat beta-glucan or anthocyanins and were administered to volunteers for 4 weeks. Serum samples collected at the beginning and end of the trial were analysed by NMR-based metabolomics. Multivariate and univariate statistical analyses were used to characterize modifications in the serum metabolome and to evaluate bioactive-bioactive and bioactive-food matrix interactions. DHA administration induces metabolome perturbation that is influenced by the food matrix and the co-presence of other bioactives. In particular, when co-administered with oat beta-glucan, DHA induces a strong rearrangement in the lipoprotein profile of the subjects. The observed modifications are consistent with clinical results and indicate that metabolomics represents a possible strategy to choose the most appropriate food matrices for bioactive enrichmen

Models for preclinical studies in aging-related disorders: one is not for all

Preclinical studies are essentially based on animal models of a particular disease. The primary purpose of preclinical efficacy studies is to support generalization of treatment–effect relationships to human subjects. Researchers aim to demonstrate a causal relationship between an investigational agent and a disease-related phenotype in such models. Numerous factors can muddle reliable inferences about such causeeffect relationships, including biased outcome assessment due to experimenter expectations. For instance, responses in a particular inbred mouse might be specific to the strain, limiting generalizability. Selecting well-justified and widely acknowledged model systems represents the best start in designing preclinical studies, especially to overcome any potential bias related to the model itself. This is particularly true in the research that focuses on aging, which carries unique challenges, mainly attributable to the fact that our already long lifespan makes designing experiments that use people as subjectsextremely difficult and largely impractical

Discriminative and predictive properties of disease-specific and generic health status indexes in elderly COPD patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The association between bronchial obstruction severity and mortality in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is well established, but it is unknown whether disease-specific health status measures and multidimensional assessment (MDA) have comparable prognostic value.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed data coming from the Salute Respiratoria nell'Anziano (Respiratory Health in the Elderly – SaRA) study, enrolling elderly people attending outpatient clinics for respiratory and non-respiratory problems. From this population we selected 449 patients with bronchial obstruction (77.3% men, mean age 73.1). We classified patients' health status using tertiles of the Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and a MDA including functional (the 6' walking test, WT), cognitive (Mini-Mental State Examination, MMSE) and affective status (Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS). The agreement of the classification methods was calculated using the kappa statistic, and survival associated with group membership was evaluated using survival analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Pulmonary function, expressed by the FEV1, worsened with increasing SGRQ or MDA scores. Cognitive function was not associated with the SGRQ, while physical performance and mood status were impaired only in the highest tertile of SGRQ. A poor agreement was found between the two classification systems tested (k = 0.194). Compared to people in the first tertile of SGRQ score, those in the second tertile had a sex-adjusted HR of 1.22 (0.75 – 1.98) and those in the third tertile of 2.90 (1.92 – 4.40). The corresponding figures of the MDA were 1.49 (95% CI 1.02 – 2.18) and 2.01 (95% CI: 1.31 – 3.08). After adjustment for severity of obstruction, only a SGRQ in the upper tertile was associated with mortality (HR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.14 – 3.02).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In elderly outpatients with mild-moderate COPD, a disease-specific health status index seems to be a better predictor of death compared to a MDA.</p

Shielding of optical pulses on hydrodynamical time scales in laser-induced breakdown of saline water

Pulse shielding in Laser-Induced Breakdown of saline water on hydrodynamic time scales is experimentally characterized. Pairs of pulses from a Nd:YAG laser are focused into saline water with a controlled time delay between them. The Laser-Induced Breakdown produced by the first pulse creates a cavitation bubble that later collapses generating a plume of bubbles that evolves on hydrodynamic time scales. When the second pulse arrives, the light is scattered by this plume with a consequent reduction in the intensity at the focal spot resulting in a lower breakdown efficiency of this pulse. By means of acoustic measurements, we determine the breakdown energy threshold for the first pulse and characterize the shielding of the second pulse as a function of the salinity of the solution, the energy of the pulse, and the inter-pulse interval. A model for the blocking process that takes into account both linear and nonlinear absorption along the path is developed which satisfactorily explains the observations. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.We acknowledge technical support from Dr. Luca Furfaro (U. du Franche-Compté), and funding from the Direcció General de Recerca, Desenvolupament Tecnològic i Innovació de la Conselleria d'Innovació, Interior i Justícia del Govern de les Illes Balears co-funded by the European Union FEDER funds. J.J. acknowledges financial support from the Ramon y Cajal fellowship. F. Marino acknowledges partial financial support from UIBPeer Reviewe

Uncertainty assessment of significant wave height return levels downscaling for coastal application

The computation of extreme waves near the coast is often complicated by the lack of extended time-series in shallow waters. As such, wave parameters related to long return periods are usually estimated starting from their offshore counterparts, either by i) computing return levels of wave parameters offshore and next propagating design waves toward the coast; or ii) downscaling the whole time-series of offshore data first, computing extreme waves at the coast at a second time. In this contribution, we comparatively apply the two methods at the Son Bou Beach in Menorca (Balearic Islands, West Mediterranean basin) to assess the uncertainty stemming from waves downscaling (that is, to perform the Extreme Value Analysis prior or after the propagation of waves to the shallow waters). Results show that the two approaches yield differences in the 100 years wave height as high as ≈1 m, suggesting the need to carefully account for this source of uncertainty in the preliminary design of coastal structures and coastal hazard assessment

K-Clique Multiomics Framework: A Novel Protocol to Decipher the Role of Gut Microbiota Communities in Nutritional Intervention Trials

International audienceThe availability of omics data providing information from different layers of complex biological processes that link nutrition to human health would benefit from the development of integrated approaches combining holistically individual omics data, including those associated with the microbiota that impacts the metabolisation and bioavailability of food components. Microbiota must be considered as a set of populations of interconnected consortia, with compensatory capacities to adapt to different nutritional intake. To study the consortium nature of the microbiome, we must rely on specially designed data analysis tools. The purpose of this work is to propose the construction of a general correlation network-based explorative tool, suitable for nutritional clinical trials, by integrating omics data from faecal microbial taxa, stool metabolome (1H NMR spectra) and GC-MS for stool volatilome. The presented approach exploits a descriptive paradigm necessary for a true multiomics integration of data, which is a powerful tool to investigate the complex physiological effects of nutritional interventions

DHA-Induced Perturbation of Human Serum Metabolome. Role of the Food Matrix and Co-Administration of Oat beta-glucan and Anthocyanins

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been reported to have a positive impact on many diet-related disease risks, including metabolic syndrome. Although many DHA-enriched foods have been marketed, the impact of different food matrices on the effect of DHA is unknown. As well, the possibility to enhance DHA effectiveness through the co-administration of other bioactives has seldom been considered. We evaluated DHA effects on the serum metabolome administered to volunteers at risk of metabolic syndrome as an ingredient of three different foods. Foods were enriched with DHA alone or in combination with oat beta-glucan or anthocyanins and were administered to volunteers for 4 weeks. Serum samples collected at the beginning and end of the trial were analysed by NMR-based metabolomics. Multivariate and univariate statistical analyses were used to characterize modifications in the serum metabolome and to evaluate bioactive-bioactive and bioactive-food matrix interactions. DHA administration induces metabolome perturbation that is influenced by the food matrix and the co-presence of other bioactives. In particular, when co-administered with oat beta-glucan, DHA induces a strong rearrangement in the lipoprotein profile of the subjects. The observed modifications are consistent with clinical results and indicate that metabolomics represents a possible strategy to choose the most appropriate food matrices for bioactive enrichment

Reconstruction of archaeological features in the Mediterranean coastal environment by means of non-invasive techniques and digital museums (Selected paper in BAR –S2079, 2010 Making History Interactive. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA))

Archaeological prospection and excavation of an ancient settlement is a slow, careful and consequently costly operation. In the Mediterranean region, cities were often built next to the coastline, in order to provide bases for trade along the most convenient pathway of the time - the sea. Prospection of such sites is particularly difficult and slow because these cities are buried or sunk into the sea. The need arises for a comprehensive prospection, that can delineate the areas of further direct investigations. Results can also have a cultural and touristic value before the full site excavation by means of high resolution renderings and 3D digital representations of the subsurface. This work deals with the development and the application of an integrated methodology and visualization techniques for 3D rendering of geophysical data of the buried and submerged archaeological features in complex environment such as coastal planes. In this work we present the results from marine and ground geophysical prospections of the Phoenician, Punic and Roman town of Nora, in the South Coast of Sardinia and the Roman town of Pollentia, in the North East of the Mallorca Island. The lagoon, close to Nora, was investigated with a continuous marine electrical resistivity tomography and with the sub bottom profiler survey to find features linked to the presence of the ancient harbour. Measures were carried out by means of a customised catamaran, appositely developed for the marine geophysical surveys in shallow water. The data processing led with: 1) the reconstruction of resistivity sections and 3D renderings; 2) the comparison between the electrical and the sub bottom profiler survey results. This latter step permitted to identify some structures related with the main features observed by the sub bottom profiler; in particular we found a channel that could be the access to the ancient harbor. Near the lagoon in the surroundings of the ancient town a georadar survey was carried out in order to find the old amphitheatre. The 3D reconstruction of old roads, aqueduct and of a small part of amphitheatre was made in a critical environment. Diggings confirmed exactly the reconstruction. In the Pollentia site, we stress the rule of the geophysical investigation in un-explored to map the near surface archaeological features and exploit high resolution information acquired by electrical and georadar investigation for a realistic 3D rendering of the main features, for a virtual museum of the buried settlements. The geophysical data pointed out the presence of several well organised features that are related to the buried rests of the ancient walls of the town. Starting from the 3D rendering of the main geophysical anomalies, we applied techniques for virtual imaging of the ancient town. We tested both commercial and open source technologies based. Former has a limited access to the model because it needs a dongle key and consequently doesn’t allow a wide scale diffusion of results, so we developed a software tool based on the open source VRML technolog

The Italian version of the quick mild cognitive impairment (Qmci-I) screen: normative study on 307 healthy subjects

OBJECTIVE: To devise an Italian version of the quick mild cognitive impairment screen (Qmci) and to obtain normative data. METHODS: An Italian version of the Qmci screen (Qmci-I) was administered to 307 subjects free from cognitive impairment. The normative sample was divided into three age levels (50-59; 60-69 and 70-80 years) and four education levels (3-5; 6-8; 9-13; >13 years of school attendance). Multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate the effect of age, sex and schooling on Qmci-I scores (overall and by domains) and to calculate cut-off values, with reference to the confidence interval on the fifth centile. RESULTS: The mean Qmci-I score was 64/100 (SD = 11). The age variable showed a significant negative effect on the overall Qmci-I score, with older people performing worse than younger ones. Conversely, education was associated with higher scores. Significant effects of age and education affected logical memory alone. For the other domains, the following effects were found: (1) higher age associated with lower scores on delayed recall; (2) higher education levels associated with higher scores on immediate recall, clock drawing and word fluency. The adjusted cut-off score for the Qmci-I screen in this sample was 49.4. Qmci-I scores were weakly correlated with those of MMSE (rho = 0.20). CONCLUSIONS: The Qmci-I is a rapid and multi-domain short cognitive screening instrument useful for evaluating cognitive functions. However, like other screening tools, it is significantly influenced by age and education, requiring normative data and correction of values when used in the clinical practice