27 research outputs found
Reduction in cardiovascular risk by sodium-bicarbonated mineral water in moderately hypercholesterolemic young adults.
Effects of drinking a sodium bicarbonated mineral water on cardiovascular risk in young men
and women with moderate cardiovascular risk were studied. Eighteen young volunteers, total
cholesterol levels >5.2 mmol/L without any disease participated. The study consisted in two
8-week intervention periods. Subjects consumed, as a supplement of their usual diet, 1 L/d of
a control low mineral water followed by 1 L/d of the bicarbonated mineral water (mmol/L:
sodium, 48; bicarbonate, 35; and chloride, 17). Determinations were performed at the end of
the control water period and weeks 4 and 8 of the bicarbonated water period. Body weight,
BMI, blood pressure, dietary intake, total-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol,
Apo A-I, Apo B, triacylgycerols, glucose, insulin, adiponectin, high sensitivity-C reactive
protein (hs-CRP), soluble adhesion molecules (sICAM and sVCAM), sodium and chloride
urinary excretion, and urine pH were measured. Dietary intake, body weight and BMI showed
no significant variations. Systolic blood pressure decreased significantly after 4 weeks of
bicarbonated water consumption without significant differences between the weeks 4 and 8.
Significant reductions were observed after bicarbonated water consumption of total
cholesterol (by 6.3%, p=0.012), LDL-cholesterol (by 10% p=0.001), total/HDL-cholesterol
(p=0.004), LDL/HDL-cholesterol (p=0.001), and Apo B (p=0.017). Serum triacylglycerols,
Apo A-I, sICAM-1, sVCAM-1 and hs-CRP levels did not change. Serum glucose values
tended to decrease during the bicarbonated water intervention (p=0.056) but insulin levels did
not vary. This sodium bicarbonated mineral water improves lipid profile in moderately
hypercholesterolemic young men and women and could therefore be applied in dietary
interventions to reduce cardiovascular risk
Diet quality index as a predictor of treatment efficacy in overweight and obese adolescents: The EVASYON study
Background & aim: A diet quality index (DQI) is a tool that provides an overall score of an individual''s dietary intake when assessing compliance with food-based dietary guidelines. A number of DQIs have emerged, albeit their associations with health-related outcomes are debated. The aim of the present study was to assess whether adherence to dietary intervention, and the overall quality of the diet, can predict body composition changes. Methods: To this purpose, overweight/obese adolescents (n = 117, aged: 13–16 years; 51 males, 66 females) were recruited into a multi-component (diet, physical activity and psychological support) family-based group treatment programme. We measured the adolescents’ compliance and body composition at baseline and after 2 months (intensive phase) and 13 months (extensive phase) of follow-up. Also, at baseline, after 6 months, and at the end of follow-up we calculated the DQI. Results: Global compliance with the dietary intervention was 37.4% during the intensive phase, and 14.3% during the extensive phase. Physical activity compliance was 94.1% at 2-months and 34.7% at 13months and psychological support compliance were growing over the intervention period (10.3% intensive phase and 45.3% during extensive phase). Adolescents complying with the meal frequency criteria at the end of the extensive phase had greater reductions in FMI z-scores than those did not complying (Cohen''s d = 0.53). A statistically significant association was observed with the diet quality index. DQI-A variation explained 98.1% of BMI z-score changes and 95.1% of FMI changes. Conclusions: We conclude that assessment of changes in diet quality could be a useful tool in predicting body composition changes in obese adolescents involved in a diet and physical activity intervention programme backed-up by psychological and family support
Highly-parallelized simulation of a pixelated LArTPC on a GPU
The rapid development of general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) is allowing the implementation of highly-parallelized Monte Carlo simulation chains for particle physics experiments. This technique is particularly suitable for the simulation of a pixelated charge readout for time projection chambers, given the large number of channels that this technology employs. Here we present the first implementation of a full microphysical simulator of a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) equipped with light readout and pixelated charge readout, developed for the DUNE Near Detector. The software is implemented with an end-to-end set of GPU-optimized algorithms. The algorithms have been written in Python and translated into CUDA kernels using Numba, a just-in-time compiler for a subset of Python and NumPy instructions. The GPU implementation achieves a speed up of four orders of magnitude compared with the equivalent CPU version. The simulation of the current induced on 10^3 pixels takes around 1 ms on the GPU, compared with approximately 10 s on the CPU. The results of the simulation are compared against data from a pixel-readout LArTPC prototype
Calcium and phosphorus bioavailability in rats consuming oil from either raw sardines or sardines fried in olive oil Biodisponibilidad de calcio y fósforo en ratas alimentadas con grasa de sardina cruda o frita con aceite de oliva
Iron Bioavailability from Pate Enriched with Encapsulated Ferric Pyrophosphate or Ferrous Gluconate in Rats
Guideline for interpretation and report of the antibody to hepatitis C virus [Guía de interpretación y reporte del anticuerpo a hepatitis C]
Patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are detected by testing for the presence of antibodies to HCV (Anti-HCV). A positive Anti-HCV test represents a true positive result only in a variable proportion of subjects (35 to 95%). The qualitative interpretation as positive or negative Anti-HCV report is associated with a general lack of understanding regarding the interpretation of results, when more specific testing should be performed, and which tests should be considered for this purpose. Therefore, a substantial variation in supplemental testing practices exists among laboratories and physicians. This guideline was developed on the basis of the best available evidence to classify positive antibody in two (low and high) or three levels (very low, low and high) according to the signal to cutoff (S/CO) ratio: the very low level of the Anti-HCV identifies false-positive results and further diagnostic testing is not necessary. The low antibody level is frequently related with false-positive results and testing with Immunoblot is recommended; only Immunoblot-positive subjects require HCV RNA testing because of a low possibility of being viremic. The high Anti-HCV level is an accurate serological marker for predicting viremia and denotes the need of routine HCV RNA testing in order to efficiently confirm hepatitis C. Cost-effectiveness analysis, based on the Anti-HCV level, recommends the use of the two or three-levels to choose the confirmatory test of positive antibody. This approach can be implemented without increasing test costs because the S/CO ratio is automatically generated in most laboratory analyzers and would provide health care professionals with useful information for counseling and evaluating patients, to eliminate unwarranted notifications in cases of false antibody reactivity, and correctly identifying those Anti-HCV-positive patients who are infected and need antiviral treatment. The written report should include the antibody level (S/CO ratio), the type of the immunoassay applied and interpretation guideline. Anti-HCV testing is performed in multiple settings including blood banks or health department facilities; adoption of this Guideline for interpretation and report of the antibody to hepatitis C virus by laboratories and its implementation by clinicians will improve the accuracy for interpreting antibody result to determine the next step on hepatitis C diagnosis
A Comparative Study of Iron Bioavailability from Cocoa Supplemented with Ferric Pyrophosphate or Ferrous Fumarate in Rats
Marcadores del estado de hierro en mujeres con deficiencia de hierro que consumen una dieta de pescado azul frente a una dieta de carne roja
The concentration and non-carcinogenic risk assessment of aluminium in fruits, soil, and water collected from Iran
Doping Liquid Argon with Xenon in ProtoDUNE Single-Phase: Effects on Scintillation Light
International audienceDoping of liquid argon TPCs (LArTPCs) with a small concentration of xenon is a technique for light-shifting and facilitates the detection of the liquid argon scintillation light. In this paper, we present the results of the first doping test ever performed in a kiloton-scale LArTPC. From February to May 2020, we carried out this special run in the single-phase DUNE Far Detector prototype (ProtoDUNE-SP) at CERN, featuring 770 t of total liquid argon mass with 410 t of fiducial mass. The goal of the run was to measure the light and charge response of the detector to the addition of xenon, up to a concentration of 18.8 ppm. The main purpose was to test the possibility for reduction of non-uniformities in light collection, caused by deployment of photon detectors only within the anode planes. Light collection was analysed as a function of the xenon concentration, by using the pre-existing photon detection system (PDS) of ProtoDUNE-SP and an additional smaller set-up installed specifically for this run. In this paper we first summarize our current understanding of the argon-xenon energy transfer process and the impact of the presence of nitrogen in argon with and without xenon dopant. We then describe the key elements of ProtoDUNE-SP and the injection method deployed. Two dedicated photon detectors were able to collect the light produced by xenon and the total light. The ratio of these components was measured to be about 0.65 as 18.8 ppm of xenon were injected. We performed studies of the collection efficiency as a function of the distance between tracks and light detectors, demonstrating enhanced uniformity of response for the anode-mounted PDS. We also show that xenon doping can substantially recover light losses due to contamination of the liquid argon by nitrogen