Associations Between Dietary Fiber and Inflammation, Hepatic Function, and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Older Men Potential mechanisms for the benefits of fiber on diabetes risk

OBJECTIVE - To examine the relationship between dietary fiber and the risk of type 2 diabetes in older men and the role of hepatic and inflammatory markers.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS - The study was performed prospectively and included 3,428 nondiabetic men (age 60-79 years) followed up for 7 years, during which there were 162 incident cases of type 2 diabetes.RESULTS - Low total dietary fiber (lowest quartile <= 20 g/day) was associated With increased risk of diabetes after adjustment for total caloric intake and potential confounders (relative risk - 1.47 [95% CI 1.03-2.11]). This increased risk was seen separately for both low cereal and low vegetable fiber intake. Dietary fiber was inversely associated with inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein, interleukin-6) and with tissue plasminogen activator and gamma-glutamyl transferase. Adjustment for these markers attenuated the increased risk (1.28 [0.88-1.86]).CONCLUSIONS - Dietary fiber is associated with reduced diabetes risk, which may be partly explained by inflammatory markers and hepatic fat deposition

Переживание личного времени при болезни Альцгеймера

Original manuscript received February 3, 2020.Revised manuscript accepted March 18, 2020.Background. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative illness, which occurs with increasing frequency as people age, and is currently a disease beyond curative therapeutic possibilities. While progressive memory impairment is the upfront element associated with the disease, other neurocognitive problems are also associated with it, such as language impairment that tend to degenerate into aphasia. The paper presents singular representations of time in such patients’ lived experience, which with the course of the disease gradually move away from the real present around them. In consequence, they live in a bygone era. The dimension of the perceived world implies an anchoring in temporality in the present by using the resources of the past. This becomes impossible with the progression of the cognitive disorders. Multiple psychological tensions result from patient’s maladjustment to temporality. Objective. The article attempts to define the singular experience of the time of the demented patient according to the phases of the disease. Design. An analysis of the psychological tensions summoned at the various stages of the disease was carried out using a semiotic methodology. Results. The progression of the disease gives way to another mode of relation to the world, presentism. With its course, emotions can no longer unfold. At first, the patient seeks to increase his grip on the surrounding world, and the internal psychological tensions are accentuated. Suddenly the world ends up completely escaping him, and catastrophically the internal tensions collapse. The patient slides irreversibly towards regression. Conclusion. If the emotional intensity of what the patient experiences is enough, he remains engaged in the time of a presence in the world, even if it is distinct from the reality of those around him. When the intensity collapses, the demented patients disengage from it. The caregivers or families who take care of them can understand the mechanisms involved in the patients’ experience of time. This allows them to adapt their own behavior. Thus, they limit the risk of misinterpretation and induce certain behavioral disorders linked to their shift from the reality of the patients.Краткое введение. Болезнь Альцгеймера (AD) — это нейродегенеративное заболевание, случающееся с возрастающей частотой при увеличении возраста, и в настоящее время находится за рамками лечебных терапевтических возможностей. Первым признаком болезни является прогрессирующее ухудшение памяти, но при AD возникают и другие нейрокогнитивные проблемы, например, речевое расстройство, имеющее тенденцию переходить в афазию. В статье описаны единичные представления времени в жизненном опыте пациентов с болезнью Альцгеймера, которые с течением болезни постепенно отдаляются от реального настоящего вокруг них. Фактически они живут в давно ушедшей эпохе. Измерение воспринимаемого мира подразумевает привязку к временнóму в настоящем посредством использования ресурсов прошлого. Это становится невозможным при прогрессировании когнитивных расстройств. Многочисленные психологические напряжения возникают в результате неправильного приспособления пациента к темпоральности. Цель. В статье предпринята попытка определить единичный опыт переживания времени у больных с деменцией в соответствии с фазами заболевания. Дизайн. Анализ психологических напряжений, вызванных на различных стадиях заболевания, проводился с использованием семиотической методологии. Результаты. Прогрессирование болезни вызывает другой способ отношения к миру, презентизм. При этом больной уже не может выражать свои эмоции. Сначала пациент стремится усилить свою “хватку” за окружающий мир, и внутреннее психологическое напряжение также усиливается. Но внезапно мир полностью ускользает от него, и внутреннее напряжение катастрофически разрушается. Пациент необратимо скатывается к регрессии. Вывод. Если эмоциональная интенсивность переживаний пациента достаточна, он остается вовлеченным в жизнь, хотя его восприятие и отличается от реальности окружающих его людей. Когда интенсивность эмоций резко снижается, пациенты с деменцией выпадают из реальности. Ухаживающий персонал или семьи, которые заботятся о больных, могут понять механизмы, задействованные в переживании пациентами времени. Это позволяет им адаптировать свое собственное поведение. Таким образом, уменьшается риск неправильного толкования поведения больных и можно предупредить определенные поведенческие расстройства у пациентов

Global IT Multisourcing: Objectives, Challenges And Requirements In Multinational Insurance Companies

In recent times, information technology (IT) multisourcing has emerged as a key strategy in the field of IT outsourcing. Most of the current scholarlyand practitioner-related literature acknowledges the importance of multisourcing, but linear extensions of the dyadic client-vendor relationship are insufficient to capture its nuances. Multinational financial services providers (such as banks and insurance companies) have been pioneers in the fieldof IT outsourcing. However, there is a lack of experience-based research about the implementation of global IT multisourcing. In this article we present findings from a cross-case study investigating the implementation of global IT multisourcing in four leading insurance companies. First, the article presents the objectives of the insurers in pursuing global IT multisourcing. Second, the researchreveals challenges the companies are facing in implementing global IT multisourcing. Finally, requirements for implementing IT multisourcing are derived. The insights of these real-life examples extend existing literature on IT outsourcing and provide helpful orientation for organizations that are implementing global IT multisourcing

Towards a Better Understanding of IT Cost Drivers of Asset Management Companies

Effectiveness and even more efficiency are substantial indicators of information technology (IT) performance management. Evaluation of an organisation’s IT performance relies heavily on benchmarking with other organisations. The comparability of IT key performance indicators (KPIs) is critical for resilient benchmarking results. KPI suggestions of established frameworks remain very generic. They are incapable of taking individual characteristics of different business models into account and impede, therefore, a sophisticated benchmarking. Such an occurrence can be observed frequently, especially in the environment of business groups. In the case of one leading international financial service business group, we analysed this problem and applied action research to identify IT cost drivers and develop specific KPIs for the group IT performance management. This article provides insights into a real-life example of evaluating IT performance and suggests a set of KPIs for IT cost efficiency benchmarking among asset management firms within a business group considering the firm’s different business models

Deriving a Research Agenda for the Management of Multisourcing Relationships Based on a Literature Review

There has been considerable development in Information Technology (IT) outsourcing during the last two decades. Nowadays, practitioner-related as well as scholarly literature have identified multisourcing as an emerging key strategy. Multisourcing is described as the blending of services from multiple internal and external vendors. Especially in the case of multisourcing the management of relationships is complex. For a certain field of research it is important to have an overview of the existing literature and a common understanding of basic terms. In this article we identify and analyze the body of knowledge in the area of managing multisourcing relationships. We hence conduct a structured literature review based upon an established literature review framework. It can be observed that the current literature lacks depth in terms of management of multisourcing relationships and that only a few articles cover the aspects of multisourcing in detail. Particularly regarding performance management, governance and knowledge management of multisourcing relationships we propose further research. We subsequently deduce a detailed research agenda for future research options

IT Shared Service Center and External Market Activities

In the last few years many corporate groups reorganized their IT-Services and established IT Shared Service Centers (IT SSC). These IT SSCs primarily delivered IT services internally; nevertheless some IT SSC provided IT services to external customers as well. These external market activities failed in most cases. In spite of the relevance to organizations, little research has been done investigating the reasons for such failures. In order to address this issue, we have conducted a qualitative study with eight IT SSC cases and five experts interviews. We have triangulated the results between the case studies and the expert interviews and we have identified two set of factors, one explaining IT SCC successes in internal markets and the other explaining IT SSC failures in external markets. The enabling factors for the successes of IT SSCs in internal markets include having the same corporate culture, knowledge of the parent organization and its processes, lower transactions cost, lower average cost, no dependence on external IT service providers, better data protection, improved IT opportunities and obligation to provide services. The factors explaining external market failures include the lack of experience with acquisition, no professional sales and marketing, lack of investment funds, weak unique features of IT services, reassessment of strategic group portfolio by the parent company, higher IT service costs, and inconsistent business models. These findings are relevant to managers of IT SSCs to make decisions on their corporate strategy, as well as to researchers to utilize these findings as a starting point for future research on IT SSCs

Continuous Variable Quantum State Sharing via Quantum Disentanglement

Quantum state sharing is a protocol where perfect reconstruction of quantum states is achieved with incomplete or partial information in a multi-partite quantum networks. Quantum state sharing allows for secure communication in a quantum network where partial information is lost or acquired by malicious parties. This protocol utilizes entanglement for the secret state distribution, and a class of "quantum disentangling" protocols for the state reconstruction. We demonstrate a quantum state sharing protocol in which a tripartite entangled state is used to encode and distribute a secret state to three players. Any two of these players can collaborate to reconstruct the secret state, whilst individual players obtain no information. We investigate a number of quantum disentangling processes and experimentally demonstrate quantum state reconstruction using two of these protocols. We experimentally measure a fidelity, averaged over all reconstruction permutations, of F = 0.73. A result achievable only by using quantum resources.Comment: Published, Phys. Rev. A 71, 033814 (2005) (7 figures, 11 pages

Building Decision Tools for Sustainable Grassland Management: A Case Study of Participatory Research in La Réunion

During the last 30 years, cattle breeding has developed in La Reunion Island (France, Indian Ocean) with strong support from local authorities and extension structures. The Union des Associations Foncières Pastorales (UAFP) initiated and still sustain a large effort on grassland improvement. During the same period, CIRAD managed different research programmes on agronomic aspects of pasture management). Scarcity of space, the volcanic soil and tropical climatic conditions contributed to repeated forage shortages during the dry season, making forage production a major issue for cattle breeders. In 1991, CIRAD launched a research programme to elaborate decision tools for assessing and improving pasture management. A partnership was developed with UAFP, with the local institution being involved in the elaboration of the tools and now being completely in charge of their use to advise cattle breeders on pasture management