Polarization and ideological congruence between parties and supporters in Europe

The relationship between parties and their supporters is central to democracy and ideological representation is among the most important of these linkages. We conduct an investigation of party-supporter congruence in Europe with emphasis on the measurement of ideology and focusing on the role of party system polarization, both as a direct factor in explaining congruence and in modifying the effects of voter sophistication. Understanding this relationship depends in part on how the ideology of parties and supporters is measured. We use Poole’s Blackbox scaling to derive a measure of latent ideology from voter and expert responses to issue scale questions and compare this to a measure based on left–right perceptions. We then examine how variation in the proximity between parties ideological positions and those of their supporters is affected by the polarization of the party system and how this relationship interacts with political sophistication. With the latent ideology measure, we find that polarization decreases party-supporter congruence but increases the effects of respondent education level on congruence. However, we do not find these relationships using the left–right perceptual measure. Our findings underscore important differences between perceptions of left–right labels and the ideological constraint underlying issue positions

Physical activity, immune function and inflammation in kidney patients (the PINK study): a feasibility trial protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) display increased infection-related mortality and elevated cardiovascular risk only partly attributed to traditional risk factors. Patients with CKD also exhibit a pro-inflammatory environment and impaired immune function. Aerobic exercise has the potential to positively impact these detriments, but is under-researched in this patient population. This feasibility study will investigate the effects of acute aerobic exercise on inflammation and immune function in patients with CKD to inform the design of larger studies intended to ultimately influence current exercise recommendations. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Patients with CKD, including renal transplant recipients, will visit the laboratory on two occasions, both preceded by appropriate exercise, alcohol and caffeine restrictions. On visit 1, baseline assessments will be completed, comprising anthropometrics, body composition, cardiovascular function and fatigue and leisure time exercise questionnaires. Participants will then undertake an incremental shuttle walk test to estimate predicted peak O2 consumption (VO2peak). On visit 2, participants will complete a 20 min shuttle walk at a constant speed to achieve 85% estimated VO2peak. Blood and saliva samples will be taken before, immediately after and 1 hour after this exercise bout. Muscle O2 saturation will be monitored throughout exercise and recovery. Age and sex-matched non-CKD 'healthy control' participants will complete an identical protocol. Blood and saliva samples will be analysed for markers of inflammation and immune function, using cytometric bead array and flow cytometry techniques. Appropriate statistical tests will be used to analyse the data. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: A favourable opinion was granted by the East Midlands-Derby Research Ethics Committee on 18 September 2015 (ref 15/EM/0391), and the study was approved and sponsored by University Hospitals of Leicester Research and Innovation (ref 11444). The study was registered with ISRCTN (ref 38935454). The results will be presented at relevant conferences, and it is anticipated that the reports will be published in appropriate journals in 2018

COVID-19, ethnicity and cardiometabolic disease self-management in UK primary care

Cardiometabolic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease) are the most prevalent chronic conditions globally and often co-occur (termed cardiometabolic multimorbidity), driving mortality [1]. Recent evidence highlights that pre-existing cardiometabolic comorbidities and poorly controlled cardiovascular risk factors are associated with adverse clinical outcomes among COVID-19 patients [2]. [Taken from opening paragraph

Comparing 24 h physical activity profiles: Office workers, women with a history of gestational diabetes and people with chronic disease condition(s)

This study demonstrates a novel data-driven method of summarising accelerometer data to profile physical activity in three diverse groups, compared with cut-point determined moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). GGIR was used to generate average daily acceleration, intensity gradient, time in MVPA and MX metrics (acceleration above which the most active X-minutes accumulate) from wrist-worn accelerometer data from three datasets: office-workers (OW, N = 697), women with a history of post-gestational diabetes (PGD, N = 267) and adults with ≥1 chronic disease (CD, N = 1,325). Average acceleration and MVPA were lower in CD, but not PGD, relative to OW (−5.2 mg and −30.7 minutes, respectively, P < 0.001). Both PGD and CD had poorer intensity distributions than OW (P < 0.001). Application of a cut-point to the M30 showed 7%, 17% and 28%, of OW, PGD and CD, respectively, accumulated 30 minutes of brisk walking per day. Radar plots showed OW had higher overall activity than CD. The relatively poor intensity distribution of PGD, despite similar overall activity to OW, was due to accumulation of more light and less higher intensity activity. These data-driven methods identify aspects of activity that differ between groups, which may be missed by cut-point methods alone

The impact of the Covid‐19 pandemic on glycaemic control in people with diabetes: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Covid-19 pandemic and lock down (LD) has affected diabetes care. We aimed to identify, appraise and synthesise available evidence on the impact of the pandemic on glycaemic control in people with diabetes. Materials and Methods We searched multiple databases up to 02/02/2021 for studies reporting: glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c); time in range (TIR); average or fasting glucose; severe hypoglycaemia; diabetic ketoacidosis. Data were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis and presented as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). This review was pre-registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020179319). Results We include 59 studies; 44 (n=15,464) were included in quantitative syntheses and 15 were narratively synthesised. Pooled data were grouped by diabetes type. Results from 28 studies (n=5,048 T1D and combined diabetes participants) showed that TIR increased during LD compared to before LD (MD 2.74%, 95% CI 1.80 to 3.69). Data from 10 studies (n=1,294 T1D participants) showed TIR increased after LD compared to before LD (MD 5.14%, 95% CI 3.12 to 7.16). Pooled results from 12 studies (n= 4,810 T1D and T2D participants), resulted in average glucose decreasing after LD compared to before LD (MD -6.86 mg/dL, 95% CI -8.54 to -5.18). Results for other outcomes, including HbA1c, were not statistically significantly different. Conclusions The Covid-19 pandemic was associated with small improvements across multiple outcomes of glycaemic control, though there was insufficient evidence to suggest this led to changes in HbA1c. Most evidence came from people with access to diabetes technologies in high income countries; more research is needed in less advantaged populations

A Comparison of Dietary Intake Between Individuals Undergoing Maintenance Hemodialysis in the United Kingdom and China

Objective: Protein-energy wasting is highly prevalent in people with end-stage kidney disease receiving regular hemodialysis. Currently, it is unclear what the optimal nutritional recommendations are, which is further complicated by differences in dietary patterns between countries. The aim of the study was to understand and compare dietary intake between individuals receiving hemodialysis in Leicester, UK and Nantong, China. Methods: The study assessed 40 UK and 44 Chinese participants’ dietary intake over a period of 14 days using 24-hour diet recall interviews. Nutritional blood parameters were obtained from medical records. Food consumed by participants in the UK and China was analyzed using the Nutritics and Nutrition calculator to quantify nutritional intake. Results: Energy and protein intake were comparable between UK and Chinese participants, but with both below the recommended daily intake. Potassium intake was higher in UK participants compared to Chinese participants (2,115 [888] versus 1,159 [861] mg/d; P < .001), as was calcium (618 [257] versus 360 [312] mg/d; P < .001) and phosphate intake (927 [485] versus 697 [434] mg/d; P = .007). Vitamin C intake was lower in UK participants compared to their Chinese counterparts (39 [51] versus 64 [42] mg/d; P = .024). Data are reported here as median (interquartile range). Conclusion: Both UK and Chinese hemodialysis participants have insufficient protein and energy in their diet. New strategies are required to increase protein and energy intakes. All participants had inadequate daily intake of vitamins C and D; there may well be a role in the oral supplementation of these vitamins, and further studies are urgently needed