Influence of fractional flow reserve on grafts patency: Systematic review and patient-level meta-analysis.

To investigate the impact of invasive functional guidance for coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) on graft failure. Data on the impact of fractional flow reserve (FFR) in guiding CABG are still limited. Systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis were performed. Primary objective was the risk of graft failure, stratified by FFR. Risk estimates are reported as odds ratios (ORs) derived from the aggregated data using random-effects models. Individual patient data were analyzed using mixed effect model to assess relationship between FFR and graft failure. This meta-analysis is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020180444). Four prospective studies comprising 503 patients referred for CABG, with 1471 coronaries, assessed by FFR were included. Graft status was available for 1039 conduits at median of 12.0 [IQR 6.6; 12.0] months. Risk of graft failure was higher in vessels with preserved FFR (OR 5.74, 95% CI 1.71-19.29). Every 0.10 FFR units decrease in the coronaries was associated with 56% risk reduction of graft failure (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.59). FFR cut-off to predict graft failure was 0.79. Surgical grafting of coronaries with functionally nonsignificant stenoses was associated with higher risk of graft failure

Taenia solium Cysticercosis in the Democratic Republic of Congo: How Does Pork Trade Affect the Transmission of the Parasite?

Taenia solium is a parasite that can affect both humans and pigs, causing important economic losses in pig production and being the main cause of acquired epilepsy in endemic areas. However, the parasite has been neglected in many African countries and particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where recent data are non-existent. The present study is part of a first initiative to assess whether cysticercosis is actually present in DRC and to estimate its potential economic and public health importance. Focusing our work on porcine cysticercosis, we demonstrated high prevalence figures of active infections in villages in a rural area of DRC and in markets in the city of Kinshasa. Moreover, the intensity of infection was higher in pigs sampled in villages as compared to pigs sampled on urban markets. Preliminary surveys conducted in parallel in both study sites suggest an effect of pork trade on the transmission of the parasite selecting highly infected pigs at village level

Continuous low- to moderate-intensity exercise training is as effective as moderate- to high-intensity exercise training at lowering blood HbA1c in obese type 2 diabetes patients

Aims/hypothesis: Exercise represents an effective interventional strategy to improve glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes patients. However, the impact of exercise intensity on the benefits of exercise training remains to be established. In the present study, we compared the clinical benefits of 6 months of continuous low- to moderate-intensity exercise training with those of continuous moderate- to high-intensity exercise training, matched for energy expenditure, in obese type 2 diabetes patients. Methods: Fifty male obese type 2 diabetes patients (age 59∈±∈8 years, BMI 32∈± ∈4 kg/m2) participated in a 6 month continuous endurance-type exercise training programme. All participants performed three supervised exercise sessions per week, either 55 min at 50% of whole body peak oxygen uptake left(VO2peak) (low to moderate intensity) or 40 min at 75% of VO2peak (moderate to high intensity). Oral glucose tolerance, blood glycated haemoglobin, lipid profile, body composition, maximal workload capacity, whole body and skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and skeletal muscle fibre type composition were assessed before and after 2 and 6 months of intervention. Results: The entire 6 month intervention programme was completed by 37 participants. Continuous endurance-type exercise training reduced blood glycated haemoglobin levels, LDL-cholesterol concentrations, body weight and leg fat mass, and increased VO2peak, lean muscle mass and skeletal muscle cytochrome c oxidase and citrate synthase activity (p∈<∈0. 05). No differences were observed between the groups training at low to moderate or moderate to high intensity. Conclusions/interpretation: When matched for energy cost, prolonged continuous low- to moderate-intensity endurance-type exercise training is equally effective as continuous moderate- to high-intensity training in lowering blood glycated haemoglobin and increasing whole body and skeletal muscle oxidative capacity in obese type 2 diabetes patients. © 2009 Springer-Verlag

The evolving impact of global, region-specific and country-specific uncertainty

 This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Journal of Business & Economic Statistics on 30 Oct 2019, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/07350015.2019.166879

Micro-CT-scanning as a valuable source of data for musculoskeletal studies in biology

Over time, so-called classic biological studies (such as anatomical studies) have evolved into modern, highly integrated strategies tackling important questions in evolutionary biology. Where early morphologists limited themselves to descriptions based on dissections, non-invasive imaging techniques nowadays allow to uncover details of anatomy in a way that morphologists can go far beyond basic and descriptive anatomy, e.g. through modelling. In this presentation, an overview is presented on some on-going research projects that rely on X-ray tomography data, which focus on the adaptive evolution of musculoskeletal systems in different vertebrate lineages. Cases discussed are (1) a study on the cranial anatomical diversity and functional implications in the feeding apparatus in seahorses, (2) as well as multi-body modelling of the tail system in these fishes; and (3) structural diversity in Darwin’s finches in relation to high performance seed cracking. These cases clearly show the (still not fully explored) potential for testing specific hypotheses with respect to adaptive evolution, where X-ray tomography provides the tools to model experimental conditions that are impossible to achieve with live specimens (e.g. perfect control of specific parameters)

Beyond 'Trimming the fat': the sub-editing stage of newswriting

Thus far, professional editing has not been researched extensively in writing research. This article zooms in on sub-editing in newswriting as a form of professional editing, addressing three research questions: (a) What are the ways in which a news article's text is altered?, (b) Are some types of news article altered more significantly than others?, and (c) Are certain news article sections more prone to alterations? Merging the contextualized insights of fieldwork with a corpus-based discourse analytic research perspective, we trace the differences (viz. additions, deletions, translocations, replacements) between the initial (right before sub-editing) and final (published) version of six different types of news article, (frontpage, headline, long, medium, short, and news wire article) in a corpus sample of 30 broadsheet articles. Our findings are first thatcontrary to popular belief that sub-editors mainly hack away at news stories, or merely trim the fatadditions prevail. Second, we found that most interventions occur in high-stakes articles. Third, we discovered the largest number of interventions in the entry points of an article, that is, whereaccording to eye-tracking researchreaders stop scanning and start reading. We discuss our findings in the light of training for professional newswriters

Modelling the risk of Taenia solium exposure from pork produced in western Kenya

The tapeworm Taenia solium is the parasite responsible for neurocysticercosis, a neglected tropical disease of public health importance, thought to cause approximately 1/3 of epilepsy cases across endemic regions. The consumption of undercooked infected pork perpetuates the parasite’s life-cycle through the establishment of adult tapeworm infections in the community. Reducing the risk associated with pork consumption in the developing world is therefore a public health priority. The aim of this study was to estimate the risk of any one pork meal in western Kenya containing a potentially infective T. solium cysticercus at the point of consumption, an aspect of the parasite transmission that has not been estimated before. To estimate this, we used a quantitative food chain risk assessment model built in the @RISK add-on to Microsoft Excel. This model indicates that any one pork meal consumed in western Kenya has a 0.006 (99% Uncertainty Interval (U.I). 0.0002–0.0164) probability of containing at least one viable T. solium cysticercus at the point of consumption and therefore being potentially infectious to humans. This equates to 22,282 (99% U.I. 622–64,134) potentially infective pork meals consumed in the course of one year within Busia District alone. This model indicates a high risk of T. solium infection associated with pork consumption in western Kenya and the work presented here can be built upon to investigate the efficacy of various mitigation strategies for this locality