Suppression of Tc in the (Y0.9Ca0.1)Ba2Cu4-xFexO8 system

In this paper, the effects produced by the iron substitutions in the (Y0.9Ca0.1)Ba2Cu4-xFexO8 system on the superconducting and structural properties are studied. The Rietveld fit of the crystal structure and Mossbauer spectroscopy results of (Y0.9Ca0.1)Ba2Cu4-xFexO8 samples indicate that, the iron atoms occupy the Cu(1) sites of the (Cu-O)2 double chain in fivefold coordination at low iron concentrations. Besides at high iron concentrations the iron atoms occupy the Cu(1) sites of single Cu-O chainss and Cu(2) sites in the CuO2 planes of the (Y0.9Ca0.1)Ba2Cu4-xFexO8 phase with structural defects. Simultaneouly, as iron concentration increases, a faster decrease of Tc is observed in this material comapred with the YBa2Cu3-xFexO7-y system. According to the charge transfer model proposed for YBa2Cu4O8 under pressure, the decrease in the Cu(1)-O(4) bond length in parallel to the increase in the Cu(2)-O(4) bond length may affect the charge transfer mechanism leading to the suppression of Tc.Comment: submitted to Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter on 12 October 2001, 8 figures, 2 tables, 9 page

Early prevention of diabetes microvascular complications in people with hyperglycaemia in Europe. ePREDICE randomized trial. Study protocol, recruitment and selected baseline data

Objectives To assess the effects of early management of hyperglycaemia with antidiabetic drugs plus lifestyle intervention compared with lifestyle alone, on microvascular function in adults with pre-diabetes. Methods Trial design: International, multicenter, randomised, partially double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. Participants Males and females aged 45-74 years with IFG, IGT or IFG+IGT, recruited from primary care centres in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Kuwait, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Turkey. Intervention Participants were randomized to placebo; metformin 1.700 mg/day; linagliptin 5 mg/day or fixed-dose combination of linagliptin/metformin. All patients were enrolled in a lifestyle intervention program (diet and physical activity). Drug intervention will last 2 years. Primary Outcome: Composite end-point of diabetic retinopathy estimated by the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Score, urinary albumin to creatinine ratio, and skin conductance in feet estimated by the sudomotor index. Secondary outcomes in a subsample include insulin sensitivity, beta-cell function, biomarkers of inflammation and fatty liver disease, quality of life, cognitive function, depressive symptoms and endothelial function. Results One thousand three hundred ninety one individuals with hyperglycaemia were assessed for eligibility, 424 excluded after screening, 967 allocated to placebo, metformin, linagliptin or to fixed-dose combination of metformin + linagliptin. A total of 809 people (91.1%) accepted and initiated the assigned treatment. Study sample after randomization was well balanced among the four groups. No statistical differences for the main risk factors analysed were observed between those accepting or rejecting treatment initiation. At baseline prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was 4.2%, severe neuropathy 5.3% and nephropathy 5.7%. Conclusions ePREDICE is the first -randomized clinical trial with the aim to assess effects of different interventions (lifestyle and pharmacological) on microvascular function in people with prediabetes. The trial will provide novel data on lifestyle modification combined with glucose lowering drugs for the prevention of early microvascular complications and diabetes

Holistic analysis of cropping diversity and intensity implications for productive, environmental, and nutritional performance of smallholder farms in Bihar, India

The agricultural productivity and sustainability in Eastern Gangetic Plain Zones of India are threatened because of the inefficiency of current production practices, shortage of resources, and socioeconomic constraints. We hypothesized the potential impact of intensified cereal systems with mung bean as a third crop within the annual cropping cycle. We assessed economic, social, and environmental indicators for intensified and current cropping system management practiced by different farm types in the region using the FarmDESIGN model. Building on a farm typology constructed for the region in our past research, we used five types of farmers: part-time (PT), well-endowed (WE), small-scale (SS) crop and livestock mix, medium-scale (MS), and resource-poor farmers (RP) in this study. The performance indicators of the 229 original cropping systems cultivated within the 43 farms varied strongly in the eight performance indicators. This variability of cropping systems performance within the farm types resulted in the absence of significant differences between the types. Compared to the original cropping systems, the intensified cropping systems with mung bean not only performed high in dietary energy (DE) production and organic matter (OM) inputs into the soil but also had high application rates of biocides and minimized losses of nitrogen (N). The intervention systems were low in labor requirement and scored at an intermediate level for crop gross margin, water use, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The ranges of areas of maize- and rice-based systems that could be replaced by intensified systems were largest for the WE and RP farm types. This was reflected in large ranges of change in the performance indicators, but no significant differences in response were found between the farm types. The intensification of maize- and rice-based systems with the proposed intervention cropping systems involving mung bean would result in increased profitability, higher DE yield, and lower requirements for labor and water as the proportion of the farms being converted increases. However, the use of biocides would increase, while the intervention cropping systems would have no significant effect on OM input, GHG emissions, and soil N losses

Diabetes Is the Main Factor Accounting for Hypomagnesemia in Obese Subjects

OBJECTIVE: Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and obesity are associated with magnesium deficiency. We aimed to determine whether the presence of type 2 diabetes and the degree of metabolic control are related to low serum magnesium levels in obese individuals. METHODS: A) Case-control study: 200 obese subjects [50 with T2DM (cases) and 150 without diabetes (controls)] prospectively recruited. B) Interventional study: the effect of bariatric surgery on serum magnesium levels was examined in a subset of 120 obese subjects (40 with type 2 diabetes and 80 without diabetes). RESULTS: Type 2 diabetic patients showed lower serum magnesium levels [0.75±0.07 vs. 0.81±0.06 mmol/L; mean difference -0.06 (95% CI -0.09 to -0.04); p<0.001] than non-diabetic patients. Forty-eight percent of diabetic subjects, but only 15% of non-diabetic subjects showed a serum magnesium concentration lower than 0.75 mmol/L. Significant negative correlations between magnesium and fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c, HOMA-IR, and BMI were detected. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c independently predicted serum magnesium. After bariatric surgery serum magnesium increased only in those patients in whom diabetes was resolved, but remain unchanged in those who not, without difference in loss weight between groups. Changes in serum magnesium negatively correlated with changes in fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c. Absolute changes in HbA1c independently predicted magnesium changes in the multiple linear regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide evidence that the presence of diabetes and the degree of metabolic control are essential in accounting for the lower levels of magnesium that exist in obese subjects

Blood Magnesium, and the Interaction with Calcium, on the Risk of High-Grade Prostate Cancer

Ionized calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) compete as essential messengers to regulate cell proliferation and inflammation. We hypothesized that inadequate Mg levels, perhaps relative to Ca levels (e.g. a high Ca/Mg ratio) are associated with greater prostate cancer risk.In this biomarker sub-study of the Nashville Men's Health Study (NMHS), we included 494 NMHS participants, consisting of 98 high-grade (Gleason≥7) and 100 low-grade cancer cases, 133 prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) cases, and 163 controls without cancer or PIN at biopsy. Linear and logistic regression were used to determine associations between blood Ca, Mg, and the Ca/Mg ratio across controls and case groups while adjusting for potential confounding factors.Serum Mg levels were significantly lower, while the Ca/Mg ratio was significantly higher, among high-grade cases vs. controls (p = 0.04, p = 0.01, respectively). Elevated Mg was significantly associated with a lower risk of high-grade prostate cancer (OR = 0.26 (0.09, 0.85)). An elevated Ca/Mg ratio was also associated with an increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer (OR = 2.81 (1.24, 6.36) adjusted for serum Ca and Mg). In contrast, blood Ca levels were not significantly associated with prostate cancer or PIN.Mg, Ca, or Ca/Mg levels were not associated with low-grade cancer, PIN, PSA levels, prostate volume, or BPH treatment.Low blood Mg levels and a high Ca/Mg ratio were significantly associated with high-grade prostate cancer. These findings suggest Mg affects prostate cancer risk perhaps through interacting with Ca

Impact of common cardio-metabolic risk factors on fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular disease in Latin America and the Caribbean: an individual-level pooled analysis of 31 cohort studies

Background: Estimates of the burden of cardio-metabolic risk factors in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) rely on relative risks (RRs) from non-LAC countries. Whether these RRs apply to LAC remains un- known. Methods: We pooled LAC cohorts. We estimated RRs per unit of exposure to body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC) and non-HDL cholesterol on fatal (31 cohorts, n = 168,287) and non-fatal (13 cohorts, n = 27,554) cardiovascular diseases, adjusting for regression dilution bias. We used these RRs and national data on mean risk factor levels to estimate the number of cardiovascular deaths attributable to non-optimal levels of each risk factor. Results: Our RRs for SBP, FPG and TC were like those observed in cohorts conducted in high-income countries; however, for BMI, our RRs were consistently smaller in people below 75 years of age. Across risk factors, we observed smaller RRs among older ages. Non-optimal SBP was responsible for the largest number of attributable cardiovascular deaths ranging from 38 per 10 0,0 0 0 women and 54 men in Peru, to 261 (Dominica, women) and 282 (Guyana, men). For non-HDL cholesterol, the lowest attributable rate was for women in Peru (21) and men in Guatemala (25), and the largest in men (158) and women (142) from Guyana. Interpretation: RRs for BMI from studies conducted in high-income countries may overestimate disease burden metrics in LAC; conversely, RRs for SBP, FPG and TC from LAC cohorts are similar to those esti- mated from cohorts in high-income countries

Data Resource Profile: The World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE)

Population ageing is rapidly becoming a global issue and will have a major impact on health policies and programmes. The World Health Organization's Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE) aims to address the gap in reliable data and scientific knowledge on ageing and health in low- and middle-income countries. SAGE is a longitudinal study with nationally representative samples of persons aged 50+ years in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa, with a smaller sample of adults aged 18-49 years in each country for comparisons. Instruments are compatible with other large high-income country longitudinal ageing studies. Wave 1 was conducted during 2007-2010 and included a total of 34 124 respondents aged 50+ and 8340 aged 18-49. In four countries, a subsample consisting of 8160 respondents participated in Wave 1 and the 2002/04 World Health Survey (referred to as SAGE Wave 0). Wave 2 data collection will start in 2012/13, following up all Wave 1 respondents. Wave 3 is planned for 2014/15. SAGE is committed to the public release of study instruments, protocols and meta- and micro-data: access is provided upon completion of a Users Agreement available through WHO's SAGE website (www.who.int/healthinfo/systems/sage) and WHO's archive using the National Data Archive application (http://apps.who.int/healthinfo/systems/surveydata

NLRP12 attenuates colon inflammation by maintaining colonic microbial diversity and promoting protective commensal bacterial growth

Inflammatory bowel diseases involve the dynamic interplay of host genetics, microbiome and inflammatory response. Here, we report that NLRP12, a negative regulator of innate immunity, is reduced in human ulcerative colitis by comparing monozygotic twins and other patient cohorts. In parallel, Nlrp12-deficiency in mice caused increased colonic basal inflammation, leading to a less-diverse microbiome, loss of protective gut commensal strains (Lachnospiraceae) and increased colitogenic strains (Erysipelotrichaceae). Dysbiosis and colitis susceptibility associated with Nlrp12-deficency were reversed equally by treatment with antibodies targeting inflammatory cytokines or by administration of beneficial commensal Lachnospiraceae isolates. Fecal transplants from specific pathogen free reared mice into germ-free Nlrp12-deficient mice showed that NLRP12 and the microbiome each contribute to immune signaling that culminates in colon inflammation. These findings reveal a feed-forward loop where NLRP12 promotes specific commensals that can reverse gut inflammation, while cytokine blockade during NLRP12-deficiency can reverse dysbiosis