SIMULATION OF THE ALCOHOL-OIL MIXTURE IN A T-SHAPED MICROCHANNEL USING THE DISSIPATIVE PARTICLE DYNAMICS METHOD ON GPU DEVICES

Multiphase fluid motion in microchannnels involves complicated fluid dynamics and is fundamentally important to diverse practical engineering applications. Among several applications, the alcohol-oil mixture is particularly important due to its application for biodiesel production. In this work, the mixture of immiscible fluids alcohol-oil in a square T-shaped microchannel was investigated using the Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) method available in the HOOMD simulator, which runs on a single graphic processing unit (GPU). The immiscible fluids were achieved by increasing the repulsive force between species. The fluid properties and hydrodynamic behavior were discussed in function of model parameters. The simulation results agree with data published in the literature showing that the DPD is appropriate for simulation of mass transport on complex geometries in microscale on a single GPU

Geometric Quantization of Topological Gauge Theories

We study the symplectic quantization of Abelian gauge theories in $2+1$ space-time dimensions with the introduction of a topological Chern-Simons term.Comment: 13 pages, plain TEX, IF/UFRJ/9

Factors associated with smoking in pregnancy

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify factors related to smoking during pregnancy. The sample included 267 puerperae hospitalized in the maternity unit of a university hospital in Porto Alegre/RS. The data were collected through a self-applied instrument and statistically analyzed. The majority of the puerperae (51.3%) were between 18 and 25 years old, 55.4% were nonsmokers, 25.5% were smokers, 19.1% had recently ceased smoking (in abstinence). The nonsmokers had more consultations than the smokers and the abstinent smokers (p=0.025). The number of women who had more than one child was higher among smokers than among nonsmokers and abstinent smokers (p=0.002). Women were more likely to stop smoking before pregnancy when they had a partner who was a nonsmoker (p=0.007). Several factors influence smoking and smoking cessation and these are important in prenatal interventions aimed at pregnant women and their partners

Identifying comorbidities and lifestyle factors contributing to the cognitive profile of early Parkinson's disease

Background: Identifying modifiable risk factors for cognitive impairment in the early stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) and estimating their impact on cognitive status may help prevent dementia (PDD) and the design of cognitive trials. Methods: Using a standard approach for the assessment of global cognition in PD and controlling for the effects of age, education and disease duration, we explored the associations between cognitive status, comorbidities, metabolic variables and lifestyle variables in 533 PD participants from the COPPADIS study. Results: Among the overall sample, 21% of participants were classified as PD-MCI (n = 114) and 4% as PDD (n = 26). The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia was significantly higher in cognitively impaired patients while no between-group differences were found for smoking, alcohol intake or use of supplementary vitamins. Better cognitive scores were significantly associated with regular physical exercise (p < 0.05) and cognitive stimulation (< 0.01). Cognitive performance was negatively associated with interleukin 2 (Il2) (p < 0.05), Il6 (p < 0.05), iron (p < 0.05), and homocysteine (p < 0.005) levels, and positively associated with vitamin B12 levels (p < 0.005). Conclusions: We extend previous findings regarding the positive and negative influence of various comorbidities and lifestyle factors on cognitive status in early PD patients, and reinforce the need to identify and treat potentially modifiable variables with the intention of exploring the possible improvement of the global cognitive status of patients with PD

Associations between anthropometric indicators in early life and low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance and lipid profile in adolescence

Background and AimsThe long-term relations between excessive adiposity in early childhood and unfavourable cardiometabolic profiles in later ages are not yet completely understood. We aimed to assess the associations between birth weight (BW) and BMI from 6 months to 6 years of age, with biomarkers indicative of low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance and lipid profiles in adolescence.Methods and ResultsRetrospective school-based study with 415 Portuguese adolescents (220 girls), mean age of 14.08±1.6 years old. Anthropometric data from birth to 6 years old was extracted from individual child health book records. Actual weight and height were measured and BMI calculated. Participants were classified at each time point as normal weight or overweight according to WHO reference values. Biomarkers were obtained from venous blood samples. Linear regressions were used to explore the associations between the biomarkers and early life anthropometric indicators. From 2 years onwards, BMI associated positively with the inflammatory score and HOMA-IR in adolescence. Children who were overweight/obese from 2 to 6 years of age presented significantly higher inflammatory score and HOMA-IR later in adolescence. TC/HDL ratio was also positively associated with BMI from the age of 5 years onwards. The associations between BMI and cardiometabolic outcomes remained positive in adolescence, with overweight adolescents presenting a higher inflammatory score, HOMA-IR and TC/HDL than normal weight adolescents.ConclusionA high BMI from an early age was consistently associated with worse inflammatory and lipid profiles and insulin resistance in adolescence. No associations were found between BW and the same studied outcomes

Major dietary patterns and cardiovascular risk factors among young Brazilian adults

Purpose: Diet is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. The scientific literature has consistently shown the effects of certain diets on health; however, given the variety of cultures and dietary habits across the world, it is likely that much remains to be learned about dietary patterns and health outcomes. We assessed the associations between main dietary patterns and cardiovascular risk factors among 4,202 young Brazilian adults in a cross-sectional analysis. Methods: In a principle components analysis, two main dietary patterns were identified: common Brazilian and processed food. As outcomes, we examined body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol (HDL-c), and LDL cholesterol (LDL-c). Means, crude, and adjusted β coefficients and 95% CIs were estimated according to quintiles of dietary patterns. Results: Common Brazilian scores were inversely associated with BMI, WC, LDL-c, HDL-c, and total cholesterol values among men. Among women, inverse association trends were observed with SBP, DBP, LDL-c, HDL-c, and total cholesterol. The processed food pattern was positively associated with LDL-c, HDL-c, total cholesterol, BMI, and WC values among the men. Among the women, the processed food pattern was not significantly associated with cardiovascular risk factors. Conclusions: In conclusion, our findings confirm that diet has an important role on health during early adulthood. The common Brazilian pattern showed generally healthier trends regarding CVD risk factors, but the ultimate effects on risk of risk of disease are unclear because of the inverse relation with HDL-c levels

Transitions of cardio-metabolic risk factors in the Americas between 1980 and 2014

Describing the prevalence and trends of cardiometabolic risk factors that are associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is crucial for monitoring progress, planning prevention, and providing evidence to support policy efforts. We aimed to analyse the transition in body-mass index (BMI), obesity, blood pressure, raised blood pressure, and diabetes in the Americas, between 1980 and 2014

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol

High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world3 and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, which have different effects on human health4,5. However, the trends of HDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels over time have not been previously reported in a global analysis. Here we pooled 1,127 population-based studies that measured blood lipids in 102.6 million individuals aged 18 years and older to estimate trends from 1980 to 2018 in mean total, non-HDL and HDL cholesterol levels for 200 countries. Globally, there was little change in total or non-HDL cholesterol from 1980 to 2018. This was a net effect of increases in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreases in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe. As a result, countries with the highest level of non-HDL cholesterol—which is a marker of cardiovascular risk—changed from those in western Europe such as Belgium, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta in 1980 to those in Asia and the Pacific, such as Tokelau, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand. In 2017, high non-HDL cholesterol was responsible for an estimated 3.9 million (95% credible interval 3.7 million–4.2 million) worldwide deaths, half of which occurred in east, southeast and south Asia. The global repositioning of lipid-related risk, with non-optimal cholesterol shifting from a distinct feature of high-income countries in northwestern Europe, north America and Australasia to one that affects countries in east and southeast Asia and Oceania should motivate the use of population-based policies and personal interventions to improve nutrition and enhance access to treatment throughout the world