The association between unemployment trajectories and alcohol consumption patterns. Evidence from a large prospective cohort in The Netherlands

Unemployment is expected to influence alcohol consumption, but studies show mixed results, partly because most studies concentrate on current employment status. However, unemployment could be particularly consequential if it is part of a trajectory of employment precariousness. Moreover, the association between unemployment and alcohol consumption may not be homogeneous across the population, but differ by subgroups (e.g. socioeconomic status). This study longitudinally analyses the association between different employment trajectories and alcohol consumption, and examines if the association is moderated by socioeconomic status (SES), partner status, age and gender. Four waves of data of the Lifelines Cohort study are used. Sample consists of individuals from 18-50 years old, active in the labor market (n = 104,766) from the northern provinces of the Netherlands. Employment trajectories are defined by employment status in each wave, duration of unemployment, and number of exposures to unemployment. Drinking patterns are divided into "abstainers", "moderate drinking" (1.5 drinks/day) and "binge drinking" (>5 drinks/occasion; 4 for women). The associations are estimated with multinomial logistic regression models. Results show that recent, long-term unemployment (> 6 months) is associated with higher rates of heavy drinking (RRR = 1.26 [95 % CI 1.03-1.54]), whereas short-term unemployment does not show any association with the outcome. Being continuously unemployed throughout the observation period shows a strong association with binge drinking (RRR = 1.43 [95 % CI 1.06-1.93]), as well as reporting 2 or more long unemployment spells (RRR = 1.49 [95 % CI 1.21-1.83]). The group of abstainers (77.95 % women) have significantly lower SES, and poorer health than their peers. For some individuals, recent unemployment increases the likelihood for abstinence (RRR = 1.23 [95 % CI 1.00-1.51]). Evidence suggests that length of unemployment is key in order to grasp its effects in terms of changing drinking patterns

Bacterioplankton seasonality in deep high-mountain lakes

Due to global warming, shorter ice cover duration might drastically affect the ecology of lakes currently undergoing seasonal surface freezing. High-mountain lakes show snow-rich ice covers that determine contrasting conditions between ice-off and ice-on periods. We characterized the bacterioplankton seasonality in a deep high-mountain lake ice-covered for half a year. The lake shows a rich core bacterioplankton community consisting of three components: (i) an assemblage stable throughout the year, dominated by Actinobacteria, resistant to all environmental conditions; (ii) an ice-on-resilient assemblage dominating during the ice-covered period, which is more diverse than the other components and includes a high abundance of Verrucomicrobia; the deep hypolimnion constitutes a refuge for many of the typical under-ice taxa, many of which recover quickly during autumn mixing; and (iii) an ice-off-resilient assemblage, which members peak in summer in epilimnetic waters when the rest decline, characterized by a dominance of Flavobacterium, and Limnohabitans. The rich core community and low random elements compared to other relatively small cold lakes can be attributed to its simple hydrological network in a poorly-vegetated catchment, the long water-residence time (ca. 4 years), and the long ice-cover duration; features common to many headwater deep high-mountain lakes

Heritability and Demographic Analyses in the Large Isolated Population of Val Borbera Suggest Advantages in Mapping Complex Traits Genes

Isolated populations are a useful resource for mapping complex traits due to shared stable environment, reduced genetic complexity and extended Linkage Disequilibrium (LD) compared to the general population. Here we describe a large genetic isolate from the North West Apennines, the mountain range that runs through Italy from the North West Alps to the South.The study involved 1,803 people living in 7 villages of the upper Borbera Valley. For this large population cohort, data from genealogy reconstruction, medical questionnaires, blood, anthropometric and bone status QUS parameters were evaluated. Demographic and epidemiological analyses indicated a substantial genetic component contributing to each trait variation as well as overlapping genetic determinants and family clustering for some traits.The data provide evidence for significant heritability of medical relevant traits that will be important in mapping quantitative traits. We suggest that this population isolate is suitable to identify rare variants associated with complex phenotypes that may be difficult to study in larger but more heterogeneous populations

Regional variability in population acute myocardial infarction cumulative incidence and mortality rates in Spain 1997 and 1998

[Abstract] Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) incidence and mortality display a high geographic variation. Aims: The objective of the present study was to analyze MI mortality, cumulative incidence rate variability in seven regions of Spain from 1997 to 1998. Methods and Results: Standardized methods were used to identify, find, register, and classify MI cases that were classified as definite, possible, insufficient-dataMI, and non-MI. The total population of the seven monitored regions was 7,364,682 inhabitants. Of the 11,256 cases fulfilling eligibility criteria to investigate, 10,660 were selected to calculate MI rates: 6554 (61.5%)non-fatal definite MI, 1179 (11.1%)fatal definite MI, 1859 (17.4%)fatal possible MI, 1068 (10.0%)fatal cases with insufficient data. The IBERICA 25–74 years age-standardized cumulative incidence rates for men and women, were 207 (range: 175–252) and 45 (range: 36–65) per 100,000, respectively. The age-standardized mortality rates for men and women, were 73 (range: 62–94) and 20 (range: 13–29) per 100,000, respectively. Age-standardized case-fatality was 31.4 and 24.2% in men aged 25–74 and 35–64 years, respectively, and 32.7 and 27.0%, respectively, in women. Conclusions: MI cumulative incidence and mortality rates are low compared with other industrialized countries but, vary considerably among regions in a Mediterranean country like Spain.Cataluña. Comissió Interdepartamental de Recerca i Innovació Tecnològica; CIRIT/2001 SGR 00408Instituto de Salud Carlos III; FIS 96/0026-01 to 05Instituto de Salud Carlos III; FIS 97/1270Instituto de Salud Carlos III; FIS 98/153

The Effect of a Mediterranean Diet on the Incidence of Cataract Surgery

Background: Cataract is a leading cause of vision impairment worldwide, and surgery is the only available treatment. The process that initiates lens opacification is dependent on the oxidative stress experienced by the lens components. A healthy overall dietary pattern, with the potential to reduce oxidative stress, has been suggested as a means to decrease the risk of developing cataract. We aimed to investigate the hypothesis that an intervention with a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) rather than a low-fat diet could decrease the incidence of cataract surgery in elderly subjects. Methods: We included 5802 men and women (age range: 55–80 years) from the Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea study (multicenter, parallel-group, randomized controlled clinical trial) who had not undergone cataract surgery. They were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: (1) a MedDiet enriched with extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (n = 1998); (2) a MedDiet enriched with nuts (n = 1914), and a control group recommended to follow a low-fat diet (n = 1890). The incidence of cataract surgery was recorded yearly during follow-up clinical evaluations. Primary analyses were performed on an intention-to-treat basis. Cox regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between the nutritional intervention and the incidence of cataract surgery. Results: During a follow-up period of 7.0 years (mean follow-up period: 5.7 years; median: 5.9 years), 559 subjects underwent cataract surgery. Two hundred and six participants from the MedDiet + EVOO group, 174 from the MedDiet + Nuts group, and 179 from the control group underwent cataract surgery. We did not observe a reduction in the incidence of cataract surgery in the MedDiet groups compared to the control group. The multivariable adjusted hazard ratios were 1.03 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.84–1.26, p = 0.79) for the control group versus the MedDiet + EVOO group and 1.06 (95% CI: 0.86–1.31, p = 0.58) for the control group versus the MedDiet + Nuts group. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first large randomized trial assessing the role of a MedDiet on the incidence of cataract surgery. Our results showed that the incidence of cataract surgery was similar in the MedDiet with EVOO, MedDiet with nuts, and low-fat diet groups. Further studies are necessary to investigate whether a MedDiet could have a preventive role in cataract surgery

Subcutaneous anti-COVID-19 hyperimmune immunoglobulin for prevention of disease in asymptomatic individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection : a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trial

Anti-COVID-19 hyperimmune immunoglobulin (hIG) can provide standardized and controlled antibody content. Data from controlled clinical trials using hIG for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19 outpatients have not been reported. We assessed the safety and efficacy of subcutaneous anti-COVID-19 hyperimmune immunoglobulin 20% (C19-IG20%) compared to placebo in preventing development of symptomatic COVID-19 in asymptomatic individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection. We did a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, in asymptomatic unvaccinated adults (≥18 years of age) with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection within 5 days between April 28 and December 27, 2021. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to receive a blinded subcutaneous infusion of 10 mL with 1 g or 2 g of C19-IG20%, or an equivalent volume of saline as placebo. The primary endpoint was the proportion of participants who remained asymptomatic through day 14 after infusion. Secondary endpoints included the proportion of individuals who required oxygen supplementation, any medically attended visit, hospitalisation, or ICU, and viral load reduction and viral clearance in nasopharyngeal swabs. Safety was assessed as the proportion of patients with adverse events. The trial was terminated early due to a lack of potential benefit in the target population in a planned interim analysis conducted in December 2021. registry: . 461 individuals (mean age 39.6 years [SD 12.8]) were randomized and received the intervention within a mean of 3.1 (SD 1.27) days from a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. In the prespecified modified intention-to-treat analysis that included only participants who received a subcutaneous infusion, the primary outcome occurred in 59.9% (91/152) of participants receiving 1 g C19-IG20%, 64.7% (99/153) receiving 2 g, and 63.5% (99/156) receiving placebo (difference in proportions 1 g C19-IG20% vs. placebo, −3.6%; 95% CI -14.6% to 7.3%, p = 0.53; 2 g C19-IG20% vs placebo, 1.1%; −9.6% to 11.9%, p = 0.85). None of the secondary clinical efficacy endpoints or virological endpoints were significantly different between study groups. Adverse event rate was similar between groups, and no severe or life-threatening adverse events related to investigational product infusion were reported. Our findings suggested that administration of subcutaneous human hyperimmune immunoglobulin C19-IG20% to asymptomatic individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection was safe but did not prevent development of symptomatic COVID-19.

Dietary a-Linolenic acid, Marine x-3 fatty acids, and mortality in a population with high fish consumption: findings from the PREevención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) study

Epidemiological evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of α‐linolenic acid (ALA), a plant‐derived ω‐3 fatty acid. It is unclear whether ALA is beneficial in a background of high marine x-3 fatty acids (long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) intake. In persons at high cardiovascular risk from Spain, a country in which fish consumption is customarily high, we investigated whether meeting the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommendation for dietary ALA (0.7% of total energy) at baseline was related to all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. We also examined the effect of meeting the society’s recommendation for long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (≥500 mg/day). Methods and Results-—We longitudinally evaluated 7202 participants in the PREvenci on con DIeta MEDiterr anea (PREDIMED) trial. Multivariable-adjusted Cox regressionmodels were fitted to estimate hazard ratios. ALA intake correlated towalnut consumption (r=0.94). During a 5.9-y follow-up, 431 deaths occurred (104 cardiovascular disease, 55 coronary heart disease, 32 sudden cardiac death, 25 stroke). The hazard ratios formeeting ALArecommendation (n=1615, 22.4%) were 0.72 (95% CI 0.56–0.92) for all-causemortality and 0.95 (95% CI 0.58–1.57) for fatal cardiovascular disease. The hazard ratios formeeting the recommendation for long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n=5452, 75.7%) were 0.84 (95% CI 0.67–1.05) for all-causemortality, 0.61 (95% CI 0.39–0.96) for fatal cardiovascular disease, 0.54 (95% CI 0.29–0.99) for fatal coronary heart disease, and 0.49 (95% CI 0.22–1.01) for sudden cardiac death. The highest reduction in all-cause mortality occurred in participants meeting both recommendations (hazard ratio 0.63 [95% CI 0.45–0.87]). Conclusions-—In participants without prior cardiovascular disease and high fish consumption, dietary ALA, supplied mainly by walnuts and olive oil, relates inversely to all-cause mortality, whereas protection from cardiac mortality is limited to fish-derived long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids