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.</p

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. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

Digestibility of macronutrients, energy and amino acids, absorption of elements and absence of intestinal enteritis in Atlantic salmon, <i>Salmo salar</i>, fed diets with wheat gluten

Apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of macronutrients and energy, and apparent absorption coefficients (AACs) of amino acids and elements were assessed in an experiment with 0.9 kg Atlantic salmon reared in saltwater tanks. Duplicate groups of fish were fed five diets, where 0, 6.25, 12.5, 25 and 50% of crude protein (CP) from fish meal (FM) was replaced with CP from wheat gluten (WG). In Experiment 2, triplicate groups of 0.9 kg salmon were fed a FM diet, a diet with 15% of CP from FM replaced with extracted, toasted soybean meal (SBM), and a diet with 35% of CP from WG, for 18 weeks. Experiment 2 was designed to determine whether WG caused pathological changes in the intestinal epithelium, and if a diet with 35% of CP from WG could support rapid growth. There was a trend toward increased ADC of fat and energy in the diets with WG, and the diet with 25% WG was ranked significantly higher than the FM control. The ADC of CP and AACs of all amino acids except alanine and lysine increased significantly with increasing proportion of dietary protein from WG, and the results indicate that absorption of individual amino acids from WG was between 94% and 100%, WG is low in lysine, but the results indicate that the requirement for lysine was nearly met and the requirement for other essential amino acids was met even with the highest WG inclusion level, due to high dietary protein concentration and the supplementary amino acid profile of FM. There was no reduced absorption of Ca, P or Mg in the salmon fed diets with WG. The absorption of Zn was higher in all the diets with WG than in the FM diet. The fish doubled their weight during Experiment 2, and there were no significant differences in growth among dietary treatments in salmon fed the WG, FM or SBM diets. No indication of intestinal pathology was seen in the salmon fed the FM or WG diets, while 60% of the examined fish fed SBM had SBM-induced changes in the mucosa of the posterior intestine

Repetitive behaviours in typically developing 2-year-olds

Background: Repetitive behaviours are an essential part of the diagnosis of autism but are also commonly seen in typically developing children. The current study investigated the frequency and factor structure of repetitive behaviours in a large community sample of 2-year-olds. Methods: A new measure, the Repetitive Behaviour Questionnaire (RBQ-2) was completed by 679 parents. Results: The RBQ-2 had good psychometric properties. A four-factor model provided the best fit for the data, accounting for 51% of the variance, and suggested 4 sub-scales: unusual sensory interests, repetitive motor movements, rigidity/adherence to routine and preoccupations with restricted patterns of interest. These sub-scales closely resembled repetitive behaviour subtypes within the ICD-10 criteria for autism. Repetitive behaviours of every type were frequently reported. Higher scores were found for all children, and especially boys, on the subscale relating to preoccupations with restricted patterns of interests. Conclusion: The results support the proposal that repetitive behaviours represent a continuum of functioning that extends to the typically developing child population

Experimental development of a two-stage fluidized-bed/cyclonic agglomerating incinerator

The Institute of Gas Technology (IGT) is conducting an experimental program to develop and test through pilot-plant scale of operation, IGT's two-stage fluidized-bed/cyclonic agglomerating incinerator (TSI). The TSI is based on combining the fluidized-bed agglomeration/gasification technology and the cyclonic combustion/incineration technology, which have been developed at IGT over many years. The TSI is a unique and extremely flexible combustor that can operate over a wide range of conditions in the fluidized-bed first stage from low temperature (desorption) to high temperature (agglomeration) including gasification of high-Btu wastes. The TSI can easily and efficiently destroy solid, liquid and gaseous organic wastes, while containing solid inorganic contaminants within an essentially non-leachable glassy matrix, suitable for disposal in an ordinary landfill. This paper presents the results of tests conducted in a batch, fluidized-bed bench-scale unit (BSU) with commercially available clean'' top soil and the same soil spiked with lead and chromium compounds. The objectives of these tests were to determine the operating conditions necessary to achieve soil agglomeration and to evaluate the leaching characteristics of the soil agglomerates formed. 7 refs., 7 figs., 6 tabs