Effect of dairy consumption on cognition in older adults: A population-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess the effect on cognitive function of adding dairy (total, fermented, non-fermented, full fat, low fat, and sugary) to the diet and of substituting some food groups for dairy. DESIGN Secondary analysis of a prospective population-based cohort study. PARTICIPANTS We analyzed data from 1334 cognitively healthy participants (median age 67 years at baseline) with a mean follow-up of 5.6 years from the CoLaus|PsyColaus cohort in Lausanne, Switzerland. MEASUREMENTS The participants completed a food frequency questionnaire at baseline and cognitive tests at baseline and at follow-up. Clinical dementia rating was the primary outcome. Subjective cognitive decline, memory, verbal fluency, executive and motor functions were secondary outcomes. METHODS Our exposure was the consumption of total and 5 sub-types of dairy products (g/d). We used marginal structural models to compute average causal effects of 1) increasing dairy consumption by 100 g/d and 2) substituting 100 g/d of meat, fish, eggs, fruits and vegetables with dairy on the outcomes. We used inverse probability of the treatment and lost to follow-up weighting to account for measured confounding and non-random loss to follow-up. RESULTS Overall, the effects of adding dairy products to the diet on cognition were negligible and imprecise. No substitution had a substantial and consistent effect on clinical dementia rating. The substitution of fish [11.7% (-3% to 26.5%)] and eggs [18% (2.3%-33.7%)] for dairy products could negatively impact verbal memory and neurolinguistic processes. CONCLUSION We found no effect of adding dairy to the diet or substituting meat, vegetables or fruit for dairy on cognitive function in this cohort of older adults. The substitution of fish and eggs for dairy could have a negative effect on some secondary outcomes, but more studies modeling food substitutions are needed to confirm these results

Understanding the consequences of education inequality on cardiovascular disease: mendelian randomisation study.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the role of body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, and smoking behaviour in explaining the effect of education on the risk of cardiovascular disease outcomes. DESIGN: Mendelian randomisation study. SETTING: UK Biobank and international genome-wide association study data. PARTICIPANTS: Predominantly participants of European ancestry. EXPOSURE: Educational attainment, BMI, systolic blood pressure, and smoking behaviour in observational analysis, and randomly allocated genetic variants to instrument these traits in mendelian randomisation. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURE: The risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular disease (all subtypes; all measured in odds ratio), and the degree to which this is mediated through BMI, systolic blood pressure, and smoking behaviour respectively. RESULTS: Each additional standard deviation of education (3.6 years) was associated with a 13% lower risk of coronary heart disease (odds ratio 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.84 to 0.89) in observational analysis and a 37% lower risk (0.63, 0.60 to 0.67) in mendelian randomisation analysis. As a proportion of the total risk reduction, BMI was estimated to mediate 15% (95% confidence interval 13% to 17%) and 18% (14% to 23%) in the observational and mendelian randomisation estimates, respectively. Corresponding estimates were 11% (9% to 13%) and 21% (15% to 27%) for systolic blood pressure and 19% (15% to 22%) and 34% (17% to 50%) for smoking behaviour. All three risk factors combined were estimated to mediate 42% (36% to 48%) and 36% (5% to 68%) of the effect of education on coronary heart disease in observational and mendelian randomisation analyses, respectively. Similar results were obtained when investigating the risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: BMI, systolic blood pressure, and smoking behaviour mediate a substantial proportion of the protective effect of education on the risk of cardiovascular outcomes and intervening on these would lead to reductions in cases of cardiovascular disease attributable to lower levels of education. However, more than half of the protective effect of education remains unexplained and requires further investigation.Includes MRC, ESRC, Wellcome Trust and NIHR

SCOR: A secure international informatics infrastructure to investigate COVID-19

Global pandemics call for large and diverse healthcare data to study various risk factors, treatment options, and disease progression patterns. Despite the enormous efforts of many large data consortium initiatives, scientific community still lacks a secure and privacy-preserving infrastructure to support auditable data sharing and facilitate automated and legally compliant federated analysis on an international scale. Existing health informatics systems do not incorporate the latest progress in modern security and federated machine learning algorithms, which are poised to offer solutions. An international group of passionate researchers came together with a joint mission to solve the problem with our finest models and tools. The SCOR Consortium has developed a ready-to-deploy secure infrastructure using world-class privacy and security technologies to reconcile the privacy/utility conflicts. We hope our effort will make a change and accelerate research in future pandemics with broad and diverse samples on an international scale

Genome-wide association analyses for lung function and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease identify new loci and potential druggable targets

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by reduced lung function and is the third leading cause of death globally. Through genome-wide association discovery in 48,943 individuals, selected from extremes of the lung function distribution in UK Biobank, and follow-up in 95,375 individuals, we increased the yield of independent signals for lung function from 54 to 97. A genetic risk score was associated with COPD susceptibility (odds ratio per 1 s.d. of the risk score (∼6 alleles) (95% confidence interval) = 1.24 (1.20-1.27), P = 5.05 × 10‾⁴⁹), and we observed a 3.7-fold difference in COPD risk between individuals in the highest and lowest genetic risk score deciles in UK Biobank. The 97 signals show enrichment in genes for development, elastic fibers and epigenetic regulation pathways. We highlight targets for drugs and compounds in development for COPD and asthma (genes in the inositol phosphate metabolism pathway and CHRM3) and describe targets for potential drug repositioning from other clinical indications.This work was funded by a Medical Research Council (MRC) strategic award to M.D.T., I.P.H., D.S. and L.V.W. (MC_PC_12010). This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under application 648. This article presents independent research funded partially by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the UK Department of Health. This research used the ALICE and SPECTRE High-Performance Computing Facilities at the University of Leicester. Additional acknowledgments and funding details can be found in the Supplementary Note

Processus géophysiques de surface des plaines de lave de la province volcanique de Cerberus, Mars

The Cerberus lava plains on Mars, present various volcanic, fluviatil and tectonic morphologies. The observations of this region have been compiled in a geological map to detail the outflow and volcanic events. The Cerberus plains are dated between 250 millions years and now, and present complex stratigraphic contacts between the low volcano shields and the large lava flows. The lava volume has been estimated around 17.104 km3 from an original basin modelling. Two research axes have been developed from the mapping of the Cerberus plains: (1) The study of the volcanic aeolian deposits. The study of the low albedo area on Cerberus suggests it is a subsurface strata of volcanic sediments, like ashes or tephras, which has been exhumed by the formation of Grjota' Vallis, and distributed by the winds over the area. This low albedo area is a possible evidence of explosive activity in the cerberus plains. (2) The study of the effusive lava flows. The rheological properties of the Cerberus lava flows evidence two types of viscosity which are independent of the flow rates. The first viscosity values corresponds to the average vicosity values of other martian lava flows (105 Pa.s), and the second viscosity values are the lowest found on mars up to date (<103 Pa.s).Les plaines de laves de Cerberus sur Mars présentent des morphologies volcaniques, fluviatiles et tectoniques. Une étude détaillée de cette région a permis de compiler diverses observations dans une carte géologique dont les morphologies fluviatiles et volcaniques. Les plaines de laves sont datées au plus de 250 millions d'années, et présentent des relations stratigraphiques complexes entre les volcans boucliers et les grosses coulées de lave. Les volumes de laves ont été contraints, à l'aide d'une modélisation originale de bassin, à un maximum de 17.104 km3. La cartographie des plaines de laves à permis de développer deux axes de recherche : (1) L'étude des dépôts volcaniques éoliens. L'étude de la tâche de faible albédo de Cerberus, suggère qu'il s'agit d'une strate de cendres ou de téphras mise à jour par la formation de Grjota' Vallis, distribuée par les vents vers le sud ouest de la zone. Cette tâche est finalement un témoin possible de l'activité explosive de Cerberus. (2) l'étude des dépôts effusifs. L'étude de la rhéologie des coulées de laves met en évidence deux types de viscosités indépendantes des taux d'émission, dont une se situe dans les valeurs de viscosité trouvées sur d'autres édifices martiens (105 Pa.s), et une autre qui présente les plus faibles valeurs de viscosité sur Mars (<103 Pa.s). L'absence d'édifice majeur fait des plaines de Cerberus une province volcanique unique sur Mars, dont l'évolution future reste incertaine

Processus géophysiques de surface des plaines de lave de la Province volcanique de Cerberus, Mars

TOULOUSE3-BU Sciences (315552104) / SudocTOULOUSE-Observ. Midi Pyréné (315552299) / SudocSudocFranceF