Calcium: A Nutrient Deserving a Special Issue

Interest in calcium has continued since the 1980s when its role in promoting bone growth and retention was established in clinical trials of children and postmenopausal women. The human nutrition functions now attributed to calcium have expanded beyond bone health to include other conditions such as body weight maintenance. While most efforts have been focused on the findings that dietary intakes are low, there are emerging data on safety concerns of excess amounts. This Special Issue on calcium nutrition, spanning the lifecycle from critically ill neonates through to older adults, has been written by some of the leading researchers in this field

Vitamin D Status of Older Adults of Diverse Ancestry Living in the Greater Toronto Area

Background: Physiological and lifestyle factors put older adults at an increased risk of vitamin D insufficiency and resulting negative health outcomes. Here we explore the vitamin D status in a sample of community dwelling older adults of diverse ancestry living in the Greater Toronto area (GTA). Methods: Two hundred and twenty-four (224) adults over 60 years of age were recruited from the Square One Older Adult Centre, in Mississauga, Ontario. Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations were measured from dried blood spot cards. Dietary and supplemental intakes of vitamin D were assessed via questionnaires. Skin pigmentation was assessed quantitatively by measuring melanin levels using a reflectometer. Results: The mean 25(OH)D concentration in the total sample was 82.4 nmol/L. There were no statistically significant differences in serum 25(OH)D concentrations, supplemental or dietary vitamin D intakes between the three major ancestral groups (East Asians, Europeans and South Asians). Females had significantly higher 25(OH)D concentrations than males (84.5 nmol/L vs. 72.2 nmol/L, p = 0.012). The proportion of participants with 25(OH)D concentrations below 50 nmol/L and 75 nmol/L were 12.1%, and 38.8%, respectively. The mean daily supplemental intake of vitamin D was 917 IU/day. Vitamin D intake from supplements was the major factor determining 25(OH)D concentrations (p \u3c 0.001). Conclusions: Mean concentration of 25(OH)D in a sample of older adults of diverse ancestry living in the GTA exceeded 80 nmol/L, and there were no significant differences in 25(OH)D levels between ancestral groups. These results sharply contrast with our recent study focused on young adults of diverse ancestry living in the same geographic area, in which we found substantially lower 25(OH)D concentrations (mean 39.5 nmol/L), low supplemental vitamin D intake (114 IU/day), and significant differences in 25(OH)D levels between ancestral groups. High daily intake of supplemental vitamin D in this sample of older adults likely accounts for such disparate findings with respect to the young adult sample

Maximizing the relationship of yield to site-specific management zones with object-oriented segmentation of hyperspectral images

Quick and low cost delineation of site-specific management zones (SSMZ) would improve applications of precision agriculture. In this study, a new method for delineating SSMZ using object-oriented segmentation of airborne imagery was demonstrated. Three remote sensing domains—spectral, spatial, and temporal- are exploited to improve the SSMZ relationship to yield. Common vegetation indices (VI), and first and second derivatives ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) from twelve airborne hyperspectral images of a cotton field for one season [Formula: see text] were used as input layers for object-oriented segmentation. The optimal combination of VI, SSMZ size and crop phenological stage were used as input variables for SSMZ delineation, determined by maximizing the correlation to segmented yield monitor maps. Combining narrow band vegetation indices and object-oriented segmentation provided higher correlation between VI and yield at SSMZ scale than that at pixel scale by reducing multi-resource data noise. VI performance varied during the cotton growing season, providing better SSMZ delineation at the beginning and middle of the season (days after planting (DAP) 66–143).The optimal scale determined for SSMZ delineation was approximately 240 polygons for the study field, but the method also provided flexibility enabling the setting of practical scales for a given field. For a defined scale, the optimal single phenological stage for the study field was near July 11 (DAP 87) early in the growing season. SSMZs determined from multispectral VIs at a single stage were also satisfactory; compared to hyperspectral indices, temporal resolution of multi-spectral data seems more important for SSMZ delineation

Diet and bone mineral density study in postmenopausal women from the TwinsUK registry shows a negative association with a traditional English dietary pattern and a positive association with wine

Background: The effect of diet on bone mineral density (BMD) remains controversial, mainly because of difficulties in isolating dietary factors from the confounding influences of age, lifestyle, and genetic factors. Objective: The aim of this study was to use a novel method to examine the relation between BMD and diet. Design: A co-twin control study design with linear regression modeling was used to test for associations between BMD and habitual intakes of calcium, vitamin D, protein, and alcohol plus 5 previously identified dietary patterns in postmenopausal women from the TwinsUK registry. This approach exploited the unique matching of twins to provide an estimate of an association that was not confounded by age, genetic background, or shared lifestyle. Results: In >2000 postmenopausal women (BMD data on 1019, 1218, and 1232 twin pairs at the hip neck, hip, and spine, respectively), we observed a positive association between alcohol intake (from wine but not from beer or spirits) and spine BMD (P = 0.01) and a negative association with a traditional 20th-century English diet at the hip neck (P = 0.01). Both associations remained borderline significant after adjustment for mean twin-pair intakes (P = 0.04 and P = 0.055, respectively). Other dietary patterns and intakes of calcium, vitamin D, and protein were unrelated to BMD. Conclusion: Our results showed that diet has an independent but subtle effect on BMD; wine intake was positively associated with spine BMD, whereas a traditional (20th-century) English diet had a negative association with hip BMD

An evaluation of a walking and socialization program in long-term care: Impact on injurious falls

The effects of a walking program in long-term care (LTC) are affected by multiple comorbidities and the LTC milieu. We randomly assigned residents 60 years and older into three groups (walking, socializing and control). Interventions were delivered five days weekly up to 30 minutes daily. Measurements were performed at baseline, 8, 16, 24 and 32 weeks, and included falls, grip strength, Berg Balance Scale, Senior Fitness Test, and Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form. Survival analysis with 168 participants for time to first injurious fall showed a significant (p=0.001) interaction between age and sex, with fall risk increasing with age in females, but lowest in the oldest age group in males. The hazard ratio for first injurious fall was more than doubled by the use of an antidepressant (HR=2.198, p=0.005), decreased by the score on the Berg Balance high fall risk rating (HR=0.471, p=0.010), but not affected by the activity-socialization intervention. The increased hazard of injurious falls related to antidepressants, but not depressive symptoms, suggests that the high prevalence of antidepressants in LTC needs re-evaluation. Further research efforts will need to control for alternate physical activities. This work was supported by the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation Health Research (SHRF) Team Grant. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0127780

Vitamin D status and its association with parathyroid hormone concentrations in women of child-bearing age living in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Objective:To describe the vitamin D status of women living in two Asian cities, – Jakarta (6°S) and Kuala-Lumpur (2°N), to examine the association between plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentrations, and to determine a threshold for plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D above which there is no further suppression of PTH. Also, to determine whether dietary calcium intake influences the relationship between PTH and 25-hydroxyvitamin D.Design:Cross-sectional.Setting:Jakarta, Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Participants:A convenience sample of 504 non-pregnant women 18–40 years.Main measures:Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and PTH.Results:The mean 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was 48 nmol/l. Less than 1% of women had a 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration indicative of vitamin D deficiency (<17.5 nmol/l); whereas, over 60% of women had a 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration indicative of insufficiency (<50 nmol/l). We estimate that 52 nmol/l was the threshold concentration for plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D above which no further suppression of PTH occurred. Below and above this concentration the slopes of the regression lines were −0.18 (different from 0; P=0.003) and −0.01 (P=0.775), respectively. The relation between vitamin D status and parathyroid hormone concentration did not differ between women with low, medium or high calcium intakes (P=0.611); however, even in the highest tertile of calcium intake, mean calcium intake was only 657 mg/d.Conclusion:On the basis of maximal suppression of PTH we estimate an optimal 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration of ∼ 50 nmol/l. Many women had a 25-hydroxyvitamin D below this concentration and may benefit from improved vitamin D status

Global prevalence and disease burden of vitamin D deficiency: a roadmap for action in low- and middle-income countries.

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for bone health and may influence the risks of respiratory illness, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and chronic diseases of adulthood. Because many countries have a relatively low supply of foods rich in vitamin D and inadequate exposure to natural ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from sunlight, an important proportion of the global population is at risk of vitamin D deficiency. There is general agreement that the minimum serum/plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration (25(OH)D) that protects against vitamin D deficiency-related bone disease is approximately 30 nmol/L; therefore, this threshold is suitable to define vitamin D deficiency in population surveys. However, efforts to assess the vitamin D status of populations in low- and middle-income countries have been hampered by limited availability of population-representative 25(OH)D data, particularly among population subgroups most vulnerable to the skeletal and potential extraskeletal consequences of low vitamin D status, namely exclusively breastfed infants, children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, and the elderly. In the absence of 25(OH)D data, identification of communities that would benefit from public health interventions to improve vitamin D status may require proxy indicators of the population risk of vitamin D deficiency, such as the prevalence of rickets or metrics of usual UVB exposure. If a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is identified (>20% prevalence of 25(OH)D 1%), food fortification and/or targeted vitamin D supplementation policies can be implemented to reduce the burden of vitamin D deficiency-related conditions in vulnerable populations

Diversification and agrarian change under environmental constraints in rural China: Evidence from a poor township of Beijing municipality

Working paper du GATE 2007-11This article illustrates the impact of changes related to market reforms and environmental policies on the economic structure in rural China by providing a comparative analysis of several villages in a poor township in Beijing municipality. Two main concomitant phenomena are affecting agricultural and non-agricultural choices in the studied area. First, the introduction of market mechanisms is encouraging local population to engage in new activities that are closer to local comparative advantages. Second, rural households are facing new constraints in the form of environmental protection measures, which have weakened traditional insurance channels provided by forest resources and cattle stock. Drawing on household-level survey data and interviews with village heads conducted in ten villages of Labagoumen township in December 2003, this article analyzes households decisions in response to market reforms and environmental constraints. We find large disparities both between villages and households in the diversification process and discuss the reasons of observed inertia in the region, most households still heavily relying on corn production