Mortalidad cardiovascular: ¿cómo prevenirla?

El primer escalón en la prevención y tratamiento de muchas enfermedades crónicas como las enfermedades cardiovasculares es el seguimiento de una dieta saludable. Varios estudios epidemiológicos han mostrado que el seguimiento de una dieta mediterránea tradicional reduce la mortalidad global, la mortalidad cardiovascular y la incidencia de enfermedades crónicas como las cardiovasculares, el cáncer y las patologías neurodegenerativas. No obstante, un único estudio ha analizado los efectos de la dieta mediterránea en la prevención primaria de la enfermedad cardiovascular, el estudio PREDIMED (PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea). Este ensayo incluyó 7447 sujetos con alto riesgo vascular que se aleatorizaron a tres grupos de intervención: dieta mediterránea suplementada con aceite de oliva virgen extra, dieta mediterránea suplementada con frutos secos o dieta control (baja en todo tipo de grasa). Los análisis de marcadores intermedios mostraron los efectos beneficiosos de la dieta mediterránea sobre la presión arterial, el perfil lipídico, las partículas de lipoproteínas, los marcadores de oxidación e inflamación y la aterosclerosis carotídea. No obstante, el hallazgo más llamativo fue la reducción del 30 % en el riesgo relativo de sufrir complicaciones cardiovasculares mayores (infarto de miocardio, accidente vascular cerebral y muerte cardiovascular) en ambos grupos de dieta mediterránea, comparados con los que siguieron una dieta baja en grasa. Los resultados del estudio PREDIMED demuestran, pues, que un patrón de alimentación rico en grasa no saturada y productos antioxidantes y antiinflamatorios como la dieta mediterránea resulta ser una herramienta muy útil en la reducción de la mortalidad global y en la prevención de la enfermedad cardiovascular

Real time diagnosis for a large gas turbine based on a deep model of the controller

The ESPRIT project 6862 TIGER addresses the development of a real-time knowledge based diagnosis system for two gas turbines: a large scale industrial gas turbine and an auxiliary power unit for aviation. The project will combine the qualitative model based with the rule based diagnosis approach. This paper describes the rule based approach taken in the development of a real-time diagnostic system for a large scale gas turbine. Deep models will be automatically extracted from the deterministic knowledge embedded within the controller ladder logic diagrams. Heuristic knowledge will be extracted from the domain expert and engineering manuals.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Wine, alcohol, polyphenols and cardiovascular disease

Abstract. Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with increased morbidity and mortality as well as with labour and traffic accidents. However, current evidence suggests beneficial effects of moderate drinking on cardiovascular events including coronary heart disease, ischaemic stroke, peripheral arterial disease and congestive heart failure. The underlying mechanisms to explain these protective effects against coronary heart disease include an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and an increase in insulin sensitivity, and a decrease in platelet aggregation and circulating concentrations of fibrinogen. However, there are discrepancies regarding the specific effects of different types of beverages on the cardiovascular system, and also whether the possible protective effects of alcoholic beverages are due to their alcohol component (ethanol) or non-alcoholic products containing, mainly polyphenols. Recent randomised clinical trials have shown that wine, a polyphenol-rich alcoholic beverage, provides higher antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects than some spirits such as gin, a polyphenol-free alcoholic beverage. In addition, dealcoholized red wine decreases blood pressure through a nitric oxide mediated mechanism, suggesting a protective effect of polyphenols on vascular function. Other studies performed in women have observed that daily doses of 1520 g of alcohol as red wine are sufficient to elicit protective effects similar to those observed in men who consumed higher doses of wine. In conclusion, moderate consumption of wine exerts a protective effect on biomarkers related to the progression and development of atherosclerosis due to its alcoholic (ethanol) and non-alcoholic (polyphenols) content. Women are more sensitive to the beneficial effects of wine

Sistemes informàtics en temps real

2010/201

Health-aware control of an octorotor UAV system based on actuator reliability

A major goal in modern flight control systems is the need of improving the reliability. This work presents a reliable control approach of an octorotor UAV that allows distributing the control effort among the actuators using health actuator information. The octorotor is an over-actuated system where the redundancy of the actuators allows the redistribution of the control effort among the existing actuators according to a given control strategy. The priority is given to each actuator according to the capabilities and reliability of this actuatorPeer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Wine Intake in the Framework of a Mediterranean Diet and Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases: A Short Literature Review of the Last 5 Years

Dietary habits are a determining factor of the higher incidence and prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In the aim to find a possible preventive and intervention strategy, the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been proposed as an effective approach. Within the MedDiet, moderate wine consumption with meals is a positive item in the MedDiet score; however, recent studies have reported a dose-response association between alcohol consumption and higher risk of a large number of NCDs. This review aimed to evaluate the association between NCDs and wine consumption in the framework of the MedDiet, with a simple review of 22 studies of the highest-level literature published over the last five years. We found that the information regarding the effects of wine in different health outcomes has not varied widely over the past five years, finding inconclusive results among the studies evaluated. Most of the literature agrees that light to moderate wine intake seems to have beneficial effects to some extent in NCDs, such as hypertension, cancer, dyslipidemia and dementia, but no definitive recommendations can be made on a specific dose intake that can benefit most diseases

Influence of Bioactive Nutrients on the Atherosclerotic Process: A Review

The protective effects of a dietary intervention as a useful tool in the prevention of atherosclerosis disease has gained greater attention in recent years. Several epidemiological studies have demonstrated the importance of diet in reducing expensive treatments or possible undesirable side effects. The main aim of this review is to examine the effects of specific nutrients on the development and progression of atherosclerosis in patients with cardiovascular disease. Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the cardioprotective effect of different nutrients. In this sense, results have shown stabilization of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques or downregulation of biomarkers related to inflammation through nutrients such as Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, hydroxytyrosol of extra virgin olive oil, lycopen, phytosterols of plants, or flavonols of fruits and vegetables, among others. The accumulated evidence on the anti-inflammatory effects related to these nutrients is summarized in the present review

Impact of Sugary Food Consumption on Pregnancy: A Review

Obesity in pregnancy has been directly associated with an increased risk of almost all pregnancy complications such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), and premature delivery. Thereby, according to current evidence available, life-style interventions to prevent pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity in women of fertile age are necessary to reduce the negative impact of obesity on mother and child health. Unhealthy dietary patterns, together with the increased consumption of processed foods rich in simple sugar and sweeteners are some of the responsible, among others, for the increase in obesity rates during the last years. Nevertheless, how its consumption can affect pregnancy outcomes and long-term children's health is still uncertain. This review aims to collate the available evidence about the consequences of unhealthy dietary patterns and sugary products consumption, including sweeteners, during pregnancy for obesity in childhood and mid-childhood. High simple sugar intake during gestation may contribute to an excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) as well as to develop other pregnancy complications such as GDM, preeclampsia and preterm birth. The heterogeneity of study populations, sample size, different approaches to measure GWG, GMD, preeclampsia, and birth weight, among other conditions, might explain the divergences observed among studies. Therefore, large, well-designed intervention-controlled trials with biological biomarkers to ensure dietary adherence are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions in order to provide effective nutritional advice

Clustering techniques applied to sensor placement for leak detection and location in water distribution networks

This work presents an optimization strategy that maximizes the leak locatability performance of water distribution networks (WDN). The goal is to characterize and determine a sensor configuration that guarantees a maximum degree of locatability while the sensor configuration cost satisfies a budgetary constraint. The method is based on pressure sensitivity matrix analysis and an exhaustive search strategy. In order to reduce the size and the complexity of the problem the present work proposes to combine this methodology with clustering techniques. The strategy developed in this work is successfully applied to determine the optimal set of pressure sensors that should be installed in a district metered area (DMA) in the Barcelona WDN.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

System reliability upper bound assessment for health-aware control of complex systems

Postprint (published version