Is There a Role for Plant-Based “Meat” in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention?

Diet is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association recommends following a whole-food, minimally processed diet emphasizing fruit and vegetables to reduce cardiovascular mortality. Recently, processed plant-based meat substitutes, such as Beyond Meat® and Impossible™ foods have become easily accessible to consumers and are advertised as a healthful addition to a plant-based diet. However, these products are highly processed and contain high amounts of saturated fat and sodium. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of processed plant-based meat diets on adverse cardiovascular events compared to animal-based meat diets and minimally processed healthful plant-based diets. Health outcomes are dependent on micronutrient content Plant-based diets with the highest levels of serum beta-carotene and other micronutrients are associated with lower overall cardiovascular disease and mortality, as well as better metabolic markers.1,7,8 Plant-base meats reduce TMAO levels and improve cardiovascular disease risk factors Animal-based diets are associated with higher serum levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), which is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks, vascular disease, and stroke. 2,9,10 Consumption of plant-based meat alternatives has been shown to reduce TMAO levels by 31.9% while reducing LDL and blood pressure and increasing HDL levels. Many studies found that highly processed diets are associated with negative health outcomes, regardless of plant-based content. Unhealthful plant-based diets are associated with greater cardiovascular disease risk factors and mortality compared to healthful plant-based diets. Lastly, it was found that computer modeling predicts adherence to a minimally processed diet containing animal products will result in lower rates of cardiovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and diabetes, compared to a moderately processed plant-based diet

National expenditure on health research in South Africa : What is the benchmark ?

PKThe Mexico (2004), Bamako (2008) and Algiers (2008) declarations committed the South African (SA) Ministry of Health to allocate 2% of the national health budget to research, while the National Health Research Policy (2001) proposed that the country budget for health research should be 2% of total public sector health expenditure. The National Health Research Committee has performed an audit to determine whether these goals have been met, judged by: (i) health research expenditure as proportions of gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) and the gross domestic product (GDP); and (ii) the proportion of the national health and Department of Health budgets apportioned to research. We found that total expenditure on health research in SA, aggregated across the public and private sectors,was R3.5 billion in 2009/10, equating to 16.7% of GERD. However, the total government plus science council spend on health research that year was only R729 million, equating to 3.5% of GERD (0.03% of the GDP) or 0.80% of the R91.4 billion consolidated government expenditure on health. We further found that R418 million was spent through the 2009/2010 Health Vote on health research, equating to 0.46% of the consolidated government expenditure on health or 0.9% of the R45.2 billion Health Vote. Data from other recent years were similar. Current SA public sector health research allocations therefore remain well below the aspirational goal of 2% of the national health budget. We recommend that new, realistic, clearly defined targets be adopted and an efficient monitoring mechanism be developed to track future health research expenditure

Oncolytic HSV-1 G207 immunovirotherapy for pediatric high-grade gliomas

BACKGROUND: Outcomes in children and adolescents with recurrent or progressive high-grade glioma are poor, with a historical median overall survival of 5.6 months. Pediatric high-grade gliomas are largely immunologically silent or cold, with few tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Preclinically, pediatric brain tumors are highly sensitive to oncolytic virotherapy with genetically engineered herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) G207, which lacks genes essential for replication in normal brain tissue. METHODS: We conducted a phase 1 trial of G207, which used a 3+3 design with four dose cohorts of children and adolescents with biopsy-confirmed recurrent or progressive supratentorial brain tumors. Patients underwent stereotactic placement of up to four intratumoral catheters. The following day, they received G207 (10 RESULTS: Twelve patients 7 to 18 years of age with high-grade glioma received G207. No dose-limiting toxic effects or serious adverse events were attributed to G207 by the investigators. Twenty grade 1 adverse events were possibly related to G207. No virus shedding was detected. Radiographic, neuropathological, or clinical responses were seen in 11 patients. The median overall survival was 12.2 months (95% confidence interval, 8.0 to 16.4); as of June 5, 2020, a total of 4 of 11 patients were still alive 18 months after G207 treatment. G207 markedly increased the number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. CONCLUSIONS: Intratumoral G207 alone and with radiation had an acceptable adverse-event profile with evidence of responses in patients with recurrent or progressive pediatric high-grade glioma. G207 converted immunologically cold tumors to hot. (Supported by the Food and Drug Administration and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02457845.)

Assessment of the Effects of High-Pressure Operation on the Liquid-Solid Mass-Transfer Coefficient in Trickle-Bed Reactors

Trickle-Bed Reactors Are Used Widely in Industry and Are Usually Operated at High Pressure. All the Studies on Liquid-Solid Mass Transfer in Such Reactors Were Performed under Atmospheric Pressure And, Hence, the Empirical Correlations for Liquid-Solid Mass-Transfer Coefficients (K1s and K1sa) Were Developed based on Atmospheric Data. However, These Correlations Incorporate One or More of the Parameters Affected by Pressure (E.g., Liquid Holdup, Catalyst Wetting Efficiency, Pressure Drop, Gas Density). in This Work the Effects of High Pressure and High Gas Flow Rates on the Predicted Coefficients using Some of These Correlations Are Evaluated. It is Shown that There Are Discrepancies in the Prediction of These Correlations, and the Use of Them at High Operating Pressure is Unjustified. This Work is an Attempt to Bring to the Attention of the Industrial Practitioners the Fact that the Atmospheric Liquid-Solid Mass-Transfer Correlations Do Not Exhibit the Same Trends with Increased Pressure and Some of Them Do Not Capture the Physics of the System. Thus, Experimental Investigations to Quantify the Effect of Reactor Pressure on K1s and 1sa and a New Correlation for a Wide Range of Operating Pressures Are Needed

Understanding Refugees\u27 Perspectives on Health Care

Introduction. Burlington, Vermont accepts refugees from around the world. These individuals face unique barriers to accessing healthcare due to language, culture and finances. Research suggests that cultural beliefs about healthcare can affect ability or willingness to seek medical care. Gaining a better understanding of refugee perspectives of the healthcare system may offer insight into how to rectify this issue. Objectives. The goal of this study was to learn about refugee perspectives of the healthcare system and assess their use of services. Methods. We surveyed a convenience sample of 24 refugees to learn more about thoughts and practices surrounding healthcare and the use of the medical system. Results. Survey findings suggested that refugees who had been living in the US for longer than one year access healthcare resources differently from more recent arrivals. Most respondents agreed that reasons for going to a healthcare provider revolved around the diagnosis and treatment of current ailments. Regardless of time spent in the U.S., most respondents were unlikely to seek out preventive care. Refugees who had been in the U.S. longer than one year were less likely to seek out emergency services for acute symptoms that would be better served by a visit with their PCP. Conclusions. Recent arrivals used the emergency room for primary care needs more than those living in the U.S. longer than one year, suggesting the efficacy of provided health education. Study data suggests an important area for improvement may be increased education for refugees about the importance of preventive care.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1250/thumbnail.jp

Asteroid Retrieval Feasibility Study

This report describes the results of a study sponsored by the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) to investigate the feasibility of identifying, robotically capturing, and returning an entire Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) to the vicinity of the Earth by the middle of the next decade. The KISS study was performed by people from Ames Research Center, Glenn Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, Langley Research Center, the California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard University, the Naval Postgraduate School, University of California at Los Angeles, University of California at Santa Cruz, University of Southern California, Arkyd Astronautics, Inc., The Planetary Society, the B612 Foundation, and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition

No electromagnetic interference exists between the new remote monitoring system and implantable devices

INTRODUCTION: The BodyGuardian® is a novel remote monitoring platform comprised of a rechargeable module that attaches to an adhesive patch with attached electrodes. ECG, respiration, activity level and other clinical parameters are transmitted via Bluetooth to a smartphone and then to the central cloud platform via cellular or Wi-Fi connection for clinical review (Figure). Although approved for clinical use, potential electromagnetic interference (EMI) precludes its use among patients with implantable ...postprin

Quantum Computing in Molecular Magnets

Shor and Grover demonstrated that a quantum computer can outperform any classical computer in factoring numbers and in searching a database by exploiting the parallelism of quantum mechanics. Whereas Shor's algorithm requires both superposition and entanglement of a many-particle system, the superposition of single-particle quantum states is sufficient for Grover's algorithm. Recently, the latter has been successfully implemented using Rydberg atoms. Here we propose an implementation of Grover's algorithm that uses molecular magnets, which are solid-state systems with a large spin; their spin eigenstates make them natural candidates for single-particle systems. We show theoretically that molecular magnets can be used to build dense and efficient memory devices based on the Grover algorithm. In particular, one single crystal can serve as a storage unit of a dynamic random access memory device. Fast electron spin resonance pulses can be used to decode and read out stored numbers of up to 10^5, with access times as short as 10^{-10} seconds. We show that our proposal should be feasible using the molecular magnets Fe8 and Mn12.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, PDF, version published in Nature, typos correcte

Perspectives and Best Practices for Artificial Intelligence and Continuously Learning Systems in Healthcare

Goals of this paper Healthcare is often a late adopter when it comes to new techniques and technologies; this works to our advantage in the development of this paper as we relied on lessons learned from CLS in other industries to help guide the content of this paper. Appendix V includes a number of example use cases of AI in Healthcare and other industries. This paper focuses on identifying unique attributes, constraints and potential best practices towards what might represent “good” development for Continuously Learning Systems (CLS) AI systems with applications ranging from pharmaceutical applications for new drug development and research to AI enabled smart medical devices. It should be noted that although the emphasis of this paper is on CLS, some of these issues are common to all AI products in healthcare. Additionally, there are certain topics that should be considered when developing CLS for healthcare, but they are outside of the scope of this paper. These topics will be briefly touched upon, but will not be explored in depth. Some examples include: Human Factors – this is a concern in the development of any product – what are the unique usability challenges that arise when collecting data and presenting the results? Previous efforts at generating automated alerts have often created problems (e.g. alert fatigue.) CyberSecurity and Privacy – holding a massive amount of patient data is an attractive target for hackers, what steps should be taken to protect data from misuse? How does the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impact the use of patient data? Legal liability – if a CLS system recommends action that is then reviewed and approved by a doctor, where does the liability lie if the patient is negatively affected? Regulatory considerations – medical devices are subject to regulatory oversight around the world; in fact, if a product is considered a medical device depends on what country you are in. AI provides an interesting challenge to traditional regulatory models. Additionally, some organizations like the FTC regulate non-medical devices. This paper is not intended to be a standard, nor is this paper trying to advocate for one and only one method of developing, verifying, and validating CLS systems – this paper highlights best practices from other industries and suggests adaptation of those processes for healthcare. This paper is also not intended to evaluate existing or developing regulatory, legal, ethical, or social consequences of CLS systems. This is a rapidly evolving subject with many companies, and now some countries, establishing their own AI Principles or Code of Conduct which emphasize legal and ethical considerations including goals and principles of fairness, reliability and safety, transparency around how the results of these learning systems are explained to the people using those systems5 . The intended audience of this paper are Developers, Researchers, Quality Assurance and Validation personnel, Business Managers and Regulators across both Medical Device and Pharmaceutical industries that would like to learn more about CLS best practices, and CLS practitioners wanting to learn more about medical device software development

The Pauli principle in a three-body cluster model and the momentum distributions after fragmentation of 6He and 11Li

We investigate two simple prescriptions to account for the Pauli principle in a three-body cluster model employing a new method based on an adiabatic hyperspherical expansion to solve the Faddeev equations in coordinate space. The resulting wave functions are computed and compared. They are furthermore tested on halo nuclei by calculations of momentum distributions and invariant mass spectra arising after fragmentation of fast $^6$He and $^{11}$Li in collisions with light targets. The prescriptions are very accurate and the available measured quantities are remarkably well reproduced when final state interactions are included.Comment: 18 pages, LaTex file, 15 postscript figures included using epsf.st