Higher consumption of ultra-processed food is associated with cardiovascular risk in Korean adults: KNHANES 2016–2018

BackgroundExcessive consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to investigate the association between the percentage of energy intake from UPFs and the American Heart Association’s cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics in Korean adults.MethodsThis study analyzed adults aged 40 years and older using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2016–2018 (n = 9,351). All foods or beverages reported in a 24-h dietary recall were categorized using the NOVA system, and the percentage of energy from UPFs was calculated. Each CVH metric was scored 0–2 (poor, intermediate, ideal). The sum of six component scores was classified as inadequate, average, or optimum. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to estimate the covariate-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for inadequate and average CVH versus optimum CVH.ResultsThe mean percentage of energy from UPFs was 24.2%. After adjusting for covariates, participants in the highest UPF quartile had 26% higher odds of having inadequate CVH than those in the lowest quartile (OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.94–1.69, P-trend = 0.03). The percentage of energy from UPFs was positively associated with current smoking, physical inactivity, body mass index, and total cholesterol and was inversely associated with blood pressure and fasting glucose.ConclusionThe percentage of energy from UPFs accounted for one-fourth of total calorie intake in Korean adults aged 40 years and older. Higher UPF consumption was associated with poorer CVH, underscoring the potential of limiting UPF consumption as a preventative measure for cardiovascular diseases

Blood pressure and dementia risk by physical frailty in the elderly: a nationwide cohort study

Background Midlife hypertension has been recognized as a modifiable risk factor for dementia, but association between blood pressure (BP) in late life and dementia has been inconclusive. In addition, few studies have investigated effects of BP control on dementia incidence in the frail elderly. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the association of BP and dementia incidence with concomitant consideration of physical frailty in the young elderly population. Methods Using the Korean National Health Information Database, we identified 804,024 subjects without history of dementia at age 66. Dementia diagnosis was defined with prescription records of anti-dementia drugs and dementia-related diagnostic codes. Physical frailty was measured using the Timed Up and Go test. Association of BP and dementia incidence with concomitant consideration of physical frailty was investigated using Cox hazards analyses. Results The risks of Alzheimers and vascular dementia increased from systolic BP ≥ 160 and 130–139mmHg, respectively; a significant association of dementia incidence with low BP was not observed. In the analyses stratified by the physical frailty status, low BP was not associated with increased risks of dementia within the groups both with and without physical frailty. Conclusions High BP was associated with increased risks of dementia, especially for vascular dementia, while low BP was not associated with increased risks of any type of dementia in young elderly people, even in those with physical frailty. This study suggests the need for tight BP control in young elderly people, irrespective of frailty status, to prevent dementia and supports the current clinical guidelines of hypertension treatment

Level of professional ethics awareness and medical ethics competency of dental hygienists and dental hygiene students: the need to add ethics items to the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the level of professional ethics awareness and medical ethics competency in order to assess the potential need for ethics items to be included on the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination. Methods In total, 358 clinical dental hygienists and dental hygiene students completed a structured questionnaire to evaluate their level of ethical awareness and medical ethics competency. The sub-factors of medical ethics were classified into relationships with patients, medical and social relations, and individual specialized fields. Results Only 32.1% of participants indicated that they had taken a course on professional ethics in the university curriculum, but 95.2% of respondents considered professional ethics to be important. The overall score for medical ethics competency was average (3.37 out of 5). The score for relationships with patients was 3.75 points, followed by medical and social relations (3.19 points) and individual specialized fields (3.16 points). The level of professional ethics awareness was higher among participants who had taken a course on professional ethics than among those who had not done so or who did not remember whether they had done so. Conclusion Dental hygienists were aware of the importance of professional ethics, but their medical ethics competency was moderate. Therefore, medical ethics should be treated as a required subject in the university curriculum, and medical ethics competency evaluations should be strengthened by adding ethics items to the Korean Dental Hygienist Licensing Examination

Stochastic and Regulatory Role of Chromatin Silencing in Genomic Response to Environmental Changes

Phenotypic diversity and fidelity can be balanced by controlling stochastic molecular mechanisms. Epigenetic silencing is one that has a critical role in stress response. Here we show that in yeast, incomplete silencing increases stochastic noise in gene expression, probably owing to unstable chromatin structure. Telomere position effect is suggested as one mechanism. Expression diversity in a population achieved in this way may render a subset of cells to readily respond to various acute stresses. By contrast, strong silencing tends to suppress noisy expression of genes, in particular those involved in life cycle control. In this regime, chromatin may act as a noise filter for precisely regulated responses to environmental signals that induce huge phenotypic changes such as a cell fate transition. These results propose modulation of chromatin stability as an important determinant of environmental adaptation and cellular differentiation

Towards Establishment of a Rice Stress Response Interactome

Rice (Oryza sativa) is a staple food for more than half the world and a model for studies of monocotyledonous species, which include cereal crops and candidate bioenergy grasses. A major limitation of crop production is imposed by a suite of abiotic and biotic stresses resulting in 30%–60% yield losses globally each year. To elucidate stress response signaling networks, we constructed an interactome of 100 proteins by yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays around key regulators of the rice biotic and abiotic stress responses. We validated the interactome using protein–protein interaction (PPI) assays, co-expression of transcripts, and phenotypic analyses. Using this interactome-guided prediction and phenotype validation, we identified ten novel regulators of stress tolerance, including two from protein classes not previously known to function in stress responses. Several lines of evidence support cross-talk between biotic and abiotic stress responses. The combination of focused interactome and systems analyses described here represents significant progress toward elucidating the molecular basis of traits of agronomic importance

Positive association of unhealthy plant-based diets with the incidence of abdominal obesity: comparison of baseline, most recent, and cumulative average diets

Objectives: Different approaches using repeated dietary measurements may yield differences in the magnitude and interpretation of findings. We aimed to compare three dietary measurements (baseline, most recent, and cumulative average) in the association between plant-based diet indices (PDIs) and incident abdominal obesity in Korean adults aged 40-69 years. Methods: This study included 6054 participants (women, 54%) free of abdominal obesity at baseline, defined as waist circumference ≥ 90 cm for men and ≥ 85 cm for women. As exposures, baseline, most recent, and cumulative average for PDI, healthy-PDI (hPDI), and unhealthy-PDI (uPDI) were created. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) for abdominal obesity. Results: During 45,818 person-years of follow-up (median 9 years), we identified 1778 incident cases of abdominal obesity. In multivariable-adjusted analysis, a higher uPDI was associated with an increased risk of abdominal obesity in both total and stratified analyses. The findings were consistent across all approaches (Q5 vs. Q1, HR baseline=1.70, 95% CI 1.46, 1.98; HR most recent=1.52, 95% CI 1.30, 1.78; HR cumulative average=1.76, 95% CI 1.51, 2.06 in total set). PDI showed no meaningful association with abdominal obesity risk in all analyses. hPDI average had a suggestive inverse association with abdominal obesity risk in men and hPDI baseline had a positive association with abdominal obesity risk in women. Conclusion: Greater adherence to unhealthy plant-based diets may increase the risk of developing abdominal obesity in Korean adults. The findings were generally consistent across all approaches

Using Machine Learning Approaches to Improve Long-Range Demand Forecasting

Achieving an accurate long-range forecast is a challenge many companies face due to the uncertainty in anticipating demand several years out. Since companies make strategic decisions based on these forecasts – such as long-term investments and supply and capacity planning – it is critical that the long-range forecast be as accurate as possible. For a large player in the pharmaceutical industry like our capstone project sponsor, an improvement in its forecasting process could have significant financial and organizational benefits. While traditional statistical methods have been extensively used in demand forecasting, due to technological developments, machine learning approaches have been widely studied and increasingly applied in forecasting. Since machine learning has shown improvements in forecasting, especially in short-term forecasting, could machine learning be applied to improve long-range forecasting? This study explores this question by testing several machine learning methodologies and approaches. First, we used support vector machine (SVM) to determine relevant features. Next we used two types of approaches, direct and recursive, to develop one-step and multi-step long-range forecasting models. We developed forecasts using four machine learning algorithms: random forest (RF), artificial neural network (ANN), linear regression (LR), and support vector machine (SVM). We found that RF, ANN, and LR produced relatively accurate results in the one-step models. However, when extending the forecasting horizon using a multi-step forecast, the accuracy declines. By observing the results of the feature selection process and comparing the results among our forecasting models, we determined which features are critical when forecasting long-range demand for certain drugs. Additionally, we found that the machine learning model performance differed greatly based on data availability, forecasting horizon, and individual product. The biggest challenge in pursuing the application of machine learning approaches in long-range demand forecasting is data management. Given that using a machine learning approach in long-term forecasting has inconclusive performance, and creating a data management program would require a large up-front investment, a detailed cost-benefit analysis along with internal discussion is advised before pursuing further applications of machine learning in long-range demand forecasting

The role of nutritional status in the relationship between diabetes and health-related quality of life

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The association between nutritional status and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is not fully understood. This study was conducted to understand the role of nutritional status on HRQoL among people with and without T2DM. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Structured survey and direct measurement of anthropometric data were conducted among people with and without T2DM. Nutritional status was measured with Mini Nutritional Assessment tool and HRQoL was measured with a 36-item Short Form Healthy Survey. Data collection was conducted in Chuncheon, South Korea with 756 participants who are older than 40 yrs of age. RESULTS: This study found that overall HRQoL were significantly lower in people with T2DM than people without T2DM after controlling for key covariates. When stratified by nutritional status, a greater degree of negative impact of T2DM on overall physical HRQoL was observed among well-nourished or at risk of malnutrition, whereas significant and more evident negative impact of diabetes on overall psychological HRQoL was observed only among malnourished. CONCLUSIONS: The study results suggest the role of nutritional status among people with T2DM on overall, especially psychological aspects of HRQoL. Future longitudinal or intervention studies are warranted to test the impact of nutritional status on HRQoL among people with T2DM

Comparison of dietary share of ultra-processed foods assessed with a food frequency questionnaire against a 24-hour dietary recall in adults: Results from KNHANES 2016

Objective: To evaluate the performance of an FFQ for estimating dietary contributions of NOVA groups to individuals\u27 diets with a specific focus on UPFs compared to a single 24-h dietary recall (24HR). Design: All consumed foods and beverages assess with both a 109-item FFQ and a single 24HR were classified into one of four NOVA groups: natural or minimally processed foods (MPFs), processed culinary ingredients (PCIs), processed foods (PFs), and ultra-processed foods (UPFs). The contributions of each NOVA group to daily intakes of energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, fibre, and sodium were expressed as crude intake, energy-adjusted intake, and percent intake. Mean differences, correlation coefficients, and joint classification were calculated for intakes of energy and nutrients from each NOVA group between the FFQ and the 24HR. Setting: The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2016 Participants: Adults aged 19-64 years (n 3189) Results: The smallest group-mean differences between the two methods were observed in UPFs (2-40%). The greatest average Pearson\u27s correlation coefficients between the FFQ and 24HR were shown in dietary contributions of UPFs (r=0.22-0.25 for MPFs; r=0.02-0.05 for PCIs; r=0.11-0.18 for PFs; r=0.26-0.30 for UPFs). The greatest agreement in quartile classification between the FFQ and the 24HR was observed in dietary contributions of UPFs (70.0-71.5% for MPFs; 64.2-68.8% for PCIs; 66.9-69.2% for PFs; 71.8-73.9% for UPFs). Conclusions: The use of the FFQ for estimating absolute intake of UPFs may not be encouraged in its current form, but it still may be used for relative comparisons such as quantile categorization