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Journal of Nutritional Science and... 2024This study examined the relationship between the frequency of consuming cold or hot meal/drink during summer and the nutritional status, appetite, and energy intake...
This study examined the relationship between the frequency of consuming cold or hot meal/drink during summer and the nutritional status, appetite, and energy intake among Japanese older people. The cross-sectional study was conducted in August 2021, targeting 60 adults aged 65 y and older. The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was used for nutritional status evaluation, the Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ) for appetite scoring, and food frequency questionnaire to assess energy intake. Participants reported on the frequency of consuming cold or hot meal/drink during the summer. Those who reported consuming hot meals "moderate" (p=0.033) or "frequent" (p=0.005) during summer had a higher BMI than those who reported minimal consumption. Participants who reported "frequent" consumption of hot meals in summer had higher MNA scores than those who reported "minimal" consumption (p=0.014). Participants who reported a "frequent" consumption of hot meals had higher SNAQ scores compared to those who reported "minimal" (p<0.001) or "moderate" (p=0.001). Similarly, participants who reported a "frequent" consumption of hot drinks had higher SNAQ scores than those reporting "minimal" (p=0.021) or "moderate" (p=0.008). The nutritional status and appetite during summer in Japanese older people were associated with the frequency of consuming hot meals and drinks.
Topics: Humans; Aged; Male; Nutritional Status; Female; Appetite; Japan; Cross-Sectional Studies; Energy Intake; Meals; Seasons; Aged, 80 and over; Nutrition Assessment; Hot Temperature; Surveys and Questionnaires; Body Mass Index; Feeding Behavior; Diet; East Asian People
PubMed: 38945895
DOI: 10.3177/jnsv.70.288 -
Journal of Nutritional Science and... 2024D-Allulose has blood glucose suppression effects in both animal and clinical studies. The mechanism mediating glucose suppression in animals is controlled by several... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
D-Allulose has blood glucose suppression effects in both animal and clinical studies. The mechanism mediating glucose suppression in animals is controlled by several actions including the inhibition of sucrase. To investigate the dose-response effects of D-allulose with a sucrose beverage on glucose tolerance and insulin levels using Thai volunteers. This was a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, crossover study. Subjects had five oral sucrose tolerance tests (OSTT) with escalating doses of D-allulose (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 or 10 g) with a 50 g sucrose beverage in a random order once a week for five consecutive weeks. The five drinks were consumed in a random order; the order being blinded for both subjects and investigators. Blood samples were drawn immediately before consumption and at 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after consumption of the study product for measurement of plasma glucose and insulin levels. Thirty healthy subjects (11 men and 19 women) completed the study. The peak postprandial glucose (PePPG) and insulin levels (PePPI) were lower when D-allulose was added in a dose-dependent manner. The lowest plasma glucose and insulin levels occurred at 120 min after OSTT in all five products and they were raised when D-allulose was added in a dose-dependent manner. D-Allulose has a suppression response on glucose and insulin shown by the decrease in postprandial plasma glucose and insulin levels following the addition of D-allulose to sucrose in a dose-dependent manner. The more D-allulose added, the less marked the glucose and insulin response occurred.
Topics: Humans; Male; Cross-Over Studies; Insulin; Blood Glucose; Adult; Double-Blind Method; Female; Young Adult; Postprandial Period; Thailand; Sucrose; Fructose; Glucose Tolerance Test; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Prospective Studies; Beverages; Healthy Volunteers; Sugar-Sweetened Beverages; Southeast Asian People
PubMed: 38945885
DOI: 10.3177/jnsv.70.203 -
Yakugaku Zasshi : Journal of the... 2024In Japan, influenza vaccination is offered to children and pregnant women at clinics or hospitals as an elective, self-funded treatment, as the vaccination is not...
In Japan, influenza vaccination is offered to children and pregnant women at clinics or hospitals as an elective, self-funded treatment, as the vaccination is not included in the national vaccination subsidy program. However, some Japanese municipalities offer a discretionary subsidy for seasonal influenza vaccination of children and pregnant women as a local policy. We identified these local subsidy programs during 2019/2020 seasonal influenza season by conducting a cross-sectional survey across Japan. Out of a total of 1741 municipalities, responses were received from 1732; therefore, the response rate was 99.5%. The local influenza vaccine subsidy programs for children were offered in 45.7%, and for pregnant women in 10.2%, of Japanese municipalities. This is the first survey of subsidy programs for pregnant women. While policy diffusion of subsidy programs for children was observed during the 9 years since a previous study, such programs for pregnant women remain limited. Despite many municipalities having subsidy programs, we found that their provision still remains limited when viewed as a whole.
Topics: Child; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Cities; Cross-Sectional Studies; East Asian People; Financing, Government; Immunization Programs; Influenza Vaccines; Influenza, Human; Japan; Vaccination
PubMed: 38945849
DOI: 10.1248/yakushi.24-00032 -
Clinica E Investigacion En... Jun 2024Comprehensive assessment of pharmacotherapy effects on atherogenic parameters (AP) that influence the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is challenging due to...
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Comprehensive assessment of pharmacotherapy effects on atherogenic parameters (AP) that influence the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is challenging due to interactions among a large number of parameters that modulate CVD risk.
METHODS
We developed an illustrative tool, athero-contour (AC), which incorporates weighted key lipid, lipo- and glycoprotein parameters, to readily illustrate their overall changes following pharmacotherapy. We demonstrate the applicability of AC to assess changes in AP in response to saroglitazar treatment in patients with metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in the EVIDENCES IV study.
RESULTS
The baseline AC of saroglitazar and placebo groups was worse than the mean of the general population. After 16-week treatment, AC improved significantly in the saroglitazar group due to alterations in very low-density lipoprotein, triglyceride, and glycoproteins.
CONCLUSION
Using AC, we could readily and globally evaluate and visualize changes in AP. AC improved in patients with MAFLD following saroglitazar therapy.
PubMed: 38945785
DOI: 10.1016/j.arteri.2024.04.004 -
Two-year investigation of spore-formers through the production chain at two cheese plants in Norway.Food Research International (Ottawa,... Aug 2024Spore-forming bacteria are the most complex group of microbes to eliminate from the dairy production line due to their ability to withstand heat treatment usually used...
Spore-forming bacteria are the most complex group of microbes to eliminate from the dairy production line due to their ability to withstand heat treatment usually used in dairy processing. These ubiquitous microorganisms have ample opportunity for multiple points of entry into the milk chain, creating issues for food quality and safety. Certain spore-formers, namely bacilli and clostridia, are more problematic to the dairy industry due to their possible pathogenicity, growth, and production of metabolites and spoilage enzymes. This research investigated the spore-forming population from raw milk reception at two Norwegian dairy plants through the cheesemaking stages until ripening. Samples were collected over two years and examined by amplicon sequencing in a culture independent manner and after an anaerobic spore-former enrichment step. In addition, a total of 608 isolates from the enriched samples were identified at the genus or species level using MALDI-TOF analysis. Most spore-forming isolates belong to the genera Bacillus or Clostridium, with the latter dominating the enriched MPN tubes of raw milk and bactofugate. Results showed a great variation among the clostridia and bacilli detected in the enriched MPN tubes. However, B. licheniformis and C. tyrobutyricum were identified in all sample types from both plants throughout the 2-year study. In conclusion, our results shed light on the fate of different spore-formers at different processing stages in the cheese production chain, which could facilitate targeted actions to reduce quality problems.
Topics: Norway; Cheese; Food Microbiology; Spores, Bacterial; Milk; Clostridium; Animals; Bacillus; Food Handling; Dairying
PubMed: 38945575
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114610 -
Revista Portuguesa de Cardiologia :... Jun 2024Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is part of group 4 of the pulmonary hypertension (PH) classification and generally affects more than a third of... (Review)
Review
Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is part of group 4 of the pulmonary hypertension (PH) classification and generally affects more than a third of patients referred to PH centers. It is a three-compartment disease involving proximal (lobar-to-segmental) and distal (subsegmental) pulmonary arteries that are obstructed by persistent fibrothrombotic material, and precapillary pulmonary arteries that can be affected as in pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is a rare complication of pulmonary embolism (PE), with an incidence of around 3% in PE survivors. The observed incidence of CTEPH in the general population is around six cases per million but could be three times higher than this, as estimated from PE incidence. However, a previous venous thromboembolic episode is not always documented. With advances in multimodality imaging and therapeutic management, survival for CTEPH has improved for both operable and inoperable patients. Advanced imaging with pulmonary angiography helps distinguish proximal from distal obstructive disease. However, right heart catheterization is of utmost importance to establish the diagnosis and hemodynamic severity of PH. The therapeutic strategy relies on a stepwise approach, starting with an operability assessment. Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA), also known as pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, is the first-line treatment for operable patients. Growing experience and advances in surgical technique have enabled expansion of the distal limits of PEA and significant improvements in perioperative and mid- to long-term mortality. In patients who are inoperable or who have persistent/recurrent PH after PEA, medical therapy and/or balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) are effective treatment options with favorable outcomes that are increasingly used. All treatment decisions should be made with a multidisciplinary team that includes a PEA surgeon, a BPA expert, and a chest radiologist.
PubMed: 38945473
DOI: 10.1016/j.repc.2024.04.006 -
International Journal of Infectious... Jun 2024This study sought to detect and characterize influenza A (IAV) and influenza D (IDV) viruses circulating among commercial birds and shop owners in Pakistan's live bird...
OBJECTIVE
This study sought to detect and characterize influenza A (IAV) and influenza D (IDV) viruses circulating among commercial birds and shop owners in Pakistan's live bird markets.
METHODS
Oropharyngeal swabs (n=600; n=300 pools) collected from poultry and nasopharyngeal swabs (n=240) collected from poultry workers were studied for molecular evidence of IAV and IDV using real-time and conventional RT-PCR protocols.
RESULTS
Nineteen (6.3%) poultry pools were positive for IAV and 73.9% of these were positive for H9N2 subtypes. Two (0.83%) poultry workers had evidence of IAV, and both were also H9N2 subtypes. The poultry and human influenza A-positive specimens all clustered phylogenetically by Sanger and next-generation sequencing with previously detected H9N2 poultry isolates. No field specimens were positive for IDV.
CONCLUSION
H9N2 IAV is likely enzootic in Punjab Province Pakistan's live bird markets and may be colonizing the noses of workers and market visitors. Regular monitoring for avian influenza-associated human illness in Punjab seems to be a needed public measure.
PubMed: 38945434
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107146 -
International Journal of Infectious... Jun 2024Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in young children. With substantial advances in RSV research, we aimed...
OBJECTIVES
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in young children. With substantial advances in RSV research, we aimed to conduct an updated systematic review of risk factors for RSV-ALRI in children under five years.
METHODS
We updated our previously published literature search to November 2022 among three English databases and additionally searched three Chinese databases (from January 1995) to identify all relevant publications. We performed random-effects meta-analyses to estimate the pooled odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) for each risk factor and each outcome (RSV-ALRI in the community and RSV-ALRI hospitalisation).
RESULTS
A total of 47 studies were included (26 from the updated search). Indoor air pollution was identified as a possible risk factor for RSV-ALRI in the community (OR 1.45, 95% CI: 1.10-1.90). The identified risk factors for RSV-ALRI hospitalisation fall into four categories: demographic (male sex, Māori and Pacific ethnicities vs European or other ethnicities), pre- and post- neonatal (prematurity, low birth weight, small for gestational age, maternal smoking during pregnancy or lactation, maternal age <30 years vs 30-34 years, multiparity, caesarean section vs vaginal), household and environmental (having siblings, passive smoking, maternal asthma, daycare centre attendance), and health and medical conditions (any chronic diseases, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, HIV infections, congenital heart disease, Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, previous asthma). The pooled ORs ranged from 1.14 to 4.55.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings on the risk factors for RSV-ALRI help identify RSV high-risk groups, which has important implications for RSV prevention at both individual and population levels.
PubMed: 38945430
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107125 -
The Science of the Total Environment Jun 2024East-Central Europe's largest shallow lake, Balaton, experienced strong eutrophication in the 1970-80s, followed by water quality improvement and oligotrophication by...
East-Central Europe's largest shallow lake, Balaton, experienced strong eutrophication in the 1970-80s, followed by water quality improvement and oligotrophication by 2010 CE. Recently however, repeated cyanobacterial blooms occurred and warned that internal P-recycling can act similarly to external P load, therefore we need a better understanding of past water level (WL) and trophic changes in the lake. In this study we discuss the last 500-yr trophic, WL and habitat changes of the lake using paleoecological (chironomids, pollen) and geochemical (sediment chlorophyll, TOC, TS, TN, C/H ratio, major and trace element) methods. We demonstrate that the most intensive and irreversible change in the macroinvertebrate fauna occurred during the period of economic boom between the First and Second World War (~1925-1940 CE), when large-scale built-in and leisure use of the lake has intensified. At that time, the Procladius-Microchironomus-Stempellina dominated community transformed to Procladius-Chironomus plumosus-type-Microchironomus community that coincided with land use changes, intensified erosion and water-level regulation in the lake with the maintenance of year-round high WL. This was followed by the impoverishment and population size decrease of the chironomid fauna and Procladius dominance since 1940 CE, without any recovery after 1994 CE despite the ongoing oligotrophication. Accelerated rate of change and turnover of the fauna was connected to an increase in the benthivorous fish biomass and eutrophication. The basin lost almost completely its once characteristic Stempellina species between 1927 and 1940 CE due to trophic level increase and seasonal anoxia in the Szemes Basin. Reference conditions for ecosystem improvement were assigned to 1740-1900 CE. We conclude that in spite of the ongoing oligotrophication, the re-establishment of the Procladius-Microchironomus-Stempellina assemblage is hampered, and requires fish population regulation.
PubMed: 38945249
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174191 -
The Lancet. Healthy Longevity Jul 2024Little is known about ageing and frailty progression in low-income settings. We aimed to describe frailty changes over time in individuals living in rural Burkina Faso...
BACKGROUND
Little is known about ageing and frailty progression in low-income settings. We aimed to describe frailty changes over time in individuals living in rural Burkina Faso and to assess which sociodemographic, disability, and multimorbidity factors are associated with frailty progression and mortality.
METHODS
This longitudinal, population-based study was conducted at the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) site in northwestern Burkina Faso. Eligible participants were aged 40 years or older and had been primarily resident in a household within the HDSS area for at least the past 6 months before the baseline survey and were selected from the 2015 HDSS household census using a stratified random sample of adults living in unique households within the area. Participants were interviewed in their homes in 2018 (baseline), 2021 (follow-up), or both. We derived the Fried frailty score for each participant at each timepoint using data on grip strength, gait speed, self-reported weight loss, self-reported exhaustion, and physical activity, and described changes in frailty status (no frailty, pre-frailty, or frailty) between 2018 and 2021. We used multivariate regression models to assess factors (ie, sex, age, marital status, educational attainment, wealth quintile, WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) score, and multimorbidity) associated with frailty progression (either worsening frailty status or dying, compared with frailty status remaining the same or improving) and with mortality, and developed sequential models: unadjusted, adjusting for sociodemographic factors (sex, age, marital status, educational attainment, and wealth quintile), and adjusting for sociodemographic factors, disability, and multimorbidity.
FINDINGS
Between May 25 and July 19, 2018, and between July 1 and Aug 22, 2021, 5952 individuals were invited to participate: 1709 (28·7%) did not consent, 1054 (17·8%) participated in 2018 only and were lost to follow-up, 1214 (20·4%) participated in 2021 only, and 1975 (33·2%) were included in both years or died between years. Of 1967 participants followed up with complete demographic data, 190 (9·7%) were frail or unable to complete the frailty assessment in 2018, compared with 77 (3·9%) in 2021. Between 2018 and 2021, frailty status improved in 567 (28·8%) participants and worsened in 327 (16·6%), and 101 (5·1%) participants died. The relative risk of frailty status worsening or of dying (compared with frailty impRoving or no change) increased with age and WHODAS score, whereas female sex appeared protective. After controlling for all sociodemographic factors, multimorbidity, and WHODAS score, odds of mortality were 1·07 (odds ratio 2·07, 95% CI 1·05-4·09) times higher among pre-frail individuals and 1·1 (2·21, 0·90-5·41) times higher among frail individuals than among non-frail individuals.
INTERPRETATION
Frailty status was highly dynamic in this low-income setting and appears to be modifiable. Given the rapid increase in the numbers of older adults in low-income or middle-income countries, understanding the behaviour of frailty in these settings is of high importance for the development of policies and health systems to ensure the maintenance of health and wellbeing in ageing populations. Future work should focus on designing context-appropriate interventions to improve frailty status.
FUNDING
Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation, Institute for Global Innovation, University of Birmingham, and Wellcome Trust.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Longitudinal Studies; Aged; Middle Aged; Frailty; Burkina Faso; Rural Population; Adult; Disease Progression; Aged, 80 and over; Frail Elderly
PubMed: 38945131
DOI: 10.1016/S2666-7568(24)00096-5