Sleep duration has been linked to obesity and there is also an emerging literature in animals demonstrating a relationship between the timing of feeding and weight regulation. However, there is a ...paucity of research evaluating timing of sleep and feeding on weight regulation in humans. The goal of this study was to evaluate the role of sleep timing in dietary patterns and BMI. Participants included 52 (25 females) volunteers who completed 7 days of wrist actigraphy and food logs. Fifty‐six percent were “normal sleepers” (midpoint of <5:30 am) and 44% were “late sleepers” (midpoint of sleep ≥5:30 am). Late sleepers had shorter sleep duration, later sleep onset and sleep offset and meal times. Late sleepers consumed more calories at dinner and after 8:00 pm, had higher fast food, full‐calorie soda and lower fruit and vegetable consumption. Higher BMI was associated with shorter sleep duration, later sleep timing, caloric consumption after 8:00 pm, and fast food meals. In multivariate models, sleep timing was independently associated with calories consumed after 8:00 pm and fruit and vegetable consumption but did not predict BMI after controlling for sleep duration. Calories consumed after 8:00 pm predicted BMI after controlling for sleep timing and duration. These findings indicate that caloric intake after 8:00 pm may increase the risk of obesity, independent of sleep timing and duration. Future studies should investigate the biological and social mechanisms linking timing of sleep and feeding in order to develop novel time‐based interventions for weight management.
While positive behavioral information is diagnostic when evaluating a person's abilities, negative information is diagnostic when evaluating morality. Although social psychology has considered these ...two domains as orthogonal and distinct from one another, we demonstrate that this asymmetry in diagnosticity can be explained by a single parsimonious principle--the perceived frequency of behaviors in these domains. Less frequent behaviors (e.g., high ability and low morality) are weighed more heavily in evaluations. We show that this statistical principle of frequency-derived diagnosticity is evident in human participants at both behavioral and neural levels of analysis. Specifically, activity in right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex increased preferentially when participants updated impressions based on diagnostic behaviors, and further, activity in this region covaried parametrically with the perceived frequency of behaviors. Activity in left ventrolateral PFC, left inferior frontal gyrus, and left superior temporal sulcus showed similar patterns of diagnosticity and sensitivity, though additional analyses confirmed that these regions responded primarily to updates based on immoral behaviors.
Objective To investigate the effect of the CONSORT for Abstracts guidelines, and different editorial policies used by five leading general medical journals to implement the guidelines, on the ...reporting quality of abstracts of randomised trials.Design Interrupted time series analysis.Sample We randomly selected up to 60 primary reports of randomised trials per journal per year from five high impact, general medical journals in 2006-09, if indexed in PubMed with an electronic abstract. We excluded reports that did not include an electronic abstract, and any secondary trial publications or economic analyses. We classified journals in three categories: those not mentioning the guidelines in their instructions to authors (JAMA and New England Journal of Medicine), those referring to the guidelines in their instructions to authors but with no specific policy to implement them (BMJ), and those referring to the guidelines in their instructions to authors with an active policy to implement them (Annals of Internal Medicine and Lancet). Two authors extracted data independently using the CONSORT for Abstracts checklist.Main outcome Mean number of CONSORT items reported in selected abstracts, among nine items reported in fewer than 50% of the abstracts published across the five journals in 2006.Results We assessed 955 reports of abstracts of randomised trials. Journals with an active policy to enforce the guidelines showed an immediate increase in the level of mean number of items reported (increase of 1.50 items; P=0.0037). At 23 months after publication of the guidelines, the mean number of items reported per abstract for the primary outcome was 5.41 of nine items, a 53% increase compared with the expected level estimated on the basis of pre-intervention trends. The change in level or trend did not increase in journals with no policy to enforce the guidelines (BMJ, JAMA, and New England Journal of Medicine).Conclusion Active implementation of the CONSORT for Abstracts guidelines by journals can lead to improvements in the reporting of abstracts of randomised trials.
To test the efficiency of tumour necrosis factor blockers (adalimumab) in patients with painful refractory (non-responders to analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)) hand ...osteoarthritis (OA).
We performed a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group, multicentre study. Patients were randomised to: 1/1 adalimumab 40 mg for two subcutaneous injections at a 15-day interval or placebo and monitored for 6 months. The primary outcome was the percentage of patients with an improvement of more than 50% in global pain (Visual Analogue Scale) between week 0 (W0) and week 6 (W6). Secondary outcomes included the number of painful joints, swollen joints, morning stiffness duration, patient and practitioner global assessments, functional indexes for hand OA, and consumption of analgesics. Analysis on the mean primary outcome measure was done on patients who received at least one injection.
99 patients were recruited and 85 patients were randomised. Among them, 37 patients in the placebo group and 41 in the adalimumab group received at least one injection and were evaluated at W6 (n=78) on the main efficacy outcome. Mean age was 62 years, 85% were women, and mean level of pain was 62 mm at W0. At W6, 35.1% in the adalimumab group versus 27.3% in the placebo group had a pain reduction ≥50% (RR 1.12 (95% CI 0.82 to 1.54; p=0.48). There were no statistical differences for all secondary end points. The rate of adverse events was similar in the two groups.
Adalimumab was not superior to placebo to alleviate pain in patients with hand OA not responding to analgesics and NSAIDs.
NCT00597623.
•Optimised parameters for the extraction of rhenium from CMSX-4 superalloy reported.•Aqua-regia concentration to 100% (v/v) resulted in more than 30% gain in recovery.•Leaching kinetics fits into a ...chemical reaction controlled kinetics model in first 6 h.•Leaching kinetics fits a diffusion through the product layer model after 6 h.•Ultrasonic waves to the leaching process has proven useful to slightly increase yield.
A study to leach and recycle rhenium from CMSX-4, a second generation ultrahigh-strength single crystal nickel-based superalloy, containing 3% rhenium is presented. Experimental factors involved in the leaching process of rhenium from CMSX-4 using aqua-regia solution have been investigated and reported. Experimental factors such as concentration of aqua-regia, the use of sonication, leaching period, solid-to-liquid ratio and stirring speed have been optimised and the leaching kinetics of rhenium and other component metals of superalloy CMSX-4 have been studied. Increasing aqua-regia concentration to 100% (v/v) resulted in more than 30% gain in recovery which can be attributed to the increased availability of leaching reagents. The leaching kinetics of rhenium from superalloy CMSX-4 in 100% aqua-regia solution fit into a chemical reaction controlled kinetics model for the first period of leaching. For the leaching period after 480 min, the leaching kinetics of rhenium fits a diffusion through the product layer model. Application of ultrasonic waves to the leaching process has proven useful to slightly increase yield. Given the small increase, however, sonication may not be economically feasible for recovery of rhenium on an industrial scale. Precipitation of other metals away from the rhenium rich solution has also been explored to prepare the solution for a downstream rhenium recovery process. It was found that that two unique precipitates can be recovered from the solution. The first precipitate, recovered at pH 5.05, has been determined to be mainly composed of the oxides of aluminium, chromium, molybdenum, and titanium. A green precipitate of mixed hydroxides of cobalt and nickel (MHP) which has commercial value can then be recovered at pH 7.0 leaving a rhenium enriched solution for further processing.
The pterosaurs first appear in the fossil record in the middle of the Late Triassic. Their earliest representatives are known from Northern Hemisphere localities but, by the end of the Jurassic ...Period, this clade of flying reptiles achieved a global distribution, as well as high levels of diversity and disparity. Our understanding of early pterosaur evolution and the fundamental interrelationships within Pterosauria has improved dramatically in recent decades. However, there is still debate about how the various pterosaur subgroups relate to one another and about which taxa comprise these. Many recent phylogenetic analyses, while sampling well from among the known Triassic and Early Jurassic pterosaurs, have not included many non-pterosaurian ornithodirans or other avemetatarsalians. Given the close relationship between these groups of archosaurs, the omission of other ornithodirans and avemetatarsalians has the potential to adversely affect the results of phylogenetic analyses, in terms of character optimisation and ingroup relationships recovered. This study has addressed this issue and tests the relationships between the early diverging pterosaur taxa following the addition of avemetatarsalian taxa and anatomical characters to an existing early pterosaur dataset. This study has, for the first time, included taxa that represent the aphanosaurs, lagerpetids, silesaurids and dinosaurs, in addition to early pterosaurs. Anatomical characters used in other recent studies of archosaurs and early dinosaurs have also been incorporated. By expanding the outgroup taxa and anatomical character coverage in this pterosaur dataset, better resolution between the taxa within certain early pterosaur subclades has been achieved and stronger support for some existing clades has been found; other purported clades of early pterosaurs have not been found in this analysis-for example there is no support for a monophyletic Eopterosauria or Eudimorphodontidae. Further support has been found for a sister-taxon relationship between
and Macronychoptera, a clade here named Zambellisauria (clade nov.), as well as for a monophyletic and early diverging Preondactylia. Some analyses also support the existence of a clade that falls as sister-taxon to the zambellisaurs, here named Caviramidae (clade nov.). Furthermore, some support has been found for a monophyletic Austriadraconidae at the base of Pterosauria. Somewhat surprisingly, Lagerpetidae is recovered outside of Ornithodira
, meaning that, based upon current definitions at least, pterosaurs fall within Dinosauromorpha in this analysis. However, fundamental ornithodiran interrelationships were not the focus of this study and this particular result should be treated with caution for now. However, these results do further highlight the need for broader taxon and character sampling in phylogenetic analyses, and the effects of outgroup choice on determining ingroup relationships.
At high internal doses, pharmaceuticals have the potential for inducing biological/pharmacological effects in fish. One particular concern for the environment is their potential to bioaccumulate and ...reach pharmacological levels; the study of these implications for environmental risk assessment has therefore gained increasing attention. To avoid unnecessary testing on animals, in vitro methods for assessment of xenobiotic metabolism could aid in the ecotoxicological evaluation. Here we report the use of a 3-D in vitro liver organoid culture system (spheroids) derived from rainbow trout to measure the metabolism of seven pharmaceuticals using a substrate depletion assay. Of the pharmaceuticals tested, propranolol, diclofenac and phenylbutazone were metabolised by trout liver spheroids; atenolol, metoprolol, diazepam and carbamazepine were not. Substrate depletion kinetics data was used to estimate intrinsic hepatic clearance by this spheroid model, which was similar for diclofenac and approximately 5 fold higher for propranolol when compared to trout liver microsomal fraction (S9) data. These results suggest that liver spheroids could be used as a relevant and metabolically competent in vitro model with which to measure the biotransformation of pharmaceuticals in fish; and propranolol acts as a reproducible positive control.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Judgments of trustworthiness from faces determine basic approach/avoidance responses and approximate the valence evaluation of faces that runs across multiple person judgments. Here, based on ...trustworthiness judgments and using a computer model for face representation, we built a model for representing face trustworthiness (study 1). Using this model, we generated novel faces with an increased range of trustworthiness and used these faces as stimuli in a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging study (study 2). Although participants did not engage in explicit evaluation of the faces, the amygdala response changed as a function of face trustworthiness. An area in the right amygdala showed a negative linear response-as the untrustworthiness of faces increased so did the amygdala response. Areas in the left and right putamen, the latter area extended into the anterior insula, showed a similar negative linear response. The response in the left amygdala was quadratic-strongest for faces on both extremes of the trustworthiness dimension. The medial prefrontal cortex and precuneus also showed a quadratic response, but their response was strongest to faces in the middle range of the trustworthiness dimension.
Light exposure can influence sleep and circadian timing, both of which have been shown to influence weight regulation. The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between ambient light, ...sleep and body mass index. Participants included 54 individuals (26 males, mean age 30.6, SD = 11.7 years). Light levels, sleep midpoint and duration were measured with wrist actigraphy (Actiwatch-L) for 7 days. BMI was derived from self-reported height and weight. Caloric intake was determined from 7 days of food logs. For each participant, light and activity data were output in 2 minute epochs, smoothed using a 5 point (10 minute) moving average and then aggregated over 24 hours. The mean light timing above 500 lux (MLiT500) was defined as the average clock time of all aggregated data points above 500 lux. MLiT500 was positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.51, p<0.001), and midpoint of sleep (r = 0.47, p<0.01). In a multivariable linear regression model including MLiT500 and midpoint of sleep, MLiT500 was a significant predictor of BMI (B = 1.26 SE = 0.34, β = 0.53 p = 0.001, r2Δ = 0.22). Adjusting for covariates, MLiT500 remained an independent predictor of BMI (B = 1.28 SE = 0.36, β = 0.54, p = 0.002, r2Δ = 0.20). The full model accounted for 34.7% of the variance in BMI (p = 0.01). Exposure to moderate levels of light at biologically appropriate times can influence weight, independent of sleep timing and duration.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•A LC-ESI–MS method for anthocyanins identification and quantitation in plasma was set-up and validated.•15 bilberry anthocyanins behave differently in term of bioavailability and both the aglycone ...and the sugar moiety affect the PK profile.•Such different behaviour was explained by computational studies have found a significant correlation between the extent of anthocyanin absorption and their sGLT1 and GLUT2 recognition.
The aim of the present investigation was to better understand the pharmacokinetic profile of bilberry (Vaccinium Myrtillus) anthocyanins and the role of glucose transporters (sGLT1 and GLUT2) on their absorption. In particular, the absorption of 15 different anthocyanins contained in a standardized bilberry extract (Mirtoselect®) was measured in rats by a validated LC-ESI–MS/MS approach. The plasma concentration peak (Cmax) of 11.1ng/mL was reached after 30min and fasting condition significantly increased the bioavailability of anthocyanins by more than 7 fold in respect to fed rats. Glucose co-administration did not interfere with the overall anthocyanin uptake.
Bioavailability of each anthocyanin was then estimated by comparing the relative content in plasma vs extract. The 15 anthocyanins behaved differently in term of bioavailability and both the aglycone and the sugar moiety were found to affect the absorption. For instance, arabinoside moiety was detrimental while cyanidin enhanced bioavailability. Computational studies permitted to rationalize such results, highlighting the role of glucose transporters (sGLT1 and GLUT2) in anthocyanins absorption. In particular a significant correlation was found for the 15 anthocyanins between sGLT1 and GLUT2 recognition and absorption.