What do we mean by inequality comparisons? If the rich just get richer and the poor get poorer, the answer might seem easy. But what if the income distribution changes in a complicated way? Can we ...use mathematical or statistical techniques to simplify the comparison problem in a way that has economic meaning? What does it mean to measure inequality? Is it similar to National Income? Or price index? Is it enough just to work out the Gini coefficient? This book tackles these questions and examines the underlying principles of inequality measurement and its relation to welfare economics, distributional analysis, and information theory. The book covers modern theoretical developments in inequality analysis, as well as showing how the way we think about inequality today has been shaped by classic contributions in economics and related disciplines. Formal results and detailed literature discussion are provided in two appendices. The principal points are illustrated in the main text, using examples from US and UK data, as well as other data sources, and associated web materials provide hands-on learning.
The RAVDESS is a validated multimodal database of emotional speech and song. The database is gender balanced consisting of 24 professional actors, vocalizing lexically-matched statements in a neutral ...North American accent. Speech includes calm, happy, sad, angry, fearful, surprise, and disgust expressions, and song contains calm, happy, sad, angry, and fearful emotions. Each expression is produced at two levels of emotional intensity, with an additional neutral expression. All conditions are available in face-and-voice, face-only, and voice-only formats. The set of 7356 recordings were each rated 10 times on emotional validity, intensity, and genuineness. Ratings were provided by 247 individuals who were characteristic of untrained research participants from North America. A further set of 72 participants provided test-retest data. High levels of emotional validity and test-retest intrarater reliability were reported. Corrected accuracy and composite "goodness" measures are presented to assist researchers in the selection of stimuli. All recordings are made freely available under a Creative Commons license and can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1188976.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Early-onset disease (at <50 years of age) accounts for 10% of colorectal cancer cases, and the incidence is increasing, particularly in high-income countries. Patients often present with advanced ...disease in the left colon. One in six patients has deficient DNA mismatch repair. Screening is now recommended to begin at 45 years of age.
The Lynch syndrome is the most common inherited syndrome associated with colorectal cancer and is also associated with extracolonic cancers. Confirmation of the diagnosis requires the detection of a ...germline mutation in a gene that causes deficient mismatch repair.
Circadian clocks and insulin resistance Stenvers, Dirk Jan; Scheer, Frank A J L; Schrauwen, Patrick ...
Nature reviews. Endocrinology,
02/2019, Letnik:
15, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Insulin resistance is a main determinant in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The circadian timing system consists of a central brain clock in ...the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus and various peripheral tissue clocks. The circadian timing system is responsible for the coordination of many daily processes, including the daily rhythm in human glucose metabolism. The central clock regulates food intake, energy expenditure and whole-body insulin sensitivity, and these actions are further fine-tuned by local peripheral clocks. For instance, the peripheral clock in the gut regulates glucose absorption, peripheral clocks in muscle, adipose tissue and liver regulate local insulin sensitivity, and the peripheral clock in the pancreas regulates insulin secretion. Misalignment between different components of the circadian timing system and daily rhythms of sleep-wake behaviour or food intake as a result of genetic, environmental or behavioural factors might be an important contributor to the development of insulin resistance. Specifically, clock gene mutations, exposure to artificial light-dark cycles, disturbed sleep, shift work and social jet lag are factors that might contribute to circadian disruption. Here, we review the physiological links between circadian clocks, glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity, and present current evidence for a relationship between circadian disruption and insulin resistance. We conclude by proposing several strategies that aim to use chronobiological knowledge to improve human metabolic health.
The human circadian system regulates hunger independently of behavioral factors, resulting in a trough in the biological morning and a peak in the biological evening. However, the role of the only ...known orexigenic hormone, ghrelin, in this circadian rhythm is unknown. Furthermore, although shift work is an obesity risk factor, the separate effects of the endogenous circadian system, the behavioral cycle, and circadian misalignment on ghrelin has not been systematically studied. Here we show-by using two 8-day laboratory protocols-that circulating active (acylated) ghrelin levels are significantly impacted by endogenous circadian phase in healthy adults. Active ghrelin levels were higher in the biological evening than the biological morning (fasting +15.1%, P = 0.0001; postprandial +10.4%, P = 0.0002), consistent with the circadian variation in hunger (P = 0.028). Moreover, circadian misalignment itself (12-h behavioral cycle inversion) increased postprandial active ghrelin levels (+5.4%; P = 0.04). While not significantly influencing hunger (P > 0.08), circadian misalignment increased appetite for energy-dense foods (all P < 0.05). Our results provide possible mechanisms for the endogenous circadian rhythm in hunger, as well as for the increased risk of obesity among shift workers.
Context:
Shift work is a risk factor for diabetes. The separate effects of the endogenous circadian system and circadian misalignment (ie, misalignment between the central circadian pacemaker and ...24-hour environmental/behavioral rhythms such as the light/dark and feeding/fasting cycles) on glucose tolerance in shift workers are unknown.
Objective:
The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that the endogenous circadian system and circadian misalignment separately affect glucose tolerance in shift workers, both independently from behavioral cycle effects.
Design:
A randomized, crossover study with two 3-day laboratory visits.
Setting:
Center for Clinical Investigation at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Patients:
Healthy chronic shift workers.
Intervention:
The intervention included simulated night work comprised of 12-hour inverted behavioral and environmental cycles (circadian misalignment) or simulated day work (circadian alignment).
Main Outcome Measures:
Postprandial glucose and insulin responses to identical meals given at 8:00 am and 8:00 pm in both protocols.
Results:
Postprandial glucose was 6.5% higher at 8:00 pm than 8:00 am (circadian phase effect), independent of behavioral effects (P = .0041). Circadian misalignment increased postprandial glucose by 5.6%, independent of behavioral and circadian effects (P = .0042). These variations in glucose tolerance appeared to be explained, at least in part, by different insulin mechanisms: during the biological evening by decreased pancreatic β-cell function (18% lower early and late phase insulin; both P ≤ .011) and during circadian misalignment presumably by decreased insulin sensitivity (elevated postprandial glucose despite 10% higher late phase insulin; P = .015) without change in early-phase insulin (P = .38).
Conclusions:
Internal circadian time affects glucose tolerance in shift workers. Separately, circadian misalignment reduces glucose tolerance in shift workers, providing a mechanism to help explain the increased diabetes risk in shift workers.
Wind‐driven transport from the North Pacific in winter provides nutrients to a highly productive region in the transition zone between the subarctic and subtropics. This region supports many species ...of fish, marine mammals, and seabirds. In winter 2013/2014, anomalous winds from the south weakened nutrient transport in the eastern North Pacific, resulting in substantial decreases in phytoplankton biomass. By January 2014, waters were warmer than usual by 3.5°C at the center of an affected area covering ~1.5 × 106 km2. South of this area, winter chlorophyll levels dropped to the lowest levels seen since the Sea‐viewing Wide Field‐of‐view Sensor satellite began taking measurements in 1997. It is anticipated that impacts will be felt in some fisheries and among migrating predators this coming year.
Key Points
Wind anomaly reduced nutrient transport toward subtropics
Chlorophyll in transition zone decreased to lowest levels yet observed
Impacts may be felt in fish and top predator communities
Oral diseases, such as caries and periodontitis, not only have local effects on the dentition and on tooth‐supporting tissues but also may impact a number of systemic conditions. Emerging evidence ...suggests that poor oral health influences the initiation and/or progression of diseases such as atherosclerosis (with sequelae including myocardial infarction and stoke), diabetes mellitus and neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and others). Aspiration of oropharyngeal (including periodontal) bacteria causes pneumonia, especially in hospitalized patients and the elderly, and may influence the course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This article addresses several pertinent aspects related to the medical implications of periodontal disease in the elderly. There is moderate evidence that improved oral hygiene may help prevent aspiration pneumonia in high‐risk patients. For other medical conditions, because of the absence of well‐designed randomized clinical trials in elderly patients, no specific guidance can be provided regarding oral hygiene or periodontal interventions that enhance the medical management of older adults.
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