Summary
A systematic review and meta‐analysis was conducted to evaluate the relative effectiveness of different dietary macronutrient patterns on changes in resting energy expenditure (REE) in ...relation to weight loss, categorized as minimal (<5%) and moderate to high (>5%). Changes in REE were assessed using a DerSimonian and Laird random‐effects meta‐analysis. A diet lower in carbohydrates (CHO) or higher in fat and protein was associated with smaller reductions in REE, with these trends being more pronounced among participants who experienced moderate to high weight loss. Adjusted meta‐regression analysis indicated that, within the participants who experienced moderate to high weight loss, each 1% increase in CHO intake was associated with a reduction of 2.30 kcal/day in REE (95% CI: −4.11 to −0.47, p = 0.013). In contrast, a 1% increase in protein and fat intake was correlated with an increase in REE by 3.00 (95% confidence interval CI 1.02, 5.07, p = 0.003) and 0.5 (95% CI −2.43, 3.41, p = 0.740) kcal/day, respectively. No significant associations were found among participants who experienced minimal weight loss. These findings indicate that, under a caloric deficit, the impact of dietary macronutrient composition on REE may vary depending on the degree of weight loss and individual metabolic responses.
•The present study addresses sources of error affecting the validity of mobile-based dietary assessments in a free-living setting.•A two-stage data modification process that included manual data ...cleaning and reanalyzing of prepackaged foods improved the accuracy of an image-assisted mobile nutrition app.•Stage 1 errors were commonly observed and associated with wrong food code selections, portion size estimates, misreporting, and missing condiments.•Stage 2 errors related to the mobile nutrition app were associated with prepackaged and restaurant/street foods that only provide limited micronutrient information.•Reanalyzing food codes with missing nutrients substantially improved the accuracy of micronutrient intake levels and enhanced correlations between the app and 24-h dietary recall.•Results highlight the importance of addressing errors in mobile-based dietary assessments and continually updating and expanding prepackaged food databases with full nutrient information.
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Mobile nutrition applications (apps) provide a simple way for individuals to record their diet, but the validity and inherent errors need to be carefully evaluated. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and clarify the sources of measurement errors of image-assisted mobile nutrition apps.
This was a cross-sectional study with 98 students recruited from School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University. A 3-d nutrient intake record by Formosa Food and Nutrient Recording App (FoodApp) was compared with a 24-h dietary recall (24-HDR). A two-stage data modification process, manual data cleaning, and reanalyzing of prepackaged foods were employed to address inherent errors. Nutrient intake levels obtained by the two methods were compared with the recommended daily intake (DRI), Taiwan. Paired t test, Spearman's correlation coefficients, and Bland–Altman plots were used to assess agreement between the FoodApp and 24-HDR.
Manual data cleaning identified 166 food coding errors (12%; stage 1), and 426 food codes with missing micronutrients (32%) were reanalyzed (stage 2). Positive linear trends were observed for total energy and micronutrient intake (all Ptrend < 0.05) after the two stages of data modification, but not for dietary fat, carbohydrates, or vitamin D. There were no statistical differences in mean energy and macronutrient intake between the FoodApp and 24-HDR, and this agreement was confirmed by Bland–Altman plots. Spearman's correlation analyses showed strong to moderate correlations (r = 0.834 ∼ 0.386) between the two methods. Participants’ nutrient intake tended to be lower than the DRI, but no differences in proportions of adequacy/inadequacy for DRI values were observed between the two methods.
Mitigating errors significantly improved the accuracy of the Formosa FoodApp, indicating its validity and reliability as a self-reporting mobile-based dietary assessment tool. Dietitians and health professionals should be mindful of potential errors associated with self-reporting nutrition apps, and manual data cleaning is vital to obtain reliable nutrient intake data.
Prediabetes is characterized by abnormal glycemic levels below the type 2 diabetes threshold, and effective control of blood glucose may prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes. While the ...association between the gut microbiota, glucose metabolism, and insulin resistance in diabetic patients has been established in previous studies, there is a lack of research regarding these aspects in prediabetic patients in Asia. We aim to investigate the composition of the gut microbiota in prediabetic patients and their differences compared to healthy individuals. In total, 57 prediabetic patients and 60 healthy adult individuals aged 18 to 65 years old were included in this study. Biochemistry data, fecal samples, and 3 days of food records were collected. Deoxyribonucleic acid extraction and next-generation sequencing via 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid metagenomic sequencing were conducted to analyze the relationship between the gut microbiota and dietary habits. Prediabetic patients showed a lower microbial diversity than healthy individuals, with 9 bacterial genera being less abundant and 14 others more abundant. Prediabetic patients who consumed a low-carbohydrate (LC) diet exhibited higher diversity in the gut microbiota than those who consumed a high-carbohydrate diet. A higher abundance of
was observed in the prediabetic patients on an LC diet. Compared to healthy individuals, the gut microbiota of prediabetic patients was significantly different, and adopting an LC diet with high dietary fiber consumption may positively impact the gut microbiota. Future studies should aim to understand the relationship between the gut microbiota and glycemic control in the Asian population.
Impulsivity is a personality trait of clinical importance. Extant research focuses on fronto-striatal mechanisms of impulsivity and how executive functions are compromised in impulsive individuals. ...Imaging studies employing voxel based morphometry highlighted impulsivity-related changes in gray matter concentrations in a wide array of cerebral structures. In particular, whereas prefrontal cortical areas appear to show structural alterations in individuals with a neuropsychiatric condition, the findings are less than consistent in the healthy population. Here, in a sample (
= 113) of young adults assessed for Barratt impulsivity, we controlled for age, gender and alcohol use, and showed that higher impulsivity score is associated with increased gray matter volume (GMV) in bilateral medial parietal and occipital cortices known to represent the peripheral visual field. When impulsivity components were assessed, we observed that this increase in parieto-occipital cortical volume is correlated with inattention and non-planning but not motor subscore. In a separate behavioral experiment of 10 young adults, we demonstrated that impulsive individuals are more vulnerable to the influence of a distractor on target detection in an attention task. If replicated, these findings together suggest aberrant visual attention as a neural correlate of an impulsive personality trait in neurotypical individuals and need to be reconciled with the literature that focuses on frontal dysfunctions.
Vertically-Aligned Fringe-Field Switching (VA-FFS) liquid crystal (LC) mode is known for its intrinsic submillisecond fast response time due to existence of self-imposed boundaries of virtual walls. ...In this paper, we investigate the effects of electrode structure and LC dielectric anisotropy. The performance of VA-FFS with conventional 2D and 3D electrode designs are compared. By using the 3D electrode design, higher transmission and faster response time are found possible as a result of having less dark states and at the same time having more virtual walls surrounding a 3D pixel. In the second part, we investigate the difference between VA-FFS LC mode employing LC materials with positive and negative dielectric anisotropy, while keeping all other factors the same. We found that, in general, positive LC materials can provide faster response time whereas negative LC materials can provide higher transmission. In the case of 2D design, however, negative LC is found to have rather unexpected slow response times due to i) existence of a 2-step switching process and ii) disappearance of virtual wall, which have never been reported or published before for VA-FFS. In this paper, we will show that, by using a 3D design, both of these problems for negative LC can be improved such that 3D design can help maintain the stability of virtual walls and also help bring the response time of negative LC closer to that of positive LC. VA-FFS LC has been actively researched for VR/AR application in recent years.
Vertically‐Aligned Fringe‐Field Switching (VA‐FFS) liquid crystal (LC) mode is known for its intrinsic submillisecond fast response time due to existence of “self‐imposed boundaries” or “virtual ...walls”. In this paper, we investigate the difference between VA‐FFS LC mode employing LC materials with positive and negative dielectric anisotropy for both 2D and 3D electrode designs. We found that, in general, positive LC materials can provide faster response time whereas negative LC materials can provide higher transmission. In the case of 2D design, negative LC is found to have unexpected slow response times due to i) existence of a 2‐step switching process and ii) disappearance of virtual walls. By using 3D design, both ofthese problems for negative LC have been found to be improved. Due to its fast response time, VA‐FFS LC has been actively researchedfor VR/AR applications in recent years.
We present an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling study of the size and volumetric distributions of Pt nanoparticles supported on two mesoporous carbons. Based on the analysis of the ...chemical shift of the Pt4f peaks, we found the one with a mesopore diameter of ∼5nm has a uniform distribution of crystalline Pt nanoparticles throughout the porous body. In contrast, the other with a mesopore diameter of ∼3nm has a distinct distribution of crystalline Pt nanoparticles on the outermost surfaces of the porous material and extremely small (<1nm) Pt nanoparticles in the interior region. The small Pt particle size in the interior represents the effect of pore entrance blockage of those mesopore channels with diameter less than 3nm. Such blockage gives rise to the encapsulation of very small amounts of Pt precursors inside the nanospace of the porous matrix, with the result that the particles grown in the interior region of the support are less than 1nm in size.
A new 3D electrode design is proposed for a VA‐FFS (or Dual FFS) liquid crystal mode which is known for its intrinsic sub‐millisecond fast response time without using thin cell gap or other liquid ...crystal phases. By using this new 3D electrode design, we found that it is possible to improve the potential maximum transmission and also the potential response speed of this fast‐response liquid crystal mode.
Background & Aims
Oral antiviral therapy may reduce the disease progression of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. We aimed to further investigate the efficacy of long‐term entecavir therapy in ...reduction of the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), cirrhotic events and mortality in a large group of CHB‐related cirrhosis patients.
Methods
The C‐TEAM (Cirrhosis‐Taiwanese EntecAvir Multicenter) study was a nationwide, multicenter, retrospective–prospective cohort study in Taiwan. We enrolled treatment‐naïve patients with CHB‐related cirrhosis and baseline HBV‐DNA≥2000 IU/mL receiving long‐term entecavir therapy and compared the development of HCC, cirrhotic events and mortality with that of a historical untreated cohort.
Results
In total, 1315 entecavir‐treated and 503 untreated patients with cirrhosis were enrolled, with median treatment and follow‐up durations of 4 and 6 years respectively. Compared with the untreated cohort, entecavir therapy was associated with a 60% HCC risk reduction hazard ratio (HR): 0.40, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.28‐0.57. Additionally, an older age, the male gender, HBeAg positivity, alpha‐fetoprotein (AFP)≥7 ng/mL before therapy were independent predictors of HCC development. Further analysis showed that entecavir therapy significantly reduced risks of variceal bleeding, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, and liver‐related and all‐cause mortality. These findings were confirmed by propensity score‐matched cohorts in sensitivity analysis. In patients under entecavir therapy, an older age, the male gender, HBeAg positivity, AFP level ≥7 ng/mL before therapy, and 1‐year virological response were predictive of HCC development.
Conclusions
Four‐year entecavir therapy significantly reduces the risk of HCC, cirrhotic events and mortality in patients with CHB‐related cirrhosis.
See Editorial on Page 1752
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