To estimate the environmental impact of a dietary intervention based on an energy-reduced Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) after one year of follow-up.
Baseline and 1-year follow-up data were used for ...5800 participants aged 55–75 years with metabolic syndrome in the PREDIMED-Plus study. Food intake was estimated through a validated semiquantitative food consumption frequency questionnaire, and adherence to the MedDiet was estimated through the Diet Score. Using the EAT-Lancet Commission tables we assessed the influence of dietary intake on environmental impact (through five indicators: greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), land use, energy used, acidification and potential eutrophication). Using multivariable linear regression models, the association between the intervention and changes in each of the environmental factors was assessed. Mediation analyses were carried out to estimate to what extent changes in each of 2 components of the intervention, namely adherence to the MedDiet and caloric reduction, were responsible for the observed reductions in environmental impact.
We observed a significant reduction in the intervention group compared to the control group in acidification levels (−13.3 vs. -9.9 g SO2-eq), eutrophication (−5.4 vs. -4.0 g PO4-eq) and land use (−2.7 vs. -1.8 m2).
Adherence to the MedDiet partially mediated the association between intervention and reduction of acidification by 15 %, eutrophication by 10 % and land use by 10 %. Caloric reduction partially mediated the association with the same factors by 55 %, 51 % and 38 % respectively. In addition, adherence to the MedDiet fully mediated the association between intervention and reduction in GHG emissions by 56 % and energy use by 53 %.
A nutritional intervention based on consumption of an energy-reduced MedDiet for one year was associated with an improvement in different environmental quality parameters.
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•MedDiet adherence and calorie reduction mediate improved environmental impact.•An energy-reduced MedDiet improves acidification, eutrophication, and land use.•Meat has a greater impact on acidification, eutrophication, land use and energy.•In terms of GHGs, the main contributor in the CG was meat and, in the IG, fish.
Today, coastal cities worldwide are facing major changes
resulting from climate change and anthropogenic forcing, which requires
adaptation and mitigation strategies to be established. In this ...context,
sedimentological archives in many Mediterranean cities record a
multi-millennial history of environmental dynamics and human adaptation,
revealing a long-lasting resilience. Founded by the Phoenicians around 3000 years ago, Cádiz (south-western Spain) is a key example of a coastal
resilient city. This urban centre is considered to be one of the first
cities of western Europe and has experienced major natural hazards during its
long history, such as coastal erosion, storms, and also tsunamis (like the
one in 1755 CE following the destructive Lisbon earthquake). In the framework of an international, joint archaeological and
geoarchaeological project, three cores have been drilled in a marine
palaeochannel that ran through the ancient city of Cádiz. These
cores reveal a ≥50 m thick Holocene sedimentary sequence. Importantly,
most of the deposits date from the 1st millennium BCE to the 1st
millennium CE. This exceptional sedimentary archive will allow our
scientific team to achieve its research goals, which are (1) to reconstruct
the palaeogeographical evolution of this specific coastal area; (2) to trace
the intensity of activities of the city of Cádiz based on archaeological
data, as well as geochemical and palaeoecological indicators; and (3) to
identify and date high-energy event deposits such as storms and tsunamis.
Purpose
The substance 7,8‐dihydroxyflavone (DHF) is a potent agonist of the tropomyosin‐related kinase B (TrkB) receptor with a small molecular weight (254 Da) that crosses the blood brain barrier. ...We analyse the neuroprotective effects of systemically administered DHF on the survival of adult rat axotomized retinal ganglion cells (RGC) expressing Brn3a (Brn3a+RGCs).
Methods
In adult albino rats, the left optic nerve was intraorbitally transected (IONT). Rats were assigned to different groups that received daily intraperitoneal injections of saline (n=16) or DHF at different doses (1 mg/kg, n = 4; 2 mg/kg, n = 6; 4 mg/kg, n = 6; 5 mg/kg, n = 12; 10 mg/kg, n = 6; 25 mg/kg n = 6). Animals were analyzed 7 days after IONT, both retinas were dissected, prepared as wholemounts and immune‐labelled for Brn3a to identify surviving Brn3a+RGCs. Total numbers of surviving Brn3a+RGCs were quantified automatically and their topographical distribution was examined with the construction of isodensity maps.
Results
Seven days after IONT, treatment with saline alone or with low doses of DHF (1mg/kg, 2mg/kg) results in the loss of approximately 40% of the RGC population, whereas treatment with medium doses of DHF (4 or 5mg/kg) resulted in significant neuroprotection with loss of only 15% or 7% of the RGC population, and treatment with high doses of DHF (10 or 25mg/kg) caused loss of 26 or 29% of the RGC population.
Conclusion
Our data show that DHF has significant RGC neuroprotective effects, and that the most effective doses are 4‐5mg/kg.
Abstract
An interferon λ4 gene (IFNL4) knockout allele (rs368234815; TT) is associated with spontaneous and IFN-α–dependent cure of hepatitis C virus infection. The role of this polymorphism in the ...susceptibility to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is controversial. This study aimed to assess the association of this knockout IFNL4 variant and sexually transmitted HIV-1 infection. A total of 228 HIV-1–positive individuals and 136 HIV-exposed seronegative individuals were investigated for their association with IFNL4 rs368234815 genotypes. The IFNL4 ΔG functional allele is associated with increased susceptibility to HIV-1 infection through the sexual route (odds ratio OR, 2.1; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.2–3.6; P = .004). A meta-analysis including a population of injection drug users suggests a codominant mode of inheritance of this risk factor (OR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.3–3.2; P = .001).
Genotypes encoding functional interferon λ4 are associated with increased susceptibility to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, regardless of transmission route (sexual and parenteral), which supports the importance of interferon signaling in the pathogenesis of HIV infection.
Federated learning (FL) has attracted significant interest given its prominent advantages and applicability in many scenarios. However, it has been demonstrated that sharing updated gradients/weights ...during the training process can lead to privacy concerns. In the context of the Internet of Things (IoT), this can be exacerbated due to intrusion detection systems (IDSs), which are intended to detect security attacks by analyzing the devices' network traffic. Our work provides a comprehensive evaluation of differential privacy techniques, which are applied during the training of an FL-enabled IDS for industrial IoT. Unlike previous approaches, we deal with nonindependent and identically distributed data over the recent ToN_IoT dataset, and compare the accuracy obtained considering different privacy requirements and aggregation functions, namely FedAvg and the recently proposed Fed+. According to our evaluation, the use of Fed+ in our setting provides similar results even when noise is included in the federated training process.
Geoarchaeological cores were retrieved in the centre of the old “Bahía-Caleta” palaeochannel located between the
Erytheia
and
Cotinusa
islands in the former Cádiz archipelago, in present-day ...southern Spain. The unprecedented coring depth (~ 35–50 m) allowed us to identify the bottom of a Phoenician–Punic and Roman harbour. Located at 20–40 m b.s.l. in the sedimentary sequence, silty sand deposits reveal a deep semi-protected shelter with abundant ceramic and archaeobotanical findings. Based on these new results, the palaeotopography of the islands of Cádiz is reinterpreted, demonstrating the presence of a harbour accessible from the west and possibly from the east until (at least) the Roman period. This major discovery opens meaningful perspectives for archaeological, geomorphological and palaeoenvironmental research.
In this study, a series of novel quinolinone-based thiosemicarbazones were designed in silico and their activities tested in vitro against
(
). Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) ...studies were performed using quinolinone and thiosemicarbazide as pharmacophoric nuclei; the best model showed statistical parameters of R
= 0.83; F = 47.96; s = 0.31, and was validated by several different methods. The van der Waals volume, electron density, and electronegativity model results suggested a pivotal role in antituberculosis (anti-TB) activity. Subsequently, from this model a new series of quinolinone-thiosemicarbazone
-
was designed and docked against two tuberculosis protein targets: enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (InhA) and decaprenylphosphoryl-
-
-ribose-2'-oxidase (DprE1). Molecular dynamics simulation over 200 ns showed a binding energy of -71.3 to -12.7 Kcal/mol, suggesting likely inhibition. In vitro antimycobacterial activity of quinolinone-thiosemicarbazone for
-
was evaluated against
,
H37Rv, and six different strains of drug-resistant
. All compounds exhibited good to excellent activity against all the families of
. Several of the here synthesized compounds were more effective than the standard drugs (isoniazid, oxafloxacin),
and
being the most active products. The results suggest that these compounds may contribute as lead compounds in the research of new potential antimycobacterial agents.
The effect of dietary fat intake on the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and in turn on cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclear in individuals at high CVD risk.
To assess the association between fat ...intake and MetS components in an adult Mediterranean population at high CVD risk.
Baseline assessment of nutritional adequacy in participants (
= 6560, men and women, 55-75 years old, with overweight/obesity and MetS) in the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED)-Plus randomized trial.
Assessment of fat intake (total fat, monounsatured fatty acids: MUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids: PUFA, saturated fatty acids: SFA, trans-fatty acids: trans-FA, linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid, and ω-3 FA) using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and diet quality using 17-item Mediterranean dietary questionnaire and fat quality index (FQI).
Participants in the highest quintile of total dietary fat intake showed lower intake of energy, carbohydrates, protein and fiber, but higher intake of PUFA, MUFA, SFA, TFA, LA, ALA and ω-3 FA. Differences in MetS components were found according to fat intake. Odds (5th vs. 1st quintile): hyperglycemia: 1.3-1.6 times higher for total fat, MUFA, SFA and ω-3 FA intake; low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c): 1.2 higher for LA; hypertriglyceridemia: 0.7 lower for SFA and ω-3 FA intake.
Dietary fats played different role on MetS components of high CVD risk patients. Dietary fat intake was associated with higher risk of hyperglycemia.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a disease with great morphological and genetic heterogeneity, which complicates its prognosis and treatment. The hypomethylating agents azacitidine (Vidaza®, AZA) and ...decitabine (Dacogen®, DAC) have been approved for the treatment of AML patients, but their mechanisms of action are poorly understood. Natural killer (NK) cells play an important role in the recognition of AML blasts through the interaction of the activating NKG2D receptor with its ligands (NKG2DL: MICA/B and ULBPs1-3). However, soluble NKG2DL (sNKG2DL) can be released from the cell surface, impairing immune recognition. Here, we examined whether hypomethylating agents modulate the release of sNKG2DL from AML cells. Results demonstrated that AZA- and DAC-treated AML cells reduce the release of sNKG2DL, preventing downregulation of NKG2D receptor on the cell surface and promoting immune recognition mediated by NKG2D-NKG2DL engagement. We show that the shedding of MICA, MICB and ULBP2 is inhibited by the increased expression of TIMP3, an ADAM17 inhibitor, after DAC treatment. The TIMP3 gene is highly methylated in AML cells lines and in AML patients (25.5%), in which it is significantly associated with an adverse cytogenetic prognosis of the disease. Overall, TIMP3 could be a target of the demethylating treatments in AML patients, leading to a decrease in MICA, MICB and ULBP2 shedding and the enhancement of the lytic activity of NK cells through the immune recognition mediated by the NKG2D receptor.
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