Rapid gastric emptying is associated with obesity and overeating, whereas delayed gastric emptying is associated with anorexia. Acute effects of exercise on gastric emptying have been investigated ...extensively, but the influence of habitual physical activity on gastric emptying and transit time in other regions of the gastrointestinal tract is poorly understood.
The objective was to investigate associations between objectively measured habitual physical activity and gastrointestinal transit times in adults with varying degrees of adiposity.
50 adults (58% women) were included in this cross-sectional study. Physical activity was measured by an accelerometer placed on the lower back for 7 d. Gastric emptying time, small bowel transit time, colonic transit time, and whole gut transit time were simultaneously evaluated by a wireless motility capsule, which was ingested together with a standardized mixed meal. Linear regression models were applied to assess the associations of total activity counts and time spent at different intensities-sedentary activity (0-100 counts/min), low light activity (101-759 counts/min), high light activity (760-1951 counts/min); moderate and vigorous activity (≥1952 counts/min)) with gastrointestinal transit times.
Median Q1; Q3 age was 56.5 46.6-65.5 y, and body mass index (BMI) was 32.1 28.5-35.1 kg/m
. For every additional hour spent performing high light intensity physical activity, colonic transit time was 25.5 % 95% CI: 3.10, 42.7 more rapid (P = 0.028), and whole gut transit time was 16.2 % 95% CI: 1.84, 28.4 more rapid (P = 0.028) when adjusted for sex, age, and body fat. No other associations were observed.
More time spent on physical activity at high light intensity was associated with more rapid colonic and whole gut transit time, independent of age, sex, and body fat, whereas other intensities of physical activity and gastrointestinal transit times were not associated.
Clinicaltrials.gov IDs (NCT03894670, NCT03854656).
Contents
Accurate detection of oestrus is important for artificial insemination. The aim of this study was to identify oestrous‐specific bovine cervical mucus proteins that could be used to determine ...the optimal time for artificial insemination. Non‐oestrous and controlled internal drug release (CIDR)‐induced oestrous‐stage mucus proteins were purified and subjected to surface‐enhanced laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry, sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and MALDI‐TOF/TOF. Among differentially expressed proteins, lactoferrin (LF) and glutamate receptor‐interacting protein 1 (GRIP1) showed a twofold increase during the CIDR‐induced oestrous stage compared to the levels in non‐oestrous stage in bovine cervical mucus. The RT‐PCR, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry results showed that LF and GRIP1 expression was significantly increased during the oestrous stage in the uterus. This study demonstrated that bovine LF and GRIP1 exist during the oestrous stage, but not during the non‐oestrous stage, suggesting that cervical mucus LF and GRIP1 are useful oestrous detection markers in cattle.
Viruses represent the most abundant life forms on the planet. Recent experimental and computational improvements have led to a dramatic increase in the number of viral genome sequences identified ...primarily from metagenomic samples. As a result of the expanding catalog of metagenomic viral sequences, there exists a need for a comprehensive computational platform integrating all these sequences with associated metadata and analytical tools. Here we present IMG/VR (https://img.jgi.doe.gov/vr/), the largest publicly available database of 3908 isolate reference DNA viruses with 264 413 computationally identified viral contigs from >6000 ecologically diverse metagenomic samples. Approximately half of the viral contigs are grouped into genetically distinct quasi-species clusters. Microbial hosts are predicted for 20 000 viral sequences, revealing nine microbial phyla previously unreported to be infected by viruses. Viral sequences can be queried using a variety of associated metadata, including habitat type and geographic location of the samples, or taxonomic classification according to hallmark viral genes. IMG/VR has a user-friendly interface that allows users to interrogate all integrated data and interact by comparing with external sequences, thus serving as an essential resource in the viral genomics community.
Laser plasmas can be produced when high-power laser beams are focused in matter. A focused laser beam of TW(terawatt)-level high power has an extremely strong electric field, so neutral atoms are ...immediately ionized by the laser electric field, leading to a laser-produced plasma. The laser plasma can be produced by small table-top TW lasers based on the CPA (chirped-pulse amplification) technique, and now they are rather easily available even in university laboratories. In Korea, there are several CPA-based TW (or even petawatt) lasers in a few institutions, and they have been used for diverse laser plasma physics research and applications, including the laser acceleration for electrons and ions, high-power THz (tera-hertz) generation, advanced light sources, high-energy-density plasmas, plasma optics, etc. This paper reviews some of the laser plasma physics research and applications that have been performed in several universities and research institutes.
Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2012; 35: 56–65
Summary
Background The eradication rates following standard triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection are declining worldwide. Recent studies have shown ...that sequential therapy for H. pylori infection yields high cure rates.
Aim To compare the efficacy and tolerability of a sequential regimen as first‐line treatment of H. pylori infection with a standard triple regimen.
Methods A total of 348 naïve H. pylori‐infected patients from six hospitals in Korea were assigned randomly to standard triple or sequential therapy groups. Standard triple therapy consisted of 20 mg of rabeprazole, 1 g of amoxicillin and 500 mg of clarithromycin, twice daily for 7 days. Sequential therapy consisted of a 5‐day dual therapy (20 mg of rabeprazole and 1 g of amoxicillin, twice daily) followed by a 5‐day triple therapy (20 mg of rabeprazole, 500 mg of clarithromycin, and 500 mg of metronidazole, twice daily).
Results The intention‐to‐treat (ITT) and per‐protocol (PP) eradication rates were 62.2% (95% CI 54.8–69.6%) and 76.0% (95% CI 68.5–83.5%) in the standard triple group, and 77.8% (95% CI 71.4–84.2%) and 87.9% (95% CI 82.3–93.5%) in the sequential group, respectively. The eradication rate was significantly higher in the sequential group compared with the standard triple group in both the ITT and PP populations (P = 0.002 and P = 0.013 respectively), whereas the incidence of adverse events was similar.
Conclusions Ten‐day sequential therapy is more effective and equally tolerated for eradication of H. pylori infection compared with standard triple therapy. Sequential therapy may have a role as first‐line treatment for H. pylori infection.
Plastic deformation of Cu–Zr–(Al,Ti) bulk metallic glass (BMG) composites induces a martensitic phase transformation from the B2 to the B19′ CuZr phase. Addition of Ti to binary Cu–Zr increases the ...temperature above which the B2 CuZr phase becomes stable. This affects the phase formation upon quenching in Cu–Zr–Ti BMG composites. The deformation-induced martensitic transformation is believed to cause the strong work hardening and to contribute to the large compressive deformability with plastic strains up to 15%.
Abstract
Bacteria of the genus
Streptomyces
have a linear chromosome, with a core region and two ‘arms’. During their complex life cycle, these bacteria develop multi-genomic hyphae that ...differentiate into chains of exospores that carry a single copy of the genome. Sporulation-associated cell division requires chromosome segregation and compaction. Here, we show that the arms of
Streptomyces venezuelae
chromosomes are spatially separated at entry to sporulation, but during sporogenic cell division they are closely aligned with the core region. Arm proximity is imposed by segregation protein ParB and condensin SMC. Moreover, the chromosomal terminal regions are organized into distinct domains by the
Streptomyces
-specific HU-family protein HupS. Thus, as seen in eukaryotes, there is substantial chromosomal remodelling during the
Streptomyces
life cycle, with the chromosome undergoing rearrangements from an ‘open’ to a ‘closed’ conformation.
Aims/hypothesis
We aimed to investigate the short-term efficacy and safety of three glucose-lowering interventions in overweight or obese individuals with prediabetes defined by HbA
1c
.
Methods
The ...PRE-D Trial was a randomised, controlled, parallel, multi-arm, open-label, non-blinded trial performed at Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen, Gentofte, Denmark. One hundred and twenty participants with BMI ≥25 kg/m
2
, 30–70 years of age, and prediabetes (HbA
1c
39–47 mmol/mol 5.7–6.4%) were randomised 1:1:1:1 to dapagliflozin (10 mg once daily), metformin (1700 mg daily), interval-based exercise (5 days/week, 30 min/session) or control (habitual lifestyle). Participants were examined at baseline and at 6, 13 and 26 weeks after randomisation. The primary outcome was the 13 week change in glycaemic variability (calculated as mean amplitude of glycaemic excursions MAGE) determined using a continuous glucose monitoring system (pre-specified minimal clinically important difference in MAGE ∼30%).
Results
One hundred and twelve participants attended the examination at 13 weeks and 111 attended the follow-up visit at 26 weeks. Compared with the control group, there was a small decrease in MAGE in the dapagliflozin group (17.1% 95% CI 0.7, 30.8,
p
= 0.042) and a small, non-significant, reduction in the exercise group (15.3% 95% CI −1.2, 29.1,
p
= 0.067), whereas MAGE was unchanged in the metformin group (0.1% 95% CI −16.1, 19.4,
p
= 0.991)). Compared with the metformin group, MAGE was 17.2% (95% CI 0.8, 30.9;
p
= 0.041) lower in the dapagliflozin group and 15.4% (95% CI −1.1, 29.1;
p
= 0.065) lower in the exercise group after 13 weeks, with no difference between exercise and dapagliflozin (2.2% 95% CI −14.8, 22.5,
p
= 0.815). One serious adverse event occurred in the control group (lung cancer).
Conclusions/interpretation
Treatment with dapagliflozin and interval-based exercise lead to similar but small improvements in glycaemic variability compared with control and metformin therapy. The clinical importance of these findings in prediabetes is uncertain.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov
NCT02695810
Funding
The study was funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, AstraZeneca AB, the Danish Innovation Foundation, the University of Copenhagen and Ascensia Diabetes Care Denmark ApS
Graphical abstract
In the event of a global infectious pandemic, drastic measures may be needed that limit or require adjustment of ambulatory allergy services. However, no rationale for how to prioritize service shut ...down and patient care exists. A consensus-based ad-hoc expert panel of allergy/immunology specialists from the United States and Canada developed a service and patient prioritization schematic to temporarily triage allergy/immunology services. Recommendations and feedback were developed iteratively, using an adapted modified Delphi methodology to achieve consensus. During the ongoing pandemic while social distancing is being encouraged, most allergy/immunology care could be postponed/delayed or handled through virtual care. With the exception of many patients with primary immunodeficiency, patients on venom immunotherapy, and patients with asthma of a certain severity, there is limited need for face-to-face visits under such conditions. These suggestions are intended to help provide a logical approach to quickly adjust service to mitigate risk to both medical staff and patients. Importantly, individual community circumstances may be unique and require contextual consideration. The decision to enact any of these measures rests with the judgment of each clinician and individual health care system. Pandemics are unanticipated, and enforced social distancing/quarantining is highly unusual. This expert panel consensus document offers a prioritization rational to help guide decision making when such situations arise and an allergist/immunologist is forced to reduce services or makes the decision on his or her own to do so.
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