Context:
The risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) associated with obesity appears to be influenced by the coexistence of other metabolic abnormalities.
Objective:
We ...examined the risk of developing CVD and DM in metabolically healthy obese (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy normal weight (MUH-NW) individuals.
Design and Setting:
We analyzed prospective data of the San Antonio Heart Study, a population-based study among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites (median follow-up, 7.4 y).
Participants:
Incident DM and CVD were assessed in 2814 and 3700 participants aged 25 to 64 years, respectively.
Main Measures:
MHO was defined as obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2) with no more than one metabolic abnormality, and MUH-NW was defined as body mass index <25 kg/m2 with two or more abnormalities.
Results:
In logistic regression models, BMI was associated with incident DM after controlling for demographics, family history of DM, and fasting glucose (odds ratio × 1 SD, 1.7 95% CI, 1.5–2.0). Both MUH-NW and MHO individuals had an increased DM risk (2.5 1.1–5.6 and 3.9 2.0–7.4, respectively). Similarly, BMI was related to incident CVD after adjusting for demographics and Framingham risk score (1.3 1.1–1.6). Incident CVD was also increased in MUH-NW and MHO individuals (2.9 1.3–6.4 and 3.9 1.9–7.8, respectively). Results were consistent across gender and ethnic categories.
Conclusion:
The risk of developing DM and CVD is increased in MUH-NW and MHO individuals. Screening for obesity and other metabolic abnormalities should be routinely performed in clinical practice to institute appropriate preventive measures.
OBJECTIVE:--The clinical value of metabolic syndrome is uncertain. Thus, we examined cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes risk prediction by the National Cholesterol Education Program ...(NCEP)-Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII), International Diabetes Federation, and World Health Organization definitions of the metabolic syndrome. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS--We analyzed the risks associated with metabolic syndrome, the NCEP multiple risk factor categories, and 2-h glucose values in the San Antonio Heart Study (n = 2,559; age range 25-64 years; 7.4 years of follow-up). RESULTS:--Both ATPIII metabolic syndrome plus age >=45 years (odds ratio 9.25 95% CI 4.85-17.7) and multiple (two or more) risk factors plus a 10-year coronary heart disease (CHD) risk of 10-20% (11.9 6.00-23.6) had similar CVD risk in men without CHD, as well as CHD risk equivalents. In women counterparts, multiple (two or more) risk factors plus a 10-year CHD risk of 10-20% was infrequent (10 of 1,254). However, either a 10-year CHD risk of 5-20% (7.72 3.42-17.4) or ATPIII metabolic syndrome plus age >=55 years (4.98 2.08-12.0) predicted CVD. ATPIII metabolic syndrome increased the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of a model containing age, sex, ethnic origin, family history of diabetes, and 2-h and fasting glucose values (0.857 vs. 0.842, P = 0.013). All three metabolic syndrome definitions imparted similar CVD and diabetes risks. CONCLUSIONS:--Metabolic syndrome is associated with a significant CVD risk, particularly in men aged >=45 years and women aged >=55 years. The metabolic syndrome predicts diabetes beyond glucose intolerance alone.
Recent studies using untargeted metabolomics approaches have suggested that plasma branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are associated with incident diabetes. However, little is known about the role of ...plasma BCAAs in metabolic abnormalities underlying diabetes and whether these relationships are consistent across ethnic populations at high risk for diabetes. We investigated the associations of BCAAs with insulin sensitivity (SI), acute insulin response (AIR), and metabolic clearance of insulin (MCRI) in a multiethnic cohort.
In 685 participants without diabetes of the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS) (290 Caucasians, 165 African Americans, and 230 Hispanics), we measured plasma BCAAs (sum of valine, leucine, and isoleucine) by mass spectrometry and SI, AIR, and MCRI by frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance tests.
Elevated plasma BCAAs were inversely associated with SI and MCRI and positively associated with fasting insulin in regression models adjusted for potential confounders (β = -0.0012 95% CI -0.0018, -0.00059, P < 0.001 for SI; β = -0.0013 95% CI -0.0018, -0.00082, P < 0.001 for MCRI; and β = 0.0015 95% CI 0.0008, 0.0023, P < 0.001 for fasting insulin). The association of BCAA with SI was significantly modified by ethnicity, with the association only being significant in Caucasians and Hispanics. Elevated plasma BCAAs were associated with incident diabetes in Caucasians and Hispanics (multivariable-adjusted odds ratio per 1-SD increase in plasma BCAAs: 1.67 95% CI 1.21, 2.29, P = 0.002) but not in African Americans. Plasma BCAAs were not associated with SI-adjusted AIR.
Plasma BCAAs are associated with incident diabetes and underlying metabolic abnormalities, although the associations were generally stronger in Caucasians and Hispanics.
The Ndutu cranium is a partial, fragmented, and distorted hominin specimen from the Lake Ndutu site in Tanzania. It was first reconstructed by R. J. Clarke in 1976 and later revisited using ...now-outdated techniques. Consequently, features such as facial projection, cranial height/length, and cranial flexion are contestable. Here, we present a new virtual reconstruction following a transparent and replicable approach that employs virtual anthropology techniques to reassemble, mirror, digitally align, complete the cranium, and remove the effect of plastic deformation. Before deciding on an approach to align the unarticulated fragments, we tested the effects of symmetrization and the use of surface semilandmarks on the performance of our tool of choice: the digital alignment tool (DTA), developed by A. Profico and colleagues in 2019. Upon completion, we compare our reconstruction to a sample of Pleistocene hominin crania via geometric morphometrics. Test results reveal that DTA performance varies by fragment and that the use of surface semilandmarks bears no statistically significant advantage. We found our reconstruction to boast a more prognate and narrower face with a less flexed cranium overall than previous reconstruction efforts. The shape of the reconstructed cranial vault of Ndutu resulted closest to Sima de los Huesos (SH) 5, while its sagittal profile was most similar to Kabwe’s, lending support to J. L. Arsuaga and colleagues’ 1997 work and to P. Rightmire’s, respectively. We warn that further work is necessary before settling the debate surrounding Ndutu’s phylogeny. However, if our reconstruction hypothesis is held, its inclusion in future morphological studies is granted.
Abstract
The study of sexual dimorphism in human crania has important applications in the fields of human evolution and human osteology. Current, the identification of sex from cranial morphology ...relies on manual visual inspection of identifiable anatomical features, which can lead to bias due to user’s expertise. We developed a landmark-based approach to automatically map the sexual dimorphism signal on the human cranium. We used a sex-known sample of 228 individuals from different geographical locations to identify which cranial regions are most sexually dimorphic taking into account shape, form and size. Our results, which align with standard protocols, show that glabellar and supraciliary regions, the mastoid process and the nasal region are the most sexually dimorphic traits (with an accuracy of 73%). The accuracy increased to 77% if they were considered together. Surprisingly the occipital external protuberance resulted to be not sexually dimorphic but mainly related to variations in size. Our approach here applied could be expanded to map other variable signals on skeletal morphology.
Pineapple is an economically important tropical fruit crop, but the lack of adequate planting material limits its productivity. A range of micropropagation protocols has been developed over the years ...to address this shortfall. Still, the final stage of micropropagation, i.e. acclimatisation, remains a challenge as pineapple plantlets grow very slowly. Several studies have been conducted focusing on this phase and attempting to improve plantlet growth and establishment, which requires tools for the non-destructive evaluation of growth during acclimatisation. This report describes the use of semi-automated and automated image analysis to quantify canopy growth of pineapple plantlets, during five months of acclimatisation. The canopy area progressively increased during acclimatisation, particularly after 90 days. Regression analyses were performed to determine the relationships between the automated image analysis and morphological indicators of growth. The mathematical relationships between estimations of the canopy area and the fresh and dry weights of intact plantlets, middle-aged leaves (D leaves) and roots showed determination coefficients (R2) between 0.84 and 0.92. We propose an appropriate tool for the simple, objective and non-destructive evaluation of pineapple plantlets growth, which can be generally applied for plant phenotyping, to reduce costs and develop streamlined pipelines for the assessment of plant growth.
In this work, pellets of CaSiO3 have been produced for investigation as gamma radiation, proton, and carbon ions detector. They were then irradiated to gamma radiation using 137Cs and 60Co sources. ...Furthermore, pellets of CaSiO3 were exposed to 160 MeV proton and 290 MeV/n carbon ion beam from an upper synchrotron. Thermoluminescence (TL) responses of these pellets presented the same prominent peak at about 170 °C, and two possible high-temperature peaks at 270 and 320 °C when irradiated to gamma, proton, and carbon ion beam. Dose-response curve, minimum detectable dose (MDD), energy dependence, and dependence on the dose rate when irradiated with gamma radiation were evaluated in this material. Linear dose-response curves for proton and carbon ion irradiation have been compared to that of the gamma dose-response. In this way, the dose read out in Harshaw TL reader presented a good agreement with doses found using ion chamber in the case of proton beams and slightly less in the case of carbon beam due to the LET dependency. Furthermore, relative efficiencies of CaSiO3 for beam irradiation of proton and carbon ion display no dependence in the analyzed particle doses range.
•Pellets of CaSiO3 have been produced for high-energy gamma and particle detection.•MDD for CaSiO3 pellets was calculated using the gamma dose-response calibration curve.•Energy and dose rate dependences for CaSiO3 pellets were studied.•Proton and carbon dose-response curves were compared to that of gamma irradiation.•Relative efficiencies for ion beam irradiation are independent of the particle dose.
Aims/hypothesis
Low phosphate and high calcium concentrations have been linked to altered glucose tolerance and reduced insulin sensitivity in non-diabetic individuals. The aim of this study was to ...examine the relationships of calcium and phosphate levels and the calcium–phosphate product with the development of type 2 diabetes.
Methods
Participants were 863 African-Americans, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study who were free of diabetes at baseline. The mean follow-up period was 5.2 years. The insulin sensitivity index (S
I
) and acute insulin response (AIR) were directly measured using the frequently sampled IVGTT.
Results
Calcium concentration (OR per 1 SD unit increase, 1.26 95% CI 1.04, 1.53) and calcium–phosphate product (OR 1.29 95% CI 1.04, 1.59) were associated with incident diabetes after adjustment for demographic variables, family history of diabetes, and 2 h glucose. The relationship between phosphate concentration and progression to diabetes was close to statistical significance (OR 1.21 95% CI 0.98, 1.49). Calcium concentration (OR 1.37 95% CI 1.09, 1.72) and calcium–phosphate product (OR 1.39 95% CI 1.09, 1.77) remained associated with incident diabetes after additional adjustment for BMI, plasma glucose, S
I
, AIR, C-reactive protein, estimated GFR, diuretic drugs and total calcium intake.
Conclusions/interpretation
Elevated serum calcium and calcium–phosphate product are associated with increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes independently of measured glucose, insulin secretion and insulin resistance. Future studies need to analyse the role of calcium–phosphate homeostasis in the pathophysiology of diabetes.
We present here the thermoluminescence (TL) properties of Ce-doped CaF2 (CaF2:Ce) phosphor synthesized by combustion of the precipitate formed from the addition of NH4F to (Ca(NO3)2)⋅4H2O. The ...structure analysis of the synthesized sample was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The CaF2:Ce phosphor shows an intense peak at about 120 °C and a low-intensity peak at 280 °C. Both peaks' thermoluminescence (TL) intensity was observed to increase with γ-dose. The kinetic parameters of TL peaks were calculated for CaF2:Ce phosphor using the Tm-Tstop and deconvolution methods. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is utilized to identify the defect centers formed in γ-irradiated CaF2:Ce phosphor and also to infer the defect centers involved in the TL process. The presence of two defect centers is inferred and center I has a g-value equal to 2.018 and is identified as an O− ion. The O− ion correlates with the TL peak at 120 °C. Center II with a g-value of 2.0057 is ascribed to a radiation-induced Fe3+ ion and is observed to relate to the high-temperature TL peak at 280 °C. The UV–Vis optical absorption of pure CaF2 and Ce-doped phosphors was investigated.
•The TL glow curve of Ce-doped CaF2 phosphor exhibits two peaks at 120 and 280 °C.•Defect centers were identified in γ-irradiated phosphor due to O− and Fe3+ ions.•The EPR signal due to O− ion is associated to the 120 °C peak.•The EPR signal due to Fe3+ ion is associated to the 280 °C TL peak.
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