Here we report an all-sky soft gamma-ray source catalog based on IBIS observations performed during the first 1000 orbits of INTEGRAL. The database for the construction of the source list consists of ...all good-quality data available, from the launch in 2002, up to the end of 2010. This corresponds to ~110 Ms of scientific public observations, with a concentrated coverage on the Galactic Plane and extragalactic deep exposures. This new catalog includes 939 sources above a 4.5sigma significance threshold detected in the 17-100 keV energy band, of which 120 sources represent previously undiscovered soft gamma-ray emitters. The source positions are determined, mean fluxes are provided in two main energy bands, and these are both reported together with the overall source exposure. Indicative levels of variability are provided, and outburst times and durations are given for transient sources. A comparison is made with previous IBIS catalogs and catalogs from other similar missions.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a very common risk factor for hypertension, and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been widely used to treat OSA. We conducted a meta-analysis of ...randomized, controlled trials to evaluate the effects of CPAP on blood pressure, reported as either a primary or secondary end point, among patients with OSA. Studies were retrieved by searching Medline (January 1980 to July 2006), the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, conference abstracts, and bibliographies of review and original articles. From 255 relevant reports, 16 randomized clinical trials were selected that compared CPAP to control among participants with OSA, had a minimum treatment duration of 2 weeks, and reported blood pressure changes during the intervention or control period. Data on sample size, participant characteristics, study design, intervention methods, duration, and treatment results were independently abstracted by 2 investigators using a standardized protocol. Data from 16 trials representing 818 participants were examined using a random-effects model. Mean net change in systolic blood pressure for those treated with CPAP compared with control was −2.46 mm Hg (95% CI−4.31 to −0.62); mean net change in diastolic blood pressure was −1.83 mm Hg (95% CI−3.05 to −0.61); and mean net change in mean arterial pressure was −2.22 mm Hg (95% CI−4.38 to −0.05). Net reductions in blood pressure were not statistically different between daytime and nighttime. These results indicate that CPAP decreases blood pressure among those with OSA and may help prevent hypertension.
The effects of low-carbohydrate diets (≤45% of energy from carbohydrates) versus low-fat diets (≤30% of energy from fat) on metabolic risk factors were compared in a meta-analysis of randomized ...controlled trials. Twenty-three trials from multiple countries with a total of 2,788 participants met the predetermined eligibility criteria (from January 1, 1966 to June 20, 2011) and were included in the analyses. Data abstraction was conducted in duplicate by independent investigators. Both low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets lowered weight and improved metabolic risk factors. Compared with participants on low-fat diets, persons on low-carbohydrate diets experienced a slightly but statistically significantly lower reduction in total cholesterol (2.7 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval: 0.8, 4.6), and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (3.7 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval: 1.0, 6.4), but a greater increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (3.3 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval: 1.9, 4.7) and a greater decrease in triglycerides (-14.0 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval: -19.4, -8.7). Reductions in body weight, waist circumference and other metabolic risk factors were not significantly different between the 2 diets. These findings suggest that low-carbohydrate diets are at least as effective as low-fat diets at reducing weight and improving metabolic risk factors. Low-carbohydrate diets could be recommended to obese persons with abnormal metabolic risk factors for the purpose of weight loss. Studies demonstrating long-term effects of low-carbohydrate diets on cardiovascular events were warranted.
We report the INTernational Gamma-ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) detection of the short gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A (discovered by Fermi-GBM) with a signal-to-noise ratio of 4.6, and, for the ...first time, its association with the gravitational waves (GWs) from binary neutron star (BNS) merging event GW170817 detected by the LIGO and Virgo observatories. The significance of association between the gamma-ray burst observed by INTEGRAL and GW170817 is 3.2 , while the association between the Fermi-GBM and INTEGRAL detections is 4.2 . GRB 170817A was detected by the SPI-ACS instrument about 2 s after the end of the GW event. We measure a fluence of (1.4 0.4 0.6) × 10−7 erg cm−2 (75-2000 keV), where, respectively, the statistical error is given at the 1 confidence level, and the systematic error corresponds to the uncertainty in the spectral model and instrument response. We also report on the pointed follow-up observations carried out by INTEGRAL, starting 19.5 hr after the event, and lasting for 5.4 days. We provide a stringent upper limit on any electromagnetic signal in a very broad energy range, from 3 keV to 8 MeV, constraining the soft gamma-ray afterglow flux to <7.1 × 10−11 erg cm−2 s−1 (80-300 keV). Exploiting the unique capabilities of INTEGRAL, we constrained the gamma-ray line emission from radioactive decays that are expected to be the principal source of the energy behind a kilonova event following a BNS coalescence. Finally, we put a stringent upper limit on any delayed bursting activity, for example, from a newly formed magnetar.
We report on International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) observations of the soft γ-ray repeater SGR 1935+2154 performed between 2020 April 28 and May 3. Several short bursts with ...fluence of erg cm−2 were detected by the Imager on-board INTEGRAL (IBIS) instrument in the 20-200 keV range. The burst with the hardest spectrum, discovered and localized in real time by the INTEGRAL Burst Alert System, was spatially and temporally coincident with a short and very bright radio burst detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and Survey for Transient Astronomical Radio Emission 2 (STARE2) radio telescopes at 400-800 MHz and 1.4 GHz, respectively. Its lightcurve shows three narrow peaks separated by ∼29 ms time intervals, superimposed on a broad pulse lasting ∼0.6 s. The brightest peak had a delay of 6.5 1.0 ms with respect to the 1.4 GHz radio pulse (that coincides with the second and brightest component seen at lower frequencies). The burst spectrum, an exponentially cutoff power law with photon index and peak energy , is harder than those of the bursts usually observed from this and other magnetars. By the analysis of an expanding dust-scattering ring seen in X-rays with the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory X-ray Telescope (XRT) instrument, we derived a distance of kpc for SGR 1935+2154, independent of its possible association with the supernova remnant G57.2+0.8. At this distance, the burst 20-200 keV fluence of erg cm−2 corresponds to an isotropic emitted energy of erg. This is the first burst with a radio counterpart observed from a soft γ-ray repeater and it strongly supports models based on magnetars that have been proposed for extragalactic fast radio bursts.
Key differences exist between men and women in the determinants and manifestations of cardiovascular and cardiometabolic diseases. Recently, gut microbiome-host relations have been implicated in ...cardiovascular disease and associated metabolic conditions; therefore, gut microbiota may be key mediators or modulators driving the observed sexual dimorphism in disease onset and progression. While current evidence regarding pure physiological sex differences in gut microbiome composition is modest, robust research suggests that gut microbiome-dependent metabolites may interact with important biological pathways under sex hormone control, including toll-like receptor and flavin monooxygenase signaling. Here, we review key sex differences in gut microbiome interactions with four primary determinants of cardiovascular disease, impaired glucose regulation, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity. Through this process, we propose important sex differences in downstream metabolic pathways that may be at the interface of the gut microbiome and cardiovascular disease.
The concept of informed consent has evolved significantly with regard to both the practice of medicine and research conducted with human volunteers. Yet the process of informed consent used in ...clinical research and the lengthy consent documents that are difficult to comprehend have been criticized.
We review the history of informed consent as a legal and regulatory concept and the intended impact of the new key information section, a requirement that was introduced in the 2017 revisions to the Common Rule.
The key information section is intended to be a concise and focused presentation at the beginning of the informed consent document that facilitates potential participants' comprehension of the research. However, the lack of regulatory guidance regarding content and length has been problematic. To avoid the risk of noncompliance, many institutions have sought safe harbor by following the limited format guidelines included in the preamble to the revisions to the Common Rule.
Research examining formats for the key information section and aids to increasing potential participants' understanding of a research project should be conducted to ensure that the new regulations achieve the original intent rather than simply lengthening an already lengthy paper document. In addition, the human research protections community should evaluate whether the key information section increases research participants' understanding of what they will be undertaking in a particular study.
Intake of Fruit, Vegetables, and Fruit Juices and Risk of Diabetes in Women
Lydia A. Bazzano , MD, PHD 1 ,
Tricia Y. Li , MD, MS 2 ,
Kamudi J. Joshipura , BDS, MS, SCD 3 and
Frank B. Hu , MD, PHD 4
1 ...Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana
2 Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
3 Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, the University of Puerto Rico, Medical
Sciences Campus, School of Dentistry, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts
4 Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, and the Channing Laboratory,
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Corresponding author: Lydia A. Bazzano, lbazzano{at}tulane.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE —The purpose of this study was to examine the association between fruit, vegetable, and fruit juice intake and development
of type 2 diabetes.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —A total of 71,346 female nurses aged 38–63 years who were free of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes in 1984 were
followed for 18 years, and dietary information was collected using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire every 4
years. Diagnosis of diabetes was self-reported.
RESULTS —During follow-up, 4,529 cases of diabetes were documented, and the cumulative incidence of diabetes was 7.4%. An increase
of three servings/day in total fruit and vegetable consumption was not associated with development of diabetes (multivariate-adjusted
hazard ratio 0.99 95% CI 0.94–1.05), whereas the same increase in whole fruit consumption was associated with a lower hazard
of diabetes (0.82 0.72–0.94). An increase of 1 serving/day in green leafy vegetable consumption was associated with a modestly
lower hazard of diabetes (0.91 0.84–0.98), whereas the same change in fruit juice intake was associated with an increased
hazard of diabetes (1.18 1.10–1.26).
CONCLUSIONS —Consumption of green leafy vegetables and fruit was associated with a lower hazard of diabetes, whereas consumption of fruit
juices may be associated with an increased hazard among women.
Footnotes
Published ahead of print at http://care.diabetesjournals.org on 4 April 2008.
L.A.B. had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity and the accuracy of the
data analysis.
Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work
is not altered. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ for details.
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore
be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
Accepted March 31, 2008.
Received January 12, 2008.
DIABETES CARE
Both cardiovascular and reproductive complications may have origins in utero or in early life. Women in the Bogalusa Heart Study (n = 1401) had been linked to birth certificates for birthweight and ...gestational data, which were examined relative to childhood (ages 4-16) cardiometabolic indicators, indicated by mean levels overall and total risk factor burden as estimated by area under the curve (AUC) computed from longitudinal quadratic random-effects growth models. Women reported the birthweight and gestational age of each of their own pregnancies, and delivery medical records were linked to interview data where possible. Path analyses were conducted to examine the relationships among a woman's own birth outcomes, childhood and preconception adult cardiovascular health, and birth outcomes. Mean blood pressure (systolic blood pressure (SBP) adjusted relative risk (aRR) per 1-SD increase, 1.27, 95% CI 1.04-1.57) and low-density lipoprotein (aRR 1.21, 95% CI 1.02-1.44) in childhood predicted preterm birth (PTB), while mean SBP (aRR 1.33, 95% CI 1.02-1.74) predicted term low birthweight. The AUC data suggested an association between blood pressure and PTB (aRR for SBP top 10%, 1.86, 95% CI 1.08-3.21). Pre-pregnancy total cholesterol was negatively associated with gestational age. In path analyses, positive associations were found for each step between own birthweight, childhood BMI, pre-pregnancy BMI, and child's birthweight. Childhood levels of some, though not all, cardiovascular risk factors may predict adverse birth outcomes (preterm birth and reduced fetal growth).
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