The burden of cardiovascular disease attributable to high dietary sodium intake in Australia between 1990 and 2019.

BACKGROUND: Diets high in sodium are associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. We aimed to quantify the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) attributable to high dietary sodium consumption in the Australian population. METHODS: Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019, we estimated the age-standardised rates (per 100 000 population) and the total numbers of years lived with a disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and deaths for CVD attributable to high sodium (≥1000 mg/day) consumption in the Australian population, by sex and age groups (≥25 years) between 1990 and 2019. The study compared Australian estimates with similar high-income countries (Group of 20 [G20] members). RESULTS: From 1990 to 2019, the age-standardized rates of CVD deaths, DALYs, YLDs, and YLLs per 100 000 population in Australia attributable to high sodium decreased. However, between 2013 and 2019, the total number of CVD deaths increased, and the number of CVD YLDs increased exponentially for both sexes for the whole period between 1990 and 2019. Men had a two-fold higher rate for high sodium CVD burden, compared to females between 1990 to 2019. Individuals aged between 80 and 84 years had the highest rates of CVD burden during the same period; however, older age groups reported the greatest decline in CVD burden compared to young and middle-aged adults in Australia. The age-standardised rates for high sodium attributable CVD consistently contributed more towards DALYs than YLDs in 2019 for both sexes. When compared to G20 countries, Australians displayed the lowest age-standardized rates for CVD deaths, DALYs, YLDs, and YLLs alongside Turkey, France, and the United Kingdom in 2019. CONCLUSION: While age-standardized CVD burden attributable to high sodium consumption decreased for both sexes over the past 30 years, the total number of CVD deaths showed an increase between 2013 and 2019. This study underscores the need for sustained efforts to address the rising absolute number of CVD deaths, especially among men and older people, and emphasizes the importance of continued vigilance in monitoring and implementing strategies to reduce the impact of high sodium consumption on cardiovascular health in Australia.

The burden of cardiovascular disease attributable to dietary risk factors in Australia between 1990 and 2019.

Unhealthy diet is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, there are no studies reporting the impact and trends of dietary risk factors on CVD in Australia. This study aimed to determine the burden of CVDs attributable to dietary risk factors in Australia between 1990 and 2019. We used data from the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) study and quantified the rate (per 100,000) of deaths, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), years lived with a disability (YLDs), and years of life lost (YLLs) for 21 CVDs attributable to 13 dietary risk factors (eight food groups and five nutrients) in Australia by sex and age groups (≥25 years and over). In 2019, the age-standardised rates of deaths, YLDs, YLLs, and DALYs attributable to dietary risk factors attributable to CVDs in the Australian population were 26.5, 60.8, 349.9, and 410.8 per 100,000 in women and 46.1, 62.6, 807.0, and 869.6 in men. Between 1990 and 2019, YLLs consistently contributed more towards the rates of DALYs than YLDs. Over the 30-year period, CVD deaths, YLLs, and DALYs attributable to dietary risk factors declined in both women and men. The leading dietary risk factors for CVD deaths and DALYs were a diet high in red meat (6.1 deaths per 100,000 [3.6, 8.7] and 115.6 DALYs per 100,000 [79.7, 151.6]) in women and a diet low in wholegrains (11.3 deaths [4.4, 15.1] and 220.3 DALYs [86.4, 291.8]) in men. Sex differences were observed in the contribution of dietary risk factors to CVD over time such that the lowest rate of decrease in deaths and DALYs occurred with diets high in sodium in women and diets high in processed meat in men. Although the burden of diet-related CVD has decreased significantly in the Australian population over the past 30 years, diets low in wholegrains and high in red meat continue to contribute significantly to the overall CVD burden. Future nutrition programs and policies should target these dietary risk factors.

Describing and understanding the time course of the property listing task.

To study linguistically coded concepts, researchers often resort to the Property Listing Task (PLT). In a PLT, participants are asked to list properties that describe a concept (e.g., for DOG, subjects may list "is a pet", "has four legs", etc.). When PLT data is collected for many concepts, researchers obtain Conceptual Properties Norms (CPNs), which are used to study semantic content and as a source of control variables. Though the PLT and CPNs are widely used across psychology, only recently a model that describes the listing course of a PLT has been developed and validated. That original model describes the listing course using order of production of properties. Here we go a step beyond and validate the model using response times (RT), i.e., the time from cue onset to property listing. Our results show that RT data exhibits the same regularities observed in the previous model, but now we can also analyze the time course, i.e., dynamics of the PLT. As such, the RT validated model may be applied to study several similar memory retrieval tasks, such as the Free Listing Task, Verbal Fluidity Task, and to research related cognitive processes. To illustrate those kinds of analyses, we present a brief example of the difference in PLT's dynamics between listing properties for abstract versus concrete concepts, which shows that the model may be fruitfully applied to study concepts.

AC-PLT: An algorithm for computer-assisted coding of semantic property listing data.

In this paper, we present a novel algorithm that uses machine learning and natural language processing techniques to facilitate the coding of feature listing data. Feature listing is a method in which participants are asked to provide a list of features that are typically true of a given concept or word. This method is commonly used in research studies to gain insights into people's understanding of various concepts. The standard procedure for extracting meaning from feature listings is to manually code the data, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors, leading to reliability concerns. Our algorithm aims at addressing these challenges by automatically assigning human-created codes to feature listing data that achieve a quantitatively good agreement with human coders. Our preliminary results suggest that our algorithm has the potential to improve the efficiency and accuracy of content analysis of feature listing data. Additionally, this tool is an important step toward developing a fully automated coding algorithm, which we are currently preliminarily devising.

Response of antibody titers to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and clinical outcomes during the predominance of the Omicron variant in Colombia.

Introduction: The response to vaccination against the virus that causes severe acute respiratory infection syndrome coronavirus 2 is lower in renal transplant recipients than in the general population. The data obtained from Latin America showed reduced immunogenicity under inactivated virus vaccination schedules and messenger ribonucleic acid platforms. Methods: A retrospective cohort study including renal transplant recipients from Colombia with a two-dose vaccination schedule against severe acute respiratory infection syndrome coronavirus 2 with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Jansen, and Sinovac vaccines between March 1, 2021 and December 1, 2021, was carried out with a follow-up period to evaluate outcomes until May 2022. The outcomes correspond to the titers of immunoglobulin G antibodies against the receptor binding domain of the severe acute respiratory infection syndrome coronavirus 2 spike and a composite outcome of mortality, general, and intensive care unit hospitalization. Results: In total, 215 renal transplant recipients with two doses of vaccination for severe acute respiratory infection syndrome coronavirus 2 during the predominance of the Omicron variant in Colombia were included, with the measurement of immunoglobulin G antibody titers against the receptor binding domain of the severe acute respiratory infection syndrome coronavirus 2 spike at 8 weeks of vaccination. The mean age was 52.1 years, and the standard deviation was ± 14.2; severe acute respiratory infection syndrome coronavirus 2 infection occurred in 20% of the population, of which 23.26% required hospitalization, 13.95% were under intensive care unit management, and four cases of mortality (9.3%) were reported. Of the total population, 52.5% had antibody titers higher than 0.8 IU/mL (median 0.77 IU/mL, interquartile range 0.4-131). Patients with severe acute respiratory infection syndrome coronavirus 2 infection had a median antibody titer of 0.4 IU/mL (interquartile range 0.4-3.45), and those without infection had a median antibody titer of 1.8 IU/mL (interquartile range 0.4-202) (p = 0.015). Conclusion: Anti-severe acute respiratory infection syndrome coronavirus 2 antibody titers with a cutoff point less than 0.8 IU/mL are associated with increased risk of severe acute respiratory infection syndrome coronavirus 2 infection.

Transfer of ß-lactam and tetracycline antibiotics from spiked bovine milk to Dambo-type cheese, whey, and whey powder.

The aim of this study was to investigate the transfer of residues of five ß-lactam antibiotics (ampicillin, penicillin G, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin and cephalexin) and two tetracyclines (tetracycline and oxytetracycline) in the processing of cheese and whey powder, evaluating the effect of the processes and the final concentration in each product generated. Raw milk was fortified at two concentration levels with the seven antibiotics. The first concentration level (C1) was chosen according to the maximum residue limit (MRL) of each antibiotic (ampicillin and penicillin G: 4 µg kg-1; cloxacillin and dicloxacillin: 30 µg kg-1; cephalexin, tetracycline and oxytetracycline: 100 µg kg-1). The second concentration level (C2) was spiked as follows according to each antibiotic: 0.5 MRL (cloxacillin, dicloxacillin, cephalexin), 0.1 MRL (tetracycline and oxytetracycline) and 3 MRL (ampicillin and penicillin G). The antibiotics were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. No ampicillin or penicillin G residues were found in cheese or whey powder, although they were detected in whey at concentrations similar to those added to raw milk. Cephalexin was mostly distributed in whey between 82% and 96%, being the antibiotic that presented the highest concentration in whey powder (784 ± 98 µg kg-1) when milk was spiked at the MRL. The whey distribution of cloxacillin and dicloxacillin ranged from 57% to 59% for cloxacillin and from 46% to 48% for dicloxacillin, and both concentrated in whey powder. Tetracyclines were the antibiotics that concentrated in cheese, with retentions between 75% and 80% for oxytetracycline and between 83% and 87% for tetracycline. The distribution of antibiotics in the dissimilar stages of the cheese and whey powder production processes, as well as their concentration in the final products, depend on each type of antibiotic. Knowledge of the transfer of antibiotic residues during the process and final disposal is an input for the risk assessment of their consumption.

Efectos de la menopausia temprana en la función pulmonar: revisión integrativa / Effects of early menopause on lung function: an integrative review

La menopausia provoca cambios hormonales y alteraciones sistémicas. La menopausia normal sucede entre los 45-55 años y la menopausia temprana (MT) se desarrolla antes de los 45 años. Revisar la evidencia que señala posibles asociaciones entre la MT y la función pulmonar, analizando específicamente aquellos componentes que se encuentran alterados. Se eligieron estudios transversales y revisiones sistemáticas, en inglés, portugués y español. La búsqueda se realizó de marzo a noviembre de2022, en PubMed y Scopus, aemás de búsquedas manuales. La calidad metodológica fue analizada utilizando la escala Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology para los estudios observacionales, y el Ameasurement Tool to Assess Systematic Review para las revisiones. Se encontraron 698 estudios, 12 seleccionados para calificación metodológica, cinco excluidos. Al final del análisis metodológico, se obtuvieron seis estudios transversales y una revisión sistemática, llevados a cabo en Reino Unido, Europa y Asia. Hay una tendencia para asociación de la MT a un patrón ventilatorio restrictivo. Sin embargo la evidencia sigue siendo escasa y se sugiere la realización de nuevos estudios.

Menopause causes hormonal changes and systemic alterations. Normal menopause is when this event occurs between the ages of 45 and 55, and early menopause (EM) when it develops earlier than 45 years. To review the evidence that indicates possible associations between EM and lung function, specifically analyzing those components that are altered. Cross-sectional and systematic reviews studies, published from 2000-2022, in English, Portuguese and Spanish were selected from March to November 2022, in PubMed and Scopus and through manual searches. Methodological quality was assessed using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology scale for observational studies, and the Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Review for reviews. 698 studies were found, 12 were selected for methodological quality review and 5 were excluded. At the end of methodological analysis, 6 cross-sectional studies and 1 systematic review were obtained, carried out in United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. There is a tendency for EM to be associated with restrictive ventilatory pattern. However, the evidence is scarce and further studies are suggested.

CPNCoverageAnalysis: An R package for parameter estimation in conceptual properties norming studies.

In conceptual properties norming studies (CPNs), participants list properties that describe a set of concepts. From CPNs, many different parameters are calculated, such as semantic richness. A generally overlooked issue is that those values are only point estimates of the true unknown population parameters. In the present work, we present an R package that allows us to treat those values as population parameter estimates. Relatedly, a general practice in CPNs is using an equal number of participants who list properties for each concept (i.e., standardizing sample size). As we illustrate through examples, this procedure has negative effects on data's statistical analyses. Here, we argue that a better method is to standardize coverage (i.e., the proportion of sampled properties to the total number of properties that describe a concept), such that a similar coverage is achieved across concepts. When standardizing coverage rather than sample size, it is more likely that the set of concepts in a CPN all exhibit a similar representativeness. Moreover, by computing coverage the researcher can decide whether the CPN reached a sufficiently high coverage, so that its results might be generalizable to other studies. The R package we make available in the current work allows one to compute coverage and to estimate the necessary number of participants to reach a target coverage. We show this sampling procedure by using the R package on real and simulated CPN data.

Using agreement probability to study differences in types of concepts and conceptualizers.

Agreement probability p(a) is a homogeneity measure of lists of properties produced by participants in a Property Listing Task (PLT) for a concept. Agreement probability's mathematical properties allow a rich analysis of property-based descriptions. To illustrate, we use p(a) to delve into the differences between concrete and abstract concepts in sighted and blind populations. Results show that concrete concepts are more homogeneous within sighted and blind groups than abstract ones (i.e., exhibit a higher p(a) than abstract ones) and that concrete concepts in the blind group are less homogeneous than in the sighted sample. This supports the idea that listed properties for concrete concepts should be more similar across subjects due to the influence of visual/perceptual information on the learning process. In contrast, abstract concepts are learned based mainly on social and linguistic information, which exhibit more variability among people, thus, making the listed properties more dissimilar across subjects. Relative to abstract concepts, the difference in p(a) between sighted and blind is not statistically significant. Though this is a null result, and should be considered with care, it is expected because abstract concepts should be learned by paying attention to the same social and linguistic input in both, blind and sighted, and thus, there is no reason to expect that the respective lists of properties should differ. Finally, we used p(a) to classify concrete and abstract concepts with a good level of certainty. All these analyses suggest that p(a) can be fruitfully used to study data obtained in a PLT.

Insulin settings and their association with time in range in patients with type 1 diabetes users of predictive low glucose suspend (PLGS) augmented insulin pumps in Santiago, Chile.

AIMS: Sensor augmented insulin pumps have become a powerful tool for managing type 1 diabetes (T1D). This study aimed to analyze the insulin pump configuration in users of predictive insulin suspension technology (PLGS). METHODS: T1D patients on insulin pumps with PLGS (Medtronic 640G®) were enrolled. Data was obtained from medical records and pump data was downloaded for 30 days. Basal insulin, bolus calculator parameters, and PLGS operation parameters were analyzed and compared with Time in Range, Time Below Range, and Time Above Range. RESULTS: 112 patients were included, with average TIR of 73,96 % and HbA1c 7,0 % and 25 months of follow-up. Basal insulin remained similar to initial doses, with an increase of 27 % for the Dawn phenomenon. The Carbohydrate ratio was slightly more aggressive. Insulin sensitivity was 17 % less stringent than initially programmed. No differences were observed in Time in Rage according to the number of basal, ratio, and sensitivity segments. Time of insulin suspension correlated directly with Time Bellow Range. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with good metabolic control have basal insulin programming similar to their initiation doses with less aggressive sensitivity factors. Excessive suspension time determined by PLGS could be an expression of excess insulin and increased hypoglycemia risk.

Molecular mechanisms underlying nitrate responses in plants.

Nitrate is an important source of inorganic nitrogen. Nitrate modulates many plant metabolic, physiological, and developmental processes. This minireview highlights recent findings on the intricate molecular wiring that allows plants to adapt to environmental nitrate conditions. We focus on the role of regulatory pathways and their components - transporters, receptors, second messengers, kinases, and transcription factors - in mediating plant metabolic and developmental responses to nitrate. Work is still needed to identify missing components of the nitrate signaling pathway and their interplay with known and well-characterized master regulators and to validate their molecular interactions to explain the complexity of phenotypical responses to nitrate. Understanding how plants perceive nitrate and transduce it into responses at the molecular level is crucial to optimize nitrogen-use efficiency, improve crop yield and mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of fertilizer overuse in a changing world.

Language Processing Differences Between Blind and Sighted Individuals and the Abstract Versus Concrete Concept Difference.

In the property listing task (PLT), participants are asked to list properties for a concept (e.g., for the concept dog, "barks," and "is a pet" may be produced). In conceptual property norming (CPNs) studies, participants are asked to list properties for large sets of concepts. Here, we use a mathematical model of the property listing process to explore two longstanding issues: characterizing the difference between concrete and abstract concepts, and characterizing semantic knowledge in the blind versus sighted population. When we apply our mathematical model to a large CPN reporting properties listed by sighted and blind participants, the model uncovers significant differences between concrete and abstract concepts. Though we also find that blind individuals show many of the same processing differences between abstract and concrete concepts found in sighted individuals, our model shows that those differences are noticeably less pronounced than in sighted individuals. We discuss our results vis-a-vis theories attempting to characterize abstract concepts.

Time series analysis of water use and indirect reuse within a HUC-4 basin (Wabash) over a nine year period.

Anthropogenic water use and reuse represent major components of the water cycle. In the context of climate change, water reuse and recycling are considered necessary components for an integrated water management approach. Unplanned, or de facto, indirect water reuse occurs in most of the U.S. river systems, however, there is little real-time documentation of it. Despite the fact that there are national and state agencies that systematically collect data on water withdrawals and wastewater discharges, their databases are organized and managed in a way that makes it challenging to use them for water resource management analysis. The ability to combine reported water data to perform large scale analysis about water use and reuse is severely limited. In this paper, we apply a simple but effective methodology to complete a time series watershed-scale analysis of water use and unplanned indirect reuse for the Wabash River Watershed. Results document the occurrence of indirect water reuse, ranging from 3% to 134%, in a water-rich area of the U.S. The time series analysis shows that reported data effectively describe the water use trends through nine years, from 2009 to 2017, clearly reflecting both anthropogenic and natural events in the watershed, such as the retirement of thermoelectric power plants, and the occurrence of an extreme drought in 2012. We demonstrate the feasibility and significance of using available water datasets to perform large scale water use analysis, describe limitations encountered in the process, and highlight areas for improvement in water data management.

Informational content of cosine and other similarities calculated from high-dimensional Conceptual Property Norm data.

To study concepts that are coded in language, researchers often collect lists of conceptual properties produced by human subjects. From these data, different measures can be computed. In particular, inter-concept similarity is an important variable used in experimental studies. Among possible similarity measures, the cosine of conceptual property frequency vectors seems to be a de facto standard. However, there is a lack of comparative studies that test the merit of different similarity measures when computed from property frequency data. The current work compares four different similarity measures (cosine, correlation, Euclidean and Chebyshev) and five different types of data structures. To that end, we compared the informational content (i.e., entropy) delivered by each of those 4 × 5 = 20 combinations, and used a clustering procedure as a concrete example of how informational content affects statistical analyses. Our results lead us to conclude that similarity measures computed from lower-dimensional data fare better than those calculated from higher-dimensional data, and suggest that researchers should be more aware of data sparseness and dimensionality, and their consequences for statistical analyses.

Nitrate Defines Shoot Size through Compensatory Roles for Endoreplication and Cell Division in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Precise coordination of cell expansion and cell proliferation underlies growth in multicellular organisms. In addition to endogenous developmental programs, external environmental signals are integrated to modulate organ growth in plants. Nitrate is a nitrogen nutrient that can act as a potent signal to modulate shoot growth, yet the molecular mechanisms involved are largely unexplored in Arabidopsis thaliana or other plant species. Herein, we show that nitrate regulates vegetative growth by modulating cell size and endoreplication. We identified the LGO gene, a CDK inhibitor, as a key cell cycle regulatory factor influencing ploidy and cell-size depending on external nitrate. Nitrate induces LGO gene expression as early as 3 days after germination in epidermal and mesophyll cell layers, which undergo endoreplication to increment DNA content and cell size. Our results support a dual role for LGO on endoreplication and cell expansion. Surprisingly, although endoreplication and cell size are greatly reduced in lgo-2 mutant plants and increased in LGO-OX plants, cotyledon size remains unchanged relative to wild type and is set by the amount of nitrate. In lgo-2 mutant plants where cells are unable to endoreplicate fully, cotyledon organ size is achieved through cell division. We conclude nitrate generally controls cotyledon and leaf size by increasing ploidy levels and cell expansion but that cell division can substitute for endoreplication without affecting final organ size or growth in plants.