Body perception and meal type across age and gender on a Mediterranean island (Sardinia).

Our aim was to describe the differences in consumption of types of meal (complete/incomplete) eaten at lunch and dinner by gender in people of different age groups (children, young adults and seniors). In particular, we wanted to investigate the differences in choice of meal based on perceived weight. The study involved 516 participants, of which 156 were children (8-12y), 187 were young adults (19-30y) and 173 were elderly (65-90y). A cross-sectional analysis was carried out into the choice of meal type based on the different age groups and genders, on the three Body Mass Index categories (under, normal, overweight), on the three levels of self-perception (slim, normal and heavy) and on the degrees of perception of one's body weight (underestimation, accurate estimation, overestimation). The food eaten was grouped into three types of daily meal: (a) incomplete, (b) complete lunch or dinner, (c) always complete. Differences emerged in the type of meal eaten according to age, gender and perceived weight. The results show gender differences in associations with meal type according to the way in which body mass is measured or perceived. The choice of complete/incomplete meal type changes according to whether real weight or perceived weight is considered.

Long-term fish intake is associated with less severe depressive symptoms among elderly men and women: the MEDIS (MEDiterranean ISlands Elderly) epidemiological study.

Objectives. This work aims at exploring the association between fish intake and depressive symptoms, in older adults. Method. During 2005-2007, 1,190 men and women (>65 years) free living in various Greek islands and in Cyprus participated in the study. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the validated Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and foods intake through a Food Frequency Questionnaire. Results. Almost 70% of the participants scored above the depressive cutoff (i.e., GDS score > 5), with women having higher values. People classified under the 1st tertile of GDS score (i.e., GDS

Diagnosis of alpha-thalassemia trait from Coulter Counter 'S' indices.

A number of patients of Mediterranean and Asian origins were found to have unexplained microcytic hypochromic red blood cells. Iron deficiency and beta-thalassaemia trait were both satisfactorily excluded in all of them. The haematological indices of these patients, obtained on a Coulter Model 'S' Counter, were found to be very similar to those seen in obligatory heterozygotes for alpha-thalassaemia. It is postulated that these patients were also carriers for alpha-thalassaemia. Subsequent investigation of some of these patients showed the characteristically reduced rates of alpha-chain synthesis seen in this condition. The discriminant function of England and Fraser (1973) may be of help in diagnosing this state. alpha-Thalassaemia trait should be considered in all patients of 'high-risk' ethnic origins with a blood picture suggestive of beta-thalassaemia trait but in whom the levels of Hb A2 and Hb F are within normal limits.

Haplotype distribution of and linkage disequilibrium between four polymorphic markers near the CFTR locus in Brazilian cystic fibrosis patients.

To contribute to a better understanding of the origin and distribution of CFTR mutations in the Brazilian population, we have investigated the linkage between four polymorphic markers (XV2c, KM19, GATT, and TUB9) within or near the CFTR locus. The distribution of alleles for each polymorphism for both parental and cystic fibrosis (CF) chromosomes from Rio de Janeiro CF families were ascertained using a maximum-likelihood method. This same method was applied to study the distribution of the haplotypes defined by these markers. There was no significant association between the XV2c and KM19 loci on the parental and CF chromosomes. On the other hand, a strong association between GATT and TUB9 loci was observed on both CF and parental chromosomes, and striking linkage disequilibrium between the GATT-TUB9 pair and deltaF508 was observed (chi2 = 26.48, p < 0.0001). Remarkable linkage disequilibrium between the GATT-TUB9 marker pair and non-deltaF508 was also found (chi2 = 17.05, p < 0.0001). Our finding of a linkage disequilibrium between GATT-TUB9 and the CFTR locus could suggest that gene flow between different ethnic groups, mainly sub-Saharan and Mediterranean populations, with Brazilian populations could have resulted in some CF mutations originating on chromosomes that carried the GATT-TUB9 marker haplotype 7-2 (OR = 1.34 < 2.83 < 6.00; p = 0.0066).

The origins of the health defence system against contagious illness: the strategies of isolation and quarantine in Mediterranean cities from the XIV-XIX centuries.

From the onset of the Black Death in 1347-48, Italian cities which faced the Mediterranean, an epidemic sea, constructed a complex and articulated health defence system which was an example to all other western countries. The cornerstones of this health defence system lay in quarantine, sanitary cordons, lazarets, disinfection, and in the social regulation of the population at risk. Medicine played no part. Its impotence in dealing with epidemic diseases left health defence to the initiative of the civil authorities who rigorously fought the repeated incursions of plague, which from the end of Middle Ages severely tried and tested social organisation, economic life and public order, all of which were threatened by reactions of fear and aggression. From the fifteenth century onwards the public authorities instituted health magistracies which perfected policing and hygiene strategies based on isolation, separation and social control. This progressively extended to individuals in the community through 'health certificates'. This paper follows the evolution and crises of the conceptual, cultural adn institutional response to epidemics through the centuries up to the appearance of the plague of cholera and its disappearance.

Population genetics of the Malmö polymorphism of coagulation factor IX.

The distribution of 1,198 Malmö alleles was examined in 822 men from 16 indigenous populations and 188 women from 7 of the ethnic groups. Subjects were from several European countries, the Mediterranean, East Asia, and the USA (Anglo- and African-Americans). The frequencies of the rarer (Malmö B) allele were approximately equal across Europe, the highest frequencies (0.36) being in the French and Anglo-Americans; no population was observed with clearly the highest frequency. They diminished slightly at moderate distances from Europe (Tunisia, Ethiopia) and greatly at longer distances (East Asia and West Africa). In Orientals, the frequencies ranged from 0.07 (East Indians) to 0.03 (the Chinese) and from 0.0 to 0.15 in African-Americans. Assuming selective neutrality, the data are consistent with the European origin of the 'B' allele when the population was small and outward spread.

West Mediterranean islands (Corsica, Balearic islands, Sardinia) and the Basque population: contribution of HLA class I molecular markers to their evolutionary history.

The genetic structure of Balearic islands (Corsica and Sardinia), situated on the same trans-Mediterranean maritime routes and having very similar histories, were compared and their position among the neighbouring Caucasian populations was inferred. For this purpose, three HLA loci (HLA-A, -B and -Cw) were typed at the DNA level in these populations and the allelic and haplotypic frequencies were estimated. Because previous studies have shown common genetic features in the Sardinians and Basques, HLA-Cw molecular typing was also performed in a sample of French Basques in order to establish the haplotypic structure of this population for a more accurate comparison with the three others. By its allelic composition, the Corsican population has an intermediate position between the two other islander populations. Its close relationship with the Sardinian population, however, was clearly revealed by the phylogenetic analysis which also suggests a proximity with eastern Mediterranean peoples, whereas the Balearic islands are more narrowly related to Spain and western Europe. Peculiarities were observed in the distributions of some common haplotypes in the populations of the islands that confirm the results of the phylogenetic analysis and could be related to their history. Noteworthy is the presence of the HLA-A30-Cw*0501-B18 haplotype at frequencies approximately 2% in Corsica and the Balearic islands, yet the estimated frequencies of this haplotype are much lower than in the Sardinian and Basque populations.

Culture-positive tuberculosis at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, 1962-1989.

The disease type and demography of patients with culture confirmed tuberculosis (TB) diagnosed at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne between the years 1962 to 1989 were reviewed. Four hundred and eighty-two patients with culture-positive TB were identified whose origins were as follows: Australia 194; Northern Europe 38; The Mediterranean 98; Asia 60 and other or unknown 92. Patients whose country of birth was in Asia or the Mediterranean area accounted for 57% of patients in the 1980s; they presented at a younger age, with a higher proportion of extrapulmonary disease and a more equal sex distribution than did Australian born patients. The main types of extrapulmonary disease also differed for the various ethnic groups. The overall proportion of patients with an isolate resistant to at least one of the anti-TB drugs was 10.0% but in the Asian born was 21.7%. This survey, the longest series of bacteriologically confirmed cases of TB reported from a single institution in Australasia, has identified several changes in how TB is presenting for diagnosis.

Mediterranean macrothrombocytopenia.

Platelet count, platelet size, and circulating platelet biomass concentration estimates made with an erythrocyte-calibrated electronic sizing system on EDTA-anticoagulated blood samples gave population medians and 95% ranges for 145 asymptomatic Mediterranean and 200 healthy Northern European subjects. The Mediterraneans had lower platelet counts [161,000 (89,000-290,000)/mul compared with 219,000 (148,000-323,000)/mul] and higher arithmetic mean volumes [17.8 (10.8-29.2) cu mum compared with 12.4 (9.9-15.6) cu mum], while the individual lognormal platelet size distribution profiles were comparable [geomatric standard deviations of 1.78 (1.60-1.98) against 1.70 (1.54-1.88)]; and the platelet biomass concentrations, given by count per microliter times mean volume times 10- minus 7 and expressed as a volumetric percentage of whole blood, were almost identical [0.286% (0.216%-0.379%) against 0.272% (0.201%-0.367%)]. Mediterranean macrothrombocytopenia is, therefore, considered a benign morphologic variant that requires differentiation from thrombocytopenias in which the circulating platelet biomass concentration is decreased.

Skin color, ethnicity, and blood pressure II: Detroit whites.

Census areas in Detroit were ranked for their stress scores based on instability (e.g., crime, marital break up) and socioeconomic status. Four areas were selected for detailed study: 1) high stress, population predominantly black and 2) white, and 3) low stress, population predominantly black and 4) white. A sample was drawn from each area of persons of the predominant race, 25-60 years old, married and living with spouse, and having relatives in the Detroit Area. Nurses interviewed such persons; three blood pressure readings were taken during the first half-hour of medical history, and skin color was rated. While lighter skin color showed a negligible relation to higher blood pressure, a four-category division of European national background based on a skin color cline in Europe from Northern areas to the Mediterranean was significantly associated with a nurse-rating of skin color. The rank order of this four category variable, white ethnicity, was related linearly to both systolic and diastolic blood pressure means. Respondents with parents from Mediterranean countries had the lowest pressures and those from Northern Europe had the highest. The relationship is stronger for women than men. The relationship was independent of nine other control variables including age, overweight, smoking etc., and high and low stress areas, although of greater magnitude for the high than low stress groups. In this article, findings in whites are compared with prior results in blacks. Findings suggest that physiological and biological correlates exist that can be explored profitably by future research.