Lights and shadows about health claims: analysis of food labels in a field survey in Florence.

BACKGROUND: Health claims (HC) are those statements on food labels that state, suggest, or imply that a relationship exists between a food category, a food product, or one of its constituents, and health of consumer. The European legislation on the use of HC aims to encourage responsible consumption by people. The aim of this study is to assess the adherence of HC to EU norms in foodstuffs sold in the large-scale retail distribution in Florence. METHODS: Two independent researchers have separately selected and assessed the foodstuffs with HC sold in at least two of four supermarkets identified randomly in Florence. Each selected product was assessed by a checklist with seven macro-criteria, extrapolated from the 'Specific Conditions' and 'Restrictions of Use' provided by EU regulations, rating the adherence of the chosen foods to the legislation. RESULTS: Seventy-seven products were assessed. Only a limited number of products show full compliance to all the criteria. Specifically, noncompliance related to Criterion 3 ("the amount of the food and pattern of consumption required to obtain the claimed beneficial effect are reported") is the most significant: the absence of indications about the maximum amount to be consumed or the modality of consumption could represent a risk of overconsumption and, consequently, a risk for health. CONCLUSION: According to the results, we hypothesize a lack of knowledge of the EU norms on the part of the manufacturer. A great deal of work is still to be done to assess and manage these products in the right way, as well as to communicate the right messages to the consumers.

The role of post-natal ontogeny in the evolution of phenotypic diversity in Podarcis lizards.

Understanding the role of the developmental pathways in shaping phenotypic diversity allows appreciating in full the processes influencing and constraining morphological change. Podarcis lizards demonstrate extraordinary morphological variability that likely originated in short evolutionary time. Using geometric morphometrics and a broad suite of statistical tests, we explored the role of developmental mechanisms such as growth rate change, ontogenetic divergence/convergence/parallelism as well as morphological expression of heterochronic processes in mediating the formation of their phenotypic diversity during the post-natal ontogeny. We identified hypermorphosis - the prolongation of growth along the same trajectory - as the process responsible for both intersexual and interspecific morphological differentiation. Albeit the common allometric pattern observed in both sexes of any species constrains and canalizes their cephalic scales variation in a fixed portion of the phenotypic space, the extended growth experienced by males and some species allows them to achieve peramorphic morphologies. Conversely, the intrasexual phenotypic diversity is accounted for by non-allometric processes that drive the extensive morphological dispersion throughout their ontogenetic trajectories. This study suggests a model of how simple heterochronic perturbations can produce phenotypic variation, and thus potential for further evolutionary change, even within a strictly constrained developmental pathway.

Ethanol production from sorghum by a dilute ammonia pretreatment.

Sorghum fibers were pretreated with ammonium hydroxide and the effectiveness of the pretreatment evaluated by enzyme hydrolysis and ethanol production. The treatment was carried out by mixing sorghum fibers, ammonia, and water at a ratio of 1:0.14:8 at 160 degrees C for 1 h under 140-160 psi pressure. Approximately 44% lignin and 35% hemicellulose were removed during the process. Untreated and dilute-ammonia-treated fibers at 10% dry solids were hydrolyzed using combinations of commercially available enzymes, Spezyme CP and Novozyme 188. Enzyme combinations were tested at full strength (60 FPU Spezyme CP and 64 CBU Novozyme 188/g glucan) and at half strength (30 FPU Spezyme CP and 32 CBU Novozyme 188/g glucan). Biomass enzyme hydrolysis was conducted for 24 h. Saccharomyces cerevisiae D(5)A was added post hydrolysis for conversion of glucose to ethanol. Theoretical cellulose yields for treated biomass were 84% and 73%, and hemicellulose yields were 73% and 55% for full strength and half strength, respectively. Average cellulose yield was 38% and hemicellulose yield was 14.5% for untreated biomass. Ethanol yields were 25 g/100 g dry biomass and 21 g/100 g dry biomass for full strength and half strength enzyme concentrations, respectively. Controls averaged 10 g ethanol/100 g dry biomass.

Numerical modeling of continuous flow microwave heating: a critical comparison of COMSOL and ANSYS.

Numerical models were developed to simulate temperature profiles in Newtonian fluids during continuous flow microwave heating by one way coupling electromagnetism, fluid flow, and heat transport in ANSYS 8.0 and COMSOL Multiphysics v3.4. Comparison of the results from the COMSOL model with the results from a pre-developed and validated ANSYS model ensured accuracy of the COMSOL model. Prediction of power Loss by both models was in close agreement (5-13% variation) and the predicted temperature profiles were similar. COMSOL provided a flexible model setup whereas ANSYS required coupling incompatible elements to transfer load between electromagnetic, fluid flow, and heat transport modules. Overall, both software packages provided the ability to solve multiphysics phenomena accurately.

Feasibility of Telemonitoring Blood Pressure in Patients With Kidney Disease (Oxford Heart and Renal Protection Study-1): Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Blood pressure (BP) is a key modifiable risk factor for patients with CKD, with current guidelines recommending strict control to reduce the risk of both progression of CKD and cardiovascular disease. Trials of BP lowering require multiple visits to achieve target BP which increases the costs of such trials, and in routine care BP measured in clinic may not accurately reflect usual BP. OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess whether a telemonitoring system for BP (using a Bluetooth-enable BP machine which could transmit BP measurements to a tablet device which had a bespoke app to guide measurement of BP and collect questionnaire data) was acceptable to patients with CKD, and whether patients would provide sufficient BP readings to assess variability and guide treatment. METHODS: 25 participants with CKD were trained to use the telemonitoring equipment, asked to record BP daily for 30 days, attend a study visit, and then record BP on alternate days for the next 60 days. They were also offered a wrist-worn applanation tonometry device (BPro) which measures BP every 15 minutes over a 24 hour period.Participants were given questionnaires at the one-month and three-month time points, derived from the System Usability Scale and Technology Acceptance Model. All eligible participants completed the study. RESULTS: Mean age was 58 (SD 11) years and mean eGFR was 36 (SD 13) mL/min/1.73m2. 13 out of 25 (52%) participants provided >90% of expected data and 18 out of 25 (72%) provided >80% expected data. The usability of the telemonitoring system was rated highly with mean scores of 84.9/100 (SE 2.8) after 30 days and 84.2/100 (SE 4.1) after 90 days. The coefficient of variation (CV) for variability of telemonitoring systolic BP was 9.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.8 to 10.9), compared to 7.9% (95% CI 6.4-9.5) for the BPro device (P=0.05) (and 9.0% over one year in a recently completed trial with identical eligibility criteria), indicating that most variation in BP is short-term. CONCLUSIONS: Telemonitoring is acceptable to patients with CKD and provides sufficient data to inform titration of antihypertensive therapies in either a randomized trial setting (comparing different targets BPs) or routine clinical practice. Such methods could be employed in both scenarios and reduce costs currently associated with such activities.Registration ISRCTN13725286.

Androgen up-regulates epidermal growth factor receptor expression and binding affinity in PC3 cell lines expressing the human androgen receptor.

Androgens are required for the optimal growth and development of both the normal prostate and steroid-sensitive prostate cancer. PC3 prostate cancer cell lines stably expressing the human androgen receptor (AR) and possessing an androgen-sensitive phenotype (PC3-hAR) were used to examine the role of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in androgen-stimulated prostate cancer cell growth. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) independently induced the growth of PC3-hAR cells. Moreover, EGF and DHT in combination exerted a synergistic effect on PC3-hAR cell growth. DHT-exposed PC3-hAR cells expressed a greater than 2-fold increase in EGFR mRNA and 50% more EGFR protein than controls. Time course radioligand-binding assays confirmed these findings by showing an elevation in EGF binding in the DHT-exposed PC3-hAR cells. In addition, radioligand competition-binding studies revealed a 2-fold increase in EGFR-EGF binding affinity in the PC3-hAR cells after DHT treatment. However, no enhancement of transforming growth factor alpha or EGF expression was detected because DHT did not affect the levels of these cytokines in the PC3-hAR cell lysate or conditioned media. Our observations suggest that DHT increases both EGFR number and receptor-ligand affinity in androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cells and that these effects correlate with increased EGF binding and an enhanced mitogenic response to EGF.

Micronucleus test on Triturus carnifex as a tool for environmental biomonitoring.

The amphibian micronucleus test has been widely used during the last 30 years to test the genotoxic properties of several chemicals and as a tool for ecogenotoxic monitoring. The vast majority of these studies were performed on peripheral blood of urodelan larvae and anuran tadpoles and to a lesser extent adults were also used. In this study, we developed protocols for measuring micronuclei in adult shed skin cells and larval gill cells of the Italian crested newt (Triturus carnifex). Amphibians were collected from ponds in two protected areas in Italy that differed in their radon content. Twenty-three adult newts and 31 larvae were captured from the radon-rich pond, while 20 adults and 27 larvae were taken from the radon-free site. The animals were brought to the laboratory and the micronucleus test was performed on peripheral blood and shed skins taken from the adults and on larval gills. Samples from the radon-rich site showed micronucleus frequencies higher than those from the radon-free site and the difference was statistically significant in gill cells (P < 0.00001). Moreover, the larval gills seem to be more sensitive than the adult tissues. This method represents an easy (and noninvasive in the case of the shed skin) application of the micronucleus assay that can be useful for environmental studies in situ.

Analogues of formycins A and B: synthesis and some properties of methyl derivatives of 7-amino and 7-keto pyrazolo(4,3-d)pyrimidines.

Starting from the synthesis of 3-propyl-7-ketopyrazolo(4,3-d)pyrimidine (a formal analogue of formycin B), this was converted to the 7-thio derivative, which was aminated to give 3-propyl-7-aminopyrazolo(4,3-d(pyrimidine (a formal analogue of formycin A) and its methylamino derivatives. With the aid of different methylating agents, all four possible ring N-mono-methyl derivatives of the foregoing have been synthesized. Dimethyl derivatives were prepared on a small scale and identified by cross-methylation reactions, spectral properties and chromatographic behaviour. The basic physico-chemical properties of all the foregoing are described, including ultraviolet absorption spectra, spectrophotometrically determined pK values, and the 1H chemical shifts in aqueous medium and/or dimthjyl sulphoxide. The spectral properties of the various analogues indicate that the N6-methyl derivatives exist predominantly in the imino form, in contrast to the predominant amino form of the corresponding analogue from the adenine series, N1-methyladenine, but similar to the fixed imino form of N1-methyl-9-substituted adenines.

Language use in intergroup contexts: the linguistic intergroup bias.

Three experiments examine how the type of language used to describe in-group and out-group behaviors contributes to the transmission and persistence of social stereotypes. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that people encode and communicate desirable in-group and undesirable out-group behaviors more abstractly than undesirable in-group and desirable out-group behaviors. Experiment 1 provided strong support for this hypothesis using a fixed-response scale format controlling for the level of abstractness developed from Semin and Fiedler's (1988a) linguistic category model. Experiment 2 yielded the same results with a free-response format. Experiment 3 demonstrated the important role that abstract versus concrete communication plays in the perpetuation of stereotypes. The implications of these findings and the use of the linguistic category model are discussed for the examination of the self-perpetuating cycle of stereotypes in communication processes.

Effects of high-calcium and/or high-sodium diet on basal and angiotensin II-stimulated blood pressure in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

Direct conscious blood pressure (BP) was measured via indwelling femoral cannula to evaluate the effects of chronic diet supplements with Na, Ca or both, offered to 3-week-old weanling spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Despite similar food intakes, body weights were reduced within 1-2 weeks on high-Ca diets. Blood pressure was unchanged by 5.5 weeks of diet treatments. However, irrespective of concomitant Na supplement, more prolonged treatment with the high-Ca diet completely abolished the further increase in BP between the 9th and 12th weeks of age, which was noted in the rats fed the normal or high-Na diets. Angiotensin-stimulated BP was attenuated by high-Ca diets regardless of diet Na, similar to basal readings. These weight and pressure effects of Ca were not reproduced by high-Na diet alone. For all four groups, BP was directly and significantly correlated with body weight, both at 9 and 12 weeks of age. These studies demonstrate the potential role of growth retardation in the antihypertensive action of oral Ca loading in young rats.

Enzyme hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation of dilute ammonia pretreated energy cane.

This study is the first one ever to report on the use of high fiber sugarcane (a.k.a. energy cane) bagasse as feedstock for the production of cellulosic ethanol. Energy cane bagasse was pretreated with ammonium hydroxide (28% v/v solution), and water at a ratio of 1:0.5:8 at 160°C for 1h under 0.9-1.1 MPa. Approximately, 55% lignin, 30% hemicellulose, 9% cellulose, and 6% other (e.g., ash, proteins) were removed during the process. The maximum glucan conversion of dilute ammonia treated energy cane bagasse by cellulases was 87% with an ethanol yield (glucose only) of 23 g ethanol/100g dry biomass. The enzymatic digestibility was related to the removal of lignin and hemicellulose, perhaps due to increased surface area and porosity resulting in the deformation and swelling of exposed fibers as shown in the SEM pictures.

Innovative self management system for guided cardiac rehabilitation.

This paper describes the design and development of a system for cardio rehabilitation of patients that suffered a myocardial infarction. The proposed solution focuses on exercise prescriptions and the encouragement of healthy behaviors. The innovative strategy of the design takes into account health promotion models to provide safe, assistive exercise training sessions, personalized feedbacks, and educational contents.

A system to promote self-behaviors of patients with coronary heart disease.

Personalized health devices are the novel paradigm to reduce healthcare costs and to improve the quality of health services. At the same time, health interventions and promotion of self behaviors generate benefits to healthcare and allow citizens to be more involved in their own health management. This paper describes the process followed in HeartCycle project to design education and coaching services to promote self-behaviors in a closed loop monitoring system for patients with coronary heart diseases that suffered a myocardial infarction.

Integration of heterogeneous biomedical sensors into an ISO/IEEE 11073 compliant application.

Current trends in healthcare technology include mobile-based applications. Relevant advances in the integration of vital signs monitoring devices with mobile platforms are widely reported nowadays. In this context, conceiving and designing an interoperable application is essential due to the growing necessity of integrating a huge and heterogeneous amount of biomedical data, coming from a wide range of devices and sensors. In this paper the key research issues associated with such integration are presented as well as a specific proposal to solve these problems. It is based on a middleware architecture for the integration of biomedical sensors with mobile devices, derived from the ISO/IEEE 11073 standards family. The application has been developed in the framework of an EU-funded R&D project called METABO.

Wearable and mobile system to manage remotely heart failure.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) account for 45% of all deaths in the western world according to the 2004 World Health Organization statistics report. Heart failure (HF), CVD's primary paradigm, mainly affects people older than 65. The European MyHeart Project's mission is to empower citizens to fight CVD by leading a preventative lifestyle and allowing early diagnosis. This paper presents the iterative design and development of the HF management system, part of MyHeart Project. The system daily measures vital body signals to assess HF. The methodology applied herein has involved stakeholders in an iterative process: concept validation, feasibility, efficiency, patients' experience, and patients' acceptance. The final solution allows patient self-management of their chronic condition.

User interaction design and development of a heart failure management system based on wearable and information technologies.

In the Western World, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading source of death. Only in Europe, they cause 45% of all deaths. Besides heart failure, the paradigm of CVD, affects mainly people older than 65. Facing this reality, the European Union has funded MyHeart Project, whose mission is empowering citizens to fight CVD by means of a preventive lifestyle and an early diagnosis. This paper presents the design and development of the user interaction for a heart failure management system. This system consists on wearable and mobile technologies which monitors the vital body signals in a daily basis, providing a continuous assessment of this chronic disease.

Selectivity of endotoxin-induced defect in endothelial calcium mobilization.

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that endotoxin (LPS) would impair bradykinin (BK)-induced calcium (Ca2+) mobilization in aortic endothelial cells, perhaps due to cytotoxicity or via stimulation of nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. As well, we sought to define contributions of LPS-stimulated Ca2+ mobilization to these effects. METHODS: LPS- or BK-induced increments of intracellular Ca2+ were assessed by microspectrofluorimetry with fura-2 in passaged bovine aortic endothelial cells. Time- and dose-dependent effects of LPS exposure (+/- inhibitors of NO or prostaglandin synthesis) on subsequent BK-induced Ca2+ mobilization and on attached cell counts were determined. RESULTS: LPS (0.1 to 1.0 mg/ml) led to rapid increments of Ca2+, while Ca2+ responses were delayed following LPS (1 to 10 microg/ml) and lower doses were without effect. By contrast, LPS more potently (1.0 pg to 1.0 microg/ml) led to dose- and time-dependent impairment of subsequent BK-induced Ca2+ mobilization, with peak effect at four to six hours, persisting for at least 18 hours. This delayed effect on BK-response was unaltered by inhibition of either NO synthase or cyclooxygenase. The effect of LPS on BK-responsivity depended importantly on cell confluence, as it was not observed in subconfluent cells. By contrast, LPS-induced cell detachment, which was observed only at doses > or = 1.0 microg/ml, did not depend on confluence. CONCLUSIONS: Different mechanisms lead to endothelial cytotoxicity and to impaired BK-response following LPS. Only the former effect, occurring at higher doses, might depend on initial LPS-induced Ca2+ mobilization.