Food insecurity and allergic diseases: A call to collective action.

Food security encompassess the concept of access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. Conversely, food insecurity (FI) refers to household-level economic and social conditions of limited or uncertain access to adequate food. FI is a key social determinant of health that can negatively affect nutrition and health outcomes, as it is estimated that 10.2% of the US population meets criteria for FI. Recognizing the impact of FI on our patients and families is critical to promote health equity and optimize health outcomes. This review focuses on FI and allergic disease from the perspective of key multisector stakeholders within the field of allergy and immunology as well as from the larger health care arena, highlighting key resources and initiatives important to patients. Collectively, as specialists in allergy and immunology, and within the medical field more broadly, we must leverage our unique roles as we interface with patients and families and serve as committed advocates for change. Developing innovative strategies to promote health equity can provide a pathway forward for all children, adults, and families to gain access to healthy, nutritious food as part of their routine lifestyle. This is a call to action.

Reduced body cell mass and functions in lower extremities are associated with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's dementia.

This study examined the alterations of segmental body composition in individuals with Alzheimer's pathology (AD), including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. A multifrequency bioimpedance analysis (BIA) was used to provide segmental water and impedance variables from 365 cognitively normal (CN), 123 MCI due to AD, and 30 AD dementia participants. We compared the BIA variables between the three groups, examined their correlations with neuropsychological screening test scores, and illustrate their 95% confidence RXc graphs. AD dementia participants were older, more depressive, and had worse cognitive abilities than MCI due to AD and CN participants. Although the BIA variables showed weak partial correlations with the cognitive test scores, we found patterns of an increasing water content in lean mass, increasing extra to intracellular water ratio, and decreasing reactance and phase angle in the lower extremities with effect sizes ranging from 0.26 to 0.51 in the groups of MCI and dementia due to AD compared with CN individuals. The RXc graphs upheld the findings with a significant displacement downward and toward the right, dominantly in the lower extremities. Individuals with AD pathology exhibit a reduced body cell mass or cell strength, an abnormal cellular water distribution, and an overhydration status in lean mass, especially in the lower extremities.

Prefrontal EEG slowing, synchronization, and ERP peak latency in association with predementia stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Early screening of elderly individuals who are at risk of dementia allows timely medical interventions to prevent disease progression. The portable and low-cost electroencephalography (EEG) technique has the potential to serve it. Objective: We examined prefrontal EEG and event-related potential (ERP) variables in association with the predementia stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: One hundred elderly individuals were recruited from the GARD cohort. The participants were classified into four groups according to their amyloid beta deposition (A+ or A-) and neurodegeneration status (N+ or N-): cognitively normal (CN; A-N-, n = 27), asymptomatic AD (aAD; A + N-, n = 15), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with AD pathology (pAD; A+N+, n = 16), and MCI with non-AD pathology (MCI(-); A-N+, n = 42). Prefrontal resting-state eyes-closed EEG measurements were recorded for five minutes and auditory ERP measurements were recorded for 8 min. Three variables of median frequency (MDF), spectrum triangular index (STI), and positive-peak latency (PPL) were employed to reflect EEG slowing, temporal synchrony, and ERP latency, respectively. Results: Decreasing prefrontal MDF and increasing PPL were observed in the MCI with AD pathology. Interestingly, after controlling for age, sex, and education, we found a significant negative association between MDF and the aAD and pAD stages with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.58. Similarly, PPL exhibited a significant positive association with these AD stages with an OR of 2.36. Additionally, compared with the MCI(-) group, significant negative associations were demonstrated by the aAD group with STI and those in the pAD group with MDF with ORs of 0.30 and 0.42, respectively. Conclusion: Slow intrinsic EEG oscillation is associated with MCI due to AD, and a delayed ERP peak latency is likely associated with general cognitive impairment. MCI individuals without AD pathology exhibited better cortical temporal synchronization and faster EEG oscillations than those with aAD or pAD. Significance: The EEG/ERP variables obtained from prefrontal EEG techniques are associated with early cognitive impairment due to AD and non-AD pathology. This result suggests that prefrontal EEG/ERP metrics may serve as useful indicators to screen elderly individuals' early stages on the AD continuum as well as overall cognitive impairment.

Application of an Escherichia coli triple reporter strain for at-line monitoring of single-cell physiology during L-phenylalanine production.

Biotechnological production processes are sustainable approaches for the production of biobased components such as amino acids for food and feed industry. Scale-up from ideal lab-scale bioreactors to large-scale processes is often accompanied by loss in productivity. This may be related to population heterogeneities of cells originating from isogenic cultures that arise due to dynamic non-ideal conditions in the bioreactor. To better understand this phenomenon, deeper insights into single-cell physiologies in bioprocesses are mandatory before scale-up. Here, a triple reporter strain (3RP) was developed by chromosomally integrating the fluorescent proteins mEmerald, CyOFP1, and mTagBFP2 into the L-phenylalanine producing Escherichia coli strain FUS4 (pF81kan) to allow monitoring of growth, oxygen availability, and general stress response of the single cells. Functionality of the 3RP was confirmed in well-mixed lab-scale fed-batch processes with glycerol as carbon source in comparison to the strain without fluorescent proteins, leading to no difference in process performance. Fluorescence levels could successfully reflect the course of related process state variables, revealed population heterogeneities during the transition between different process phases and potentially subpopulations that exhibit superior process performance. Furthermore, indications were found for noise in gene expression as regulation strategy against environmental perturbation.

Segmental bioelectrical impedance analysis for Korean older population with cold pattern.

Objective: This study examined the association of whole-body composition and segmental bioimpedance variables with cold pattern (CP) in different sexes. Methods: We assigned 667 older individuals to a CP group (n = 488) and a non-CP group (n = 179) by using an eight-item self-administered questionnaire. Seven body composition variables and three pairs of segmental bioimpedance variables for the upper and lower extremities, which were obtained from a segmental multifrequency bioimpedance analyzer, were employed to investigate their association with CP. Participants' characteristics were first described. Then we compared the selected body composition and bioimpedance variables between the CP and non-CP groups. Finally, their association with CP was investigated using univariate and multivariate regression analyses. All analyses were performed separately for women and men. Results: Both women and men exhibited a comparable mean age in the CP and non-CP groups; however, women with CP had significantly lower blood pressures, whereas men with CP showed a higher proportion of osteoarthritis than those without CP. Compared with the non-CP group, individuals with CP exhibited significantly smaller body sizes indicated by shorter height and smaller weight, lower body mass index, and smaller volume-to-body surface area ratio in both sexes. After controlling for age, height, weight, and other covariates, we found significant reductions in body lean mass such as fat-free mass and body cell mass, basal metabolic rate per unit mass, total body water, and intra-to-extracellular water ratio in the CP group. With regard to segmental bioimpedance analysis, the resistance ratios and phase angles in the upper and lower extremities yield significant associations with CP incidence, as demonstrated by the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 1.72 (1.16-2.57), 1.69 (1.18-2.48), 0.60 (0.40-0.89), and 0.57 (0.39-0.82), respectively. However, these results did not emerge in men. Conclusion: Abnormal cellular water distribution and deterioration in body cell mass and/or cell strength are associated with CP prevalence, regardless of age, height, weight. These findings are similar in the upper and lower extremities and are more pronounced in women. The abovementioned patterns may be considered effective indicators for identifying CP in the older adult population.

Corrigendum: Segmental bioimpedance variables in association with mild cognitive impairment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.873623.].

Segmental Bioimpedance Variables in Association With Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Objective: To examine the changes in body composition, water compartment, and bioimpedance in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) individuals. Methods: We obtained seven whole-body composition variables and seven pairs of segmental body composition, water compartment, and impedance variables for the upper and lower extremities from the segmental multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) of 939 elderly participants, including 673 cognitively normal (CN) people and 266 individuals with MCI. Participants' characteristics, anthropometric information, and the selected BIA variables were described and statistically compared between the CN participants and those with MCI. The correlations between the selected BIA variables and neuropsychological tests such as the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination and Seoul Neuropsychological Screening Battery - Second Edition were also examined before and after controlling for age and sex. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses with estimated odds ratios (ORs) were conducted to investigate the associations between these BIA variables and MCI prevalence for different sexes. Results: Participants with MCI were slightly older, more depressive, and had significantly poorer cognitive abilities when compared with the CN individuals. The partial correlations between the selected BIA variables and neuropsychological tests upon controlling for age and sex were not greatly significant. However, after accounting for age, sex, and the significant comorbidities, segmental lean mass, water volume, resistance, and reactance in the lower extremities were positively associated with MCI, with ORs [95% confidence interval (CI)] of 1.33 (1.02-1.71), 1.33 (1.03-1.72), 0.76 (0.62-0.92), and 0.79 (0.67-0.93), respectively; with presumably a shift of water from the intracellular area to extracellular space. After stratifying by sex, resistance and reactance in lower extremities remained significant only in the women group. Conclusion: An increase in segmental water along with segmental lean mass and a decrease in body cell strength due to an abnormal cellular water distribution demonstrated by reductions in resistance and reactance are associated with MCI prevalence, which are more pronounced in the lower extremities and in women. These characteristic changes in BIA variables may be considered as an early sign of cognitive impairment in the elderly population.

Applications of Coarse-Grained Models in Metabolic Engineering.

Mathematical modeling is a promising tool for better understanding of cellular processes. In recent years, the development of coarse-grained models has gained attraction since these simple models are able to capture and describe a broad range of growth conditions. Coarse-grained models often comprise only two cellular components, a low molecular component as representative for central metabolism and energy generation and a macromolecular component, representing the entire proteome. A framework is presented that presents a strict mass conservative model for bacterial growth during a biotechnological production process. After providing interesting properties for the steady-state solution, applications are presented 1) for a production process of an amino acid and 2) production of a metabolite from central metabolism.

Saccadic Eye Movement in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered the transitional state to AD dementia (ADD) and other types of dementia, whose symptoms are accompanied by altered eye movement. In this work, we reviewed the existing literature and conducted a meta-analysis to extract relevant eye movement parameters that are significantly altered owing to ADD and MCI. We conducted a systematic review of 35 eligible original publications in saccade paradigms and a meta-analysis of 27 articles with specified task conditions, which used mainly gap and overlap conditions in both prosaccade and antisaccade paradigms. The meta-analysis revealed that prosaccade and antisaccade latencies and frequency of antisaccade errors showed significant alterations for both MCI and ADD. First, both prosaccade and antisaccade paradigms differentiated patients with ADD and MCI from controls, however, antisaccade paradigms was more effective than prosaccade paradigms in distinguishing patients from controls. Second, during prosaccade in the gap and overlap conditions, patients with ADD had significantly longer latencies than patients with MCI, and the trend was similar during antisaccade in the gap condition as patients with ADD had significantly more errors than patients with MCI. The anti-effect magnitude was similar between controls and patients, and the magnitude of the latency of the gap effect varied among healthy controls and MCI and ADD subjects, but the effect size of the latency remained large in both patients. These findings suggest that, using gap effect, anti-effect, and specific choices of saccade paradigms and conditions, distinctions could be made between MCI and ADD patients as well as between patients and controls.

Predicting Dementia With Prefrontal Electroencephalography and Event-Related Potential.

Objective: To examine whether prefrontal electroencephalography (EEG) can be used for screening dementia. Methods: We estimated the global cognitive decline using the results of Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), measurements of brain activity from resting-state EEG, responses elicited by auditory stimulation [sensory event-related potential (ERP)], and selective attention tasks (selective-attention ERP) from 122 elderly participants (dementia, 35; control, 87). We investigated that the association between MMSE and each EEG/ERP variable by using Pearson's correlation coefficient and performing univariate linear regression analysis. Kernel density estimation was used to examine the distribution of each EEG/ERP variable in the dementia and non-dementia groups. Both Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses with the estimated odds ratios were conducted to assess the associations between the EEG/ERP variables and dementia prevalence. To develop the predictive models, five-fold cross-validation was applied to multiple classification algorithms. Results: Most prefrontal EEG/ERP variables, previously known to be associated with cognitive decline, show correlations with the MMSE score (strongest correlation has |r| = 0.68). Although variables such as the frontal asymmetry of the resting-state EEG are not well correlated with the MMSE score, they indicate risk factors for dementia. The selective-attention ERP and resting-state EEG variables outperform the MMSE scores in dementia prediction (areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.891, 0.824, and 0.803, respectively). In addition, combining EEG/ERP variables and MMSE scores improves the model predictive performance, whereas adding demographic risk factors do not improve the prediction accuracy. Conclusion: Prefrontal EEG markers outperform MMSE scores in predicting dementia, and additional prediction accuracy is expected when combining them with MMSE scores. Significance: Prefrontal EEG is effective for screening dementia when used independently or in combination with MMSE.