Retention, Fasting Patterns, and Weight Loss With an Intermittent Fasting App: Large-Scale, 52-Week Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Intermittent fasting (IF) is an increasingly popular approach to dietary control that focuses on the timing of eating rather than the quantity and content of caloric intake. IF practitioners typically seek to improve their weight and other health factors. Millions of practitioners have turned to purpose-built mobile apps to help them track and adhere to their fasts and monitor changes in their weight and other biometrics. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantify user retention, fasting patterns, and weight loss by users of 2 IF mobile apps. We also sought to describe and model starting BMI, amount of fasting, frequency of weight tracking, and other demographics as correlates of retention and weight change. METHODS: We assembled height, weight, fasting, and demographic data of adult users (ages 18-100 years) of the LIFE Fasting Tracker and LIFE Extend apps from 2018 to 2020. Retention for up to 52 weeks was quantified based on recorded fasts and correlated with user demographics. Users who provided height and at least 2 readings of weight and whose first fast and weight records were contemporaneous were included in the weight loss analysis. Fasting was quantified as extended fasting hours (EFH; hours beyond 12 in a fast) averaged per day (EFH per day). Retention was modeled using a Cox proportional hazards regression. Weight loss was analyzed using linear regression. RESULTS: A total of 792,692 users were followed for retention based on 26 million recorded fasts. Of these, 132,775 (16.7%) users were retained at 13 weeks, 54,881 (6.9%) at 26 weeks, and 16,478 (2.1%) at 52 weeks, allowing 4 consecutive weeks of inactivity. The survival analysis using Cox regression indicated that retention was positively associated with age and exercise and negatively associated with stress and smoking. Weight loss in the qualifying cohort (n=161,346) was strongly correlated with starting BMI and EFH per day, which displayed a positive interaction. Users with a BMI ≥40 kg/m2 lost 13.9% of their starting weight by 52 weeks versus a slight weight gain on average for users with starting BMI <23 kg/m2. EFH per day was an approximately linear predictor of weight loss. By week 26, users lost over 1% of their starting weight per EFH per day on average. The regression analysis using all variables was highly predictive of weight change at 26 weeks (R2=0.334) with starting BMI and EFH per day as the most significant predictors. CONCLUSIONS: IF with LIFE mobile apps appears to be a sustainable approach to weight reduction in the overweight and obese population. Healthy weight and underweight individuals do not lose much weight on average, even with extensive fasting. Users who are obese lose substantial weight over time, with more weight loss in those who fast more.

Quantitation of amino sugar stereoisomer and muramic acid biomarkers by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A rapid separation and quantitation of the stereoisomer amino sugars glucosamine, galactosamine, and mannosamine, along with muramic acid, is needed. These compounds, when their quantities are accurate, can be used to understand the origin and fate of natural organic matter (NOM) in the environment. These target molecules are biomarkers of fungi and bacteria and allow the deconvolution of microbial transformations and degradation of NOM in a wide variety of environmental matrices. Analytical methods applied to this suite of biomarkers are needed to understand carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry with a changing global climate. Traditional separations of these analytes by gas chromatography require sample derivatization, as does reverse phase liquid chromatography. In contrast, ion chromatography can separate the analytes directly, but requires a separate analytical method to quantify muramic acid. In this work we present a direct analysis of all these molecules using hydrophilic liquid interaction chromatography. Solvent composition, buffer strength, pH, flow rate, and column temperature were optimized. The method can separate these four compounds and the biopolymeric precursor molecule N-acetylglucosamine in a single run in under 8 min with equivalent resolution to the best previously reported separations that did not require derivatization prior to analysis. Detection of the analytes was performed by both tandem and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The method was assessed for its quantitative capabilities through i) peak area assignment, ii) check standards with ratios of the target analytes likely to be present in real samples, iii) an injection internal standard, and iv) quantitative analysis of real soil hydrolysates by external calibration and standard addition approaches. Across their expected analytical ranges the response for each analyte was highly linear with good accuracy (<25%) and precision (<15%) over three orders of magnitude. Detection limits of 20 µg L-1 were found for galactosamine and 5 µg L-1 for the remainder of the analytes, comparable to the majority of other methods reported in the literature. Overall, this new approach can directly and rapidly quantify amino sugars recovered in environmental hydrolysates.

Personnel real time dosimetry in interventional radiology.

Interventional radiology and hemodynamic procedures have rapidly grown in number in the past decade, increasing the importance of personnel dosimetry not only for patients but also for medical staff. The optimization of the absorbed dose during operations is one of the goals that fostered the development of real-time dosimetric systems. Indeed, introducing proper procedure optimization, like correlating dose rate measurements with medical staff position inside the operating room, the absorbed dose could be reduced. Real-time dose measurements would greatly facilitate this task through real-time monitoring and automatic data recording. Besides real-time dose monitoring could allow automatic data recording. In this work, we will describe the calibration and validation of a wireless real-time prototype dosimeter based on a new sensor device (CMOS imager). The validation measurement campaign in clinical conditions has demonstrated the prototype capability of measuring dose-rates with a frequency in the range of few Hz, and an uncertainty smaller than 10%.

Viral nano-hybrids for innovative energy conversion and storage schemes.

Typical rod-like viruses (the Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) and the Bacteriophage M13) are biological nanostructures that couple a 1D mono-dispersed morphology with a precisely defined topology of surface spaced and orthogonal reactive domains. These biogenic scaffolds offer a unique alternative to synthetic nano-platforms for the assembly of functional molecules and materials. Spatially resolved 1D arrays of inorganic-organic hybrid domains can thus be obtained on viral nano-templates resulting in the functional arrangement of photo-triggers and catalytic sites with applications in light energy conversion and storage. Different synthetic strategies are herein highlighted depending on the building blocks and with a particular emphasis on the molecular design of viral-templated nano-interfaces holding great potential for the dream-goal of artificial photosynthesis.

Chronic fatigue is the most important factor limiting health-related quality of life of chronic myeloid leukemia patients treated with imatinib.

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important goal of therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients treated with current molecular-targeted therapies. The main objective of this study was to investigate factors associated with long-term HRQOL outcomes of CML patients receiving imatinib. Analysis was performed on 422 CML patients recruited in an observational multicenter study. HRQOL was assessed with the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Key socio-demographic and clinical data were investigated for their association with HRQOL outcomes. Chronic fatigue and social support were also investigated. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to identify independent factors associated with HRQOL outcomes. Fatigue was the only variable showing an independent and consistent association across all physical and mental HRQOL outcomes (P<0.01). Differences between patients reporting low versus high fatigue levels were more than eight and seven times the magnitude of a clinically meaningful difference, respectively, for the role physical (Δ=70 points) and emotional scale (Δ=63 points) of the SF-36. Fatigue did not occur as an isolated symptom and was most highly correlated with musculoskeletal pain (r=0.511; P≤0.001) and muscular cramps (r=0.448; P≤0.001). Chronic fatigue is the major factor limiting HRQOL of CML patients receiving imatinib.

Worldwide distribution of PSEN1 Met146Leu mutation: a large variability for a founder mutation.

OBJECTIVE: Large kindreds segregating familial Alzheimer disease (FAD) offer the opportunity of studying clinical variability as observed for presenilin 1 (PSEN1) mutations. Two early-onset FAD (EOFAD) Calabrian families with PSEN1 Met146Leu (ATG/CTG) mutation constitute a unique population descending from a remote common ancestor. Recently, several other EOFAD families with the same mutation have been described worldwide. METHODS: We searched for a common founder of the PSEN1 Met146Leu mutation in families with different geographic origins by genealogic and molecular analyses. We also investigated the phenotypic variability at onset in a group of 50 patients (mean age at onset 40.0 +/- 4.8 years) by clinical, neuropsychological, and molecular methodologies. RESULTS: EOFAD Met146Leu families from around the world resulted to be related and constitute a single kindred originating from Southern Italy before the 17th century. Phenotypic variability at onset is broad: 4 different clinical presentations may be recognized, 2 classic for AD (memory deficits and spatial and temporal disorientation), whereas the others are expressions of frontal impairment. The apathetic and dysexecutive subgroups could be related to orbital-medial prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Genealogic and molecular findings provided evidence that the PSEN1 Met146Leu families from around the world analyzed in this study are related and represent a single kindred originating from Southern Italy. The marked phenotypic variability might reflect early involvement by the pathologic process of different cortical areas. Although the clinical phenotype is quite variable, the neuropathologic and biochemical characteristics of the lesions account for neurodegenerative processes unmistakably of Alzheimer nature.

Role of the transglutaminase enzymes in the nervous system and their possible involvement in neurodegenerative diseases.

Transglutaminases are a large family of related and ubiquitous enzymes which catalyze the cross linking of a glutaminyl residue of a protein/peptide substrate to a lysyl residue of a protein/peptide co-substrate. In addition to lysyl residues, other second nucleophilic co-substrates may include monoamines or polyamines (to form mono- or bi-substituted /crosslinked adducts) or -OH groups (to form ester linkages). In absence of co-substrates, the nucleophile may be water, resulting in the net deamidation of the glutaminyl residue. These enzymes are also capable of catalyzing other reactions important for cell viability. The distribution and the physiological roles of human transglutaminases have been widely studied in numerous cell types and tissues and their roles in several diseases have begun to be identified. Recently, "tissue" transglutaminase (TG2) has been shown to be involved in the molecular mechanisms responsible for a very widespread human pathology, celiac disease (CD). Transglutaminase activity has also been hypothesized to be directly involved in the pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for several human neurodegenerative diseases, which are characterized in part by aberrant cerebral transglutaminase activity and by increased cross-linked proteins in affected brains, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), supranuclear palsy, Huntington's disease (HD) and the other recently identified polyglutamine diseases, and others. In this review we discuss the biological role of the transglutaminases in the nervous system, with particular interest in the molecular mechanisms, which could involve these enzymes in the pathophysiological processes responsible for human neurodegenerative diseases.

[Laparoscopic adrenalectomy: our preliminary experience]. / Videolaparosurrenectomia: nostra esperienza preliminare.

INTRODUCTION: In 1992, Gagner described the first laparoscopic adrenalectomy. Since then this technique has been more and more widely employed and several studies confirmed its advantages, comparing to the traditional approach, in terms of reduction of mean hospital stay and therefore of the health expense. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The Authors' preliminary experience spreads from March to November 2003 when 4 patients were studied and thus underwent a transperitoneal laparoscopic adrenalectomy: 2 of them were affected by Cushing syndrome, 1 by pheochromocytoma in MEN and 1 by an incidentaloma. The transabdominal access in lateral decubitus with 4 trocars was performed. RESULTS: No complication was reported with a minimal need of analgesic drugs. The mean hospital stay was 4 days and all patients were discharged 48 hours after surgery. The mean diameter of nodules was 40 +/- 30 mm. The definitive histological examination showed 2 cortical adenomas, 1 diffuse cortical hyperplasia and 1 pheochromocytoma. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary report confirms the optimal results of other experienced authors. Further interventions will be necessary for improvements and technical requirements.

[Post-partum as a specific risk factor for the onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder: clinical-controlled study]. / Il post partum come fattore di rischio specifico per l'esordio del disturbo ossessivo-compulsivo: studio clinico controllato.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the presence of triggering life-events for the onset of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in women (OCD). DESIGN: Clinical controlled study. SETTING: Service for depressive and anxiety disorders; Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatric Unit, University of Turin. METHODS: The study compares twenty-nine women with OCD (DSM-IV criteria) with twenty-nine healthy control women matched for demographic features and with twenty-nine women with Bulimia Nervosa (DSM-IV criteria) matched for age, age at onset, education and marital status. All patients were assessed with the Clinical Structured Interview for DSMIII-R (SCID) and with the Interview for Recent Life Event by Paykel. Moreover, OCD patients were assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and bulimic patients with the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI). RESULTS: The study demonstrates that the only specific life event that is significantly associated with the onset of OCD is "having a new born child" No significant differences in frequency and severity of stressing life events were found in the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results confirms the findings of our previous study: post partum is the only risk factor for the onset of OCD in female population, compared to healthy control. Furthermore, this research points-out the importance and the specificity of this association showing that post partum is not a risk factor in all psychiatric disorders.

[B-cell lymphoma (MALToma) of the stomach and Helicobacter pylori infection]. / Linfoma a cellule B (maltoma) dello stomaco ed infezione da Helicobacter pylori.

The authors, after illustrating physiopathologic aspects of gastric MALTomas, examine the H.P. infections and the possible relations between this kind of bacterium and gastric MALTomas. They hypothesize that H.P. infection represents an important predisposition to gastric lymphoma, due to anatomopathological modifications over gastric mucosa. They conclude that a decreasing of gastric lymphoma could be correlatable an opportune eradication of H.P. despite of at moment it's impossible hypothesize a marked decreasing of lymphoma by an eradication of H.P.

Complex translocations of the Ph chromosome and Ph negative CML arise from similar mechanisms, as evidenced by FISH analysis.

The authors report on 13 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) studied by serial karyotyping and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of their bone marrow cells. Ten patients had complex translocations of the Ph chromosome while the remaining three were Ph negative. FISH analysis revealed in all 13 patients the translocation of the ABL protooncogene into chromosome 22 at band q11. Moreover, in all complex translocations but one, FISH with a chromosome 22 painting probe demonstrated on one chromosome 9 at band q34 the presence of material from chromosome 22, in addition to signals on the third chromosome involved in complex changes. Therefore, in this study complex translocations appeared as secondary changes resulting from two consecutive translocations with a total of at least four breaks. The first translocation gave rise to the standard t(9;22)(q34;q11). The second one included a break distal to the original breakpoint at band 9q34 and another one on a third chromosome. Furthermore FISH using S1 and S15 probes, mapped at band 22q11.2 or 22q12, gave evidence that in complex translocations the secondary breakpoint on der(9) was in the translocated segment 22q11-qter between bands q11 and q12. FISH analysis also disclosed the presence of material from chromosome 22 on one chromosome 9 in the three patients with Ph negative CML, demonstrating that in these cases a retranslocation between chromosomes 9q+ and 22q- had occurred. Consequently, the four-break mechanism could also be invoked for the three Ph negative CML patients.

Leukemic evolution in three patients with myelodysplastic syndrome and unusual chromosome changes.

The authors describe three patients with myelodysplastic syndrome without a history of exposure to chemical agents and who showed many chromosome rearrangements not previously reported in this hematologic disorder, and a rapid outcome of the disease. The authors discuss the significance of the chromosome changes, suggesting, in agreement with others, that patients with complex rearrangements have a poor prognosis.

[Survey of the frequency of routine diagnostic tests in term pregnancies]. / Studio sulla frequenza con cui vengono eseguiti gli accertamenti diagnostici routinari in gravide a termine.

In 420 pregnant women who delivered during the third trimester at the "Istituto di I Clinica Ostetrica e Ginecologica", University of Catania, routine blood tests were performed in 95.5% of cases (401 women), urine tests in 95.5% (401), Hb-phoresis in 42.6% (179), HBsAg in 51.4% (216), TORCH and urine cultures in 37.8% (159), cardiotocograph in 73.1% (307), plasma RIA of E3 and/or HPL in 35% (147), maternal ECG and pseudocholinesterasemia in 83.6% (351) and 37.6% (158) respectively. No routine diagnostic tests were performed in 4.5% (19 women) of cases. Diagnostic tests are less frequently performed in women, plurigravida, and in pregnancies which follow a physiological course. Several diagnostic tests, except for TCTG and HBsAg, are performed more frequently in pregnancies with complications. Lastly, there is a marked difference between the number of diagnostic tests performed and the individual woman's place of residence.

Cytogenetic survey of sixty-one patients with preleukemic syndrome including myeloproliferative and myelodysplastic diseases.

The authors report on a cytogenetic survey of 61 patients with preleukemic syndrome (PLS). Of these, 41 had a myeloproliferative disease (MPD) and 20 a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Clonal chromosome abnormalities appeared in 24 patients (39.3%) at disease onset. Such changes had a frequency of 26.8% in patients with MPD and 65% in those with MDS. The authors stress the usefulness of ethidium bromide high resolution techniques. They allow obtaining a larger number of metaphases and elongated chromosomes with higher banding resolution and could account for the frequent detection of chromosome changes in most groups of MDS patients in the present series. Moreover, they discuss the possible significance of some chromosome aberrations suggesting that patients with MPD may live longer than those with MDS because of their higher frequency of normal karyotypes.

[Absence of sexual dysfunction does not mean that the couple does not need sexual counseling]. / La assenza di disfunzione sessuale non significa che la coppia non necessiti di consulenza sessuologica.

Two-hundred women with sexual dysfunction were compared with 160 without. The number of the practising religious (46.0% vs 28.8%; p less than 0.05), of married women (58.0% vs 47.8%; p greater than 0.05), widows (4.0% vs 0%; p less than 0.01) or the separated were found in significantly higher numbers. Nulliparity does not appear to be a risk factor in sexual dysfunction. The use of contraceptive technique such as the pill and the intrauterine device is significantly lower in women with sexual dysfunction. Also significantly higher is the number of women with sexual dysfunction who report that they are not satisfied with their sexual relationship (63.0% vs 6.2%; p less than 0.001) or who would like to change the sexual behaviour of their partner (50.0% vs 7.5%; p less than or equal to 0.001) or whose husband would like a change in the sexual behaviour of the partner (64.0% vs 10.0%; p less than or equal to 0.001). 7.5% of women without sexual dysfunction consider their relationship with the current partner to be unsatisfactory. Most of these women experience their partner's request as a "problem". In conclusion, the presence of sexual dysfunction is unacceptable to women in the majority of cases as it is accompanied by a negative opinion on the quality of the sexual relationship. It is the Authors' opinion that anamnesis of the sexual life of the couple should be offered to all women who have a gynaecological examination. The absence of sexual dysfunction does not necessarily mean that the women or the couple consider their sexual relationship to be sexually satisfactory or that they do not need or would not accept, if expressly asked, sexual counseling.

Sex during prepregnancy period. A study of 106 pluriparous women in relation to parity.

The authors study the correlation between sexual activity and parity in 106 pluriparous Sicilian women divided into 3 groups with parity, respectively, of 1 (57 cases), 2 (29 cases), and greater than or equal to 3 (20 cases). Sexual desire, frequency of coitus and orgasm, type of extracoital activity, preferred position during coitus, the partner who took the first initiative in sexual activity, and the contraceptive methods used were studied. The results show that in women of parity greater than or equal to 3 there is a significantly lower frequency of very frequent coitus, higher frequency of extravaginal sexual activity, and that the male more frequently took the first initiative in sexual intercourse.

Acute alkalosis, but not acute hypocalcemia, increases panic behavior in an animal model.

Non-pretrained, randomized adult rats were tested in a panic-inducing model of passive avoidance. Intravenous treatment with alkalinizing agents (sodium lactate 0.5 M, 0.5 ml/100 g b.wt., or NaHCO3, 0.5 mEq/100 g b.wt.), but not with a hypocalcemic dose of EDTA (75 mg/kg) 3 min before testing, significantly increased panic behavior. These data may support the hypothesis that panic attacks are due to alkalosis and not to lactate-induced hypocalcemia.

Leucorreias durante a gravidez. Etiologia, incidencia, diagnostico clinico x laboratorial. / Leukorrhea during pregnancy. Etiology, incidence, clinical x laboratory diagnosis

Foram pesquisadas secrecoes vaginais em 100 pacientes gravidas, em suas manifestacoes clinicas e laboratoriais (citologia de Papanicolau e cultura), no periodo de abril a junho 1982, no Ambulatorio de Pre-Natal do Departamento de Ginecologia e Obstetricia da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Vinte e uma pacientes negaram secrecao vaginal: destas, em 14 observou-se corrimento, com diagnostico laboratorial positivo (66,6% de informacoes falso-negativas). A moniliase ocupou o primeiro lugar na incidencia (36%), seguida pela tricomoniase (23%). A incidencia de moniliase foi 1,5 vez superior a de tricomoniase. A incidencia do Haemophilus vaginalis foi de 17% e a associacao de fungos e tricomonas ocorreu em 8% dos casos. A analise comparativa dos metodos laboratoriais (citologia e cultura) ressaltou a importancia dos dados complementares fornecidos pela citologia oncotica associada a cultura como metodo diagnostico. O diagnostico clinico quando comparado ao laboratorial,foi bastante falho para os diversos tipos de secrecoes vaginais, mostrando erro no diagnostico clinico em mais de 50% dos casos