Burdens of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages in 184 countries

The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, an updated and comprehensive assessment of the global burden attributable to SSBs remains scarce. Here we estimated SSB-attributable T2D and CVD burdens across 184 countries in 1990 and 2020 globally, regionally and nationally, incorporating data from the Global Dietary Database, jointly stratified by age, sex, educational attainment and urbanicity. In 2020, 2.2 million (95% uncertainty interval 2.0–2.3) new T2D cases and 1.2 million (95% uncertainty interval 1.1–1.3) new CVD cases were attributable to SSBs worldwide, representing 9.8% and 3.1%, respectively, of all incident cases. Globally, proportional SSB-attributable burdens were higher among men versus women, younger versus older adults, higher- versus lower-educated adults, and adults in urban versus rural areas. By world region, the highest SSB-attributable percentage burdens were in Latin America and the Caribbean (T2D: 24.4%; CVD: 11.3%) and sub-Saharan Africa (T2D: 21.5%; CVD: 10.5%). From 1990 to 2020, the largest proportional increases in SSB-attributable incident T2D and CVD cases were in sub-Saharan Africa (+8.8% and +4.4%, respectively). Our study highlights the countries and subpopulations most affected by cardiometabolic disease associated with SSB consumption, assisting in shaping effective policies and interventions to reduce these burdens globally

Thiamine Deficiency and Neuroinflammation Are Important Contributors to Alcohol Use Disorder

Despite the growing morbidity associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD), current FDA-approved therapeutics fail to adequately address the condition. This is in part due to the complex systemic effects of ethanol (EtOH), which have particularly negative consequences on the gut–liver–brain axis. Importantly, two systemic mechanisms underlying the progression of AUD remain underemphasized in therapeutic development: thiamine deficiency and neuroinflammation. Alcohol-induced thiamine deficiency leads to reduced activity of key metabolic enzymes, thereby resulting in energy deficits, oxidative stress, and severe clinical implications. EtOH also activates TLR4 and NLRP3, both of which play critical roles in the regulation of neuroimmune responses. While research directly investigating the relationship between thiamine deficiency and neuroinflammation is still in its early stages, our review highlights the emerging connections between these two seemingly distinct pathomechanisms. Additionally, potential therapeutic approaches and targets for addressing AUD at a systemic level are discussed

Norovirus foodborne outbreak in an agritourism: causes, development and legal consequences

Abstract Background Norovirus is the main causative agent of viral acute gastroenteritis. It is easily transmitted and frequently causes foodborne and waterborne outbreaks. The Food Hygiene Service of ASL 2 Abruzzo received notification of gastrointestinal illness in 33 customers who attended a lunch at an agritourism on 28 July 2019. Methods The investigation started immediately. The event was reported to the Judicial Authority and food preparation was suspended. Stool specimens and rectal swabs were collected from 18 guests and 2 food handlers and tested. A questionnaire survey was given to the customers. During the inspection, the Food Hygiene Service sampled some food leftover and water from faucets. Furthermore, it found an incomplete HACCP manual. Results The 31 cases of gastrointestinal illness occurred within 12-72 hours and didn't need hospitalization. Among the affected subjects,18 were men (58.1%) with a median age of 51 years. All the biological samples collected from the subjects were positive for Norovirus GII, as revealed by Real Time-PCR. The two food handlers resulted positive for Norovirus GII, but they were asymptomatic. They were tested up to 3 weeks after the outbreak and their feces remained positive. Water and food samples resulted negative, except for raw ham's outer surface, that resulted positive for Norovirus GII. The contamination probably occurred during food preparation. Discussion This outbreak was related to food cross-contamination by infected food handlers, likely caused by a failure in application of both personal and food hygiene measures prescribed in HACCP plan. Food preparation restarted on 12 September 2019, but infected food handlers were dismissed until they were positive. The Judicial Authority will file a lawsuit against the food operator business that could lead to imprisonment or fines. Key messages Norovirus outbreaks are recognized as a public health concern causing a high number of cases and serious health consequences in children and the elderly. HACCP manual must be customized for each food business and integrally applied by food handlers in order to attain a higher standard of food safety for prevention of foodborne illness. </jats:sec

Detecting young, slow-slipping active faults through geologic and multidisciplinary high-resolution geophysical investigations: a case study from the Apennine seismic belt, Italy

The Southern Apennines range of Italy presents significant challenges for active fault detection due to the complex structural setting inherited from previous contractional tectonics, coupled to very recent (Middle Pleistocene) onset and slow slip rates of active normal faults. As shown by the Irpinia Fault, source of a M6.9 earthquake in 1980, major faults might have small cumulative deformation and subtle geomorphic expression. A multidisciplinary study including morphological‐tectonic, paleoseismological, and geophysical investigations has been carried out across the extensional Monte Aquila Fault, a poorly known structure that, similarly to the Irpinia Fault, runs across a ridge and is weakly expressed at the surface by small scarps/warps. The joint application of shallow reflection profiling, seismic and electrical resistivity tomography, and physical logging of cored sediments has proved crucial for proper fault detection because performance of each technique was markedly different and very dependent on local geologic conditions. Geophysical data clearly (1) image a fault zone beneath suspected warps, (2) constrain the cumulative vertical slip to only 25–30 m, (3) delineate colluvial packages suggesting coseismic surface faulting episodes. Paleoseismological investigations document at least three deformation events during the very Late Pleistocene (<20 ka) and Holocene. The clue to surface‐rupturing episodes, together with the fault dimension inferred by geological mapping and microseismicity distribution, suggest a seismogenic potential of M6.3. Our study provides the second documentation of a major active fault in southern Italy that, as the Irpinia Fault, does not bound a large intermontane basin, but it is nested within the mountain range, weakly modifying the landscape. This demonstrates that standard geomorphological approaches are insufficient to define a proper framework of active faults in this region. More in general, our applications have wide methodological implications for shallow imaging in complex terrains because they clearly illustrate the benefits of combining electrical resistivity and seismic techniques. The proposed multidisciplinary methodology can be effective in regions characterized by young and/or slow slipping active faults

Multi-segment rupture of the 2016 Amatrice-Visso-Norcia seismic sequence (central Italy) constrained by the first high-quality catalog of Early Aftershocks

AbstractWe present the first high-quality catalog of early aftershocks of the three mainshocks of the 2016 central Italy Amatrice-Visso-Norcia normal faulting sequence. We located 10,574 manually picked aftershocks with a robust probabilistic, non-linear method achieving a significant improvement in the solution accuracy and magnitude completeness with respect to previous studies. Aftershock distribution and relocated mainshocks give insight into the complex architecture of major causative and subsidiary faults, thus providing crucial constraints on multi-segment rupture models. We document reactivation and kinematic inversion of a WNW-dipping listric structure, referable to the inherited Mts Sibillini Thrust (MST) that controlled segmentation of the causative normal faults. Spatial partitioning of aftershocks evidences that the MST lateral ramp had a dual control on rupture propagation, behaving as a barrier for the Amatrice and Visso mainshocks, and later as an asperity for the Norcia mainshock. We hypothesize that the Visso mainshock re-activated also the deep part of an optimally oriented preexisting thrust. Aftershock patterns reveal that the Amatrice Mw5.4 aftershock and the Norcia mainshock ruptured two distinct antithetic faults 3–4 km apart. Therefore, our results suggest to consider both the MST cross structure and the subsidiary antithetic fault in the finite-fault source modelling of the Norcia earthquake.</jats:p