Market and product assessment of probiotic/prebioticcontaining functional foods and supplements manufactured in South Africa

Objectives. Probiotic and prebiotic products manufactured in South Africa  were identified and health and content claims stated on the labels were  evaluated according to available scientific evidence, the proposed South  African regulations in the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act (Act  No. 54 of 1972, www.doh.gov.za), and microbial assessment.Results. The range of products identified included probioticand/ or prebiotic-containing supplements (capsules), food items fortified with  probiotics and/ or prebiotics, and fermented food containing probiotics, e.g. dairy products. Most of the health-related claims on the labels of the identified products do not comply with proposed South African regulations. However, results also indicate that the proposed South African regulations should be reconsidered to include an additional 5 claims, for which  scientifically sound evidence is available. The claims regarding probiotic strains, viable cell numbers, prebiotic type and concentration stated on the labels of the products are mostly in line with the proposed South African  regulations. The actual viable cell content of 3 out of 5 probiotic  supplements readily available on the South African market did not comply  with the content claim stated on the label. However, this problem did not seem to affect the inhibitory activity of the pro biotic strains against  indicator strains isolated from faeces of patients diagnosed with AIDS. To validate this finding in vivo assessments should be implemented before  considering the need to include a wider range of prescribed viable cell numbers in the proposed South African regulations.Conclusions. The proposed South African regulations regarding probiotic-  and prebiotic-containing products should be revised based on the results of  this research, and the manufacturers of these products should be held responsible for providing the consumer with scientifically sound and legally  correct information

Clinical hypoglycemic effects of allium cepa (Red Onion) in Type 1 Diabetic patients

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease caused by destruction of pancreatic islet beta cells and characterized by defect in insulin secretion.Objectives: The present study was carried out to investigate the hypoglycemic effects of Allium cepa in patients with type 1 diabetic patients.Results: In the assessment of the hypoglycaemic activity of Allium cepa in type 1 diabetic patients (n=21), crude Allium cepa (100g) caused a  considerably lowered value in the fasting blood glucose levels by about 89 mg/dl in relation to insulin (145 mg/dl) after 4 hours. Also the ingestion of crude Allium cepa by type 1 diabetic patients produced a significant reduction in the induced hyperglycemia (GTT) by about 120 mg/dl in relation to water (77 mg/dl) and the standard drug insulin (153 mg/dl).Conclusion: Crude Allium cepa produced hypoglycemic effects, thus it could be used as a dietary supplement in management of diabetes. Key words: Allium cepa, hypoglycemia, type 1 diabetes

In vivo fast scan cyclic voltammetry reveals that restricted diffusion maintains discrete dopamine domains in the dorsal striatum.

Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter involved in a variety of physiological functionality such as motor control, cognition, sexual arousal and reward. Furthermore, dysfunction in the dopaminergic system can lead a number of devastating neurological disorders including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, and substance abuse. Therefore, understanding the real-time mechanisms of dopamine signaling is of utmost importance. Real-time analysis of in vivo dopamine poses an interesting analytical challenge. Dopamine is released into the extracellular space deep below the cortical surface in nanomolar to micromolar concentrations on a sub-second timeframe. Because of these conditions, effective dopamine quantification requires a small selective detector that exhibits high temporal resolution and a low limit of detection. Fast scan cyclic voltammetry at carbon fiber microelectrodes has proven to be ideal for this task. The work detailed in this dissertation pairs in vivo voltammetry with electrical stimulation of dopaminergic axonal projections to controllably study dopamine kinetics. Previously our laboratory discovered the existence of two discrete dopamine domains in the rat dorsal striatum that exhibit unique dopamine kinetic responses to electrical stimulation. This dissertation is built on the foundation of that work. First, we discovered that the effect of a competitive inhibitor of the dopamine transporter is domain dependent. The kinetics of these domain dependent effects allowed us to predict that dopamine signaling in the extracellular space is subjected to restricted diffusion. We continued on to show that restricted diffusion prevents cross-talk between domains, thus maintaining a strict physical segregation between domains. Further work resulted in the discovery of five discrete dopamine domains. These domains exhibit differing extents of regulation, resulting in unique kinetic responses to electrical stimulation. Finally, we discovered the existence of long-term dopamine signaling. Following electrically stimulated dopamine release, free dopamine in the extracellular space is not completely cleared as previously believed. Instead, the free dopamine establishes a new steady state elevated baseline concentration. These discoveries provide new insight into the complex mechanisms that regulate dopamine signaling, and have the potential to explain the multiple functionalities of the dopaminergic system

‘When we walk out, what was it all about?’: Views on new beginnings from within the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

The 1994 United Nations Security Council resolution which created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) foresaw it marking a ‘new beginning’, both locally (peace and reconciliation in Rwanda) and globally (strengthening the project of international criminal justice). Over time, those who spoke on behalf of the ICTR highlighted the strictly quantifiable (number of arrests, convictions) and the contributions to the global ‘new beginning’ for international criminal justice. Ethnographic fieldwork at the ICTR, however, revealed that lawyers and judges, enmeshed in the Tribunal's institutional order, held diverse views regarding local and global efficacy, refracted through the sense of power(lessness) that accompanied their respective institutional locations. Focusing on the attitude of judges and lawyers to the lack of indictments for members of the Rwandan Patriotic Army for alleged massacres in 1994 and accusations of ‘victor's justice’, this article distinguishes between the ICTR as a disembodied institution that did or did not mark local or global ‘new beginnings’, and the ICTR as a collection of situated persons negotiating their simultaneous empowerment and disempowerment

Does neurocognitive training have the potential to improve dietary self-care in type 2 diabetes? Study protocol of a double blind randomised controlled trial

Dietary self-care is a key element of self-management in type 2 diabetes. It is also the most difficult aspect of diabetes self-management. Adhering to long-term dietary goals and resisting immediate food desires requires top-down inhibitory control over subcortical impulsive and emotional responses to food. Practising simple neurocognitive tasks can improve inhibitory control and health behaviours that depend on inhibitory control, such as resisting alcohol consumption. It is yet to be investigated, however, whether neurocognitive training can improve dietary self-care in people with type 2 diabetes. The aim of this randomised controlled trial is to investigate whether web-based neurocognitive training can improve the ability of people with type 2 diabetes to resist tempting foods and better adhere to a healthy dietary regime

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Association Between Classical Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Common Carotid Intima-Media Thickness: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis

Background The major risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease differ by race or ethnicity but have largely been defined using populations of European ancestry. Despite the rising prevalence of cardiovascular disease in Africa there are few related data from African populations. Therefore, we compared the association of established cardiovascular risk factors with carotid-intima media thickness (CIMT), a subclinical marker of atherosclerosis, between African, African American, Asian, European, and Hispanic populations. Methods and Results Cross-sectional analyses of 34 025 men and women drawn from 15 cohorts in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America were undertaken. Classical cardiovascular risk factors were assessed and CIMT measured using B-mode ultrasound. Ethnic differences in the association of established cardiovascular risk factors with CIMT were determined using a 2-stage individual participant data meta-analysis with beta coefficients expressed as a percentage using the White population as the reference group. CIMT adjusted for risk factors was the greatest among African American populations followed by Asian, European, and Hispanic populations with African populations having the lowest mean CIMT. In all racial or ethnic groups, men had higher CIMT levels compared with women. Age, sex, body mass index, and systolic blood pressure had a significant positive association with CIMT in all races and ethnicities at varying magnitudes. When compared with European populations, the association of age, sex, and systolic blood pressure with CIMT was weaker in all races and ethnicities. Smoking (beta coefficient, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.09-0.70), body mass index (beta coefficient, 0.05; 95% CI, 0.01-0.08) and glucose (beta coefficient, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.06-0.19) had the strongest positive association with CIMT in the Asian population when compared with all other racial and ethnic groups. High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol had significant protective effects in African American (beta coefficient, -0.31; 95% CI, -0.42 to -0.21) and African (beta coefficient, -0.26; 95% CI, -0.31 to -0.19) populations only. Conclusions The strength of association between established cardiovascular risk factors and CIMT differed across the racial or ethnic groups and may be due to lifestyle risk factors and genetics. These differences have implications for race- ethnicity-specific primary prevention strategies and also give insights into the differential contribution of risk factors to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. The greatest burden of subclinical atherosclerosis in African American individuals warrants further investigations

Adiposity is Associated with Regional Cortical Thinning

BACKGROUND: Although obesity is associated with structural changes in brain grey matter, findings have been inconsistent and the precise nature of these changes is unclear. Inconsistencies may partly be due to the use of different volumetric morphometry methods, and the inclusion of participants with comorbidities that exert independent effects on brain structure. The latter concern is particularly critical when sample sizes are modest. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between cortical grey matter and body mass index (BMI), in healthy participants, excluding confounding comorbidities and using a large sample size. SUBJECTS: A total of 202 self-reported healthy volunteers were studied using surface-based morphometry, which permits the measurement of cortical thickness, surface area and cortical folding, independent of each other. RESULTS: Although increasing BMI was not associated with global cortical changes, a more precise, region-based analysis revealed significant thinning of the cortex in two areas: left lateral occipital cortex (LOC) and right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). An analogous region-based analysis failed to find an association between BMI and regional surface area or folding. Participants' age was also found to be negatively associated with cortical thickness of several brain regions; however, there was no overlap between the age- and BMI-related effects on cortical thinning. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the key effect of increasing BMI on cortical grey matter is a focal thinning in the left LOC and right vmPFC. Consistent implications of the latter region in reward valuation, and goal control of decision and action suggest a possible shift in these processes with increasing BMI.We thank all the participants and the staff of the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre. This work was supported by the Bernard Wolfe Health Neuroscience Fund (NM, HZ, ISF, PCF), the Wellcome Trust (RGAG/144 to N.M, RGAG/188 to ISF, RNAG/259 to PCF) and the Medical Research Council (G0701497 to KDE).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2016.42

Attentional Processing of Food Cues in Overweight and Obese Individuals

The incentive sensitization model of obesity hypothesizes that obese individuals in the western world have acquired an enhanced attention bias to food cues, because of the overwhelming exposure to food. This article gives an overview of recent studies regarding attention to food and obesity. In general, an interesting approach-avoidance pattern in food-related attention has been found in overweight/obese individuals in a number of studies. However, it should be noted that study results are contradictory. This might be due to methodological issues, such as the choice of attention measurements, possibly tapping different underlying components of information processing. Although attention research is challenging, researchers are encouraged to further explore important issues, such as the exact circumstances in which obese persons demonstrate enhanced attention to food, the directional relationship between food-related attention bias, overeating and weight gain, and the underlying involvement of the reward system. Knowledge on these issues could help improve treatment programs

Risk factors for revision after shoulder arthroplasty: 1,825 shoulder arthroplasties from the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register

Background and purpose Previous studies on shoulder arthroplasty have usually described small patient populations, and few articles have addressed the survival of shoulder implants. We describe the results of shoulder replacement in the Norwegian population (of 4.7 million) during a 12-year period. Trends in the use of shoulder arthroplasty during the study period were also investigated

Food Catches the Eye but Not for Everyone: A BMI–Contingent Attentional Bias in Rapid Detection of Nutriments

An organism's survival depends crucially on its ability to detect and acquire nutriment. Attention circuits interact with cognitive and motivational systems to facilitate detection of salient sensory events in the environment. Here we show that the human attentional system is tuned to detect food targets among nonfood items. In two visual search experiments participants searched for discrepant food targets embedded in an array of nonfood distracters or vice versa. Detection times were faster when targets were food rather than nonfood items, and the detection advantage for food items showed a significant negative correlation with Body Mass Index (BMI). Also, eye tracking during searching within arrays of visually homogenous food and nonfood targets demonstrated that the BMI-contingent attentional bias was due to rapid capturing of the eyes by food items in individuals with low BMI. However, BMI was not associated with decision times after the discrepant food item was fixated. The results suggest that visual attention is biased towards foods, and that individual differences in energy consumption - as indexed by BMI - are associated with differential attentional effects related to foods. We speculate that such differences may constitute an important risk factor for gaining weight