Obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes - a world-wide epidemic.

Obesity is now commonly defined in adults as a BMI > 30 kg/m2. The prevalence of obesity in established market economies (Europe, USA, Canada, Australia, etc.) varies greatly, but a weighed estimate suggests an average prevalence in the order of 15-20%. The prevalence in these countries generally shows increasing trends over time. Obesity is also relatively common in Latin America, but much less so in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia where the majority of the world population lives. Nevertheless obesity rates are increasing there as well and, more importantly, rates of diabetes are increasing even more quickly, particularly in Asian countries. The risks of type 2 diabetes mellitus in these countries tend to increase sharply at levels of BMI generally classified as acceptable in European and North American white people. There have been suggestions to adopt specific classifications of obesity in Asians (e.g. BMI 23 for overweight and 25 or 27 kg/m2 for obesity) and this will greatly affect the prevalence estimates of obesity worldwide (currently at about 250 million people). Particularly for health promotion purposes BMI may be replaced by a classification based on waist circumference, but also specific classifications for different ethnic groups may be necessary. The number of diabetics has been projected to increase from 135 million in 1995 to 300 million in 2025. Much of this increase will be seen in Asia. In summary, both obesity and type 2 diabetes are common consequences of changing lifestyles (increased sedentary lifestyles and increased energy density of diets). Both are potentially preventable through lifestyle modification on a population level, but this requires a coherent and multifaceted strategy. Such strategies are not developed or implemented. These developments point toward the great urgency to develop global and national plans for adequate prevention and management of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus

An Optimal Algorithm for Large Frequency Moments Using O(n^(1-2/k)) Bits

In this paper, we provide the first optimal algorithm for the remaining open question from the seminal paper of Alon, Matias, and Szegedy: approximating large frequency moments. We give an upper bound on the space required to find a k-th frequency moment of O(n^(1-2/k)) bits that matches, up to a constant factor, the lower bound of Woodruff et. al for constant epsilon and constant k. Our algorithm makes a single pass over the stream and works for any constant k > 3. It is based upon two major technical accomplishments: first, we provide an optimal algorithm for finding the heavy elements in a stream; and second, we provide a technique using Martingale Sketches which gives an optimal reduction of the large frequency moment problem to the all heavy elements problem. We also provide a polylogarithmic improvement for frequency moments, frequency based functions, spatial data streams, and measuring independence of data sets

Trunk fat and leg fat have independent and opposite associations with fasting and postload glucose levels: the Hoorn study

Trunk fat and leg fat have independent and opposite associations with fasting and postload glucose levels: the Hoorn study. Snijder MB, Dekker JM, Visser M, Bouter LM, Stehouwer CD, Yudkin JS, Heine RJ, Nijpels G, Seidell JC; Hoorn study. Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [email protected] OBJECTIVE: Waist and hip circumferences have been shown to have independent and opposite associations with glucose levels. Waist circumference is positively associated with glucose levels, whereas hip circumference is negatively associated. It is unclear which tissues are involved in the pathophysiological mechanism causing these associations. The main goal was to determine which tissue in the trunk and legs, fat or lean tissue, is associated with measures of glucose metabolism. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In 623 participants of the third examination of the Hoorn Study, whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was performed to determine fat and lean soft-tissue mass in the trunk and legs. Fasting and 2-h postload glucose levels after 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were determined. After exclusion of known diabetic patients, cross-sectional analyses were performed in 275 men aged 60-87 years (140 with normal glucose metabolism, 92 with impaired glucose metabolism; and 43 with diabetes) and in 281 women (148 with normal glucose metabolism, 90 with impaired glucose metabolism, and 43 with diabetes). RESULTS: Greater trunk fat mass was associated with higher glucose levels after adjustment for age, trunk lean mass, leg lean mass, and leg fat mass. Standardized beta (95% CI) in men were 0.44 (0.25-0.64) for fasting and 0.41 (0.22-0.60) for postload glucose. For women, these values were 0.49 (0.35-0.63) and 0.47 (0.33-0.61), respectively. In contrast, in the same regression models, a larger leg fat mass was associated with lower glucose levels. Standardized beta in men were -0.24 (-0.43 to -0.05) and -0.12 (-0.31 to 0.07) and in women -0.24 (-0.37 to -0.10) and -0.27 (-0.40 to -0.13) for fasting and postload glucose, respectively. In these models, larger leg lean mass was also associated with lower glucose levels but was only statistically significant in men. CONCLUSIONS: If trunk fat is taken into account, accumulation of fat in the legs seems to be protective against a disturbed glucose metabolism, particularly in women. Further research is needed to unravel underlying pathophysiological mechanism

Toward the optimal strategy for sustained weight loss in overweight cancer survivors: a systematic review of the literature

Purpose: To gain more insight into the optimal strategy to achieve weight loss and weight loss maintenance in overweight and obese cancer survivors after completion of initial treatment, this systematic review aimed to provide an overview of the literature on intervention effects on weight, to describe intervention components used in effective interventions, to identify and synthesize behaviour change techniques (BCTs) and to assess the frequency with which these BCTs were used in effective interventions. / Methods: Six databases were searched for original research articles describing weight changes in adult overweight cancer survivors after participation in a lifestyle intervention initiated after completion of initial treatment. Two researchers independently screened the retrieved papers and extracted BCTs using the BCT Taxonomy version 1. / Results: Thirty-two papers describing 27 interventions were included. Interventions that were evaluated with a robust study design (n = 8) generally showed <5% weight loss and did not evaluate effects at ≥12 months after intervention completion. Effective interventions promoted both diet and physical activity and used the BCTs ‘goal setting (behaviour)’, ‘action planning’, ‘social support (unspecified)’ and ‘instruction on how to perform the behaviour’. / Conclusions: The results of this first review on intervention components of effective interventions could be used to inform intervention development and showed a need for future publications to report long-term effects, a detailed intervention description and an extensive process evaluation. / Implications for cancer survivors: This study contributed to increasing knowledge on the optimal strategy to achieve weight loss, which is recommended for overweight cancer survivors to improve health outcomes

Ionospheric quasi-static electric field anomalies during seismic activity in August–September 1981

The paper proposes new results, analyses and information for the plate tectonic situation in the processing of INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300 satellite data about anomalies of the quasi-static electric field in the upper ionosphere over activated earthquake source regions at different latitudes. The earthquake catalogue is made on the basis of information from the United State Geological Survey (USGS) website. The disturbances in ionospheric quasi-static electric fields are recorded by IESP-1 instrument aboard the INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300 satellite and they are compared with significant seismic events from the period 14 August–20 September 1981 in magnetically very quiet, quiet and medium quiet days. The main tectonic characteristics of the seismically activated territories are also taken in account. The main goal of the above research work is to enlarge the research of possible connections between anomalous vertical electric field penetrations into the ionosphere and the earthquake manifestations, also to propose tectonic arguments for the observed phenomena. The studies are represented in four main blocks: (i) previous studies of similar problems, (ii) selection of satellite, seismic and plate tectonic data, (iii) data processing with new specialized software and observations of the quasi-static electric field and (iiii) summary, comparison of new with previous results in our studies and conclusion. We establish the high informativity of the vertical component &lt;i&gt;Ez&lt;/i&gt; of the quasi-static electric field in the upper ionosphere according observations by INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300 that are placed above considerably activated earthquake sources. This component shows an increase of about 2–10 mV/m above sources, situated on mobile structures of the plates. The paper discusses the observed effects. It is represented also a statistical study of ionospheric effects 5–15 days before and 5–15 days after the earthquakes with magnitude M 4.8–7.9

Влияние толщины диффузионного слоя на возникновение динамических неустойчивостей в модельном электрокаталитическом процессе

Определено влияние толщины диффузионного слоя Нернста на возникновение неустойчивостей Хопфа, седло–узел и гомоклинной неустойчивости в модельном электрокаталитическом процессе на поверхности сферического электрода при потенциостатических условиях. Показано, что увеличение толщины диффузионного слоя Нернста способстует расширению области потенциалов (в системе могут наблюдаться спонтанные периодические колебания тока), а также области бистабильности системы. Возможная реализация в системе гомоклинной бифуркации может привести и к более сложным динамическим режимам.Визначено вплив товщини дифузійного шару Нернста на виникнення нестійкості Хопфа, сідло–вузол та гомоклінної нестійкості в модельному електрокаталітичному процесі на поверхні сферичного електроду за потенціостатичних умов. Показано, що збільшення товщини дифузійного шару Нернста спричинює розширення області потенціалів (у системі можуть спостерігатися спонтанні періодичні коливання струму), а також області бістабільності системи. Можлива реалізація в системі гомоклінної біфуркації може привести і до більш складних динамічних режимів.The influence of the Nernst diffusion layer thickness on the appearance of the Hopf instability, saddle–node instability, and homoclinic instability in a model electrocatalytic process on a spherical electrode surface under potentiostatic conditions is determined. It is shown that the Nernst diffusion layer thickness increase leads to an increase in the potential range, where spontaneous periodic current oscillations can be observed and also in the system bistability range. A possible realization of the homoclinic bifurcation in the system can initiate more complicated dynamical regimes

Морфологічне дослідження впливу мелатоніну на стан слизової оболонки шлунка щурів в умовах експериментальної гастральної виразки

Введение серотонина вызывает в слизистой оболочке желудка животных острые деструктивные изменения преимущественно в виде эрозий и язв различного размера и численности, которые сопровождаются уменьшением содержания нейтральных мукополисахаридов в цитоплазме клеток поверхностно-ямочного эпителия. Введение мелатонина при гастральной язве уменьшает деструктивные изменения в слизистой оболочке желудка и восстанавливает состояние защитного слизистого барьера.Введение серотонина вызывает в слизистой оболочке желудка животных острые деструктивные изменения преимущественно в виде эрозий и язв различного размера и численности, которые сопровождаются уменьшением содержания нейтральных мукополисахаридов в цитоплазме клеток поверхностно-ямочного эпителия. Введение мелатонина при гастральной язве уменьшает деструктивные изменения в слизистой оболочке желудка и восстанавливает состояние защитного слизистого барьера.The introduction of serotonin is in the gastric mucosa of animals’ acute destructive changes mainly in the form of erosions and ulcers of various sizes and numbers, which are accompanied by a decrease in the amount of neutral mucopolysaccharides in the cytoplasm of the cell surface patching of the epithelium. The administration of melatonin in the gastric ulcer reduces the destructive changes in the gastric mucosa and restores the state of the protective mucus barrier