Using a Metabotype Framework to Deliver Personalized Nutrition Improves Dietary Quality and Metabolic Health Parameters: A 12-Week Randomized Controlled Trial

Scope

Effective strategies for tailoring dietary advice to individuals are urgently needed. The effectiveness of personalized nutrition advice delivered using a metabotype framework in improving dietary quality and metabolic health biomarkers compared to population-level advice is investigated.

Materials and results

A 12-week parallel randomized controlled trial is performed with 107 healthy adults. Individuals in the personalized group are classified into metabotypes using four markers (triacylglycerol, high-density lipoprotein [HDL]-cholesterol, total cholesterol [TC], and glucose) and received dietary advice from decision tree algorithms containing metabotypes characteristics and individual traits. Individuals in the control group received generic dietary advice based on national guidelines. The personalized approach results in higher dietary quality assessed by the Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score (effect size [95% confidence interval, CI], 0.77 [0.07, 1.48], 12% versus 3% increase) and significantly lower concentrations of triacylglycerol (−0.17 [−0.28, −0.06] log10 mmol L⁻¹), TC (−0.42 [−0.74, −0.10] mmol L⁻¹), low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (−0.34, [−0.60, −0.09] mmol L⁻¹), and lower triacylglycerol-glucose index (−0.40, [−0.67, −0.13]). Sixteen phosphatidylcholines and six lysophosphatidylcholines, predominately with chain lengths of 30–36 carbons, are lower in the personalized group.

Conclusions

Personalized nutrition advice delivered using the metabotype framework is effective to improve dietary quality, which could result in reduced CVD risk, and metabolic heath biomarkers.     

Characterization of copper bioreduction and biosorption by a highly copper resistant bacterium isolated from copper-contaminated vineyard soil

Copper is an essential but toxic heavy metal that negatively impacts living systems at high concentration. This study presents factors affecting copper bioremoval (bioreduction and biosorption) by a highly copper resistant monoculture of Pseudomonas sp. NA and copper bioremoval from soil. Seven bacteria resistant to high concentration of Cu(II) were isolated from enrichment cultures of vineyard soils and mining wastes. Culture parameters influencing copper bioreduction and biosorption by one monoculture isolate were studied. The isolate was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis as a Pseudomonas sp. NA (98% similarity to Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas plecoglossicida and other Pseudomonas sp.). The optimal temperature for growth was 30 °C and bioremoval of Cu(II) was maximal at 35 °C. Considerable growth of the isolate was observed between pH 5.0 and 8.0 with the highest growth and biosorption recorded at pH 6.0. Maximal bioreduction was observed at pH 5.0. Cu(II) bioremoval was directly proportional to Cu(II) concentration in media. Pseudomonas sp. NA removed more than 110 mg L^− 1 Cu(II) in water within 24 h through bioreduction and biosorption at initial concentration of 300 mg L^− 1. In cultures amended with 100 mg L^− 1, 20.7 mg L^− 1 of Cu(II) was biologically reduced and more than 23 mg L^− 1 of Cu(II) was biologically removed in 12 h. The isolate strongly promoted copper bioleaching in soil. Results indicate that Pseudomonas sp. NA has good potential as an agent for removing copper from water and soil.     

Understanding the role of managerial agency in achieving business benefits from ERP systems

Previous enterprise resource planning (ERP) research has identified ‘top management support’ as an important factor in implementation success. However, most studies are short on the detail of exactly how and why ‘top management support’ contributes to ERP success. Moreover, although ‘improved management decision‐making’ is often claimed as a business benefit of ERP systems, there is little evidence in previous ERP research of it having actually occurred. This paper examines the role of managerial agency at all levels in four Australian manufacturing organizations in achieving business benefits from ERP systems during the post‐implementation period. The research contributes to current understanding of the role of managerial agency in achieving business benefits from ERP systems by providing theoretically based, detailed and interesting insights from four interpretive case studies.     

Effects of Heat Treatments on Steels for Bearing Applications

AISI 52 100, 440C, REX20, and Crucible CRU80 steel samples were exposed to 16 different heat treatments to vary the levels of retained austenite. Rockwell C hardness measurements, optical microscopy, and compression testing were used to compare the properties of the different steels.     

Exploring the loss of semantic memory in semantic dementia: Evidence from a primed monitoring study.

An on-line primed monitoring study was used in an exploration of the nature of semantic memory loss in a patient (P.P.) with semantic dementia who showed a profound semantic impairment on a range of off-line tasks. Priming for pairs of words taken from a common category (e.g., cat-dog, spade-rake, ruby-emerald) was contrasted with that for word pairs from different categories that were related functionally (e.g., shampoo-hair, broom-floor, theater-play). Control participants showed robust priming for both types of semantic relation. P.P., in contrast, showed a normal priming effect for the functionally related conditions but no priming for category coordinates. This result suggests that P.P.'s semantic memory loss cannot be explained solely as a loss of stored representations or as a problem with deliberate controlled access to that information. Rather, elements of both explanations apply for different kinds of semantic information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Daily Fluctuations in Self-Control Demands and Alcohol Intake.

Predictions made by the self-control strength model were tested in a sample of underage social drinkers using ecological momentary assessment methodology. On days that participants experienced more self-control demands than average, they were more likely to violate their self-imposed drinking limit after controlling for mood and urge to drink. There was no relationship between self-control demands and urge or intention to drink, nor were self-control demands related to plans to limit drinking. When individuals planned to limit their alcohol intake, they were more affected by self-control demands than when they did not plan to limit their alcohol intake. Trait self-control moderated these relationships. Consistent with the self-control strength model, it appears that exerting self-control in nondrinking areas undermines individuals' capacity to exert self-control of drinking in daily life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

COMPETING DRYING AND REACTION MECHANISMS IN THE FORMATION OF SOL-TO-GEL FILMS, FIBERS, AND SPHERES

Drying of films, fibers, and spheres undergoing sol-to-gel transformation is greatly affected by the strong dependence of the diffusion coefficients on composition, molecular weight, and temperature. This dependence is probed by solving the equations of mass and heat transfer by diffusion or conduction and associated convection, along with chemical reaction. A one-dimensional analysis is used that encompasses the planar, cylindrical, and spherical configurations. The solutions are obtained by Galerkin's method with finite element basis functions and entail large-scale computation.

Skinning and solidification phenomena in silica sol-to-gel systems are greatly affected not only by falling diffusion coefficients, but also by the competition between drying and reaction. The kinetics of silica reactions are modeled with the statistical scheme of Kay and Assink (1988). Gelation is predicted by the recursive technique of Bailey et al. (1990). Results show that at intermediate reaction rates, high molecular weight silica polymers are formed first near the evaporating free surface and gelation proceeds from that surface inwards, but at high or low reaction rates, gelation occurs before or after drying, respectively. These results help predict conditions in which uniform films can be cast, uniform fibers can be drawn, and uniform microspheres can be formed by spray drying.     

Melt-Infiltration Processing and Fracture Toughness of Alumina-Glass Dental Composites

Alumina-glass composites were prepared by a melt-infiltration process that is similar to a fabrication method for dental crowns and bridges. Cylindrical alumina samples with green densities ranging from 62% to 72% of theoretical were formed by slip casting followed by sintering at 1100°C for 2 h. A borosilicate glass was infiltrated at 1200°C, resulting in a composite microstructure consisting of fused alumina particles and glass-filled pores. Fracture toughness of the composites, measured by a chevron-notch method with a short rod sample, was ∼3.8 MPa·m^1/2 and was relatively insensitive to the volume fraction of alumina in the range of 0.62 to 0.72.     

Unmet needs of older women in a clinic population: The discovery of possible long-term sequelae of domestic violence.

The effects of prior domestic violence may significantly affect older women who seek mental health services. In two community mental health centers, older women frequently presented with depressive and anxious symptoms, poor family relationships, multiple health problems, alcohol dependence (in themselves, their former spouses, and their children), and economic difficulties. Increased media attention to domestic violence often preceded first-time disclosure of abuse within their marriages, which often had occurred years ago. Peers and family members rarely provided adequate support. Practitioners should assess for prior abuse, and treatment must address the full spectrum of these clients' needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)