Search

Background: The Mediterranean diet is a well-recognized healthy diet that has shown to induce positive changes in gut microbiota. Lifestyle changes such as diet along with physical activity could aid in weight loss and improve cardiovascular risk factors. Objectives: To investigate the effect of an intensive lifestyle weight loss intervention on gut microbiota. Methods: This is a substudy of the PREDIMED-Plus (Prevention con Dieta Mediterrdnea-Plus), a randomized controlled trial conducted in overweight/obese men and women (aged 55-75 y) with metabolic syndrome. The intervention group (IG) underwent an intensive weight loss lifestyle intervention based on an energy-restricted Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) and physical activity promotion. and the control group ((Xi) underwent a non-energy-restricted MedDiet for 1 y. Anthropometric, biochemical, and gut microbial 16S rRNA sequencing data were analyzed at baseline (n = 362) and 1-y follow-up (n = 343). Results: IG participants had a weight loss of 4.2 (IQR, -6.8, -2.5) kg compared with 0.2 (IQR, -2.1. 1.4) kg in the CG (P < 0.001). Reductions in BMI, fasting glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and triglycerides and an increase in HDL cholesterol were greater in IG than inCG participants (P < 0.05). We observed a decrease in Butyricicoccus, Haentophilus. Ruminiclostridium 5, and Eubacterium hall in the IG compared with the CG. Many genera shifted in the same direction within both intervention groups, indicating an overall effect of the MedDiet. Decreases in Themophilus. Coprococcus 3, and few other genera were associated with a decrease in adiposity parameters in both intervention groups. Changes in Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 were positively associated with changes in MedDiet adherence. Conclusions: Weight loss induced by an energy-restricted MedDiet and physical activity induce changes in gut microbiota. The role of MedDiet-induced changes on the host might be via short-chain fatty acid producing bacteria, whereas with energy restriction, these changes might be modulated with other mechanisms, which need to be explored in future studies.

Objective: It has been proposed that a mild form of acquired resistance to thyroid hormone may occur in the general population. Its clinical significance remains largely unknown. The objective of the study was to explore whether a newly described thyroid hormone resistance index is associated with the risk of mortality in a sample of community-dwelling euthyroid subjects representative of the adult population of Spain.; Design: Longitudinal observational study including 3750 individuals, free of thyroid disease, TPO antibodies-negative ( p5 and =p25; >p25 and =p50; >p50 and =p75; >p75 and =p95 and >p95 were 1.01, (0.47-2.19), 1.42 (0.68-2.97), 1.54 (0.74-3.22), 1.47 (0.70-3.11) and 2.61 (1.16-5.89), respectively (P for trend 0.003). The association remained significant after multivariate adjustment of the data (P for trend 0.017).; Conclusions: A thyroid hormone resistance index focused on deviations of the average pituitary response to thyroid hormones may be associated with all-cause mortality independently of other conventional risk factors and comorbidities.

The elastic scattering of the weakly bound radioactive nuclei B8 and Be7 from a Pb208 target was measured for the first time in the energy range around the Coulomb barrier. The data were analyzed using the optical model and the continuum discretized coupled channels (CDCC) formalisms. The reaction cross sections extracted from the optical model fits clearly indicate a remarkably enhanced reaction probability for the very weakly bound B8 (Sp=137.5keV) compared to similar mass nuclei interacting with the same target nucleus. CDCC calculations assuming a He3+He4 cluster model well described the Be7 experimental elastic scattering angular distributions, whereas the use of a Be7+p cluster model of B8 with an inert Be7 core gave a relatively poor description of the corresponding experimental data, suggesting that this model may be too simplistic and the possibility of core excitation should not be ignored.

Purpose To assess the association between the consumption of non-soy legumes and different subtypes of non-soy legumes and serum uric acid (SUA) or hyperuricemia in elderly individuals with overweight or obesity and metabolic syndrome. Methods A cross-sectional analysis was conducted in the framework of the PREDIMED-Plus study. We included 6329 participants with information on non-soy legume consumption and SUA levels. Non-soy legume consumption was estimated using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Linear regression models and Cox regression models were used to assess the associations between tertiles of non-soy legume consumption, different subtypes of non-soy legume consumption and SUA levels or hyperuricemia prevalence, respectively. Results Individuals in the highest tertile (T3) of total non-soy legume, lentil and pea consumption, had 0.14 mg/dL, 0.19 mg/dL and 0.12 mg/dL lower SUA levels, respectively, compared to those in the lowest tertile (T1), which was considered the reference one. Chickpea and dry bean consumption showed no association. In multivariable models, participants located in the top tertile of total non-soy legumes [prevalence ratio (PR): 0.89; 95% CI 0.82-0.97;ptrend = 0.01, lentils (PR: 0.89; 95% CI 0.82-0.97;ptrend = 0.01), dry beans (PR: 0.91; 95% C: 0.84-0.99;ptrend = 0.03) and peas (PR: 0.89; 95% CI 0.82-0.97;ptrend = 0.01)] presented a lower prevalence of hyperuricemia (vs. the bottom tertile). Chickpea consumption was not associated with hyperuricemia prevalence. Conclusions In this study of elderly subjects with metabolic syndrome, we observed that despite being a purine-rich food, non-soy legumes were inversely associated with SUA levels and hyperuricemia prevalence.

The elastic scattering process for the nuclear reactions induced by the Radioactive Ion Beams Be-7 and B-8 on a Pb-208 target was measured for the first time in the energy range around the Coulomb barrier. Extensive theoretical calculations within the framework of the optical model were performed. An excellent agreement between experimental data and theoretical predictions was achieved for the reaction Be-7 + Pb-208 while a comprehensive understanding of the reaction dynamics induced by the more exotic projectile B-8 is still far to be reached. Predictions of the cross section for the breakup for both systems will also be given.

Used automobile tires and thermoplastics (e.g. polypropylene) have become liability of modern societies and several avenues have been explored for their suitable disposal. Pyrolytic liquefaction of tires and plastics have attracted significant attention since the process can provide value-added products such as liquid transportation fuels and chemicals while mitigating the waste disposal issues. Pyrolysis can be done both in absence (thermal) or presence (catalytic) of a catalyst. Catalytic pyrolysis is favored by less demanding reaction conditions and better quality of product. Catalytic copyrolysis has the additional advantage in using a wider feedstock and a possible synergistic effects from different feeds during molecular transformations. This work investigates the effect of untreated fly-ash (class F) as catalyst for the copyrolysis of scrap tire and polypropylene at 300oC and atmospheric pressure using batch type pyrolysis reactor and also studied the effect of fly-ash during pyrolysis of scrap tire using Pyro-GC/MS. Copyrolysis was carried out using various ratio of scrap tire and polypropylene at 300oC, whereas the pyrolysis of scrap tire in pyro-GC/MS was carried out at 500oC. The maximum yield (23.33%) of oil was obtained at a ratio of 60:40 (w/w) of scrap tire and polypropylene in presence of 20wt% of fly ash catalyst. The oils were characterized by NMR, GC-MS, FT-IR and elemental analysis., Proceedings of the 27th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 27-30 May 2019, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 1501-1506

Catalysts consisting of Pt and Cu supported on Mo2C/η-Al2O3, Mo2C/γ-Al2O3or Mo2C were prepared and used for the low-temperature water gas shift reaction (WGSR). The catalysts were characterized by elemental analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The catalysts were studied in water gas shift reaction with a reaction mixture containing 11% CO, 43% H2, 6% CO2, 21% H2O (real feed composition mixture from the reformer) and balance He, with a reaction temperature range of 180–300 °C at a space velocity (SV) of 125,000 h−1. Catalyst supports (η-Al2O3and γ-Al2O3), led to different synergetic effect between the two most active phases of Pt metal and Mo2C. Pt/Mo2C/η-Al2O3is a promising catalyst (44% conversion at 180 °C) due to the close interaction between Pt and Mo2C phases on the surface of the catalyst. The 4 wt% Pt-Mo2C showed the highest activity where the temperature at which 50% conversion observed was at only 180 °C with SV of 125,000 h−1and constant stability over 85 h.

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two plyometric training program (aquatic vs. land) on vertical jump. 65 male physical education students took part in this study and were randomly assigned to three groups: aquatic plyometric training group (APT, n = 20), plyometric training group (PT, n = 20) and control group (CG, n = 25). The training program was performed for 10 weeks with a frequency of 2 sessions per week. Volume was increased from 10 sets of 10 repetitions to 10 sets of 55 repetitions. Both APT and PT increased the performance in CMJ and SJ with respect to pretest (P

The elastic scattering excitation function for O-15 on He-4 was measured - for the first time - by using the Inverse Kinematic Thick Target scattering method. The obtained spectrum was analysed in an R-matrix framework providing spectroscopic information for several states in the excitation energy of the nucleus Ne-19 from 4.8 to 9 MeV. Eight of them are newly observed states. The set-up and the experimental technique will be described in detail and the results will be shown and discussed.

We investigated the reaction dynamics induced by the Be-7, B-8+Pb-208 collisions at energies around the Coulomb barrier. Charged particles originated by both the collisions were detected by means of 6 Delta E-E-res telescopes of a newly developed detector array. Experimental data were analysed within the framework of the Optical Model and the total reaction cross-sections were compared together and with the Li-6,Li-7+Pb-208 collision data. According to the preliminary results, Be-7 nucleus reactivity is rather similar to the Li-7 one whereas the B-8+Pb-208 total reaction cross section appears to be much larger than those measured for reactions induced by the other weakly-bound projectiles on the same target.

this contribution we describe the first results obtained for the investigation of the elastic scattering process in the reactions induced by the Radioactive Ion Beams Be-7 and B-8 on a Pb-208 target at Coulomb barrier energies. The experimental data were analyzed within the framework of the optical model in order to extract the total reaction cross section. The comparison with data available in literature for reactions induced on Pb-208 by light ions in the mass range A = 6-8 shows that the loosely-bound( 8)B has the largest reactivity.

This paper presents values of complete fusion cross sections deduced from activation measurements for the reactions 6Li+120Sn and 7Li+119Sn, and for a projectile energy range from 17.5 to 28 MeV in the center-of-mass system. A new deconvolution analysis technique is used to link the basic activation data to the actual fusion excitation function. The complete fusion cross sections above the barrier are suppressed by about 70% and 85% with respect to the universal fusion function, used as a standard reference, in the 6Li and 7Li induced reactions, respectively. From a comparison of the excitation functions of the two systems at energies below the barrier, no significant differences can be observed, despite the two systems have different n-transfer Q values. This observation is supported by the results of coupled reaction channels (CRC) calculations.

We investigated the reaction dynamics induced by the Radioactive Ion Beams Be-7 and B-8 on a Pb-208 target at energies around the Coulomb barrier. The two measurements are strongly interconnected, being Be-7 (S-alpha = 1.586 MeV) the loosely bound core of the even more exotic B-8 (S-p = 0.1375 MeV) nucleus. Here we summarize the present status of the data analysis for the measurement of the elastic scattering process for both reactions and the preliminary results for the optical model analysis of the collected data.

We studied the reaction dynamics induced at Coulomb barrier energies by the weakly-bound Radioactive Ion Beam Be-7 (S-alpha = 1.586 MeV) on medium-mass (Ni-58) and heavy (Pb-208) targets. The experiments were performed at INFN-LNL (Italy), where a 2-3x10(5) pps Be-7 secondary beam was produced with the RIB in-flight facility EXOTIC. Charged reaction products were detected by means of high-granularity silicon detectors in rather wide angular ranges. The contribution presents an up-to-date status of the data analysis and theoretical interpretation for both systems.

Elastic scattering measurements have been performed for the Li-6 + p system in inverse kinematics at the energies of 16, 20, 25 and 29 MeV. The heavy ejectile was detected by the large acceptance MAGNEX spectrometer at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania, in the angular range between similar to 2(0) and 12(0) in the laboratory system, giving us the possibility to span almost a full angular range in the center of mass system. Results will be presented and discussed for one of the energies.

Structure information of Li-11 halo nucleus has been obtained from the inclusive break-up measurements of the Li-11+Pb-208 reactions at energies around the Coulomb barrier (E-lab = 24.3 and 29.8 MeV). The effective break-up energy and the slope of B(E1) distribution close to the threshold have been extracted from the experimental data.