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Mediterranean eating pattern among a Chinese population
No full textBACKGROUND, Subjects with a Mediterranean eating pattern would be a low risk for metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease.
MATERIAL AND METHODS, The eating pattern of two subsets of subjects was evaluated by an accurate alimentary interview, the first composed of Italian subjects living in Liguria, a region overlooking the Mediterranean sea, and the second composed of individuals from Si-Chuan, a continental region in north western China.
RESULTS. In the two groups the Mediterranean dieting score was very similar, while a detailed diet composition assessment showed that in the customary food intake reported by Chinese individuals the unsaturated to saturated fat acids ratio and the omega 6 to omega 3 fat acids ratio was sharply lower and higher, respectively, in comparison with the corresponding values referred to by the Mediterranean people.
DISCUSSION. These results suggest that the eating style of the population from the region of Si-Chuan seems to be similar to that found in Northern Europe and the US, and therefore subjects might be at increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome
Effects of obesity on posture and walking: study prior to and following surgically induced weight loss.
No full textBackground We investigate whether in severely obese people
a marked weight loss may influence individual postural control
and motor activities and then reverse the alterations caused by
the extra load of body mass. Recent studies have shown that
most severely obese patients have various degrees of impairment
of postural control, but only a few studies considered
those subjects before and after a marked weight loss.
Methods Ten obese and ten subjects of average weight took
part in our experiment. The subjects were requested to perform
four different tasks. All obese patients repeated the tasks
1 year after undergoing bariatric surgery.
Results We have found differences between obese and
normal-weight people in the execution of all four work tasks.
However, a year after surgery, obese patients showed a change
in the execution of only two tasks, keeping the same performance
in the other two.
Conclusions The excess of fat mass alters the execution of
some tasks, as confirmed by the improvement obtained after
weight loss. For other work tasks, we can hypothesize that the
neurophysiological plasticity of the neuro-muscular system
would require more time to adapt
Physical Activity After Surgically Obtained Weight Loss: Study with a SenseWear Armband in Subjects Undergoing Biliopancreatic Diversion
No full textBACKGROUND: This study aimed to understand the role of the extra load of body mass in limiting physical activity and in preventing an active lifestyle in severely obese patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out in a University Hospital setting, and investigates severely obese patients, having undergone biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) for obesity and control subjects with a body weight closely similar to that of the BPD subjects; energy intake was evaluated by alimentary interview and energy expenditure was assessed with the Body Media SenseWear® Pro armband (SWA).
RESULTS: SWA metabolic efficiency (MET) was negatively associated with body mass index values (ρ = -0.464, p < 0.01), and the SWA overall energy expenditure was very similar to the energy alimentary intake in the obese patients and in the control subjects. Among the controls, the MET mean value was higher (p < 0.05) than that observed both in obese and in BPD subjects (1.392 ± 0.211 vs. 1.149 ± 0.181 and 1.252 ± 0.284, respectively); furthermore, in comparison with the obese and the BPD groups, among the control individuals a greater number of active persons (27 % vs. 0 and 7 %, respectively) and a lower number of sedentary persons (27 % vs. 70 and 43 %, respectively) was found (p < 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest the reliability of SWA data in assessing energy expenditure and tend to rule out the hypothesis that in severely obese patients the extra load of body mass by itself is a main factor limiting physical activity and leading to a sedentary lifestyle
Do clinical and behavioural correlates of obese patients seeking bariatric surgery differ from those of individuals involved in conservative weight loss programme?
No full textBACKGROUND: Clinical practice has suggested that, in severely obese patients seeking bariatric surgery, clinical conditions, behavioural characteristics and psychological status might all differ from those of their counterparts starting conventional conservative therapy.
METHODS: Two groups of obese patients with closely similar body mass values were considered. The first group included individuals voluntarily and spontaneously seeking biliopancreatic diversion and the second group comprised patients at the beginning of a weight loss programme. After anthropometric and metabolic evaluation, the patients underwent an alimentary interview; eating behaviour and psychological status were assessed by Three Factor Eating Questionnaire and by Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS).
RESULTS: Among bariatric candidates, a greater number of individuals with type 2 diabetes and dyslipidaemia and high tendency to disinhibition and susceptibility to hunger scores was observed, whereas the other aspects of eating pattern were essentially similar. In the two groups, no difference in TAS score and or number of patients with alexithymic traits was observed. Finally, a logistic regression model showed that only age and metabolic derangement predicted the bariatric option, whereas eating behaviour or psychological status did not influence individual therapeutic choice.
CONCLUSIONS: Independently of the degree of obesity, bariatric surgery was requested by the more metabolically deranged patients, whereas, in the surgical candidates, the eating pattern and psychological conditions were very similar to those of obese persons at the beginning of a conservative weight loss programme. These results suggest a highly realistic and practical attitude in severely obese patients towards obesity and bariatric surgery
Body weight at developmental age in siblings born to mothers before and after surgically induced weight loss
No full textBACKGROUND: To gain insight into the role of epigenetic factors in determining body weight in adolescence, we studied the body weight of siblings born to the same mother before and after biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) for obesity. The study was performed in a university hospital during a 20-year period.
METHODS: The siblings born before and after BPD were retrospectively rated by their mother as normal, overweight, or obese at 1, 6, and 12 years.
RESULTS: At 1 and 6 years, the body weight was rated as similar in the subsets. However, at 12 years of age, a greater percentage of those born before BPD were considered overweight (42% versus 33%) and obese (22% versus 3%; P <.009) than their counterparts born after BPD. Considering only the subjects aged 21-25 years at the study period, the body weight and body mass index in subjects born before BPD were greater (P <.02 and P <.012, respectively) than in those born after BPD (79.5 ± 16.5 kg versus 66.7 ± 11.8 kg, and 27.5 ± 3.9 kg/m(2) versus 23.4 ± 3.7 kg/m(2), respectively).
CONCLUSION: The results of the present study, in which the influences of the genetic pattern and environmental and educational factors were minimized, show that adolescents born to post-BPD mothers weigh less than their siblings born to the same mother before BPD when she was still obese. An insulin-resistant milieu during pregnancy could account for the greater body weight later in adolescence
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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