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A nutrigenetic approach to examine the relationship between vitamin B12 status and metabolic traits in multiple ethnic groups
Get PDFLow vitamin B12 concentrations have been shown to be risk factors for metabolic traits in numerous observational studies; however, the relationship has remained inconsistent. It is possible that certain genotypes might jointly contribute to obesity and vitamin B12 deficiency, and these may be modulated by lifestyle factors (dietary factors and physical activity levels) across different ethnic groups. The implementation of a genetic approach to establish the relationship between vitamin B12 and obesity could be a more desirable option over observational studies, as results are less prone to confounding factors. Hence, the main aims of this thesis were to examine for the first time the association of common vitamin B12-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and metabolic SNPs with vitamin B12 concentrations and metabolic outcomes in multiple ethnic groups. In addition, the interaction between these SNPs and dietary factors (protein, carbohydrate and fat) on vitamin B12 concentrations and metabolic traits was investigated. A total of five studies with different study designs were used. These studies included a case-control study (Chennai Urban Rural Study; CURES, Asian India, n=900), three cross-sectional cohort studies [Genetics of obesity and Diabetes study (GOOD study; Sinhalese Sri Lankan adults, n=109), The Minangkabau Indonesia Study on Nutrition and Genetics (MINANG study; Indonesian women; n=118) and Brazilian adolescents (n=113)] and a 16 week-dietary randomized, single-blind, parallel-group dietary intervention [Dietary Intervention and VAScular function (DIVAS study; British adults, n=119)]. Gene-diet interactions were observed in the Sri Lankan and Indonesian populations between the vitamin B12-related SNPs and protein energy intake (%) on markers of central obesity (waist circumference (P=0.002) and body fat percentage (P= 0.034), respectively). In the Brazilian adolescent population, the metabolic and vitamin B12 related SNPs showed a significant interaction with carbohydrate and protein intakes on oxidised low density lipoprotein cholesterol (P=0.005) and homocysteine concentrations (P = 0.007), respectively, which are
well-known independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Additionally, in the Indonesian population, an interaction was observed between vitamin B12-related SNPs and dietary fibre intake (g) on glycated haemoglobin levels (P =0.042), a marker of long-term glycaemic status. Furthermore, for the first time, a novel association between two obesity-related SNPs and vitamin B12 concentrations (P = 0.018) was observed in the Indian population. In summary, these studies in multiple ethnic groups show that the relationship between B12 deficiency and metabolic outcomes may be influenced by dietary factors such as protein and fibre intake. However, in the Indian population, we found that vitamin B12 concentrations may be influenced by a genetic predisposition to obesity, but without a dietary influence. Given the limited sample size in some of the cohorts, replication of the study findings is highly warranted
Playful Learning for Anatomy: Using Play-Doh to Visualise the Heart
Get PDFMastery of cardiovascular skills and knowledge has long been challenging for students, with higher order thinking proving difficult despite modern technological advancements, and well-established approaches like dissection. We therefore sought to incorporate active, playful learning into our foundation instruction in Cardiovascular Anatomy and Physiology. Seventy-seven Foundation Year students undertook an online didactic lecture and then one week later, attended the playful learning session where they used Play-Doh to make a detailed model of the human heart under the instruction of an academic, consolidating their prior learning. They were given a post activity, five-point Likert questionnaire, with four additional open answer questions, and responses were analysed using a weighted average as a threshold for positive response. Broadly, students enjoyed and would repeat a playful activity, and felt that the activity increased their interest, improved their knowledge, identified their weaknesses, checked their existing knowledge, and allowed them to interact with their team, but students did not feel that they were able to learn more than in traditional activities per se. Using Play-Doh to model the heart is a fun and effective way of teaching anatomy, and further research is needed to ascertain its impact on student outcomes
Teaching Principles of an Action Potential Using Candy
Get PDFNeurophysiology is crucial but often-intimidating subject for undergraduate students. To address the challenge of “neurophobia” educators have developed myriad techniques to inspire students and enhance their interest in the discipline. We therefore sought employ one such innovation to further engage our students, leveraging students’ familiarity with food to make the abstract concept of the action potential accessible.Seventy-seven Foundation Year students undertook a 60-minute in-person didactic lecture and then a two-hour active learning class using Smarties and Play-Doh to make a detailed model of an action potential and its constituent phases. They were given a post-activity five-point Likert questionnaire with four open-ended questions, and responses were analyzed with a weighted average (x̄w). Broadly, students enjoyed the playfulness of the activity and agreed that they would like to repeat it. Respondents did not agree that the activity per se motivated them, but they agreed that the activity improved their knowledge of action potentials, felt the format was appropriate to check their knowledge, and felt that it helped identify weaknesses in their understanding. Students felt they were able to connect with their team during the activity, that they learned from their teammates during the activity, and teamwork as a positive was a repeated theme in the open answer questions.Using Smarties to teach action potentials is a fun and effective way to teach neurophysiology and further research is required to determine its impact on student attainment
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The influence of one-carbon metabolism gene polymorphisms and gene-environment interactions on homocysteine, vitamin B12, folate and lipids in a Brazilian adolescent population
Get PDFBackground: Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been associated with the metabolism of Vitamin B12, folic acid, homocysteine and lipids. However, the interaction between SNPs involved in the one-carbon metabolism pathway and macronutrient intake on cardiovascular risk factors in the Brazilian population has not yet been investigated. Hence, the present study examined whether the association of ten SNPs involved in the one-carbon metabolism pathway with Vitamin B12, folic acid, homocysteine and lipid levels is modified by dietary factors and physical activity in adolescents with cardiovascular risk. Materials and Methods: A total of 113 adolescents (10–19 years old), from a public school in the city of Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, underwent anthropometric, biochemical and food consumption evaluations and genetic tests. Results: After adjusting for potential confounders, SNPs rs4633 (catechol-O-methyltransferase, COMT), rs602662 (fucosyltransferase 2, FUT2) and rs1801394 (5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase reductase) showed significant associations with folic acid (P = 0.042), Vitamin B12 (P = 0.009) and oxidised low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) (P = 0.041) concentrations, respectively. The COMT SNP rs4680 showed a significant interaction with carbohydrate intake on ox-LDL concentrations (Pinteraction = 0.005). In addition, the FUT2 SNP rs602662 showed a significant interaction with protein intake on homocysteine concentrations (Pinteraction = 0.007). However, after correction for multiple testing, none of these associations and interactions were statistically significant. Conclusions: For the first time, we provide evidence for the interactions between COMT SNP rs4680 and carbohydrate intake on ox-LDL levels and the FUT2 SNP rs602662 and protein intake on homocysteine concentrations. However, replication of our results in a larger sample size is required to confirm our findings
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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