Nutri-Score: Awareness,Perception and Self-Reported Impact on Food Choices among French Adolescents

To date, no studies have evaluated the appropriation of the front-of-pack Nutri-Score labeling among adolescents, although they are both consumers and buyers of food products. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were (1) to assess Nutri-Score awareness, perception and self-reported impact on food choices in French adolescents and (2) to identify the determinants associated with higher Nutri-Score awareness and self-reported impact on food choices. A web-based survey was conducted in November 2021 among 1201 adolescents. Multivariate logistic models were used to evaluate the relationships between individual factors and Nutri-Score awareness and self-reported impact on food choices. Almost all the adolescents reported to know the Nutri-Score (97.0%) and more than 9 out of 10 considered this logo easy to understand and easy to identify on food packages. Finally, 54% self-reported that the label had already impacted their food choices. Girls (2.28 (1.09–4.77), p = 0.028) and the 15–17-year-olds (3.12 (1.32–7.35), p = 0.0094) were more likely to be aware of the label compared with their respective counterparts (i.e., boys and the 11–14-year-olds). Regarding the impact of food choices, the use of the Nutri-Score by the parents was the most determinant criterion (7.74 (5.74–10.42), p < 0.0001). Thus, promotion campaigns should target both adolescents and parents.     

The effect of benoxinate on the tear stability of Hong Kong-Chinese

We conducted a series of experiments to examine the effect of local anaesthetic instillation on tear stability measurements. All experiments were conducted with the examiner masked with respect to treatments. We measured tear break-up time (TDUT) and non-invasive tear break-up time (NITBUT) 30 s after instillation of benoxinate (0.4%) in a single masked experiment and found that NITBUT was significantly increased while TBUT was unaffected. In separate experiments tear stability was assessed 5 min after instillation of benoxinate and there was no significant effect on either TBUT or NITBUT measurements. In a control experiment to examine the effect of instilling a drop of liquid into the eye, neither TBUT nor NITBUT were affected 30 s after the instillation of saline. No corneal staining was observed in any of the subjects after instillation of benoxinate. The results suggest that benoxinate does not affect the stability of the precorneal tear film, and that tear stability can be assessed after the instillation of unpreserved benoxinate.     

LOH at 6q and 10q in fractionated circulating DNA of ovarian cancer patients is predictive for tumor cell spread and overall survival

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: We recently showed that LOH proximal to M6P/IGF2R locus (D6S1581) in primary ovarian tumors is predictive for the presence of disseminated tumor cells (DTC) in the bone marrow (BM). For therapy-monitoring, it would be highly desirable to establish a blood-based biomarker. Therefore, we quantified circulating DNA (cirDNA) in sera of 63 ovarian cancer patients before surgery and after chemotherapy, measured incidence of LOH at four cancer-relevant chromosomal loci, correlated LOH with tumor cell spread to the BM and evaluated prognostic significance of LOH. Patients and Methods: cirDNA was fractionated into high- and low molecular-weight fraction (HMWF, LMWF) for LOH-profiling, utilizing PCR-based fluorescence microsatellite analysis. BM aspirates were analyzed for DTC by immunocytochemistry using the pan-cytokeratin antibody A45-B/B3. RESULTS: cirDNA levels in the HMWF before surgery were predictive for residual tumor load (p=0.017). After chemotherapy, we observed a significant decline of cirDNA in the LMWF (p=0.0001) but not in the HMWF. LOH was prevalently detected in the LMWF with an overall frequency of 67 %, only moderately ablating after chemotherapy (45 %). Before surgery, LOH in the LMWF at marker D10S1765 and D13S218 significantly correlated with tumor grading and FIGO stage (p=0.033, p=0.004, respectively). In both combined fractions, LOH at D6S1581 additionally associated with overall survival (OS) (p=0.030). Moreover, solely LOH at D10S1765 in LMWF after therapy correlated with DTC in BM after therapy (p=0.017). CONCLUSION: We demonstrate the applicability and necessity of DNA-fractionation prior to analyzing circulating LOH and identify LOH at D10S1765 and D6S1581 as novel blood-based biomarkers for ovarian cancer, being relevant for therapy-monitoring.     

Resistance Exercise Training Improves Metabolic and Inflammatory Control in Adipose and Muscle Tissues in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet

This study investigates whether ladder climbing (LC), as a model of resistance exercise, can reverse whole-body and skeletal muscle deleterious metabolic and inflammatory effects of high-fat (HF) diet-induced obesity in mice. To accomplish this, Swiss mice were fed for 17 weeks either standard chow (SC) or an HF diet and then randomly assigned to remain sedentary or to undergo 8 weeks of LC training with progressive increases in resistance weight. Prior to beginning the exercise intervention, HF-fed animals displayed a 47% increase in body weight (BW) and impaired ability to clear blood glucose during an insulin tolerance test (ITT) when compared to SC animals. However, 8 weeks of LC significantly reduced BW, adipocyte size, as well as glycemia under fasting and during the ITT in HF-fed rats. LC also increased the phosphorylation of Akt_Ser473 and AMPK_Thr172 and reduced tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 1 beta (IL1-β) contents in the quadriceps muscles of HF-fed mice. Additionally, LC reduced the gene expression of inflammatory markers and attenuated HF-diet-induced NADPH oxidase subunit gp91phox in skeletal muscles. LC training was effective in reducing adiposity and the content of inflammatory mediators in skeletal muscle and improved whole-body glycemic control in mice fed an HF diet.     

Clinical correlation and molecular evaluation confirm that the MLH1 p.Arg182Gly (c.544A>G) mutation is pathogenic and causes Lynch syndrome

Approximately 25 % of mismatch repair (MMR) variants are exonic nucleotide substitutions. Some result in the substitution of one amino acid for another in the protein sequence, so-called missense variants, while others are silent. The interpretation of the effect of missense and silent variants as deleterious or neutral is challenging. Pre-symptomatic testing for clinical use is not recommended for relatives of individuals with variants classified as ‘of uncertain significance’. These relatives, including non-carriers, are considered at high-risk as long as the contribution of the variant to disease causation cannot be determined. This results in continuing anxiety, and the application of potentially unnecessary screening and prophylactic interventions. We encountered a large Irish Lynch syndrome kindred that carries the c.544A>G (p.Arg182Gly) alteration in the MLH1 gene and we undertook to study the variant. The clinical significance of the variant remains unresolved in the literature. Data are presented on cancer incidence within five kindreds with the same germline missense variant in the MLH1 MMR gene. Extensive testing of relevant family members in one kindred, a review of the literature, review of online MMR mutation databases and use of in silico phenotype prediction tools were undertaken to study the significance of this variant. Clinical, histological, immunohistochemical and molecular evidence from these families and other independent clinical and scientific evidence indicates that the MLH1 p.Arg182Gly (c.544A>G) change causes Lynch syndrome and supports reclassification of the variant as pathogenic.     

Diagnostic radiography: A study in distancing

AimsThis article aims to explore the ways in which diagnostic radiographers use distancing as a tool for emotional management in radiography practice.MethodsThis review utilises data from oral history interviews undertaken as part of a larger study documenting the oral history of the diagnostic radiography profession in the United Kingdom as recounted by 24 participants.ResultsThe results are presented as illustrative of various aspects of the role of the diagnostic radiographer including the initial choice of diagnostic radiography as a profession, the endemic use of particular terminology, the nature of the encounter in diagnostic radiography (including that of sectional imaging) and whether the role is really patient-centred.ConclusionsThe article concludes by suggesting that distancing from the patient is mediated by the need for physical touch in order to position the patient for radiography and also makes the suggestion that those opting for diagnostic radiography as a career may do so because they want a profession which is more distanced from the patient and that, even where this is not the case initially, individuals are socialised into adopting the ‘feeling rules’ of the profession. The article concludes by outlining potential areas for further research.