Aktion ?Gesunde Ern?hrung? im Kanton St.Gallen

Zusammenfassung Die Aktion «Gesunde Ernährung» in der Gemeinde-wurde vom Gesundheitsdepartement des Kanton St. Gallen unter der Leitung des kantonalen Präventivmediziners gemeinsam mit den interessierten Gemeinden geplant, koordiniert und durchgeführt.Im Zentrum der Aktion standen gemeindeeigene, individuell gestaltete Aktivitäten von Vereinen, Schulen und des lokalen Gewerbes. Das Gesundheitsdepartement ergänzte die Aktion mit einer Wanderausstellung über Ernährungsfragen, begleitet von einer Ernährungsberaterin. Der Aufbau der Ausstellung erfolgte nach den 10 goldenen Regeln der gesunden Ernährung.Diese Aktion stellt ein konkretes Beispiel der Arbeitsteilung zwischen Kanton und Gemeinde in der Gesundheitsvorsorge dar. Das Beispiel dieser einmaligen Aktion soll Behörden, Vereinen und Einzelpersonen Wege und Methoden aufzeigen, Anliegen der Gesundheitsvorsorge auf längerfristiger Basis in der Gemeinde zu planen.

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Healthy Nutrition an experience of health promotion in the county of St. Gall

Summary The drive Healthy Nutrition in communities was planned, co-ordinated und carried out as a joint action by the Health Department of the County of St. Gall, and 37 communities interested in the idea. The drive centred around the activities of the community itself, individuals, clubs, schools and local industry.The County Health Department supplemented the activity with a travelling exhibition about nutrition problems, attended by an advisor to answer questions. The build-up of the exhibition followed the 10 Golden Rules of sound nutrition.This drive was an excellent example of how health-promotion programms can be shared by county und community.This unique action should set an example to other authorities, clubs, and individuals, and show the ways and means needed to provide long-term planning for health promotion in the community.

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«Alimentation saine»: le programme du canton de St-Gall

Résumé Un programme «Alimentation saine» a été planifié, coordonné et réalisé en étroite collaboration entre le Service cantonal de médecine préventive et les communes intéressées.Les activités développées par les sociétés locales, les écoles et les commerÇants ont été les éléments essentiels du programme. Le canton a, quant à lui, engagé une diététicienne et mis un bus à disposition ce qui a permis d'organiser une exposition itinérante conÇue selon les 10 règles d'or de l'alimentation saine.Ce programme est une expérience de collaboration entre le canton et les communes pour la promotion de la santé. Il devrait servir d'exemple aux autorités, sociétés locales et individus qui désirent répondre au défi de la promotion de la santé.

     

History of neuromorphometry

The history of morphometry begins in the middle of the last century. At the turn of the century impulses had decreased. The alterations arising during the preparation of the tissues were almost unknown. For example, the dogma of the loss of neurons during aging was conditioned by age-dependent histological shringage of the brain. Beginning in the thirties of this century new thoughts have given impulses to new morphometric investigation. In the neurosciences important impulses came from Bok. In 1961 Elias introduced the term "stereology" as a new interdisciplinary science in order to communicate the different developments. Since 1970 the computer and image analysis have brought a new dimension to morphometric research. This paper describes some neuromorphometrical developments. An increasing accuracy of results regarding density and amount of neurons can be estimated with facilitated counting procedures. A similar development can be observed for the estimation of neuronal sizes and their size distribution as well as for the volume-parts of the average perikaryon volume fraction (grey cell coefficient). The morphometry of dendritic tree and the ultrastructure of neuropil are briefly mentioned.     

Success of Maternal and Child Health Pipeline Training Programs: Alumni Survey Results

Maternal and Child Health Journal - The Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Pipeline Training Program, promotes development of a diverse health workforce by training undergraduate students from...     

Comparison of α-Tocopherol, α-Tocopherol Acetate,and α-Tocopheryl Polyethylene Glycol Succinate 1000 Absorption by Caco-2 TC7 Intestinal Cells

(1) Background: vitamin E is often supplemented in the form of tocopherol acetate, but it has poor bioavailability and can fail to correct blood tocopherol concentrations in some patients with severe cholestasis. In this context, α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate 1000 (TPGS) has been of value, but very little is known about the mechanisms of its absorption. The aim of our work was to evaluate the mechanisms of absorption/secretion of TPGS compared to tocopherol acetate (TAC) and α-tocopherol by human enterocyte-like Caco-2 TC7 cells. (2) Methods: two weeks post-confluence Caco-2 cells were incubated with tocopherol- or TAC- or TPGS-rich mixed micelles up to 24 h and, following lipid extraction, TAC and tocopherol amounts were measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in apical, cellular, and basolateral compartments. (3) Results: at equivalent concentrations of tocopherol in the apical side, the amounts of tocopherol secreted at the basolateral pole of Caco-2 cells are (i) significantly greater when the tocopherol is in the free form in the micelles; (ii) intermediate when it is in the TAC form in the micelles (p < 0.001); and (iii) significantly lower with the TPGS form (p < 0.0001). Interestingly, our results show, for the first time, that Caco-2 cells secrete one or more esterified forms of the vitamin contained in TPGS at the basolateral side.     

Ghrelin as a Biomarker of Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: Ghrelin is an orexigenic hormone which favors food-seeking behavior and has been postulated to be a biomarker of stress. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on the evolution of ghrelin levels following acute stress. Methods: The PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and ScienceDirect databases were searched for studies reporting ghrelin levels before and after acute stress in humans. Results: We included ten studies for a total of 348 patients. Acute stress (intervention) was always in a laboratory. Acute stress was psychological (Trier Social Stress Test), physical, or mixed (cold pressure test). The overall meta-analysis demonstrated an increase in ghrelin after the stress intervention (ES = 0.21, 95CI 0.09 to 0.34) compared with baseline levels. Stratification by time demonstrated an acute increase in ghrelin levels in the five minutes immediately following the initiation of stress (0.29, 0.10 to 0.48) but without any difference after. Obese individuals had a more significant (ES = 0.51, 95CI 0.18 to 0.84) and prolonged increase in ghrelin levels for up to 45 min compared with non-obese individuals who had a significant increase only five minutes after stress. Moreover, the ghrelin levels increased in response to stress with BMI (coefficient 0.028, 0.01 to 0.49; p = 0.013) and decreased with the time after the stress intervention (coefficient -0.007, −0.014 to −0.001; p = 0.025). Conclusion: Ghrelin is a biomarker of stress, with a short-term increase following acute stress. Obese individuals have both a higher and prolonged response, emphasizing the link between obesity and stress.     

Epidemiologische Ansätze zur Klärung wichtiger Forschungsfragen zu COVID-19 – eine Übersicht

Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz - Die Epidemiologie als wissenschaftliche Disziplin ist prädestiniert dafür, Kernfragen der COVID-19-Pandemie zu...     

Lifestyle Intervention in Pregnant Women With Obesity Impacts Cord Blood DNA Methylation,Which Associates With Body Composition in the Offspring

Maternal obesity may lead to epigenetic alterations in the offspring and might thereby contribute to disease later in life. We investigated whether a lifestyle intervention in pregnant women with obesity is associated with epigenetic variation in cord blood and body composition in the offspring. Genome-wide DNA methylation was analyzed in cord blood from 208 offspring from the Treatment of Obese Pregnant women (TOP)-study, which includes pregnant women with obesity randomized to lifestyle interventions comprised of physical activity with or without dietary advice versus control subjects (standard of care). DNA methylation was altered at 379 sites, annotated to 370 genes, in cord blood from offspring of mothers following a lifestyle intervention versus control subjects (false discovery rate [FDR] <5%) when using the Houseman reference-free method to correct for cell composition, and three of these sites were significant based on Bonferroni correction. These 370 genes are overrepresented in gene ontology terms, including response to fatty acids and adipose tissue development. Offspring of mothers included in a lifestyle intervention were born with more lean mass compared with control subjects. Methylation at 17 sites, annotated to, for example, DISC1, GBX2, HERC2, and HUWE1, partially mediates the effect of the lifestyle intervention on lean mass in the offspring (FDR <5%). Moreover, 22 methylation sites were associated with offspring BMI z scores during the first 3 years of life (P < 0.05). Overall, lifestyle interventions in pregnant women with obesity are associated with epigenetic changes in offspring, potentially influencing the offspring’s lean mass and early growth.     

ASO Visual Abstract: Prediction of Pathologic Complete Response in Breast Cancer Patients Comparing Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Ultrasound in the Neoadjuvant Setting

Annals of Surgical Oncology -     

Multi-dimensional clinical phenotyping of a national cohort of adult cystic fibrosis patients

BackgroundCystic Fibrosis (CF) is a multi-systemic disorder resulting from genetic variation in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene which can result in bronchiectasis, chronic sinusitis, pancreatic malabsorption, cholestatic liver disease and distal intestinal obstructive syndrome. This study generates multi-dimensional clinical phenotypes that capture the complexity and spectrum of the disease manifestations seen in adult CF patients using statistically robust techniques.MethodsPre-transplant clinical data from adult (age ≥18 years) CF patients (n = 992) seen in six regionally distinct US CF centers between 1/1/2014 and 6/30/2015 were included. Demographic, spirometry, nutritional, microbiological and therapy data were used to generate clusters using the Random Forests statistical-learning and Partitioning around Medoids (PAM) clustering algorithms. Five commonly measured demographic, physiological and nutritional parameters were needed to create the final phenotypes that are highly similar to a regionally matched group of patients from the CF Foundation Patient RegistryResultsThis approach identified high-risk phenotypes with expected characteristics including high rates of pancreatic insufficiency, diabetes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization. It also identified unexpected populations including a) a male-dominated, well-nourished group with good lung function with a high prevalence of severe genotypes (i.e. 60% subjects had two minimal function CFTR variations), b) and an older, “survivor” phenotype that had high rates of chronic P. aeruginosa infection.ConclusionsThis study identified recognizable phenotypes that capture the clinical complexity in a statistically robust manner and which may aide in the identification of specific genetic and environmental factors responsible for these disease manifestation patterns.