Describing a complex geometric shape with a set of simple primitives is often a fundamental task ... more Describing a complex geometric shape with a set of simple primitives is often a fundamental task for shape reconstruction, visualization, analysis and manipulation. The type of primitives, as well as the choice of approximation scheme, both greatly impact the properties of the resulting shape representation.In this PhD, we focus on balls as primitives. Using pencils of balls, we carefully describe finite unions of balls and their structure. In particular, our description holds in all dimension without assuming general position. On our way, we also establish various results and tools to test local and global inclusions within these unions.We also propose a new approximation scheme by union of balls, the (delta,epsilon)-ball approximation. This scheme constrains the approximation to cover a core subset of the original shape (specifically, an epsilon-erosion), while being contained within a superset of the shape (a delta-dilation). Using our earlier results regarding finite unions of b...
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2021
Chronic gastrointestinal symptoms (CGS) negatively affect the quality of life in about 15–30% of ... more Chronic gastrointestinal symptoms (CGS) negatively affect the quality of life in about 15–30% of the population without effective drugs. Recent studies suggest that dietary supplement may improve CGS, but inconsistent results exist. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of a polyherbal-based supplement ColonVita on the gastrointestinal quality of life index (GIQLI) in 100 old adults with CGS (63.1 ± 9.6 years) who were randomly assigned to daily ColonVita or placebo tablets (n = 50/group) for 12 weeks in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial design. No significant fibrdifferences were found between ColonVita and placebo in the baseline total GIQLI score (101.12 ± 16.87 vs. 101.80 ± 16.48) ( P > 0.05 ) or postintervention total GIQLI score (114.78 ± 9.62 vs. 111.74 ± 13.01) ( P > 0.05 ). However, ColonVita significantly improved 16 scores of the 19 core GI symptoms compared with 10 items improved by placebo. The ColonVita group significantly improved the remiss...
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Oct 1, 2007
Thus, the Bland-Altman and regression analyses indicate that the authors' conclusion about DLWѿDX... more Thus, the Bland-Altman and regression analyses indicate that the authors' conclusion about DLWѿDXA not being suitable for estimating EI during short-term CR studies may have been premature. Their experiment appears to have generated 3 widely spaced data points precisely suggesting one relation between the 2 calculations of EI (a large difference proportional to EI) and 7 closely spaced data points precisely suggesting a completely different relation (a large constant difference). This data set is too small and heterogeneous to warrant any further conclusion about how accurate and precise DLWѿDXA may be, but accurate estimation of EI is of fundamental importance for everyone interested in CR. Therefore, investigators should be encouraged to collect and analyze more experimental data of this kind to search for potentially correctable sources of error in both calculations of EI and in the experimental methods that generate the data. If such sources are found and corrected, differences between the 2 calculations may be reduced to a random error of 8%. One of the authors of the de Jonge et al article (LM Redman) was a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of ABL. LB and ABL have no financial or personal relationships with any research sponsor that would constitute a conflict of interest.
Elizabethkingia meningoseptica is Gram-negative, rod-shaped opportunistic bacterial pathogen incr... more Elizabethkingia meningoseptica is Gram-negative, rod-shaped opportunistic bacterial pathogen increasingly reported in hospital-acquired outbreaks. This bacterium is well known to thrive in the hospital environment. One of the leading causes of meningitis in pediatric and immune-compromised patients, E. meningoseptica has been noted as a ''pathogen of interest'' in the context of nosocomial diseases associated with device-related infections in particular. This pathogen's multidrug-resistant phenotype and attendant lack of adequate molecular mechanistic data limit the current approaches for its effective management in hospitals and public health settings. This study provides the global proteome of E. meningoseptica. The reference strain E. meningoseptica ATCC 13253 was used for proteomic analysis using high-resolution Fourier transform mass spectrometry. The study provided translational evidence for 2506 proteins of E. meningoseptica. We identified multiple metallo-b-lactamases, transcriptional regulators, and efflux transporter proteins associated with multidrug resistance. A protein Car D, which is an enzyme of the carbapenem synthesis pathway, was also discovered in E. meningoseptica. Further, the proteomics data were harnessed for refining the genome annotation. We discovered 39 novel protein-coding genes and corrected four existing translations using proteogenomic workflow. Novel translations reported in this study enhance the molecular data on this organism, thus improving current databases. We believe that the in-depth proteomic data presented in this study offer a platform for accelerated research on this pathogen. The identification of multiple proteins, particularly those involved in drug resistance, offers new future opportunities to design novel and specific antibiotics against infections caused by E. meningoseptica.
Background: Dietary fat contents are highly variable. Failure to compensate for the positive fat ... more Background: Dietary fat contents are highly variable. Failure to compensate for the positive fat balance that occurs during the shift to a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet by increasing energy expenditure or by decreasing food intake may result in the gain of fat mass. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the time course of fat oxidation during adaptation to an isoenergetic highfat, low-carbohydrate diet. Design: After a 5-d control diet, dietary fat was increased from 37% of energy to 50% of energy for 4 d in 6 healthy, young lean men. Respiratory quotient and substrate macronutrient oxidation and balance were measured in a respiratory chamber. Fasting concentrations of insulin, glucose, and triacylglycerol; maximal oxygen consumption (• VO 2 max) during treadmill exercise; and free-living energy expenditure were determined. Body fat was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and visceral adipose tissue by computerized tomography. Results: Compared with the baseline diet, the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet resulted in positive fat and protein balances and a negative carbohydrate balance. Insulin concentration and the postabsorptive respiratory quotient were positively correlated with the fat balance during the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, whereas • VO 2 max during treadmill exercise was negatively related to fat balance. With use of stepwise regression, • VO 2 max was the best predictor of fat balance. There was a negative correlation between fat balance and carbohydrate balance (r 2 = 0.88). Conclusion: Both baseline insulin concentration and • VO 2 max during treadmill exercise predict fat balance during the shift to a high-fat diet under isoenergetic conditions.
Background: It takes several days to adapt to a high-fat diet. In an earlier study, we observed a... more Background: It takes several days to adapt to a high-fat diet. In an earlier study, we observed a large degree of interindividual variation in the capacity to adapt to a high-fat diet. We hypothesized that concurrent physical activity would accelerate fat oxidation during an isoenergetic high-fat diet. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of increased physical activity on the ability of young healthy men to increase fat oxidation during the shift to a high-fat diet. Design: Six young healthy men participated in a randomized, single-blind crossover study. The volunteers consumed a diet contributing 37% of energy as fat, 14% as protein, and 49% as carbohydrate for 4 d. Energy expenditure and macronutrient balance were then measured in a respiration chamber as the energy content of the isoenergetic diet was changed to 50% fat, 14% protein, and 36% carbohydrate. Treadmill walking, as the physical activity, was used to increase total daily energy expenditure to 1.8 times the resting metabolic rate during 1 of 2 stays in the metabolic chamber. Total daily energy expenditure was maintained at 1.4 times the resting metabolic rate for the other stay. Results: Energy balance was not significantly different between the 2 conditions. The 24-h respiratory quotient decreased more rapidly and to a greater extent under conditions of increased energy expenditure. Further, there was a decrease in the interindividual variability in the response of the respiratory quotient to a high-fat diet with increased energy expenditure (physical activity). Cumulative carbohydrate and protein balances were greater under conditions of increased physical activity. Conversely, cumulative fat balance was greater under sedentary conditions. Conclusion: Concurrent physical activity increases fat oxidation during the shift to a high-fat diet.
Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2016
Subjective memory complaints (SMCs) are common in older adults that can often predict further cog... more Subjective memory complaints (SMCs) are common in older adults that can often predict further cognitive impairment. No proven effective agents are available for SMCs. The effect of BrainPower Advanced, a dietary supplement consisting of herbal extracts, nutrients, and vitamins, was evaluated in 98 volunteers with SMCs, averaging 67 years of age (47-88), in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Subjective hypomnesis/memory loss (SML) and attention/concentration deficits (SAD) were evaluated before and after 12-week supplementation of BrainPower Advanced capsules (n = 47) or placebo (n = 51), using a 5-point memory questionnaire (1 = no/slight, 5 = severe). Objective memory function was evaluated using 3 subtests of visual/audio memory, abstraction, and memory recall that gave a combined total score. The BrainPower Advanced group had more cases of severe SML (severity ⩾ 3) (44/47) and severe SAD (43/47) than the placebo group (39/51 and 37/51, < 0.05, < 0.05, res...
Effects of G.H.3. On mental symptoms and health-related quality of life among older adults: resul... more Effects of G.H.3. On mental symptoms and health-related quality of life among older adults: results of a three-month follow-Up study in Shanghai, China.
International journal of biomedical science : IJBS, 2015
Joint degeneration has become a commonplace problem in aging populations. The main clinical manif... more Joint degeneration has become a commonplace problem in aging populations. The main clinical manifestations include joint pain, joint stiffness and joint swelling with functional disorder. Mega MSM is a nutritional supplement that may provide potential relief for joint problems associated with joint degeneration. The current experiment performed was a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, controlled study conducted on populations in China experiencing joint degeneration. The objective of the study was to determine whether the daily use of Mega MSM capsules could improve joint function, relieve symptoms of joint degeneration and improve the quality of life in aging populations. A total of 100 male and female participants over 50 years old who had at least one of the related symptoms of joint degeneration (joint pain, joint stiffness, joint swelling, difficulty walking, difficulty getting up from bed and difficulty going down stairs) were recruited and their symptoms of joint degeneration...
International journal of biomedical science : IJBS, 2015
Sleep disorder is a common condition in the general population. Conventional sedative-hypnotic dr... more Sleep disorder is a common condition in the general population. Conventional sedative-hypnotic drug therapy may not be appropriate for many patients suffering from only mild-to-moderate sleep disorders. SurAsleep, a nutritional supplement that has been used by patients with sleep disorders in the United States, shows promising effects in improving sleep disorders and enhancing sleep quality. However, double-blinded, randomized and controlled studies have not been performed to determine the efficacy of the supplement. We conducted this study on individuals suffering from mild-to-moderate sleep disorders in Shanghai, China. In this study, we randomly assigned 100 participants over the age of 50 years old with symptoms of sleep disorders to a 12-week treatment with either SurAsleep or placebo. The results were measured by a self-administrated questionnaire on changes in symptoms, which covered 3 phases of sleep: the falling-asleep stage, the sleeping stage and the waking-up stage. We a...
Clinical trials involving calorie restriction (CR) require an assessment of adherence to a prescr... more Clinical trials involving calorie restriction (CR) require an assessment of adherence to a prescribed CR with the use of an objective measure of energy intake (EI). The objective was to validate the use of energy expenditure (EE) measured by doubly labeled water (DLW), in conjunction with precise measures of body composition, to calculate an individual's EI during 30% CR. Ten participants underwent 30% CR for 3 wk. During the last week (7 d), 24-h EE was measured in a respiratory chamber and simultaneously by DLW (EEDLW). EI was calculated from 7-d EE measured by DLW and from changes in energy stores (ES) (weight and body composition). Calculated EI was then compared with the actual EI measured in the chamber by using the following equations: calculated EI (kcal/d) = EEDLW + DeltaES, where DeltaESFM/FFM (kcal/d) = (9.3 x DeltaFM, g/d) + (1.1 x DeltaFFM, g/d), FM is fat mass, and FFM is fat-free mass. We found close agreement (R = 0.88) between EE measured in the metabolic chambe...
Parametric classes come with non-trivial subtleties even in the paradigm of orthogonal persistenc... more Parametric classes come with non-trivial subtleties even in the paradigm of orthogonal persistence. Orthogonal persistence guaran- tees that objects of any type, including class objects, may persist. But a parametric class is not a Java type, and its class object does not exist. Further subtleties in the Java technology extended with orthogonal per- sistence are caused by the existence of
OBJECTIVE—The sympathetic nervous system and thiazolidinediones control lipid metabolism and have... more OBJECTIVE—The sympathetic nervous system and thiazolidinediones control lipid metabolism and have been implicated in body weight regulation. This study was conducted to determine whether the simultaneous activation of these two signaling systems might synergize to exert beneficial effects on the expression of key genes involved in lipid metabolism and mitochondrial biogenesis in subcutaneous fat in nondiabetic subjects. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—A total of 57 women and men were randomized into four groups: 1) placebo/placebo (PP), 2) ephedrine HCl (25 mg, 3 times daily) plus caffeine (200 mg, 3 times daily)/placebo (ECP), 3) placebo/pioglitazone (45 mg) (PPio), and 4) ephedrine plus caffeine/pioglitazone (ECPio) for 16 weeks. Adipose tissue samples were obtained after 12 weeks of treatment to determine gene expression. RESULTS—Body fat decreased by 6.0 and 4.6% in the ECP and ECPio groups, respectively, while remaining unchanged in the PPio and PP groups. Triglyceride levels decre...
Insulin resistance is associated with metabolic inflexibility, impaired switching of substrate ox... more Insulin resistance is associated with metabolic inflexibility, impaired switching of substrate oxidation from fatty acids to glucose in response to insulin. Impaired switching to fat oxidation in response to a high-fat diet (HFD) is hypothesized to contribute to insulin resistance. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that defects in substrate switching in response to insulin and a HFD are linked to reduced mitochondrial biogenesis and occur before the development of diabetes. Metabolic flexibility was measured in young sedentary men with (n = 16) or without (n = 34) a family history of diabetes by euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp. Flexibility correlated with fat oxidation measured in a respiratory chamber after a 3-day HFD. Muscle mitochondrial content was higher in flexible subjects with high fat oxidation after a HFD and contributed 49% of the variance. Subjects with a family history of diabetes were inflexible and had reduced HFD-induced fat oxidation and musc...
Background: Several methods including water displacement, casting, the GrossmanÀRoudner measuring... more Background: Several methods including water displacement, casting, the GrossmanÀRoudner measuring device, photographs, mammograms, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been proposed for the measurement of breast volume. The most cost-effective method has not been determined. Methods: This study compared breast volume measurements using the GrossmanÀRoudner measuring device (a piece of circular plastic with a cut along a radius line), plaster casting, and MRI. The GrossmanÀRoudner measuring device was formed into a cone around the breast, and the volume was read from a graduated scale on the overlapping edges. The volume of the cast was measured using a butterÀsand mixture and water displacement. The volume from the MRI slices was calculated using the ANALYZE bioimaging software. For five women with breast sizes AA, A, B, C, and D, the three volume measures were repeated three times. For a single volume measurement, the cost of the time and materials was $1 for the GrossmanÀRoudner cone, $20 for the cast, and $1,400 for the MRI. Using the mean and standard deviations of the measurements, a power analysis determined the number of subjects needed to detect a 5% change in volume. The number of subjects was multiplied by the price per test to determine relative cost. Results: As compared with the cost for the Gross-manÀRoudner cone method, the cost for the volume measurements was 64 to 189 times more using the cast and 373 to 33,500 more using MRI. Conclusion: The GrossmanÀRoudner cone was clearly the most cost-effective method for determining breast volume changes in studies testing topical therapies to alter breast size.
Describing a complex geometric shape with a set of simple primitives is often a fundamental task ... more Describing a complex geometric shape with a set of simple primitives is often a fundamental task for shape reconstruction, visualization, analysis and manipulation. The type of primitives, as well as the choice of approximation scheme, both greatly impact the properties of the resulting shape representation.In this PhD, we focus on balls as primitives. Using pencils of balls, we carefully describe finite unions of balls and their structure. In particular, our description holds in all dimension without assuming general position. On our way, we also establish various results and tools to test local and global inclusions within these unions.We also propose a new approximation scheme by union of balls, the (delta,epsilon)-ball approximation. This scheme constrains the approximation to cover a core subset of the original shape (specifically, an epsilon-erosion), while being contained within a superset of the shape (a delta-dilation). Using our earlier results regarding finite unions of b...
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2021
Chronic gastrointestinal symptoms (CGS) negatively affect the quality of life in about 15–30% of ... more Chronic gastrointestinal symptoms (CGS) negatively affect the quality of life in about 15–30% of the population without effective drugs. Recent studies suggest that dietary supplement may improve CGS, but inconsistent results exist. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effect of a polyherbal-based supplement ColonVita on the gastrointestinal quality of life index (GIQLI) in 100 old adults with CGS (63.1 ± 9.6 years) who were randomly assigned to daily ColonVita or placebo tablets (n = 50/group) for 12 weeks in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial design. No significant fibrdifferences were found between ColonVita and placebo in the baseline total GIQLI score (101.12 ± 16.87 vs. 101.80 ± 16.48) ( P > 0.05 ) or postintervention total GIQLI score (114.78 ± 9.62 vs. 111.74 ± 13.01) ( P > 0.05 ). However, ColonVita significantly improved 16 scores of the 19 core GI symptoms compared with 10 items improved by placebo. The ColonVita group significantly improved the remiss...
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Oct 1, 2007
Thus, the Bland-Altman and regression analyses indicate that the authors' conclusion about DLWѿDX... more Thus, the Bland-Altman and regression analyses indicate that the authors' conclusion about DLWѿDXA not being suitable for estimating EI during short-term CR studies may have been premature. Their experiment appears to have generated 3 widely spaced data points precisely suggesting one relation between the 2 calculations of EI (a large difference proportional to EI) and 7 closely spaced data points precisely suggesting a completely different relation (a large constant difference). This data set is too small and heterogeneous to warrant any further conclusion about how accurate and precise DLWѿDXA may be, but accurate estimation of EI is of fundamental importance for everyone interested in CR. Therefore, investigators should be encouraged to collect and analyze more experimental data of this kind to search for potentially correctable sources of error in both calculations of EI and in the experimental methods that generate the data. If such sources are found and corrected, differences between the 2 calculations may be reduced to a random error of 8%. One of the authors of the de Jonge et al article (LM Redman) was a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of ABL. LB and ABL have no financial or personal relationships with any research sponsor that would constitute a conflict of interest.
Elizabethkingia meningoseptica is Gram-negative, rod-shaped opportunistic bacterial pathogen incr... more Elizabethkingia meningoseptica is Gram-negative, rod-shaped opportunistic bacterial pathogen increasingly reported in hospital-acquired outbreaks. This bacterium is well known to thrive in the hospital environment. One of the leading causes of meningitis in pediatric and immune-compromised patients, E. meningoseptica has been noted as a ''pathogen of interest'' in the context of nosocomial diseases associated with device-related infections in particular. This pathogen's multidrug-resistant phenotype and attendant lack of adequate molecular mechanistic data limit the current approaches for its effective management in hospitals and public health settings. This study provides the global proteome of E. meningoseptica. The reference strain E. meningoseptica ATCC 13253 was used for proteomic analysis using high-resolution Fourier transform mass spectrometry. The study provided translational evidence for 2506 proteins of E. meningoseptica. We identified multiple metallo-b-lactamases, transcriptional regulators, and efflux transporter proteins associated with multidrug resistance. A protein Car D, which is an enzyme of the carbapenem synthesis pathway, was also discovered in E. meningoseptica. Further, the proteomics data were harnessed for refining the genome annotation. We discovered 39 novel protein-coding genes and corrected four existing translations using proteogenomic workflow. Novel translations reported in this study enhance the molecular data on this organism, thus improving current databases. We believe that the in-depth proteomic data presented in this study offer a platform for accelerated research on this pathogen. The identification of multiple proteins, particularly those involved in drug resistance, offers new future opportunities to design novel and specific antibiotics against infections caused by E. meningoseptica.
Background: Dietary fat contents are highly variable. Failure to compensate for the positive fat ... more Background: Dietary fat contents are highly variable. Failure to compensate for the positive fat balance that occurs during the shift to a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet by increasing energy expenditure or by decreasing food intake may result in the gain of fat mass. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the time course of fat oxidation during adaptation to an isoenergetic highfat, low-carbohydrate diet. Design: After a 5-d control diet, dietary fat was increased from 37% of energy to 50% of energy for 4 d in 6 healthy, young lean men. Respiratory quotient and substrate macronutrient oxidation and balance were measured in a respiratory chamber. Fasting concentrations of insulin, glucose, and triacylglycerol; maximal oxygen consumption (• VO 2 max) during treadmill exercise; and free-living energy expenditure were determined. Body fat was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and visceral adipose tissue by computerized tomography. Results: Compared with the baseline diet, the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet resulted in positive fat and protein balances and a negative carbohydrate balance. Insulin concentration and the postabsorptive respiratory quotient were positively correlated with the fat balance during the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, whereas • VO 2 max during treadmill exercise was negatively related to fat balance. With use of stepwise regression, • VO 2 max was the best predictor of fat balance. There was a negative correlation between fat balance and carbohydrate balance (r 2 = 0.88). Conclusion: Both baseline insulin concentration and • VO 2 max during treadmill exercise predict fat balance during the shift to a high-fat diet under isoenergetic conditions.
Background: It takes several days to adapt to a high-fat diet. In an earlier study, we observed a... more Background: It takes several days to adapt to a high-fat diet. In an earlier study, we observed a large degree of interindividual variation in the capacity to adapt to a high-fat diet. We hypothesized that concurrent physical activity would accelerate fat oxidation during an isoenergetic high-fat diet. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of increased physical activity on the ability of young healthy men to increase fat oxidation during the shift to a high-fat diet. Design: Six young healthy men participated in a randomized, single-blind crossover study. The volunteers consumed a diet contributing 37% of energy as fat, 14% as protein, and 49% as carbohydrate for 4 d. Energy expenditure and macronutrient balance were then measured in a respiration chamber as the energy content of the isoenergetic diet was changed to 50% fat, 14% protein, and 36% carbohydrate. Treadmill walking, as the physical activity, was used to increase total daily energy expenditure to 1.8 times the resting metabolic rate during 1 of 2 stays in the metabolic chamber. Total daily energy expenditure was maintained at 1.4 times the resting metabolic rate for the other stay. Results: Energy balance was not significantly different between the 2 conditions. The 24-h respiratory quotient decreased more rapidly and to a greater extent under conditions of increased energy expenditure. Further, there was a decrease in the interindividual variability in the response of the respiratory quotient to a high-fat diet with increased energy expenditure (physical activity). Cumulative carbohydrate and protein balances were greater under conditions of increased physical activity. Conversely, cumulative fat balance was greater under sedentary conditions. Conclusion: Concurrent physical activity increases fat oxidation during the shift to a high-fat diet.
Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2016
Subjective memory complaints (SMCs) are common in older adults that can often predict further cog... more Subjective memory complaints (SMCs) are common in older adults that can often predict further cognitive impairment. No proven effective agents are available for SMCs. The effect of BrainPower Advanced, a dietary supplement consisting of herbal extracts, nutrients, and vitamins, was evaluated in 98 volunteers with SMCs, averaging 67 years of age (47-88), in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Subjective hypomnesis/memory loss (SML) and attention/concentration deficits (SAD) were evaluated before and after 12-week supplementation of BrainPower Advanced capsules (n = 47) or placebo (n = 51), using a 5-point memory questionnaire (1 = no/slight, 5 = severe). Objective memory function was evaluated using 3 subtests of visual/audio memory, abstraction, and memory recall that gave a combined total score. The BrainPower Advanced group had more cases of severe SML (severity ⩾ 3) (44/47) and severe SAD (43/47) than the placebo group (39/51 and 37/51, < 0.05, < 0.05, res...
Effects of G.H.3. On mental symptoms and health-related quality of life among older adults: resul... more Effects of G.H.3. On mental symptoms and health-related quality of life among older adults: results of a three-month follow-Up study in Shanghai, China.
International journal of biomedical science : IJBS, 2015
Joint degeneration has become a commonplace problem in aging populations. The main clinical manif... more Joint degeneration has become a commonplace problem in aging populations. The main clinical manifestations include joint pain, joint stiffness and joint swelling with functional disorder. Mega MSM is a nutritional supplement that may provide potential relief for joint problems associated with joint degeneration. The current experiment performed was a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, controlled study conducted on populations in China experiencing joint degeneration. The objective of the study was to determine whether the daily use of Mega MSM capsules could improve joint function, relieve symptoms of joint degeneration and improve the quality of life in aging populations. A total of 100 male and female participants over 50 years old who had at least one of the related symptoms of joint degeneration (joint pain, joint stiffness, joint swelling, difficulty walking, difficulty getting up from bed and difficulty going down stairs) were recruited and their symptoms of joint degeneration...
International journal of biomedical science : IJBS, 2015
Sleep disorder is a common condition in the general population. Conventional sedative-hypnotic dr... more Sleep disorder is a common condition in the general population. Conventional sedative-hypnotic drug therapy may not be appropriate for many patients suffering from only mild-to-moderate sleep disorders. SurAsleep, a nutritional supplement that has been used by patients with sleep disorders in the United States, shows promising effects in improving sleep disorders and enhancing sleep quality. However, double-blinded, randomized and controlled studies have not been performed to determine the efficacy of the supplement. We conducted this study on individuals suffering from mild-to-moderate sleep disorders in Shanghai, China. In this study, we randomly assigned 100 participants over the age of 50 years old with symptoms of sleep disorders to a 12-week treatment with either SurAsleep or placebo. The results were measured by a self-administrated questionnaire on changes in symptoms, which covered 3 phases of sleep: the falling-asleep stage, the sleeping stage and the waking-up stage. We a...
Clinical trials involving calorie restriction (CR) require an assessment of adherence to a prescr... more Clinical trials involving calorie restriction (CR) require an assessment of adherence to a prescribed CR with the use of an objective measure of energy intake (EI). The objective was to validate the use of energy expenditure (EE) measured by doubly labeled water (DLW), in conjunction with precise measures of body composition, to calculate an individual's EI during 30% CR. Ten participants underwent 30% CR for 3 wk. During the last week (7 d), 24-h EE was measured in a respiratory chamber and simultaneously by DLW (EEDLW). EI was calculated from 7-d EE measured by DLW and from changes in energy stores (ES) (weight and body composition). Calculated EI was then compared with the actual EI measured in the chamber by using the following equations: calculated EI (kcal/d) = EEDLW + DeltaES, where DeltaESFM/FFM (kcal/d) = (9.3 x DeltaFM, g/d) + (1.1 x DeltaFFM, g/d), FM is fat mass, and FFM is fat-free mass. We found close agreement (R = 0.88) between EE measured in the metabolic chambe...
Parametric classes come with non-trivial subtleties even in the paradigm of orthogonal persistenc... more Parametric classes come with non-trivial subtleties even in the paradigm of orthogonal persistence. Orthogonal persistence guaran- tees that objects of any type, including class objects, may persist. But a parametric class is not a Java type, and its class object does not exist. Further subtleties in the Java technology extended with orthogonal per- sistence are caused by the existence of
OBJECTIVE—The sympathetic nervous system and thiazolidinediones control lipid metabolism and have... more OBJECTIVE—The sympathetic nervous system and thiazolidinediones control lipid metabolism and have been implicated in body weight regulation. This study was conducted to determine whether the simultaneous activation of these two signaling systems might synergize to exert beneficial effects on the expression of key genes involved in lipid metabolism and mitochondrial biogenesis in subcutaneous fat in nondiabetic subjects. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—A total of 57 women and men were randomized into four groups: 1) placebo/placebo (PP), 2) ephedrine HCl (25 mg, 3 times daily) plus caffeine (200 mg, 3 times daily)/placebo (ECP), 3) placebo/pioglitazone (45 mg) (PPio), and 4) ephedrine plus caffeine/pioglitazone (ECPio) for 16 weeks. Adipose tissue samples were obtained after 12 weeks of treatment to determine gene expression. RESULTS—Body fat decreased by 6.0 and 4.6% in the ECP and ECPio groups, respectively, while remaining unchanged in the PPio and PP groups. Triglyceride levels decre...
Insulin resistance is associated with metabolic inflexibility, impaired switching of substrate ox... more Insulin resistance is associated with metabolic inflexibility, impaired switching of substrate oxidation from fatty acids to glucose in response to insulin. Impaired switching to fat oxidation in response to a high-fat diet (HFD) is hypothesized to contribute to insulin resistance. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that defects in substrate switching in response to insulin and a HFD are linked to reduced mitochondrial biogenesis and occur before the development of diabetes. Metabolic flexibility was measured in young sedentary men with (n = 16) or without (n = 34) a family history of diabetes by euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp. Flexibility correlated with fat oxidation measured in a respiratory chamber after a 3-day HFD. Muscle mitochondrial content was higher in flexible subjects with high fat oxidation after a HFD and contributed 49% of the variance. Subjects with a family history of diabetes were inflexible and had reduced HFD-induced fat oxidation and musc...
Background: Several methods including water displacement, casting, the GrossmanÀRoudner measuring... more Background: Several methods including water displacement, casting, the GrossmanÀRoudner measuring device, photographs, mammograms, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been proposed for the measurement of breast volume. The most cost-effective method has not been determined. Methods: This study compared breast volume measurements using the GrossmanÀRoudner measuring device (a piece of circular plastic with a cut along a radius line), plaster casting, and MRI. The GrossmanÀRoudner measuring device was formed into a cone around the breast, and the volume was read from a graduated scale on the overlapping edges. The volume of the cast was measured using a butterÀsand mixture and water displacement. The volume from the MRI slices was calculated using the ANALYZE bioimaging software. For five women with breast sizes AA, A, B, C, and D, the three volume measures were repeated three times. For a single volume measurement, the cost of the time and materials was $1 for the GrossmanÀRoudner cone, $20 for the cast, and $1,400 for the MRI. Using the mean and standard deviations of the measurements, a power analysis determined the number of subjects needed to detect a 5% change in volume. The number of subjects was multiplied by the price per test to determine relative cost. Results: As compared with the cost for the Gross-manÀRoudner cone method, the cost for the volume measurements was 64 to 189 times more using the cast and 373 to 33,500 more using MRI. Conclusion: The GrossmanÀRoudner cone was clearly the most cost-effective method for determining breast volume changes in studies testing topical therapies to alter breast size.
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