Publications

<p dir="ltr">OBJECTIVE We examined the associations of inflammatory and insulinemic diets with type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk among women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).</p><p dir="ltr">RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We followed 4,318 GDM women in the Nurses’ Health Study II for incident T2D between 1991 and 2019. Empirical dietary inflammatory pattern (EDIP) and empirical dietary index for hyperinsulinemia (EDIH) scores were calculated using pre-validated methods. Cox models were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the risk of T2D. Additionally, we estimated the least-squares means of cardio-metabolic biomarkers according to EDIP and EDIH quintiles in a subset of participants who were free of T2D at the time of blood collection.</p><p dir="ltr">RESULTS During 84,174 person-years of follow-up, 1,037 women developed T2D. After adjusting for major covariates including body mass index, higher EDIP and EDIH scores, which indicated higher dietary inflammatory and insulinemic potential, were associated with increased risk of T2D. Compared with the lowest quintile, adjusted HRs (95% CI) for the highest quintile were 1.32 (1.06, 1.64) for EDIP and 1.44 (1.14, 1.82) for EDIH, both Ptrend <0.05. Higher EDIP scores were significantly associated with higher concentrations of insulin and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and EDIH scores were significantly positively associated with insulin and C-peptide concentrations. </p><p dir="ltr">CONCLUSIONS Among women with a history of GDM, those with higher dietary inflammatory and insulinemic potential were found to be at a higher risk for T2D and to display unfavorable cardio-metabolic profiles. </p>

In this prospective study of patients who survived MI, a greater intake of dietary fiber after MI, especially cereal fiber, was inversely associated with all cause mortality. In addition, increasing consumption of fiber from before to after MI was significantly associated with lower all cause and cardiovascular mortality.

'Production of Graphene or Graphene Production' published in 'Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology'

In oil and gas (O&G) exploration the well casing, in the form of a long steel tube, maintains the opening of the drilled well hole. Mechanical equipment is often inserted into the well for the purpose of well monitoring, pressure control and various operations. This downhole equipment may be mechanically connected to the pipe casing by the outward radial motion of anchoring teeth such that the inner wall casing is indented. The connection between the tool and the casing must support significant mechanical loads in the longitudinal (axial) direction of the casing, i.e. transverse to the direction of indentation, while minimizing the indentation depth in order to preserve the stiffness and strength of the casing. Consequently, a determination of the ultimate strength of the connection is of critical importance. Failure of this connection involves intense shear of the inner wall of the casing, akin to a machining operation. The critical load for axial slip can be determined experimentally or numerically (or by combination of both). In this study, detailed simulations are performed using the shear-extended GTN (Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman) model. The choice of model is motivated by the need to accurately the extensive plastic deformation associated with indentation as well as shear-dominated ductile failure on a sub-millimeter scale. The shear-extended GTN model requires a careful calibration of the model parameters by an accurate measurement of the material response. Accordingly, the casing steel was characterized by appropriate measurements under a range of stress states. The calibrated model was used to investigate an idealized two-dimensional representation of the anchoring problem, with a focus on the effect of indentation depth upon connection strength. Both the indentation of the casing inner wall by the anchoring teeth and the subsequent shear of the casing wall were simulated in detail to determine the load required to initiate and progress slip of the anchoring teeth. The results of these analyses show that the connection strength increases linearly with increasing indentation depth.

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This paper describes the use of thread as a matrix for the fabrication of diagnostic assay systems. The kinds of thread used for this study are inexpensive, broadly available, and lightweight; some of them are already familiar materials in healthcare. Fluids wick along these threads by capillary action; no external power source is necessary for pumping. This paper demonstrates three designs for diagnostic assays that use different characteristics of the thread. The first two designs—the "woven array" and the "branching design"—take advantage of the ease with which thread can be woven on a loom to generate fluidic pathways that enable multiple assays to be performed in parallel. The third design—the "sewn array"—takes advantage of the ease with which thread can be sewn through a hydrophobic polymer sheet to incorporate assays into bandages, diapers and similar systems. These designs lead to microfluidic devices that may be useful in performing simple colorimetric assays that require qualitative results. We demonstrate the function of thread-based microfluidic devices in the context of five different colorimetric assays: detection of ketones, nitrite, protein, and glucose in artificial urine, and detection of alkaline phosphatase in artificial plasma.

Obesity has recently emerged as a major global health problem. According to World Health Organization estimates, ≈1.6 billion adults worldwide were overweight (body mass index [BMI] ≥25 kg/m2) and at least 400 million were obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) in 2005, numbers that are expected to reach 2.3 billion and 700 million, respectively, by 2015. In the United States, the percentage of overweight and obese adults increased markedly from 47% and 15% in 1976 to 1980 to >66% and 33% in 2005 to 2006, with the greatest proportion of increase seen among non-Hispanic black and Mexican American women.1,2 The implications of excess body weight are far-reaching. Epidemiological studies indicate that overweight and obesity are important risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature death.3 In the United States, healthcare expenditures attributable to overweight and obesity are estimated to be $147 billion or 9.1% of total healthcare costs per year.4 Such excess costs could have serious repercussions for resource-poor countries, which must manage the dual burdens of chronic and infectious disease. In the setting of a pandemic of obesity and related chronic diseases, the American Heart Association recently released a scientific statement recommending reductions in added-sugar intake to no more than 100 to 150 kcal/d for most Americans.5 The statement identified sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) as the primary source of added sugars in the American diet.6 Although it has long been suspected that SSBs contribute at least in part to the obesity epidemic, only in recent years have large epidemiological studies been able to substantiate the relationship between SSB consumption and long-term weight gain, T2DM, and cardiovascular risk. It is thought that SSBs contribute to weight gain because of their high added-sugar content, low satiety, and potential incomplete compensation for total energy, leading to increased energy intake.7,8 In addition, because of their high amounts of rapidly absorbable carbohydrates such as various forms of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and the large quantities consumed, SSBs may increase T2DM and cardiovascular risk independently of obesity as a contributor to a high dietary glycemic load (GL), leading to inflammation, insulin resistance, and impaired β-cell function.9 Fructose from any sugar or HFCS may also increase blood pressure and promote the accumulation of visceral adiposity, dyslipidemia, and ectopic fat deposition because of increased hepatic de novo lipogenesis.10 Here, we review temporal patterns in SSB consumption and clinically relevant effects on obesity, T2DM, and cardiovascular disease risk, emphasizing potential underlying biological mechanisms, clinical implications, and consideration of methodological issues inherent in the literature.