Polyphenol-rich foods in the Mediterranean diet are associated with better cognitive function in elderly subjects at high cardiovascular risk

Brain oxidative processes play a major role in age-related cognitive decline, thus consumption of antioxidant-rich foods might help preserve cognition. Our aim was to assess whether consumption of antioxidant-rich foods in the Mediterranean diet relates to cognitive function in the elderly. In asymptomatic subjects at high cardiovascular risk (n = 447; 52% women; age 5580 y) enrolled in the PREDIMED study, a primary prevention dietary-intervention trial, we assessed food intake and cardiovascular risk profile, determined apolipoprotein E genotype, and used neuropsychological tests to evaluate cognitive function.We also measured urinary polyphenols as an objective biomarker of intake. Associations between energy-adjusted food consumption, urinary polyphenols, and cognitive scores were assessed by multiple linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders. Consumption of some foods was independently related to better cognitive function. The specific associations [regression coefficients (95% confidence intervals)] were: total olive oil with immediate verbal memory [0.755 (0.1511.358)]; virgin olive oil and coffee with delayed verbal memory [0.163 (0.0100.316) and 0.294 (0.0550.534), respectively];walnuts with working memory [1.191 (0.0612.322)]; and wine with Mini-Mental State Examination scores [0.252 (0.0060.496)]. Urinary polyphenols were associated with better scores in immediate verbal memory [1.208 (0.2362.180)]. Increased consumption of antioxidant-rich foods in general and of polyphenols in particular is associated with better cognitive performance in elderly subjects at high cardiovascular risk. The results reinforce the notion that Mediterranean diet components might counteract age-related cognitive decline.

Foods, nutrients and the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer.

Background:Besides tobacco and alcohol, dietary habits may have a relevant role in oral cavity and pharyngeal (OCP) cancer.Methods:We analysed the role of selected food groups and nutrients on OCP cancer in a case-control study carried out between 1997 and 2009 in Italy and Switzerland. This included 768 incident, histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma cases and 2078 hospital controls. Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated using logistic regression models including terms for tobacco, alcohol and other relevant covariates.Results:Significant inverse trends in risk were observed for all vegetables (OR=0.19, for the highest vs the lowest consumption) and all fruits (OR=0.39), whereas significant direct associations were found for milk and dairy products (OR=1.50), eggs (OR=1.71), red meat (OR=1.55), potatoes (OR=1.85) and desserts (OR=1.68), although trends in risk were significant only for potatoes and desserts. With reference to nutrients, significant inverse relations were observed for vegetable protein (OR=0.45, for the highest vs the lowest quintile), vegetable fat (OR=0.54), polyunsaturated fatty acids (OR=0.53), α-carotene (OR=0.51), β-carotene (OR=0.28), β-cryptoxanthin (OR=0.37), lutein and zeazanthin (OR=0.34), vitamin E (OR=0.26), vitamin C (OR=0.40) and total folate (OR=0.34), whereas direct ones were observed for animal protein (OR=1.57), animal fat (OR=2.47), saturated fatty acids (OR=2.18), cholesterol (OR=2.29) and retinol (OR=1.88). Combinations of low consumption of fruits and vegetables, and high consumption of meat with high tobacco and alcohol, led to 10- to over 20-fold excess risk of OCP cancer.Conclusion:Our study confirms and further quantifies that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and poor in meat and products of animal origin has a favourable role against OCP cancer.

Verbal labels selectively bias brain responses to high-energy foods.

The influence of external factors on food preferences and choices is poorly understood. Knowing which and how food-external cues impact the sensory processing and cognitive valuation of food would provide a strong benefit toward a more integrative understanding of food intake behavior and potential means of interfering with deviant eating patterns to avoid detrimental health consequences for individuals in the long run. We investigated whether written labels with positive and negative (as opposed to 'neutral') valence differentially modulate the spatio-temporal brain dynamics in response to the subsequent viewing of high- and low-energetic food images. Electrical neuroimaging analyses were applied to visual evoked potentials (VEPs) from 20 normal-weight participants. VEPs and source estimations in response to high- and low- energy foods were differentially affected by the valence of preceding word labels over the ~260-300 ms post-stimulus period. These effects were only observed when high-energy foods were preceded by labels with positive valence. Neural sources in occipital as well as posterior, frontal, insular and cingulate regions were down-regulated. These findings favor cognitive-affective influences especially on the visual responses to high-energetic food cues, potentially indicating decreases in cognitive control and goal-adaptive behavior. Inverse correlations between insular activity and effectiveness in food classification further indicate that this down-regulation directly impacts food-related behavior.

Análisis de dos traducciones de la obra The Importance of Being Earnest, de Oscar Wilde

El siguiente trabajo consiste en el análisis de dos traducciones, una al catalán y otra al castellano, de la comedia The Importance of Being Earnest de Oscar Wilde. El análisis se centra en los aspectos más problemáticos de la traducción de esta obra

Concentrations of resveratrol and derivatives in foods and estimation of dietary intake in a Spanish population: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Spain cohort

Resveratrol has been shown to have beneficial effects on diseases related to oxidant and/or inflammatory processes and extends the lifespan of simple organisms including rodents. The objective of the present study was to estimate the dietary intake of resveratrol and piceid (R&P) present in foods, and to identify the principal dietary sources of these compounds in the Spanish adult population. For this purpose, a food composition database (FCDB) of R&P in Spanish foods was compiled. The study included 40 685 subjects aged 3564 years from northern and southern regions of Spain who were included in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Spain cohort. Usual food intake was assessed by personal interviews using a computerised version of a validated diet history method. An FCDB with 160 items was compiled. The estimated median and mean of R&P intake were 100 and 933 mg/d respectively. Approximately, 32% of the population did not consume RΠ The most abundant of the four stilbenes studied was trans-piceid (53·6 %), followed by trans-resveratrol (20·9 %), cis-piceid (19·3 %) and cis-resveratrol (6·2 %). The most important source of R&P was wines (98·4 %) and grape and grape juices (1·6 %), whereas peanuts, pistachios and berries contributed to less than 0·01 %. For this reason the pattern of intake of R&P was similar to the wine pattern. This is the first time that R&P intake has been estimated in a Mediterranean country.

Glossaire franco-canadien : et vocabulaire de locutions vicieuses usitées au Canada ([Reprod.]) / par Oscar Dunn ; avec une introduction de M. [Louis] Fréchette

Collection : Archives de la linguistique française ; 133

Poèmes / Oscar Wilde ; trad. [de l'anglais] et préf. par Albert Savine

Collection : Bibliothèque cosmopolite ; 21

Chromatographic analysis of lignans supplemented in foods

Fytoestrogeenit ovat kasvimateriaalista peräisin olevia yhdisteitä, joilla on ihmisen estrogeeni-hormonin kaltaista aktiivisuutta. Fytoestrogeenit voidaan jakaa kolmeen pääryhmään, joista yksi merkittävä ryhmä on lignaanit. Lignaaneilla on todettu olevan antioxidatiivisia, antiviraalisia ja antibakteriaalisia ominaisuuksia. Niillä on todettu olevan myös positiivisia vaikutuksia hormoniperäisten syöpien ehkäisyssä. Näiden ominaisuuksien vuoksi lignaaneja pyritään hyödyntämään esimerkiksi aktiivisina ainesosina funktionaalisissa elintarvikkeissa. Tässä työssä tutkittiin lignaanin, hydroksimatairesinolin (HMRlignanTM) kemiallisia ominaisuuksia ja soveltuvuutta eri ruoka-aineisiin. Työn tarkoituksena oli selvittää ruoka-aineisiin lisätyn hydroksimatairesinolin kemiallista pysyvyyttä erilaisissa säilytys- ja prosessointioloissa sekä tutkia lignaanin liukoisuutta erilaisiin liuottimiin. Hydroksimatairesinolin analysoimiseksi ruoka-aineista käytettiin korkean erotuskyvyn omaavaa nestekromatografista menetelmää. Menetelmä validoitiin ennen varsinaista analysointia ICH-ohjeiston mukaisesti. Validoinnissa tutkittiin kromatografiamenetelmän spesifisyys, lineaarisuus, tarkkuus, oikeellisuus sekä detektointi- ja määritysrajat tutkittavalle lignaanille. Käytetty menetelmä soveltui hyvin lignaanin analysoimiseen ruoka-aineista. Hydroksimatairesinolin vesiliukoisuuden todettiin olevan noin 1 mg/ml. Tutkimukset osoittivat hydroksimatairesinolin olevan stabiili alle 50ºC:en lämpötiloissa. Korkeammissa lämpötiloissa hydroksimatairesinoli oli stabiili jauhemuodossa lisättynä.

Friedman's Excess energy and the McMillan-Mayer theory of solutions:Thermodynamics

In his version of the theory of multicomponent systems, Friedman used the analogy which exists between the virial expansion for the osmotic pressure obtained from the McMillan-Mayer (MM) theory of solutions in the grand canonical ensemble and the virial expansion for the pressure of a real gas. For the calculation of the thermodynamic properties of the solution, Friedman proposed a definition for the"excess free energy" that is a reminder of the ancient idea for the"osmotic work". However, the precise meaning to be attached to his free energy is, within other reasons, not well defined because in osmotic equilibrium the solution is not a closed system and for a given process the total amount of solvent in the solution varies. In this paper, an analysis based on thermodynamics is presented in order to obtain the exact and precise definition for Friedman"s excess free energy and its use in the comparison with the experimental data.

Polyphenol-rich foods in the Mediterranean diet are associated with better cognitive function in elderly subjects at high cardiovascular risk

Brain oxidative processes play a major role in age-related cognitive decline, thus consumption of antioxidant-rich foods might help preserve cognition. Our aim was to assess whether consumption of antioxidant-rich foods in the Mediterranean diet relates to cognitive function in the elderly. In asymptomatic subjects at high cardiovascular risk (n = 447; 52% women; age 55-80 y) enrolled in the PREDIMED study, a primary prevention dietary-intervention trial, we assessed food intake and cardiovascular risk profile, determined apolipoprotein E genotype, and used neuropsychological tests to evaluate cognitive function.We also measured urinary polyphenols as an objective biomarker of intake. Associations between energy-adjusted food consumption, urinary polyphenols, and cognitive scores were assessed by multiple linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders. Consumption of some foods was independently related to better cognitive function. The specific associations [regression coefficients (95% confidence intervals)] were: total olive oil with immediate verbal memory [0.755 (0.151-1.358)]; virgin olive oil and coffee with delayed verbal memory [0.163 (0.010-0.316) and 0.294 (0.055-0.534), respectively];walnuts with working memory [1.191 (0.061-2.322)]; and wine with Mini-Mental State Examination scores [0.252 (0.006-0.496)]. Urinary polyphenols were associated with better scores in immediate verbal memory [1.208 (0.236-2.180)]. Increased consumption of antioxidant-rich foods in general and of polyphenols in particular is associated with better cognitive performance in elderly subjects at high cardiovascular risk. The results reinforce the notion that Mediterranean diet components might counteract age-related cognitive decline.