Cardiovascular screening to reduce the burden from cardiovascular disease: microsimulation study to quantify policy options.

Objectives:  To estimate the potential impact of universal screening for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (National Health Service Health Checks) on disease burden and socioeconomic inequalities in health in England, and to compare universal screening with alternative feasible strategies.

Design:  Microsimulation study of a close-to-reality synthetic population. Five scenarios were considered: baseline scenario, assuming that current trends in risk factors will continue in the future; universal screening; screening concentrated only in the most deprived areas; structural population-wide intervention; and combination of population-wide intervention and concentrated screening.

The effects of maximising the UK's tobacco control score on inequalities in smoking prevalence and premature coronary heart disease mortality: a modelling study.

Background: Smoking is more than twice as common among the most disadvantaged socioeconomic groups in England compared to the most affluent and is a major contributor to health-related inequalities. The United Kingdom (UK) has comprehensive smoking policies in place: regular tax increases; public information campaigns; on-pack pictorial health warnings; advertising bans; cessation; and smoke-free areas. This is confirmed from its high Tobacco Control Scale (TCS) score, an expert-developed instrument for assessing the strength of tobacco control policies.

Future trends and inequalities in premature coronary deaths in England: Modelling study.

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of premature mortality, particularly in deprived groups. Might recent declines in overall mortality obscure different rates of decline among social strata, creating potentially misleading views on inequalities?

Methods: We used a Bayesian analysis of an age-period-cohort model for the English population. We projected age-specific premature CHD mortality (ages 35-74) by gender and area-based deprivation status for the period 2007-2035, using 1982-2006 as the input.

Potential of trans fats policies to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in mortality from coronary heart disease in England: cost effectiveness modelling study.

Objectives: To determine health and equity benefits and cost effectiveness of policies to reduce or eliminate trans fatty acids from processed foods, compared with consumption remaining at most recent levels in England.

Design: Epidemiological modelling study.

Setting: Data from National Diet and Nutrition Survey, Low Income Diet and Nutrition Survey, Office of National Statistics, and health economic data from other published studies

Participants: Adults aged ≥25, stratified by fifths of socioeconomic circumstance.

The Health Equity and Effectiveness of Policy Options to Reduce Dietary Salt Intake in England: Policy Forecast.

Background: Public health action to reduce dietary salt intake has driven substantial reductions in coronary heart disease (CHD) over the past decade, but avoidable socio-economic differentials remain. We therefore forecast how further intervention to reduce dietary salt intake might affect the overall level and inequality of CHD mortality.

Methods: We considered English adults, with socio-economic circumstances (SEC) stratified by quintiles of the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Hypocholesterolemic Effect and In Vitro Pancreatic Lipase Inhibitory Activity of an Opuntia ficus-indica Extract.

Cholesterol control is fundamental for prevention of cardiovascular disorders. In this work, the hypocholesterolemic activity of an aqueous Opuntia ficus-indica extract (AOE) was tested in triton-induced mice. The inhibitory activity on pancreatic lipase enzyme was evaluated in vitro by the same extract.

Are interventions to promote healthy eating equally effective for all? Systematic review of socioeconomic inequalities in impact.

Background: Interventions to promote healthy eating make a potentially powerful contribution to the primary prevention of non communicable diseases. It is not known whether healthy eating interventions are equally effective among all sections of the population, nor whether they narrow or widen the health gap between rich and poor. We undertook a systematic review of interventions to promote healthy eating to identify whether impacts differ by socioeconomic position (SEP).

Quantifying the contribution of statins to the decline in population mean cholesterol by socioeconomic group in England 1991 - 2012: a modelling study.

Background: Serum total cholesterol is one of the major targets for cardiovascular disease prevention. Statins are effective for cholesterol control in individual patients. At the population level, however, their contribution to total cholesterol decline remains unclear.

Ascorbic acid, ultraviolet C rays, and glucose but not hyperthermia are elicitors of human β-defensin 1 mRNA in normal keratinocytes.

Hosts' innate defense systems are upregulated by antimicrobial peptide elicitors (APEs). Our aim was to investigate the effects of hyperthermia, ultraviolet A rays (UVA), and ultraviolet C rays (UVC) as well as glucose and ascorbic acid (AA) on the regulation of human β-defensin 1 (DEFB1), cathelicidin (CAMP), and interferon-γ (IFNG) genes in normal human keratinocytes (NHK). The indirect in vitro antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes of these potential APEs was tested.

Evaluation of the inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes, the antioxidant activity, and the polyphenolic content of Citrus limetta peel extract.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the most frequent causes of death in Mexico, characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. One alternative strategy for this metabolic abnormality is inhibiting the enzymes responsible for the metabolism of carbohydrates. We evaluated whether the aqueous Citrus limetta peel extract could inhibit the metabolism of carbohydrates.

Insecticidal activity and chemical composition of the Morinda lucida essential oil against pulse beetle Callosobruchus maculatus.

Insecticidal activity of essential oil extracted from Morinda lucida was tested on pulse beetle Callosobruchus maculatus, which is a pest that causes serious damage to several pulses. The insecticidal activity was compared with two pesticides, Phostoxin and Primo-ban-20. 120 mixed sex adult C.

The adenylyl cyclase Rv2212 modifies the proteome and infectivity of Mycobacterium bovis BCG.

All organisms have the capacity to sense and respond to environmental changes. These signals often involve the use of second messengers such as cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). This second messenger is widely distributed among organisms and coordinates gene expression related with pathogenesis, virulence, and environmental adaptation.

Future declines of coronary heart disease mortality in England and Wales could counter the burden of population ageing.

Background: Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) remains a major cause of mortality in the United Kingdom. Yet predictions of future CHD mortality are potentially problematic due to population ageing and increase in obesity and diabetes. Here we explore future projections of CHD mortality in England & Wales under two contrasting future trend assumptions.

Assessment of the Appropriateness of Antibiotic Prescriptions in Lesotho Public Hospitals: A Novel Methodology Based on Principles of Antibiotic Prescribing.

The study primarily aimed at assessing the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions in a section of public health institutions in Lesotho using an assessment tool formulated from principles of antibiotic prescribing. Relevant data on procedures of infection diagnosis and prescribed antibiotics were collected from both inpatient and outpatient case reports for a one-month period in five public hospitals in Lesotho. These were analyzed for the appropriateness of the prescribed antibiotics.

The Impact of Appropriate Antibiotic Prescribing on Treatment Evaluation Parameters.

The therapeutic impact of inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics is debatable, particularly in situations where infections are treated empirically with multiply prescribed antibiotics. Prescribers may remain under the illusion that such prescriptions are appropriate on the basis of any observed positive treatment outcomes, even though an antibiotic prescribed in such combination therapy may actually be infective against infecting pathogens. This, inevitably, promotes inappropriate antibiotic prescribing.

Transcriptome analysis identifies genes involved in ethanol response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Agave tequilana juice.

During ethanol fermentation, yeast cells are exposed to stress due to the accumulation of ethanol, cell growth is altered and the output of the target product is reduced. For Agave beverages, like tequila, no reports have been published on the global gene expression under ethanol stress. In this work, we used microarray analysis to identify Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes involved in the ethanol response.

BK virus and SV40 co-infection in polyomavirus nephropathy.

Background: Polyomavirus (PV) nephropathy has been attributed to reactivation of BK virus (BKV) or more rarely JC virus (JCV). The simian virus (SV) 40 is PV that was likely introduced into the human population through contaminated vaccines. The purpose of this study was to identify and characterize the PV that is associated with PV nephropathy.