INFORMATION:
Alternate-day intermittent fasting leads to less fat loss than traditional daily energy restriction
2021-06-16
(Press-News.org) An alternate-day intermittent fasting schedule offered less fat-reducing benefits than a matched "traditional" diet that restricts daily energy intake, according to a new, 3-week randomized trial involving 36 participants. The study, which is one of the first to tease apart the effects of fasting and daily energy restriction in lean individuals, indicates that alternate-day fasting may offer no fasting-specific health or metabolic benefits over a standard daily diet. However, the authors caution that longer studies with larger groups are needed. Intermittent fasting, which involves cycling through voluntary fasting and non-fasting periods, has become one of the most popular approaches to losing weight. There are many different intermittent fasting schedules, ranging from fasting for part of each day to the popular 5:2 diet (eating 5 days a week and fasting 2 days) to alternate-day fasting (eating one day, fasting the next). Many participants report that fasting schedules are relatively easy to adopt and stick by, and theories suggest that fasting can trigger beneficial changes in metabolism that encourage weight loss. However, few studies have examined the fasting-specific effects of intermittent fasting or compared its effects to diets that simply reduce daily net calories. Iain Templeman and colleagues recruited 36 lean participants and split them into 3 groups of 12, who followed different diets for 3 weeks. The first group followed a restricted, alternate-day fasting diet (eating 150% of their habitual daily energy intake only every other day), the second group followed an energy-matched non-fasting diet with 75% daily energy intake, and the last group followed an alternate-day fasting diet with no restriction in energy intake (200% daily energy intake every other day). After 3 weeks, the second group showed the greatest losses of both weight and fat, with an average fat loss of 1.57 kg. Meanwhile, the first group of alternate-day fasters lost weight but lost fat less effectively (an average of .74 kg), and the last group showed no significant drops in either weight or fat. Further studies showed there were no key differences in cardiometabolic health, metabolic molecules, or gene expression in fat cells between the 3 groups. Templeman et al. noted that the alternate-day fasters tended to be less active than before starting the diet, hinting at one factor that may have impacted fat loss. The authors speculate that individuals considering alternate-day fasting should make sure to include opportunities for physical activity to maintain their energy expenditure.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Subterranean investigations
2021-06-16
We've seen robots take to the air, dive beneath the waves and perform all sorts of maneuvers on land. Now, researchers at UC Santa Barbara and Georgia Institute of Technology are exploring a new frontier: the ground beneath our feet. Taking their cues from plants and animals that have evolved to navigate subterranean spaces, they've developed a fast, controllable soft robot that can burrow through sand. The technology not only enables new applications for fast, precise and minimally invasive movement underground, but also lays mechanical foundations for new types of robots.
"The biggest challenges with moving through the ground ...
Sex differences in COVID-19 outcomes
2021-06-16
In a study of more than 10,600 adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19, women had significantly lower odds than men of in-hospital mortality. They also had fewer admissions to the intensive care unit and less need for mechanical ventilation. Women also had significantly lower odds of major adverse events, including acute cardiac injury, acute kidney injury, and venous thromboembolism, according to an article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women's Health. Click here to read the article now.
"This comprehensive analysis is the largest study to date that directly assesses the impact of sex on COVID-19 outcomes," ...
Longer duration of positive COVID-19 PCR test results in people with certain comorbidities
2021-06-16
Boston - New study results indicate that different comorbid conditions affecting individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 may impact how long they continue to receive positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results. Individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 who are aged 60+, have three or more chronic medical conditions, particularly diabetes, obesity, rheumatologic disease, or an organ transplant, have positive PCR tests for longer periods of time compared to younger individuals without these comorbidities. However, the data showed no significant difference in the duration of positive PCR tests results by the degree of immunocompromise or for individuals receiving chemotherapy or steroids ...
New beetle species discovered and named after iconic sci-fi heroines
2021-06-16
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The original Star Trek television series took place in a future when space is the final frontier, but humanity hasn't reached that point quite yet.
As researchers like Michigan State University entomologists Sarah Smith and Anthony Cognato are reminding us, there's still plenty to discover right here on Earth.
Working in Central and South America, the duo discovered more than three dozen species of ambrosia beetles -- beetles that eat ambrosia fungus -- previously unknown to science. Smith and Cognato described these new species on June 16 in the journal ZooKeys.
The Spartans also selected ...
Giant quantum tornados in a hybrid light-matter system give insight into complex physical phenomena
2021-06-16
Researchers from Skoltech and their colleagues from the UK have managed to create a stable giant vortex in interacting polariton condensates, addressing a known challenge in quantized fluid dynamics. The findings open possibilities in creating uniquely structured coherent light sources and exploring many-body physics under unique extreme conditions. The paper was published in the journal Nature Communications.
In fluid dynamics, a vortex is a region where a fluid revolves around a point (2D) or a line (3D); you've clearly seen one in your sink ...
Damage control: Plants juggle genome maintenance and growth by being organized
2021-06-16
Ikoma, Japan - Humans pride themselves on being able to multitask, especially under pressure. But it turns out that we aren't the only ones who are organized: researchers from Japan have discovered that plants balance genome maintenance with organ growth by organizing different responses to DNA damage.
In a study published in Science Advances, a research team led by Nara Institute of Science and Technology has revealed that plants use combined control of the plant hormones cytokinin and auxin to organize DNA damage responses while maintaining growth.
Plants are highly adaptable organisms that never stop growing, thanks largely to the functions carried out by their roots. Because of the essential role that roots play in plant growth, ...
Coronaviruses may achieve their pathogenic edge by triggering programmed cell death
2021-06-16
A new study using cells, transgenic mouse models, and cultured human lung tissue provides evidence that the ability to trigger programmed cell death (apoptosis) may enable highly pathogenic coronaviruses to spread within their hosts so successfully. Targeting this process may reduce the severity of coronavirus diseases, the study goes on to show. While scientists have been aware that highly pathogenic coronaviruses leave substantial cell death in their wake as they infiltrate the body, the importance of apoptosis to the internal spread of coronavirus infections ...
Genetically engineered nanoparticle delivers dexamethasone directly to inflamed lungs
2021-06-16
Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed immune cell-mimicking nanoparticles that target inflammation in the lungs and deliver drugs directly where they're needed. As a proof of concept, the researchers filled the nanoparticles with the drug dexamethasone and administered them to mice with inflamed lung tissue. Inflammation was completely treated in mice given the nanoparticles, at a drug concentration where standard delivery methods did not have any efficacy.
The researchers reported their findings in Science Advances on June 16.
What's special ...
Study: A quarter of adults don't want children -- and they're still happy
2021-06-16
Parenting is one of life's greatest joys, right? Not for everyone. New research from Michigan State University psychologists examines characteristics and satisfaction of adults who don't want children.
As more people acknowledge they simply don't want to have kids, Jennifer Watling Neal and Zachary Neal, both associate professors in MSU's department of psychology, are among the first to dive deeper into how these "child-free" individuals differ from others.
"Most studies haven't asked the questions necessary to distinguish 'child-free' individuals -- those who choose not to have children -- from other types of nonparents," Jennifer Watling Neal said. ...
How do immune cells get activated?
2021-06-16
Chemokine receptors, located at the surface of many immune cells, play an important role in their function. Chemokines are small proteins that bind to these receptors and control the movement and behaviour of white blood cells. However, despite the importance of this family of receptors, their activation mechanism remains poorly understood. In Switzerland, a research consortium from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Villigen has succeeded in decoding the activation mechanism of the CCR5 receptor, a member of this family implicated in several diseases such as HIV/AIDS, cancer, and the respiratory ...