Search

International audience

This study presents floristic inventories and the description of the vascular vegetation of fourteen small granitic islands around surrounding Lavezzu Island (Bouches-de-Bonifacio Natural Reserve) in Southern Corsica. These islets differ in the following characteristics : total area, area of flat surfaces, maximum altitude, shape, distance to Lavezzu Island, degree of exposure to storms, and number of breeding gull pairs. The number of vascular plant species ranges from 2 (South Becchi Island) to 50 (Achiarinu Island). Their plant communities can be classifiaed into eight phytosociological alliances (Allion triquetri, Asplenion marini, Crithmo maritimi-Limonion articulati, Dactylido hispanicae-Daucion commutati, Halimionion portulacoidis, Juniperion turbinatae, Molinio arundinaceae-Holoschoenion vulgaris, Saginion maritimae). The multivariate analyzes indicate the importance of the "flat surface area" of each island as the main explanatory parameter of the floristic richness and the number of phytosociological alliances., Cette étude présente les inventaires floristiques et la description de la végétation vasculaire de quatorze îlots granitiques entourant l’île Lavezzu (Réserve naturelle des Bouches-de-Bonifacio) en Corse-du-Sud. Ces îlots diffèrent par les caractères suivants : superficie totale, superficie des surfaces planes, altitude maximale, forme, distance à l’île Lavezzu, degré d’exposition aux tempêtes et quantité de couples de goélands nicheurs. Le nombre d’espèces de plantes vasculaires varie de 2 (îlot Becchi sud) à 50 (îlot de l’Achiarinu). Leurs groupements végétaux sont classables dans huit alliances phytosociologiques (Allion triquetri, Asplenion marini, Crithmo maritimi-Limonion articulati, Dactylido hispanicae-Daucion commutati, Halimionion portulacoidis, Juniperion turbinatae, Molinio arundinaceae-Holoschoenion vulgaris, Saginion maritimae). Les analyses multivariées montrent l’importance du facteur «superficie des surfaces planes» de chaque îlot comme paramètre explicatif principal de la richesse floristique et du nombre d’alliances phytosociologiques., Médail Frédéric,Mori Christophe,Paradis Guilhan,Petit Yohan,Piazza Carole. Flore et végétation vasculaires des îlots satellites de l’île Lavezzu (Réserve naturelle des Bouches-de-Bonifacio, Corse) . In: Le Journal de botanique, n°88, 2019. pp. 119-182.

International audience

Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. In adults, high sodium intake is associated with elevated blood pressure. In children, experimental studies have shown that reducing sodium intake can reduce blood pressure. However, their external validity is limited, notably because the sodium reduction was substantial and not applicable in a real-life setting. Observational studies, on the other hand, allow assess the association between blood pressure and sodium intake across usual levels of consumption. There is also evidence that the association differs between subgroups of children according to age and body weight. Our objective is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental and observational studies on the association between sodium intake and blood pressure in children and adolescents and to assess whether the association differs according to age and body weight. A systematic search of the MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and CENTRAL databases will be conducted and supplemented by a manual search of bibliographies and unpublished studies. Experimental and observational studies involving children or adolescents between 0 and 18 years of age will be included. The exposure will be dietary sodium intake, estimated using different methods including urinary sodium excretion. The outcomes will be systolic and diastolic blood pressure, elevated blood pressure and hypertension. If appropriate, meta-analyses will be performed by pooling data across all studies together and separately for experimental and observational studies. Subgroup meta-analyses by age and body weight will be also conducted. Moreover, separate meta-analyses for different sodium intake levels will be conducted to investigate the dose-response relationship. This systematic review and meta-analysis will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. A report will be prepared for national authorities and other stakeholders in the domains of nutrition, public health, and child health in Switzerland. CRD42016038245.

OBJECTIVES: Early childhood poverty is associated with adult chronic diseases. The objectives of this study were to examine patterns of exposure to poverty during the first 10 years of life in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD) cohort according to three measures of poverty and to explore family characteristics associated with different poverty exposures. METHOD: Data from 1,334 participants from the QLSCD were collected annually at home from ages 5 months through 10 years. Household income (previous 12 months) and sources of income were recorded at each data round. Poverty status was operationalized as 1) living below the low income cut-off of Statistics Canada, 2) receiving social welfare and 3) being in the lowest quintile of socio-economic status. We plotted trends in the prevalence of child poverty over time. We used latent class growth modelling to identify subgroups with similar poverty trajectories. Duration of poverty according to each measure was computed separately for early childhood, middle childhood, and the entire 10 years of life. RESULTS: Four trajectories of poverty were identified: stable poor, decreasing likelihood, increasing likelihood, and never poor. The three measures of poverty do not cover the same population, yet the characteristics of those identified as poor are similar. Children of non-European, immigrant mothers were most likely to be poor, and there was a higher likelihood of children from single-parent families to live in chronic poverty during the first 10 years. CONCLUSION: A large proportion of children are exposed to poverty before 10 years of age. More effective public policies could reduce child poverty.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Individual detection and intervention on CVD risk factors and behaviors throughout childhood and adolescence has been advocated as a strategy to reduce CVD risk in adulthood. The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has recently recommended universal screening of several risk factors in children and adolescents, at odds with several recommendations of the U.S. Services Task Force and of the U.K. National Screening committee. In the current review, we discuss the goals of screening for CVD risk factors (elevated blood pressure, abnormal blood lipids, diabetes) and behaviors (smoking) in children and appraise critically various screening recommendations. Our review suggests that there is no compelling evidence to recommend universal screening for elevated blood pressure, abnormal blood lipids, abnormal blood glucose, or smoking in children and adolescents. Targeted screening of these risk factors could be useful but specific screening strategies have to be evaluated. Research is needed to identify target populations, screening frequency, intervention, and follow-up. Meanwhile, efforts should rather focus on the primordial prevention of CVD risk factors and at maintaining a lifelong ideal cardiovascular health through environmental, policy, and educational approaches.

Background: Recent reviews of randomized control trials have shown that pharmacist interventions improve cardiovascular diseases (CVD) risk factors in outpatients. Various interventions were evaluated in different settings, and a substantial heterogeneity was observed in the effect estimates. To better express uncertainties in the effect estimates, prediction intervals (PI) have been proposed but are, however, rarely reported. Objective: Pooling data from two systematic reviews, we estimated the effect of pharmacist interventions on systolic blood pressure (BP), computed PI, and evaluated potential causes of heterogeneity. Methods: Data were pooled from systematic reviews assessing the effect of pharmacist interventions on CVD risk factors in patients with or without diabetes, respectively. Effects were estimated using random effect models. Results: Systolic BP was the outcome in 31 trials including 12 373 patients. Pharmacist interventions included patient educational interventions, patient-reminder systems, measurement of BP, medication management and feedback to physician, or educational intervention to health care professionals. Pharmacist interventions were associated with a large reduction in systolic BP (-7.5 mmHg; 95% CI: -9.0 to -5.9). There was a substantial heterogeneity (I2: 66%). The 95% PI ranged from -13.9 to -1.0 mmHg. The effect tended to be larger if the intervention was conducted in a community pharmacy and if the pharmacist intervened at least monthly. Conclusion: On average, the effect of pharmacist interventions on BP was substantial. However, the wide PI suggests that the effect differed between interventions, with some having modest effects and others very large effects on BP. Part of the heterogeneity could be due to differences in the setting and in the frequency of the interventions.

Background: Numerous studies have shown a negative association between birth weight (BW) and blood pressure (BP) later in life. To estimate the direct effect of BW on BP, it is conventional to condition on current weight (CW). However, such conditioning can induce collider stratification bias in the estimate of the direct effect. Objective: To bound the potential bias due to U, an unmeasured common cause of CW and BP, on the estimate of the (controlled) direct effect of BW on BP. Methods: Data from a school based study in Switzerland were used (N = 4,005; 2,010 B/1,995 G; mean age: 12.3 yr [range: 10.1-14.9]). Measured common causes of BW-BP (SES, smoking, body weight, and hypertension status of the mother) and CW-BP (breastfeeding and child's physical activity and diet) were identified with DAGs. Linear regression models were fitted to estimate the association between BW and BP. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the potential effect of U on the association between BW and BP. U was assumed 1) to be a binary variable that affected BP by the same magnitude in low BWand in normal BW children and 2) to have a different prevalence in low BW children and in normal BW children for a given CW. Results: A small negative association was observed between BW and BP [beta: -0.3 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -0.9 to 0.3)]. The association was strengthened upon conditioning for CW [beta: -1.5 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -2.1 to -0.9)]. Upon further conditioning on common causes of BW-BP and CW-BP, the association did not change substantially [beta: -1.4 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -2.0 to -0.8)]. The negative association could be explained by U only if U was strongly associated with BP and if there was a large difference in the prevalence of U between low BWand normal BW children. Conclusion: The observed negative association between BW and BP upon adjustment for CW was not easily explained by an unmeasured common cause of CWand BP.

International audience; [1] An interlaboratory study of Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in three commercially available carbonate reference materials (BAM RS3, CMSI 1767, and ECRM 752-1) was performed with the participation of 25 laboratories that determine foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios worldwide. These reference materials containing Mg/Ca in the range of foraminiferal calcite (0.8 mmol/mol to 6 mmol/mol) were circulated with a dissolution protocol for analysis. Participants were asked to make replicate dissolutions of the powdered samples and to analyze them using the instruments and calibration standards routinely used in their laboratories. Statistical analysis was performed in accordance with the International Standardization Organization standard 5725, which is based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique. Repeatability (RSDr%), an indicator of intralaboratory precision, for Mg/Ca determinations in solutions after centrifuging increased with decreasing Mg/Ca, ranging from 0.78% at Mg/Ca = 5.56 mmol/mol to 1.15% at Mg/Ca = 0.79 mmol/mol. Reproducibility (RSDR%), an indicator of the interlaboratory method precision, for Mg/Ca determinations in centrifuged solutions was noticeably worse than repeatability, ranging from 4.5% at Mg/Ca = 5.56 mmol/mol to 8.7% at Mg/Ca = 0.79 mmol/mol. Results of this study show that interlaboratory variability is dominated by inconsistencies among instrument calibrations and highlight the need to improve interlaboratory compatibility. Additionally, the study confirmed the suitability of these solid standards as reference materials for foraminiferal Mg/Ca (and Sr/Ca) determinations, provided that appropriate procedures are adopted to minimize and to monitor possible contamination from silicate mineral phases.