Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the reproducibility of ad libitum energy intake with the use of a computerized vending machine system.
Design: Twelve individuals (mean +/- SD: 36 +/- 8 y old; 41 +/- 8% body fat) consumed a weight-maintaining diet for 3 d; subsequently, they self-selected all food with the use of a computerized vending machine system for an additional 3 d. Mean daily energy intake was calculated from the actual weight of foods consumed and expressed
as a percentage of weight-maintenance energy needs (%WMEN). Subjects repeated the study multiple times during 2 y. The within-person SB-715992 clinical trial reproducibility of energy intake was determined through the calculation of the intraclass NOV120101 correlation coefficients (ICCs) between visits.
Results: Daily energy intake for all subjects was 5020 +/- 1753 kcal during visit 1 and 4855 +/- 1615 kcal during visit 2. There were no significant associations between energy intake and body weight, body mass index, or percentage body fat while subjects used the vending machines, which indicates that intake was not driven by body size or need. Despite overconsumption (%WMEN = 181 +/- 57%), the reproducibility of intake between visits, whether expressed as daily energy intake (ICC = 0.90), %WMEN (ICC = 0.86), weight of food consumed (ICC = 0.87), or fat intake (g/d; ICC = 0.87),
was highly significant (P < 0.0001).
Conclusion: Although ad libitum energy intake exceeded %WMEN, the within-person reliability of this intake across multiple visits was high, which makes this a reproducible method for the measurement of ad libitum intake in subjects who reside in a research unit. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00342732. Am J Clin Nutr 2010;91:343-8.”
“Introduction: An additional approach may be essential to reduce recurrences of atrial fibrillation (AF) after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). We examined the efficacy
of renin-angiotensin system blockers (RAS-B) in suppressing AF recurrences after PVI.
Methods and Results: We retrospectively studied 264 consecutive patients (195 male, median age: 63 years) who underwent successful PVI of paroxysmal (n = 94) or persistent AF (n = 170). RAS-B BV-6 chemical structure treatment was performed in 145 patients (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors; n = 13, angiotensin receptor blockers; n = 129, both; n = 3). Echocardiography was performed before and 3 months after the ablation to examine the occurrence of left atrial structural reverse remodeling (LA-RR). After a median follow-up of 195 (interquartile range: 95-316) days, AF recurred in 51 (19.3%) patients. A Cox regression analysis revealed that AF recurrence was significantly lower in the patients with RAS-B than in those without (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.41 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.23-0.71], P = 0.002). After a multivariate adjustment for potential confounders, the use of RAS-B (HR = 0.39 [95% CI: 0.19-0.77], P = 0.