The diet proposed by the EAT-Lancet Commission has faced criticism concerning its affordability. This study aimed to investigate the cost associated with a greater alignment to the EAT-Lancet reference diet in the province of Québec, Canada. The dietary habits of 1147 French-speaking adults were assessed using repeated web-based 24-h recall data collected between 2015 and 2017 in the cross-sectional PRÉDicteurs Individuels, Sociaux et Environnementaux (PREDISE) study. Diet costs were calculated using a Nielsen food price database. Usual dietary intakes and diet costs were estimated using the National Cancer Institute’s multivariate Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. Adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet was assessed using the EAT-Lancet dietary index (EAT-I). Associations between diet costs and EAT-I scores were evaluated using linear regression models with restricted cubic splines. After adjustment for energy intake, a higher EAT-I score (75th v. 25th percentiles) was associated with a 1·0 $CAD increase in daily diet costs (95 % CI, 0·7, 1·3). This increase in diet costs was mostly driven by the following component scores of the EAT-I (75th v. 25th percentiles, higher scores reflecting greater adherence): vegetables (1·6 $CAD/d, 95 % CI: 1·2, 2·1), free sugars (1·6 $CAD/d, 95 % CI: 1·3, 1·9), fish and plant-based proteins (1·4 $CAD/d, 95 % CI: 1·0, 1·8), fruits (0·9 $CAD/d, 95 % CI: 0·4, 1·3) and whole grains (0·4 $CAD/d, 95 % CI: 0·0, 0·8). Inversely, a greater score for the poultry and eggs component was associated with reduced diet costs (–1·2 $CAD/d, 95 % CI: −1·7, −0·7). This study suggests that adhering to the EAT-Lancet diet may be associated with an increase in diet costs in the province of Québec.

Dans un climat de crise manifeste des voies traditionnelles de représentation politique, les formes de communication directe entre gouvernants et gouvernés suscitent de plus en plus l’intérêt des sciences sociales. Partant d’un ensemble de cahiers de doléances ouverts dans la Somme entre fin 2018 et début 2019 dans le contexte de la mobilisation des Gilets jaunes, cet article prend le parti d’interroger ces cahiers comme une source à part entière, et non pas simplement comme un contenant d’informations. Cela implique d’examiner les liens étroits entre le support et le contenu en mobilisant nos différentes compétences disciplinaires (histoire, sociologie, cartographie, statistique). Cette recherche permet de dégager l’autonomie relative de ce corpus à l’égard d’autres formes de mobilisation, d’identifier les contextes de production des doléances ainsi que les contraintes qui sont liées à cette forme spécifique de communication avec les autorités. L’analyse de quelques thèmes centraux – le travail, la pauvreté et l’impôt – nous introduit à des idéaux de redistribution et de justice sociale qui sont au cœur de ces écrits. Nous essayons enfin de décrire les contours de cette communauté que les doléances dessinent, avec ses ayants droits et ses exclus.

This article documents how the COVID-19 crisis has affected the drinking behavior of Latin European wine consumers. Using a large online survey conducted during the first lockdown in France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain (n = 7,324 individuals), we reconstruct the purchasing and consumption patterns of the respondents. The number of people who maintained their wine consumption frequency is significantly higher than those who increased or decreased their consumption. Wine consumption frequency held up better than other types of alcohol (beer and spirits). We analyze heterogeneities among countries and individuals by employing the Marascuilo procedure and an ordered logit model. The latter identifies the impact of demographic, commercial, and psychosocial factors on wine consumption frequency. The results shed light on changes in wine consumer behavior during the first lockdown and consider possible post-lockdown trends that could be useful to industry players. (JEL Classifications: D5, L66, Q1)

The development and maintenance of body composition and functions require an adequate protein intake with a continuous supply of amino acids (AA) to tissues. Body pool and AA cellular concentrations are tightly controlled and maintained through AA supply (dietary intake, recycled from proteolysis and de novo synthesis), AA disposal (protein synthesis and other AA-derived molecules) and AA losses (deamination and oxidation). Different molecular regulatory pathways are involved in the control of AA sufficiency including the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1, the general control non-derepressible 2/activating transcription factor 4 system or the fibroblast growth factor 21. There is a tight control of protein intake, and human subjects and animals appear capable of detecting and adapting food and protein intake and metabolism in face of foods or diets with different protein contents. A severely protein deficient diet induces lean body mass losses and ingestion of sufficient dietary energy and protein is a prerequisite for body protein synthesis and maintenance of muscle, bone and other lean tissues and functions. Maintaining adequate protein intake with age may help preserve muscle mass and strength but there is an ongoing debate as to the optimal protein intake in older adults. The protein synthesis response to protein intake can also be enhanced by prior completion of resistance exercise but this effect could be somewhat reduced in older compared to young individuals and gain in muscle mass and function due to exercise require regular training over an extended period.

Health professionals consider the evaluation of eating habits to be challenging, given the potential biases of dietary questionnaires based on self-reported data. Circulating carotenoid concentrations are reliable biomarkers of dietary carotenoid intake and could be useful in the validation of dietary assessment tools. However, there is a sex difference in circulating carotenoids, with women displaying higher concentrations compared with men independent of intake. The aim of the present study was to identify the correlates of plasma carotenoid concentrations among men (n 155) and women (n 110) enrolled in six fully controlled dietary interventions with varying dietary carotenoid intakes. We looked at the associations of post-intervention fasting plasma carotenoid concentrations (α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, lycopene and zeaxanthin) with physical and metabolic characteristics. We found that increased body weight (r –0·47, P<0·0001) and waist circumference (r –0·46, P<0·0001) were associated with lower plasma total carotenoid concentrations, while elevated plasma LDL-cholesterol (r 0·49, P<0·0001) and HDL-cholesterol (r 0·50, P<0·0001) concentrations were correlated with higher total carotenoids in plasma. Women had significantly higher plasma total carotenoid concentrations compared with men, despite significantly lower dietary carotenoid intake. Adjustment of circulating carotenoid concentrations for plasma HDL-cholesterol eliminated sex difference in plasma carotenoid concentrations. Our results suggest that physical characteristics as well as plasma lipids are associated with circulating carotenoid concentrations and that these variables should be taken into account when using plasma carotenoids as biomarkers for food intake in men and women.

This issue of International Psychogeriatrics contains three papers from three continents that explore the use of sedatives–hypnotics and opioids in the treatment of older adults (Hamina et al., 2018; Machado-Duque et al., 2018; Tseng et al., 2018), and a fourth paper reporting on a qualitative study that addresses the broader question of training needs in dementia in a setting of rapid economic and demographic changes (Xu et al., 2018).

High fruit and vegetable (FAV) intake is associated with a lower prevalence of chronic diseases. Identifying the ideal number of FAV servings needed to reduce chronic disease risk is, however, difficult because of biases inherent to common self-report dietary assessment tools. The aim of our study was to examine the associations between daily FAV intake and plasma carotenoid concentrations in men and women enrolled in a series of fully controlled dietary interventions. We compiled and analysed data from a group of 155 men and 109 women who participated in six fully controlled dietary interventions and compared post-intervention fasting plasma carotenoid (α-carotene, β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein, lycopene, zeaxanthin) concentrations with regard to the daily FAV servings consumed by the participants. We found that plasma β-cryptoxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations were positively associated with daily FAV servings (P≤0·005). However, daily FAV intake was negatively associated with plasma α-carotene (P<0·0005) and lycopene (P<0·0001) concentrations, whereas no association was noted with plasma β-carotene. When men and women were analysed separately, we found that for any given number of FAV servings consumed women had higher circulating lutein concentrations compared with men (P<0·01). Significant sex×FAV (P<0·0001) and sex×dietary β-cryptoxanthin (P<0·0005) interactions were also noted favouring higher plasma β-cryptoxanthin concentrations in women than in men for a given FAV consumption. Results from these fully controlled dietary feeding studies indicate that plasma β-cryptoxanthin and lutein concentrations can be used as robust biomarkers of FAV consumption. They also suggest the existence of sex differences influencing circulating β-cryptoxanthin and lutein concentrations following FAV consumption.

Carey and Hix (2011) propose that a proportional electoral system with a moderate number of seats per district offers the best compromise between (1) accurate representation and (2) strong accountability. The argument is that there is a district magnitude (DM) level where the trade-off between proportionality and fragmentation of parties is optimal. This DM is called the sweet spot. We explore this proposition through lab experiments conducted in Brussels and Montreal. We find that the probability of achieving a “good” outcome on both proportionality and the number of parties is slightly higher at moderate DMs. We note, however, that this probability remains low.

Patients may present to Emergency Departments (ED) in shock for various reasons. Emergency medicine physicians may require the use of vasopressors or inotropes to manage these patients. The Critical Care Practice Committee of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (C4) conducted an intensive literature search and guideline development process to help create an evidence based approach for use of these agents in the stabilization of shock.

In 2011 the IRSN conducted several assessments of atmosphericradioactive releases due to the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident (March11, 2011) and of their impact on Japan’s terrestrial environment.They were based on the IRSN’s emergency management tools and onthe abundant information and technical data gradually publishedin Japan. According to these assessments, the main release phaselasted from March 12 to 25, 2011 and impacted Japanese land in twoevents, the first on 15 and 16 March, in which the main radioactivedeposits were formed, and the second from March 20 to 23, whichwas less significant. The highest amounts of radioactive deposits werefound in an area extending upwards of several tens of kilometersnorthwest of the plant. Lower amounts were discontinuously scatteredin an area extending up to over 250 km away. Initially composedmainly of short-lived radionuclides, the deposits’ activity sharplydecreased in the subsequent weeks. Since the summer of 2011, cesium-134and cesium-137 have become the residual deposits’ main components.According to IRSN estimates, in the absence of protection, the dosesdue to exposure to the radioactive plume during the atmosphericrelease phase may have been potentially higher for people who remainedin coastal areas up to several tens of kilometers north and southof the damaged plant. Thereafter, people living up to 50 km northwestof the plant, outside the 20-km emergency evacuation zone, were potentiallymost vulnerable to residual radioactive deposits over time.

A SiC-based ceramic foam applied in solar thermal processes was characterized in detail in terms of its textural parameters and its radiative properties. Scanning electron microscopy and x-ray µ-tomography were first performed to investigate the 3D texture of the sample at several length scales. Infrared reflectance microscopy was also applied to probe the local optical responses on the struts constituting the foam. Based on the whole set of experimental data, a numerical tool (C++) was implemented to reconstruct virtual SiC foams. A Monte Carlo Ray Tracing code (iMorphRad, C++) was then used to compute the normal spectral emittance for the real SiC foam and for another reconstructed SiC foam with similar textural features. The two numerically determined emittances were then compared with previous infrared spectroscopy experimental measurements. This numerical procedure enables us to propose a methodology for the design of SiC foams with prescribed radiative properties.