Background: Tart cherries contain numerous polyphenolic compounds that could potentially improve endothelial function and reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Objective: We sought to examine the acute effects of Montmorency tart cherry (MC) juice on vascular function in subjects with early hypertension. Design: A placebo-controlled, blinded, crossover, randomized Latin square design study with a washout period of $14 d was conducted. Fifteen men with early hypertension [systolic blood pressure (SBP) $130 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure $80 mm Hg, or both] received either a 60-mL dose of MC concentrate or placebo. Microvascular reactivity (laser Doppler imaging with iontophoresis), arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity and analysis), blood pressure, and phenolic acid absorption were assessed at baseline and at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 h postconsumption. Results: MC consumption significantly lowered SBP (P , 0.05) over a period of 3 h, with peak reductions of mean 6 SEM 7 6 3 mm Hg 2 h after MC consumption relative to the placebo. Improvements in cardiovascular disease risk factors were closely linked to increases in circulating protocatechuic and vanillic acid at 1-2 h. Conclusions: MC intake acutely reduces SBP in men with early hypertension. These benefits may be mechanistically linked to the actions of circulating phenolic acids. This study provides information on a new application of MCs in health maintenance, particularly in positively modulating SBP. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02234648.Am J Clin Nutr 2016;103:1531-9.

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Background-Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in the growth and metastatic progression of melanoma. Exposure of melanoma cells to chemotherapy induces VEGF overproduction, which, in turn, may allow melanoma cells to evade cell death and become chemotherapy resistant. Therefore, in patients with metastatic melanoma, the combination of chemotherapy with an agent that specifically targets VEGF might be able to control tumor growth and progression more effectively than chemotherapy alone.

Diplomacy is concomitant with humanity's highest hopes and deepest frustrations. Complex global problems demand—but might not receive—deep understanding, skilled advocacy, and sustained negotiation and innovation. Diplomatic method, this article argues, emerges by combining advocacy and reflexivity, and in modernity as dialectic between statecraft and humanism. Statecraft is currently dominant, but humanist aspirations remain pertinent, if often repressed. By examining the issue of diplomatic knowledge in functional and historical contexts—and crucially by looking at it beyond information and intelligence gathering—the article examines how humanism becomes a usable praxis in diplomacy. Specifically, how humanist praxis aspires to provoke thinking and encourage the production of knowledge that can bring about changes in diplomatic perspective and policy. Practitioners can thus connect to diplomacy not merely as passive servants of policy but as active humans pursuing more than restricted technical goals. This enhances not simply a top‐down, policy implementation practice, but a bottom‐up diplomacy from different places, utilizing the increasingly globalized “new common knowledge” to share insights, define action, and support diverse initiatives. The humanist legacy, in short, highlights diplomacy as a knowledge practice, pursuing a range of national, cross‐national, and postnational goals, negotiating interests but also social meaning and identity, something that encourages its revisiting as a mode of living.

PurposeTo evaluate the plasma bioavailability of betanin and nitric oxide (NOx) after consuming beetroot juice (BTJ) and whole beetroot (BF). BTJ and BF were also analysed for antioxidant capacity, polyphenol content (TPC) and betalain content.MethodsTen healthy males consumed either 250 ml of BTJ, 300 g of BF or a placebo drink, in a randomised, crossover design. Venous plasma samples were collected pre (baseline), 1, 2, 3, 5 and 8 h post-ingestion. Betanin content in BTJ, BF and plasma was analysed with reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry detection (LCMS). Antioxidant capacity was estimated using the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and polyphenol content using Folin–Ciocalteu colorimetric methods [gallic acid equivalents (GAE)] and betalain content spectrophotometrically.ResultsTEAC was 11.4 ± 0.2 mmol/L for BTJ and 3.4 ± 0.4 μmol/g for BF. Both BTJ and BF contained a number of polyphenols (1606.9 ± 151 mg/GAE/L and 1.67 ± 0.1 mg/GAE/g, respectively), betacyanins (68.2 ± 0.4 mg/betanin equivalents/L and 19.6 ± 0.6 mg/betanin equivalents/100 g, respectively) and betaxanthins (41.7 ± 0.7 mg/indicaxanthin equivalents/L and 7.5 ± 0.2 mg/indicaxanthin equivalents/100 g, respectively). Despite high betanin contents in both BTJ (~194 mg) and BF (~66 mg), betanin could not be detected in the plasma at any time point post-ingestion. Plasma NOx was elevated above baseline for 8 h after consuming BTJ and 5 h after BF (P < 0.05).ConclusionsThese data reveal that BTJ and BF are rich in phytonutrients and may provide a useful means of increasing plasma NOx bioavailability. However, betanin, the major betalain in beetroot, showed poor bioavailability in plasma.