No abstract

<b><i>Background: </i></b>Obesity is a growing problem throughout Europe, where the rate has more than doubled over the past 20 years. Reduced circulating serotonin may contribute to the development of obesity. This study aimed to explore associations between whole blood (WB) serotonin concentrations and anthropometric measures. <b><i>Methods: </i></b>Healthy adult volunteers (N = 68) gave whole blood samples for measurement of WB serotonin, and underwent BMI waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) assessment as well as DEXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) scans for anthropometric parameters. Student’s t-tests determined differences in WB serotonin and anthropometric measures between sexes. Partial Pearson’s correlations were carried out on anthropometric measures and WB serotonin. <b><i>Results: </i></b>For the whole sample, WB serotonin was significantly negatively correlated with BMI, WC, WHR as well as android, gynoid and total % body fat. Analysis by sex showed significant negative correlations between WB serotonin and android, gynoid as well as total fat in males, but not in females. <b><i>Conclusion: </i></b>This dichotomy between the sexes implies that there may be sex differences in the way that serotonin interplays with the development of obesity and body fat distribution.

An adaptive management approach is necessary but not sufficient to address the long-term challenges of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). Adaptive management, in turn, has its own particular challenges, of which we focus on two: science input, and stakeholder engagement. In order to frame our discussion and subsequent recommendations, we place the current management difficulties into their historical context, with special emphasis on the 1990 Vision document, which attempted a broad synthesis of management goals for the ecosystem. After examining these two key challenges in the context of the GYE, we make several recommendations that would allow for more effective ecosystem management in the long term. First, we recommend adoption of the GYE as a site for long-term science research and monitoring with an emphasis on integrative research, long-term federal funding, and public dissemination of data. Second, we conclude that a clearer prioritization of legislative mandates would allow for more flexible ecosystem management in the GYE, a region where conflicting mandates have historically led to litigation antithetical to effective ecosystem management. Finally, we recommend a renewed attempt at an updated Vision for the Future that engages stakeholders (including local landholders) substantively from the outset.

Purpose Cognitive decline is commonly reported during the menopausal transition, with memory and attention being particularly affected. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a commercially available soy drink on cognitive function and menopausal symptoms in post-menopausal women. Methods 101 post-menopausal women, aged 44-63 years, were randomly assigned to consume a volume of soy drink providing a low (10 mg/day; control group), medium (35 mg/day), or high (60 mg/day) dose of isoflavones for 12 weeks. Cognitive function (spatial working memory, spatial span, pattern recognition memory, 5-choice reaction time, and match to sample visual search) was assessed using CANTAB pre-and post-the 12 week intervention. Menopausal symptoms were assessed using Greene's Climacteric Scale. Results No significant differences were observed between the groups for any of the cognitive function outcomes measured. Soy drink consumption had no effect on menopausal symptoms overall; however, when women were stratified according to the severity of vasomotor symptoms (VMS) at baseline, women with more severe symptoms at baseline in the medium group had a significant reduction (P = 0.001) in VMS post-intervention (mean change from baseline score: − 2.15 ± 1.73) in comparison to those with less severe VMS (mean change from baseline score: 0.06 ± 1.21). Conclusions Soy drink consumption had no effect on cognitive function in post-menopausal women. Consumption of ~ 350 ml/day (35 mg IFs) for 12 weeks significantly reduced VMS in those with more severe symptoms at baseline. This finding is clinically relevant as soy drinks may provide an alternative, natural, treatment for alleviating VMS, highly prevalent among western women.

Objective: Dietary soy may improve menopausal symptoms, and subsequently mediate mood. This novel study examines various does of dietary soy drink on everyday mood stability and variability in postmenopausal women. Methods: Community dwelling women (n=101), within 7 years post menopause consumed daily either a low (10mg, n=35), medium (35mg, n=37) or high (60mg, n=29) dose of isoflavones, for twelve weeks. Menopausal symptoms and repeated measures of everyday Mood (Positive (PA) and Negative (NA) affect) (assessed at four time points per day for four consecutive days, using PANAS) were completed at baseline and follow up. Results: The dietary soy intervention had no effect on everyday mood stability (for PA (F(2,70) = .95, p = .390) and NA (F(2,70) = 0.72, p = .489) or variability (for PA (F(2,70) = .21, p = .807) and for NA (F(2,70) = .15, p=.864) or on menopausal symptoms (for vasomotor (F (2,89) = 2.83, p = .064), psychological (F (2,88) = 0.63, p = .535), somatic (F (2,89) = 0.32, p =.729) and total menopausal symptoms (F (2,86) = 0.79, p = .458)). There were between group differences with the medium dose reporting higher PA (low, mean: 24.2, SD: 6 and medium, mean: 29.7, SD: 6) and the low dose reporting higher NA (P = 0. 048) (Low, mean: 11.6, SD: 2 and high, mean: 10.6, SD: 1) in mood scores. Psychological (baseline M = 18 and follow up M = 16.5) and vasomotor (baseline M = 4.2 and follow up M = 3.6) scores declined from baseline to follow up for the overall sample. Conclusions: Soy isoflavones had no effect on mood at any of the doses tested. Future research should focus on the menopausal transition from peri to post menopause as there may be a window of vulnerability, with fluctuating hormones and increased symptoms which may affect mood.