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Diabetes: precision approach will improve outcomes, says research director




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Partha Kar: Dieting and body shaming




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Dentists could help detect diabetes and cardiovascular disease during oral health checks




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Public health leaders slam Boris Johnson over “sin tax” review plan




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Quality of dietary fat and genetic risk of type 2 diabetes: individual participant data meta-analysis




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Progress in diabetes care has not improved outcomes in US, study finds




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Obesity: raising price of sugary snacks may be more effective than soft drink tax




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Thousands more patients with type 1 diabetes are getting flash glucose devices, data show




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Diabetes technology: specialists are blocking access for some patients, say experts




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Partha Kar: What will the 2020s hold for diabetes care?




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Physical activity: a (mobile) call to action




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Obesity: medical leaders call for end to “stigmatising” language




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Get ready to watch: MLB.TV available for 2019

Spring Training is imminent, Opening Day is within sight and the big league season isn't complete for fans without a subscription to MLB.TV. The most comprehensive streaming service in professional sports is now available for the 2019 season.




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Reds' statement on passing of Frank Robinson

Frank Robinson is considered one of the greatest players to ever wear a Cincinnati Reds uniform. His talent and success brought dynamic change to the Reds and to our City.




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Loss of Robinson reverberates around MLB

Jon Miller is having trouble believing that baseball legend Frank Robinson is gone. Robinson, 83, passed away Thursday morning.




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Top 10 moments in Frank Robinson's career

Few figures in baseball history have accomplished as much as Frank Robinson. A feared slugger, a World Series champion, a pioneer for minority managers and an ambassador for the game, Robinson had an impact that can be felt in all corners of the sport.




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Reds eye turnaround year after busy winter

Plenty of teams say they will make roster moves in the offseason to improve and then often underwhelm. No one could say that this winter about the Reds, who were arguably the busiest team during the Hot Stove season.




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Frank Robinson, legend and pioneer, dies

Frank Robinson, a trailblazing figure who was Major League Baseball's first African-American manager and one of its greatest players during a career that spanned 21 seasons, died Thursday after a prolonged illness. He was 83.




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Inbox: Will new skipper Bell have quick hook?

Beat reporter Mark Sheldon answers questions about David Bell's managing style, free agents and who will play center field.




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Puig in different city but keeping personality

Though some Reds fans were disappointed that Billy Hamilton wasn't brought back this season, it didn't take long for Cincinnati to find another dynamic player who also brings flash and unpredictability. That would be outfielder Yasiel Puig.




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Uniform patch to mark 150 years of pro baseball

All 30 Major League teams will wear special "MLB 150" patches on their uniforms for the entire 2019 season in honor of the 150th anniversary of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first openly all-salaried professional baseball team.




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30 low-key acquisitions who could pay off big

Fans and analysts spend the entire offseason speculating where the top free agents could go, but sometimes an under-the-radar pickup can end up making a world of difference. As positional competitions begin to heat up at Spring Training camps this month, MLB.com's beat writers were asked to identify one potentially overlooked acquisition for each of the 30 clubs. Here's who they came up with.




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Bell leads new-look Reds into Spring Training

As Reds Spring Training opened with pitchers and catchers reporting for physicals on Tuesday, new manager David Bell was already be tasked with many responsibilities. But there will be one that looms largest. Following five years out of the postseason, including the past four with more than 90 losses, Bell must restore a culture of winning.




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Bell lays out vision on first day of workouts

Wednesday marked the first time that manager David Bell got to address Reds players as a group when he spoke to pitchers and catchers ahead of their first workout of Spring Training. Bell put a lot of thought into what he wanted to tell them.




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Wood wins arbitration case with Reds

Reds left-hander Alex Wood won his arbitration case over the club on Wednesday. Wood will earn $9.65 million on his one-year contract this season. Cincinnati had offered $8.7 million.




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Bell names likely starting 5, staging 'pen battles

Unlike recent Reds Spring Trainings, much of the drama about who would comprise the rotation was already removed on the first day of camp. That's when manager David Bell revealed the starting five would likely be -- in no particular order -- Sonny Gray, Tanner Roark, Alex Wood, Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani.




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Reds hope Roark will bring stability to rotation

When the Reds overhauled their rotation with three offseason trades, the first deal brought right-hander Tanner Roark from the Nationals for reliever Tanner Rainey. Observers saw Roark as a solid middle-of-the rotation hurler who is steady and dependable while able to rack up innings.




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Disco embraces fresh start after tough end to '18

Reds starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani hated how his 2018 season ended and didn't need any motivation to make improvements over the winter.




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Reasons for optimism for each MLB club

On this opening week of Spring Training, all 30 Major League teams have one thing in common: optimism. Here's an optimism cheat sheet for each of them.




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Rule 5 pick Joe back in catcher's gear with Reds

Utility player and Rule 5 selection Connor Joe has been working with the catchers since Reds Spring Training opened. What makes that a little more interesting is that Joe has never caught a game professionally.




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The Reds' Spring Training battle to watch

The next five weeks will see lots of shuffling on Major League rosters. Here are the most intriguing positional battles on each of the 30 MLB clubs.




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Bell facing tough decisions for OF alignment

Reds manager David Bell has great corner outfield depth, but he doesn't have a regular center fielder. Determining who will get to play where and sorting out the log jam should be a challenge for Bell in his first season as a skipper in the big leagues.




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Puig ready to take Cincy by storm: 'I love red'

New Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig has been in camp for about a week, often hitting on his own on the backfields. With the first full-squad workout taking place on Monday, Puig was able to warm up, throw and hit with his teammates.




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Winker unfazed by crowded Reds outfield

Since Jesse Winker suffered a season-ending shoulder injury on July 23, he's gained a lot of company in the corner-outfield spots.




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Why can’t vehicle registration be renewed online?

THE EDITOR, Madam: I arrived at the Constant Spring tax office at 6:05 a.m. on Monday, May 4 to renew my vehicle registration. At that hour, there were already 30 persons ahead of me. Persons related horror stories of spending up to five hours in...




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Re-registration process for persons with disabilities cumbersome

THE EDITOR, Madam: THE JAMAICA Council for Persons with Disabilities (JCPD) – an agency of the Ministry of Labour...




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Safeguard against virus being blamed for everything

THE EDITOR, Madam: COVID-19 can be made to be the blame bearer for every ill, unless careful disaggregation is done to separate what is truly attributable to both its real scope and the understandable ripple effects of the virus. The quality of...




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Tribute to Prof Fred Hickling

THE EDITOR, Madam: Words cannot describe my feeling of loss on hearing that prominent psychiatrist Professor Fred Hickling has died. Professor Hickling was one of Jamaica’s treasures through his work in the field of community mental health. His...




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What about social rights?

THE EDITOR, Madam: The right to education, decent work, an adequate standard of living, and housing all fall within the realm of economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCRs) guaranteed under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and...




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Scotiabank – a loose vampire

THE EDITOR, Madam: On May 5, 2020, at about 8:40 a.m., I went completely berserk, telling two staff members of the Bank of Nova Scotia from the Liguanea branch some proper Jamaica vernaculars, long like the Holland Bamboo. I was astonished by my...




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Letter of the Day | Tourism won’t be ‘business as usual’

THE EDITOR, Madam: With most things grinding to a halt worldwide, this pandemic has proven to be as much of an economic crisis as it is a health one. Many sectors have changed their day-to-day operations, with some allowing for greater flexibility...




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This week’s shutterbugs




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This week’s shutterbugs




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Taking COVID-19 heads on - Student entrepreneurs’ inventions prove viable weapons against deadly virus

As the global battle against the deadly COVID-19 disease wages on, with each country’s government, healthcare industry, and general public playing its part in defeating this new and relatively unknown enemy, two seemingly unlikely foot soldiers...




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Lauren Campbell – basking in shades of creativity

She’s what you’d term the consummate creative – through the sensory ‘dry land tourist’ tales of her ‘Right Roun Di Corna’ blog to the pieces in her JadeLauren eyewear brand, Lauren Campbell is colouring the world with beauty, life, and bomb...




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A pulse of ‘Trinbagonian’ life

The engaging storyline and realness of the characters in Barbara Jenkins’ De Rightest Place makes it a book you breeze through in a matter of days. Set mainly in and around a bar called De Rightest Place, in the environs of a working-class...




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This week’s Shutterbugs




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Jamaican art spreads warmth in St Petersburg

St Petersburg is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque cities in the world – from its European-inspired architecture, its signature colourful, eclectic-style to its neoclassical and Baroque style to its water corridors, and the art, the city is a...




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Effects of Pioglitazone on Glucose-Dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide-Mediated Insulin Secretion and Adipocyte Receptor Expression in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Incretin hormone dysregulation contributes to reduced insulin secretion and hyperglycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Resistance to glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) action may occur through desensitization or downregulation of β-cell GIP receptors (GIP-R). Studies in rodents and cell lines show GIP-R expression can be regulated through peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor (PPAR) response elements (PPREs). Whether this occurs in humans is unknown. To test this, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pioglitazone therapy on GIP-mediated insulin secretion and adipocyte GIP-R expression in subjects with well-controlled T2DM. Insulin sensitivity improved, but the insulinotropic effect of infused GIP was unchanged following 12 weeks of pioglitazone treatment. In parallel, we observed increased GIP-R mRNA expression in subcutaneous abdominal adipocytes from subjects treated with pioglitazone. Treatment of cultured human adipocytes with troglitazone increased PPAR binding to GIP-R PPREs. These results show PPAR agonists regulate GIP-R expression through PPREs in human adipocytes, but suggest this mechanism is not important for regulation of the insulinotropic effect of GIP in subjects with T2DM. Because GIP has antilipolytic and lipogenic effects in adipocytes, the increased GIP-R expression may mediate accretion of fat in patients with T2DM treated with PPAR agonists.




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Mitochondrial Proton Leak Regulated by Cyclophilin D Elevates Insulin Secretion in Islets at Nonstimulatory Glucose Levels

Fasting hyperinsulinemia precedes the development of type 2 diabetes. However, it is unclear whether fasting insulin hypersecretion is a primary driver of insulin resistance or a consequence of the progressive increase in fasting glycemia induced by insulin resistance in the prediabetic state. Herein, we have discovered a mechanism that specifically regulates non–glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (NGSIS) in pancreatic islets that is activated by nonesterified free fatty acids, the major fuel used by β-cells during fasting. We show that the mitochondrial permeability transition pore regulator cyclophilin D (CypD) promotes NGSIS, but not glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, by increasing mitochondrial proton leak. Islets from prediabetic obese mice show significantly higher CypD-dependent proton leak and NGSIS compared with lean mice. Proton leak–mediated NGSIS is conserved in human islets and is stimulated by exposure to nonesterified free fatty acids at concentrations observed in obese subjects. Mechanistically, proton leak activates islet NGSIS independently of mitochondrial ATP synthesis but ultimately requires closure of the KATP channel. In summary, we have described a novel nonesterified free fatty acid–stimulated pathway that selectively drives pancreatic islet NGSIS, which may be therapeutically exploited as an alternative way to halt fasting hyperinsulinemia and the progression of type 2 diabetes.