Greater time spent in physical activities with moderate-high intensity and less time devoted to sedentary activities, such as watching television, are associated with a lower presence of cardiometabolic risk factors including obesity, diabetes and certain individual components of metabolic syndrome, according to the first results published from the multicentric study PREDIMED-PLUS
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Consuming saturated animal fats is associated with a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes. In particular, the consumption of butter, which is rich in saturated fatty acids and trans fats, has been related to a high risk of suffering from this disease. In contrast, the consumption of whole fat yoghurt is associated with a lower risk. These are the findings of study on more than 3,000 men and women aged between 50 and 80 who are participating in the PREDIMED project, a clinical study into the effects of dietary intervention on patients with a high cardiovascular risk
The researchers are part of the Martí i Franquès COFUND Fellowship Programme which is jointly funded by the European Union as part of its Horizon 2020 programme. This new programme at the URV will recruit 25 predoctoral researchers this year and another 25 next year, all on three-year contracts. The call for applications is open from 15 February to 15 April 2017
In 2016 the Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s Unit of Scientific Communication developed a new educational and communication tool: a series of 12 videos which, with the support of animated illustrations and in little more than 60 seconds, give explanations for common scientific doubts. Researchers from the University have advised on the content of these short audiovisuals, which have been posted on YouTube and are useful for explaining science to students
Research by the URV has demonstrated, for the first time, that the polyphenols in grapes can re-establish the control mechanism that the brain has on appetite and which is altered in obesity. The study reports that adding these phenols to the diet of obese individuals, in conjunction with other therapies, would be a good strategy to reduce the appetite and the excess of body fat
The University and the CUCBA of the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) will work together to train Mexican doctoral students. During the autumn the rector of the CUCBA, Carlos Beas, visited the URV and the TecnATox research centre to work on the project for 2017
“Times Higher Education” (THE) has published its ranking of the best universities in the world. As in the previous ranking, the URV has been placed between the positions 401 and 500 out of the 980 universities that are included in the ranking. It is the same position that the URV achieved in the Shanghai ranking, in which it has been included for the first time this year
The European Commission has awarded four million euros to the Universitat Rovira i Virgili’s Martí Franquès COFUND project, which will allow it to contract 50 predoctoral researchers. The recruitment process will take place in 2017 and 2018 and the successful candidates will have be awarded three-year contracts. The University will contribute a further four million euros to the project which will conclude in 2021
From 23 May to 10 June fourteen students from James Madison University participated in the programme entitled Health Care in Spain: a Cross-cultural Exploration of Illness and Wellness at the URV’s Faculty of Nursing. The students were taught about the Spanish health system, learnt Spanish and acquired cultural knowledge
A study led by the URV has demonstrated that virgin olive oil enriched with its own polyphenols and with those from thyme protects the DNA from oxidation. When these two types of polyphenol are added to olive oil (or indeed any other product) they decrease the risk of DNA damage, which can affect the metabolism and cell reproduction and lead to pathologies such as cancer, among other negative consequences
Researchers at the URV and the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) have discovered why people with obesity not only accumulate glycogen in their muscles and liver, like other people, but also store it in their adipocytes, the cells that make up body fat. These fat cells stop working properly, causing the individual to develop insulin resistance and, potentially, type 2 diabetes. This is the first time that this metabolic pathway has been described and it makes glycogen a new player within the pathology of obesity
Thirteen Japanese students participated in a Study Abroad training activity in Tarragona from 12 to 20 March in which they formed two groups. Whilst the first group studied various aspects of human mobility and human rights, the second investigated nursing care and visits to health facilities in the Tarragona area
The two recent studies were part of the PREDIMED (Prevenció amb Dieta Mediterrània) project. One of them, published in the journal Diabetis Care and coordinated by the URV, concludes that the Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil reduces the risk of diabetic patients suffering a retinopathy by 44%. The other study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, associates the Mediterranean diet with a reduction in the risk of suffering from breast cancer. This study was coordinated by the University of Navarre and the URV researchers who took part were led by Jordi Salas-Salvadó
This investigation was conducted as part of the PREDIMED study which was designed to examine the impact of consuming a Mediterranean-style diet on prevention of cardiovascular disease. A total of 1868 men and women between 55 and 80 years of age were followed for a median of 3 years during which time dietary analyses were conducted and clinical assessments evaluated
A scientific article published in “Nature Scientific Reports” reveals that the oxidation of the amino acid methionine is a blood marker that indicates the oxidation of good cholesterol. This oxidation prevents the cholesterol from maturing and, therefore, from carrying out its protective function. This study -carried out by CIBERDEM/URV researchers jointly with researchers from the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital- has been carried out in a group of girls in the initial stages of polycystic ovary syndrome, which can lead to a high risk of anovulatory infertility, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and metabolic syndrome in adulthood.
Number 23 of the Revista URV is now available. The cover of the latest edition highlights the University’s commitment to quality on all areas of its activities through its Quality Assurance Plan. 6000 copies of the magazine will be printed and it can be read, downloaded, printed and shared online in Catalan, English and Spanish at the following link http://issuu.com/revistaurv
In a public tender with competitors from around the world, the CTNS stood up with a contract of more than $500,000 for a nutritional intervention study with 250 volunteers to evaluate the benefits of consuming 100% orange juice
The University has opened the pre-registration period for 50 university master’s degrees covering practically all areas of knowledge and 30 URV-specific postgraduate programmes aimed at quality professional development and specialisation
URV professor Neus Esmel has participated in the 1st International Integrative Nursing Symposium, which was held from 18 to 21 May in Reykjavik. She gave a presentation on the current status of alternative therapies in Catalonia and how they are being successfully integrated into the URV’s Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing