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Apple iPhone XR vs Huawei Mate 20 Lite: Which is best?
Apple's expensive "budget" model battles a phone half its price
16 November 2018 / 11:47GMT
The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max released earlier this autumn, but now there's one more new iPhone: the iPhone XR.
Apple's new iPhone 8 successor keeps the notch and edge-to-edge screen of the XS models, but sheds a few features and drops a couple of specs in search of a more palatable price point. It also comes in an array of colours, which is a nice perk that XS buyers miss out on.
Of course, a cheaper iPhone might still seem wildly expensive compared to some of the competition – like the Huawei Mate 20 Lite. Like the XR, it's the lower-end take on a noted flagship, with the proper Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro both packing much larger price tags. The Mate 20 Lite still packs plenty of gloss, but does so at about half the price of the iPhone XR.
Trying to decide between these as you next handset? Here's our recommendation, now that we've fully reviewed both phones.
Design: Notched beauties
The iPhone XR is mostly identical to the iPhone X design introduced last year. The bezels are a smidge thicker on this model and the phone is just a bit bulkier too; it also swaps in aluminium for the stainless steel and offers colour options like blue, coral, and (Product)RED.
But even amidst all of those tweaks, it's still the same kind of gorgeous, screen-driven silhouette that won us over last year, and maybe even better due to the punchy colour options.
And the Huawei Mate 20 Lite isn't far off, really. That's no surprise, since many Android phones have been copying the iPhone X aesthetic all year long. It has a notch at the top and a bit of a chin at the bottom, unlike the iPhone XR, and then on the back it's all glass. It doesn't pack quite the same punch as the iPhone XR, however.
Verdict: Apple iPhone XR
Screen: Clear disparities
Apple says its 6.1in Liquid Retina display is the best LCD ever put on a smartphone, but the measly 1792x828 resolution keeps the same 326ppi pixel density that underwhelmed on the iPhone 8… and has been Apple's entry-level iPhone standard for several years now. An upgrade is long overdue.
Meanwhile, the Mate 20 Lite goes with a 6.3in LCD panel at 1080p resolution (409ppi) – what should be the bare minimum for all but the cheapest of budget phones in 2018. It's hardly a mind-blowing panel, but it's very good for the money and delivers solid colour, contrast, and clarity.
Clarity aside, the iPhone XR's screen looks great - but you can't overlook the slight fuzziness there due to the low resolution. We give a slight edge to the Mate 20 Lite here.
Verdict: Huawei Mate 20 Lite
Apple iPhone XR review
Camera: Single or double?
Unlike the iPhone XS models, Apple has stuck with just one camera on the back of the iPhone XR. The good news is that it's the same main camera from the pricier models, and that 12-megapixel camera is a stunner.
The new Smart HDR functionality captures several snaps at once and merges them to bring out more detail and dynamic range from your shots, plus it handles nighttime shooting admirably. The XS has the benefit of a second camera for cool Portrait mode tweaks, but even the single XR camera is one of the best around.
As for the Mate 20 Lite, you get two cameras on the back and they're capable but hardly mind-blowing. The 24MP main camera is backed up with a 2MP depth-sensing camera, and the resulting blurred-backdrop Portrait shots have some issues. Likewise, standard snaps can look overly processed with unnatural results, but the Mate 20 Lite does well enough for everyday shots.
Performance: An obvious winner
The iPhone XR packs in the same A12 Bionic chip as the XS and XS Max, and it's a powerhouse. Even more capable than last year's field-leading A11 Bionic, the A12 is the fastest phone chip on the market today. It's a benchmark crusher.
On the other hand, the Huawei Mate 20 Lite opts for mid-range tech. Rather than use Huawei's new top chip, the Kirin 980, it uses the weaker Kirin 910 chip. That said, with 4GB RAM inside, we found everyday usage to be just fine. It's plenty powerful for most everyday tasks, but we did find slow moments during testing that stuck out like a sore thumb.
Battery and perks: Battle of the batteries
Despite being the lowest-end model of the bunch, the iPhone XR actually boasts better battery life than either XS model. With a 2,942mAh battery pack, the iPhone XR is good for a strong day's usage, but not much more.
On the other hand, the Huawei Mate 20 Lite packs in a large 3,750mAh pack, which might be enough to see you into the following morning after a solid day of use. It's not the largest battery on the market right now, but it's a little bit better equipped than the iPhone.
When it comes to storage, the base model is 64GB on both, with a 256GB version available for the iPhone XR for extra cash. Meanwhile, the Mate 20 Lite lets you pack in a cheap microSD memory card instead, which is definitely preferable.
Huawei Mate 20 Lite review
Verdict: The iPhone, but...
These are two pretty different phones, and that's true with the hardware as much as perception. Both are trimmed down versions of higher-end handsets, but the iPhone XR remains a flagship after all of those snips. The Mate 20 Lite, on the other hand, is more mid-range in approach.
The iPhone XR is the better overall handset, in our view, packing a lot of power, a better camera, and more personality. But when you consider the massive price gulf between with, with the iPhone XR at £749 and Mate 20 Lite nearly half as much at £379, it might not be so hard to convince yourself to go with Huawei's phone.
That said, the Mate 20 Lite sits in a weird space in the Android market, where it's more expensive than comparable handsets (like the Honor Play and Moto G6 Plus) yet not as capable or alluring as slightly more expensive options (like the OnePlus 6T and Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro).
OnePlus 7T Pro review
Huawei P30 Pro review
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Credendo Perù: President Resigned Under Threat Of Second Impeachment Vote But Country Risk Classifications Remain Stable - NewsFull
Credendo Perù: President Resigned Under Threat Of Second Impeachment Vote But Country Risk Classifications Remain Stable
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, only in office for 20 months, resigned the presidency under the threat of a second impeachment vote. Peru's Congress started impeachment proceedings against the president for his alleged lying about his ties with Brazilian building company Odebrecht SA. Odebrecht SA is at the centre of the continent-wide 'Carwash' corruption scandal as the company bribed public officials in exchange for billions of dollars in government contracts. Ironically, similar claims have been made against all major leading politicians in Peru, including the opposition that forced him to stand down. However, the president lost public support mainly because of the way he handled the scandal. The first attempt to impeach him – 3 months ago – failed after some devotees of the jailed former president Alberto Fujimori surprisingly abstained. A couple of days later, Kuczynski freed him from a 25-year prison sentence for corruption and human rights crimes. Many viewed this action as the price Kuczynski paid to narrowly avoid impeachment. During the second impeachment proceedings, footage emerged of the president allegedly trying to buy votes in order to retain the power. As a consequence, Kuczynski decided to step down and transferred the power to his first vice-president, Martín Vizcarra.
Impact on country risk
Kuczynski came to power promising to boost investments and stamp out corruption, but from the outset his agenda was derailed by his lack of support in Congress. Also, three ministers were ousted last year by the opposition, including incumbent president Vizcarra (see publication). Indeed, last year he had to quit as transportation minister under pressure from lawmakers amid a spat over an airport contract. Hence, a Vizcarra government remains vulnerable to opposition harassment and snap elections could still follow in the coming months.
Nonetheless, the Peruvian stock market and its currency, the Peruvian sol, rose on hopes that the political saga might be finally over. Moreover, despite political troubles, the Peruvian economy continues to be one of the brightest in the region and is expected to recover in the coming year. In 2017, GDP growth decreased to 2.7% (after heavy flooding) but is forecasted to expand to around 4% in 2018 as commodity (especially copper and gold) prices rise. Furthermore, the current account deficit has been narrowing in the past year to its lowest level in almost a decade, partly thanks to the low oil prices. Given that Vizcarra's party has a minority in Congress, his biggest challenge may be garnering enough support in Congress by smoothing tensions with a possible hostile opposition. Another issue will be tackling the large infrastructure gaps the Andean country suffers from. The 'Carwash' scandal has roiled the nation's construction industry and delayed major infrastructure projects which Vizcarra is likely to prioritise in the coming months.
The short-term political risk is in the best category (1/7) with a stable outlook thanks to high foreign exchange reserves (covering over 1 year of imports in January 2018) and relatively low external short-term debt. The medium-/long-term political risk is in category 3/7 with a stable outlook too. Peru's moderate rating takes into account the country's reliance on copper and gold as sources of current account receipts, the sustainable external debt, the small current account deficit, the sound public finances and bright growth prospects.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Get the files chosen using the input type file (multiple) and store them in an array In my HTML i select multiple files.
<input type="file" id="img" multiple>

I want to store each element in an array so that i can print the file source.
I have done this in my javascript but it does not work.
function loadfiles()
{
var x=document.getElementById("img");
for (var i=0;i<x.length;i++)
{
  document.write(x.elements[i].src);
}
}

A: The property files gets you an array of all the files selected by the file input. So the loadfiles function should be modified to following:
function loadfiles()
{
    var imageFiles = document.getElementById("img"),
    filesLength = imageFiles.files.length;
    for (var i = 0; i < filesLength; i++) {
      document.write(imageFiles.files[i].name);
    }
}

A: DOM documentation (Mozilla):

element = document.getElementById(id);
where

*

*element is a reference to an Element object, or null if an element with the specified ID is not in the document.

*id is a case-sensitive string representing the unique ID of the element being sought.

In your code document.getElementById(id) returns a single element and not a list.
To access the files added to the input take a look at the HTML5 Files API.
var f = (document.getElementById('img').files);
for (var i =0; i < f.length; i++){
   var new_div = document.createElement('div');
   new_div.innerHTML = f[i].name;
   document.body.appendChild(new_div);
}

FYI: Using document.write() is extremely dangerous, and should be avoided. For more read this stackoverflow Q&A: Why is document.write considered a "bad practice"?
In the example above I substituted document.write with document.body.appendChild
Fiddle (with jQuery): http://jsfiddle.net/4Yq4F/

Getting the complete file path
This is in your response requesting for the complete file path of the files. Unfortunately due to security reasons this is not possible as of now. Mozilla Firefox browsers however will provide you with the complete file path with the mozFullPath attribute. If you want to use it, in the above example substitute f[i].name with f[i].mozFullPath

A: This should work for you...
function loadfiles()
{
    var x=document.getElementsByTagName("input");
    for (var i=0;i<x.length;i++)
    {
         if(x[i].type == "file"){
             document.write(x[i].value);
         }
     }
}

A: this code will be work for you.
HTML
<input type="text" id="text"/>
<input type="button" value="add" id="adda"/>

JavaScript
var arry=[];
$("#adda").click(function(){
   arry.push( $("#text").val());
    alert(arry);
});

A: var fileArray = new Array();
 $('#inputPostFile').change(function() {
                var files = this.files;
                   $('.uploadedFileList').html('');
                $.each(files, function (index, value) {
                    fileArray.push(value);
                });
            });

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Pat Bailey-McKay is employed by the Moray Council as their Domestic Abuse Information and Training Officer. Over the past 6 years she has been delivering a programme to schools in Moray which aims to prevent Domestic and Teen Abuse by helping young people to develop healthy relationships which will keep them safe.
The aim of the programmes is to promote Respect and Care for self and others and to encourage a sense of social responsibility.
The Primary programme is appropriate for Primary 6/7 focusing on Respect and using the Think Respect Pack produced by the Zero Tolerance Trust and consists of six 50 minute sessions using activities and discussion.
The Secondary Programme is aimed at Years 4 and 5 and consists of two 50 minute sessions. The Zero Tolerance Respect Pack is used in conjunction with the DVD ' Getting Ready' which highlights teen relationships and fits into the Health and Wellbeing aspect of their PSE.
Both of these programmes have been evaluated very positively by staff and pupils.


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text:
SmallBizTrends.com Features Oxi Fresh in Their Small Business Spotlight
President Reviews Company's Opportunities, Challenges, and What Makes Oxi Fresh Special
LAKEWOOD, CO. – Oxi Fresh Carpet Cleaning, one of the nation's fastest growing carpet cleaning franchises, was recently featured on SmallBizTrends.com's Small Business Spotlight feature. In the article, Oxi Fresh's president and founder Jonathan Barnett explained what makes his company special and talked about the lessons he's learned building the business. "It's easy to start a company," said Mr. Barnett, "but incredibly difficult to do it right. The business world is full of stories of brands with great ideas and poor execution, brands that fail to realize their potential and ultimately fail all-told. Oxi Fresh isn't one of those stories. We started with a valuable idea, invested in it, built a strong team, and developed good systems. Now, we're one of the world's fastest growing carpet cleaners. I'm proud of how far we've come and that I can share my experiences with readers on SmallBizTrends.com." Mr. Barnett's company is unlike many other cleaning companies in that it offers customers a low-moisture cleaning process. Where traditional cleaners provide a service that often leaves carpets wet for 12-24 hours, the Oxi Fresh system dries in about one hour. Additionally, the carpet cleaning franchise company is eco-friendly. This low-moisture process conserves roughly 95% of the water that other cleaners would waste. In a standard home, the company can conserve an estimated 38-58 gallons of water. All told, the brand believes they've saved around 35,000,000 gallons of water. The company's commitment to the environment and customer convenience has not come at the cost of satisfaction. Customers have left over 150,000 reviews on www.oxifresh.com, averaging 4.6 out of 5 stars. One of the reasons behind the company's success is that Oxi Fresh is willing to take risks. Mr. Barnett gave this story as an example of why businesses have to take risks to survive: "Years ago, Oxi Fresh heavily relied on traditional marketing – as did almost every other carpet cleaner. . . . But the costs of these marketing methods were always going up, and at best the returns were stable. . . . Oxi Fresh took a risk, though, and began pursuing the world of online marketing hard. . . . Now, if this had backfired, it would have been pretty bad for the company. That said, staying where we were would have been equally disastrous, as we would have stagnated. Thankfully, these efforts, which continue to this day, have pushed Oxi Fresh towards greater and greater heights." You can read the full article on the carpet cleaning franchise company by [link href="https://smallbiztrends.com/2019/05/fast-drying-carpet-cleaner-oxi-fresh.html" rel="nofollow" link_content="clicking here"]. To schedule a carpet cleaning with Oxi Fresh, [link href="www.oxifresh.com" link_content="click here"]. If you're interested in opening your own carpet cleaning location, [link href="www.oxifreshfranchise.com" link_content="click here"].]]>


text:
Jacob Kushner
East & Central Africa
Haiti & Dominican Republic
Home » East & Central Africa
Kenya's health system on the verge of collapse as doctors' strike grinds on
February 13, 2017 · by Jacob Kushner · in East & Central Africa, Kenya, The Guardian
Kenya's hospitals have almost ground to a halt, with millions facing a third month in a row without healthcare as doctors strike over low pay and poor working conditions.
The public healthcare system has long been overburdened and underfunded, but has now virtually stopped functioning after 5,000 doctors walk out in December after attempts to reach a compromise with the health ministry stalled.
"The machines break down frequently, the doctors are overwhelmed. The patients, they are so many that they are lying on the ground," said Dr Judy Karagania, an ophthalmology resident at Kenyatta National hospital (KNH) in Nairobi, who is taking part in the industrial action.
Karagania and her colleagues are refusing to return to work until the government makes good on a 2013 agreement to dramatically increase salaries, hire thousands of new doctors and address drug and equipment shortages.
As the standoff drags on, Kenyans are suffering from the lack of care.
"The army doctors are turning away patients," said Karagania, who normally works as a resident medical officer at KNH. "They're only handling the emergencies of emergencies."
Read the full article in The Guardian.
In a World of Closed Borders, Deciding Who Deserves Asylum
February 10, 2017 · by Jacob Kushner · in East & Central Africa, Kenya, The Nation & The Nation Institute Investigative Fund
Fenced in: Some refugees at Kakuma are segregated for special protection. /Jake Naughton
At Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, workers face few humane options.
From Turkey to Pakistan, from Iran to Ethiopia, refugee workers are being forced to make painful choices regarding the future of more than 21 million refugees, part of a record 65 million displaced persons around the world. They must choose between political and economic refugees, individuals and families, the healthy and the sick, the elderly and unaccompanied children, gay and straight. They try to move those most in need of help to the front of the line for resettlement somewhere safe.
But when it comes to triaging the world's humanitarian crises, there are few humane choices.
Read the full feature article in the February 27, 2017 edition of The Nation magazine or online.
In Kenya, doctors' strike leaves a nation ailing
February 10, 2017 · by Jacob Kushner · in Al Jazeera, East & Central Africa, Kenya
Kenya's public sector doctors began striking two months ago to protest against the Ministry of Health's failure to implement a 2013 agreement which included raising salaries /Jacob Kushner
Kijabe, Kenya – At the bottom of a winding, tree-lined road, a crowd of patients spills out of the entrance of a private hospital waiting room on to a patio and a dirt parking lot. It begins to rain, and a man on crutches tries to hobble into the cramped building for cover.
Sitting in a wheelchair outside the door is Dorcas Kiteng'e, a 25-year-old woman suffering from cancerous growths in her ovaries.
"They're pressing down on the spine, they're paralysing her," says Mwende Mutambuki, Kiteng'e's sister-in-law. "She can't walk. Back pain, leg pain – I'm hoping it hasn't spread."
Kijabe is the third hospital they've visited since they arrived in the Kenyan capital Nairobi last week, looking for an oncologist who could perform the surgery, only to be turned away.
"They sent us to Agha Khan," says Mutambuki, referring to the private Nairobi hospital that's regarded as one of the nation's finest. "But we know we were not going to be able to afford that."
She fears time is running out to save her sister-in-law: "It's a matter of life or death."
Two months ago Kenya's public sector doctors walked out on strike, and millions of Kenyans who normally depend on them are beginning to overwhelm the nation's private hospitals, particularly in rural areas.
Read the full article at Al Jazeera.
Inside Kakuma, Kenya's 25-Year-Old Refugee Camp
December 5, 2016 · by Jacob Kushner · in East & Central Africa, Kenya, Pacific Standard
/Jacob Kushner
In 1992, the U.N. formally recognized Kakuma as a refugee camp — a temporary shelter. A quarter-century later, Kakuma hosts more than 150,000 refugees — victims of all manner of East African calamities, from Ugandan homophobia to political unrest in Burundi. Presently, it is filling up once again with people fleeing civil war in South Sudan.
Long befo re the Syrian civil war, before millions of people began fleeing to camps in Turkey, Jordan, and elsewhere in search of safety, Kakuma was something of an icon in the global refugee crisis. Today, it stands as a solemn reminder of the permanence of humanity's displaced masses.
Read the full story, Permanent Displacement, as it appeared in the November/December issue of Pacific Standard.
In East Africa, empowering passengers to demand a safe ride
November 30, 2016 · by Jacob Kushner · in East & Central Africa, Kenya, Solutions Journalism, U.S. News & World Report
NAIROBI, Kenya — On a sunny afternoon in Nairobi, 37-year-old Francis Raymond Adika climbs into the front seat of a matatu, or public transit van, and slides next to the driver.
"I lost my brother in an accident," says Adika. On August 15, 2001, a matatu was speeding down the wrong side of a two-lane road in Nairobi trying to pass traffic. When it swerved back into the correct lane it slammed headfirst into a truck. Adika discovered his brother's body in the Nairobi morgue. He was 19, just days away from his high school graduation.
A Jesuit missionary who travels extensively across Africa, Adika says it isn't just in Kenya where people lose their lives to reckless driving. "I lived in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia – the carnage was just the same."
Each year, 1.24 million people die in road accidents worldwide. By 2030 that number is expected to triple to 3.6 million, making road deaths the fifth-largest cause of death in the developing world – worse than AIDS or even malaria, according to the World Health Organization. Africa is the hardest hit, with 26 road deaths for every 100,000 people – nearly 50 percent above the global average.
But a series of scientifically rigorous, randomized control studies by Georgetown University may have found a simple way to dramatically reduce deaths on East African roads. By placing stickers inside buses and matatus that encouraged passengers to tell their driver to slow down, researchers discovered that the number of insurance claims fell by half for long-distance vehicles and by one-third overall.
Read the full article at U.S. News & World Report.
KENYA: Two gay brothers and their family are on the run
August 12, 2016 · by Jacob Kushner · in East & Central Africa, Kenya, TakePart
Photo/ Jake Naughton
"We have a bad, bad story," begins Gloria Ibara, a refugee from Burundi and the mother of four. Sitting on a mattress in a simple Nairobi apartment, she tells me of her problem: "They want to kill our family."
Gloria, whose bright smile accents her worn face, was born in rural Gitega province to a family of farmers. As her children grew, Gloria came to realize her son Eric was gay. (The names of the family members have been changed out of concern for their safety.)
At first "I told him to stop, that it's not good," Gloria says. But over time she decided that "that's the way he was, and he couldn't change it." So she went on loving and caring for him just the same.
In many parts of East and Central Africa where homophobia is rife, parents react harshly on learning that a child is gay. Parents feel enormous pressure to either "fix" their gay kids or disown them. I've met dozens of LGBT refugees who have fled their home countries and escaped to Kenya, and only one—a woman, also from Burundi—wasn't disowned by her family. So when Gloria learned that her son Eric was gay, it was extraordinary for her not to reject them. Stunned as she was when she later found out that her older son, Claude, then well into his teens, too was gay, she supported him too. It's for that reason that they are now a family on the run.
Read their story at TakePart.
Can Science Save Development Aid?
July 6, 2016 · by Jacob Kushner · in East & Central Africa, Kenya, Pacific Standard, Solutions Journalism
(Illustration: Chad Hagen)
Randomized controlled trials are the popular centerpiece of an emerging data-driven approach to figuring out precisely the best way to end poverty. Can a return to the scientific method fix the global aid industry?
For too long, "accountability" in the aid industry has meant nothing more than ensuring that a donor's money was spent the way an agency said it would be. Rarely did organizations examine whether their spending achieved a positive impact (improved access to water, for example), much less one that stood the test of time (meaning the well didn't dry up).
But recently, many aid organizations, including theInternational Rescue Committee, a New York humanitarian aid group specializing in refugee assistance, have used RCTs to, among other things, evaluate methods for nudging parents in Liberia toward more effective parenting techniques and tocreate highly effective community savings-and-loan programs to combat poverty in Burundi. It's easy to see why charities are attracted to RCTs: They can make an aid agency's work more efficient and ge nerate solid evidence of progress to show funders.
As organizations continue to conduct more of them, RCTs are disproving many myths upon which we've designed development aid for years, not least of which is our longtime preference for projects over cash. If the data shows, as the RCT of GiveDirectly's Kenya program did, that it's most effective to hand a family $1,000 with no strings attached, then that's precisely what we should do.
Read the full article in the July/August print edition of Pacific Standard or online.
From human waste to community space
June 27, 2016 · by Jacob Kushner · in East & Central Africa, Kenya, Solutions Journalism, Solutions&Co
Photo / JACOB KUSHNER
On an overcast morning in Nairobi, commuter buses drive down a crumbling road into Kibera, a densely packed slum. A sign at the bus station reads "public toilets," but the doors are locked.
It's estimated that Kibera has just one toilet for every 2,500 of its approximately 250,000 residents. Without toilets to relieve themselves, people "use any means, whether it's a [plastic] bag or a can," explained Fred Amuok, Community Liaison for a Kenyan rights-based organization called Umande Trust.
The World Health Organization estimates that 1.5 million people die every year from diarrhea, often the result of poor sanitation. There's also a financial cost: studies show that Kenya loses US$324 million each year in missed work hours due to sickness brought on by poor sanitation. According to the sanitation company Sanergy, four million tonnes of fecal sludge escape into Kenya's waterways and fields every year.
But Umande Trust has come up with an innovative approach to providing affordable toilets for Kibera's residents and turning human waste into cooking fuel–one that's already been working for more than a decade.
Read the full story as it appeared on Impact Journalism Day 2016 at Solutions&Co by SparkNews.
The Secret Lives of Nairobi's LGBT Refugees
June 26, 2016 · by Jacob Kushner · in East & Central Africa, Kenya, Newsweek
Photo / JAKE NAUGHTON
For months, nearly two dozen gay, lesbian and transgender Ugandans had been living in a large house on the outskirts of Nairobi in an area called Rongai. Long after a court struck down Uganda's infamous anti-gay law—dubbed the "Kill the Gays" bill for a death penalty provision in an early draft—LGBT people in Uganda were still being disowned by their families, hunted down by neighbors, jailed by police, even killed. Hundreds fled Uganda—mostly to Kenya, where they are faring little better.
Many of these refugees grew up in urban, middle-class families and loathe living in a hot, squalid refugee camp, as Kenyan law requires of all refugees. They are city people, accustomed to partying at secret gay clubs in Kampala.
One afternoon last December, a Kenyan man came to the gate of the Rongai house with a warning: Neighbors were plotting to attack the gay refugees that night and run them out of town. The refugees didn't wait. They fled, scattering to different apartments across the city.
Read the full story in the June 10, 2016 print edition of Newsweek, or online.
Leaving China in Pursuit of the African Dream
April 22, 2016 · by Jacob Kushner · in Congo, East & Central Africa
Photo by Shawn Killebrew/VICE News
The economic growth that has taken China to second place in the world by size of gross domestic product after the United States has been astounding — and its numbers are staggering in Africa too. In 2009, China surpassed the United States as the continent's largest trading partner. By 2012, its trade with Africa was double the United States'.
Western media tend to inflate the rhetoric surrounding China's rise in Africa. Headlines are often resentful and sometimes border on fear-mongering: China is "winning" Africa from the West. The United States must "catch up" to China if it hopes to maintain economic, security and cultural relevance in Africa. A monolithic "China" sees Africa as a place to get rich quick, and doesn't care much about the consequences.
But behind these hyperbolic headlines there are people, actual Chinese moving to Africa — one million over the past 15 years according to the rough but generally accepted estimate. Some come to work for large Chinese companies that mine copper or cobalt. Others come to build those roads and railways. Many come to open small businesses: restaurants, pharmacies, furniture and electronics stores.
"Big projects completed by big, government-owned companies dominate the headlines about the advancing Chinese agenda in Africa," wrote Howard French, a longtime New York Times correspondent in both China and Africa, in China's Second Continent. "But history teaches us that very often reality is more meaningfully shaped by the deeds of countless smaller actors, most of them for all intents and purposes anonymous."
Read the full article at VICE, and watch the full documentary, Chinafication of Africa, which I helped produce, on VICE HBO on April 22nd.
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text:
Iain Cook (Chvrches) Talks A Sunny Day In Glasgow's Sea When Absent
A card-carrying Glaswegian weighs in on whether A Sunny Day in Glasgow really deserves their name. The answer will amaze you.
By Iain Cook | July 21, 2014
Iain Cook
Musician/composer/producer Iain Cook is one third of Chvrches. The proprietor of Alucard Studios in Glasgow, Scotland, he is also a nerd about Star Wars and coffee. You can follow him on Twitter here. Chvrches is on Twitter here and Facebook here.
For me, being a long-time denizen of the city, the name of the band A Sunny Day in Glasgow is analogous to the phrase "a cold day in hell." A sunny day here is about as rare as the proverbial rocking-horse shit or hen's teeth. Nevertheless, when the sun does indeed choose to reveal itself, the city and its people are transformed. As soon as the temperature climbs above 20 degrees and the ever-present layer of grey evaporates, faces light up, clothes fall off and all manner of revelry and debauchery ensues. The band's name resonates with me in a way that somehow perfectly mirrors the sound of their latest album Sea When Absent. Not just because of the bright, summery vocals and shimmering textures but also because of how bonkers it can get at times. On that aforementioned day or two a year of sunshine we get in late May, there's an undercurrent of weirdness that bubbles under and threatens to shift into something a little crazy and dangerous. It's somewhat exhilarating and so is this record.
Being, as I am, a member of an electronic band, I am sometimes confronted with a peculiar elitism about "real music" or a "real band." As far as I can tell, this is usually a reference to music that is predominantly performed by guys with loud amps, drums and a flight case of angst, bashed out in sweaty, smoky rehearsal rooms and toured endlessly to tiny venues half-full of indifferent, yawning faces. Not to say that I don't love a great deal of bands that comfortably fit this caricature. I do… and it's not a diss! But there's often a snobbery in certain camps which questions the authenticity of music that leans heavily upon technology and studio techniques. Even now, after hundreds of shows with Chvrches, the version of me who grew up playing in bands, fucking my ears in front of deafening guitar amps and searing crash cymbals occasionally smarts at the fact that there is no drummer, amplifier or indeed any noise on our stage.
When I listen to Sea When Absent, it feels apparent to me that this record was put together entirely in the studio, perhaps several different studios. (The members of the band were never in the same place at the same time given that they all live in different cities and sometimes even hemispheres.) This disconnectedness is not in any way a criticism, in fact I think it is a great strength. You can really hear the space between the elements and the members. Not that this is a sparse-sounding album, but to my ears there is a looseness and a delightful incongruity to the arrangements which constantly jars and excites when I listen. It's possible that it is all a happy, shambolic accident, but in my experience as a writer and producer, it takes a great deal of skill to be this confident and bold with musical decisions and to actually pull it off. This is no accident and it's definitely "real music" by a "real band."
Typically, in any given song there will be a number of elements making up the arrangement which drop out and are reinstated as we move from verse to bridge to chorus, etc. Here it often seems like there's nothing of the sort going on. Bursts of electronic color will pop out of nowhere and then disappear, never to be heard again. Saccharine vocal hooks are mashed up, gated and looped and then are no more. Entire sections are suddenly stripped back to nothing more than vocals and drums. This is seemingly not for any dramatic or emotional effect, but perhaps just because they felt like it. It often feels like the musical equivalent of an excited child rummaging through an overloaded toy box, stuffed to the brim with precious plastic miscellany, picking up one of the toys as if it were for the first time and then discarding it and moving onto the next gaudy treasure. Most bands don't have this many sounds and ideas in their whole career. At any moment it could easily veer into the realms of sensory overload but somehow it is jusssst focussed enough.
I have no idea what role producer Jeff Zeigler had in the studio here. It's really great to see his production star in the ascendant with the War of Drugs album Lost in the Dream and this. I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the studio to get a sense of the creative dynamic at work here. My best guess is that he was tasked primarily with stripping things out and creating space for all of the melody and insanity to breathe. Perhaps his role was to provide a sort of duct tape continuity and funnel the maelstrom into loose coherency. Maybe I will investigate further; I am most curious.
Usually, with this kind of music (yes I am purposefully avoiding use of the 's' word) the guitars and vocals are drenched in swathes of reverb. There is next to none of that on offer here. It's an extremely bold move and in my head I can hear another version of this album which does adhere to the traditional genre tropes, and I love that fictional album too. But this is way classier, braver, more arresting and more colorful as a result of that omission.
I know it's a bit shameful, but I rarely listen to new albums more than a handful of times. There's just so much coming out all the time vying for attention. Most of it I find to be pretty disposable. Generously, I would say there are maybe three or four records a year that really connect with me like this. It's far from a consistent piece but it's rarely less than fascinating and I feel like I will be soaking in its dreamy Crayola-inscribed psychedelia for months to come.
God only knows how they're going to play it live though….
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Over 100 years ago the first train pulled into the Centerville Depot, arriving to warm welcomes. Today, you will find the same type of welcome when you arrive at your new home at Centerville Station. Ideally located in central Fremont, it's here you'll find comfort and convenience every stop along the way.
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Antioxidant effects of vitamins in type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Maria E. Balbi1View ORCID ID profile,
Fernanda S. Tonin1View ORCID ID profile,
Antonio M. Mendes1View ORCID ID profile,
Helena H. Borba2View ORCID ID profile,
Astrid Wiens2View ORCID ID profile,
Fernando Fernandez-Llimos3View ORCID ID profile and
Roberto Pontarolo2Email authorView ORCID ID profile
Accepted: 3 March 2018
Vitamins are essential micronutrients with antioxidant potential that may provide a complementary treatment for patients with chronic diseases. Our aim was to assess the effect of vitamin supplementation on the antioxidant status and glycemic index of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
We performed a systematic review with meta-analyses. Electronic searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (December 2017). Randomized controlled trials evaluating the effect of any vitamin or vitamin complex supplementation on antioxidant status as primary outcome were included. The outcomes considered were: reduction of malondialdehyde (MDA); augmentation of glutathione peroxidase (GPx); changes in total antioxidant capacity (TAC), enhance in superoxide dismutase enzyme—SOD, and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Outcomes of glycemic control were also evaluated. Pairwise meta-analyses were performed using software Review Manager 5.3.
Thirty trials fulfilled the inclusion criteria, but only 12 could be included in the meta-analyses of antioxidant outcomes. The most commonly studied vitamins were B, C, D and E. Vitamin E was related to significant reduction of blood glucose as well as glycated hemoglobin compared to placebo, while both vitamins C and E were mainly associated with reducing MDA and TBARS and elevating GPx, SOD and TAC, compared to placebo. However, outcome reports in this field are still inconsistent (e.g. because of a lack of standard measures).
Supplementation of vitamin E may be a valuable strategy for controlling diabetes complications and enhancing antioxidant capacity. The effects of other micronutrients should be further investigated in larger and well-designed trials to properly place these complementary therapies in clinical practice.
Antioxidant capacity
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by an increase in blood glucose concentration (fasting blood glucose ≥ 126 mg/dL). There are currently 425 million people with diabetes worldwide, and this number is expected to reach 629 million by 2045, with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) being the most expressive form of the disease [1, 2]. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) consensus statement on the management of T2DM recommend life-style changes (healthy diet and physical activity) in combination with metformin at the time of diagnosis, and the addition of other medication in patients who do not achieve the desired glycemic control [1]. Lowering glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to below 7% has been shown to be one of the primary endpoints in reducing microvascular complications of DM and possibly macrovascular disease [3].
Current evidence has demonstrated that oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases such as DM [4, 5] and may diminish the antioxidative defense system of the body, increasing the oxidative load [6]. Some studies have shown that individuals with low concentrations of antioxidants are at increased risk of diabetes complications [5, 7, 8] and that T2DM is associated with endothelial dysfunction [9]. These conditions may develop into macro and microvascular diseases such as retinopathy, nephropathy, lower extremity amputations, coronary artery and cardiovascular diseases [10–12], which are the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide [2].
The damaging effects of oxidative stress are mainly caused by the production of free radicals of oxygen and reactive oxygen species (ROS), but these substances can be modified by enzymatic or non-enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase, vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols [13]. A previous study described how the supplementation with multivitamins in a population with a high prevalence of micronutrient deficiency significantly decreased cerebrovascular disease mortality [14]. Other researchers have analyzed the antioxidant properties of natural products through chemical or biological methods. They have suggested that the consumption of food rich in antioxidants can retard or prevent the occurrence of disease [15, 16]. Nevertheless, previous systematic reviews and individual randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that have measured the effect of vitamin supplementation on antioxidant status and glycemic control of diabetic patients have provided conflicting results, so that the benefit, or otherwise, of such supplementation remains uncertain [17–21].
Thus, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and pairwise meta-analyses to gather current evidence on the effects of any vitamin supplementation on antioxidant status in T2DM patients, in order to elucidate its real benefits.
We conducted and reported this systematic review and meta-analyses according to the Cochrane Recommendations and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines [22, 23]. Two independent reviewers performed all the steps and discrepancies were solved by consensus with a third author.
Search strategies and inclusion criteria
We searched for relevant articles in the databases PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science, without any time limit (updated December 18th, 2017). In addition, we conducted a manual search on the reference lists of the retrieved articles, reviews and trial registration databases to identify registers missed by the electronic search. Complete search strategies are presented in Additional file 1: Search strategies.
We included RCTs assessing adult patients (over 18 years old) of any gender with any stage of T2DM and evaluating plasmatic antioxidant parameters or oxidative stress. Patients received vitamins (types A and/or B complex and/or C and/or D and/or E or variants administered alone or in combination with other vitamins, micronutrients or minerals) irrespective of form, dosage, duration or route of administration compared with placebo or no treatment or other vitamins (active control).
Two researchers independently screened titles and abstracts of the articles retrieved by the systematic review to identify irrelevant records. In a second stage, full text articles were evaluated to identify any of the following exclusion criteria: non-randomized controlled trials (type of studies); interventions other than vitamins; individuals aged under 18 years; different populations or other type of diabetes (prediabetes, type 1 diabetes mellitus, gestational diabetes mellitus); outcomes measure other than antioxidant-related; trials published in non-roman characters.
Data extraction and quality assessment
The following data were independently extracted from the included studies by two researchers: baseline characteristics (authors' names, year of publication, study design, country, sample size, gender, age, patients' condition, trial duration); methodological aspects; and clinical outcomes of interest. For primary outcomes, studies should report alterations in plasma antioxidant parameters or oxidative stress, such: vitamin levels, antioxidant enzyme levels [superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT)], oxidative stress biomarkers (e.g. harmful products MDA (malondialdehyde) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) or changes in plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Other changes in anthropometric and glycemic parameters such as fasting blood glucose and HbA1c reduction, regarded as the 'core outcome set' for diabetes control, were also collected, when available.
Two different instruments, the Jadad score [24] and the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing the Risk of Bias [22], were used to evaluate the included studies' methodological aspects, such as proper randomization, blinding, account for patients withdrawals and dropouts and other bias that may affect data interpretation.
Pairwise meta-analyses of the included RCTs were performed for the main outcome measures whenever the number of studies for each outcome of interest allowed. These analyses were conducted using the software Review Manager version 5.3 (The Nordic Cochrane Centre, The Cochrane Collaboration, Copenhagen, Denmark).
For each meta-analysis we used the random effects model and the inverse variance (IV) method to interpolate the mean differences (MD) or standardized (std.) mean differences (SMD) of each study from baseline. Results are reported with a 95% confidence interval (CI). A p value less than 0.05 (two-tailed) was considered indicative of a statistically significant difference between groups. The between-trial heterogeneity was assessed using the inconsistency index value (I2) (I2 > 50% indicates high and significant heterogeneity) [22]. We also conducted sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of the results in order to evaluate the impact of any study on data heterogeneity. The analysis consisted of the hypothetical sequential removal of studies from the meta-analysis. When possible, subgroup analyses were also performed.
The systematic search conducted in the three databases retrieved 1570 records and 196 were excluded as duplicates. During the study's title and abstract reading process (screening), 1243 records were excluded and 104 were considered for full-text appraisal, of which 25 articles were suitable for final analyses. Six articles were added from manual searches, finally yielding 31 articles representing 30 RCTs [25–55] (Fig. 1). The main characteristics of the included studies are provided in Table 1.
Flowchart of the systematic review process
Characteristics of the included studies
Author, years
N (sample)
Duration (weeks)
Main outcome measures
Male (%)
Jadad score
Aghamohammadi, 2011 [25]
Vitamin B9 5 mg/day
MDA; TAC; vitamin concentration
Anderson, 2006 [26]
Vitamin C 1000 mg/day
TBARS
Antoniades, 2004 [27]
Vitamin concentration; TNF
Ble-Castillo, 2005 [28]
Vitamin E 800 IU/day
Blood glucose; HbA1c; MDA; GPx
Chen, 2006 [29]
Vitamin C 800 mg/day
Blood glucose; vitamin concentration
Dalan, 2016 [30]
Vitamin D 4000 IU/day
HbA1c; vitamin concentration; GSH
Gariballa, 2013 [31]
Vitamin complex (B, C, E)
MDA; TNF; vitamin concentration
Haghighat, 2014 [32]
Vitamin E enriched canola oil 15 ml/day Placebo oil
CRP; NO
Hejazi, 2015 [33]
Blood glucose; MDA
Jamalan, 2015 [34]
Vitamin E 300 mg/day
Blood glucose; CRP; TNF
Jorde, 2009 [35]
Vitamin D 40,000 IU/week
Blood glucose; HbA1c; vitamin concentration
Lai, 2008 [36]
Chromium 1000 µg
Vitamin E 800 IU + chromium
Blood glucose; HbA1c; SOD; CAT; TBARS; TAS; GPx
Lu, 2005 [37]
Blood glucose; HbA1c; IL-6
Mahmoudabadi, 2014 [38]
Eicosapentaenoic acid 500 mg/day
Vitamin C + eicosapentaenoic acid
Blood glucose; HbA1c; vitamin concentration; SOD; MDA; TAC; GPx
Manzella, 2001 [39]
HbA1c; TBARS
Mason, 2016 [40]
Vitamin C 1,000 mg/day
Insulin; GSH; IL-6
Mazloom, 2011 [41]
Plasma lipid parameters; MDA
47.0 ± 8.9 46.6 ± 7.6
Mullan, 2002 [42]
Plasma lipid parameters; LDL-ox
Nikooyeh, 2011/2014 [43, 44]
Yogurt (150 mg calcium/250 mL)
Vitamin D fortified (150 mg calcium + 500 IU/250 mL)
Vitamin D fortified (250 mg of calcium + 500 IU/250 mL)
*Two bottles/day = 500 mL/day
Blood glucose; HbA1c; vitamin concentration; SOD; MDA
Paolisso, 2000 [45]
TBARS; vitamin concentration
Park, 2002 [46]
Blood glucose; HbA1c; SOD; CAT
Reaven, 1995 [47]
Vitamin E 1600 lU/day
Blood glucose; HbA1c; LDL-ox
Shab-Bidar, 2015 [48]
Vitamin D fortified Yogurt 500 UI, 500 ml/day Yogurt
Blood glucose; HbA1c; SOD; MDA; TAC; GSH
Sugden 2007 [49]
Vitamin D 100,000 UI/day Placebo
HbA1c; vitamin concentration; NO
Tessier, 2009 [50]
Plasma lipid parameters; GSH
Vafa, 2015 [51]
Vitamin E enriched canola oil 15 ml/day Canola oil
Blood glucose; MDA; TAC
Winterbone, 2007 [52]
Vitamin E 1200 IU α-tocopherol/day Placebo
Blood glucose; insulin; vitamin concentration
Witham, 2010 [53]
Vitamin D3 100,000 IU/day
Wu, 2007 [54]
Vitamin E α-tocopherol 500 mg/day
Vitamin E mixed tocopherols 500 mg/day
SOD; GPx
Yiu, 2013 [55]
Vitamin D 500 IU/day
Blood glucose; HbA1c; SOD
CAT catalase; CRP C-reactive protein; GPx glutathione peroxidase; GSH glutathione; HbA1c glycated hemoglobin; IL-6 interleukin; LDL-ox oxidized low-density lipoprotein; MDA malondialdehyde; NO nitric oxide; SOD superoxide dismutase; TAC total antioxidant capacity; TBARS thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; TNF tumor necrosis factor
All studies involved patients diagnosed with T2DM (n = 1430) and were conducted mainly in Iran (n = 9 trials) [25, 32–34, 38, 41, 43, 44, 48, 51]; followed by the United Kingdom (n = 4) [42, 49, 52, 53] and the United States of America (n = 3) [28, 29, 47]. Evaluated treatments comprised: vitamin B (n = 1 study) [25], vitamin C (n = 10) [26, 27, 29, 34, 37, 38, 40–42, 50]; vitamin D (n = 7) [30, 35, 43, 44, 48, 49, 53, 55]; vitamin E (n = 12) [28, 32–34, 36, 39, 45–47, 51, 52, 54], and a mixture of vitamins B, C and E (n = 1) [31]. In four of these trials (13.3%), vitamins were delivered by food fortification (oil or yogurt) [32, 44, 48, 51]. A placebo or negative control was the main comparator in 29 studies (96.7%), while eight trials (26.7%) included head-to-head comparisons. Duration of treatment ranged from two to 24 weeks and patients' age ranged from 46 to 72 years.
Overall, the methodological quality of included trials was low to moderate, with a mean Jadad Score of 2.7 (range 1–5). All studies scored on randomization, but only 20% of them properly described how randomization was achieved. Almost all trials (90%) accounted for patient' withdrawals or dropouts, and half of the studies was double-blinded. However, only two trials described the blinding methods. The Risk of Bias assessment (see Additional file 1: Quality assessment), established that trials were of low risk of bias (> 75%) in the domains of randomization, incomplete outcome data and selective reporting. Allocation concealment was considered unclear in 25 trials (86.2%), and studies often failed to provide details regarding blinding of participants or outcome measures. Overall, 70% of trials were funded by industries or reported conflict of interest.
Considering the primary outcomes of interest related to antioxidant status, 12 RCTs (encompassing 13 articles) were able to be included in the meta- analyses (all of them compared vitamin to placebo) [25, 28, 33, 36, 38, 39, 41, 43–45, 48, 51, 54]. Not all studies were statistically evaluated since outcomes were not comparable (e.g. because of lack of raw data). Gathering evidence, especially on antioxidant potential, was hampered by the lack of standardization of outcome reporting in the clinical trials (e.g. inconsistent reporting, using different measures, scales and units).
Meta-analyses were obtained for augmentation of GPx levels (Units/gram of Hemoglobin—U/g Hb), reduction in plasma MDA (nmol/L) and TBARS (µmol/L) reductions, and favorable changes in TAC (mmol/L) and SOD (U/g Hb). In these cases, no subgroup analyses were performed due to the limited number of studies. Overall, results were statistically different from placebo to favored the use of vitamins with values of MD 9.40 (95% CI [7.79; 11.00]) for GPx (p < 0.001) and MD − 0.53 (95% CI [− 0.81; − 0.25]) for MDA (p < 0.001), with I2 values of 44 and 47%, respectively. Vitamins were also superior to placebo in reducing TBARS with an overall effect size of SMD − 4.84 (95% CI [− 6.01; − 3.67]) (p < 0.001; I2 = 54%) and in increasing TAC (SMD 0.38 [0.11; 0.65]; p = 0.006) and SOD levels (SMD 0.64 [0.11; 1.17]; p = 0.02). These positive results came mostly from studies where the interventions were vitamin E (n = 7 trials) [28, 33, 36, 39, 45, 51, 54]; vitamin C (n = 2) [38, 41] and vitamin D (n = 2) [44, 48] (see Fig. 2).
Forest plots for the outcomes of antioxidant status. a Augmentation of GPx level (U/g Hb). b Reduction of MDA (nmol/L). c Reduction of TBARS (µmol/L). d Changes in TAC (mmol/L). e Changes in SOD (U/g). Statistical method: Mean difference (MD) and Std. Mean Difference (SMD), IV, Random, 95% confidence interval
The meta-analyses of the glycemic control parameters (17 included trials obtained from 18 articles) are shown in Figs. 3, 4 [28–30, 33, 35–39, 43, 44, 46–49, 52, 53, 55]. No statistical differences were observed in subgroup analyses comparing vitamins C or D with placebo. However, for both outcomes of mean change in blood glucose (mg/dL) and reduction of HbA1c (as a percentage), the effects of vitamin E were significantly better than the control (values of MD − 13.89 (95% CI [− 19.89; − 7.89]) and MD − 0.47 (95% CI [− 0.69; − 0.26]), respectively).
Forest plot for the outcome measure of blood glucose mean change from baseline (mg/dL). Statistical method: Mean difference (MD), IV, Random, 95% confidence interval
Forest plot for the outcome measure of HbA1c mean change from baseline (%). Statistical method: Mean difference (MD), IV, Random, 95% confidence interval
The moderate to high heterogeneity of some meta-analyses (I2 ranging from 15 to 71%) was caused by more than one study and can be considered acceptable in this context. Sensitivity analyses were conducted with all the meta-analyses (data not shown) and despite the sequential hypothetical removal of studies with reduction in the heterogeneity, the results remained unchanged.
Our study is the first systematic review with meta-analysis to evaluate the available evidence of vitamin supplementation in T2DM patients for the improvement of antioxidant status in different ways (GPx, SOD and TAC levels augmentation and reduction in MDA and TBARS products). Previous studies have focused on glycemic control, insulin resistance and changes in endothelial functions [18, 20, 21, 56].
Our results revealed that supplementation of certain vitamins in T2DM, especially vitamin E, can produce a significant impact on the parameters of antioxidant status and glycemic control, which may positively benefit patients. Vitamin C was more related to changes in antioxidant status, while little evidence was found for the effect of other vitamins (e.g. D or B).
The beneficial effects of vitamin E may be explained by the reduction of the damaging effects of free radicals on the structural and functional components of cells and vessel walls [56, 57]. It is believed that diabetes is associated with increased oxidative stress because of increased blood concentrations of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and serum malondialdehyde, the end products of lipid peroxidation [58]. The adverse physiological effects which result include increased leakiness of cell membranes where the structural integrity of membranes has been altered; inactivation of membrane bound enzymes and surface receptors and the involvement of oxidized LDL (LDL-ox). When total antioxidant status (TAC) is high enough to combat the oxidative stress, the MDA and TBARS levels are in the normal limits and vice versa. Antioxidants decrease the oxidative damage directly by reacting with free radicals or indirectly by inhibiting the activity or expression of free radicals [59, 60].
Non-enzymatic antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and glutathione interrupt free radical chain reactions. The combination of these vitamins appears to be promising. Although only one RCT evaluating a mixed vitamin complex was found in our systematic review [31], a previous study reported that antioxidant combinations might be an appropriate formula for the management of diabetes [61]. A 3-month study on the supplementation of vitamins C and E showed that patients' blood glucose decreased while SOD and glutathione levels increased [62]. Moreover, the long-term use of dietary supplements, including multivitamin or mineral complexes showed benefits in C-reactive protein, HDL cholesterol, triacylglycerides, serum homocysteine, blood pressure and incidence of diabetes [14, 63–65]. However, vitamin C alone did not present a greater profile than vitamin E.
In the literature, vitamin D is related to gene expression control which may trigger a biological response to oxidative stress, such as inhibiting nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) or increasing glutatione levels [66]. The antioxidant effect of vitamin D is among the most recent non-calcemic roles suggested for this compound [67]. There is evidence from both humans and animal models suggesting that vitamin D may play an important role in modifying the risk of diabetes [66, 68]. Low vitamin D status is associated with future macrovascular events in patients with T2DM. This association may be the result of the link between vitamin D status and the renin-angiotensin system, endothelial function, blood pressure, or even chronic inflammation [20, 69, 70]. However, our results were constrained in defining a vitamin D antioxidant profile, since few RCTs involving this micronutrient were included [43, 44].
Some trials [32, 44, 48, 51] did not use direct drug supplementation but incorporated the vitamin in food (e.g. oil, yogurt), which may have affected final results. Moreover, because the total daily dosage of vitamin intake and treatment duration varied among the studies, effects on antioxidant and glycemic profiles may have been underestimated. Regimens for vitamin C varied from 500 to 3000 mg/day; for vitamin E they ranged from 400 to 1600 IU/day and for vitamin D doses were of 500 to 200,000 IU/day. Longer period trials with reasonable lower daily doses may increase the intracellular concentration of vitamins and result in an adequate effect that should then be evaluated.
In spite of the encouraging results reported above, the small number of studies properly reporting data prevented a fully satisfactory assessment of the outcomes related to antioxidant status. Moreover, methodological aspects of the included trials demonstrated low to moderate quality, especially concerning accurate description of randomization and blinding. The moderate to high heterogeneity in some meta-analyses can be explained by the differences in the intrinsic characteristics of studies, the conduct and design of trials with low quality, the small sample sizes of some studies, patient's conditions with possible comorbidities, different pharmacological treatments, and differences in outcome measures.
The marked heterogeneity in the outcomes reporting of oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity might be due the lack of standardization in the selection or measurement of the outcome in clinical trials. Different measures and units are usually employed (e.g., enzyme levels (catalase, superoxide dismutase); FRAP—ferric reducing ability of plasma assay; ORAC—oxygen radical absorbance capacity assay; TAS—total antioxidant status, among others) [71, 72]. This can be justified in part because of the range of substances and antioxidant components in the organism, together with the difficulty in measuring them all at once. The issue of lack of outcome standardization is common to different areas, but has been associated with a bad reporting practice—outcome switching, and hamper comparisons between interventions [73]. The development of a core outcome set for antioxidant status in chronic diseases is important for study design and could minimize bias. Measures such as TAC, TBARS and MDA could be employed as standard.
Our study has some limitations. We included RCTs with differences in methodological design and population characteristics (e.g. age, gender, disease stage and comorbidities, diabetes treatments, study duration) and none of them were sufficiently powerful due to the relatively small number of participants. There was some difficulty in finding and gathering trials of the same vitamin or vitamin complex assessing similar outcomes. We were able to statistically analyze three vitamins (C, D and E), but other micronutrients and vitamin combinations (especially vitamins C and E) should be better investigated. Subgroup meta-analyses were poorly obtained.
We strongly recommend that further well-designed, large-scale, long-term head-to-head controlled trials and meta-analyses be carried out to demonstrate the effects of individual or multivitamin supplementations on T2DM, since previous results are promising.
The consumption of vitamin E (alone or in combination) promotes health benefits since it affects plasma antioxidant capacity and the concentration of enzymes and reduces MDA and TBARS levels. T2DM patients have a high risk of experiencing micro and macrovascular complications, and daily vitamin supplementation provides an alternative strategy for metabolic control, in addition to the combination of diet, exercise and medication. These substances may represent a step forward in disease management. Further studies should be conducted to strengthen this evidence, especially for defining doses and regimen of vitamin E, and support its use in daily practice.
ADA:
EASD:
European Association for the Study of Diabetes
T2DM:
MDA:
malondialdehyde
GPx:
glutathione peroxidase
TAC:
total antioxidant capacity
SOD:
superoxide dismutase enzyme
TBARS:
thiobarbituric acid reactive substances
RP, FFL and AW designed the study and wrote the protocol. MEB, FST, AMM, and HHB screened, updated and abstracted publications. MEB, FST and AMM evaluated methodological quality. FST, HHB and FFL statistically analyzed data. MEB and FST wrote the manuscript, with editorial contributions from AMM, HHB, AW, FFL and RP. All authors reviewed the manuscript for accuracy and scientific content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
The data supporting the conclusions of this article are included within the article and its additional files. Other information is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
This work was supported by the Brazilian National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq), and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). The funding sources had no role in the study design, data collection, data analyses, data interpretation, or writing of the report. The corresponding author had full access to all of the data in the study and was responsible for making the final decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
13098_2018_318_MOESM1_ESM.docx Additional file 1. Search strategies and Quality assessment.
Pharmaceutical Sciences Postgraduate Programme, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
Department of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences Postgraduate Program, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av. Prof. Lothario Meissner 632, Curitiba, 80210-170, Brazil
Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Department of Social Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
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text:
Blackcat Lake är en sjö i Kanada.   Den ligger i countyt Haliburton County och provinsen Ontario, i den sydöstra delen av landet,  km väster om huvudstaden Ottawa. Blackcat Lake ligger  meter över havet. Arean är  kvadratkilometer. Den ligger vid sjöarna  Cat Lake Clear Lake Little Hawk Lake och Red Pine Lake. Den högsta punkten i närheten är  meter över havet,  km norr om Blackcat Lake. Den sträcker sig 0,5 kilometer i nord-sydlig riktning, och 0,7 kilometer i öst-västlig riktning.

I omgivningarna runt Blackcat Lake växer i huvudsak blandskog. Runt Blackcat Lake är det mycket glesbefolkat, med  invånare per kvadratkilometer.  Trakten ingår i den hemiboreala klimatzonen. Årsmedeltemperaturen i trakten är  °C. Den varmaste månaden är juli, då medeltemperaturen är  °C, och den kallaste är januari, med  °C. Genomsnittlig årsnederbörd är  millimeter. Den regnigaste månaden är oktober, med i genomsnitt  mm nederbörd, och den torraste är mars, med  mm nederbörd.

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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Yesterday I received an invitation from The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh to have my Gold Award presented.
How exciting, Mummy has her hat and gloves ready and is practising her curtseys.
I'll post photographs of the presentation when we go!
I'm wearing my lounge suit and the Gold Award holders tie.
Lovely, I hope you too will have an enjoyable afternoon.
Mummy has her hat and gloves ready and is practising her curtseys.
That's all well and good for mum, but does this mean your curtseys don't need practising?
Congratulations to you and PrincessofEurope for your Gold Awards.
Congratulations RoyalProtocol and PrincessofEurope !
It must be exiting to receive this invitiation, hope you will share your experiences after the award ceremony.
Thanks we'll let you know all about it and will post our photographs as well.
I shall bow, I do believe that would be the proper thing for men to do.
My error, and my apologies!
I forgive you, an easy mistake with usernames instead of real names.
Congratulations Royal Protocal on your finishing your gold level, my daughter is almost finished her bronze level and is very keen to continue, any words of advice?
Thank you and Yes my advice would be, even when your up a mountain, tired, wet and freezing keep at it, getting the invitation really is worth it and it speaks a lot on CVs and University applications, also remember to get the record book signed up at the time or its a real chore later and you can't be bothered.
I hope your daughter enjoys the award as much as I have, tell her good luck and stick at it.
I enjoyed the award so much I am now involved in running it in my Church/BB and have got to attend lots of fun occasions, I had tea with the Duke of Abercorn who is the Lord Stewart of HMs household, attended afternoon tea at Hillsborough Castle and went to a thanksgiving service in St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast for the 50th Anniversary.
I got mine from Nelson Mandela and Prince Edward, but the Duke of Edinburgh signature is on the certificate.
Well I've been to the Palace and I must say it was well worth it. The band of the Household Division played Christmas Music and there was a beautiful Christmas Tree.
The State Apartments were lovely, and we got to see out onto the balcony where they announce the Accession.
HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was really nice and put everyone at ease, he spoke to our group for about 7mins. He is quite small but has a good posture and a wonderful accent.
Our celebrity guest who was assigned to talk with our group was Alistar Stewart from ITN News, he was excellent and very pleasent.
Thank you for sharing and describing your experience. A lifetime memory for you indeed.
So did you and PrincessofEurope manage to find each other in the crowd? And where are these photos we were promised?
the day was indeed lovely and St James's palace is very beautiful especially as it was all decorated for christmas inside. my only problem was that the Northern Irelane and Welsh groups did not get to see as many state rooms as the English groups because of the position of our room in the palace as we were forced by the officials to go out through the tapastry room.


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