Use of waist to hip ratio in the determination of the body composition in preschool children in Latvian population

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2008, the waist to hip ratio (WHR) has been suggested superior to the body mass index (BMI) in predicting the cardiovascular disease risk in adults and adolescents. There have been studies about the WHR in preschool children in the populations of Pakistan, Chile and Mexico; and it is not the WHO which recommended it as a routine method in preschool children.The present study includes 85 children (41 girls and 44 boys), aged 5 to 7 years, without any chronic conditions. Body height, body weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, triceps skinfold, abdominal skinfold and subscapular skinfold were measured. The WHR, the BMI, the sum of three skinfolds and the percentage of body fat (%BF) were calculated.It was found that the WHR decreased with age in girls; there were no specific changes found in the WHR with age in boys. The present study found no correlation in boys or girls between the WHR and the BMI; the WHR and the sum of three skinfolds; the WHR and the percentage of BF. There was also no correlation between the Z-scores of the BMI and Z-scores of the WHR.Conclusions. The WHR is a questionable body composition marker in preschool children in the Latvian population and must be evaluated separately from other body composition markers

DataSheet_1_Reads Binning Improves Alignment-Free Metagenome Comparison.docx

Comparing metagenomic samples is a critical step in understanding the relationships among microbial communities. Recently, next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have produced a massive amount of short reads data for microbial communities from different environments. The assembly of these short reads can, however, be time-consuming and challenging. In addition, alignment-based methods for metagenome comparison are limited by incomplete genome and/or pathway databases. In contrast, alignment-free methods for metagenome comparison do not depend on the completeness of genome or pathway databases. Still, the existing alignment-free methods, d2S and d2*, which model k-tuple patterns using only one Markov chain for each sample, neglect the heterogeneity within metagenomic data wherein potentially thousands of types of microorganisms are sequenced. To address this imperfection in d2S and d2*, we organized NGS sequences into different reads bins and constructed several corresponding Markov models. Next, we modified the definition of our previous alignment-free methods, d2S and d2*, to make them more compatible with a scheme of analysis which uses the proposed reads bins. We then used two simulated and three real metagenomic datasets to test the effect of the k-tuple size and Markov orders of background sequences on the performance of these de novo alignment-free methods. For dependable comparison of metagenomic samples, our newly developed alignment-free methods with reads binning outperformed alignment-free methods without reads binning in detecting the relationship among microbial communities, including whether they form groups or change according to some environmental gradients.</p

One-Pot Aqueous Synthesis of Porous Hollow PdCu Alloy Nanoparticles for Enhanced Ethanol Electrooxidation

Bimetallic PdCu porous hollow nanoparticles (PHNs) with hierarchical nanostructures and well-alloyed compositions were precisely synthesized through a one-pot aqueous synthetic route. Bimetallic PdCu PHNs exhibited multiple enhancement synergies and thus performed well in ethanol oxidation electrocatalysis with remarkable activity and stability. This work expedites rational design and synthesis of the high-hierarchy alloy electrocatalysts for fuel cell electrocatalysis

A critical role of eNOS/NO and PI3K/Akt in ephrin-A1-Fc activation of angiogenesis in HUVECs.

<p>A: Cell migration assay showed that L-NAME and LY294002 inhibited ephrin-A1-stimulated migration of HUVECs (200×). B: Tube formation assay showed that L-NAME and LY294002 inhibited ephrin-A1-stimulated tube formation of HUVECs (200×). Arrowheads presented the HUVECs that stretched insufficiently. C: Quantification of A. D: Quantification of B. (*, <i>P</i><0.05, n = 3).</p

Schematic representation of signaling cascade involved in hypoxia-inducible ephrin-A1 modulation of angiogenesis in tumor hypoxic microenvironment.

<p>Schematic representation of signaling cascade involved in hypoxia-inducible ephrin-A1 modulation of angiogenesis in tumor hypoxic microenvironment.</p

Hypoxia up-regulated ephrin-A1 expression and soluble ephrin-A1 secretion in cancer cells.

<p>A: Western blots demonstrating that hypoxia elevated membrane bound ephrin-A1 expression in SCC-9 cells. B: Western blots demonstrating that hypoxia up-regulated soluble ephrin-A1 in supernatants of SCC-9 cells. SCC-9 cell density at 70–80% confluence was taken as 0 h when fresh culture medium was added. C: Cell rounding assay demonstrating that soluble ephrin-A1 in CM could activate EphA2 in U-251 GBM cells. Ephrin-A1(S), soluble ephrin-A1; N, normoxia conditioned medium group; H, hypoxia conditioned medium group.</p

PI3K/Akt mediated ephrin-A1-induced P-eNOS_Ser1177 in HUVECs.

<p>A: Representative Western blots for P-eNOS_Ser1177 and P-Akt_Ser473 from HUVECs that were starved in 0.1%BSA EBM-2 overnight and stimulated with ephrin-A1-Fc (1 µg/ml) for 30 min alone or together pre-treated with LY294002. B: Quantity analysis of P-Akt_Ser473. C: Quantity analysis of P-eNOS_Ser1177. (*, <i>P</i><0.05, n = 4) (#, <i>P</i>>0.05, n = 4).</p

NO production in the supernatants of HUVECs after incubation with ephrin-A1-Fc (1 µg/ml) for 0 h, 24 h.

<p>Data showed a significantly increased NO production in the EA1-Fc group. (*, <i>P</i><0.05, n = 3).</p

Synthesis of Superconducting Nanocables of FeSe Encapsulated in Carbonaceous Shell

The recent discovery of superconductivity in iron selenide has attracted considerable attention due to the simplicity of composition, unconventional nature of superconductivity, and ease of synthesis. We have synthesized superconducting FeSe nanowires with a simple catalyst-aided vapor transport reaction at 800 °C in an inert atmosphere. The precursors were chosen to be elemental Se and iron acetylacetonate [Fe^III(C₅H₈O₂)₃]. These vaporized very easily, thereby facilitating transport, and also contributed to the formation of a carbonaceous shell encapsulating the FeSe nanowires. The superconductivity of these nanocables was confirmed through magnetic measurements and a <i>T</i>_c of ≈8 K was obtained for an ensemble of nanocables. The length of FeSe filling inside the carbon nanofibers could be varied by controlling the reaction conditions while the diameter of nanowires was dependent on the thickness of Au–Pd coating used as a catalyst. Extensive analysis through high-resolution microscopy revealed that there was considerable lattice contraction of FeSe in the nanocable up to about 3.6% along the <i>c</i>-direction leading to a reduced spacing between the (001) lattice planes. Interestingly, this compression was more pronounced near the catalyst-FeSe interface and was reduced further along the length of the nanocable. The presence of carbon nanofibers as a shell around the FeSe protected the FeSe nanowires from both atmospheric O₂ and moisture attack, as was evident from the very long ambient condition shelf life of these nanocables, and also makes them more stable under e-beam irradiation

Effect of ephrin-A1-Fc on expression and phosphorylation of eNOS and Akt in HUVECs. HUVECs were exposed to ephrin-A1-Fc (1 µg/ml) for 0 h, 8 h, 24 h.

<p>Immunofluorescence (A), Real-time PCR (B) and Western blot analysis (C) demonstrated that ephrin-A1-Fc had no effect on eNOS expression of HUVECs (#, <i>P</i>>0.05, n = 3). D: Western blots demonstrating that P-eNOS_Ser1177 and P-Akt_Ser473 were up-regulated under ephrin-A1-Fc stimulation in a time-dependent manner. E: Quantity analysis of P-eNOS_Ser1177. F: Quantity analysis of P-Akt_Ser473. (*, <i>P</i><0.05, n = 4).</p