Effect of major school playground reconstruction on physical activity and sedentary behaviour: Camden active spaces.

BACKGROUND: The physical school environment is a promising setting to increase children's physical activity although robust evidence is sparse. We examined the effects of major playground reconstruction on physical activity and sedentary time in primary schools using a quasi-experimental design (comparison group pre-test/post-test design). METHODS: Five experimental and two control schools from deprived areas of inner city London were recruited at baseline. Main outcome was physical activity and sedentary time measured from objective monitoring (Actigraph accelerometer) at one year follow up. Pupils' impressions of the new playground were qualitatively assessed post construction. RESULTS: A total of 347 pupils (mean age = 8 years, 55% boys; 36% Caucasian) were recruited into the study at baseline; 303 provided valid baseline Actigraph data. Of those, 231 (76%) completed follow-up (n = 169 intervention; n = 62 control) and 77.4% of the sample recorded at least 4 days of Actigraph wear. In mixed models adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, ratio activity or sedentary/wear time at baseline, wear time at follow up, and school, no differences were observed in total moderate - vigorous activity (B = -1.4, 95% CI, -7.1, 4.2 min/d), light activity (B = 4.1, 95% CI, -17.9, 26.1), or sedentary time (B = -3.8, 95% CI, -29.2, 21.6 min/d) between groups. There were significant age interactions for sedentary (p = 0.002) and light intensity physical activity (p = 0.008). We observed significant reductions in total sedentary (-28.0, 95% CI, -1.9, -54.1 min/d, p = 0.037) and increases in total light intensity activity (24.6, 95% CI, 0.3, 48.9 min/d, p = 0.047) for children aged under 9 yrs. old in the intervention. CONCLUSION: Major playground reconstruction had limited effects on physical activity, but reduced sedentary time was observed in younger children. Qualitative data suggested that the children enjoyed the new playgrounds and experienced a perceived positive change in well-being and social interactions

Estudios para evaluar el hierro corporal

Objetive: Multi-parameter studies combining serum Transferrin Receptor (sTfR) with Ferritin, hemoglobin,transferrin saturation percentage for an assessment of iron status. Materials and Methods.Subjects:Healthy Adults (HA)(n=51) and Iron-Deficient Anemic Patients (IDAP) (n=50). sTfR and Ferritin weremeasured by ELISA. Results: Mean confidence interval IC95(μ) showed that the mean value for sTfRwas 15.5-18.1 nmol/L (95% probability) in HA group. In IDAP both the sTfR mv and range (66.3 nmol/L, 16.1-148.4 nmol/L, (α) 0.05), and the sTfR/F Index (75.8) were greater than in HA (5% significancelevel). TfR/Hb (p<0.001), 71% (r2), and Ferritin/Hb (p<0.001), 70 % (r2), showed that for Hb <120g/L, sTfR is more sensitive than Ferritin. sTfR/Ferritin (p<0.001), 72% (r2) showed significant sTfRincreases for ferritins <12μg/L. Conclusion: Our studies confirm that the sTfR detects iron-sensitivechanges with a diagnostic accuracy. The combined use of sTfR and conventional parameters allows foreasier iron status assessment.Objetivos: Evaluar el estado del hierro del organismo mediante estudios multiparamétricos combinandoel receptor de transferrina soluble (RTfs) con Ferritina, hemoglobina, saturación de transferrina (%).Materiales y Métodos: Adultos Sanos (AS)(n=51) y Anémicos Ferroprivos (AF)(n=50). RTfs y Ferritinase determinaron por ELISA. Resultados: El intervalo de confianza de la media del RTfs IC95(μ) fue15.5-18.1 nmol/L con un 95% de probabilidad en AS. En el grupo AF el mv y rango del RTfs fueron66.3 nmol/L y 16.1-148.4 nmol/L, (α) 0.05, respectivamente, y el índice RTfs/F fue mayor (75.8) queen AS (nivel de significación 5%).El estudio de la relación RTfs/Hb (p<0.001), 71% (r2) y Ferritina/Hb (p<0.001), 70 % (r2), mostró que para valores de Hb <120g/L, el RTfs es más sensible que laFerritina. El índice RTfs/F (p<0,001), 72% (r2) mostró aumentos significativos para valores de Ferritinas<12μg/L. Conclusiones: Nuestros estudios confirman que el RTfs detecta con eficiencia diagnósticacambios sensibles del hierro funcional. El uso combinado del RTfs con parámetros convencionalespermite una rápida evaluación del estado del hierro

FORMAÇÃO DE CLASSES DE ESTÍMULOS EQUIVALENTES EM IDOSOS COM IDADE AVANÇADA

The present study evaluated empirically the formation of equivalence classes with elderly participants using the structure of “comparison-as-node” (CaN) training and the training design of the baseline conditional relations and the probe for emergent relations called “simple to complex”. Three participants aged between 76 and 83 years old were exposed to a matching to sample procedure to learn new conditional discriminations between arbitrary stimuli and then such relations were tested to check for the formation of equivalence classes. The results demonstrated that the participants learned the conditional relations, requiring on average between 4.83 and 8.37 repetitions of the baseline training blocks. All participants reached a score of more than 80% in the equivalence test. Thus it was possible to observe the emergence of equivalence classes with elderly participants using the structure of CaN training and the training design “simple to complex”. Key words: stimulus equivalence, matching to sample, equivalence class formation, elderly.O objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar empiricamente a formação de classes equivalentes com participantes com idade avançada utilizando a estrutura de treino CaN e arranjo de treinos e testes do “simples para o complexo”. Três idosos, entre 76 e 83 anos, foram expostos ao procedimento de ensino baseado em emparelhamento com o modelo com o propósito de ensinar-lhes novas discriminações condicionais entre estímulos abstratos e depois testar essas relações para averiguar a formação de classes equivalentes. Os resultados demonstraram que os participantes aprenderam as relações condicionais, requerendo um número de repetições dos blocos de treino de linha de base que variou entre 4,83 e 8,37 em média. Além disso, os três participantes apresentaram no teste de equivalência porcentagem de acertos acima de 80%. Dessa forma, foi possível observar sistematicamente a formação de classes de equivalência com participantes idosos usando a estrutura de treino CaN e o arranjo de treinos e testes do “simples para o complexo”.Palavras-chave: equivalência de estímulos, emparelhamento com o modelo, formação de classes equivalentes,idosos

Global metabolic response of Enterococcus faecalis to oxygen

Oxygen and oxidative stress have become relevant components in clarifying the mechanism that weakens bacterial cells in parallel to the mode of action of bactericidal antibiotics. Given the importance of oxidative stress in the overall defense mechanism of bacteria and their apparent role in the antimicrobial mode of action, it is important to understand how bacteria respond to this stress at a metabolic level. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of oxygen on the metabolism of the facultative anaerobe Enterococcus faecalis using continuous culture, metabolomics and 13C-enrichment of metabolic intermediates. When E. faecalis was rapidly transitioned from anaerobic to aerobic growth, cellular metabolism was directed towards intracellular glutathione production and glycolysis was upregulated two-fold, which increased the supply of critical metabolite precursors (e.g. glycine and glutamate) for sulfur metabolism and glutathione biosynthesis as well as reducing power for cellular respiration in the presence of haemin. The ultimate metabolic response of E. faecalis to an aerobic environment was the upregulation of fatty acid metabolism and benzoate degradation, which was linked to important changes in the bacterial membrane composition as evidenced by changes in membrane fatty acid composition and the reduction of membrane-associated demethylmenaquinone. These key metabolic pathways associated with the response of E. faecalis to oxygen may represent potential new targets to increase the susceptibility of this bacterium to bactericidal drugs.This work was funded by the HRC (Health and Research Council of New Zealand) and the FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology), with grant reference SFRH/BD/47016/2008

Camden active spaces: does the construction of active school playgrounds influence children's physical activity levels? A longitudinal quasi-experiment protocol.

Physical activity is essential for every facet of children's health. However, physical activity levels in British children are low. The school environment is a promising setting to increase children's physical activity but limited empirical evidence exists on how a change in the outdoor physical school environment influences physical activity behaviour. The London Borough of Camden is redesigning seven existing school playgrounds to engage children to become more physically active. The primary aim of this project is to evaluate the impact of the redesigned playgrounds on children's physical activity, well-being and physical function/fitness

Volatile Organic Compounds in Feces Associate With Response to Dietary Intervention in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Background & Aims Dietary interventions are effective in management of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), although responses vary. We investigated whether fecal levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associate with response to dietary interventions in patients with IBS. Methods Adults who fulfilled the Rome III criteria for IBS were recruited to a 2x2 factorial randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomly assigned to a group counselled to follow a diet low in fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides, lactose, fructose, and polyols (low-FODMAP diet, n = 46) or a group that received placebo dietary advice (sham diet, n = 47) for 4 weeks. Patients from each group were also given either a multi-strain probiotic or placebo supplement. Response was defined as a reduction of 50 points or more on the validated IBS symptom scoring system. Fecal samples were collected from participants at baseline and end of the 4-week study period; VOCs were analyzed by a gas-chromatography sensor device. VOC profiles were determined using a pipeline involving wavelet transformation followed by feature selection based on random forest. A partial least squares classifier was constructed to classify VOC profiles by response and accuracies were determined using 10-fold cross-validation. Results Data from 93 patients who completed the study (63 female) were used in the final analysis. More patients responded to the low-FODMAP diet (37/46, 80%) than the sham diet (21/47, 45%) (P < .001), but there was no difference in response between patients given the probiotic (31/49, 63%) vs the placebo (27/44, 61%) (P = .850), with no interaction between the diet and supplement interventions. At baseline, VOC profiles contained 15 features that classified response to the low-FODMAP diet with a mean accuracy of 97% (95% CI, 96%–99%) and 10 features that classified response to probiotic with a mean accuracy of 89% (95% CI, 86%–92%). End of treatment models achieved similar predictive powers and accuracies. Conclusion Fecal VOC profiling is a low cost, non-invasive tool that might be used to predict responses of patients with IBS to low-FODMAP diet and probiotics and identify their mechanisms of action. ISRCTN registry no: 02275221

Evaluation of gas chromatography mass spectrometry and pattern recognition for the identification of bladder cancer from urine headspace

Previous studies have indicated that volatile organic compounds specific to bladder cancer may exist in urine headspace, raising the possibility that they may be of diagnostic value for this particular cancer. To further examine this hypothesis, urine samples were collected from patients diagnosed with either bladder cancer or a non-cancerous urological disease/infection, and from healthy volunteers, from which the volatile metabolomes were analysed using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The acquired data were subjected to a specifically designed pattern recognition algorithm, involving cross-model validation. The best diagnostic performance, achieved with independent test data provided by healthy volunteers and bladder cancer patients, was 89% overall accuracy (90% sensitivity and 88% specificity). Permutation tests showed that these were statistically significant, providing further evidence of the potential for volatile biomarkers to form the basis of a non-invasive diagnostic technique