Childhood obesity and reduction of hours of sleep: results from cross-sectional study

Childhood obesity is a prevalent condition in modern societies which can negatively impact people's health during life. Although there are several factors contributing to obesity, sleep duration has been pointed out as an important risk factor. This study, held in the district of Porto, Portugal, aimed to analyze the association between sleep duration and the nutritional status of school-aged children studying in Portugal. 1396 students from 35 and 3 public and private schools, respectively, were contacted, of which 829 participated in this study (9.2 +/- 0.38 years old; 50.3% male; 49.7% female). Age, sex, sleep duration, height, weight and body composition were registered trough a questionnaire. According to the obtained z-score for Body Mass Index (BMI), 22.9% of the children were overweight and 15.2% were obese. The mean of sleep duration was 9.7 +/- 1.08 hours and z-score for BMI was 0.78 +/- 1.21, demonstrating a statistically significant (p<0.01) weak negative correlation (r=-0.15) between sleep duration and z-score of BMI. Results were also stratified and analyzed by sex, and the same finding was observed. Therefore, the results suggest a negative association between sleep duration and overweight/obesity in these children. Although more studies are necessary, this finding highlights the need of a global approach which includes sleep assessment and counselling when promoting an appropriate nutritional status

The effects of chronic stress on hippocampal adult neurogenesis and dendritic plasticity are reversed by selective MAO-A inhibition.

Online first version - Oct 14, 2014There is accumulating evidence that adult neurogenesis and dendritic plasticity in the hippocampus are neuroplastic phenomena, highly sensitive to the effects of chronic stress and treatment with most classes of antidepressant drugs, being involved in the onset and recovery from depression. However, the effects of antidepressants that act through the selective inhibition of monoamine oxidase subtype A (MAO-A) in these phenomena are still largely unknown. In the present study, adult neurogenesis and neuronal morphology were examined in the hippocampus of rats exposed to chronic mild stress (CMS) and treated with the selective reversible MAO-A inhibitor (RIMA) drug, pirlindole and the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), fluoxetine. The results provide the first demonstration that selective MAO-A inhibition with pirlindole is able to revert the behavioural effects of stress exposure while promoting hippocampal adult neurogenesis and rescuing the stress-induced dendritic atrophy of granule neurons.This research was funded by a collaborative research project established between ICVS and Grupo Tecnimede

Alopecia areata: a retrospective study of the paediatric dermatology department (2000-2008)

INTRODUCTION: Alopecia areata usually presents as patchy, nonscarring hair loss. It seems to be an immune mediated disease, whereas genetic predisposition, environmental and psychological triggers may be involved in its aetiology. OBJECTIVES: To study the epidemiology, clinical aspects, associations, and treatment of alopecia areata in the paediatric population of Peadiatric Dermatology outpatients over a 9-year period. Some psychologic characteristics were also assessed. METHODS: Descriptive and retrospective study of all newly diagnosed AA cases seen from January 2000 to December 2008 at the Hospital de São Marcos' Paediatric Dermatology Department. Fifteen patients with AA were interviewed for psycologic evaluation. RESULTS: Forty-eight cases (54% male/46% female) were identified. Mean age at presentation was 7.8 years. Family history of AA was reported in 10% of the cases, and in 25% there was a personal and/or family history of atopy. The majority of patients (82%) had mild disease and topical corticotherapy was the first-line treatment for limited AA. Fifty-four percent of these patients had a complete resolution of the lesions with treatment. Systemic treatment (corticosteroids and/or ciclosporin) was used in 71% of patients with extensive disease (more than 50% hair loss). Only one of these patients had a sustained clinical improvement after treatment. Twelve out of 15 respondents (80%) recalled stressful events preceding hair loss. DISCUSSION: Our findings are similar to those reported in other studies. Epidemiologic studies of AA are available in adulthood but there is a paucity of literature on children with AA. A holistic approach is important in the management of childhood AA as the disease can have a severe psychologic impact on an individual's well-being

Methodological considerations for kinematic analysis of upper limbs in healthy and poststroke adults Part II: a systematic review of motion capture systems and kinematic metrics

To review the methods used to analyze the kinematics of upper limbs (ULs) of healthy and poststroke adults, namely the motion capture systems and kinematic metrics. A database of articles published in the last decade was compiled using the following search terms combinations: (“upper extremity” OR “upper limb” OR arm) AND (kinematic OR motion OR movement) AND (analysis OR assessment OR measurement). The articles included in this review: (1) had the purpose to analyze objectively three-dimension kinematics of ULs, (2) studied functional movements or activities of daily living involving ULs, and (3) studied healthy and/or poststroke adults. Fourteen articles were included (four studied a healthy sample, three analyzed poststroke patients, and seven examined both poststroke and healthy participants). Most articles used optoelectronic systems with markers; however, the presentation of laboratory and task-specific errors is missing. Markerless systems, used in some studies, seem to be promising alternatives for implementation of kinematic analysis in hospitals and clinics, but the literature proving their validity is scarce. Most articles analyzed “joint kinematics” and “end-point kinematics,” mainly related with reaching. The different stroke locations of the samples were not considered in their analysis and only three articles described their psychometric properties. Future research should validate portable motion capture systems, document their specific error at the acquisition place and for the studied task, include grasping and manipulation analysis, and describe psychometric properties.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Depth-Sensing Indentation on REBa2Cu3O(7-\delta) Single Crystals obtained from Xenotime Mineral

A natural mixture of heavy rare earths oxides extracted from xenotime mineral have been used to prepare large single crystals of high-temperature REBa2Cu3O(7-\delta) superconductor grown using the CuO-BaO self-flux method. Its mechanical properties along the ab-plane were characterized using instrumented indentation. Hardness and elastic modulus were obtained by the Oliver and Pharr method and corresponds to 7.4 \pm 0.2 GPa and in range 135-175 GPa at small depths, respectively. Increasing the load promotes the nucleation of lateral cracks that causes a decrease in hardness and the measured elastic modulus by instrumented indentation at higher loads. The indentation fracture toughness was estimated by measuring the radial crack length from cube-corner indentations at various loads and was 0.8 \pm 0.2 MPa.m1/2. The observed slip systems of REBa2Cu3O(7-\delta) single crystals were [100](001) and [010](001), the same as for YBa2Cu3O(7-\delta) single crystals. The initial stages of deformation and fracture in the indentation process were investigated. The hardness and elastic modulus were not strongly modified by the crystallographic orientation in the ab-plane. This was interpreted in terms of the resolved shear stresses in the active slip systems. Evidence of cracking along the {100} and {110} planes on the ab-plane was observed. As a conclusion, the mechanical properties of REBa2Cu3O(7-\delta) single crystals prepared from xenotime are equivalent to those of YBa2Cu3O(7-\delta) single crystals produced by conventional rare earths oxides.Comment: The paper will appear in Volume 42 (2012) of the Brazilian Journal of Physic

Plasmodium knowlesi Genome Sequences from Clinical Isolates Reveal Extensive Genomic Dimorphism.

Plasmodium knowlesi is a newly described zoonosis that causes malaria in the human population that can be severe and fatal. The study of P. knowlesi parasites from human clinical isolates is relatively new and, in order to obtain maximum information from patient sample collections, we explored the possibility of generating P. knowlesi genome sequences from archived clinical isolates. Our patient sample collection consisted of frozen whole blood samples that contained excessive human DNA contamination and, in that form, were not suitable for parasite genome sequencing. We developed a method to reduce the amount of human DNA in the thawed blood samples in preparation for high throughput parasite genome sequencing using Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq sequencing platforms. Seven of fifteen samples processed had sufficiently pure P. knowlesi DNA for whole genome sequencing. The reads were mapped to the P. knowlesi H strain reference genome and an average mapping of 90% was obtained. Genes with low coverage were removed leaving 4623 genes for subsequent analyses. Previously we identified a DNA sequence dimorphism on a small fragment of the P. knowlesi normocyte binding protein xa gene on chromosome 14. We used the genome data to assemble full-length Pknbpxa sequences and discovered that the dimorphism extended along the gene. An in-house algorithm was developed to detect SNP sites co-associating with the dimorphism. More than half of the P. knowlesi genome was dimorphic, involving genes on all chromosomes and suggesting that two distinct types of P. knowlesi infect the human population in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. We use P. knowlesi clinical samples to demonstrate that Plasmodium DNA from archived patient samples can produce high quality genome data. We show that analyses, of even small numbers of difficult clinical malaria isolates, can generate comprehensive genomic information that will improve our understanding of malaria parasite diversity and pathobiology

Calculation of health expectancies with administrative data for North Rhine-Westphalia, a Federal State of Germany, 1999–2005

Pinheiro JP, Krämer A. Calculation of health expectancies with administrative data for North Rhine-Westphalia, a Federal State of Germany, 1999-2005. Population Health Metrics. 2009;7(1):4.OBJECTIVES: The main objectives of this study were to prove the feasibility of health expectancy analyses with regional administrative health statistics and to explore the utility of the calculated health expectancies in describing the health state of the population living in North Rhine-Westphalia, a Federal State of Germany. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Administrative population and mortality data as well as health data on disability and long-term care provided by public services were used to calculate: a) the life expectancy and b) the health expectancies Severe-Disability-Free Life Expectancy (SDFLE) and Long-Term-Care-Free Life Expectancy (LTCFLE) from 1999 to 2005. Calculations were done using the Sullivan method. RESULTS: SDFLE at birth was 69.9 years (males 66.2 and females 73.2 years) in 1999 and it increased to 71.7 years (males 68.6 and females 74.7 years) in 2005. The proportion of the SDFLE on the total life expectancy at birth was 89.8% (males 88.6 and females 90.8%) in 1999 and 90.7% (males 89.8 and females 91.4%) in 2005.LTCFLE at birth was 75.3 years (males 73.1 and females 77.5 years) in 1999 and it increased to 76.6 years (males 74.7 and females 78.6 years) in 2005. The proportion of the LTCFLE on the total life expectancy at birth was 96.8% (males 97.8 and females 96.1%) in 1999 and 96.8% (males 97.8 and females 96.2%) in 2005. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Both health expectancies indicate an improvement in the quantity as well as in the quality of healthy life for the population living in North Rhine Westphalia and therefore suggest a compression of morbidity from 1999 to 2005. The findings however have several limitations in their sensitivity, since we applied dichotomous valuations to the health states. In addition, the results are restricted to comparisons over time because the morbidity concepts do not allow for comparisons with populations other than the German one. Refined calculations with other summary measures of population health and with health data on other morbidity concepts are therefore reasonable

Immune-Complex Mimics as a Molecular Platform for Adjuvant-Free Vaccine Delivery

Protein-based vaccine development faces the difficult challenge of finding robust yet non-toxic adjuvants suitable for humans. Here, using a molecular engineering approach, we have developed a molecular platform for generating self-adjuvanting immunogens that do not depend on exogenous adjuvants for induction of immune responses. These are based on the concept of Immune Complex Mimics (ICM), structures that are formed between an oligomeric antigen and a monoclonal antibody (mAb) to that antigen. In this way, the roles of antigens and antibodies within the structure of immune complexes are reversed, so that a single monoclonal antibody, rather than polyclonal sera or expensive mAb cocktails can be used. We tested this approach in the context of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection by linking the highly immunogenic and potentially protective Ag85B with the oligomeric Acr (alpha crystallin, HspX) antigen. When combined with an anti-Acr monoclonal antibody, the fusion protein formed ICM which bound to C1q component of the complement system and were readily taken up by antigen-presenting cells in vitro. ICM induced a strong Th1/Th2 mixed type antibody response, which was comparable to cholera toxin adjuvanted antigen, but only moderate levels of T cell proliferation and IFN-γ secretion. Unfortunately, the systemic administration of ICM did not confer statistically significant protection against intranasal MTB challenge, although a small BCG-boosting effect was observed. We conclude that ICM are capable of inducing strong humoral responses to incorporated antigens and may be a suitable vaccination approach for pathogens other than MTB, where antibody-based immunity may play a more protective role

Multilevel model to assess sources of variation in follicular growth close to the time of ovulation in women with normal fertility: a multicenter observational study

Mikolajczyk RT, Stanford JB, Ecochard R. Multilevel model to assess sources of variation in follicular growth close to the time of ovulation in women with normal fertility: a multicenter observational study. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. 2008;6(1): 61.Background: To assess the amount of variability in ovarian follicular growth rate and maximum follicular diameter related to different centers, women and cycles of the same women in a multicenter observational study of follicular growth. Methods: Secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study from eight centers in Europe. There were 533 ultrasound examinations in 282 cycles of 107 women with normal fertility. A random effects model with center, woman and cycle as hierarchical units of variation was used to analyze mean follicular diameter on days preceding ovulation. Results: Follicular growth did not differ by center. There was homogenous growth across women and cycles, and the maximum follicular diameter before ovulation varied substantially across cycles but not across women. Many (about 40%) women had small maximum follicular diameter on the day before ovulation (<19 mm). Pre-ovulatory cycle length was not related to maximum follicular diameter. Conclusion: In normal fecundity, there is a substantial variation in maximum follicular diameter from cycle to cycle based on variation in the duration of follicular development, but the variation could not be explained by different characteristics of different women. Explanation of variation in follicular growth has to be found on the cycle level