Associations between HLA Class I alleles and the prevalence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) among Tunisians

The high prevalence of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) in Southern Asia and Mediterranean Northern Africa suggests genetic predisposition among other factors. While Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) haplotypes have been conclusively associated with NPC predisposition in Asians, Northern African Maghrebians have been less intensely studied. However, low resolution serological methods identified weak positive associations with HLA-B5, B13 and B18 and a negative with HLA-B14. Using sequence based typing (SBT), we performed a direct comparison of HLA class I frequencies in a cohort of 136 Tunisian patients with NPC matched for gender, age and geographical residence to 148 normal Tunisians. The bimodal age distribution of NPC in Maghrebians was also taken into account. HLA frequencies in normal Tunisians were also compared with those of Northern Moroccan Berbers (ME) to evaluate whether the Tunisian population in this study could be considered representative of other Maghrebian populations. HLA-B14 and -Cw08 were negatively associated with NPC (odd ratio = 0.09 and 0.18 respectively, Fisher p2-value = 0.0001 and = 0.003). Moreover, positive associations were observed for HLA-B-18, -B51 (split of -B5) and -B57 (p2-value < 0.025 in all) confirming previous findings in Maghrebs. The HLA-B14/Cw*08 haplotype frequency (HF) was 0.007 in NPC patients compared to 0.057 in both Tunisian (OR = 0.12; p2-value = 0.001) and Moroccan controls. This study confirms several previous associations noted by serologic typing between HLA class I alleles and the prevalence of NPC in Maghrebians populations. In addition, we identified a putative haplotype rare in Tunisian patients with NPC that may serve as a genetic marker for further susceptibility studies

Weekday and Weekend Differences in Eating Habits, Physical Activity and Screen Time Behavior among a Sample of Primary School Children: The "Seven Days for My Health" Project

Background: Healthy eating and active lifestyle habits are essential for a child's development, wellbeing, and health. School setting and family environment play a crucial role in shaping these habits and this could be reflected in different behavior patterns during weekdays and weekends. Methods: We investigated primary school children's lifestyle habits through a cross-sectional analysis of 428 Italian primary school children, with a mean age of 8.99 years (+/- 1.43). Data were collected from May to June 2017 using a weekly diary to assess children's lifestyles. Results: Children who eat their morning snack and lunch at school three or more times during the weekdays were 5.47 times more likely (95% CI 3.02, 10.2) to consume adequate snacks and 7.79 times more likely (95% CI 4.43, 14.5) to have adequate meals than those who did not. Conclusion: Consumption of vegetables, lunch, and snacks are significantly more adequate during the weekdays as compared to the weekends. Physical activity levels did not differ between weekdays and weekends. Moreover, children spent more time engaged in physical activities than in front of a screen during both the weekdays and the weekends. The present results are good indicators of the importance of the school canteen in defining correct eating habits. Family-based and school-based interventions could represent valuable integrative strategies for promoting a healthy lifestyle in children

Il fattore genetico nel morbo di Dupuytren. Studio degli antigeni HLA

Le implicazioni genetiche del morbo di Dupuytren emergono dall’indubbio carattere razziale e familiare dell'affezione. Nella ricerca di un possibile marker genetico sono stati studiati gli antigeni HLA-ABC e DR in 48 pazienti, con il riscontro di un aumento di frequenza statisticamente significativo dell'antigene HLA-A2. Il basso rischio relativo dell'associazione non consente tuttavia la selezione dei pazienti a rischio per la malattia. È auspicabile che lo studio venga successivamente rivolto a gruppi familiari con un’alta incidenza dell'affezione, al fine di chiarire se I’ereditarietà sia effettivamente legata al Complesso Maggiore di Istocompatibilità.The genetic factor in Dupuytren's disease. A study of HLA antigens. Genetic factors in the aetiology of Dupuytren’s disease are suggested by its familial occurrence and its predilection for certain races, A study of HLA-ABC and DR antigens was undertaken in 48 patients to assess the possibility of a genetic marker. Although an increased incidence of HLA-A2 reached statistical signifìcance, the low relative risk of this association does not allo w to identify patients prone to develop Dupuytren’s disease. It should be feasible to perform further investigation into families with a high prevalence of the disease, in order to ascertain whether its inheritance is really linked to the Major Histocompatibility Complex.Le facteur génétique de la maladie de Dupuytren. Étude des antigènes HLA. Les facteurs génétiques, de la maladie de Dupuytren sont plus fréquent dans certain races et présentent des familiarités. Dans la recherche d’un possible marker génétique ont été étudié les antigènes HLA-ABC, et DR en 48 patients, avec le résultat d’une augmentation de fréquence statistiquement significative de l'antigène HLA-A2. Par con tre le minimum de risque relatif à l’association ne permé pas la sélection des patients à risques pour la maladie. Dons l’étude prochaine doit ètre de preference adressé vers des groupes de familles avec une haute incidence de l’affection, à fin d'éclaircir si l’hérédité est effectivement liée au Complexe Major de Histocompatibilité

Weekday and Weekend Differences in Eating Habits, Physical Activity and Screen Time Behavior among a Sample of Primary School Children: The &ldquo;Seven Days for My Health&rdquo; Project

Background: Healthy eating and active lifestyle habits are essential for a child&rsquo;s development, wellbeing, and health. School setting and family environment play a crucial role in shaping these habits and this could be reflected in different behavior patterns during weekdays and weekends. Methods: We investigated primary school children&rsquo;s lifestyle habits through a cross-sectional analysis of 428 Italian primary school children, with a mean age of 8.99 years (&plusmn;1.43). Data were collected from May to June 2017 using a weekly diary to assess children&rsquo;s lifestyles. Results: Children who eat their morning snack and lunch at school three or more times during the weekdays were 5.47 times more likely (95% CI 3.02, 10.2) to consume adequate snacks and 7.79 times more likely (95% CI 4.43, 14.5) to have adequate meals than those who did not. Conclusion: Consumption of vegetables, lunch, and snacks are significantly more adequate during the weekdays as compared to the weekends. Physical activity levels did not differ between weekdays and weekends. Moreover, children spent more time engaged in physical activities than in front of a screen during both the weekdays and the weekends. The present results are good indicators of the importance of the school canteen in defining correct eating habits. Family-based and school-based interventions could represent valuable integrative strategies for promoting a healthy lifestyle in children

Será o ensino escolar supérfluo no mundo das novas tecnologias? Is schooling redundant in a new technology world?

Este ensaio pretende contribuir para a discussão sobre os rumos do ensino escolar na perspectiva de resistência ao ideário neoconservador colocado pelas regras do capitalismo na sua forma "globalizada". Esboça um cenário em que as extraordinárias potencialidades de humanização e socialização do indivíduo proporcionadas pelo desenvolvimento técnico-científico se colocam em confronto com sua crescente solidão e individualismo nas relações sociais e aponta para a necessidade de contraposição aos objetivos colocados para o ensino pela forma de pensamento hoje hegemônica, isto é, a formação do trabalhador-consumidor adequado às novas tecnologias. Apresentamos uma visão oposta a essa tendência: a educação como meio de emancipar o homem.<br>The aim of this essay is to contribute to the discussion on the directions of teaching under the perspective of the resistance to the neoconservative ideas presented by the rules of capitalism under its "globalized" form. It draws a landscape in which the extraordinary potentialities of humanization and socialization of the individual given by the technological and cientific development are set against his growing loneliness and individualism in the social relationships and points to the need of opposing the aims of teaching proposed by the leading ways of thinking in our times - that is, the making of the worker and/as a consumer fit to the new technologies. It confronts this trend in education with a totally opposed view: education as a way of emancipating man