Strong inverse association between physical fitness and overweight in adolescents: a large school-based survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies examining the relationship between physical fitness and obesity in children have had mixed results despite their interrelationship making intuitive sense. We examined the relationship between physical fitness and overweight and obesity in a large sample of adolescents in the Republic of Seychelles (Indian Ocean, African region).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All students of four grades of all secondary schools performed nine physical fitness tests. These tests assessed agility, strength and endurance, and included the multistage shuttle run, a validated measure of maximal oxygen uptake. Weight and height were measured, body mass index (BMI) calculated, and "overweight" and "obesity" were defined based on the criteria of the International Obesity Task Force. We defined "lean" weight as age- and sex-specific BMI <10^thpercentile. Age- and sex-specific percentiles for each fitness test were calculated. "Good" performance was defined as a result ≥75^thpercentile.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data were available in 2203 boys and 2143 girls from a total of 4599 eligible students aged 12–15 years. The prevalence of overweight (including obesity) was 11.2% (95% confidence interval: 9.9–12.4) in boys and 17.5% (15.9–19.1) in girls. For 7 of the 9 tests, the relationship between BMI and fitness score, as assessed by locally weighted regression, was characterized by a marked inverse J shape. Students with normal body weight achieved "good" performance markedly more often than overweight or obese students on 7 of the 9 tests of fitness and more often than lean children. For example, good performance for the multistage shuttle run was achieved by 25.6% (SE: 2.1) of lean students, 29.6% (0.8) of normal weight students, 7.9% (1.3) of overweight students and 1.2% (0.9) of obese students.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This cross-sectional study shows a strong inverse relationship between fitness and excess body weight in adolescents. Improving fitness in adolescents, likely through increasing physical activity, might need special interventions that are responsive to the ability and needs of overweight children.</p

Development of CMOS pixel sensors for tracking and vertexing in high energy physics experiments

CMOS pixel sensors (CPS) represent a novel technological approach to building charged particle detectors. CMOS processes allow to integrate a sensing volume and readout electronics in a single silicon die allowing to build sensors with a small pixel pitch ($\sim 20 \mu m$) and low material budget ($\sim 0.2-0.3\% X_0$) per layer. These characteristics make CPS an attractive option for vertexing and tracking systems of high energy physics experiments. Moreover, thanks to the mass production industrial CMOS processes used for the manufacturing of CPS the fabrication construction cost can be significantly reduced in comparison to more standard semiconductor technologies. However, the attainable performance level of the CPS in terms of radiation hardness and readout speed is mostly determined by the fabrication parameters of the CMOS processes available on the market rather than by the CPS intrinsic potential. The permanent evolution of commercial CMOS processes towards smaller feature sizes and high resistivity epitaxial layers leads to the better radiation hardness and allows the implementation of accelerated readout circuits. The TowerJazz $0.18 \mu m$ CMOS process being one of the most relevant examples recently became of interest for several future detector projects. The most imminent of these project is an upgrade of the Inner Tracking System (ITS) of the ALICE detector at LHC. It will be followed by the Micro-Vertex Detector (MVD) of the CBM experiment at FAIR. Other experiments like ILD consider CPS as one of the viable options for flavour tagging and tracking sub-systems

Association of hydrophobically-modified poly(ethylene glycol) with fusogenic liposomes

AbstractWe present results on using cooperative interactions to shield liposomes by incorporating multiple hydrophobic anchoring sites on polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymers. The hydrophobically-modified PEGs (HMPEGs) are comb-graft polymers with strictly alternating monodisperse PEG blocks (Mw=6, 12, or 35 kDa) bonded to C18 stearylamide hydrophobes. Cooperativity is varied by changing the degree of oligomerization at a constant ratio of PEG to stearylamide. Fusogenic liposomes prepared from N-C12-DOPE:DOPC 7:3 (mol:mol) were equilibrated with HMPEGs. Affinity for polymer association to liposomes increases with the degree of oligomerization; equilibrium constants (given as surface coverage per equilibrium concentration of free polymer) for 6 kDa PEG increased from 6.1±0.8 (mg/m2)/(mg/ml) for 2.5 loops to 78.1±12.2 (mg/m2)/(mg/ml) for 13 loops. In contrast, the equilibrium constant for distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine-poly(ethylene glycol) (DSPE-PEG5k) was 0.4±0.1 (mg/m2)/(mg/ml).The multi-loop HMPEGs demonstrate higher levels of protection from complement binding than DSPE-PEG5k. Greater protection does not correlate with binding strength alone. The best shielding was by HMPEG6k-DP3 (with three 6 kDa PEG loops), suggesting that PEG chains with adequate surface mobility provide optimal protection from complement opsonization. Complement binding at 30 min and 12 h demonstrates that protection by multi-looped PEGs is constant whereas DSPE-PEG5k initially protects but presumably partitions off of the surface at longer times

Characterization of Culex Flavivirus (Flaviviridae) strains isolated from mosquitoes in the United States and Trinidad

AbstractRecent reports indicate that flaviviruses similar to the cell fusing agent virus (CFAV) naturally infect a wide variety of mosquito species. These newly recognized insect-specific viruses comprise a distinct CFAV complex within the genus Flavivirus. Here, we describe the isolation and characterization of nine strains of Culex flavivirus (Cx FV), a member of the CFAV complex, from mosquitoes collected in the United States (East Texas) and Trinidad. Phylogenetic analyses of the envelope protein gene sequences of these nine mosquito isolates with those of other CFAV complex flaviviruses in GenBank indicate that the U.S. isolates group with CxFV isolates from Asia (Japan and Indonesia), while the Trinidad isolates are more similar to CxFV isolates from Central America. A discussion follows on the possible biological significance of the CFAV complex flaviviruses

A Multicomponent Animal Virus Isolated from Mosquitoes

RNA viruses exhibit a variety of genome organization strategies, including multicomponent genomes in which each segment is packaged separately. Although multicomponent genomes are common among viruses infecting plants and fungi, their prevalence among those infecting animals remains unclear. We characterize a multicomponent RNA virus isolated from mosquitoes, designated Guaico Culex virus (GCXV). GCXV belongs to a diverse clade of segmented viruses (Jingmenvirus) related to the prototypically unsegmented Flaviviridae. The GCXV genome comprises five segments, each of which appears to be separately packaged. The smallest segment is not required for replication, and its presence is variable in natural infections. We also describe a variant of Jingmen tick virus, another Jingmenvirus, sequenced from a Ugandan red colobus monkey, thus expanding the host range of this segmented and likely multicomponent virus group. Collectively, this study provides evidence for the existence of multicomponent animal viruses and their potential relevance for animal and human health.RNA viruses exhibit a variety of genome organization strategies, including multicomponent genomes in which each segment is packaged separately. Although multicomponent genomes are common among viruses infecting plants and fungi, their prevalence among those infecting animals remains unclear. We characterize a multicomponent RNA virus isolated from mosquitoes, designated Guaico Culex virus (GCXV). GCXV belongs to a diverse clade of segmented viruses (Jingmenvirus) related to the prototypically unsegmented Flaviviridae. The GCXV genome comprises five segments, each of which appears to be separately packaged. The smallest segment is not required for replication, and its presence is variable in natural infections. We also describe a variant of Jingmen tick virus, another Jingmenvirus, sequenced from a Ugandan red colobus monkey, thus expanding the host range of this segmented and likely multicomponent virus group. Collectively, this study provides evidence for the existence of multicomponent animal viruses and their potential relevance for animal and human health

Primary spinal cord tumors of childhood: effects of clinical presentation, radiographic features, and pathology on survival

To determine the relationship between clinical presentation, radiographic features, pathology, and treatment on overall survival of newly diagnosed pediatric primary spinal cord tumors (PSCT). Retrospective analysis of all previously healthy children with newly diagnosed PSCT at a single institution from 1995 to present was performed. Twenty-five pediatric patients (15 boys, average 7.9 years) were diagnosed with PSCT. Presenting symptoms ranged from 0.25 to 60 months (average 7.8 months). Symptom duration was significantly shorter for high grade tumors (average 1.65 months) than low grade tumors (average 11.2 months) (P = 0.05). MRI revealed tumor (8 cervical, 17 thoracic, 7 lumbar, 7 sacral) volumes of 98–94,080 mm3 (average 19,474 mm3). Homogeneous gadolinium enhancement on MRI correlated with lower grade pathology (P = 0.003). There was no correlation between tumor grade and volume (P = 0.63) or edema (P = 0.36) by MRI analysis. Median survival was 53 months and was dependent on tumor grade (P = 0.05) and gross total resection (P = 0.01) but not on gender (P = 0.49), age of presentation (P = 0.82), duration of presenting symptoms (P = 0.33), or adjuvant therapies (P = 0.17). Stratified Kaplan–Meier analysis confirmed the association between degree of resection and survival after controlling for tumor grade (P = 0.01). MRI homogeneous gadolinium enhancement patterns may be helpful in distinguishing low grade from high grade spinal cord malignancies. While tumor grade and gross total resection rather than duration of symptoms correlated with survival in our series, greater than one-third of patients had reported symptoms greater than 6 months duration prior to diagnosis

Spatiotemporal dynamics of word retrieval in speech production revealed by cortical high-frequency band activity.

Word retrieval is core to language production and relies on complementary processes: the rapid activation of lexical and conceptual representations and word selection, which chooses the correct word among semantically related competitors. Lexical and conceptual activation is measured by semantic priming. In contrast, word selection is indexed by semantic interference and is hampered in semantically homogeneous (HOM) contexts. We examined the spatiotemporal dynamics of these complementary processes in a picture naming task with blocks of semantically heterogeneous (HET) or HOM stimuli. We used electrocorticography data obtained from frontal and temporal cortices, permitting detailed spatiotemporal analysis of word retrieval processes. A semantic interference effect was observed with naming latencies longer in HOM versus HET blocks. Cortical response strength as indexed by high-frequency band (HFB) activity (70-150 Hz) amplitude revealed effects linked to lexical-semantic activation and word selection observed in widespread regions of the cortical mantle. Depending on the subsecond timing and cortical region, HFB indexed semantic interference (i.e., more activity in HOM than HET blocks) or semantic priming effects (i.e., more activity in HET than HOM blocks). These effects overlapped in time and space in the left posterior inferior temporal gyrus and the left prefrontal cortex. The data do not support a modular view of word retrieval in speech production but rather support substantial overlap of lexical-semantic activation and word selection mechanisms in the brain