Proximity to Sports Facilities and Sports Participation for Adolescents in Germany

Objectives - To assess the relationship between proximity to specific sports facilities and participation in the corresponding sports activities for adolescents in Germany. Methods - A sample of 1,768 adolescents aged 11–17 years old and living in 161 German communities was examined. Distances to the nearest sports facilities were calculated as an indicator of proximity to sports facilities using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Participation in specific leisure-time sports activities in sports clubs was assessed using a self-report questionnaire and individual-level socio-demographic variables were derived from a parent questionnaire. Community-level socio-demographics as covariates were selected from the INKAR database, in particular from indicators and maps on land development. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between proximity to the nearest sports facilities and participation in the corresponding sports activities. Results - The logisitic regression analyses showed that girls residing longer distances from the nearest gym were less likely to engage in indoor sports activities; a significant interaction between distances to gyms and level of urbanization was identified. Decomposition of the interaction term showed that for adolescent girls living in rural areas participation in indoor sports activities was positively associated with gym proximity. Proximity to tennis courts and indoor pools was not associated with participation in tennis or water sports, respectively. Conclusions - Improved proximity to gyms is likely to be more important for female adolescents living in rural areas

Integrated genomics and proteomics define huntingtin CAG length-dependent networks in mice.

To gain insight into how mutant huntingtin (mHtt) CAG repeat length modifies Huntington's disease (HD) pathogenesis, we profiled mRNA in over 600 brain and peripheral tissue samples from HD knock-in mice with increasing CAG repeat lengths. We found repeat length-dependent transcriptional signatures to be prominent in the striatum, less so in cortex, and minimal in the liver. Coexpression network analyses revealed 13 striatal and 5 cortical modules that correlated highly with CAG length and age, and that were preserved in HD models and sometimes in patients. Top striatal modules implicated mHtt CAG length and age in graded impairment in the expression of identity genes for striatal medium spiny neurons and in dysregulation of cyclic AMP signaling, cell death and protocadherin genes. We used proteomics to confirm 790 genes and 5 striatal modules with CAG length-dependent dysregulation at the protein level, and validated 22 striatal module genes as modifiers of mHtt toxicities in vivo

The choice of self-rated health measures matter when predicting mortality: evidence from 10 years follow-up of the Australian longitudinal study of ageing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Self-rated health (SRH) measures with different wording and reference points are often used as equivalent health indicators in public health surveys estimating health outcomes such as healthy life expectancies and mortality for older adults. Whilst the robust relationship between SRH and mortality is well established, it is not known how comparable different SRH items are in their relationship to mortality over time. We used a dynamic evaluation model to investigate the sensitivity of time-varying SRH measures with different reference points to predict mortality in older adults over time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used seven waves of data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (1992 to 2004; N = 1733, 52.6% males). Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between three time-varying SRH measures (global, age-comparative and self-comparative reference point) with mortality in older adults (65+ years).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After accounting for other mortality risk factors, poor global SRH ratings increased mortality risk by 2.83 times compared to excellent ratings. In contrast, the mortality relationship with age-comparative and self-comparative SRH was moderated by age, revealing that these comparative SRH measures did not independently predict mortality for adults over 75 years of age in adjusted models.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We found that a global measure of SRH not referenced to age or self is the best predictor of mortality, and is the most reliable measure of self-perceived health for longitudinal research and population health estimates of healthy life expectancy in older adults. Findings emphasize that the SRH measures are not equivalent measures of health status.</p

Complex patterns of human antisera reactivity to novel 2009 H1N1 and historical H1N1 influenza strains

Background: During the 2009 influenza pandemic, individuals over the age of 60 had the lowest incidence of infection with approximately 25% of these people having pre-existing, cross-reactive antibodies to novel 2009 H1N1 influenza isolates. It was proposed that older people had pre-existing antibodies induced by previous 1918-like virus infection(s) that cross-reacted to novel H1N1 strains. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using antisera collected from a cohort of individuals collected before the second wave of novel H1N1 infections, only a minority of individuals with 1918 influenza specific antibodies also demonstrated hemagglutination-inhibition activity against the novel H1N1 influenza. In this study, we examined human antisera collected from individuals that ranged between the ages of 1 month and 90 years to determine the profile of seropositive influenza immunity to viruses representing H1N1 antigenic eras over the past 100 years. Even though HAI titers to novel 2009 H1N1 and the 1918 H1N1 influenza viruses were positively associated, the association was far from perfect, particularly for the older and younger age groups. Conclusions/Significance: Therefore, there may be a complex set of immune responses that are retained in people infected with seasonal H1N1 that can contribute to the reduced rates of H1N1 influenza infection in older populations. © 2012 Carter et al

Systems Biology of the qa Gene Cluster in Neurospora crassa

An ensemble of genetic networks that describe how the model fungal system, Neurospora crassa, utilizes quinic acid (QA) as a sole carbon source has been identified previously. A genetic network for QA metabolism involves the genes, qa-1F and qa-1S, that encode a transcriptional activator and repressor, respectively and structural genes, qa-2, qa-3, qa-4, qa-x, and qa-y. By a series of 4 separate and independent, model-guided, microarray experiments a total of 50 genes are identified as QA-responsive and hypothesized to be under QA-1F control and/or the control of a second QA-responsive transcription factor (NCU03643) both in the fungal binuclear Zn(II)2Cys6 cluster family. QA-1F regulation is not sufficient to explain the quantitative variation in expression profiles of the 50 QA-responsive genes. QA-responsive genes include genes with products in 8 mutually connected metabolic pathways with 7 of them one step removed from the tricarboxylic (TCA) Cycle and with 7 of them one step removed from glycolysis: (1) starch and sucrose metabolism; (2) glycolysis/glucanogenesis; (3) TCA Cycle; (4) butanoate metabolism; (5) pyruvate metabolism; (6) aromatic amino acid and QA metabolism; (7) valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation; and (8) transport of sugars and amino acids. Gene products both in aromatic amino acid and QA metabolism and transport show an immediate response to shift to QA, while genes with products in the remaining 7 metabolic modules generally show a delayed response to shift to QA. The additional QA-responsive cutinase transcription factor-1β (NCU03643) is found to have a delayed response to shift to QA. The series of microarray experiments are used to expand the previously identified genetic network describing the qa gene cluster to include all 50 QA-responsive genes including the second transcription factor (NCU03643). These studies illustrate new methodologies from systems biology to guide model-driven discoveries about a core metabolic network involving carbon and amino acid metabolism in N. crassa

An IFNγ/CXCL2 regulatory pathway determines lesion localization during EAE

Abstract Background Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-reactive T-helper (Th)1 cells induce conventional experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (cEAE), characterized by ascending paralysis and monocyte-predominant spinal cord infiltrates, in C57BL/6 wildtype (WT) hosts. The same T cells induce an atypical form of EAE (aEAE), characterized by ataxia and neutrophil-predominant brainstem infiltrates, in syngeneic IFNγ receptor (IFNγR)-deficient hosts. Production of ELR+ CXC chemokines within the CNS is required for the development of aEAE, but not cEAE. The cellular source(s) and localization of ELR+ CXC chemokines in the CNS and the IFNγ-dependent pathways that regulate their production remain to be elucidated. Methods The spatial distribution of inflammatory lesions and CNS expression of the ELR+ CXC chemokines, CXCL1 and CXCL2, were determined via immunohistochemistry and/or in situ hybridization. Levels of CXCL1 and CXCL2, and their cognate receptor CXCR2, were measured in/on leukocyte subsets by flow cytometric and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis. Bone marrow neutrophils and macrophages were cultured with inflammatory stimuli in vitro prior to measurement of CXCL2 and CXCR2 by qPCR or flow cytometry. Results CNS-infiltrating neutrophils and monocytes, and resident microglia, are a prominent source of CXCL2 in the brainstem of IFNγRKO adoptive transfer recipients during aEAE. In WT transfer recipients, IFNγ directly suppresses CXCL2 transcription in microglia and myeloid cells, and CXCR2 transcription in CNS-infiltrating neutrophils. Consequently, infiltration of the brainstem parenchyma from the adjacent meninges is blocked during cEAE. CXCL2 directly stimulates its own expression in cultured neutrophils, which is enhanced by IL-1 and suppressed by IFNγ. Conclusions We provide evidence for an IFNγ-regulated CXCR2/CXCL2 autocrine/paracrine feedback loop in innate immune cells that determines the location of CNS infiltrates during Th1-mediated EAE. When IFNγ signaling is impaired, myeloid cell production of CXCL2 increases, which promotes brainstem inflammation and results in clinical ataxia. IFNγ, produced within the CNS of WT recipients, suppresses myeloid cell CXCR2 and CXCL2 production, thereby skewing the location of neuroinflammatory infiltrates to the spinal cord and the clinical phenotype to an ascending paralysis. These data reveal a novel mechanism by which IFNγ and CXCL2 interact to direct regional recruitment of leukocytes in the CNS, resulting in distinct clinical presentations.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145159/1/12974_2018_Article_1237.pd

GAMA/XXL: X-ray point sources in low-luminosity galaxies in the GAMA G02/XXL-N field

Relatively few X-ray sources are known that have low-mass galaxies as hosts. This is an important restriction on studies of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), hence black holes, and of X-ray binaries (XRBs) in low-mass galaxies; addressing it requires very large samples of both galaxies and X-ray sources. Here, we have matched the X-ray point sources found in the XXL-N field of the XXL survey (with an X-ray flux limit of  ∼6 x 10-15 erg s-1cm-2 in the [0.5-2] keV band) to galaxies with redshifts from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) G02 survey field (down to a magnitude limit r = 19.8) in order to search for AGNs and XRBs in GAMA galaxies, particularly those of low optical luminosity or stellar mass (fainter than Mr = -19 or M*  ≲ 109.5 M⊙). Out of a total of 1200 low-mass galaxies in the overlap region, we find a total of 28 potential X-ray source hosts, though this includes possible background contaminants. From a combination of photometry (optical and infrared colours), positional information, and optical spectra, we deduce that most of the ≃ 20 X-ray sources genuinely in low-mass galaxies are high-mass X-ray binaries in star-forming galaxies. None of the matched sources in a low-mass galaxy has a BPT classification as an AGN, and even ignoring this requirement, none passes both criteria of close match between the X-ray source position and optical galaxy centre (separation 40.3ergs-1).</p

The XXL Survey: XXII. The XXL-North spectrophotometric sample and galaxy stellar mass function in X-ray detected groups and clusters

The fraction of galaxies bound in groups in the nearby Universe is high (50% at z~0). Systematic studies of galaxy properties in groups are important in order to improve our understanding of the evolution of galaxies and of the physical phenomena occurring within this environment. We have built a complete spectrophotometric sample of galaxies within X-ray detected, optically spectroscopically confirmed groups and clusters (G&C), covering a wide range of halo masses at z<= 0.6. In the context of the XXL survey, we analyse a sample of 164 G&C in the XXL-North region (XXL-N), at z <= 0.6, with a wide range of virial masses (1.24 x 10^13 <=M_500 M_sun <= 6.63 x 10^14) and X-ray luminosities ( 2.27 x 10^41 <= L^XXL_500 (erg/s)<= 2.15 x10^44). The G&C are X-ray selected and spectroscopically confirmed. We describe the membership assignment and the spectroscopic completeness analysis, and compute stellar masses. As a first scientific exploitation of the sample, we study the dependence of the galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) on global environment. We present a spectrophotometric characterisation of the G&C and their galaxies. The final sample contains 132 G&C, 22111 field galaxies and 2225 G&C galaxies with r-band magnitude <20. Of the G&C, 95% have at least three spectroscopic members, and 70% at least ten. The shape of the GSMF seems not to depend on environment (field versus G&C) or X-ray luminosity ( used as a proxy for the virial mass of the system). These results are confirmed by the study of the correlation between mean stellar mass of G&C members and L^XXL_500.We release the spectrophotometric catalogue of galaxies with all the quantities computed in this work. As a first homogeneous census of galaxies within X-ray spectroscopically confirmed G&C at these redshifts, this sample will allow environmental studies of the evolution of galaxy properties

Increased noise levels have different impacts on the anti-predator behaviour of two sympatric fish species.

types: Journal ArticleCopyright: © 2014 Voellmy et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Animals must avoid predation to survive and reproduce, and there is increasing evidence that man-made (anthropogenic) factors can influence predator-prey relationships. Anthropogenic noise has been shown to have a variety of effects on many species, but work investigating the impact on anti-predator behaviour is rare. In this laboratory study, we examined how additional noise (playback of field recordings of a ship passing through a harbour), compared with control conditions (playback of recordings from the same harbours without ship noise), affected responses to a visual predatory stimulus. We compared the anti-predator behaviour of two sympatric fish species, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and the European minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus), which share similar feeding and predator ecologies, but differ in their body armour. Effects of additional-noise playbacks differed between species: sticklebacks responded significantly more quickly to the visual predatory stimulus during additional-noise playbacks than during control conditions, while minnows exhibited no significant change in their response latency. Our results suggest that elevated noise levels have the potential to affect anti-predator behaviour of different species in different ways. Future field-based experiments are needed to confirm whether this effect and the interspecific difference exist in relation to real-world noise sources, and to determine survival and population consequences.University of BristolBasler Stiftung für Biologische ForschungDefr