Correlation of sleep quality with anthropometric parameters in young healthy individuals

Background: Obesity, which is the harbinger of various diseases, is considered as the epidemic of this era. Various lifestyle changes have resulted in a younger generation being prone to obesity. On investigating the etiology of obesity in young individuals, besides the change in food habits, sleep has also found a place. Various investigators have come up with conflicting results regarding the correlation between sleep and anthropometric parameters. In this backdrop, the present study was planned to analyze the correlation of sleep quality with anthropometric parameters.Methods: 100 first year MBBS students were given the Pittsburgh sleep questionnaire which gives a self-reported assessment of their sleep quality. Anthropometric parameters of the students were recorded along with body fat analysis using Omron body fat analyzer. The results obtained were tabulated and analyzed.Results: Out of the 100 students 45 were found to be poor sleepers. On analyzing the anthropometric parameters, no significant difference was noted between good sleepers and poor sleepers. The body fat content also did not show any significant difference between the two groups.Conclusions: The findings of the present study show a nonmonotonic relationship between sleep quality and anthropometric parameters. This shows that the response of the adolescent population may differ in comparison with other groups. Hence it is recommended that the poor sleepers in the adolescent group need to be followed up in future.

Cadmium Induced Metallothionein Synthesis in Liver of Oreochromis niloticus [Linnaeus, 1758]

Objective(s):Metallothionein (MT) are potential biomarkers that reflect the presence of heavy metals in the ecosystem/food chain.  Their synthesis has been observed to be elevated after heavy metal exposure in aquatic organisms. OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS (O. niloticus) is a globally important aquaculture species. Hence the objective of this study was to determine the Cadmium (Cd) levels and MT induction in liver tissue of O. niloticus, to study the relationship between tissue-specific Cd accumulation and MT induction and hence correlate MTs protective role against Cadmium Method(s): Cd accumulation and MT induction levels were determined according to the methods of Ma et al., 2007. Cd concentration was determined using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer Optima-5300 DV). Findings: At specific sub lethal Cadmium exposure, w.r.t time, MT induction levels were found to be increase correspondingly to Cd levels in liver tissue. The accumulation of Cd levels in liver tissue is seen to be time and dose dependent. A positive correlation between MT induction and Cd accumulation was observed. The results suggest that MT in the liver could play a role in trapping and binding Cd and its subsequent elimination. Hence, the present investigation reveals that heavy metal induced MT levels can be considered as a biomarker for waterborne Cd contamination. A positive correlation between cadmium accumulation and MT synthesis in the liver tissue of the experimental animal is an indicator of the role of MT in heavy metal sequestration and adaptation to heavy metal contaminated ecosystems. Novelty: The results suggest that MT in the liver could play an important role by binding to Cd and its subsequent elimination. Hence, the present investigation reveals that heavy metal induced MT levels can be considered as a biomarker for waterborne Cd contamination. &nbsp

Isolate, Purify And Characterise Metallothionein From The Hepatic Cells Of Oreochromis Niloticus [ Linnaeus, 1758]

Objective(s): The present study intends to isolate and purify Metallothionein extracted from the liver tissue of Oreochromis niloticus exposed to Cadmium. Study of MT will help to know its protective role against Cadmium Method(s): Acclimatised fishes were treated with sub - lethal concentration of Cadmium to induce the synthesis of Metallothionein. MT was isolated and purified from fish liver by affinity chromatography from differential distribution (3KD – 43KD) across eluted fractions. Molecular weight of the purified elute was analysed by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and Peptide Mass Fingerprinting and confirmed to be Metallothionein. Findings: Different elute fractions were obtained from the MT specific Affinity Column chromatography. At each fraction-by-fraction purification led to obtaining a single band in the seventh elute fraction. This single band was analysed using MALDI-TOF. Trypsin digestion produced a fragmented peptide mass spectrum. The mass spectrogram revealed a single peak, indicating purified MT protein with a molecular weight of 6140.52 Daltons (~6.2 kDa). The finding contributes valuable insights into Metallothionein structure and properties, and understanding its role in metal detoxification and stress regulating cellular processes. Novelty: Molecular weight of the Metallothionein from liver tissue of Oreochromis niloticus was found using MALDI-TOF. This method is a simple way to isolate and purify low molecular weight protein like MT. &nbsp

The effect of waist hip ratio on the various stress types in I year Indian medical students

Background: A medical student faces tremendous academic and non-academic stress owing to the vast curriculum and inadequate time. The impact of stress results in detrimental mental and physical health which is assessed here using stress questionnaires and anthropometric parameters. Stress need not be only academic.  Hence it becomes vital to identify and target the specific and common non-academic stressors to enable the students to have a stress-free learning environment. The objective of this study was to find the inter relationship between waist hip ratio (WHR) and various stressors the student is exposed to.Methods: 97 I year medical students participated in this cross-sectional study and were administered the medical student stress questionnaire (MSSQ), a validated tool and the anthropometric measurements (waist and hip circumference, waist hip ratio, body mass index) were taken. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.Results: The study showed a negative correlation of WHR with all the stress parameters of which inter personal relationship stress (IRS) and teaching learning related stress (TLRS) were significant.Conclusions: Increasing the duration of I year MBBS course and helping learners acclimatize to the new study environment may help in reducing stress. Stress relaxation techniques, psychological counselling and strengthening the mentor- mentee programs along with exercise regimen may aid in the stress reduction process and facilitate physical health.

BCX4430 – A broad-spectrum antiviral adenosine nucleoside analog under development for the treatment of Ebola virus disease

SummaryThe adenosine nucleoside analog BCX4430 is a direct-acting antiviral drug under investigation for the treatment of serious and life-threatening infections from highly pathogenic viruses, such as the Ebola virus. Cellular kinases phosphorylate BCX4430 to a triphosphate that mimics ATP; viral RNA polymerases incorporate the drug's monophosphate nucleotide into the growing RNA chain, causing premature chain termination. BCX4430 is active in vitro against many RNA viral pathogens, including the filoviruses and emerging infectious agents such as MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. In vivo, BCX4430 is active after intramuscular, intraperitoneal, and oral administration in a variety of experimental infections. In nonclinical studies involving lethal infections with Ebola virus, Marburg virus, Rift Valley fever virus, and Yellow Fever virus, BCX4430 has demonstrated pronounced efficacy. In experiments conducted in several models, both a reduction in the viral load and an improvement in survival were found to be related to the dose of BCX4430. A Phase 1 clinical trial of intramuscular administration of BCX4430 in healthy subjects is currently ongoing

A Dynamic Model of Interactions of Ca^(2+), Calmodulin, and Catalytic Subunits of Ca^(2+)/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II

During the acquisition of memories, influx of Ca^(2+) into the postsynaptic spine through the pores of activated N-methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptors triggers processes that change the strength of excitatory synapses. The pattern of Ca^(2+) influx during the first few seconds of activity is interpreted within the Ca^(2+)-dependent signaling network such that synaptic strength is eventually either potentiated or depressed. Many of the critical signaling enzymes that control synaptic plasticity, including Ca^(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), are regulated by calmodulin, a small protein that can bind up to 4 Ca^(2+) ions. As a first step toward clarifying how the Ca^(2+)-signaling network decides between potentiation or depression, we have created a kinetic model of the interactions of Ca^(2+), calmodulin, and CaMKII that represents our best understanding of the dynamics of these interactions under conditions that resemble those in a postsynaptic spine. We constrained parameters of the model from data in the literature, or from our own measurements, and then predicted time courses of activation and autophosphorylation of CaMKII under a variety of conditions. Simulations showed that species of calmodulin with fewer than four bound Ca^(2+) play a significant role in activation of CaMKII in the physiological regime, supporting the notion that processing ofCa^(2+) signals in a spine involves competition among target enzymes for binding to unsaturated species of CaM in an environment in which the concentration of Ca^(2+) is fluctuating rapidly. Indeed, we showed that dependence of activation on the frequency of Ca^(2+) transients arises from the kinetics of interaction of fluctuating Ca^(2+) with calmodulin/CaMKII complexes. We used parameter sensitivity analysis to identify which parameters will be most beneficial to measure more carefully to improve the accuracy of predictions. This model provides a quantitative base from which to build more complex dynamic models of postsynaptic signal transduction during learning

Two loop electroweak corrections to Bˉ→Xsγ\bar B\rightarrow X_s\gamma and Bs0→μ+μ−B_s^0\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^- in the B-LSSM

The rare decays $\bar B\rightarrow X_s\gamma$ and $B_s^0\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$ are important to research new physics beyond standard model. In this work, we investigate two loop electroweak corrections to $\bar B\rightarrow X_s\gamma$ and $B_s^0\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$ in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the SM with local $B-L$ gauge symmetry (B-LSSM), under a minimal flavor violating assumption for the soft breaking terms. In this framework, new particles and new definition of squarks can affect the theoretical predictions of these two processes, with respect to the MSSM. Considering the constraints from updated experimental data, the numerical results show that the B-LSSM can fit the experimental data for the branching ratios of $\bar B\rightarrow X_s\gamma$ and $B_s^0\rightarrow \mu^+\mu^-$. The results of the rare decays also further constrain the parameter space of the B-LSSM.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figures, Published in EPJ

Cross-sectional Survey of Medical student perceptions of And desires for Research and Training pathways (SMART): an analysis of prospective cohort study of UK medical students

Objective: Clinician-scientists are critical to medical innovation and research. However, the number of clinician scientists in the UK has been declining steadily over the last decade. One of the cited reasons is poor student recruitment to academic training pathways. The SMART study aims to assess current student perceptions on research and identify key factors influencing whether a student is interested in research. Design: We conducted a cross-sectional survey study between January and May 2022. Setting: This was a multi-centre national study with data collected across 40 universities offering medical courses in the UK. Participants: Participants were UK medical students enrolled in medicine for 21/22 academic year. Main outcome and measure: The main outcomes were related to participant perceptions on research and whether they were interested in engaging with research in their future career. These measures were correlated with demographic and non-demographic details using regression analyses. Results: One thousand seven hundred seventy-four individuals participated in the SMART survey from 40 medical schools. Nearly half the participants felt there were barriers preventing them from doing research (46.67%) and almost three-quarters felt it was at least somewhat difficult to combine research with medical school (73.49%). Of the options available, most commonly students did not want to pursue an academic career (43.11%) or training pathway (42.49%). However, most participants felt it was useful to do research at medical school (59.54%) and were also interested in doing more research in the future (69.16%). Regression analysis identified many factors influencing student’s perceptions of research including year of study, gender, socioeconomic status, family background, research exposure at medical school, ethnicity, and country of pre-university education. Conclusions: The SMART study is the first of its kind in the UK, shedding light on medical student perceptions. While some express strong interest in academic careers, a larger proportion show a broader interest in research. Demographic factors like gender, parental occupation, and socioeconomic status play a role. Further exploration is needed for specific groups to address barriers, promote research, and boost academic pathway recruitment

A high fat breakfast attenuates the suppression of appetite and acylated ghrelin during exercise at simulated altitude.

High-altitude exposure induces a negative energy balance by increasing resting energy expenditure and decreasing energy intake. This diminished energy intake is likely caused by altitude-induced anorexia and can have detrimental effects for those travelling to high-altitude. We aimed to investigate whether altering the macronutrient composition of breakfast could attenuate altitude-induced anorexia and augment energy intake at high-altitude. Twelve healthy men (aged 26 (8) years, body mass index 23.9 (2.7) kg·m(-2)) completed two, 305min experimental trials at 4300m simulated altitude (~11.7% O2). After an overnight fast, participants entered a normobaric hypoxic chamber and rested for one hour, before receiving either a high fat (HF; 60% fat, 25% carbohydrate) or an isocaloric high carbohydrate (HC; 60% carbohydrate, 25% fat) breakfast. One hour after breakfast, participants performed 60min of treadmill walking at 50% of relative V̇O2max. An ad-libitum buffet meal was consumed 1h 30min after exercise. Appetite perceptions, blood samples and substrate oxidation rates were measured throughout. A significantly higher area under the curve for composite appetite score was observed during exercise in HF (40 (12) mm·h(-1)) compared with HC (30 (17) mm·h(-1), P=0.036). During exercise, lower insulin concentrations (P=0.013) and elevated acylated ghrelin concentrations (P=0.048) were observed in HF compared with HC. After exercise there was no significant difference in composite appetite score (P=0.356), acylated ghrelin (P=0.229) or insulin (P=0.513) between conditions. Energy intake at the buffet did not significantly differ between conditions (P=0.384). A HF breakfast attenuated appetite suppression during exercise at 4300m simulated altitude, however ad-libitum energy intake did not increase