Nutritional Status, Dietary Practices and Physical Activities of Adolescents in Public and Private Schools of Karachi, Pakistan

A comparative study was undertaken to assess the nutritional status, dietary practices and physical activities of school going adolescents in public and private schools (PPSs) of Karachi, Pakistan. A sample of 101 boys and 100 girls from PPSs was randomly selected for their weight,height, waist and hip circumferences, percent body fat and lean body mass measurements. Adolescent boys and girls were interviewed for their dietary practices, socio-economic status, frequency and type of physical activities and their responses were recorded. Results by gender and school type revealed that both the boys and girls of private schools had a significantly lower mean age but significantly higher mean height-for-age Z-score, waist and hip circumferences than the public school adolescents. Food frequency results revealed that the frequency and patterns of breakfast, break-time snack, lunch and dinner of private school going adolescents were more diverse and nutritiously rich. Skipping breakfast was more common among adolescents being higher in girls than boys. Parents of adolescents belonging to private schools had a higher education and socio-economic status. Private school adolescents were physically more active (p<0.05) in terms of frequency and type of physical activities. The study concludes that the adolescents of private schools had a better nutritional status, consumed food and beverages of better quality and were physically more active. However, boys and girls of both the public and private schools failed to meet the national and international dietary guidelines of recommended food servings

Writing 3D In vitro models of human tendon within a biomimetic fibrillar support platform

Tendinopathies are poorly understood diseases for which treatment remains challenging. Relevant in vitro models to study human tendon physiology and pathophysiology are therefore highly needed. Here we propose the automated 3D writing of tendon microphysiological systems (MPSs) embedded in a biomimetic fibrillar support platform based on cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) self-assembly. Tendon decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) was used to formulate bioinks that closely recapitulate the biochemical signature of tendon niche. A monoculture system recreating the cellular patterns and phenotype of the tendon core was first developed and characterized. This system was then incorporated with a vascular compartment to study the crosstalk between the two cell populations. The combined biophysical and biochemical cues of the printed pattern and dECM hydrogel were revealed to be effective in inducing human-adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) differentiation toward the tenogenic lineage. In the multicellular system, chemotactic effects promoted endothelial cells migration toward the direction of the tendon core compartment, while the established cellular crosstalk boosted hASCs tenogenesis, emulating the tendon development stages. Overall, the proposed concept is a promising strategy for the automated fabrication of humanized organotypic tendon-on-chip models that will be a valuable new tool for the study of tendon physiology and pathogenesis mechanisms and for testing new tendinopathy treatments.The authors thank Hospital da Prelada (Porto, Portugal) for providing adipose tissue samples. The authors acknowledge the financial support from Project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER 000021 supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Program (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Union Framework Program for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020, under the Twinning Grant Agreement 810850-Achilles, and European Research Council Grant Agreement 772817 and 101069302, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia for the Ph.D. grant PD/BD/129403/2017 (to S.M.B.) financed through the doctoral program in Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells (TERM&SC), for Contract 2020.03410.CEECIND and 2022.05526.PTDC (to R.M.A.D.). The authors acknowledge Doctor Alberto Pardo for performing the rheology measurements of the PL bioink. The schematics in Figures 1, 2A, 4A, and 6A and Table of Contents graphic were created with BioRender.com

Differential expression of glucose transporters and hexokinases in prostate cancer with a neuroendocrine gene signature: A mechanistic perspective for 18 F-FDG imaging of PSMA-suppressed tumors

Although the incidence of de novo neuroendocrine prostate cancer (PC) is rare, recent data suggest that low expression of prostatespecific membrane antigen (PSMA) is associated with a spectrum of neuroendocrine hallmarks and androgen receptor (AR) suppression in PC. Previous clinical reports indicate that PCs with a phenotype similar to neuroendocrine tumors can be more amenable to imaging by 18F-FDG than by PSMA-targeting radioligands. In this study, we evaluated the association between neuroendocrine gene signature and 18F-FDG uptake-associated genes including glucose transporters (GLUTs) and hexokinases, with the goal of providing a genomic signature to explain the reported 18F-FDG avidity of PSMA suppressed tumors. Methods: Data-mining approaches, cell lines, and patient-derived xenograft models were used to study the levels of 14 members of the SLC2A family (encoding GLUT proteins), 4 members of the hexokinase family (genes HK1-HK3 and GCK), and PSMA (FOLH1 gene) after AR inhibition and in correlation with neuroendocrine hallmarks. Also, we characterize a neuroendocrine-like PC (NELPC) subset among a cohort of primary and metastatic PC samples with no neuroendocrine histopathology. We measured glucose uptake in a neuroendocrine-induced in vitro model and a zebrafish model by nonradioactive imaging of glucose uptake using a fluorescent glucose bioprobe, GB2-Cy3. Results: This work demonstrated that a neuroendocrine gene signature associates with differential expression of genes encoding GLUT and hexokinase proteins. In NELPC, elevated expression of GCK (encoding glucokinase protein) and decreased expression of SLC2A12 correlated with earlier biochemical recurrence. In tumors treated with AR inhibitors, high expression of GCK and low expression of SLC2A12 correlated with neuroendocrine histopathology and PSMA gene suppression. GLUT12 suppression and upregulation of glucokinase were observed in neuroendocrine- induced PC cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models. A higher glucose uptake was confirmed in low-PSMA tumors using a GB2-Cy3 probe in a zebrafish model. Conclusion: A neuroendocrine gene signature in neuroendocrine PC and NELPC associates with a distinct transcriptional profile of GLUTs and hexokinases. PSMA suppression correlates with GLUT12 suppression and glucokinase upregulation. Alteration of 18F-FDG uptake-associated genes correlated positively with higher glucose uptake in AR- and PSMA-suppressed tumors. Zebrafish xenograft tumor models are an accurate and efficient preclinical method for monitoring nonradioactive glucose uptake

Internationalization as a strategy for small and medium‐sized enterprises and the impact of regulatory environment: An emerging country perspective

This study focuses on identification, categorisation and comparison of regulatory barriers to internationalisation for the SMEs from an emerging market context. Primary data were collected to develop and validate a structural model to assess the salient regulatory barriers of internationalisation with a particular attention to the SMEs in Bangladesh. Structured questionnaire has been used to collect data from 212 SMEs operating in Bangladesh. The results indicate that both administrative and economic regulatory barriers are significant for the internationalisation of SMEs whereby administrative regulatory barriers are slightly more substantial. This study provides further discussion from both theoretical and methodological aspects. By developing and validating structural model, this study contributes to the literature on small business and regulation with particular attention to the emerging markets

Type of Fatty Acid intake, serum Lipid and Lipoprotein levels in relation to Creatinine and GFR

Correlation between fatty acids intake, serum lipid and lipoproteins with serum creatinine and kidney function in patients with renal failure has been suggested by other investigators. This relationship has not been reported for all types of fatty acids. This study was conducted to determine the association of the consumption of different type of fatty acids, serum lipid and Lipoproteins with serum creatinine and glumerular filtration rate (GFR) in healthy adult subjects residing in district 13 of Tehran. There were 15005 subjects participated in TLGS. 1470 persons were randomly selected for nutritional assessment. After excluding under- and over-reporter 486 subjects aged over 20 years remained in the study. Dietary data were collected by two 24-hour dietary recalls. Serum creatinine, total cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL were measured by Selectra 2 autoanalyzer after 12 hour fasting. GFR was calculated based on serum creatinine. Mean (±SD) of serum creatinine, cholesterol, triglyceride HDL and LDL levels and GFR were 1.04±0.16, 201±41, 153±125, 43±10, 128±37 mg/dl and 99±19 ml/min respectively. Subjects with saturated fatty acids intake of more than 10% of calorie had higher levels of serum creatinine versus the others (P<0.01, 10.8±0.009 vs. 1.03±0.2). People with oleic and linoleic acid intake of more than 10% and 1% of calorie, respectively, had higher levels of serum creatinine and GFR (P<0.01). There were significant correlation between serum cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and triglyceride with serum creatinine (P<0.05, P<0.05, P<0.001, P<0.001 respectively). According to observed correlations the control of intake of desirable amount of fatty acids and serum lipid and lipoproteins level is necessary for renal health. Keywords: Fatty acids intake, Cholesterol, Triglyceride, LDL-c, HDL-c, Serum creatinine, GF