Universíada 99: Una reflexió per al futur

Abstract not availabl

An on-line school-based randomised controlled trial to prevent non-specific low back pain in children.

[eng] Objectives: This manuscript describes the rationale and protocol for an on-line, school-based randomised controlled trial of Projecte d'Educació Postural a l'Escola (Postural Education in School Project' (PEPE) which aims to prevent non-specific low back pain and promote healthy postural habits in children. The study will examine the effects of the intervention on back care knowledge, daily postural habits (DPH) and the correct use of backpacks. Design: Randomised controlled trial informed by self-determination theory (SDT) and the social-ecological model (SEM). Setting: A total of 880 students attending 10 primary schools (five experimental and five control) from different Majorcan cities will participate in this study. Method: The intervention (on-line 12-week intervention for class teachers, physical education teachers and families) will be conducted by the research staff; a control group will continue their routine activities. Physical fitness (PF) levels will be measured by a modified version of the ALPHA Fitness test battery for children while back care knowledge and other study variables will be measured by a self-reported on-line questionnaire at baseline and post-intervention. The primary outcomes will be PF, backpack weight, back care knowledge and DPH. Conclusion: Findings will provide a comprehensive understanding of the short-term effects of this school-based intervention on back care knowledge, DPH, the correct use of backpacks and PF levels in Majorcan childre

Bayesian networks to identify statistical dependencies. A case study of Spanish university students’ habits

<p><i>Objective</i>: The present study sought to discover the relationships among different features characterizing Spanish university students’ habits through a Bayesian network (BN). The set of features with the strongest influence in specific features can be determined. <i>Methods</i>: A BN was built from a dataset composed of 13 relevant features, determining the dependencies and conditional independencies from empirical data in a multivariate context. The structure was learned with the <i>bnlearn</i> package in R language introducing prior knowledge, and the parameters were obtained with Netica software. Three reasoning patterns were considered to make inferences: <i>intercausal, evidential</i>, and <i>causal</i> reasoning. <i>Results</i>: BN determined the different relationships. Through inference several conclusions were achieved, for instance a high probability value of physical activity in low state was obtained when active peers were instantiated to none state, self-rated fitness to fair state, bmi to normal weight, sitting time to moderate, age to 22–25, and gender to woman state. <i>Conclusions</i>: Bayesian networks may help to characterize Spanish University students’ habits.</p

A single question of parent-reported physical activity levels estimates objectively measured physical fitness and body composition in preschool children: the PREFIT project

[eng] Physical inactivity is recognized as a determinant of low physical fitness and body composition in preschool children, which in turn, are important markers of health through the lifespan. Objective methods to assess physical activity, physical fitness and body composition in preschool children are preferable; however, they have some practical limitations in the school context. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test whether a single question regarding physical activity level of preschool children, reported by their parents, could be used as an alternative screening tool of physical fitness and body composition. The information was obtained from 10 different cities throughout Spain, gathering a total of 3179 healthy preschool children (52.8% boys and 47.2% girls) aged 3-5 years. Physical activity levels of preschool children were reported by parents using a single question with five response options (very low, low, average, high, or very high). Physical fitness and body composition were assessed with the PREFIT fitness battery. The results showed that parents' perception of their children's physical activity was positively associated with all objectively measured physical fitness components (βrange = -0.094 to 0.113; all p < 0.020); and negatively with body composition indicators as measured (βrange = -0.113 to -0.058; all p < 0.001). The results showed significant differences in all physical fitness and body composition z-scores across the parent-reported physical activity levels (all p < 0.017 and all p < 0.001, respectively), as well as, for the fitness index (p < 0.001). Our study suggests that in school settings with insufficient resources to objectively assess fitness and body composition, parents-reported physical activity level by means of a single question might provide useful information about these important health markers in preschool children

Uncoupling DNA damage from chromatin damage to detoxify doxorubicin

The anthracycline doxorubicin (Doxo) and its analogs daunorubicin (Daun), epirubicin (Epi), and idarubicin (Ida) have been cornerstones of anticancer therapy for nearly five decades. However, their clinical application is limited by severe side effects, especially dose-dependent irreversible cardiotoxicity. Other detrimental side effects of anthracyclines include therapy-related malignancies and infertility. It is unclear whether these side effects are coupled to the chemotherapeutic efficacy. Doxo, Daun, Epi, and Ida execute two cellular activities: DNA damage, causing double-strand breaks (DSBs) following poisoning of topoisomerase II (Topo II), and chromatin damage, mediated through histone eviction at selected sites in the genome. Here we report that anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity requires the combination of both cellular activities. Topo II poisons with either one of the activities fail to induce cardiotoxicity in mice and human cardiac microtissues, as observed for aclarubicin (Acla) and etoposide (Etop). Further, we show that Doxo can be detoxified by chemically separating these two activities. Anthracycline variants that induce chromatin damage without causing DSBs maintain similar anticancer potency in cell lines, mice, and human acute myeloid leukemia patients, implying that chromatin damage constitutes a major cytotoxic mechanism of anthracyclines. With these anthracyclines abstained from cardiotoxicity and therapy-related tumors, we thus uncoupled the side effects from anticancer efficacy. These results suggest that anthracycline variants acting primarily via chromatin damage may allow prolonged treatment of cancer patients and will improve the quality of life of cancer survivors