High-intensity activity is more strongly associated with metabolic health in children compared to sedentary time: a cross-sectional study of the I.Family cohort

Background: Physical activity (PA) during childhood is important for preventing future metabolic syndrome (MetS). To examine the relationship between PA and MetS in more detail, accurate measures of PA are needed. Previous studies have only utilized a small part of the information available from accelerometer measured PA. This study investigated the association between measured PA and MetS in children with a new method for data processing and analyses that enable more detailed interpretation of PA intensity level. Methods: The association between PA pattern and risk factors related to MetS was investigated in a cross- sectional sample of children (n = 2592, mean age 10.9 years, 49.4% male) participating in the European multicenter I. Family study. The risk factors examined include body mass index, blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, insulin resistance and a combined risk factor score (MetS score). PA was measured by triaxial accelerometers and raw data was processed using the 10 Hz frequency extended method (FEM). The PA output was divided into an intensity spectrum and the association with MetS risk factors was analyzed by partial least squares regression. Results: PA patterns differed between the European countries investigated, with Swedish children being most active and Italian children least active. Moderate intensity physical activity was associated with lower insulin resistance (R2 = 2.8%), while vigorous intensity physical activity was associated with lower body mass index (R2 = 3.6%), MetS score (R2 = 3.1%) and higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (R2 = 2.3%). PA of all intensities was associated with lower systolic- and diastolic blood pressure, although the associations were weaker than for the other risk factors (R2 = 1.5% and R2 = 1.4%). However, the multivariate analysis implies that the entire PA pattern must be considered. The main difference in PA was observed between normal weight and overweight children. Conclusions: The present study suggests a greater importance of more PA corresponding to an intensity of at least brisk walking with inclusion of high-intense exercise, rather than a limited time spent sedentary, in the association to metabolic health in children. The methods of data processing and statistical analysis enabled accurate analysis and interpretation of the health benefits of high intensity PA that have not been shown previously. © 2021, The Author(s)

Metaphor and intertextuality in media framings of the (1984-85) British Miners' Strike:a multimodal analysis

The British Miners’ Strike of 1984-1985 represents one of the most pivotal periods in British industrial relations. Media stance toward the miners remains a controversial issue today, as attested by recent publications looking back at the strike (Williams 2009a, 2014). Here, authors including miners, journalists and other commentators argue that media coverage of the strike followed a consistently anti trade union agenda in which the media sought to destabilise the strike. An internal BBC report only recently made public shows that the BBC themselves had concerns over possible imbalances in their coverage of the so-called ‘Battle of Orgreave’ (Harcup 2014). Despite the weight attached to media coverage in this context, however, surprisingly little research has been conducted from a discourse-analytical perspective to show systematically and empirically how such an agenda may have been manifested across media texts. In this paper, drawing on Critical Cognitive Linguistics, I show how one particular metaphorical framing of the strike, which construed the strike as a war between the State and the National Union of Miners, persisted through the year long period and consider the potential ideological functions of this framing in media strategies of (de)legitimation. I show how this metaphor featured in linguistic, visual and multimodal forms of media representatio

Endocrine Activity of Extraembryonic Membranes Extends beyond Placental Amniotes

BACKGROUND. During development, all amniotes (mammals, reptiles, and birds) form extraembryonic membranes, which regulate gas and water exchange, remove metabolic wastes, provide shock absorption, and transfer maternally derived nutrients. In viviparous (live-bearing) amniotes, both extraembryonic membranes and maternal uterine tissues contribute to the placenta, an endocrine organ that synthesizes, transports, and metabolizes hormones essential for development. Historically, endocrine properties of the placenta have been viewed as an innovation of placental amniotes. However, an endocrine role of extraembryonic membranes has not been investigated in oviparous (egg-laying) amniotes despite similarities in their basic structure, function, and shared evolutionary ancestry. In this study, we ask whether the oviparous chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of chicken (Gallus gallus) has the capability to synthesize and receive signaling of progesterone, a major placental steroid hormone. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. We quantified mRNA expression of key steroidogenic enzymes involved in progesterone synthesis and found that 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, which converts pregnenolone to progesterone exhibited a 464 fold increase in the CAM from day 8 to day 18 of embryonic development (F5, 68=89.282, p<0.0001). To further investigate progesterone synthesis, we performed explant culture and found that the CAM synthesizes progesterone in vitro in the presence of a steroid precursor. Finally, we quantified mRNA expression and performed protein immunolocalization of the progesterone receptor in the CAM. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE. Collectively, our data indicate that the chick CAM is steroidogenic and has the capability to both synthesize progesterone and receive progesterone signaling. These findings represent a paradigm shift in evolutionary reproductive biology by suggesting that endocrine activity of extraembryonic membranes is not a novel characteristic of placental amniotes. Rather, we hypothesize that these membranes may share an additional unifying characteristic, steroidogenesis, across amniotes at large.Sigma Xi (G20073141634396861); National Science Foundation (2008059161); UF-Howard Hughes G.A.T.O.R. Program; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professorshi

Hybridization but No Evidence for Backcrossing and Introgression in a Sympatric Population of Great Reed Warblers and Clamorous Reed Warblers

Hybridization is observed frequently in birds, but often it is not known whether the hybrids are fertile and if backcrossing occurs. The breeding ranges of the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) and the clamorous reed warbler (A. stentoreus) overlap in southern Kazakhstan and a previous study has documented hybridization in a sympatric population. In the present study, we first present a large set of novel microsatellite loci isolated and characterised in great reed warblers. Secondly, we evaluate whether hybridization in the sympatric breeding population has been followed by backcrossing and introgression

Differential effects of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone and estradiol on carotenoid deposition in an avian sexually selected signal

Recent studies have demonstrated that carotenoid-based traits are under the control of testosterone (T) by up-regulation of carotenoid carriers (lipoproteins) and/or tissue-specific uptake of carotenoids. T can be converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and estradiol (E2), and variation in conversion rate may partly explain some contradictory findings in the literature. Moreover, most studies on the effect of T on sexual signals have focused on the male sex only, while in many species females show the same signal, albeit to a lesser extent. We studied the effects of T, DHT, and E2 treatment in male and female diamond doves Geopelia cuneata in which both sexes have an enlarged red eye ring, which is more pronounced in males. We first showed that this periorbital ring contains very high concentration of carotenoids, of which most are lutein esters. Both T and DHT were effective in enhancing hue, UV-chroma and size in both sexes, while E2 was ineffective. However, E2 dramatically increased the concentration of circulating lipoproteins. We conclude that in both sexes both color and size of the secondary sexual trait are androgen dependent. The action of androgens is independent of lipoproteins regulation. Potential mechanisms and their consequences for trade-off are discussed

Trust, Salience and Deterrence: Evidence from an Antitrust Experiment

We present results from a laboratory experiment identifying the main channels through which different law enforcement strategies deter organized economic crime. The absolute level of a fine has a strong deterrence effect, even when the exogenous probability of apprehension is zero. This effect appears to be driven by distrust or fear of betrayal, as it increases significantly when the incentives to betray partners are strengthened by policies offering amnesty to “turncoat whistleblowers”. We also document a strong deterrence effect of the sum of fines paid in the past, which suggests a significant role for salience or availability heuristic in law enforcement

Avian W and mammalian Y chromosomes convergently retained dosage-sensitive regulators

After birds diverged from mammals, different ancestral autosomes evolved into sex chromosomes in each lineage. In birds, females are ZW and males are ZZ, but in mammals females are XX and males are XY. We sequenced the chicken W chromosome, compared its gene content with our reconstruction of the ancestral autosomes, and followed the evolutionary trajectory of ancestral W-linked genes across birds. Avian W chromosomes evolved in parallel with mammalian Y chromosomes, preserving ancestral genes through selection to maintain the dosage of broadly expressed regulators of key cellular processes. We propose that, like the human Y chromosome, the chicken W chromosome is essential for embryonic viability of the heterogametic sex. Unlike other sequenced sex chromosomes, the chicken W chromosome did not acquire and amplify genes specifically expressed in reproductive tissues. We speculate that the pressures that drive the acquisition of reproduction-related genes on sex chromosomes may be specific to the male germ line

The interplay between gonadal steroids and immune defence in affecting a carotenoid-dependent trait

The hypothesis that sexual ornaments are honest signals of quality because their expression is dependent on hormones with immune-depressive effects has received ambiguous support. The hypothesis might be correct for those signals that are carotenoid-dependent because the required carotenoid deposition in the signal, stimulated by testosterone, might lower the carotenoid-dependent immune defence of the organism. Two pathways underlying this androgen-dependent honest signaling have been suggested. Firstly, androgens that are needed for ornament expression may suppress immune defence, a cost that only high-quality animals can afford. Alternatively, immune activation may downregulate the production of androgens in low-quality individuals. Which of these alternatives is correct, and to what extent these effects are mediated by the different metabolites of androgens, remain open questions. To provide answers to these questions, we manipulated the levels of testosterone (T), 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and 17-β-estradiol (E2) in diamond doves Geopelia cuneata, a species in which both sexes exhibit a carotenoid-dependent, androgen-regulated red–orange periorbital ring of bare skin. On the first day of the experiment (day 0), we inserted steroid-releasing implants into groups of birds and on day 14, we subjected half of the birds to an immunological challenge by immunizing them with sheep red blood cells (SRBC). In females, but not in males, androgen but not estradiol treatments reduced antibody production to SRBC. In addition, the immunological challenge reduced redness and size of the trait as well as androgens levels in both sexes and in all treatments. This indicates that an immunological challenge can lower circulating T at the cost of the trait expression. These findings are in accordance with both pathways postulated in the immunocompetence-handicap hypothesis, but do not entirely support the idea that the immunosuppressive effect of androgens yields honest signaling since both T and DHT were not immunosuppressive in males, for which sexual signaling is supposed to be especially important

Antioxidant Machinery Differs between Melanic and Light Nestlings of Two Polymorphic Raptors

Colour polymorphism results from the expression of multiallelic genes generating phenotypes with very distinctive colourations. Most colour polymorphisms are due to differences in the type or amount of melanins present in each morph, which also differ in several behavioural, morphometric and physiological attributes. Melanin-based colour morphs could also differ in the levels of glutathione (GSH), a key intracellular antioxidant, because of the role of this molecule in melanogenesis. As GSH inhibits the synthesis of eumelanin (i.e. the darkest melanin form), individuals of darker morphs are expected to have lower GSH levels than those of lighter morphs. We tested this prediction in nestlings of two polymorphic raptors, the booted eagle Hieraaetus pennatus and the Eleonora's falcon Falco eleonorae, both of which occur in two morphs differing in the extent of eumelanic plumage. As expected, melanic booted eagle nestlings had lower blood GSH levels than light morph eagle nestlings. In the Eleonora's falcon, however, melanic nestlings only had lower GSH levels after controlling for the levels of other antioxidants. We also found that melanic female eagle nestlings had higher levels of antioxidants other than GSH and were in better body condition than light female eagle nestlings. These findings suggest an adaptive response of melanic nestlings to compensate for reduced GSH levels. Nevertheless, these associations were not found in falcons, indicating species-specific particularities in antioxidant machinery. Our results are consistent with previous work revealing the importance of GSH on the expression of melanic characters that show continuous variation, and suggest that this pathway also applies to discrete colour morphs. We suggest that the need to maintain low GSH levels for eumelanogenesis in dark morph individuals may represent a physiological constraint that helps regulate the evolution and maintenance of polymorphisms