Population-Based Estimates of Physical Activity for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Cautionary Tale of Potential Confounding by Weight Status

At a population level, the method used to determine those meeting physical activity guidelines has important implications, as estimating “sufficient” physical activity might be confounded by weight status. The objective of this study was to test the difference between three methods in estimating the prevalence of “sufficient activity” among Canadian adults with type 2 diabetes in a large population sample (N = 1614) while considering the role of weight status as a potential confounder. Our results revealed that estimates of physical activity levels vary by BMI categories, depending on the methods examined. Although physical activity levels were lower in the obese, their energy expenditure estimates were not different from those who were overweight or of a healthy weight. The implications of these findings are that biased estimates of physical activity at a population level may result in inappropriate classification of adults with type 2 diabetes as “sufficiently active” and that the inclusion of body weight in estimating physical activity prevalence should be approached with caution

Characterization of meta-Cresol Purple for spectrophotometric pH measurements in saline and hypersaline media at sub-zero temperatures

Accurate pH measurements in polar waters and sea ice brines require pH indicator dyes characterized at near-zero and below-zero temperatures and high salinities. We present experimentally determined physical and chemical characteristics of purified meta-Cresol Purple (mCP) pH indicator dye suitable for pH measurements in seawater and conservative seawater-derived brines at salinities (S) between 35 and 100 and temperatures (T) between their freezing point and 298.15 K (25 °C). Within this temperature and salinity range, using purified mCP and a novel thermostated spectrophotometric device, the pH on the total scale (pHT) can be calculated from direct measurements of the absorbance ratio R of the dye in natural samples as pHT=−log(kT2e2)+log(R−e11−Re3e2) Based on the mCP characterization in these extended conditions, the temperature and salinity dependence of the molar absorptivity ratios and − log(kT2e2) of purified mCP is described by the following functions: e1 = −0.004363 + 3.598 × 10−5T, e3/e2 = −0.016224 + 2.42851 × 10−4T + 5.05663 × 10−5(S − 35), and − log(kT2e2) = −319.8369 + 0.688159 S −0.00018374 S2 + (10508.724 − 32.9599 S + 0.059082S2) T−1 + (55.54253 − 0.101639 S) ln T −0.08112151T. This work takes the characterisation of mCP beyond the currently available ranges of 278.15 K ≤ T ≤ 308.15 K and 20 ≤ S ≤ 40 in natural seawater, thereby allowing high quality pHT measurements in polar systems

Dietary and other lifestyle characteristics of Cypriot school children: results from the nationwide CYKIDS study

Dietary and lifestyle behaviors at young ages have been associated with the development of various chronic diseases. Schools are regarded as an excellent setting for lifestyle modification; there is a lack, however, of published dietary data in Cypriot school children. Thus, the objective of this work was to describe lifestyle characteristics of a representative segment of Cypriot school children and provide implications for school health education. Methods. The CYKIDS (Cyprus Kids Study) is a national, cross-sectional study conducted among 1140 school children (10.7 0.98 years). Sampling was stratified and multistage in 24 primary schools of Cyprus. Dietary assessment was based on a 154-item semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire and three supplementary questionnaires, assessing dietary patterns and behaviors. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was evaluated by the KIDMED index (Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for children and adolescents). Physical activity was assessed by a 32-item, semi-quantitative questionnaire. Results. Analysis revealed that 6.7% of the children were classified as high adherers, whereas 37% as low adherers to the Mediterranean diet. About 20% of boys and 25% of girls reported "not having breakfast on most days of the week", while more than 80% of the children reported having meals with the family at least 5 times/week. Some food-related behaviors, such as intake of breakfast, were associated with socio-demographic factors, mostly with gender and the geomorphological characteristics of the living milieu. With respect to physical activity, boys reported higher levels compared to girls, however, one fourth of children did not report any kind of physical activity. Conclusion. A large percentage of Cypriot school children have a diet of low quality and inadequate physical activity. Public health policy makers should urgently focus their attention to primary school children and design school health education programs that target the areas that need attention in order to reduce the future burden of metabolic disorders and chronic diseases

A global compilation of coccolithophore calcification rates

The biological production of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), a process termed calcification, is a key term in the marine carbon cycle. A major planktonic group responsible for such pelagic CaCO3 production (CP) is the coccolithophores, single-celled haptophytes that inhabit the euphotic zone of the ocean. Satellite-based estimates of areal CP are limited to surface waters and open-ocean areas, with current algorithms utilising the unique optical properties of the cosmopolitan bloom-forming species Emiliania huxleyi, whereas little understanding of deep-water ecology, optical properties or environmental responses by species other than E. huxleyi is currently available to parameterise algorithms or models. To aid future areal estimations and validate future modelling efforts we have constructed a database of 2765CP measurements, the majority of which were measured using 12 to 24h incorporation of radioactive carbon (14C) into acid-labile inorganic carbon (CaCO3). We present data collated from over 30 studies covering the period from 1991 to 2015, sampling the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans. Globally, CP in surface waters ( < 20m) ranged from 0.01 to 8398µmolCm−3d−1 (with a geometric mean of 16.1µmolCm−3d−1). An integral value for the upper euphotic zone (herein surface to the depth of 1% surface irradiance) ranged from  < 0.1 to 6mmolCm−2d−1 (geometric mean 1.19mmolCm−2d−1). The full database is available for download from PANGAEA at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.888182

Individual influenza A virus mRNAs show differential dependence on cellular NXF1/TAP for their nuclear export

The influenza A virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase produces capped and polyadenylated mRNAs in the nucleus of infected cells that resemble mature cellular mRNAs, but are made by very different mechanisms. Furthermore, only two of the 10 viral protein-coding mRNAs are spliced: most are intronless, while two contain unremoved introns. The mechanism(s) by which any of these mRNAs are exported from the nucleus is uncertain. To probe the involvement of the primary cellular mRNA export pathway, we treated cells with siRNAs against NXF1, Aly or UAP56, or with the drug 5,6-dichloro-1-β-d-ribofuranosyl-benzimidazole (DRB), an inhibitor of RNA polymerase II phosphorylation previously shown to inhibit nuclear export of cellular mRNA as well as influenza virus segment 7 mRNAs. Depletion of NXF1 or DRB treatment had similar effects, inhibiting the nuclear export of several of the viral mRNAs. However, differing degrees of sensitivity were seen, depending on the particular segment examined. Intronless HA mRNA and spliced M2 or unspliced M1 transcripts (all encoding late proteins) showed a strong requirement for NXF1, while intronless early gene mRNAs, especially NP mRNA, showed the least dependency. Depletion of Aly had little effect on viral mRNA export, but reduction of UAP56 levels strongly inhibited trafficking and/or translation of the M1, M2 and NS1 mRNAs. Synthesis of NS2 from the spliced segment 8 transcript was, however, resistant. We conclude that influenza A virus co-opts the main cellular mRNA export pathway for a subset of its mRNAs, including most but not all late gene transcripts

Rates of inclusion of teenagers and young adults in England into National Cancer Research Network clinical trials: Report from the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Teenage and Young Adult Clinical Studies Development Group

Poor inclusion rates into clinical trials for teenagers and young adults (TYA; aged 13–24 years) have been assumed but not systematically investigated in England. We analysed accrual rates (AR) from 1 April 2005 up to 31 March 2007 to National Cancer Research Network (NCRN) Phase III trials for the commonest tumour types occurring in TYA and children: leukaemia, lymphoma, brain and central nervous system, bone sarcomas and male germ cell tumours. AR for 2005–2007 were 43.2% for patients aged 10–14 years, 25.2% for patients aged 15–19 years, and 13.1% for patients aged 20–24 years in the tumour types analysed. Compared with accrual from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006, AR between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007 increased for those aged 10–14 and 15–19 years, but fell for those aged 20–24 years. AR varied considerably among cancer types. Despite four trials being available, patients over 16 years with central nervous system tumours were not recruited. Rates of participation in clinical trials in England from 2005 to 2007 were much lower for TYA older than 15 years compared with children and younger teenagers. The variations in open trials, trial age eligibility criteria and extent of trial activation in treatment centres in part explain this observation. Other possible influences, such as difficulties associated with the consent of TYA require further evaluation. Closer dialogue between those involved in planning and running trials for children and for adults is necessary to improve trial availability and recruitment. Further research is required to identify trends in trial availability and accrual for those tumours constituting the remaining 26% of TYA cancers

Air-sea gas fluxes and remineralization from a novel combination of pH and O2 sensors on a glider

Accurate, low-power sensors are needed to characterize biogeochemical variability on underwater glider missions. However, the needs for high accuracy and low power consumption can be difficult to achieve together. To overcome this difficulty, we integrated a novel sensor combination into a Seaglider, comprising a spectrophotometric lab-on-a-chip (LoC) pH sensor and a potentiometric pH sensor, in addition to the standard oxygen (O 2) optode. The stable, but less frequent (every 10 min) LoC data were used to calibrate the high-resolution (1 s) potentiometric sensor measurements. The glider was deployed for a 10-day pilot mission in August 2019. This represented the first such deployment of either type of pH sensor on a glider. The LoC pH had a mean offset of +0.005±0.008 with respect to pH calculated from total dissolved inorganic carbon content, c(DIC), and total alkalinity, A T, in co-located water samples. The potentiometric sensor required a thermal-lag correction to resolve the pH variations in the steep thermocline between surface and bottom mixed layers, in addition to scale calibration. Using the glider pH data and a regional parameterization of A T as a function of salinity, we derived the dissolved CO 2 content and glider c(DIC). Glider surface CO 2 and O 2 contents were used to derive air-sea fluxes, Φ(CO 2) and Φ(O 2). Φ(CO 2) was mostly directed into the ocean with a median of −0.4 mmol m –2 d –1. In contrast, Φ(O 2) was always out of the ocean with a median of +40 mmol m –2 d –1. Bottom water apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) was (35±1) μmol kg –1, whereas apparent carbon production (ACP) was (11±1) μmol kg –1, with mostly insignificant differences along the deployment transect. This deployment shows the potential of using pH sensors on autonomous observing platforms such as Seagliders to quantify the interactions between biogeochemical processes and the marine carbonate system at high spatiotemporal resolution

A multilevel examination of gender differences in the association between features of the school environment and physical activity among a sample of grades 9 to 12 students in Ontario, Canada

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Creating school environments that support student physical activity (PA) is a key recommendation of policy-makers to increase youth PA. Given males are more active than females at all ages, it has been suggested that investigating gender differences in the features of the environment that associate with PA may help to inform gender-focused PA interventions and reduce the gender disparity in PA. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to explore gender differences in the association between factors of the school environment and students' time spent in PA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Among a sample of 10781 female and 10973 male students in grades 9 to 12 from 76 secondary schools in Ontario, Canada, student- and school-level survey PA data were collected and supplemented with GIS-derived measures of the built environment within 1-km buffers of the 76 schools.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Findings from the present study revealed significant differences in the time male and female students spent in PA as well as in some of the school- and student-level factors associated with PA. Results of the gender-specific multilevel analyses indicate schools should consider providing an alternate room for PA, especially for providing flexibility activities directed at female students. Schools should also consider offering daily physical education programming to male students in senior grades and providing PA promotion initiatives targeting obese male students.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although most variation in male and female students' time spent in PA lies between students within schools, there is sufficient between-school variation to be of interest to practitioners and policy-makers. More research investigating gender differentials in environment factors associated with youth PA are warranted.</p

A global compilation of coccolithophore calcification rates

The biological production of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), a process termed calcification, is a key term in the marine carbon cycle. A major planktonic group responsible for such pelagic CaCO3 production (CP) is the coccolithophores, single-celled haptophytes that inhabit the euphotic zone of the ocean. Satellite-based estimates of areal CP are limited to surface waters and open-ocean areas, with current algorithms utilising the unique optical properties of the cosmopolitan bloom-forming species Emiliania huxleyi, whereas little understanding of deep-water ecology, optical properties or environmental responses by species other than E. huxleyi is currently available to parameterise algorithms or models. To aid future areal estimations and validate future modelling efforts we have constructed a database of 2765 CP measurements, the majority of which were measured using 12 to 24 h incorporation of radioactive carbon (14C) into acid-labile inorganic carbon (CaCO3). We present data collated from over 30 studies covering the period from 1991 to 2015, sampling the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans. Globally, CP in surface waters ( < 20 m) ranged from 0.01 to 8398 µmol C m−3 d−1 (with a geometric mean of 16.1 µmol C m−3 d−1). An integral value for the upper euphotic zone (herein surface to the depth of 1 % surface irradiance) ranged from  < 0.1 to 6 mmol C m−2 d−1 (geometric mean 1.19 mmol C m−2 d−1). The full database is available for download from PANGAEA at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.888182