Dietary Re-education, Exercise Program, Performance and Body Indexes Associated with Risk Factors in Overweight/Obese Women

This study observed the effect of a dietary re-education plus regular physical activity on body composition, risk factors and physical test performance of sedentary overweight/obese women and to correlate these variables one with each other. Fifty women (36 ± 10 yrs; 31 ± 6 body mass index (BMI, kg/m2)) volunteered for the study. Body compositions were obtained by anthropometry and bioimpedance and some body indexes were established. One-repetition maximum (1-RM) and treadmill VO2max tests were carried out and blood samples were obtained for lipid, glucose and uric acid analyses before (T1) and after two months of intervention (T2). Diet was established by indirect calorimetry. Body fat, glucose, uric acid, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and systolic blood pressure were significantly reduced. The 1-RM and VO2max tests were significantly increased. Neck circumference (NC) was correlated with body composition, back muscle 1-MR, HDL and LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol/HDL ratio, uric acid, and resting energy expenditure. BMI was found to be significantly correlated with waist/hip ratio, circumference sum, and body fat percentage by anthropometry and bioimpedance. Body fat percentage determined by bioimpedance and anthropometry was significantly correlated with arm fat area and arm fat area corrected respectively, and both with BMI at T1 and T2. This study suggests that a dietary reeducation plus physical activity around 200 min/week improved body composition and the health of these women. Many anthropometry measurements have correspondence to risk factors and NC could be a simple approach to reflect these results, without other more complex techniques

Allergic conditions and risk of hematological malignancies in adults: a cohort study

BACKGROUND: Two contradictory hypotheses have been proposed to explain the relationship between allergic conditions and malignancies, the immune surveillance hypothesis and the antigenic stimulation hypothesis. The former advocates that allergic conditions may be protective against development of cancer, whereas the latter proposes an increased risk. This relationship has been studied in several case-control studies, but only in a few cohort studies. METHODS: The association between allergic conditions and risk of developing leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma was investigated in a cohort of 16,539 Swedish twins born 1886–1925. Prospectively collected, self-reported information about allergic conditions such as asthma, hay fever or eczema was obtained through questionnaires administered in 1967. The cohort was followed 1969–99 and cancer incidence was ascertained from the Swedish Cancer Registry. RESULTS: Hives and asthma tended to increase the risk of leukemia (relative risk [RR] = 2.1, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.0–4.5 and RR = 1.6, 95% CI 0.8–3.5, respectively). There was also an indication of an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma associated with eczema during childhood (RR = 2.3, 95% CI 1.0–5.3). CONCLUSION: In contrast to most previous studies, our results do not indicate a protective effect of allergic conditions on the risk of developing hematological malignancies. Rather, they suggest that allergic conditions might increase the risk of some hematological malignancies

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources

We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30 kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101 sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres

Compressed representation of a partially defined integer function over multiple arguments

In OLAP (OnLine Analitical Processing) data are analysed in an n-dimensional cube. The cube may be represented as a partially defined function over n arguments. Considering that often the function is not defined everywhere, we ask: is there a known way of representing the function or the points in which it is defined, in a more compact manner than the trivial one

Impact of Aetiological Treatment on Conventional and Multiplex Serology in Chronic Chagas Disease

The main criterion for treatment effectiveness in Chagas Disease has been the seronegative conversion of previously reactive serology, generally achieved many years post-treatment. The lack of reliable tests to ensure parasite clearance and to examine the effect of treatment is the main difficulty in evaluating treatment for chronic Chagas disease. Decreases of conventional and non-conventional serological titers can be useful tools to monitor the early impact of treatment. We serially measured changes in antibody levels, including seronegative conversion as well as declines in titers in 53 benznidazole-treated and 89 untreated chronically T. cruzi-infected subjects. Seronegative conversion as well as decreases of titers was significantly higher in treated compared with untreated patients. A strong concordance was found between decreases of titers of conventional and non-conventional serologic tests post-treatment, reaffirming the findings. When seronegative conversion plus decreases of titers were considered altogether, the impact of treatment was higher, in a shorter follow-up period than previously considered. New tools for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment of chronic Chagas disease are necessary, and the results showed in this study is a contribution to researchers and physicians who assist patients suffering from this disease

Single-layer graphene modulates neuronal communication and augments membrane ion currents

The use of graphenebased materials to engineer sophisticated biosensing interfaces that can adapt to the central nervous system requires a detailed understanding of how such materials behave in a biological context. Graphene's peculiar properties can cause various cellular changes, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that singlelayer graphene increases neuronal firing by altering membraneassociated functions in cultured cells. Graphene tunes the distribution of extracellular ions at the interface with neurons, a key regulator of neuronal excitability. The resulting biophysical changes in the membrane include stronger potassium ion currents, with a shift in the fraction of neuronal firing phenotypes from adapting to tonically firing. By using experimental and theoretical approaches, we hypothesize that the graphene\u2013ion interactions that are maximized when singlelayer graphene is deposited on electrically insulating substrates are crucial to these effects

Sequencing of diverse mandarin, pummelo and orange genomes reveals complex history of admixture during citrus domestication

Cultivated citrus are selections from, or hybrids of, wild progenitor species whose identities and contributions to citrus domestication remain controversial. Here we sequence and compare citrus genomes-a high-quality reference haploid clementine genome and mandarin, pummelo, sweet-orange and sour-orange genomes-and show that cultivated types derive from two progenitor species. Although cultivated pummelos represent selections from one progenitor species, Citrus maxima, cultivated mandarins are introgressions of C. maxima into the ancestral mandarin species Citrus reticulata. The most widely cultivated citrus, sweet orange, is the offspring of previously admixed individuals, but sour orange is an F1 hybrid of pure C. maxima and C. reticulata parents, thus implying that wild mandarins were part of the early breeding germplasm. A Chinese wild 'mandarin' diverges substantially from C. reticulata, thus suggesting the possibility of other unrecognized wild citrus species. Understanding citrus phylogeny through genome analysis clarifies taxonomic relationships and facilitates sequence-directed genetic improvement. (Résumé d'auteur