Dynamic relationships between body fat and circulating adipokine levels from adolescence to young adulthood: The Santiago Longitudinal Study

Background and aims: Adipose tissue secretes adipokines such as adiponectin and leptin, playing important roles in energy metabolism. The longitudinal associations between such adipokines and body fat accumulation have not been established, especially during adolescence and young adulthood and in diverse populations. The study aims to assess the longitudinal association between body fat measured with dual X-ray absorptiometry and plasma adipokines from adolescence to young adulthood. Methods and results: Among Hispanic/Latino participants (N = 537) aged 16.8 (SD: 0.3) years of the Santiago Longitudinal Study, we implemented structural equation modeling to estimate the sex-specific associations between adiposity (body fat percent (BF%) and proportion of trunk fat (PTF)) and adipokines (adiponectin and leptin levels) during adolescence (16 y) and these values after 6 years of follow-up (22 y). In addition, we further investigated whether the associations differed by baseline insulin resistance (IR) status. We found evidence for associations between 16 y BF% and 22 y leptin levels (β (SE): 0.58 (0.06) for females; 0.53 (0.05) for males), between 16 y PTF and 22 y adiponectin levels (β (SE): −0.31 (0.06) for females; −0.18 (0.06) for males) and between 16 y adiponectin levels and 22 y BF% (β (SE): 0.12 (0.04) for both females and males). Conclusion: We observed dynamic relationships between adiposity and adipokines levels from late adolescence to young adulthood in a Hispanic/Latino population further demonstrating the importance of this period of the life course in the development of obesity

Healthy Chilean Adolescents with HOMA-IR ≥ 2.6 Have Increased Cardiometabolic Risk: Association with Genetic, Biological, and Environmental Factors

Objective. To determine the optimal cutoff of the homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) for diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adolescents and examine whether insulin resistance (IR), determined by this method, was related to genetic, biological, and environmental factors. Methods. In 667 adolescents (16.8 ± 0.3 y), BMI, waist circumference, glucose, insulin, adiponectin, diet, and physical activity were measured. Fat and fat-free mass were assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Family history of type 2 diabetes (FHDM) was reported. We determined the optimal cutoff of HOMA-IR to diagnose MetS (IDF criteria) using ROC analysis. IR was defined as HOMA-IR values above the cutoff. We tested the influence of genetic, biological, and environmental factors on IR using logistic regression analyses. Results. Of the participants, 16% were obese and 9.4 % met criteria for MetS. The optimal cutoff for MetS diagnosis was a HOMA-IR value of 2.6. Based on this value, 16.3% of participants had IR. Adolescents with IR had a significantly higher prevalence of obesity, abdominal obesity, fasting hyperglycemia, and MetS compared to those who were not IR. FHDM, sarcopenia, obesity, and low adiponectin significantly increased the risk of IR. Conclusions. In adolescents, HOMA-IR ≥ 2.6 was associated with greater cardiometabolic risk

Unpredictability in pedestrian flow: The impact of stochasticity and anxiety in the event of an emergency

Random interactions among pedestrians, usually produced by psychological effects (e.g. anxiety), can produce collective nontrivial phenomena in their flow dynamics. Here, we improve our understanding on these phenomena by implementing cellular automaton (CA) simulations in a simplified one-dimensional corridor model. We consider different types of randomness that could be used to parametrize social, cultural or psychological behaviors; their incidence on the average evacuation time and standard deviation are studied. The randomness in the pedestrians’ motion allows separating between different phases of movement, which in the end, drives the dynamics. Our study allows to distinguish among emergent collective phenomena, unpredictability, and unexpected Brownian type behavior in certain regimes, that occur in one-dimensional hallways, such as exists in airplanes, cinemas, massive sports events, etc. These findings may be relevant to evacuation procedures in the event of an emergency, where anxiety may compromise people's performance and the effectiveness of the evacuation plan. Therefore, it could be highly useful to introduce these aspects in the simulation of pedestrian dynamics

Design and demonstration of mode scrambler supporting 10 modes using multiplane light conversion

We design and build a mode scrambler modes based on multiplane light conversion that completely inverts the first 10 spatial modes of of a graded index multimode fiber

Packaged 45-mode multiplexers for a 50-μ m graded index fiber

We built and characterized a pair of 45-mode multi-plane light conversion mode multiplexers. Insertion losses of 4-6dB was measured for all ports

EFFECTS OF MILITARY SPENDING ON THE PROFITABILITY OF SPANISH DEFENCE CONTRACTORS

The traditional view of the defence industry obtaining large profits from contracts with the Ministry of Defence relies on several assumptions. Among these are the use of such arrangements as an instrument of industrial policy, the strong market power enjoyed by prime contractors, and the inefficiency encouraged by the sector. The findings show that defence contracts have a positive effect on profits, as well as the prizes for innovation and the market power enjoyed by some defence subsectors.Defence industry, Defence procurement, Profits, Spain,