European dog owner perceptions of obesity and factors associated with human and canine obesity

Abstract Obesity is a common nutrition-related disorder leading to reduced life expectancy in both humans and dogs. With the aim of identifying new prevention and control options, the study objectives were (1) to investigate dog-owner perceptions about obesity in terms of themselves and their dogs, and (2) to identify factors associated with obesity and possible social, environmental and economic drivers for its development in dog owners and their pets. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was performed across multiple countries. The questionnaire focused on human and canine obesity, associated factors and potential drivers, and was distributed online and in the form of hard copies among dog owners in 11 European countries. In total, 3,185 responses from ten countries were included in multivariable analyses. Between 19.1% and 48.8% of the dog owners reported to be overweight/obese. Owner-reported overweight/obesity in dogs ranged from 6.0% to 31.3% based on body condition score charts, and 31.8% to 69.4% based on body fat index charts. Common factors associated with obesity in owners and their dogs were age, gender and owners’ attitudes to diet and physical activity. Dog owners who did not consider obesity to be a disease were more likely to have obese dogs

Portuguese Ministers, 1851-1999: Social Background and Paths to Power

Disponível em: http://193.136.113.6/Opac/Pages/Search/Results.aspx?SearchText=UID=bb8aa8d5-c6b6-466a-81bb-fe8a67693cee&DataBase=10449_UNLFCSHThis paper provides an empirical analysis of the impact of regime changes in the composition and patterns of recruitment of the Portuguese ministerial elite throughout the last 150 years. The ‘out-of-type’, violent nature of most regime transformations accounts for the purges in and the extensive replacements of the political personnel, namely of the uppermost officeholders. In the case of Cabinet members, such discontinuities did not imply, however, radical changes in their social profile. Although there were some significant variations, a series of salient characteristics have persisted over time. The typical Portuguese minister is a male in his midforties, of middle-class origin and predominantly urban-born, highly educated and with a state servant background. The two main occupational contingents have been university professors - except for the First Republic (1910-26) - and the military, the latter having only recently been eclipsed with the consolidation of contemporary democracy. As regards career pathways, the most striking feature is the secular trend for the declining role of parliamentary experience, which the democratic regime did not clearly reverse. In this period, a technocratic background rather than political experience has been indeed the privileged credential for a significant proportion of minister

On the chronological structure of the solutrean in Southern Iberia

The Solutrean techno-complex has gained particular significance over time for representing a clear demographic and techno-typological deviation from the developments occurred during the course of the Upper Paleolithic in Western Europe. Some of Solutrean's most relevant features are the diversity and techno-typological characteristics of the lithic armatures. These have been recurrently used as pivotal elements in numerous Solutrean-related debates, including the chronological organization of the techno-complex across Iberia and Southwestern France. In Southern Iberia, patterns of presence and/or absence of specific point types in stratified sequences tend to validate the classical ordering of the techno-complex into Lower, Middle and Upper phases, although some evidence, namely radiocarbon determinations, have not always been corroborative. Here we present the first comprehensive analysis of the currently available radiocarbon data for the Solutrean in Southern Iberia. We use a Bayesian statistical approach from 13 stratified sequences to compare the duration, and the start and end moments of each classic Solutrean phase across sites. We conclude that, based on the current data, the traditional organization of the Solutrean cannot be unquestionably confirmed for Southern Iberia, calling into doubt the status of the classically defined type-fossils as precise temporal markers.Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [PTDC/HAH/64184/2006, PTDC/HIS-ARQ/117540/2010, SFRH/BD/65527/2009, SFRH/BPD/96277/2013]; National Geographic Society [8045-06]; Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research [8290

Dementia in Latin America : paving the way towards a regional action plan

Regional challenges faced by Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs) to fight dementia, such as heterogeneity, diversity, political instabilities, and socioeconomic disparities, can be addressed more effectively grounded in a collaborative setting based on the open exchange of knowledge. In this work, the Latin American and Caribbean Consortium on Dementia (LAC-CD) proposes an agenda for integration to deliver a Knowledge to Action Framework (KtAF). First, we summarize evidence-based strategies (epidemiology, genetics, biomarkers, clinical trials, nonpharmacological interventions, networking and translational research) and align them to current global strategies to translate regional knowledge into actions with transformative power. Then, by characterizing genetic isolates, admixture in populations, environmental factors, and barriers to effective interventions and mapping these to the above challenges, we provide the basic mosaics of knowledge that will pave the way towards a KtAF. We describe strategies supporting the knowledge creation stage that underpins the translational impact of KtAF

Nurses' perceptions of aids and obstacles to the provision of optimal end of life care in ICU

Contains fulltext : 172380.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Tillage and crop rotation effects on barley yield and soil nutrients on a Calciortidic Haploxeralf

Reduced tillage with appropriate crop rotation could increase the viability of dry land agriculture in semiarid zones. The effects of tillage and crop rotation on soil physico-chemical properties, soil organic carbon (SOC) and N have been studied widely in long and short-term experiments. However, their effects on nutrient levels and fertility losses have not been extensively studied in Mediterranean soils. We determined SOC, N, P, K, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn distribution in the soil profile and in plant uptake, on a Calciortidic Haploxeralf in Spain. Three tillage systems [CT, conventional tillage (mouldboard plow); MT, minimum tillage and NT, no tillage] and three crop rotations [BB, continuous barley (Hordeum vulgare v. Tipper), FB, fallow-barley and VB, vetch (Vicia sativa v. Muza)-barley] were compared. SOC and N were higher for CT than for MT and NT in the first year, but higher for NT and MT than CT in the next years. In the 0-15 cm depth, SOC and N in NT also became higher than in MT for the fourth crop season. In the 15-30 depths, NT and MT had also higher SOC than CT since the second year. However, NT had only higher N than MT after three crop seasons. The increase in SOC was 75% for NT and MT while CT had a decrease of 17% in the 0-15 cm layer. The increase in N was 154% for NT, 108% for MT and 30% for CT in the upper 15 cm. NT had higher P, K and Cu than MT and higher P, K, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn than CT in the upper layers due to the higher SOC level and to the fact that these systems maintain surface-applied K and P fertilizer. On the other hand, neither SOC nor N were affected by crop rotation. Tillage and rotation interactions were not significant for SOC, N and, in general, nutrient levels in the different soil depths. In general, the main factor that affected SOC, N and nutrients was tillage, which had reduced influence with depth. Highest yield was for CT-FB and CT-VB, but not different from NT-FB and NT-VB, meanwhile highest nutrient levels were obtained for interactions that included NT. These results suggest that NT, and to a lesser extend MT, preserved SOC and nutrient levels in the upper layers and, with NT-VB and NT-FB interaction, could also obtain high yields and keep soil fertility in the upper depths during the first 4 years. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Prolonged cholestasis after raloxifene and fenofibrate interaction: A case report.

Case Reports; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't;Assigning causality in drug-induced liver injury is challenging particularly when more than one drug could be responsible. We report a woman on long-term therapy with raloxifen who developed acute cholestasis shortly after starting fenofibrate. The picture evolved into chronic cholestasis. We hypothesized that an interaction at the metabolic level could have triggered the presentation of hepatotoxicity after a very short time of exposure to fenofibrate in this patient. The findings of an overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor in the liver biopsy suggest that angiogenesis might play a role in the persistence of toxic cholestasis.Supported by a research grant from the Agencia Española del Medicamento and Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, No. FIS PI 04/1759 and PI 04/1688Ye

Exosomes from human lymphoblastoid B cells express enzymatically active CD38 that is associated with signaling complexes containing CD81, Hsc-70 and Lyn

Exosome vesicles of endocytic origin are involved in communication between tumor and immune cells. In addition, membrane rafts (MR) may support the sorting of proteins associated with exosomes. CD38 is found at the plasma membrane and in recycling endosomes, which are both redistributed toward the immunological synapse (IS) upon T cell antigen receptor (TCR) engagement. The data of this study provide evidence that CD38 is expressed on the surface of secreted exosomes derived from lymphoblastoid B cells. Exosomic CD38 is associated with the signaling molecules CD81, Hsc-70 and Lyn. Likewise, in MR, CD38 is associated with CD81, CD19, Lyn, Gαi-2, Hsc-70 and actin. Therefore, a high degree of overlap in the pattern of signaling proteins associated with CD38 in exosomes and MR exists. Exosomic and MR CD38, by virtue of these interactions, have signaling potential. Indeed, CD38 is enzymatically active in both exosomes and MR, and CD38 ligation induces Akt/PKB and Erk activation, which is accompanied by increased translocation of CD38 into MR. In conclusion, the present study indicates that CD38 localizes to MR, where it promotes cell signaling, and it is exported out of the cells through the exosome-mediated exocytic pathway, where it may act as an intercellular messenger. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.Peer Reviewe