Obesity prevalence in a cohort of women in early pregnancy from a neighbourhood perspective

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The evidence of an association between neighbourhood deprivation and overweight is established for different populations. However no previous studies on neighbourhood variations in obesity in pregnant women were found. In this study we aimed to determine whether obesity during early pregnancy varied by neighbourhood economic status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A register based study on 94,323 primiparous pregnant women in 586 Swedish neighbourhoods during the years 19922001. Multilevel technique was used to regress obesity prevalence on socioeconomic individual-level variables and the neighbourhood economic status. Five hundred and eighty-six neighbourhoods in the three major cities of Sweden, Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö, during 19922001, were included. The majority of neighbourhoods had a population of 4 00010 000 inhabitants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seven per cent of the variation in obesity prevalence was at the neighbourhood level and the odds of being obese were almost doubled in poor areas.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings supports a community approach in the prevention of obesity in general and thus also in pregnant women.</p

Database of multiparametric geophysical data from the TOMO-DEC experiment on Deception Island, Antarctica

We are grateful to the officers and crew of the Spanish vessels 'R/V Hesperides' and 'R/V Las Palmas', the personnel of the Marine Technology Unit (UTM), the military personnel of the 'Gabriel de Castilla' Spanish base, and the members of the TOMODEC Working Group. This manuscript has been partially funded by the following research projects: the Spanish project TEC2015-68752-R (MINECO/FEDER); KNOWAVES; the Spanish Education and Research Ministry grants REN 2001-3833, CGL2005-05789-C02-02/ANT, POL2006-08663, and CGL2008-01660; the U.S. National Science Foundation grant ANT-0230094; the European project MED-SUV funded by the European Union's Seventh Framework Program for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 308665; the European project EPOS; the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 676564; and the U.S. National Science Foundation grant NSF-1521855 Hazard SEES project. Ocean bottom seismometers were provided by the U.S National Oceanographic Instrument Pool. This publication reflects only the authors' views. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.Deception Island volcano (Antarctica) is one of the most closely monitored and studied volcanoes on the region. In January 2005, a multi-parametric international experiment was conducted that encompassed both Deception Island and its surrounding waters. We performed this experiment from aboard the Spanish oceanographic vessel 'Hesperides', and from five land-based locations on Deception Island (the Spanish scientific Antarctic base 'Gabriel de Castilla' and four temporary camps). This experiment allowed us to record active seismic signals using a large network of seismic stations that were deployed both on land and on the seafloor. In addition, other geophysical data were acquired, including bathymetric high precision multi-beam data, and gravimetric and magnetic profiles. To date, the seismic and bathymetric data have been analysed but the magnetic and gravimetric data have not. We provide P-wave arrival-time picks and seismic tomography results in velocity and attenuation. In this manuscript, we describe the main characteristics of the experiment, the instruments, the data, and the repositories from which data and information can be obtained.MINECO/FEDER TEC2015-68752-RKNOWAVESSpanish Education and Research Ministry REN 2001-3833 CGL2005-05789-C02-02/ANT POL2006-08663 CGL2008-01660National Science Foundation (NSF) ANT-0230094 NSF-1521855European project MED-SUV - European Union's Seventh Framework Program 308665European project EPOSEuropean Union (EU) 67656

Health-related quality of life of patients following selected types of lumbar spinal surgery: A pilot study

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Molecular simulations and visualization: introduction and overview

Here we provide an introduction and overview of current progress in the field of molecular simulation and visualization, touching on the following topics: (1) virtual and augmented reality for immersive molecular simulations; (2) advanced visualization and visual analytic techniques; (3) new developments in high performance computing; and (4) applications and model building

Association between neighborhood need and spatial access to food stores and fast food restaurants in neighborhoods of Colonias

Objective To determine the extent to which neighborhood needs (socioeconomic deprivation and vehicle availability) are associated with two criteria of food environment access: 1) distance to the nearest food store and fast food restaurant and 2) coverage (number) of food stores and fast food restaurants within a specified network distance of neighborhood areas of colonias, using ground-truthed methods. Methods Data included locational points for 315 food stores and 204 fast food restaurants, and neighborhood characteristics from the 2000 U.S. Census for the 197 census block group (CBG) study area. Neighborhood deprivation and vehicle availability were calculated for each CBG. Minimum distance was determined by calculating network distance from the population-weighted center of each CBG to the nearest supercenter, supermarket, grocery, convenience store, dollar store, mass merchandiser, and fast food restaurant. Coverage was determined by calculating the number of each type of food store and fast food restaurant within a network distance of 1, 3, and 5 miles of each population-weighted CBG center. Neighborhood need and access were examined using Spearman ranked correlations, spatial autocorrelation, and multivariate regression models that adjusted for population density. Results Overall, neighborhoods had best access to convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and dollar stores. After adjusting for population density, residents in neighborhoods with increased deprivation had to travel a significantly greater distance to the nearest supercenter or supermarket, grocery store, mass merchandiser, dollar store, and pharmacy for food items. The results were quite different for association of need with the number of stores within 1 mile. Deprivation was only associated with fast food restaurants; greater deprivation was associated with fewer fast food restaurants within 1 mile. CBG with greater lack of vehicle availability had slightly better access to more supercenters or supermarkets, grocery stores, or fast food restaurants. Increasing deprivation was associated with decreasing numbers of grocery stores, mass merchandisers, dollar stores, and fast food restaurants within 3 miles. Conclusion It is important to understand not only the distance that people must travel to the nearest store to make a purchase, but also how many shopping opportunities they have in order to compare price, quality, and selection. Future research should examine how spatial access to the food environment influences the utilization of food stores and fast food restaurants, and the strategies used by low-income families to obtain food for the household

Focusing on fast food restaurants alone underestimates the relationship between neighborhood deprivation and exposure to fast food in a large rural area

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Individuals and families are relying more on food prepared outside the home as a source for at-home and away-from-home consumption. Restricting the estimation of fast-food access to fast-food restaurants alone may underestimate potential spatial access to fast food.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study used data from the 2006 Brazos Valley Food Environment Project (BVFEP) and the 2000 U.S. Census Summary File 3 for six rural counties in the Texas Brazos Valley region. BVFEP ground-truthed data included identification and geocoding of all fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, and grocery stores in study area and on-site assessment of the availability and variety of fast-food lunch/dinner entrées and side dishes. Network distance was calculated from the population-weighted centroid of each census block group to all retail locations that marketed fast food (<it>n </it>= 205 fast-food opportunities).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Spatial access to fast-food opportunities (FFO) was significantly better than to traditional fast-food restaurants (FFR). The median distance to the nearest FFO was 2.7 miles, compared with 4.5 miles to the nearest FFR. Residents of high deprivation neighborhoods had better spatial access to a variety of healthier fast-food entrée and side dish options than residents of low deprivation neighborhoods.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our analyses revealed that identifying fast-food restaurants as the sole source of fast-food entrées and side dishes underestimated neighborhood exposure to fast food, in terms of both neighborhood proximity and coverage. Potential interventions must consider all retail opportunities for fast food, and not just traditional FFR.</p

Targeting neuroinflammation for therapeutic intervention in neurodegenerative pathologies: A role for the peptide analogue of thymulin (PAT)

Introduction: Inflammation has a vital task in protecting the organism, but when deregulated, it can have serious pathological consequences. The central nervous system (CNS) is capable of mounting immune and inflammatory responses, albeit different from that observed in the periphery. Neuroinflammation, however, can be a major contributor to neurodegenerative diseases and constitute a major challenge for medicine and basic research. Areas covered: Both innate and adaptive immune responses normally play an important role in homeostasis within the CNS. Microglia, astrocytes and neuronal cells express a wide array of toll-like receptors (TLR) that can be upregulated by infection, trauma, injuries and various exogenic or endogenic factors. Chronic hyper activation of brain immune cells can result in neurotoxic actions due to excessive production of several pro-inflammatory mediators. Several studies have recently described an important role for targeting receptors such as nicotinic receptors located on cells in the CNS or in other tissues for the control of inflammation. Expert opinion: Thymulin and its synthetic peptide analogue (PAT) appear to exert potent anti-inflammatory effects at the level of peripheral tissues as well as at the level of the brain. This effect involves, at least partially, the activation of cholinergic mechanisms. © 2012 Informa UK, Ltd