251 research outputs found
High prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in Peruvian adolescents living in a peri-urban shantytown: a cross-sectional study
Background: Adults of the peri-urban Peruvian shantytown of Lomas de
Zapallal have a high prevalence of risk factors for developing
cardiovascular disease (CVD)\u2014likely due to behavioral choices
established during childhood and adolescence. To guide the development
of community-based risk reduction programs, we assessed the prevalence
of risk factors for developing CVD among adolescents. Methods: We
collected cross sectional data from adolescents of Peruvian peri-urban
shantytown to evaluate four domains of CVD risk factors: (1) clinical
(blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and blood lipids), (2)
anthropometric (height, weight, and waist circumference), (3)
behavioral (physical activity, diet, and substance abuse), and (4)
psychosocial (mental health and violence). Results: We enrolled 275
adolescents (56.4% female, mean age 14 years). Prevalence of overweight
or obese status was 27.8%. High blood pressure was more common in males
(37.4%) than females (20.5%) (p = 0.002). Total cholesterol was
elevated (>170 mg/dL) in nearly half (45.5%) of the adolescents, and
71% had impaired fasting blood glucose (>100 mg/dL). Females were
less likely to exercise daily (95.4%) than males (84.2%) (p = 0.002)
but reported higher rates of depression (66.4%), anhedonia (67.6%), and
self-harm behavior (37.9%) (all p < 0.01). Conclusions: Adolescents
living in the peri-urban population of Puente Piedra had high
prevalence of risk factors for future development of CVD; preventative
efforts focused on improving nutrition, increasing physical inactivity,
and addressing mental health conditions could reduce such risk factors
The clinical and molecular genetic approach to Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy: an updated protocol
Marine recreational fishing and the implications of climate change
Marine recreational fishing is popular globally and benefits coastal economies and people's well-being. For some species, it represents a large component of fish landings. Climate change is anticipated to affect recreational fishing in many ways, creating opportunities and challenges. Rising temperatures or changes in storms and waves are expected to impact the availability of fish to recreational fishers, through changes in recruitment, growth and survival. Shifts in distribution are also expected, affecting the location that target species can be caught. Climate change also threatens the safety of fishing. Opportunities may be reduced owing to rougher conditions, and costs may be incurred if gear is lost or damaged in bad weather. However, not all effects are expected to be negative. Where weather conditions change favourably, participation rates could increase, and desirable species may become available in new areas. Drawing on examples from the UK and Australia, we synthesize existing knowledge to develop a conceptual model of climate-driven factors that could impact marine recreational fisheries, in terms of operations, participation and motivation. We uncover the complex pathways of drivers that underpin the recreational sector. Climate changes may have global implications on the behaviour of recreational fishers and on catches and local economies
Evaluation of Three Primary Teachersâ Approaches to Teaching Scientific Concepts in Persuasive Ways
The research set out in this paper seeks to develop pedagogical knowledge regarding how persuasive teaching approaches can be developed in primary science classrooms. To achieve this, the paper examines three case studies in which the teachers have been charged to develop and implement teaching strategies designed to persuade their children of the usefulness and validity of target scientific concepts. The analysis probes the teachersâ choice of contexts and patterns of discourse using criteria drawn from the sociocultural literature. Outcomes of the study exemplify how the teachersâ choices of learning contexts fail to emphasise the functionality of the target concepts and as a consequence scant rewards are provided for the children to participate actively in conceptually rich discourse. The final part of the paper explores how the development of what the author calls theme-specific plots, could be used to help teachers to stage teaching and learning performances which emphasise the functionality of specific explanatory models
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection and Diverse Physical Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Meta-analyses of Observational Studies
BACKGROUND: Our aim was to assess both the credibility and strength of evidence arising from systematic reviews with meta-analyses of observational studies and physical health outcomes associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but not acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. METHODS: We performed an umbrella review of observational studies. Evidence was graded as convincing, highly suggestive, suggestive, weak, or nonsignificant. RESULTS: From 3413 studies returned, 20 were included, covering 55 health outcomes. Median number of participants was 18 743 (range 403-225 000 000). Overall, 45 (81.8%) of the 55 unique outcomes reported nominally significant summary results (P < .05). Only 5 outcomes (9.0%; higher likelihood of presence of breathlessness, higher chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD] prevalence, maternal sepsis, higher risk of anemia, and higher risk of all fractures among people living with HIV [PLWHIV]) showed suggestive evidence, with P values < 10-3; only 3 (5.5%; higher prevalence of cough in cross-sectional studies, higher incidence of pregnancy-related mortality, and higher incidence of ischemic heart disease among PLWHIV in cohort studies) outcomes showed stronger evidence using a stringent P value (<10-6). None of the unique outcomes presented convincing evidence (Class I), yet 3 outcomes presented highly suggestive evidence, 5 outcomes presented suggestive evidence, and 37 outcomes presented weak evidence. CONCLUSIONS: Results show highly suggestive and suggestive evidence for HIV and the presence of a cough, COPD, ischemic heart disease, pregnancy-related mortality, maternal sepsis, and bone fractures. Public health policies should reflect and accommodate these changes, especially in light of the increases in the life expectancy and the incidence of comorbidities in this population
The contribution of X-linked coding variation to severe developmental disorders
Over 130 X-linked genes have been robustly associated with developmental disorders, and X-linked causes have been hypothesised to underlie the higher developmental disorder rates in males. Here, we evaluate the burden of X-linked coding variation in 11,044 developmental disorder patients, and find a similar rate of X-linked causes in males and females (6.0% and 6.9%, respectively), indicating that such variants do not account for the 1.4-fold male bias. We develop an improved strategy to detect X-linked developmental disorders and identify 23 significant genes, all of which were previously known, consistent with our inference that the vast majority of the X-linked burden is in known developmental disorder-associated genes. Importantly, we estimate that, in male probands, only 13% of inherited rare missense variants in known developmental disorder-associated genes are likely to be pathogenic. Our results demonstrate that statistical analysis of large datasets can refine our understanding of modes of inheritance for individual X-linked disorders
Clinical utility gene card for : inherited optic neuropathies including next-generation sequencing-based approaches
Non peer reviewe
The role of the cerebellum in adaptation: ALE metaâanalyses on sensory feedback error
It is widely accepted that unexpected sensory consequences of selfâaction engage the cerebellum. However, we currently lack consensus on where in the cerebellum, we find fineâgrained differentiation to unexpected sensory feedback. This may result from methodological diversity in taskâbased human neuroimaging studies that experimentally alter the quality of selfâgenerated sensory feedback. We gathered existing studies that manipulated sensory feedback using a variety of methodological approaches and performed activation likelihood estimation (ALE) metaâanalyses. Only half of these studies reported cerebellar activation with considerable variation in spatial location. Consequently, ALE analyses did not reveal significantly increased likelihood of activation in the cerebellum despite the broad scientific consensus of the cerebellum's involvement. In light of the high degree of methodological variability in published studies, we tested for statistical dependence between methodological factors that varied across the published studies. Experiments that elicited an adaptive response to continuously altered sensory feedback more frequently reported activation in the cerebellum than those experiments that did not induce adaptation. These findings may explain the surprisingly low rate of significant cerebellar activation across brain imaging studies investigating unexpected sensory feedback. Furthermore, limitations of functional magnetic resonance imaging to probe the cerebellum could play a role as climbing fiber activity associated with feedback error processing may not be captured by it. We provide methodological recommendations that may guide future studies
From reproduction to creativity and the aesthetic: towards an ontological approach to the assessment of devised performance
- âŠ