Rise in childhood obesity with persistently high rates of undernutrition among urban school-aged Indo-Asian children

Background: Childhood obesity is an emerging global public health challenge. Evidence for the transition in nutrition in Indo-Asian developing countries is lacking. We conducted these analyses to determine the trends in nutritional status of school-aged children in urban Pakistan. Methods: Data on the nutritional status of children aged 5 to 14 years from two independent population-based representative surveys, the urban component of the National Health Survey of Pakistan (NHSP, 1990 - 1994) and the Karachi survey (2004 - 2005), were analysed. Using normative data from children in the United States as the reference, trends for age- and gender-standardised prevalence (95% CI) of underweight (more than 2 SD below the weight-for-age reference), stunted (more than 2 SD below the height-for-age reference) and overweight and obese (body mass index (BMI) 85(th) percentile or greater) children were compared for the two surveys. The association between physical activity and being overweight or obese was analysed in the Karachi survey using logistical regression analysis. Results: 2074 children were included in the urban NHSP and 1675 in the Karachi survey. The prevalence of underweight children was 29.7% versus 27.3% (p=0.12), stunting was 16.7% versus 14.3% (p=0.05), and prevalence of overweight and obese children was 3.0 versus 5.7 (p \u3c 0.001) in the NHSP and Karachi surveys, respectively. Physical activity was inversely correlated with being overweight or obese (odds ratio, 95% CI, 0.51, 0.32 - 0.80 for those who engaged in more than 30 minutes of physical activity versus those engaged in less than 30 minutes\u27 activity). Conclusions: Our study highlights the challenge faced by Pakistani school-aged children. There has been a rapid rise in the number of overweight and obsese children despite a persistently high burden of undernutrition. Focus on prevention of obesity in children must include strategies for promoting physical activity

Secondary prevention of heart disease - knowledge among cardiologists and Omega-3 (Omega-3) fatty acid prescribing behaviors in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: The use of omega-3 fatty acids is a currently proven strategy for secondary prevention of heart disease. The prescription practices for this important nutraceutical is not currently known. It is imperative to assess the knowledge of cardiologists regarding the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids and to determine the frequency of its prescription. The aim of the study was to determine the practices and associations of dietary fish prescribing among cardiologists of Karachi and to assess their knowledge of fish oil supplementation and attitudes toward dietary practices. Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted during the period of January to March, 2008. A self report questionnaire was employed. All practicing cardiologists of Karachi were included in the study. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the independent factors associated with high fish prescribers. Results: The sample comprised of a total of 163 cardiologists practicing in Karachi, Pakistan. Most (73.6%) of the cardiologists fell in the age range of 28 - 45 years and were male (90.8%). High fish prescribers only comprised 36.2% of the respondents. After adjusting for age and gender, multivariate analysis revealed that only the variable of knowledge about fish oil\u27s role in reducing sudden cardiac death was independently associated with high fish prescribers OR = 6.38 [95% CI 2.58-15.78]. Conclusion: The level of knowledge about the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids is high and the cardiologists harbor a favorable attitude towards dispensing dietary fish advice. However, the prescription practices are less than optimal and not concordant with recommendations of organisations such as the American Heart Association and National Heart Foundation of Australia. The knowledge of prevention of sudden cardiac death in CVD Patients has been identified as an important predictor of high fish prescription. This particular life-saving property of omega-3 fatty acids should be the focus of any implemented educational strategy targeted to improve secondary CVD prevention via omega-3 fatty acid supplementation

Genetic diversity in saffron (Crocus sativus L.)

Two hundred saffron genotypes collected from saffron growing areas of Kashmir subjected to Mahalanobis D2 analysis revealed high amount of diversity. Out of 200 genotypes, 171 genotypes were grouped in cluster I, 9 in cluster V and 7 in cluster VI whereas the other 13 clusters were monogenotypic. Maximum intracluster distance (6.50) was recorded for cluster V accommodating SH-21, SH-123, SH-200, SH-51, SH-30, SH-81, SH-69, SH-03, SH-98 genotypes collected from Kushbal, Wuyan, Khrew, Kashbal, Wulan nadh, Kruncho, Dusso, Tang and Darbagh. Maximum intercluster distance (18.14) was recorded between cluster XV and XVI showing maximum genetic divergence among the population for SH-67 collected from Chandhara and SH- 89 collected form Khrew area of Kashmir valley. Fresh stamen weight (20.86%) followed by plant height (17.77%), fresh flower weight (15.31%) and pistil length (9.98%) had contributed significantly towards diversity. &nbsp

Effect of Pulsing Treatments for Enhancing Shelf-Life of Cut Asiatic Lilium cv. Elite

Studies were conducted on cut Asiatic Lilium cv. Elite to assess the effectiveness of various floral preservatives as pulsing treatments for delaying senescence and prolonging vase life. Uniform spikes of lilium at bud colour break stage were brought to the laboratory in the morning and placed in 8 different pulsing solutions consisting of sucrose (Suc) 5%, aluminium sulphate (AS) 400 ppm, silver thio-sulphate (STS) 2.0 mM and citric acid (CA) 1000 ppm alone and in combination with sucrose. Distilled water without any chemical served as the control. Among individual treatments, STS 2.0 mM maintained better water relations and flower quality compared to others. STS also showed superiority over other treatments when combined with Suc 5% by providing largest flower size (16.74 cm) with maximum vase life (17.29 days) owing to most-favourable water relations parameters

An Experimental Investigation of a Passively Flapping Foil in Energy Harvesting Mode

Energy extraction through flapping foils is a new concept in the domain of renewable energy, especially when the system is fully driven by incoming free-stream flow, a phenomenon known as flow-induced vibration. To investigate this concept, a water tunnel test-rig was designed and fabricated, where a flat plate foil made from plexiglass performs two-degrees of freedom pitch and plunge motion under the influence of incoming water flow. For this study a power-takeoff system was not introduced, hence energy harvesting performance was evaluated through real-time force and motion measurements with the help of sensors. The energy harvester performed self-sustained flapping motions when the free-stream velocity reached a threshold value, known as the cut-off velocity, which for this test-rig is 0.40 m/s (without sensors) and 0.50 m/s (with sensors). To support these self-sustained flapping motions, inertial mass blocks were placed to provide the necessary inertia especially when the flat plate foil performed the pitching or stroke reversal action. Different inertial mass units (mib = 0.45, 0.90 & 1.35 kg/block) were tested to analyze their effect on the flat plate foil kinematics and its energy harvesting performance. Other parameters such as pitching amplitude (θo = 30°, 43° & 60°) and free-stream velocity (U∞ = 0.57 m/s, 0.65 m/s and 0.78 m/s) were varied at fixed pivot location (xp = 0.65 chords (c)) to augment the varying inertial mass unit study. In the first section at fixed mib of 0.45 kg/block and xp = 0.65c from leading edge, energy harvesting performance (C̅p & η) was observed to increase with increase in pitching amplitude, while it degraded as the free-stream velocity increased. Best energy harvesting performance of η = 52.5% and C̅p = 1.124 was achieved with mib = 0.45 kg/block, θo = 60° and U∞ = 0.57 m/s. Varying mib also had a considerable effect on the energy harvesting performance of the test-rig, where the mib = 0.90 kg/block case showed a 36.5% and 21.13% decline in performance compared to the mib = 0.45 and 1.35 kg/block cases, respectively at θo = 60° and U∞ = 0.57 m/s. This shows that the energy harvester is sensitive to changes in inertial loads, affecting the force-motion synchronization which eventually affects its performance

Expression of Colonization Factor CS5 of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Is Enhanced In Vivo and by the Bile Component Na Glycocholate Hydrate

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is an important cause of acute watery diarrhoea in developing countries. Colonization factors (CFs) on the bacterial surface mediate adhesion to the small intestinal epithelium. Two of the most common CFs worldwide are coli surface antigens 5 and 6 (CS5, CS6). In this study we investigated the expression of CS5 and CS6 in vivo, and the effects of bile and sodium bicarbonate, present in the human gut, on the expression of CS5. Five CS5+CS6 ETEC isolates from adult Bangladeshi patients with acute diarrhoea were studied. The level of transcription from the CS5 operon was approximately 100-fold higher than from the CS6 operon in ETEC bacteria recovered directly from diarrhoeal stool without sub-culturing (in vivo). The glyco-conjugated primary bile salt sodium glycocholate hydrate (NaGCH) induced phenotypic expression of CS5 in a dose-dependent manner and caused a 100-fold up-regulation of CS5 mRNA levels; this is the first description of NaGCH as an enteropathogenic virulence inducer. The relative transcription levels from the CS5 and CS6 operons in the presence of bile or NaGCH in vitro were similar to those in vivo. Another bile salt, sodium deoxycholate (NaDC), previously reported to induce enteropathogenic virulence, also induced expression of CS5, whereas sodium bicarbonate did not

Impact of Rapid Urbanization on the Rates of Infection by Vibrio cholerae O1 and Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a country where acute dehydrating diarrhea or cholera is common and is seen at least two times every year and additionally in natural disasters. In addition cholera cases have increased in the country, especially in urban settings such as in the capital city, Dhaka, where the number of hospitalized patients with more severe disease has tremendously increased. In the present observation, we have concentrated on determining the occurrence of diarrhoea caused by the two most common bacterial agents V. cholerae O1 and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) in a densely populated, disease prone area Mirpur in Dhaka for two years from March 2008 to February 2010. Stool or rectal specimens from diarrheal patients coming to the ICDDR,B hospital from Mirpur were tested for the two bacterial pathogens. We found that V. cholerae O1 was the major bacterial pathogen and a cause of severe cholera disease in 23% of patients (2,647 of a total of 11,395 patients) from Mirpur. We surmise that cholera vaccines, as well as other public health tools that can target such high risk groups in the country, will be able to reduce the disease morbidity and the transmission of pathogens to improve the quality of life in urban settings

Conservation and global distribution of non-canonical antigens in enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli

BACKGROUND: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) cause significant diarrheal morbidity and mortality in children of resource-limited regions, warranting development of effective vaccine strategies. Genetic diversity of the ETEC pathovar has impeded development of broadly protective vaccines centered on the classical canonical antigens, the colonization factors and heat-labile toxin. Two non-canonical ETEC antigens, the EtpA adhesin, and the EatA mucinase are immunogenic in humans and protective in animal models. To foster rational vaccine design that complements existing strategies, we examined the distribution and molecular conservation of these antigens in a diverse population of ETEC isolates. METHODS: Geographically diverse ETEC isolates (n = 1159) were interrogated by PCR, immunoblotting, and/or whole genome sequencing (n = 46) to examine antigen conservation. The most divergent proteins were purified and their core functions assessed in vitro. RESULTS: EatA and EtpA or their coding sequences were present in 57.0% and 51.5% of the ETEC isolates overall, respectively; and were globally dispersed without significant regional differences in antigen distribution. These antigens also exhibited \u3e93% amino acid sequence identity with even the most divergent proteins retaining the core adhesin and mucinase activity assigned to the prototype molecules. CONCLUSIONS: EtpA and EatA are well-conserved molecules in the ETEC pathovar, suggesting that they serve important roles in virulence and that they could be exploited for rational vaccine design

Visualizing brain inflammation with a shingled-leg radio-frequency head probe for (19)F/(1)H MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides the opportunity of tracking cells in vivo. Major challenges in dissecting cells from the recipient tissue and signal sensitivity constraints albeit exist. In this study, we aimed to tackle these limitations in order to study inflammation in autoimmune encephalomyelitis. We constructed a very small dual-tunable radio frequency (RF) birdcage probe tailored for (19)F (fluorine) and (1)H (proton) MR mouse neuroimaging. The novel design eliminated the need for extra electrical components on the probe structure and afforded a uniform -field as well as good SNR. We employed fluorescently-tagged (19)F nanoparticles and could study the dynamics of inflammatory cells between CNS and lymphatic system during development of encephalomyelitis, even within regions of the brain that are otherwise not easily visualized by conventional probes. (19)F/(1)H MR Neuroimaging will allow us to study the nature of immune cell infiltration during brain inflammation over an extensive period of time