Family Income Gradients in Adolescent Obesity, Overweight and Adiposity Persist in Extremely Deprived and Extremely Affluent Neighbourhoods but Not in Middle-Class Neighbourhoods: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

We investigated whether family income gradients in obesity, overweight, and adiposity persist at geographic-level deprivation quintiles using a nationally representative cohort of UK adolescents. Data from 11,714 eligible adolescents from the sixth sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study (14 years old) were analysed in this study. The International Obesity Task Force age- and sex-specific thresholds were used to define obesity and overweight. Self-reported family income was standardized using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s equivalised income scale. Geographic-level deprivation was defined by the index of multiple deprivation 2004. Results showed that the prevalence of obesity and overweight was 8.0% and 27.2%, respectively. Mean percentage body fat was 16.9% (standard error, SE = 0.2%) in male and 27.3% (SE = 0.1%) in female adolescents. Risk of obesity, overweight, and adiposity increased with decreasing family income quintiles (p for trend <0.001). After stratifying by geographic-level deprivation quintiles, a U-shaped association emerged, whereby family income gradients in the risk of adolescent obesity and adiposity persisted in extremely affluent and extremely deprived neighbourhoods but attenuated to non-significance in middle-class neighbourhoods. These results focus on the findings from England. Recognition of the persistence of inequalities in the risk of obesity in the most deprived and affluent neighbourhoods may be necessary in planning public health resources and intervention

Fitting in a Blended Learning Educational System

Scholarship-holders have more pressure than regular students (keeping a GPA ≥3.5/4, managing financial stress, and completing some scholarship’ duties). The research intends to determinate the significant self-regulatory and technological variables that help scholarship-holders (N=402) in a blended learning environment to reach a high GPA and avoid learning burnout. A validated online survey was employed to collect data that were analyzed using descriptive, inferential, and predictive statistical tests under a quantitative research method. It was found that discipline (p=0.000); self-efficacy (p=0.018); task management (p=0.043); goal setting (p=0.021), task persistence (p=0.004) and previous ICT experience (p=0.033) were statistically significant. Regardless limitations, some practical implications are discussed for the scholars

Perfil del docente tutor y su fortalecimiento con la educación sexual en instituciones educativas de Nuevo Chimbote, 2022

El estudio tuvo como objetivo determinar en qué medida y de qué manera se relaciona el perfil del docente tutor y su fortalecimiento con la educación sexual en los estudiantes de las instituciones educativas Nuevo Chimbote-2022. La metodología fue mixta de corte transversal, se aplicaron dos encuestas para medir las variables, en una muestra estratificada de 289 estudiantes de dos Instituciones Educativas de Nuevo Chimbote, Ancash. Así mismo, se efectuó una entrevista a 10 docentes tutores de las mismas Instituciones Educativas. Se determinó que existe una relación significativa entre las variables Perfil del Docente Tutor y Educación Sexual 0.01 (p=0.000<0.01), así también el signo del coeficiente de correlación de Rho de Spearman presentó un signo positivo, por lo tanto, la relación es directa, cuya fuerza de asociación es alta positiva. En el estudio se llegó a determinar que 40.5% de estudiantes de las instituciones educativas de Chimbote, percibieron en nivel regular, y el 45.3% un nivel bueno del Perfil del Docente tutor, por lo que se considera que en temas de educación sexual los tutores necesitan mayor capacitación para poder impartir aprendizajes significati

Sleep Duration and Waking Activities in Relation to the National Sleep Foundation’s Recommendations: An Analysis of US Population Sleep Patterns from 2015 to 2017

The objective was to investigate the association between time spent on waking activities and nonaligned sleep duration in a representative sample of the US population. We analysed time use data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), 2015–2017 (N = 31,621). National Sleep Foundation (NSF) age-specific sleep recommendations were used to define recommended (aligned) sleep duration. The balanced, repeated, replicate variance estimation method was applied to the ATUS data to calculate weighted estimates. Less than half of the US population had a sleep duration that mapped onto the NSF recommendations, and alignment was higher on weekdays (45%) than at weekends (33%). The proportion sleeping longer than the recommended duration was higher than those sleeping shorter on both weekdays and weekends (p < 0.001). Time spent on work, personal care, socialising, travel, TV watching, education, and total screen time was associated with nonalignment to the sleep recommendations. In comparison to the appropriate recommended sleep group, those with a too-short sleep duration spent more time on work, travel, socialising, relaxing, and leisure. By contrast, those who slept too long spent relatively less time on each of these activities. The findings indicate that sleep duration among the US population does not map onto the NSF sleep recommendations, mostly because of a higher proportion of long sleepers compared to short sleepers. More time spent on work, travel, and socialising and relaxing activities is strongly associated with an increased risk of nonalignment to NSF sleep duration recommendations

Associations between pre-pregnancy obesity and asthma symptoms in adolescents

Background: The high prevalence of children's asthma symptoms, worldwide, is unexplained. We examined the relation between maternal pre-pregnancy weight and body mass index (BMI), and asthma symptoms in adolescents. Methods: Data from 6945 adolescents born within the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 were used. Prospective antenatal and birth outcome data, including maternal pre-pregnancy weight and BMI, and asthma symptoms in adolescent offspring at age 15–16 years, were employed. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between relevant prenatal factors and asthma symptoms during adolescence. Results: Current wheeze (within the past year) was reported by 10.6% of adolescents, and physician-diagnosed asthma by 6.0%. High maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was a significant predictor of wheeze in the adolescents (increase per kilogram per square metre unit; 2.7%, 95% CI 0.9 to 4.4 for ever wheeze; 3.5%, 95% CI 1.3 to 5.8 for current wheeze), and adjusting for potential confounders further increased the risk (2.8%, 95% CI 0.5 to 5.1; 4.7%, 95% CI 1.9 to 7.7, respectively). High maternal pre-pregnancy weight, in the top tertile, also significantly increased the odds of current wheeze in the adolescent by 20% (95% CI 4 to 39), and adjusting for potential confounders further increased the risk (OR=1.52, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.95). Results were similar for current asthma. Furthermore, these significant associations were observed only among adolescents without parental history of atopy but not among those with parental history of atopy. Conclusions: The association demonstrated here between maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity, and asthma symptoms in adolescents suggests that increase in asthma may be partly related to the rapid rise in obesity in recent years

Fruit Rot Caused by Phytophthora sp. in Cold-Stored Pears in the Valley of Rio Negro and Neuquén, Argentina

Pear fruit conservation for long periods is associated with postharvest fungal diseases. In Argentina, the most important and widespread diseases are caused by Penicillium spp. and Botrytis cinerea, followed by Alternaria sp. and Cladosporium sp. and Athelia epiphylla. The last one can be important depending on the fruit-lot. This study reports the presence of one Oomycete, as the cause of pear fruit rot in postharvest. In 2010, during the first months of conservation of ‘Williams’, ‘Packham’s Triumph’ and ‘Red Bartlet’ pears, in cold storage, in the eastern area of Alto Valle of Río Negro, fruit decay was recorded with losses between 5 and 20%, according to fruit-lot. Symptoms of decay were studied and its ethiology was determined using conventional and molecular methods. Fruit started showing circular, light to dark brown areas with irregular and diffuse margins that spread rapidly. The decayed area remained firm. The lesion diameter increased and it extended to pulp tissue to reach fruit core with a hyperbolic shape, different from the spherical shape caused by Penicillium spp. or Botrytis sp. The pathogen was isolated in V8 agar selective medium from pears with symptoms. By morphologic characteristics (colony and sporangia) of isolates, its association with clade 6 of Phytophthora was determined. The identification of isolates was confirmed by direct sequencing of the ITS rDNA region using DC6 and ITS4 primers. The nucleotide sequence showed 100% of similarity (745/745 pb) with sequences available in GenBank and was identified as an undescribed species inside P. gonapodyides- P. megasperma Clade 6. This is the first report of a new Phytophthora in postharvest pears.La conservación del fruto de pera por períodos prolongados se asocia con enfermedades fúngicas poscosecha. En Argentina las enfermedades más importantes y extendidas son causadas por Penicillium spp. y Botrytis cinerea , seguida de Alternaria sp. y Cladosporium sp. y Athelia epiphylla . Este último puede ser importante dependiendo del lote de fruta. Este estudio reporta la presencia de un Oomiceto, como causante de la pudrición del fruto de pera en poscosecha. En 2010, durante los primeros meses de conservación de peras 'Williams', 'Packham's Triumph' y 'Red Bartlet', en cámaras frigoríficas, en la zona oriental del Alto Valle de Río Negro, se registró pudrición de frutos con pérdidas entre 5 y 20 %, según lote de fruto. Se estudiaron los síntomas de la descomposición y se determinó su etiología mediante métodos convencionales y moleculares. Los frutos comenzaron a mostrar áreas circulares, de color marrón claro a oscuro, con márgenes irregulares y difusos que se extendieron rápidamente. La zona deteriorada se mantuvo firme. El diámetro de la lesión aumentó y se extendió al tejido pulpar hasta llegar al corazón del fruto con forma hiperbólica, diferente a la forma esférica causada por Penicillium spp. o Botrytis sp. El patógeno se aisló en medio selectivo agar V8 de peras con síntomas. Por características morfológicas (colonia y esporangios) de los aislados se determinó su asociación con el clado 6 de Phytophthora . La identificación de los aislados se confirmó mediante secuenciación directa de la región ITS rDNA utilizando cebadores DC6 e ITS4. La secuencia de nucleótidos mostró 100% de similitud (745/745 pb) con secuencias disponibles en GenBank y fue identificada como una especie no descrita dentro de P. gonapodyides - P. megasperma Clado 6. Este es el primer reporte de una nueva Phytophthora en peras poscosecha.Fil: Dobra, Alicia Cristina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina.Fil: Sosa, María Cristina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina.Fil: Lutz, María Cecilia. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina.Fil: Rodriguez, Gustavo. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina

The link between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms and obesity-related traits: Genetic and prenatal explanations

Abstract Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co-occurs with obesity, however, the potential causality between the traits remains unclear. We examined both genetic and prenatal evidence for causality using Mendelian Randomisation (MR) and polygenic risk scores (PRS). We conducted bi-directional MR on ADHD liability and six obesity-related traits using summary statistics from the largest available meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies. We also examined the shared genetic aetiology between ADHD symptoms (inattention and hyperactivity) and body mass index (BMI) by PRS association analysis using longitudinal data from Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986, n = 2984). Lastly, we examined the impact of the prenatal environment by association analysis of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and offspring ADHD symptoms, adjusted for PRS of both traits, in NFBC1986 dataset. Through MR analyses, we found evidence for bidirectional causality between ADHD liability and obesity-related traits. PRS association analyses showed evidence for genetic overlap between ADHD symptoms and BMI. We found no evidence for a difference between inattention and hyperactivity symptoms, suggesting that neither symptom subtype is driving the association. We found evidence for association between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and offspring ADHD symptoms after adjusting for both BMI and ADHD PRS (association p-value = 0.027 for inattention, p = 0.008 for hyperactivity). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the co-occurrence between ADHD and obesity has both genetic and prenatal environmental origins

Detection of Pancreatic Cancer miRNA with Biocompatible Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Quantum Dots

Early-stage pancreatic cancer remains challenging to detect, leading to a poor five-year patient survival rate. This obstacle necessitates the development of early detection approaches based on novel technologies and materials. In this work, the presence of a specific pancreatic cancer-derived miRNA (pre-miR-132) is detected using the fluorescence properties of biocompatible nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) synthesized using a bottom-up approach from a single glucosamine precursor. The sensor platform is comprised of slightly positively charged (1.14 ± 0.36 mV) NGQDs bound via π-π stacking and/or electrostatic interactions to the negatively charged (-22.4 ± 6.00 mV) bait ssDNA; together, they form a complex with a 20 nm average size. The NGQDs\u27 fluorescence distinguishes specific single-stranded DNA sequences due to bait-target complementarity, discriminating them from random control sequences with sensitivity in the micromolar range. Furthermore, this targetability can also detect the stem and loop portions of pre-miR-132, adding to the practicality of the biosensor. This non-invasive approach allows cancer-specific miRNA detection to facilitate early diagnosis of various forms of cancer