The Relationship between Skinfold and Ultrasound Measures of Subcutaneous Fat in Untrained Healthy Males

Ultrasound measurement of adipose tissue offers an alternative measure of body composition with less technical skill requirement than skinfolds. However, the relationship between skinfold and ultrasound measurements of adipose tissue is uncertain. The aim of this study was to compare these measures in a healthy untrained male population. One hundred male participants (aged 18–40 years) of varying body compositions had skinfold measures taken at the biceps, triceps and front thigh sites. Ultrasound measures were also taken at the same sites using B-wave ultrasound with a linear probe in the transverse plane. Strong, significant (p < 0.01), positive correlations were observed between skinfold and ultrasound measures at the biceps (r = 0.828), triceps (r = 0.813), and front thigh (r = 0.888) sites. However, there was significant (p < 0.01) variance between the techniques at all measurement sites. Whilst skinfold and ultrasound measures of adipose tissue have good linear agreement, skinfolds are consistently higher at all sites indicating a difference in the nature of the tissue measured via each technique. The exact nature of the relationship should be established on a population-specific basis

Thioredoxin system protein expression is associated with poor clinical outcome in adult and paediatric gliomas and medulloblastomas

The thioredoxin (Trx) system is an important enzyme family that regulates cellular redox homeostasis. Protein expression of Trx system family members has been assessed in various cancers and linked to various clinicopathological variables, disease progression, treatment response and survival outcomes but information is lacking in brain tumours. Expression of the system was therefore examined, by immunohistochemistry in different brain tumour types, adult and paediatric cases, to determine if expression was of importance to clinical outcome. Trx system proteins were expressed, to variable levels, across all brain tumour types with significant variations in expression between different tumour types/grades/regions. High Trx reductase (TrxR) expression was linked to worse prognosis across all cohorts. High cytoplasmic TrxR expression was significantly associated with adverse overall survival (OS) in adult glioblastoma (P=0.027) and paediatric low-grade glioma (LGG) patients (P=0.012). High expression of nuclear TrxR, cytoplasmic and nuclear Trx, and Trxinteracting protein (TxNIP) was associated with improved OS in paediatric LGGs (P=0.031,

A map of OMC-1 in CO 9-8

The distribution of 12C16O J=9-8 (1.037 THz) emission has been mapped in OMC-1 at 35 points with 84" resolution. This is the first map of this source in this transition and only the second velocity-resolved ground-based observation of a line in the terahertz frequency band. There is emission present at all points in the map, a region roughly 4' by 6' in size, with peak antenna temperature dropping only near the edges. Away from the Orion KL outflow, the velocity structure suggests that most of the emission comes from the OMC-1 photon-dominated region, with a typical linewidthof 3-6 km/s. Large velocity gradient modeling of the emission in J=9-8 and six lower transitions suggests that the lines originate in regions with temperatures around 120 K and densities of at least 10^(3.5) cm^(-3) near theta^(1) C Ori and at the Orion Bar, and from 70 K gas at around 10^(4) cm^(-3) southeast and west of the bar. These observations are among the first made with the 0.8 m Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Receiver Lab Telescope, a new instrument designed to observe at frequencies above 1 THz from an extremely high and dry site in northern Chile.Comment: Minor changes to references, text to match ApJ versio

The Relationship between Skinfold and Ultrasound Measures of Subcutaneous Fat in Untrained Healthy Males

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-10-29, pub-electronic 2021-11-10Publication status: PublishedUltrasound measurement of adipose tissue offers an alternative measure of body composition with less technical skill requirement than skinfolds. However, the relationship between skinfold and ultrasound measurements of adipose tissue is uncertain. The aim of this study was to compare these measures in a healthy untrained male population. One hundred male participants (aged 18–40 years) of varying body compositions had skinfold measures taken at the biceps, triceps and front thigh sites. Ultrasound measures were also taken at the same sites using B-wave ultrasound with a linear probe in the transverse plane. Strong, significant (p 0.01), positive correlations were observed between skinfold and ultrasound measures at the biceps (r = 0.828), triceps (r = 0.813), and front thigh (r = 0.888) sites. However, there was significant (p 0.01) variance between the techniques at all measurement sites. Whilst skinfold and ultrasound measures of adipose tissue have good linear agreement, skinfolds are consistently higher at all sites indicating a difference in the nature of the tissue measured via each technique. The exact nature of the relationship should be established on a population-specific basis

Impact of panic attacks on bronchoconstriction and subjective distress in asthma patients with and without panic disorder

© 2017 by the American Psychosomatic Society. Objective: Panic disorder (PD) is common among asthma patients and is associated with worse asthma outcomes. This may occur because of psychophysiological factors or cognitive/affective factors. This study evaluated the impact of panic attacks (PAs) on bronchoconstriction and subjective distress in people who have asthma with and without PD. Methods: A total of 25 asthma patients (15 with PD who had a PA [PD/PA], 10 without PD who did not have a PA [no PD/no PA] ) were recruited from an outpatient clinic. They underwent a panic challenge (one vital capacity inhalation of 35% carbon dioxide [CO 2 ]) and completed the Panic Symptom Scale, the Subjective Distress Visual Analogue Scale, and the Borg Scale before and after CO 2 . Forced expiratory volume in 1 second was assessed pre-and post-CO 2 ; respiratory (i.e., CO 2 production, minute ventilation, tidal volume) was continuously recorded, and physiological measures (i.e., systolic and diastolic blood pressure [SBP/DBP]) were recorded every 2 minutes. Results: Analyses adjusting for age, sex, and provocative concentration of methacholine revealed no significant differences between groups in forced expiratory volume in 1 second change after CO 2 inhalation (F(1, 23) < 0.01, p =.961). However, patients with PD/PA reported more panic (F(1, 22) = 18.10, p < .001), anxiety (F(1, 22) = 21.93, p < .001), worry (F(1, 22) = 26.31, p < .001), and dyspnea (F(1,22) = 4.68, p =.042) and exhibited higher levels of CO 2 production (F(1, 2843) = 5.89, p =.015), minute ventilation (F(1, 2844) = 4.48, p =.034), and tidal volume (F(1, 2844) = 4.62, p =.032) after the CO 2 challenge, compared with patients with no PD/no PA. Conclusions: Results, presented as hypothesis generating, suggest that asthma patients with PD/PA exhibit increased panic-like anxiety, breathlessness, and a respiratory pattern consistent with hyperventilation that was not linked to statistically significant drops in bronchoconstriction

Relationship between antidepressant therapy and risk for cardiovascular events in patients with and without cardiovascular disease

Objective: The American Heart Association has endorsed depression as a cardiac risk factor and recommends screening as part of routine practice. This has been met with controversy due to inconsistencies in the data linking depression treatment to better cardiovascular outcomes. Our objective was to prospectively assess the association between depression treatment (defined as being prescribed antidepressant medication) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients referred for exercise stress tests. Methods: 2385 consecutive patients presenting for myocardial perfusion exercise stress tests underwent a sociodemographic, medical, and psychiatric interview (PRIME-MD) and completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). History of CVD and antidepressant use was self-reported and verified via chart review. Participants followed over an 8.8 year follow-up, and information regarding MACE incidence (including cardiac mortality, non-fatal myocardial infarction, revascularization procedures, cerebrovascular events) was obtained from provincial administrative databases. Results: 8% (n=190) of the sample were taking antidepressants at baseline, 41% (n=916) had a history of CVD, and 38.7% (n=921) had depression according to the PRIME-MD or BDI. Antidepressant treatment was associated with a 30% reduced risk of MACE (HR=0.697; 95%CI=0.504-0.964; p=.029). A 46% reduction in risk was associated with antidepressant treatment among those without CVD (HR=0.542; 95%CI=0.299-0.981; p=.043). In depressed patients, a 33% reduction in risk of MACE associated with antidepressant use was seen (adjusted HR=0.674; 95%CI=0.440-1.033; p=.07). Conclusions: Antidepressants may be cardio-protective among patients presenting for stress testing independent of risk factors including CVD and depression. Results support treating depression with antidepressants in this population to reduce risk of MACE

Positive and negative affect is related to experiencing chest pain during exercise-induced myocardial ischemia

© 2017 by the American Psychosomatic Society. Objective: Silent myocardial ischemia is thought to be associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes due to a lack of perception of pain cues that initiate treatment seeking. Negative affect (NA) has been associated with increased pain reporting and positive affect (PA) with decreased pain reporting, but these psychological factors have not been examined within the context of myocardial ischemia. This study evaluated the associations between PA, NA, and chest pain reporting in patients with and without ischemia during exercise testing. Methods: A total of 246 patients referred for myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography exercise stress testing completed the positive and negative affect schedule-expanded version, a measure of PA and NA. Presence of chest pain and myocardial ischemia were evaluated using standardized protocols. Results: Logistic regression analyses revealed that for every 1-point increase in NA, there was a 13% higher chance for ischemic patients (odds ratio [OR] = 1.13; 95 % confidence interval [CI] = 1.02 to 1.26) and an 11% higher chance in nonischemic patients (OR = 1.11; 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.19) to report chest pain. A significant interaction of PA and NA on chest pain reporting (ß = 0.02; 95% CI = 0.002 to 0.031) was also observed; nonischemic patients with high NA and PA reported more chest pain (57%) versus patients with low NA and low PA (13%), with high NA and low PA (17%), and with high PA and low NA (7%). Conclusions: Patients who experience higher NA are more likely to report experiencing chest pain. In patients without ischemia, high NA and PA was also associated with a higher likelihood of reporting chest pain. Results suggest that high levels of PA as well as NA may increase the experience and/or reporting of chest pain

Untargeted Metabolomic Characterization of Glioblastoma Intra-Tumor Heterogeneity Using OrbiSIMS

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an incurable brain cancer with a median survival of less than two years from diagnosis. The standard treatment of GBM is multimodality therapy comprising surgical resection, radiation, and chemotherapy. However, prognosis remains poor, and there is an urgent need for effective anticancer drugs. Since different regions of a single GBM contain multiple cancer subpopulations ("intra-tumor heterogeneity"), this likely accounts for therapy failure as certain cancer cells can escape from immune surveillance and therapeutic threats. Here, we present metabolomic data generated using the Orbitrap secondary ion mass spectrometry (OrbiSIMS) technique to investigate brain tumor metabolism within its highly heterogeneous tumor microenvironment. Our results demonstrate that an OrbiSIMS-based untargeted metabolomics method was able to discriminate morphologically distinct regions (viable, necrotic, and non-cancerous) within single tumors from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue archives. Specifically, cancer cells from necrotic regions were separated from viable GBM cells based on a set of metabolites including cytosine, phosphate, purine, xanthine, and 8-hydroxy-7-methylguanine. Moreover, we mapped ubiquitous metabolites across necrotic and viable regions into metabolic pathways, which allowed for the discovery of tryptophan metabolism that was likely essential for GBM cellular survival. In summary, this study first demonstrated the capability of OrbiSIMS for in situ investigation of GBM intra-tumor heterogeneity, and the acquired information can potentially help improve our understanding of cancer metabolism and develop new therapies that can effectively target multiple subpopulations within a tumor

Susceptibility to Predation Affects Trait-Mediated Indirect Interactions by Reversing Interspecific Competition

Numerous studies indicate that the behavioral responses of prey to the presence of predators can have an important role in structuring assemblages through trait-mediated indirect interactions. Few studies, however, have addressed how relative susceptibility to predation influences such interactions. Here we examine the effect of chemical cues from the common shore crab Carcinus maenas on the foraging behavior of two common intertidal gastropod molluscs. Of the two model consumers studied, Littorina littorea is morphologically more vulnerable to crab predation than Gibbula umbilicalis, and it exhibited greater competitive ability in the absence of predation threat. However, Littorina demonstrated a greater anti-predator response when experimentally exposed to predation cues, resulting in a lower level of foraging. This reversed the competitive interaction, allowing Gibbula substantially increased access to shared resources. Our results demonstrate that the susceptibility of consumers to predation can influence species interactions, and suggest that inter-specific differences in trait-mediated indirect interactions are another mechanism through which non-consumptive predator effects may influence trophic interactions