Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Deceptive combined effects of short allele dominance and stuttering : an example with Ixodes scapularis, the main vector of Lyme disease in the U.S.A.

Null alleles, short allele dominance (SAD), and stuttering increase the perceived relative inbreeding of individuals and subpopulations as measured by Wrights F_IS and F_ST. Ascertainment bias, due to such amplifying problems are usually caused by inaccurate primer design (if developed from a different species or a distant population), poor DNA quality, low DNA concentration, or a combination of some or all these sources of inaccuracy. When combined, these issues can increase the correlation between polymorphism at concerned loci and, consequently, of linkage disequilibrium (LD) between those. In this note, we studied an original microsatellite data set generated by analyzing nine loci in Ixodes scapularis ticks from the eastern U.S.A. To detect null alleles and SAD we used correlation methods and variation measures. To detect stuttering, we evaluated heterozygote deficit between alleles displaying a single repeat difference. We demonstrated that an important proportion of loci affected by amplification problems (one with null alleles, two with SAD and three with stuttering) lead to highly significant heterozygote deficits (F_IS=0.1, p-valu

(38(2):242-260)A study on the Drying Properties of Ear Sorghum

為設計實用性高粱種穗乾燥設備，在此研究中進行高粱穗乾燥特性試驗。試驗結果顯示移動層乾燥的乾燥率偏低，所需能量大，因而隧道式乾燥並不適用。傳統型厚層靜置方式為一可行方式，而雙向通風方式可用以解決上下層含水率不均之問題，由薄層試驗之結果可得良好乾燥效果時穀層溫度分佈之需求情況。各階段不同風量與溫度之乾燥方式將可應用於靜置式厚層乾燥作業。 In order to design a practical equipment for the drying of ears sorghum, some investigations had been conducted in this research. Experimental results indicated that the tunnel drying method is impractical for it has a lower drying rate and relative high energy requirement. Tradictional deep-bed stationery drying is then recommended, using two-way drying method to solve the uniform problem of grain moisture. In com paring with the results of thin-layer drying, the temperature distribution of grain bed for good drying performance can be obtained. Different flow ratesand temperatures of drying air for each drying stage will be considered as variables in the deep-bed drying operation

c-MET as a potential therapeutic target and biomarker in cancer

The receptor tyrosine kinase c-MET and its ligand, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), regulate multiple cellular processes that stimulate cell proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis. This review provides an overview of the evidence to support c-MET or the HGF/c-MET signaling pathway as relevant targets for personalized cancer treatment based on high frequencies of c-MET and/or HGF overexpression, activation, amplification in non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), gastric, ovarian, pancreatic, thyroid, breast, head and neck, colon and kidney carcinomas. Additionally, the current knowledge of small molecule inhibitors (tivantinib [ARQ 197]), c-MET/HGF antibodies (rilotumumab and MetMAb) and mechanisms of resistance to c-MET-targeted therapies are discussed