German National Consensus Recommendations on Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy by the ‘Healthy Start - Young Family Network’

Diet and physical activity before and during pregnancy affect short- andlong-term health of mother and child. The energy needs at the end ofpregnancy increase only by about 10% compared to nonpregnant women. Anexcessive energy intake is undesirable since maternal overweight andexcessive weight gain can increase the risks for a high birth weight andlater child overweight and diabetes. Maternal weight at the beginning ofpregnancy is especially important for pregnancy outcome and childhealth. Women should strive to achieve normal weight already beforepregnancy. Regular physical activity can contribute to a healthy weightand to the health of pregnant women. The need for certain nutrientsincreases more than energy requirements. Before and during pregnancy,foods with a high content of essential nutrients should bepreferentially selected. Supplements should include folic acid andiodine, iron (in case of suboptimal iron stores), the omega-3 fatty aciddocosahexaenoic acid (in case of infrequent consumption of ocean fish)and vitamin D (in case of decreased sun exposure and decreasedendogenous vitamin D synthesis). Pregnant women should not smoke and notstay in rooms where others smoke or have smoked before (passivesmoking). Alcohol consumption should be avoided, since alcohol can harmunborn children

German National Consensus Recommendations on Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy by the ‘Healthy Start - Young Family Network’

Diet and physical activity before and during pregnancy affect short- andlong-term health of mother and child. The energy needs at the end ofpregnancy increase only by about 10% compared to nonpregnant women. Anexcessive energy intake is undesirable since maternal overweight andexcessive weight gain can increase the risks for a high birth weight andlater child overweight and diabetes. Maternal weight at the beginning ofpregnancy is especially important for pregnancy outcome and childhealth. Women should strive to achieve normal weight already beforepregnancy. Regular physical activity can contribute to a healthy weightand to the health of pregnant women. The need for certain nutrientsincreases more than energy requirements. Before and during pregnancy,foods with a high content of essential nutrients should bepreferentially selected. Supplements should include folic acid andiodine, iron (in case of suboptimal iron stores), the omega-3 fatty aciddocosahexaenoic acid (in case of infrequent consumption of ocean fish)and vitamin D (in case of decreased sun exposure and decreasedendogenous vitamin D synthesis). Pregnant women should not smoke and notstay in rooms where others smoke or have smoked before (passivesmoking). Alcohol consumption should be avoided, since alcohol can harmunborn children

Human Skin Microbiota: High Diversity of DNA Viruses Identified on the Human Skin by High Throughput Sequencing

The human skin is a complex ecosystem that hosts a heterogeneous flora. Until recently, the diversity of the cutaneous microbiota was mainly investigated for bacteria through culture based assays subsequently confirmed by molecular techniques. There are now many evidences that viruses represent a significant part of the cutaneous flora as demonstrated by the asymptomatic carriage of beta and gamma-human papillomaviruses on the healthy skin. Furthermore, it has been recently suggested that some representatives of the Polyomavirus genus might share a similar feature. In the present study, the cutaneous virome of the surface of the normal-appearing skin from five healthy individuals and one patient with Merkel cell carcinoma was investigated through a high throughput metagenomic sequencing approach in an attempt to provide a thorough description of the cutaneous flora, with a particular focus on its viral component. The results emphasize the high diversity of the viral cutaneous flora with multiple polyomaviruses, papillomaviruses and circoviruses being detected on normal-appearing skin. Moreover, this approach resulted in the identification of new Papillomavirus and Circovirus genomes and confirmed a very low level of genetic diversity within human polyomavirus species. Although viruses are generally considered as pathogen agents, our findings support the existence of a complex viral flora present at the surface of healthy-appearing human skin in various individuals. The dynamics and anatomical variations of this skin virome and its variations according to pathological conditions remain to be further studied. The potential involvement of these viruses, alone or in combination, in skin proliferative disorders and oncogenesis is another crucial issue to be elucidated

Positive correlation between Merkel cell polyomavirus viral load and capsid-specific antibody titer

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV or MCV) is the first polyomavirus to be clearly implicated as a causal agent underlying a human cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). Infection with MCPyV is common in the general population, and a majority of adults shed MCPyV from the surface of their skin. In this study, we quantitated MCPyV DNA in skin swab specimens from healthy volunteers sampled at different anatomical sites over time periods ranging from 3 months to 4 years. The volunteers were also tested using a serological assay that detects antibodies specific for the MCPyV virion. There was a positive correlation between MCPyV virion-specific antibody titers and viral load at all anatomical sites tested (dorsal portion of the hands, forehead, and buttocks) (Spearman’s r 0.644, P < 0.0001). The study results are consistent with previous findings suggesting that the skin is primary site of chronic MCPyV infection in healthy adults and suggest that the magnitude of an individual’s seroresponsiveness against the MCPyV virion generally reflects the overall MCPyV DNA load across wide areas of the skin. In light of previous reports indicating a correlation between MCC and strong MCPyV-specific seroresponsiveness, this model suggests that poorly controlled chronic MCPyV infection might be a risk factor in the development of MCC

Characterization of Novel Cutaneous Human Papillomavirus Genotypes HPV-150 and HPV-151

DNA from two novel HPV genotypes, HPV-150 and HPV-151, isolated from hair follicles of immuno-competent individuals, was fully cloned, sequenced and characterized. The complete genomes of HPV-150 and HPV-151 are 7,436-bp and 7,386-bp in length, respectively. Both contain genes for at least six proteins, namely E6, E7, E1, E2, L2, L1, as well as a non-coding upstream regulatory region located between the L1 and E6 genes: spanning 416-bp in HPV-150 (genomic positions 7,371 to 350) and 322-bp in HPV-151 (genomic positions 7,213 to 148). HPV-150 and HPV-151 are phylogenetically placed within the Betapapillomavirus genus and are most closely related to HPV-96 and HPV-22, respectively. As in other members of this genus, the intergenic E2-L2 region is very short and does not encode for an E5 gene. Both genotypes contain typical zinc binding domains in their E6 and E7 proteins, but HPV-151 lacks the regular pRb-binding core sequence within its E7 protein. In order to assess the tissue predilection and clinical significance of the novel genotypes, quantitative type-specific real-time PCR assays were developed. The 95% detection limits of the HPV-150 and HPV-151 assays were 7.3 copies/reaction (range 5.6 to 11.4) and 3.4 copies/reaction (range 2.5 to 6.0), respectively. Testing of a representative collection of HPV-associated mucosal and cutaneous benign and malignant neoplasms and hair follicles (total of 540 samples) revealed that HPV-150 and HPV-151 are relatively rare genotypes with a cutaneous tropism. Both genotypes were found in sporadic cases of common warts and SCC and BCC of the skin as single or multiple infections usually with low viral loads. HPV-150 can establish persistent infection of hair follicles in immuno-competent individuals. A partial L1 sequence of a putative novel HPV genotype, related to HPV-150, was identified in a squamous cell carcinoma of the skin obtained from a 64-year old immuno-compromised male patient

Solvation free energy profile of the SCN- ion across the water-1,2-dichloroethane liquid/liquid interface. A computer simulation study

The solvation free energy profile of a single SCN- ion is calculated across the water-1,2-dichloroethane liquid/liquid interface at 298 K by the constraint force method. The obtained results show that the free energy cost of transferring the ion from the aqueous to the organic phase is about 70 kJ/mol, The free energy profile shows a small but clear well at the aqueous side of the interface, in the subsurface region of the water phase, indicating the ability of the SCN- ion to be adsorbed in the close vicinity of the interface. Upon entrance of the SCN- ion to the organic phase a coextraction of the water molecules of its first hydration shell occurs. Accordingly, when it is located at the boundary of the two phases the SCN- ion prefers orientations in which its bulky S atom is located at the aqueous side, and the small N atom, together with its first hydration shell, at the organic side of the interface

Predictors of binge drinking in adolescents: ultimate and distal factors - a representative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As epidemiological surveys have shown, binge drinking is a constant and wide-spread problem behavior in adolescents. It is not rare to find that more than half of all adolescents engage in this behavior when assessing only the last 4 weeks of time independent of the urbanity of the region they live in. There have been several reviews on predictors of substance consumption in adolescents in general, but there has been less high quality research on predictors of binge drinking, and most studies have not been theoretically based. The current study aimed to analyze the ultimate and distal factors predicting substance consumption according to Petraitis' theory of triadic influence. We assessed the predictive value of these factors with respect to binge drinking in German adolescents, including the identification of influence direction.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the years 2007/2008, a representative written survey of N = 44,610 students in the 9^thgrade of different school types in Germany was carried out (net sample). The return rate of questionnaires was 88% regarding all students whose teachers or school directors had agreed to participate in the study. In this survey, prevalence of binge drinking was investigated as well as potential predictors from the social/interpersonal, the attitudinal/environmental, and the intrapersonal fields (3 factors of Petraitis). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, these variables were included after testing for multicollinearity in order to assess their ability to predict binge drinking.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Prevalence of binge drinking in the last 30 days was 52.3% for the surveyed adolescents with a higher prevalence for boys (56.9%) than for girls (47.5%). The two most influential factors found to protect against binge drinking with <it>p </it>< .001 were low economic status and importance of religion. The four most relevant risk factors for binge drinking (<it>p </it>< .001) were life-time prevalence of school absenteeism/truancy, academic failure, suicidal thoughts, and violence at school in the form of aggressive behavior of teachers. The model of Petraitis was partly confirmed for Binge Drinking in German adolescents and the direction of influence factors was clarified.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Whereas some of the risk and protective factors for binge drinking are not surprising since they are known for substance abuse in general, there are two points that could be targeted in interventions that do not focus on adolescents alone: (a) training teachers in positive, reassuring behavior and constructive criticism and (b) a focus on high risk adolescents either because they have a lack of coping strategies when in a negative mood or because of their low academic achievement in combination with absenteeism from school.</p