Active commuting to and from university, obesity and metabolic syndrome among Colombian university students

Background: There is limited evidence concerning how active commuting (AC) is associated with health benefits in young. The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between AC to and from campus (walking) and obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a sample of Colombian university students. Methods: A total of 784 university students (78.6% women, mean age = 20.1 ± 2.6 years old) participated in the study. The exposure variable was categorized into AC (active walker to campus) and non-AC (non/infrequent active walker to campus: car, motorcycle, or bus) to and from the university on a typical day. MetS was defined in accordance with the updated harmonized criteria of the International Diabetes Federation criteria. Results: The overall prevalence of MetS was 8.7%, and it was higher in non-AC than AC to campus. The percentage of AC was 65.3%. The commuting distances in this AC from/to university were 83.1%, 13.4% and 3.5% for < 2 km, 2- 5 km and > 5 km, respectively. Multiple logistic regressions for predicting unhealthy profile showed that male walking commuters had a lower probability of having obesity [OR = 0.45 (CI 95% 0.25–0.93)], high blood pressure [OR = 0.26 (CI 95% 0.13–0.55)] and low HDL cholesterol [OR = 0.29 (CI 95% 0.14–0.59)] than did passive commuters. Conclusions: Our results suggest that in young adulthood, a key life-stage for the development of obesity and MetS, AC could be associated with and increasing of daily physical activity levels, thereby promoting better cardiometabolic health.This study was part of the project entitled “Body Adiposity Index and Biomarkers of Endothelial and Cardiovascular Health in Adults”, which was funded by Centre for Studies on Measurement of Physical Activity, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario (Code N° FIUR DNBG001) and Universidad de Boyacá (Code N° RECT 60)

Por Doña Maria Zorrilla, y Arce, Condesa de Escalante, madre y legitima heredera de Doña Catalina de Guevara : con el señor Don Iñigo Velez de Guevara Conde de Oñate, Presidente que fue del Consejo Real de las Ordenes

Copia digital : Diputación Provincial de Zaragoza. Servicio de Archivos y Bibliotecas, 2010Datos de tít. tomados de p.1Ejemplar sin pie de imprenta, al final del texto aparece: "En Çaragoça ... 1647"Inic. grab. xil

CC8 MRSA Strains Harboring SCCmec Type IVc are Predominant in Colombian Hospitals

BACKGROUND: Recent reports highlight the incursion of community-associated MRSA within healthcare settings. However, knowledge of this phenomenon remains limited in Latin America. The aim of this study was to evaluate the molecular epidemiology of MRSA in three tertiary-care hospitals in Medellín, Colombia. METHODS: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted from 2008-2010. MRSA infections were classified as either community-associated (CA-MRSA) or healthcare-associated (HA-MRSA), with HA-MRSA further classified as hospital-onset (HAHO-MRSA) or community-onset (HACO-MRSA) according to standard epidemiological definitions established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Genotypic analysis included SCCmec typing, spa typing, PFGE and MLST. RESULTS: Out of 538 total MRSA isolates, 68 (12.6%) were defined as CA-MRSA, 243 (45.2%) as HACO-MRSA and 227 (42.2%) as HAHO-MRSA. The majority harbored SCCmec type IVc (306, 58.7%), followed by SCCmec type I (174, 33.4%). The prevalence of type IVc among CA-, HACO- and HAHO-MRSA isolates was 92.4%, 65.1% and 43.6%, respectively. From 2008 to 2010, the prevalence of type IVc-bearing strains increased significantly, from 50.0% to 68.2% (p = 0.004). Strains harboring SCCmec IVc were mainly associated with spa types t1610, t008 and t024 (MLST clonal complex 8), while PFGE confirmed that the t008 and t1610 strains were closely related to the USA300-0114 CA-MRSA clone. Notably, strains belonging to these three spa types exhibited high levels of tetracycline resistance (45.9%). CONCLUSION: CC8 MRSA strains harboring SCCmec type IVc are becoming predominant in Medellín hospitals, displacing previously reported CC5 HA-MRSA clones. Based on shared characteristics including SCCmec IVc, absence of the ACME element and tetracycline resistance, the USA300-related isolates in this study are most likely related to USA300-LV, the recently-described 'Latin American variant' of USA300

Developing a new curvilinear allometric model to improve the fit and validity of the 20-m shuttle run test as a predictor of cardiorespiratory fitness in adults and youth

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in Sports Medicine on 24 September 2020, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-020-01346-0 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Background and Objectives: Doubts have been raised concerning the validity of the 20m shuttle run test (20mSRT) as a predictor of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in youth based on Léger’s equation/model. An alternative allometric model has been published recently that is thought to provide, not only a superior fit (criterion validity) but also a more biologically and physiologically interpretable model (construct validity). The purposes of this study were to explore whether allometry can provide a more valid predictor of CRF using 20mSRT compared with Léger’s equation/model. Methods: We fitted and compared Léger’s original model and an alternative allometric model using two cross-sectional datasets (youth, n=306; adult n=105) that contained measurements of CRF (V ̇O2peak /V ̇O2max) and 20mSRT performance. Quality-of-fit was assessed using explained variance (R2) and Bland and Altman’s limits of agreement. Results: The allometric models provided superior fits for the youth (explained variance R2=71.9%) and adult (R2=77.7%) datasets compared with Léger’s equation using their original fixed (R2=35.2%) or re-estimated parameter models (R2=65.9%), confirming that the allometric models demonstrate acceptable criterion validity. However, the allometric models also identified a non-linear “J-shaped” increase in energy cost (V ̇O2peak/V ̇O2max) with faster final shuttle-run speeds, (fitted speed exponent =1.52; 95% CI 1.38 to 1.65). Conclusion: Not only do allometric models provide more accurate predictions of CRF (V ̇O2peak/V ̇O2max; ml.kg-1.min-1) for both youth and adults (evidence of criterion validity), the “J-shaped” rise in energy demand with increasing final shuttle-run speed also provides evidence of construct validity, resulting in a more plausible, physiologically sound and interpretable model

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Power balances, transnational elites, and local economic governance: The political economy of development in Medellín

Applying a non-linear political economy analysis of power balances, institutional mechanisms, and elite structures, this study sheds light on the characteristics of Medellín’s economic development since the early 2000s. Elites with minimal technological capabilities and interests in promoting the advancement of transnational capitalism have successfully secured access to sources of power. These conditions (re)produce neoliberal logics of local governance that focus on economic growth in sectors with perceived global comparative advantages and on sustaining the particular power balances in Medellín’s political settlement. This has led to failures of generating positive forward and backward linkages for productivity growth of local firms, a local labour market marked by low wages and high employment elasticities, and large income inequalities. The local governance model that perpetuates productivity and inequality problems of the city is adopted as an opportunistic discourse of Medellín’s transnationalised capitalist elite in the larger neoliberal context of Colombia’s polity and economic policy agenda. In the absence of structural reforms targeting low wages and incentivising firms to develop technological capabilities, Medellín’s low productivity and high inequality problems are likely to persist

Effect of sitagliptin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Data are lacking on the long-term effect on cardiovascular events of adding sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, to usual care in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. METHODS: In this randomized, double-blind study, we assigned 14,671 patients to add either sitagliptin or placebo to their existing therapy. Open-label use of antihyperglycemic therapy was encouraged as required, aimed at reaching individually appropriate glycemic targets in all patients. To determine whether sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo, we used a relative risk of 1.3 as the marginal upper boundary. The primary cardiovascular outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for unstable angina. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 3.0 years, there was a small difference in glycated hemoglobin levels (least-squares mean difference for sitagliptin vs. placebo, -0.29 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.32 to -0.27). Overall, the primary outcome occurred in 839 patients in the sitagliptin group (11.4%; 4.06 per 100 person-years) and 851 patients in the placebo group (11.6%; 4.17 per 100 person-years). Sitagliptin was noninferior to placebo for the primary composite cardiovascular outcome (hazard ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.09; P<0.001). Rates of hospitalization for heart failure did not differ between the two groups (hazard ratio, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.20; P = 0.98). There were no significant between-group differences in rates of acute pancreatitis (P = 0.07) or pancreatic cancer (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, adding sitagliptin to usual care did not appear to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, hospitalization for heart failure, or other adverse events

Early diverging lineages within Cryptomycota and Chytridiomycota dominate the fungal communities in ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Antarctic ice-covered lakes are exceptional sites for studying the ecology of aquatic fungi under conditions of minimal human disturbance. In this study, we explored the diversity and community composition of fungi in five permanently covered lake basins located in the Taylor and Miers Valleys of Antarctica. Based on analysis of the 18S rRNA sequences, we showed that fungal taxa represented between 0.93% and 60.32% of the eukaryotic sequences. Cryptomycota and Chytridiomycota dominated the fungal communities in all lakes; however, members of Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Zygomycota, and Blastocladiomycota were also present. Of the 1313 fungal OTUs identified, the two most abundant, belonging to LKM11 and Chytridiaceae, comprised 74% of the sequences. Significant differences in the community structure were determined among lakes, water depths, habitat features (i.e., brackish vs. freshwaters), and nucleic acids (DNA vs. RNA), suggesting niche differentiation. Network analysis suggested the existence of strong relationships among specific fungal phylotypes as well as between fungi and other eukaryotes. This study sheds light on the biology and ecology of basal fungi in aquatic systems. To our knowledge, this is the first report showing the predominance of early diverging lineages of fungi in pristine limnetic ecosystems, particularly of the enigmatic phylum Cryptomycota.National Science Foundation/[PLR1439774]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[PLR1115245]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[PLR 1543537]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Aeronautics and Space Administration/[NNH14ZDA001N-PSTAR]/NASA/Estados UnidosUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Ciencias Básicas::Facultad de Ciencias::Escuela de Biologí

GABAergic regulation of cerebellar NG2 cell development is altered in perinatal white matter injury.

Diffuse white matter injury (DWMI), a leading cause of neurodevelopmental disabilities in preterm infants, is characterized by reduced oligodendrocyte formation. NG2-expressing oligodendrocyte precursor cells (NG2 cells) are exposed to various extrinsic regulatory signals, including the neurotransmitter GABA. We investigated GABAergic signaling to cerebellar white matter NG2 cells in a mouse model of DWMI (chronic neonatal hypoxia). We found that hypoxia caused a loss of GABAA receptor-mediated synaptic input to NG2 cells, extensive proliferation of these cells and delayed oligodendrocyte maturation, leading to dysmyelination. Treatment of control mice with a GABAA receptor antagonist or deletion of the chloride-accumulating transporter NKCC1 mimicked the effects of hypoxia. Conversely, blockade of GABA catabolism or GABA uptake reduced NG2 cell numbers and increased the formation of mature oligodendrocytes both in control and hypoxic mice. Our results indicate that GABAergic signaling regulates NG2 cell differentiation and proliferation in vivo, and suggest that its perturbation is a key factor in DWMI