The Relationship Between Maternal and Obese Children’s Daily Physical Activity.

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(5): 1302-1314, 2019. This study examined the effects of maternal influence on child’s daily physical activity. Participants consisted of eight families; parents (n = 9) and obese children (n = 10). Families were asked to attend exercise sessions at a university laboratory for 10 weeks. Daily physical activity was measured with a MovBand 3 which is a wrist worn accelerometer that records physical activity as moves. Linear mixed-effects models were used to predict daily physical activity over time and child physical activity as a function of parent physical activity on a day-to-day basis. Physical activity for all participants did not change significantly (p \u3e .05) over the course of the intervention, however, there was a significant (p = .001) relationship between maternal and child physical activity showing for every step a mother took their child took 1.2 steps. On average, mothers achieved 2825.18 ± 1282.77 fewer moves than their children on a daily basis. Encouraging parents to engage in physical activity with their children may have a positive impact on their obese child’s daily physical activity involvement

The Use of Non-physician Prescribed Medications in Patients Presenting to Two Emergency Departments in a Low/Middle-income Country

Introduction: With few trained healthcare practitioners and limited personal finances, many patients in low/middle income countries purchase prescription medications from non-physician   prescribers (NPP). This study documents various aspects of this practice, including patterns of prescribing, and the patient’s understanding of medication risks.Methods: From January to April 2017, 479 patients entering two hospitals in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, were surveyed. Demographics, medications, types of NPP who provided the medication, patients history and physicians’ chart data were documented. Information, including symptoms when the medication was purchased, possible side effects, hospital presenting symptoms, etc, was recorded. The patient’s understanding of medication allergies  and risk of serious side effects was also documented.Results: Of the 467 patients included, more than half (59%), reported buying medications from NPPs within the two weeks before presenting to the hospital. Nearly half of those patients, (42%), could not identify any of their medications. Of those 159 patients who could identify at least one drug, 79% bought at least one medication that would require a prescription in the United States. Only 8% of patients were aware that medications could cause serious harm. Twenty-three percent of the known medications were oral or injectable corticosteroids, and 56% of steroid users, typically chronic users, had evidence of possible side effects.Conclusion: Many patients in one low/middle income country received prescription medications from various NPPs with little information concerning these medications. Efforts to  educate the public about their medications and the potential risks of medications are needed. [West J Emerg Med. 2022;22(3)445–452.

Explorando las intenciones emprendedoras en estudiantes universitarios Latinoamericanos

El propósito de este estudio fue determinar si la intención de emprendimiento, basada en el modelo de ´ comportamiento planeado de Ajzen (1991), puede predecirse a partir de la propensión al riesgo, el locus de control interno y las habilidades de liderazgo. Se aplicaron seis instrumentos estandarizados y confiables a 1493 estudiantes latinoamericanos de áreas empresariales, utilizando un muestreo no probabilístico por cuota según año de formación en cada universidad. A través de ecuaciones estructurales se validó el modelo de investigación propuesto y se estimó y analizó la intención en relación con las variables sociodemográficas. De acuerdo con los resultados, la intención de emprendimiento puede predecirse significativamente con las variables psicológicas estudiadas y contrario a lo hallado en otros estudios no se encontraron diferencias por género. Se discuten estos hallazgos.The aim of this study was to determine if entrepreneurial intention, based on Ajzen's model of planned behavior (1991), can be predicted by risk propensity, internal locus of control and leadership skills. Six standardized and reliable instruments were applied to 1493 undergraduate university business students in Latin American countries, selected through non-random quota sampling in accordance with their formation level in each of the five participating universities. Using structural equation techniques, the research model was validated and intention estimated and analyzed in relation to a set of socio-demographic variables. According to the results, entrepreneurial intention can be significantly predicted by the psychological variables under consideration and, contrary to what has been reported in other research, no gender differences were found in the intention of entrepreneurship. These findings are discussed

Changes in the miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network Precede Motor Symptoms in a Mouse Model of Multiple System Atrophy: Clinical Implications.

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a fatal rapidly progressive α-synucleinopathy, characterized by α-synuclein accumulation in oligodendrocytes. It is accepted that the pathological α-synuclein accumulation in the brain of MSA patients plays a leading role in the disease process, but little is known about the events in the early stages of the disease. In this study we aimed to define potential roles of the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network in the early pre-motor stages of the disease, i.e., downstream of α-synuclein accumulation in oligodendroglia, as assessed in a transgenic mouse model of MSA. We investigated the expression patterns of miRNAs and their mRNA targets in substantia nigra (SN) and striatum, two brain regions that undergo neurodegeneration at a later stage in the MSA model, by microarray and RNA-seq analysis, respectively. Analysis was performed at a time point when α-synuclein accumulation was already present in oligodendrocytes at neuropathological examination, but no neuronal loss nor deficits of motor function had yet occurred. Our data provide a first evidence for the leading role of gene dysregulation associated with deficits in immune and inflammatory responses in the very early, non-symptomatic disease stages of MSA. While dysfunctional homeostasis and oxidative stress were prominent in SN in the early stages of MSA, in striatum differential gene expression in the non-symptomatic phase was linked to oligodendroglial dysfunction, disturbed protein handling, lipid metabolism, transmembrane transport and altered cell death control, respectively. A large number of putative miRNA-mRNAs interaction partners were identified in relation to the control of these processes in the MSA model. Our results support the role of early changes in the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network in the pathogenesis of MSA preceding the clinical onset of the disease. The findings thus contribute to understanding the disease process and are likely to pave the way towards identifying disease biomarkers for early diagnosis of MSA

Deregulated miRNA-mRNA regulatory network to “Immune system process” in MSA mice in disease pre-motor stage.

<p>Differentially expressed miRNAs with predicted negatively correlated differentially expressed mRNA targets are visualized by employing Cytoscape (version 3.2.1). Round nodes show mRNA and triangle nodes miRNA. Node size is proportional to its degree. Fold change (log₂ transformed) for each node is ranging from red (negative) to green (positive). Interaction arrow thickness is proportional to the number of algorithms predicting the miRNA-mRNA target 3’ UTR interaction, ranging from one to four. Differential expression of genes, in striatum and SN, such as <i>Anln</i>, <i>Car2</i>, <i>Cd59a</i>, <i>Hba-a1</i> and <i>Rps17</i>, is visualized by color corresponding to the mean fold change (exact values can be found in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0150705#pone.0150705.s007" target="_blank">S2</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0150705#pone.0150705.s008" target="_blank">S3</a> Tables).</p

Changes in the miRNA-mRNA Regulatory Network Precede Motor Symptoms in a Mouse Model of Multiple System Atrophy: Clinical Implications - Fig 7

<p><b>Deregulated miRNA-mRNA regulatory network in the striatum of MSA mice in pre-motor stage of disease:</b> Modules “Protein handling” (A) and “Metabolism” (B). Differentially expressed miRNAs with predicted negatively correlated differentially expressed mRNA targets assigned to the indicated GO-terms (light blue rectangles) are visualized by employing Cytoscape (version 3.2.1). Round nodes designate mRNA and triangle nodes miRNA. Node size is proportional to its degree. Fold change (log₂ transformed) for each node is ranging from -0.75 (red) to 1 (green). The shade of blue color of the interaction arrows indicates the degree (range -1.00–0.00) of negative correlation between miRNA-mRNA target 3’ UTR interaction. Interaction arrow thickness is proportional to the number of algorithms predicting the miRNA-mRNA target 3’ UTR interaction, ranging from one to four.</p

Differential expression of mRNAs in a mouse model of pre-motor stage MSA.

<p>(A) Heatmaps represent significantly differentially expressed genes of RNA-seq (striatum, SN) and microarray (SN) analyses. For each gene (row), the log2-transformed change of the expression value in each sample to the average expression value over all samples is shown. Columns represent individual replicates grouped into MSA and control (WT) samples indicated by the blue (MSA) and grey (WT) bars at the top of the heatmaps. The color gradient indicates the expression change from negative to positive. The asterisks following gene names indicate overlapping genes between microarray and RNA-seq analyses in SN. (B) Venn diagram illustrating the number of overlapping differentially expressed mRNAs between SN and striatum tissue in MSA mice. (C) Heatmap highlights log₂-transformed fold changes of mRNAs overlapping between striatum und SN. Down-regulated mRNAs are indicated by a blue color gradient, whereas up-regulated miRNAs are indicated by an orange color gradient. mRNA with expression signals below background in the microarray experiment are highlighted in gray. From left to right, microarray and RNA-seq analysis results of SN and RNA-seq analysis of striatum are shown. Differential expression analysis of control versus transgenic MSA mice of both, striatum and SN samples, was performed by employing the DESeq2 package with predefined parameters [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0150705#pone.0150705.ref037" target="_blank">37</a>]. Genes with an adjusted p-value below 0.1 after multiple testing corrections were considered statistically significant [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0150705#pone.0150705.ref038" target="_blank">38</a>]. For microarray data differential gene expression was tested by a moderated t-test using the <i>limma</i> package [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0150705#pone.0150705.ref039" target="_blank">39</a>]. For both methods genes with an adjusted p-value < 0.1 after multiple testing corrections were considered statistically significant [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0150705#pone.0150705.ref038" target="_blank">38</a>].</p