Effects of Episodic Copper Exposures on Population Fitness

2008 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Addressing Water Challenges Facing the State and Regio

Reduced cardiorespiratory fitness, low physical activity and an urban environment are independently associated with increased cardiovascular risk in children

Aims/hypothesis: To assist in the development of preventive strategies, we studied whether the neighbourhood environment or modifiable behavioural parameters, including cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and physical activity (PA), are independently associated with obesity and metabolic risk markers in children. Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional analysis of 502 randomly selected first and fifth grade urban and rural Swiss schoolchildren with regard to CRF, PA and the neighbourhood (rural vs urban) environment. Outcome measures included BMI, sum of four skinfold thicknesses, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and a standardised clustered metabolic risk score. Results: CRF and PA (especially total PA, but also the time spent engaged in light and in moderate and vigorous intensity PA) were inversely associated with measures of obesity, HOMA-IR and the metabolic risk score, independently of each other, and of sociodemographic and nutritional parameters, media use, sleep duration, BMI and the neighbourhood environment (all p < 0.05). Children living in a rural environment were more physically active and had higher CRF values and reduced HOMA-IR and metabolic risk scores compared with children living in an urban environment (all p < 0.05). These differences in cardiovascular risk factors persisted after adjustment for CRF, total PA and BMI. Conclusions/interpretation: Reduced CRF, low PA and an urban environment are independently associated with an increase in metabolic risk markers in children. Trial registration: isrctn.org 15360785 Funding: The study was funded by the Federal office of Sports (Magglingen, Switzerland), the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant nos 3234-069271 and PMPDB-114401) and the Diabetes Foundation of the Region of Base

Optical interconnect with densely integrated plasmonic modulator and germanium photodetector arrays

We demonstrate the first chip-to-chip interconnect utilizing a densely integrated plasmonic Mach-Zehnder modulator array operating at 3 x 10 Gbit/s. A multicore fiber provides a compact optical interface, while the receiver consists of germanium photodetectors

Optical interconnect solution with plasmonic modulator and Ge photodetector array

We report on an optical chip-to-chip interconnect solution, thereby demonstrating plasmonics as a solution for ultra-dense, high-speed short-reach communications. The interconnect comprises a densely integrated plasmonic Mach-Zehnder modulator array that is packaged with standard driving electronics. On the receiver side, a germanium photodetector array is integrated with trans-impedance amplifiers. A multicore fiber provides a compact optical interface to the array. We demonstrate 4 × 20 Gb/s on-off keying signaling with direct detection.ISSN:1041-1135ISSN:1941-017

Effect of multidimensional lifestyle intervention on fitness and adiposity in predominantly migrant preschool children (Ballabeina): cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To test the effect of a multidimensional lifestyle intervention on aerobic fitness and adiposity in predominantly migrant preschool children

Weight-bearing bones are more sensitive to physical exercise in boys than in girls during pre- and early puberty: a cross-sectional study

Summary: We carried out a cross-section study of the sex-specific relationship between bone mineral content and physical activity at sites with different loading in pre- and early pubertal girls and boys. There was significant sensitivity of bone mineral content of the hip to physical exercise in boys, but not in girls. Background: Since little is known whether there are sex differences in sensitivity of bone to loading, we investigated sex differences in the cross-sectional association between measures of physical activity (PA) and bone mass and size in pre- and early pubertal children of both sexes. Methods: We measured bone mineral content/density (BMC/BMD) and fat-free mass (FFM) in 269 6- to 13-year-old children from randomly selected schools by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Physical activity (PA) was measured by accelerometers and lower extremity strength by a jump-and-reach test. Results: Boys (n = 128) had higher hip and total body BMC and BMD, higher FFM, higher muscle strength and were more physically active than girls (n = 141). Total hip BMC was positively associated with time spent in total and vigorous PA in boys (r = 0.20-0.33, p < 0.01), but not in girls (r = 0.02-0.04, p=ns), even after adjusting for FFM and strength. While boys and girls in the lowest tertile of vigorous PA (22min/day) did not differ in hip BMC (15.62 vs 15.52g), boys in the highest tertile (72min/day) had significantly higher values than the corresponding girls (16.84 vs 15.71g, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Sex differences in BMC during pre- and early puberty may be related to a different sensitivity of bone to physical loading, irrespective of muscle mas

Remote Testing of the Familiar Word Effect With Non-dialectal and Dialectal German-Learning 1–2-Year-Olds

Variability is pervasive in spoken language, in particular if one is exposed to two varieties of the same language (e.g., the standard variety and a dialect). Unlike in bilingual settings, standard and dialectal forms are often phonologically related, increasing the variability in word forms (e.g., German Fuß “foot” is produced as [fuwww.frontiersin.orgs] in Standard German and as [fwww.frontiersin.orgs] in the Alemannic dialect). We investigate whether dialectal variability in children’s input affects their ability to recognize words in Standard German, testing non-dialectal vs. dialectal children. Non-dialectal children, who typically grow up in urban areas, mostly hear Standard German forms, and hence encounter little segmental variability in their input. Dialectal children in turn, who typically grow up in rural areas, hear both Standard German and dialectal forms, and are hence exposed to a large amount of variability in their input. We employ the familiar word paradigm for German children aged 12–18 months. Since dialectal children from rural areas are hard to recruit for laboratory studies, we programmed an App that allows all parents to test their children at home. Looking times to familiar vs. non-familiar words were analyzed using a semi-automatic procedure based on neural networks. Our results replicate the familiarity preference for non-dialectal German 12–18-month-old children (longer looking times to familiar words than vs. non-familiar words). Non-dialectal children in the same age range, on the other hand, showed a novelty preference. One explanation for the novelty preference in dialectal children may be more mature linguistic processing, caused by more variability of word forms in the input. This linguistic maturation hypothesis is addressed in Experiment 2, in which we tested older children (18–24-month-olds). These children, who are not exposed to dialectal forms, also showed a novelty preference. Taken together, our findings show that both dialectal and non-dialectal German children recognized the familiar Standard German word forms, but their looking pattern differed as a function of the variability in the input. Frequent exposure to both dialectal and Standard German word forms may hence have affected the nature of (prelexical and/or) lexical representations, leading to more mature processing capacities

Effect of school based physical activity programme (KISS) on fitness and adiposity in primary schoolchildren: cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To assess the effectiveness of a school based physical activity programme during one school year on physical and psychological health in young schoolchildren