Children’s route choice during active transportation to school: difference between shortest and actual route

BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of environmental correlates that are associated with route choice during active transportation to school (ATS) by comparing characteristics of actual walking and cycling routes between home and school with the shortest possible route to school.MethodsChildren (n = 184; 86 boys, 98 girls; age range: 8–12 years) from seven schools in suburban municipalities in the Netherlands participated in the study. Actual walking and cycling routes to school were measured with a GPS-device that children wore during an entire school week. Measurements were conducted in the period April–June 2014. Route characteristics for both actual and shortest routes between home and school were determined for a buffer of 25m from the routes and divided into four categories: Land use (residential, commercial, recreational, traffic areas), Aesthetics (presence of greenery/natural water ways along route), Traffic (safety measures such as traffic lights, zebra crossings, speed bumps) and Type of street (pedestrian, cycling, residential streets, arterial roads). Comparison of characteristics of shortest and actual routes was performed with conditional logistic regression models.ResultsMedian distance of the actual walking routes was 390.1m, whereas median distance of actual cycling routes was 673.9m. Actual walking and cycling routes were not significantly longer than the shortest possible routes. Children mainly traveled through residential areas on their way to school (>80% of the route). Traffic lights were found to be positively associated with route choice during ATS. Zebra crossings were less often present along the actual routes (walking: OR = 0.17, 95 % CI = 0.05–0.58; cycling: OR = 0.31, 95 % CI = 0.14–0.67), and streets with a high occurrence of accidents were less often used during cycling to school (OR = 0.57, 95% CI = 0.43–0.76). Moreover, percentage of visible surface water along the actual route was higher compared to the shortest routes (walking: OR = 1.04, 95 % CI = 1.01–1.07; cycling: OR = 1.03, 95 % CI = 1.01–1.05).DiscussionThis study showed a novel approach to examine built environmental exposure during active transport to school. Most of the results of the study suggest that children avoid to walk or cycle along busy roads on their way to school.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-016-0373-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Foreground Predictions for the Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectrum from Measurements of Faint Inverted Radio Sources at 5 GHz

We present measurements of a population of matched radio sources at 1.4 and 5 GHz down to a flux limit of 1.5 mJy in 7 sq. degs. of the NOAO Deep Field South. We find a significant fraction of sources with inverted spectral indices that all have 1.4 GHz fluxes less than 10 mJy, and are therefore too faint to have been detected and included in previous radio source count models that are matched at multiple frequencies. Combined with the matched source population at 1.4 and 5 GHz in 1 sq. deg. in the ATESP survey, we update models for the 5 GHz differential number counts and distributions of spectral indices in 5 GHz flux bins that can be used to estimate the unresolved point source contribution to the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies. We find a shallower logarithmic slope in the 5 GHz differential counts than in previously published models for fluxes < 100 mJy as well as larger fractions of inverted spectral indices at these fluxes. Because the Planck flux limit for resolved sources is larger than 100 mJy in all channels, our modified number counts yield at most a 10% change in the predicted Poisson contribution to the Planck temperature power spectrum. For a flux cut of 5 mJy with the South Pole Telescope and a flux cut of 20 mJy with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope we predict a ~30% and ~10% increase, respectively, in the radio source Poisson power in the lowest frequency channels of each experiment relative to that predicted by previous models.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, includes ApJ proof correction

Multi-centre, randomised non-inferiority trial of early treatment versus expectant management of patent ductus arteriosus in preterm infants (the BeNeDuctus trial):statistical analysis plan

Abstract Background Controversy exists about the optimal management of a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in preterm infants. A persistent PDA is associated with neonatal mortality and morbidity, but causality remains unproven. Although both pharmacological and/or surgical treatment are effective in PDA closure, this has not resulted in an improved neonatal outcome. In most preterm infants, a PDA will eventually close spontaneously, hence PDA treatment potentially increases the risk of iatrogenic adverse effects. Therefore, expectant management is gaining interest, even in the absence of convincing evidence to support this strategy. Methods/design The BeNeDuctus trial is a multicentre, randomised, non-inferiority trial assessing early pharmacological treatment (24–72 h postnatal age) with ibuprofen versus expectant management of PDA in preterm infants in Europe. Preterm infants with a gestational age of less than 28 weeks and an echocardiographic-confirmed PDA with a transductal diameter of > 1.5 mm are randomly allocated to early pharmacological treatment with ibuprofen or expectant management after parental informed consent. The primary outcome measure is the composite outcome of mortality, and/or necrotizing enterocolitis Bell stage ≥ IIa, and/or bronchopulmonary dysplasia, all established at a postmenstrual age of 36 weeks. Secondary short-term outcomes are comorbidity and adverse events assessed during hospitalization and long-term neurodevelopmental outcome assessed at a corrected age of 2 years. This statistical analysis plan focusses on the short-term outcome and is written and submitted without knowledge of the data. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NTR5479. Registered on October 19, 2015, with the Dutch Trial Registry, sponsored by the United States National Library of Medicine Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02884219 (registered May 2016) and the European Clinical Trials Database EudraCT 2017-001376-28

Selectivity of F-18-FLT and F-18-FDG for differentiating tumor from inflammation in a rodent model

Increased glucose metabolism of inflammatory tissues is the main source of false-positive F-18-FDG PET findings in oncology. It has been suggested that radiolabeled nucleosides might be more tumor specific. Methods: To test this hypothesis, we compared the biodistribution of 3'-deoxy-3'-F-18-fluorothymidine (FLT) and F-18-FDG in Wistar rats that bore tumors (C6 rat glioma in the right shoulder) and also had sterile inflammation in the left calf muscle (induced by injection of 0.1 mL of turpentine). Twenty-four hours after turpentine injection, the rats received an intravenous bolus (30 MBq) of either F-18-FLT (n = 5) or F-18-FDG (n = 5). Pretreatment of the animals with thymidine phosphorylase (>1,000 U/kg, intravenously) before injection of F-18-FLT proved to be necessary to reduce the serum levels of endogenous thymidine and achieve satisfactory tumor uptake of radioactivity. Results: Tumor-to-muscle ratios of F-18-FDG at 2 h after injection (13.2 +/- 3.0) were higher than those of F-18-FLT (3.8 +/- 1.3). F-18-FDG showed high physiologic uptake in brain and heart, whereas F-18-FLT was avidly taken up by bone marrow. F-18-FDG accumulated in the inflamed muscle, with 4.8 +/- 1.2 times higher uptake in the affected thigh than in the contralateral healthy thigh, in contrast to F-18-FLT, for which this ratio was not significantly different from unity (1.3 +/- 0.4). Conclusion; In F-18-FDG PET images, both tumor and inflammation were visible, but F-18-FLT PET showed only the tumor. Thus, the hypothesis that F-18-FLT has a higher tumor specificity was confirmed in our animal model

Selectivity of F-18-FLT and F-18-FDG for differentiating tumor from inflammation in a rodent model

Increased glucose metabolism of inflammatory tissues is the main source of false-positive F-18-FDG PET findings in oncology. It has been suggested that radiolabeled nucleosides might be more tumor specific. Methods: To test this hypothesis, we compared the biodistribution of 3'-deoxy-3'-F-18-fluorothymidine (FLT) and F-18-FDG in Wistar rats that bore tumors (C6 rat glioma in the right shoulder) and also had sterile inflammation in the left calf muscle (induced by injection of 0.1 mL of turpentine). Twenty-four hours after turpentine injection, the rats received an intravenous bolus (30 MBq) of either F-18-FLT (n = 5) or F-18-FDG (n = 5). Pretreatment of the animals with thymidine phosphorylase (>1,000 U/kg, intravenously) before injection of F-18-FLT proved to be necessary to reduce the serum levels of endogenous thymidine and achieve satisfactory tumor uptake of radioactivity. Results: Tumor-to-muscle ratios of F-18-FDG at 2 h after injection (13.2 +/- 3.0) were higher than those of F-18-FLT (3.8 +/- 1.3). F-18-FDG showed high physiologic uptake in brain and heart, whereas F-18-FLT was avidly taken up by bone marrow. F-18-FDG accumulated in the inflamed muscle, with 4.8 +/- 1.2 times higher uptake in the affected thigh than in the contralateral healthy thigh, in contrast to F-18-FLT, for which this ratio was not significantly different from unity (1.3 +/- 0.4). Conclusion; In F-18-FDG PET images, both tumor and inflammation were visible, but F-18-FLT PET showed only the tumor. Thus, the hypothesis that F-18-FLT has a higher tumor specificity was confirmed in our animal model

Effects of Antenatal Glucocorticoid Therapy on Hippocampal Histology of Preterm Infants

Objective: To investigate if antenatal glucocorticoid treatment has an effect on hippocampal histology of the human preterm newborn. Patients and Methods: Included were consecutive neonates with a gestational age between 24 and 32 weeks, who were born between 1991 to 2009, who had died within 4 days after delivery and underwent brain autopsy. Excluded were neonates with congenital malformations and neonates treated postnatally with glucocorticoids. The brains were routinely fixed, samples of the hippocampus were stained with haematoxylin and eosin and sections were examined for presence or absence of large and small neurons in regions of the hippocampus. Additional staining with GFAP, neurofilament and vimentin was performed to evaluate gliosis and myelination. The proliferation marker Ki67 was used to evaluate neuronal proliferation. Staining with acid fuchsin-thionin was performed to evaluate ischemic damage. Results: The hippocampi of ten neonates who had been treated with antenatal glucocorticoids showed a lower density of large neurons (p = 0.01) and neurons irrespective of size (p = 0.02) as compared to eleven neonates who had not been treated with glucocorticoids. No difference was found in density of small neurons, in myelination, gliosis, proliferation or ischemic damage. Conclusion: We found a significantly lower density of neurons in the hippocampus of neonates after antenata

Lipid-DNAs as Solubilizers of mTHPC

Hydrophobic drug candidates require innovative formulation agents. We designed and synthesized lipidDNA polymers containing varying numbers of hydrophobic alkyl chains. The hydrophobicity of these amphiphiles is easily tunable by introducing a defined number of alkyl chain-modified nucleotides during standard solid-phase synthesis of DNA using an automated DNA synthesizer. We observed that the resulting self-assembled micelles solubilize the poorly water-soluble drug, meta-tetra-hydroxyphenyl-chlorin (mTHPC) used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) with high loading concentrations and loading capacities. A cell viability study showed that mTHPCloaded micelles exhibit good biocompatibility without irradiation, and high PDT efficacy upon irradiation. LipidDNAs provide a novel class of drug-delivery vehicle, and hybridization of DNA offers a potentially facile route for further functionalization of the drug-delivery system with, for instance, targeting or imaging moieties

Accelerated hand bone mineral density loss is associated with progressive joint damage in hands and feet in recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: To investigate whether accelerated hand bone mineral density (BMD) loss is associated with progressive joint damage in hands and feet in the first year of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and whether it is an independent predictor of subsequent progressive total joint damage after 4 years. Methods: In 256 recent-onset RA patients, baseline and 1-year hand BMD was measured in metacarpals 2-4 by digital X-ray radiogrammetry. Joint damage in hands and feet were scored in random order according to the Sharp-van der Heijde method at baseline and yearly up to 4 years. Results: 68% of the patients had accelerated hand BMD loss (>-0.003 g/cm(2)) in the first year of RA. Hand BMD loss was associated with progressive joint damage after 1 year both in hands and feet with odds ratios (OR) (95% confidence intervals [CI]) of 5.3 (1.3-20.9) and 3.1 (1.0-9.7). In univariate analysis, hand BMD loss in the first year was a predictor of subsequent progressive total joint damage after 4 years with an OR (95% CI) of 3.1 (1.3-7.6). Multivariate analysis showed that only progressive joint damage in the first year and anti-citrullinated protein antibody positivity were independent predictors of long-term progressive joint damage. Conclusions: In the first year of RA, accelerated hand BMD loss is associated with progressive joint damage in both hands and feet. Hand BMD loss in the first year of recent-onset RA predicts subsequent progressive total joint damage, however not independent of progressive joint damage in the first year.Pathophysiology and treatment of rheumatic disease

Detecting Asymmetry of Upper Limb Activity with Accelerometry in Infants at Risk for Unilateral Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Aims: To examine whether accelerometry can quantitate asymmetry of upper limb activity in infants aged 3–12 months at risk for developing unilateral spastic cerebral palsy (USCP). Method: A prospective study was performed in 50 infants with unilateral perinatal brain injury at high risk of developing USCP. Triaxial accelerometers were worn on the ipsilateral and contralesional upper limb during the Hand Assessment for Infants (HAI). Infants were grouped in three age intervals (3–5 months, 5–7.5 months and 7.5 until 12 months). Each age interval group was divided in a group with and without asymmetrical hand function based on HAI cutoff values suggestive of USCP. Results: In a total of 82 assessments, the asymmetry index for mean upper limb activity was higher in infants with asymmetrical hand function compared to infants with symmetrical hand function in all three age groups (ranging from 41 to 51% versus − 2–6%, p < 0.01), while the total activity of both upper limbs did not differ. Conclusions: Upper limb accelerometry can identify asymmetrical hand function in the upper limbs in infants with unilateral perinatal brain injury from 3 months onwards and is complementary to the Hand Assessment for Infants