Predictive role of physical activity on muscular strength in elderly

Objective: to study the relationship between body composition, knee isokinetic muscle strength, and physical activity over lifetime and during specific age periods in healthy elderly men and women aged 60 years and over. Methods: peak torque measurement of right and left knee extensors and flexors were realized using a Biodex dynamometer in 25 men (age: 70.3 ± 7.1 years) and 49 women (age: 70.0 ± 6.3 years). Physical activity was measured using QUANTAP, a computer-assisted questionnaire designed to quantify lifetime physical activity. Relationship between peak torque and physical activity was studied in multiple regression models including following variables: sex, age, height, weight, lean mass, and interaction between sex and age and sex and lean mass. Results: whatever the model considered, lean mass and age explain muscular performance. Past year, past 20 years and lifetime sport activity explain peak torque of the knee (R2 = 0.71, 0.69 and 0.68 respectively). Conclusion: Aging is associated with decreased muscle strength resulting in an increased risk of dependent living. These data suggests that physical activity over lifetime contribute to preserve muscular performance with advancing age.Objectif: étudier la relation entre la composition corporelle, la force musculaire isocinétique du genou et l'activité physique exercée au cours de la vie et au cours de périodes spécifiques. Méthodes: le moment maximal des extenseurs et fléchisseurs des genoux droit et gauche a été mesuré à l'aida d'un dynamomètre Biodex chez 25 hommes (âge : 70.3 ′ 7.1 ans) et 49 femmes (âge: 70.0 ′ 6.3 ans). L'activité physique a été évaluée à l'aide du logiciel QUANTAP conçut pour quantifier l'activité physique pratiquée au cours de la vie entière. La relation entre le moment maximal et l'activité physique a été étudiée par des modèles d'analyse de régression multiple incluant les variables suivantes: sexe, âge, taille, poids, masse maigre, interaction sexe*âge et sexe*masse maigre. Résultats: quelque soit le modèle considéré, la masse maigre et l'âge expliquent la performance musculaire. Le sport pratiqué au cours de l'année ou des 20 années précédant l'étude et le sport pratiqué au cours de la vie entière explique également cette performance (R = 0.71, 0.69 and 0.68 respectivement). Conclusion: le vieillissement est associé à une baisse de la performance musculaire qui accroît le risque de dépendance. Ces résultats suggèrent que l'activité sportive pratiquée tout au long de la vie permet de préserver la fonction musculaire avec l'avancée en âge

Reliability and validity of the French version of the global physical activity questionnaire

AbstractBackgroundThe Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) has been used to measure physical activity (PA) and sedentary time in France, but no study has assessed its psychometric properties. This study aimed to compare the reliability as well as criterion and concurrent validity of the French version of the GPAQ with the French International PA Questionnaire long form (IPAQ-LF) and use of an accelerometer in a general adult population.MethodsWe included 92 participants (students or staff) from the Medicine Campus at the University of Lorraine, Nancy (north-eastern France). The French GPAQ was completed twice, 7 days apart, to study test-retest reliability. The IPAQ-LF was used to assess concurrent validity of the GPAQ, and participants wore an accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X+) for 7 days to study criterion validity. Reliability as well as concurrent and criterion validity of the GPAQ were tested by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Spearman correlation coefficient for quantitative variables, and Kappa and Phi coefficients for qualitative variables. Both concurrent and criterion validity of GPAQ were assessed by Bland-Altman plots.ResultsThe GPAQ showed poor to good reliability (ICC = 0.37–0.94; Kappa = 0.50–0.62) and concurrent validity (Spearman r = 0.41–0.86), but only poor criterion validity (Spearman r = 0.22–0.42). Limits of agreement for the GPAQ and accelerometer were wide, with differences between 286.5 min/day and 601.3 min/day.ConclusionThe French version of the GPAQ provides limited but acceptable reliability and validity for the measurement of PA and sedentary time. It may be used for assessing PA and sedentary time in a French adult population

Colistin resistance in Parisian inpatient faecal Escherichia coli as the result of two distinct evolutionary pathways

Beyond plasmid-encoded resistance (mcr genes) prevalence in strain collections, large epidemiological studies to estimate the human burden of colistin-resistant Escherichia coli gut carriage are lacking.Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of colistin-resistant E. coli carriage in inpatients and decipher the molecular support of resistance and the genetic background of the strains.Methods: During a 3 month period in 2017, we prospectively screened patients in six Parisian hospitals for rectal carriage of colistin-resistant E. coli using a selective medium, a biochemical confirmatory test and MIC determination. WGS of the resistant strains and their corresponding plasmids was performed.Results: Among the 1217 screened patients, 153 colistin-resistant E. coli strains were isolated from 152 patients (12.5%). The mcr- 1 gene was identified in only seven isolates (4.6%) on different plasmid scaffolds. The genetic background of these MCR-1 producers argued for an animal origin. Conversely, the remaining 146 colistin-resistant E. coli exhibited a phylogenetic distribution corresponding to human gut commensal/clinical population structure (B2 and D phylogroup predominance); 72.6% of those isolates harboured convergent mutations in the PmrA and PmrB proteins, constituting a two-component system shown to be associated with colistin resistance.Conclusions: We showed that the occurrence at a high rate of colistin resistance in human faecal E. coli is the result of two distinct evolutionary pathways, i.e. the occurrence of chromosomal mutations in an endogenous E. coli population and the rare acquisition of exogenous mcr-1- bearing strains probably of animal origin. The involved selective pressures need to be identified in order to develop preventative strategies

Variation in population levels of physical activity in European adults according to cross-European studies: a systematic literature review within DEDIPAC

peer-reviewedBackground: Physical inactivity is a well-known public health risk that should be monitored at the population level. Physical activity levels are often surveyed across Europe. This systematic literature review aims to provide an overview of all existing cross-European studies that assess physical activity in European adults, describe the variation in population levels according to these studies, and discuss the impact of the assessment methods. Methods: Six literature databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, SportDiscus and OpenGrey) were searched, supplemented with backward- and forward tracking and searching authors’ and experts’ literature databases. Articles were included if they reported on observational studies measuring total physical activity and/or physical activity in leisure time in the general population in two or more European countries. Each record was reviewed, extracted and assessed by two independent researchers and disagreements were resolved by a third researcher. The review protocol of this review is registered in the PROSPERO database under registration number CRD42014010334. Results: Of the 9,756 unique identified articles, twenty-five were included in this review, reporting on sixteen different studies, including 2 to 35 countries and 321 to 274,740 participants. All but two of the studies used questionnaires to assess physical activity, with the majority of studies using the IPAQ-short questionnaire. The remaining studies used accelerometers. The percentage of participants who either were or were not meeting the physical activity recommendations was the most commonly reported outcome variable, with the percentage of participants meeting the recommendations ranging from 7 % to 96 % across studies and countries. Conclusions: The included studies showed substantial variation in the assessment methods, reported outcome variables and, consequently, the presented physical activity levels. Because of this, absolute population levels of physical activity in European adults are currently unknown. However, when ranking countries, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and Spain generally appear to be among the less active countries. Objective data of adults across Europe is currently limited. These findings highlight the need for standardisation of the measurement methods, as well as cross-European monitoring of physical activity levels

Health promoting sports federations: theoretical foundations and guidelines

BackgroundResearchers and policy-makers have highlighted that the potential for organized sports to promote health has been underexploited. Sports clubs have limited capacity to promote health due to their voluntary nature and have called for support from their national sports federations. The present article provides guidelines, based on the theoretical principles of health promoting sports clubs and an analysis of practical tools and proven strategies, to support national sports federations to invest in health promotion (HP).MethodsA qualitative iterative study was undertaken, based on five 2-h meetings of a group of 15 international researchers in HP in sports clubs. Notes and minutes from meetings, as well as shared outputs were analyzed based on the health promoting sports club framework.ResultsGuidelines developed for national sports federations to promote health includes a definition of a health promoting sports federation (HPSF), a description of how the settings-based approach to HP adapts to national sports federations, as well as practical applications of health promoting sports club’s intervention strategies. The analysis of existing tools also demonstrated that most tools are centered on a single dimension of health (social, mental, physical, spiritual or community), and often on a specific health topic. Furthermore, they do not cover HP as a continuous long-lasting process, but are generally short-term programs. The HPSF clarifies theoretical concepts, their practical implementation via case studies and outlines intervention components and tools useful for sports federations in their implementation of HP.ConclusionThe guidelines developed in this study are intended to facilitate national sports federations to acknowledge/understand, reinforce/underpin and foster current and further investment in HP

The Endo-α(1,4) Specific Fucoidanase Fhf2 From Formosa haliotis Releases Highly Sulfated Fucoidan Oligosaccharides

Fucoidanases are endo-fucoidanases (also known as endo-fucanases) that catalyze hydrolysis of α-glycosidic linkages in fucoidans, a family of sulfated fucose-rich polysaccharides primarily found in the cell walls of brown seaweeds. Fucoidanases are promising tools for producing bioactive fucoidan oligosaccharides for a range of biomedical applications. High sulfation degree has been linked to high bioactivity of fucoidans. In this study, a novel fucoidanase, Fhf2, was identified in the genome of the aerobic, Gram-negative marine bacterium Formosa haliotis. Fhf2 was found to share sequence similarity to known endo-α(1,4)-fucoidanases (EC 3.2.1.212) from glycoside hydrolase family 107. A C-terminal deletion mutant Fhf2∆484, devoid of 484 amino acids at the C-terminus, with a molecular weight of approximately 46 kDa, was constructed and found to be more stable than the full-length Fhf2 protein. Fhf2∆484 showed endo-fucoidanase activity on fucoidans from different seaweed species including Fucus evanescens, Fucus vesiculosus, Sargassum mcclurei, and Sargassum polycystum. The highest activity was observed on fucoidan from F. evanescens. The Fhf2∆484 enzyme was active at 20–45°C and at pH 6–9 and had optimal activity at 37°C and pH 8. Additionally, Fhf2∆484 was found to be calcium-dependent. NMR analysis showed that Fhf2∆484 catalyzed hydrolysis of α(1,4) linkages between L-fucosyl moieties sulfated on C2 (similar to Fhf1 from Formosa haliotis), but Fhf2∆484 in addition released oligosaccharides containing a substantial amount of 2,4-disulfated fucose residues. The data thus suggest that the Fhf2∆484 enzyme could be a valuable candidate for producing highly sulfated oligosaccharides applicable for fucoidan bioactivity investigations

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe