Metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents - criteria for diagnosis

In recent years, there has been a greater concern about the presence of obesity and metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. However, there is no consensus regarding the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. It is evident that each component of the syndrome must be identified as early as possible in order to prevent definitive lesions. The question is how to do this and which cut-offs must be adopted for this diagnosis. For a matter of convenience, the definition chosen as the most appropriate is the one proposed by the IDF, with cut-offs fixed for pressure, lipids and glycemia, and abdominal circumference points assessed by percentile. Although on the one hand this definition could fail to include some children in the diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome, on the other hand, it would be of easier acceptance as it does not use multiple tables to assess several anthropometric and metabolic criteria

Índice de Massa Corporal, Idade, Maturação Sexual e a Incidência de Hiperlordose Lombar em crianças e adolescentes

Introduction: Hyperlordosis can cause several degenerative spinal pathologies in children and adolescents. Objective: Determine whether body mass index, age and sexual maturation predict the occurrence of hyperlordosis in children and adolescents. Method: The study analyzed 380 students aged between 10 and 18 years. Body mass index was evaluated using the reference values suggested by the Fitnessgram test battery, and sexual maturation through Tanner’s scale of self-assessed pubic hair growth. Postural assessment was conducted using the DIPA photogrammetry method, version 3.1. (Digital Image Based Postural Assessment) The SPSS 24.0 program was used to analyze the data, and the following statistical tests were applied: chi squared, Mann-Whitney, Fisher’s exact and binary logistic regression. Results: There was statistical significance between hyperlordosis, girls’ age and puberty in boys (p 0.05). Conclusion: The girls’ age and boys’ stage of puberty were associated with the occurrence of hyperlordosis.Introdução: A Hiperlordose lombar pode ocasionar diversas patologias degenerativas na coluna vertebral de crianças e adolescentes. Objetivo: Identificar se o Índice de Massa Corporal, a Idade e a Maturação Sexual são previsores da ocorrência da hiperlordose lombar em crianças e adolescentes. Método: O estudo analisou 380 estudantes entre 10 e 18 anos. O Índice de Massa Corporal foi avaliado por meio dos valores de referência sugeridos pela bateria de testes Fitnessgram e a maturação sexual por meio da auto-avaliação da pilosidade pubiana de Tanner. A avaliação postural foi realizada pelo método de fotogrametria DIPA versão 3.1. (Avaliação Postural Baseada em Imagem Digital). Para análise dos dados foi utilizado o programa SPSS 24.0, tendo sido aplicados os testes estatísticos: Qui-Quadrado, Mann Whitney, Exato de Fisher e Regressão Logística Binária. Resultados: Observou-se que houve significância estatística entre a Hiperlordose lombar e a idade das meninas e a puberdade dos meninos (p0,05). Conclusão: A idade das meninas e a puberdade dos meninos foi associada à ocorrência da hiperlordose lombar.This study was funded by CIEC (Center for Investigations in Childhood Studies), Strategic Project UID/CED/00317/2013, via National FCT (Science and Technology Foundation) funds and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), via COMPETE 2020 – Competitivity and Internalization Operational Program (POCI) under reference number POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007562

Therapeutic Effect of a Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1 Inhibitor on Experimental Arthritis by Downregulating Inflammation and Th1 Response

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) synthesizes and transfers ADP ribose polymers to target proteins, and regulates DNA repair and genomic integrity maintenance. PARP-1 also plays a crucial role in the progression of the inflammatory response, and its inhibition confers protection in several models of inflammatory disorders. Here, we investigate the impact of a selective PARP-1 inhibitor in experimental arthritis. PARP-1 inhibition with 5-aminoisoquinolinone (AIQ) significantly reduces incidence and severity of established collagen-induced arthritis, completely abrogating joint swelling and destruction of cartilage and bone. The therapeutic effect of AIQ is associated with a striking reduction of the two deleterious components of the disease, i.e. the Th1-driven autoimmune and inflammatory responses. AIQ downregulates the production of various inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, decreases the antigen-specific Th1-cell expansion, and induces the production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Our results provide evidence of the contribution of PARP-1 to the progression of arthritis and identify this protein as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

DAX-1 expression in human breast cancer: comparison with estrogen receptors ER-α, ER-β and androgen receptor status

BACKGROUND: So far there have been no reports on the expression pattern of DAX-1 (dosage-sensitive sex reversal, adrenal hypoplasia critical region, on chromosome X, gene 1) in human breast cells and its relationship to the estrogen receptors, ER-α and ER-β, and the androgen receptor (AR). METHODS: In this study we evaluated, by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis, the presence and distribution of DAX-1 in benign breast disease (BBD), in situ carcinoma (CIS), and ductal and lobular breast carcinomas. RESULTS: In BBD and breast carcinomas, DAX-1 was present in both the nuclei and the cytoplasm of epithelial cells, although in infiltrative carcinomas the percentage of nuclear immunoreaction was higher than in CIS. An important relation was observed between DAX-1 and AR expression and between this orphan receptor and nodal status. CONCLUSION: DAX-1 might modify the AR and ER-β intracellular location, and because a direct positive relation between the expression of these three receptors was found it could be assumed that the presence of DAX-1 in neoplastic cells might indicate a possible failure of endocrine therapies

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration