Childhood Overweight Prevalence in the United States: The Impact of Parent‐reported Height and Weight

Parent‐reported height and weight are often used to estimate BMI and overweight status among children. The quality of parent‐reported data has not been compared to measured data on a national scale for all race/ethnic groups in the United States. Parent‐reported height and weight for 2–17‐year‐old children in two national health interview surveys—the 1999–2004 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the 2003–2004 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH)—were compared to measured values from a national examination survey—the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Compared to measured data, parent‐reported data overestimated childhood overweight in both interview surveys. For example, overweight prevalence among 2–17‐year‐olds was 25% (s.e. 0.2) using parent‐reported NHIS data vs. 16% (s.e. 0.6) using measured NHANES data. Parent‐reported data overestimated overweight among younger children, but underestimated overweight among older children. The discrepancy between reported and measured estimates arose mainly from reported height among very young children. For children aged 2–11 years, the mean reported height from NHIS was 3–6 cm less than mean measured height from NHANES (P < 0.001) vs. no difference among children aged 16–17 years. Measured data remains the gold standard for surveillance of childhood overweight. Although this analysis compared mean values from survey populations rather than parent‐reported and measured data for individuals, the results from nationally representative data reinforce previous recommendations based on small samples that parent‐reported data should not be used to estimate overweight prevalence among preschool and elementary school–aged children.     

The Bias in Self‐reported Obesity From 1976 to 2005: A Canada–US Comparison

The objective of this study was to determine whether the bias in self‐reported estimates of obesity has changed over time and followed different patterns in Canada and the United States. Using age‐standardized data from three waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the United States and the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and the Canadian Heart Health Survey (CHHS) in Canada, discrepancies were compared between reported and measured estimates of height, weight, and obesity (based on the BMI) from 1976 to 2005. Results indicated that obesity increased in both countries, but rates were higher in the United States. The discrepancy between self‐reported and measured obesity was small in the United States with reported data underestimating measured prevalence by about 3%; this stayed relatively constant over time. In Canada, the discrepancy was large and doubled in the past decade (from 4 to 8%). In the United States, self‐reported data may be more accurate in monitoring changes in obesity over time, as the estimates have consistently remained about 3% below the measured estimates, whereas in Canada, monitoring obesity based solely on self‐reported height and weight may produce inaccurate estimates because of the increasing discrepancy between self‐reported and measured data.     

A novel halotolerant xylanase from marine isolate Bacillus subtilis cho40: gene cloning and sequencing

Although several xylanases have been studied, only few xylanases from marine micro-organisms have been reported. We report here a novel halotolerant xylanase from marine bacterium Bacillus subtilis cho40 isolated from Chorao island of mandovi estuary Goa, India. Extracellular xylanase was produced by using agricultural residue such as wheat bran as carbon source under solid-state fermentation (SSF). The optimal pH and temperature of xylanase were reported to be 6.0 and 60°C, respectively. Xyn40 was highly salt-tolerant, and showed highest activity at 0.5M NaCl. Xylanase activity was greatly induced (140%) when pre-incubated with 0.5M NaCl for 4h. The xylanase gene, xyn40, from marine bacterium B. subtilis cho40 was cloned, and expressed in Escherichia coli. The xylanase gene was 645 bp long and had a 215 amino acid ORF protein with a molecular mass of 22.9 kDa. It had all features of xylanase enzyme and showed homology to xylanases reported from B. subtilis. It differs from the earlier reported xylanase sequences by the presence of more serine residues compared to threonine and also by the presence of polar (hydrophilic) amino acids in higher abundance (61%) than non-polar amino acids (39%). The novel xylanase, reported in this study is a halotolerant enzyme from marine isolate and can play a very important role in bioethanol production from marine seaweeds.     

Parastrongylus (=Angiostrongylus) cantonensis now endemic in Louisiana wildlife

Parastrongylus (=Angiostrongylus) cantonensis, a lung worm of rats, was first reported in the United States in 1987, with a probable introduction by infected rats from ships docking in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the mid-1980s. Since then, it has been reported in nonhuman primates and a boy from New Orleans, and in a horse from Picayune, Mississippi, a distance of 87 km from New Orleans. Parastrongylus cantonensis infection is herein reported in a lemur (Varencia variegata rubra) from New Iberia, Louisiana, a distance of 222 km from New Orleans, and in a wood rat (Neotomafloridanus) and in 4 opossums (Didelphis virginiana) from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a distance of 124 km from New Orleans. The potential of a great variety of gastropods serving as intermediate hosts in Louisiana may pose a threat to wildlife as well as to domesticated animals in the areas where infected Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are present.     

The Impact of Duration of Treatment on Reported Time-to-Onset in Spontaneous Reporting Systems for Pharmacovigilance

Within pharmacovigilance, knowledge of time-to-onset (time from start of drug administration to onset of reaction) is important in causality assessment of drugs and suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and may indicate pharmacological mechanisms involved. It has been suggested that time-to-onset from individual case reports can be used for detection of safety signals. However, some ADRs only occur during treatment, while those that do occur later are less likely to be reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of treatment duration on the reported time-to-onset. Case reports from the WHO Global ICSR database, VigiBase, up until February 5^th 2010 were the basis of this study. To examine the effect of duration of treatment on reported time-to-onset, angioedema and hepatitis were selected to represent short and long latency ADRs, respectively. The reported time-to-onset for each of these ADRs was contrasted for a set of drugs expected to be used short- or long-term, respectively. The study included 2,980 unique reports for angioedema and 1,159 for hepatitis. Median reported time-to-onset for angioedema in short-term treatments ranged 0-1 days (median 0.5), for angioedema in long-term treatments 0-26 days (median 8), for hepatitis in short-term treatments 4-12 days (median 7.5) and for hepatitis in long term treatments 19-73 days (median 28). Short-term treatments presented significantly shorter reported time-to-onset than long-term treatments. Of note is that reported time-to-onset for angioedema for long-term treatments (median value of medians being 8 days) was very similar to that of hepatitis for short-term treatments (median value of medians equal 7.5 days). The expected duration of treatment needs to be considered in the interpretation of reported time-to-onset and should be accounted for in signal detection method development and case evaluation.     

Serious adverse events following treatment with ivermectin for onchocerciasis control: a review of reported cases

This paper presents a summary of reported cases of Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) following treatment with Mectizan^® (ivermectin, Merck, Sharpe &; Dohme) in onchocerciasis mass treatment programs from January 1, 1989 to December 31, 2001 through a passive surveillance system. A total of 207 SAE cases were reported out of approximately 165 million reported treatments delivered during the period under review, giving rise to a cumulative incidence of 1 reported SAE per 800,000 reported treatments. The mean age was 40 years and 70% of the cases were males. The mean time between ivermectin intake and onset of illness was 1 day. For 57% of the cases (n = 118), that was their first exposure to ivermectin. The majority of cases were reported from Cameroon (n = 176; 85%) with peaks in the incidence of SAE reporting in 1989–1991 and 1994–1995 when the program expanded to ivermectin-naïve populations. Fifty-five percent of the cases from Cameroon (i.e. 97 out of 176 cases) were encephalopathic and were reported from the central-southern region of the country; two-thirds of these cases were 'probable' or 'possible' cases of Loa loa encephalopathy temporally related to ivermectin treatment. Reporting bias may explain some but not all of the differences in SAE reporting between the 34 onchocerciasis-endemic countries that have, or have had, mass treatment programs. Further research is needed to understand the apparent clustering of encephalopathy cases in central-southern Cameroon since L. loa infection alone probably does not explain the increased incidence of this type of SAE from this region.     

Plagiorhynchus (Prosthorhynchus) cylindraceus (Goeze, 1782) Schmidt and Kuntz, 1966, from the Australian bandicoots, Perameles gunnii Gray 1838, and Isoodon obesulus (Shaw, 1797)

Plagiorhynchus (Prosthorhynchus) cylindraceus (Goeze, 1782) Schmidt and Kuntz, 1966, usually parasitic in passerine birds, is here reported to be found encysted in the peritoneum of the bandicoot Isoodon obesulus from Tasmania. Specimens recovered from the bandicoot Perameles gunnii, also collected from Tasmania, are the first reported from the intestine of a mammal. The origin of P. cylindraceus infection in Australian hosts is discussed.     

Envenomation and the bite rate by venomous snakes in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the period (2015–2018)

Snakebite being medical emergency and known cause for increased mortality needs assessment and treatment on high-priority bases, even in patients of snakebite who appear fine initially. The current retrospective study presents the snake bites in Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2018 reported by General Administration of Statistics and Information, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The data presented in the current study, was extracted, analyzed, and reported after getting ethical approval from institutional committee. Totally, 14,679 cases of snakebites were reported during the four-year study period, with a higher prevalence in males (80%) in their productive age. Most patients were within the age group between 25 and 44 followed by 44 to 64 years. The majority of snakebite affected inhabitants were reported from farms of the rural areas, commonly during night hours of spring and summer seasons when snakes are very active. Only 36 (0.24%) patients out of 14,679 were reported dead and 14,643 (99.63%) were discharged after the treatment. Awareness among the general public should be encouraged and early diagnosis and usage of proper snake antivenoms could be life-saving. The delay in appropriate treatment can lead to significant morbidity and mortality.     

Test-retest reliability of the five-repetition sit-to-stand test: a systematic review of the literature involving adults

The 5-repetition sit-to-stand test (FRSTST) is a widely used measure of functional strength, particularly among older adults. The purpose of this review was to summarize the findings of research using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to describe the test-retest reliability of the FRSTST. A search of 3 electronic databases and hand searches were used to identify relevant articles. Information on the subjects, test sessions and the ICCs reported was abstracted from the articles. The searches identified 10 relevant articles. The ICCs reported in the articles ranged from 0.64 to 0.96. The adjusted mean ICC calculated from the reported ICCs was 0.81. The test-retest reliability of the FRSTST can be interpreted as good to high in most populations and settings.     

The geographic distribution of obesity in the US and the potential regional differences in misreporting of obesity

Objective: State‐level estimates of obesity based on self‐reported height and weight suggest a geographic pattern of greater obesity in the Southeastern US; however, the reliability of the ranking among these estimates assumes errors in self‐reporting of height and weight are unrelated to geographic region. Design and Methods: Regional and state‐level prevalence of obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg m^?2) for non‐Hispanic black and white participants aged 45 and over were estimated from multiple sources: ( 1 ) self‐reported from the behavioral risk factor surveillance system (BRFSS 2003‐2006) (n = 677,425), ( 2 ) self‐reported and direct measures from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES 2003‐2008) (n = 6,615 and 6,138, respectively), and ( 3 ) direct measures from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS 2003‐2007) study (n = 30,239). Results: Data from BRFSS suggest that the highest prevalence of obesity is in the East South Central Census division; however, direct measures suggest higher prevalence in the West North Central and East North Central Census divisions. The regions relative ranking of obesity prevalence differs substantially between self‐reported and directly measured height and weight. Conclusions: Geographic patterns in the prevalence of obesity based on self‐reported height and weight may be misleading, and have implications for current policy proposals.     

Duck plague epizootics in the United States, 1967-1995

In 1967, the first confirmed diagnosis of duck plague (DP) in the USA was made from pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) on commercial duck farms on Long Island, New York. Within 10 mo, DP was confirmed as the cause of death in migratory waterfowl on a Long Island bay. This paper reviews 120 DP epizootics reported from 1967 to 1995 that involved waterfowl species native to North America or were reported in areas with free-flying waterfowl at risk. Duck plague epizootics occurred in 21 states with the greatest number reported in Maryland (29), New York (18), California (16), and Pennsylvania (13). The greatest frequency of epizootics (86%) was detected during the months of March to June. At least 40 waterfowl species were affected with the highest frequency of epizootics reported in captive or captive-reared ducks including muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata) (68%), mallard ducks (A. platyrhynchos) (18%) and black ducks (A. rubripes) (14%). The greatest number of waterfowl died in three epizootics that involved primarily migratory birds in 1967 and 1994 in New York (USA) and 1973 in South Dakota (USA). The greatest number of DP epizootics reported since 1967 appear to have involved flocks of non-migratory rather than migratory waterfowl; therefore, in our opinion it remains unknown if DP is enzootic in either non-migratory or migratory waterfowl.     

Cave dwelling cockroaches from Sarawak, with one new species

Abstract. The troglobitic cockroach, Trogoblattella chapmani , sp.n., is described. The genus was known previously from a single species found in limestone caves in Australia. Two of three other species found in the Sarawak caves, namely Symploce cavemicola (Shelford) and Pycnoscelus striata (Kirby) have previously been reported from cave habitats. The third, Pycnoscelus indicus (Fabricius), may have been reported previously from caves, under the name of Pycnoscelus surinamensis (Linnaeus). A single undetermined female of Blattella was present in the collection.     

Product inhibition studies on bovine liver carbamoyl phosphate synthetase

A study of the product-inhibition patterns of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase from bovine liver is reported. Inhibition by adenosine, AMP and inorganic ions is also reported. The results are in agreement with the previously proposed model in which the order of substrate binding is ATPMg, followed by HCO(3) (-), ATPMg and NH(4) (+). The order of product release on the basis of the reported results is carbamoyl phosphate, followed by ADPMg, ADPMg and inorganic phosphate.     

New Coleoptera records from New Brunswick, Canada: Lycidae

Eight species of Lycidae are newly recorded from New Brunswick, Canada, bringing the total number of species known from the province to 16. The first documented records from New Brunswick are provided for Greenarius thoracicus (Randall) Erotides scuptilis (Say), and Calopteron terminale (Say) reported by Majka et al. (2011). Eropterus arculus Green, Lopheros crenatus (Germar), and Calochromus perfacetus (Say) are reported for the first time in the Maritime provinces. Collection data, habitat data, and distribution maps are presented for all these species.     

The amino acid sequence of the β-subunit: Of porcine enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli enterotoxin — Analysis and comparison with literature data

Abstract The amino acid composition and sequence of the β-subunit of heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) purified from a porcine (LT_p) strain, WT-1, of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli was analysed, and the result was compared with that reported by Dallas and Falkow [Nature 288 (1980) 499-501] who deduced the amino acid sequence of LT_p from data on the DNA sequence of a porcine strain, EWD299. The purified β-subunit of the LT_p of WT-1 was carboxymethylated, succinylated, digested with chymotrypsin and subjected to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The amino acid composition of the peptide peaks from the column were analysed and compared with the data reported by Dallas and Falkow. Only one fraction differed in amino acid composition from that reported, containing lysine instead of methionine. This fraction was found to consist of two peptides with the sequences Lys-Ser-Gly-Glu-Thr-Phe and Arg-Ile-Thr-Tyr. The former peptide is reported to have the sequence Met-Ser-Gly-Glu-Thr-Phe. Thus, the amino acid at position 43 from the N terminus of the β-subunit of LT_p is lysine, not methionine as reported. This is the first report which studied the amino acid sequence of LT_p analysed by protein toxin itself, not by DNA sequence analysis.     

Reactivity of recombinant and mutant vanadium bromoperoxidase from the red alga Corallina officinalis

Vanadium bromoperoxidase (VBPO) from the marine red alga Corallina officinalis has been cloned and heterologously expressed in Esherichia coli. The sequence for the full-length cDNA of VBPO from C. officinalis is reported. Steady state kinetic analyses of monochlorodimedone bromination reveals the recombinant enzyme behaves similarly to native VBPO from the alga. The kinetic parameters (K(m)(Br-)=1.2 mM, K(m)(H(2)O(2))=17.0 microM) at the optimal pH 6.5 for recombinant VBPO are similar to reported values for enzyme purified from the alga. The first site-directed mutagenesis experiment on VBPO is reported. Mutation of a conserved active site histidine residue to alanine (H480A) results in the loss of the ability to efficiently oxidize bromide, but retains the ability to oxidize iodide. Kinetic parameters (K(m)(I-)=33 mM, K(m)(H(2)O(2))=200 microM) for iodoperoxidase activity were determined for mutant H480A. The presence of conserved consensus sequences for the active sites of VBPO from marine sources shows its usefulness in obtaining recombinant forms of VBPO. Furthermore, mutagenesis of the conserved extra-histidine residue shows the importance of this residue in the oxidation of halides by hydrogen peroxide.     

昆虫乙酰胆碱酯酶基因研究进展

对昆虫乙酰胆碱酯酶（acetylcholinesterase, AChE,EC 3.1.1.7）的基因结构和表达等方面的研究进展进行了综述。分析了昆虫乙酰胆碱酯酶基因的结构,包括10个外显子的特征。对已经报道的昆虫AChE基因进行了系统归纳,并基于已知全序列的昆虫AChE基因,进行了昆虫AChE基因的分子进化分析。对昆虫AChE基因的结构特点及其功能,以及昆虫AChE基因的活性位点、AChE的变构与昆虫抗药性的关系进行了探讨。最后对昆虫AChE基因研究中存在的问题和前景进行了分析和展望。     

New Coleoptera records from New Brunswick, Canada: Trogossitidae, Cleridae, and Melyridae, with an addition to the fauna of Nova Scotia

Grynocharis quadrilineata (Melsheimer) and Tenebroides corticalis (Melsheimer) of the family Trogossitidae are newly recorded for New Brunswick, Canada. Additional records of the recently reported Calitys scabra (Thunberg)and Ostoma fraterna (Randall) are presented for the province. The record of Ostoma fraterna is the first recent record of this species from New Brunswick. Additional New Brunswick records of the thaneroclerine, Zenodosus sanguineus (Say), are given, indicting that this species is common and widespread in the province. One species of Cleridae, Cymatodera bicolor (Say),is newly reported from New Brunswick, and the adventive Thanasimus formicarius Linnaeus is newly recorded from Nova Scotia and the Maritime provinces. Attalus morulus (LeConte) and Dolichosoma foveicolle (Kirby), family Melyridae, are reported for the first time for New Brunswick and the Maritime provinces. Collection, habitat data, and distribution maps are presented for these species.