Relationship between temperament and fatness in 11-year-old children and 17-year-old adolescents from Wrocław,Poland

Childhood obesity is increasing globally, and Poland is no exception. Studies indicate that relationship between obesity and psychological well-being is a complex issue and this needs further research. The objective of the present cross sectional study was to analyze the relationship between some temperament components and fatness among children in two developmental periods, approximately before and after adolescence. Participants included 122 children aged 11 years (57 boys and 65 girls), and 153 adolescents aged 17 years (64 boys and 89 girls) from 6 primary and 4 secondary schools in Wroc?aw, Poland. Height, weight, triceps-, subscapular and abdominal skinfold thicknesses were measured. Temperament was assessed by a questionnaire of Buss and Plomin (1984) in two versions: EAS-C for children completed by parents and EAS-D for youth and adults. Physical activity (PAL) was also assessed by a questionnaire. Mean, median and standard deviation (SD) were calculated and Student's t tests were performed to test for significance of differences between groups. Chi squared (χ²) statistic was used to test the significance of differences in frequencies. Analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were performed to show the effect of the social - psychological factors on fatness. Controlling for socioeconomic status and physical activity level, activity, as a component of temperament had a significant effect on body fatness. The only component of temperament, which significantly influenced level of fatness in girls, was emotionality. These relationships differed according to sex and the two age groups concerned.     

Relationships between in vivo and in vitro aflatoxin production: reliable prediction of fungal ability to contaminate maize with aflatoxins

Aflatoxins are highly carcinogenic mycotoxins frequently produced by Aspergillus flavus. Contamination of maize with aflatoxins imposes both economic and health burdens in many regions. Identification of the most important etiologic agents of contamination is complicated by mixed infections and varying aflatoxin-producing potential of fungal species and individuals. In order to know the potential importance of an isolate to cause a contamination event, the ability of the isolate to produce aflatoxins on the living host must be determined. Aflatoxin production in vitro (synthetic and natural media) was contrasted with in vivo (viable maize kernels) in order to determine ability of in vitro techniques to predict the relative importance of causal agents to maize contamination events. Several media types and fermentation techniques (aerated, non-aerated, fermentation volume) were compared. There was no correlation between aflatoxin production in viable maize and production in any of the tested liquid fermentation media using any of the fermentation techniques. Isolates that produced aflatoxins on viable maize frequently failed to produce detectable (limit of detection = 1 ppb) aflatoxin concentrations in synthetic media. Aflatoxin production on autoclaved maize kernels was highly correlated with production on viable maize kernels. The results have important implications for researchers seeking to either identify causal agents of contamination events or characterize atoxigenic isolates for biological control.     

Association between HLA-A and -B polymorphisms and susceptibility to Henoch-Schönlein purpura in Han and Mongolian children from Inner Mongolia

We examined a possible association between HLA-A and -B polymorphisms and susceptibility to Henoch-Sch?nlein purpura (HSP) in Han and Mongolian children in Inner Mongolia, through a case-control study. Two hundred and sixty-eight unrelated children were enrolled, including 56 Mongolian and 50 Han children with HSP, 66 healthy Mongolian and 96 healthy Han children as a control group. HLA-A and -B alleles were indentified by PCR-sequence-specific oligonucleotide analysis and were further analyzed by PCR-sequencing-based typing (SBT). Frequencies of HLA-A*11, HLA-B*15 in Mongolian patients and HLA-A*26, HLA-B*35, HLA-B*52 in Han patients were higher than those in the corresponding control group (P < 0.05), while frequencies of HLA-B*07 and -B*40 in Mongolian HSP patients were lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Further analysis using PCR-SBT showed that all HLA-A*11 were HLA-A*1101, and most HLA-B*15 were HLA-B*1501 in Mongolian HSP patients. All HLA-A*26 were HLA-A*2601 and HLA-B*35 were mostly HLA-B*3503 in Han patients. There were more Han patients with severe manifestations than Mongolian patients (P < 0.05). Frequencies of HLA-A*26, HLA-B*35 and HLA-B*52 in Han patients were higher than in Mongolian patients (P < 0.05). We conclude that HLA-A*11(*1101) and -B*15(*1501) are associated with susceptibility to HSP in Mongolian children and HLA-A*26(*2601), HLA-B*35(*3503) and HLA-B*52 are associated with susceptibility to HSP in Han children. HLA-B*07 and -B*40 may be protective genes in Mongolian children. The different frequencies of HLA-A and -B in Mongolian and Han children may be responsible for the different manifestations in these two ethnic groups.     

Anticooperative Nearest-Neighbor Interactions between Residues in Unfolded Peptides and Proteins

Growing evidence suggests that the conformational distributions of amino acid residues in unfolded peptides and proteins depend on the nature of the nearest neighbors. To explore whether the underlying interactions would lead to a breakdown of the isolated pair hypothesis of the classical random coil model, we further analyzed the conformational propensities that were recently obtained for the two guest residues (x,y) of GxyG tetrapeptides. We constructed a statistical thermodynamics model that allows for cooperative as well as for anticooperative interactions between adjacent residues adopting either a polyproline II or a β-strand conformation. Our analysis reveals that the nearest-neighbor interactions between most of the central residues in the investigated GxyG peptides are anticooperative. Interaction Gibbs energies are rather large at high temperatures (350 K), at which point many proteins undergo thermal unfolding. At room temperature, these interaction energies are less pronounced. We used the obtained interaction parameter in a Zimm-Bragg/Ising-type approach to calculate the temperature dependence of the ultraviolet circular dichroism (CD) of the MAX3 peptide, which is predominantly built by KV repeats. The agreement between simulation and experimental data was found to be satisfactory. Finally, we analyzed the temperature dependence of the CD and ³J(H^NH^α) parameters of the amyloid β_1–9 fragment. The results of this analysis and a more qualitative consideration of the temperature dependence of denatured proteins probed by CD spectroscopy further corroborate the dominance of anticooperative nearest-neighbor interactions. Generally, our results show that unfolded peptides—and most likely also proteins—exhibit some similarity with antiferromagnetic systems.     

Suicide among children and adolescents in Canada: trends and sex differences, 1980�C2008

Background:

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young Canadians (10–19 years of age) — a disturbing trend that has shown little improvement in recent years. Our objective was to examine suicide trends among Canadian children and adolescents.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective analysis of standardized suicide rates using Statistics Canada mortality data for the period spanning from 1980 to 2008. We analyzed the data by sex and by suicide method over time for two age groups: 10–14 year olds (children) and 15–19 year olds (adolescents). We quantified annual trends by calculating the average annual percent change (AAPC).

Results:

We found an average annual decrease of 1.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] −1.5 to −0.4) in the suicide rate for children and adolescents, but stratification by age and sex showed significant variation. We saw an increase in suicide by suffocation among female children (AAPC = 8.1%, 95% CI 6.0 to 10.4) and adolescents (AAPC = 8.0%, 95% CI 6.2 to 9.8). In addition, we noted a decrease in suicides involving poisoning and firearms during the study period.

Interpretation:

Our results show that suicide rates in Canada are increasing among female children and adolescents and decreasing among male children and adolescents. Limiting access to lethal means has some potential to mitigate risk. However, suffocation, which has become the predominant method for committing suicide for these age groups, is not amenable to this type of primary prevention.Suicide was ranked as the second leading cause of death among Canadians aged 10–34 years in 2008.¹ It is recognized that suicidal behaviour and ideation is an important public health issue among children and adolescents; disturbingly, suicide is a leading cause of Canadian childhood mortality (i.e., among youths aged 10–19 years).^2,3Between 1980 and 2008, there were substantial improvements in mortality attributable to unintentional injury among 10–19 year olds, with rates decreasing from 37.7 per 100 000 to 10.7 per 100 000; suicide rates, however, showed less improvement, with only a small reduction during the same period (from 6.2 per 100 000 in 1980 to 5.2 per 100 000 in 2008).¹Previous studies that looked at suicides among Canadian adolescents and young adults (i.e., people aged 15–25 years) have reported rates as being generally stable over time, but with a marked increase in suicides by suffocation and a decrease in those involving firearms.² There is limited literature on self-inflicted injuries among children 10–14 years of age in Canada and the United States, but there appears to be a trend toward younger children starting to self-harm.^3,4 Furthermore, the trend of suicide by suffocation moving to younger ages may be partly due to cases of the “choking game” (self-strangulation without intent to cause permanent harm) that have been misclassified as suicides.^5–7Risk factors for suicidal behaviour and ideation in young people include a psychiatric diagnosis (e.g., depression), substance abuse, past suicidal behaviour, family factors and other life stressors (e.g., relationships, bullying) that have complex interactions.⁸ A suicide attempt involves specific intent, plans and availability of lethal means, such as firearms,⁹ elevated structures¹⁰ or substances.¹¹ The existence of “pro-suicide” sites on the Internet and in social media¹² may further increase risk by providing details of various ways to commit suicide, as well as evaluations ranking these methods by effectiveness, amount of pain involved and length of time to produce death.^13–15Our primary objective was to present the patterns of suicide among children and adolescents (aged 10–19 years) in Canada.     

Exposure to lead and cadmium and associated factors in children 0–17 years of age living in an area contaminated by metals

This article analyzes some characteristics and conditions associated with Pb and Cd exposure using an exploratory approach, relating them to the levels of Pb and Cd in blood (blood lead levels [BLL] and blood cadmium levels [BCL]) in children 0–17 years of age living in an area contaminated by metals. BLL and BCL values were determined for each child and questionnaires were applied to their parents. Significant differences were found in mean BLL values according to race (p = .03), family history of intoxication by Pb (p = .004), if a family member was a metallurgy worker (p = .047), if a family member performed activities in the area of metallurgy (p = .03), and mother's employment status (p = .014). The following characteristics were associated with increased risk of BLL above 5.0 mg/dL in children: race, having a family record of intoxication by lead, and having a parent who worked at the plant. BLC values are not significantly associated with any of the studied characteristics. It may be concluded that BLL values are influenced by the social indicators of the population.     

Secular Trends in Measures of Cephalo-Facial Traits among Bengalee Boys Aged 7.0–16.0 Years from Kolkata between 1982–1983 and 1999–2001

While a large number of studies on secular trends have been performed on measures of stature, weight, trunk and limb dimensions, subcutaneous fatness and body composition, etc., less attention has been paid to cephalo-facial traits. This study reports on secular trends in five cephalo-facial traits (head length, head breadth, head circumference, bizygomatic breadth and morphological facial height) and two indices (cephalic index and facial index) in Bengalee Hindu boys between ages 7.0 and 16.0 years. The data set comes from two cross-sectional growth surveys carried out among the students of one particular Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) boys school with an interval of about 20 years (1982–1983 and 1999–2001). Identical protocol with respect to sampling, data collection, measuring technique and data analysis has been followed in both surveys. Except for morphological facial height (which showed negative secular trends), the other four cephalo-facial traits showed positive secular trends with varying magnitudes over the two decades. Cephalic index did not reveal any consistent pattern of change, while facial index showed a declining trend in the later survey.     

Arsenic and selenium measurements in nail and hair show important relationships to Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly

Background and research questionThe relationships of Arsenic (As) and selenium (Se) to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) are not clearly known. This case-control observational study aims to investigate the possible relationship of these elements to the diagnosis and pathophysiology of the disease.MethodsThis case-control observational study was performed using 40 AD patients in different clinical stages and 40 healthy control subjects, living in a similar environment with low As exposure. The levels of As and Se in nail and hair were measured with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. The results were analysed with regards to clinical condition, age, disease duration, sex, education, living environment, and the relationship of the two elements using Mann Whitney U test and Spearman Rho or Pearson correlation tests as appropriate.ResultsThe levels of As and Se were not related to age, disease duration, sex, education, or living environment in the study groups (p > 0.05). The levels of As and Se in hair and nail samples of all patients and patient subgroups were higher than those in the healthy subjects (p < 0.001). A positive correlation was found between the levels of As and Se in both hair and nail samples only in the patient group (p < 0.01).ConclusionAccording to the results, As and Se levels probably increase due to some metabolic or genetic factors affecting both of them together. There may be an increase in the unregulated pool (selenomethionine) and a decrease in the regulated pool of Se (selenosycteine) in AD. Our findings need verification and the subject seems to deserve more elaborate evaluations including genetic analyses and analysis of different chemical forms of these elements.     

Has mortality from melanoma stopped rising in Australia? Analysis of trends between 1931 and 1994.

OBJECTIVE--To describe recent trends in mortality from melanoma in Australia. DESIGN--An analysis of trends in age standardised and age and sex specific mortalities by year of death and median year of birth (cohort). SETTING--Australia. SUBJECTS--All deaths from melanoma registered in Australia between 1931 and 1994. RESULTS--Melanoma mortality rose steadily from 1931 to 1985. From 1959 the annual rate of increase was 6.3% in men and 2.9% in women, resulting in mortalities of 4.82 and 2.51 per 100,000 person years in 1985 and 1989, respectively. Mortalities for both sexes seem to have plateaued from June 1985 onwards. In 1990-4 the rate rose by 3.7% in men to 5.00 per 100,000 and in women it fell by 5.2% to 2.38 per 100,000. The non-significant increase after 1985 in mortality in men was restricted to those aged over 70 years of age, whereas the fall in rates in women was mostly in those aged under 55 years. This pattern was generally reflected in the state trends, though with some variation: rates for women in Queensland had peaked in the late 1970s; while rates for men in New South Wales continued to rise in 1990-4, placing them above those for Queensland. Examination of mortalities specific for age, period, and cohort for Australia as a whole showed several salient features. Rates in men rose steeply in cohorts born before about 1930; were stable in cohorts born between 1930 and 1950; and fell in more recent cohorts. Rates in women showed similar changes but about five years earlier. CONCLUSION--Melanoma mortality in Australia peaked in about 1985 and has now plateaued. On the basis of trends in cohorts it can be expected to fall in coming years.     

Do birth variable data predict melatonin production in 8- to 9-year-old children? Analysis of excreted 6-sulfatoxymelatonin

HYPOTHESES: A cross-sectional study on urinary excretion of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin (aMT.6S) in young adults suggests a relation between melatonin production and body size at birth. As individual melatonin production remains stable during childhood and adolescence, this melatonin-birth size relation should also exist in children. METHODS: Daily urinary output of aMT.6S of 147 healthy white children (78 boys, 69 girls), 8 or 9 years of age, was quantified by ELISA and related to birth variable data. RESULTS: Contrary to expectation, aMT.6S output was not related to the ponderal index at birth but a moderate positive association with body mass index at the age of 8-9 years was seen. CONCLUSION: This study in children contradicts previous findings in adults. As no obvious reason can be identified for this discrepancy, further research (particularly a longitudinal study) is recommended to clarify whether birth variable data may predict melatonin production in certain circumstances during or after puberty.     

The roles of DNA methylation of NR3C1 and 11β-HSD2 and exposure to maternal mood disorder in utero on newborn neurobehavior

Exposure to maternal mood disorder in utero may program infant neurobehavior via DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1) and 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD-2), two placental genes that have been implicated in perturbations of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis. We tested the relations among prenatal exposure to maternal depression or anxiety, methylation of exon 1F of NR3C1 and 11β-HSD-2, and newborn neurobehavior. Controlling for relevant covariates, infants whose mothers reported depression during pregnancy and showed greater methylation of placental NR3C1 CpG2 had poorer self-regulation, more hypotonia, and more lethargy than infants whose mothers did not report depression. On the other hand, infants whose mothers reported anxiety during pregnancy and showed greater methylation of placental 11β-HSD-2 CpG4 were more hypotonic compared with infants of mothers who did not report anxiety during pregnancy. Our results support the fetal programming hypothesis and suggest that fetal adjustments to cues from the intrauterine environment, in this case an environment that could be characterized by increased exposure to maternal cortisol, may lead to poor neurodevelopmental outcomes.     

Role ofADRB2 gene polymorphism in asthma and response to β2-agonists in Polish children

The aims of this study were: (1) to find associations of asthma with single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within theADRB2 gene: Arg16Gly, Gln27Glu, −1023 G/A, −367 T/C, −47 C/T ; (2) to define linkage disequilibrium in the gene region, basing on the analyzed SNPs; and (3) to analyze the importance ofADRB2 polymorphism for response to bronchodilator drugs in children diagnosed with bronchial asthma. We compared 113 asthmatic children and 123 healthy subjects from the Polish population. Genotyping was performed by PCR-RFLP. We found an association of the A allele of −1023A/GADRB2 polymorphism with asthma (P = 0.024). No significant associations with other SNPs were detected. Moderate linkage was found between Gln27Glu and −47C/T polymorphisms in linkage disequilibrium analysis (D’ = 0.85,r ² = 0.429, LOD = 31.97). No significant differences were found in haplotype frequencies in comparison to the control group, implicating that they are not associated with susceptibility to asthma in the analyzed population. There was no significant correlation between the analyzed SNPs of theADRB2 gene and the response to β₂-agonists. This is the first report providing suggestive evidence for association of —1023A/GADRB2 polymorphism with an increased risk of asthma. The analyzed SNPs may not play a major role in response to β₂-agonists in asthmatic children.     

Incidence and survival of childhood cancer in the French islands of Reunion and Mayotte (2005–2011)

The aim of this study is to describe childhood cancer incidence and survival in the French islands of Reunion and Mayotte for the period 2005–2011. Data were taken from the population-based Cancer Registry of Reunion Island. All incident cases of malignant tumours and benign tumours of the Central Nervous System diagnosed between 2005 and 2011 in children under the age of 15 and living in Reunion or Mayotte were included. A total of 236 cases were registered (176 in Reunion, 60 in Mayotte). Age-standardised incidence rates (ASRs, world standard) for all cancers were 125.0 and 101.8 per million for Reunion and Mayotte, respectively. ASRs for the main cancer groups were lower than those described in mainland France for the same period. The 5-year overall survival rate for all patients was 78.5% (95%CI 71.9- 83.7), slightly lower than that reported in mainland France.     

Relationships between direct and indirect measures of central and total adiposity in children: What are we measuring?

Objective: The relationship between central and total fat measured by anthropometry, dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with each other and systolic blood pressure (SBP) was examined. Design and Methods: Participants of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children were examined at ages 9, 11, 13, and 15 years (n = 3,796‐6,567). MRI was available on a subset of children at 11 (n = 156) and 13 (n = 95). Results: Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were highly correlated (r = 0.84‐0.91, across ages), and total body fat mass (TBFM) and trunk fat mass (TFM) were very strongly correlated (r ≥ 0.98). Among boys, BMI vs. WC explained a similar degree of variation in TBFM and TFM (41‐71% vs. 43‐76%, across age and overweight groups); in girls, BMI accounted for 62‐73% variance and WC 47‐69%. Adiposity measures were generally similarly correlated with SBP within age groups. Further, the relationship between intra‐abdominal adipose tissue (IAAT) volume and adiposity measures did not vary greatly at 11 (0.65‐0.67) and 13 (0.64‐0.67). Conclusions: BMI and WC contain a large amount of overlapping information as evidenced by their high correlation and similarly sized associations with fat mass, SBP, and IAAT. This suggests that WC may be an inadequate marker of central adiposity during childhood.     

Mendel: a simple excel workbook to compare the observed and expected distributions of genotypes/phenotypes in transgenic and knockout mouse crosses involving up to three unlinked loci by means of a χ2 test

The analysis of transgenic and knockout mice always involves the establishment of matings with individuals carrying different loci, segregating independently, whose presence is expected among the progeny, according to a Mendelian distribution. The appearance of distorted inheritance ratios suggests the existence of unexpected lethal or sub-lethal phenotypes associated with some genotypes. These situations are common in a number of cases, including: testing transgenic founder mice for germ-line transmission of their transgenes; setting up heterozygous crosses to obtain homozygous individuals, both for transgenic and knockout mice; establishing matings between floxed mouse lines and suitable cre transgenic mouse lines, etc. The Pearson's χ(2) test can be used to assess the significance of the observed frequencies of genotypes/phenotypes in relation to the expected values, in order to determine whether the observed cases fit the expected distribution. Here, I describe a simple Excel workbook to compare the observed and expected distributions of genotypes/phenotypes in transgenic and knockout mouse crosses involving up to three unlinked loci by means of a χ(2) test. The file is freely available for download from my laboratory's web page at: http://www.cnb.csic.es/~montoliu/Mendel.xls .     

Interaction between 24-hydroxycholesterol, oxidative stress, and amyloid-β in amplifying neuronal damage in Alzheimer's disease: three partners in crime

All three cholesterol oxidation products implicated thus far in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, 7β-hydroxycholesterol, 24-hydroxycholesterol, and 27-hydroxycholesterol, markedly enhance the binding of amyloid-beta (Aβ) to human differentiated neuronal cell lines (SK-N-BE and NT-2) by up-regulating net expression and synthesis of CD36 and β1-integrin receptors. However, only 24-hydroxycholesterol markedly potentiates the pro-apoptotic and pro-necrogenic effects of Aβ(1-42) peptide on these cells: 7β-hydroxycholesterol and 27-hydroxycholesterol, like unoxidized cholesterol, show no potentiating effect. This peculiar behavior of 24-hydroxycholesterol at physiologic concentrations (1 μm) depends on its strong enhancement of the intracellular generation of NADPH oxidase-dependent reactive oxygen species (ROS), mainly H(2) O(2) , and the consequent impairment of neuronal cell redox equilibrium, measured in terms of the GSSG/GSH ratio. Cell incubation with antioxidants quercetin or genistein prevents 24-hydroxycholesterol's pro-oxidant effect and potentiation of Aβ-induced necrosis and apoptosis. Thus, the presence of 24-hydroxycholesterol in the close vicinity of amyloid plaques appears to enhance the adhesion of large amounts of Aβ to the plasma membrane of neurons and then to amplify the neurotoxic action of Aβ by locally increasing ROS steady-state levels. This report further supports a primary involvement of altered brain cholesterol metabolism in the complex pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.     

Adenovirus-mediated PDCD5 gene transfer sensitizes K562 cells to apoptosis induced by idarubicin in vitro and in vivo

PDCD5 (programmed cell death 5) accelerates apoptosis of certain tumor cells and is expressed at low levels in marrow-nucleated cells of AML and CML patients. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of PDCD5 overexpression on drug sensitivity of leukemia cells. K562 cells were treated with idarubicin (IDR) alone or in combination with adenoviral vectors expressing PDCD5 (Ad-PDCD5). As shown by annexin-V-FITC/PI dual labeling, apoptosis rates were markedly increased after combined treatment with Ad-PDCD5 compared to IDR treatment alone. We observed that PDCD5 overexpression significantly improves the antitumor effects of low dose IDR treatment in vivo. Tumor sizes were significantly decreased in combined Ad-PDCD5 and low dose IDR treatment groups compared with single IDR treatment groups. Similar results were obtained with combined systemic treatment of Ad-PDCD5 and low dose IDR, and combined treatment with Ad-PDCD5 local injection and low dose IDR i.p. injection. These results indicate that Ad-PDCD5 may be a promising agent for enhancing chemosensitivity. Guo-Rui Ruan and Hong-Shan Zhao contributed equally to this work.