Do Media Use and Physical Activity Compete in Adolescents? Results of the MoMo Study

PurposeThe displacement hypothesis predicts that physical activity and media use compete in adolescents; however, findings are inconsistent. A more differentiated approach at determining the co-occurrence of physical activity and media use behaviors within subjects may be warranted. The aim of this study was to determine the co-occurrence of physical activity and media use by identifying clusters of adolescents with specific behavior patterns including physical activity in various settings (school, sports club, leisure time) and different types of media use (watching TV, playing console games, using PC / Internet).MethodsCross-sectional data of 2,083 adolescents (11–17 years) from all over Germany were collected between 2009 and 2012 in the Motorik-Modul Study. Physical activity and media use were self-reported. Cluster analyses (Ward’s method and K-means analysis) were used to identify behavior patterns of boys and girls separately.ResultsEight clusters were identified for boys and seven for girls. The clusters demonstrated that a high proportion of boys (33%) as well as girls (42%) show low engagement in both physical activity and media use, irrespective of setting or type of media. Other adolescents are engaged in both behaviors, but either physical activity (35% of boys, 27% of girls) or media use (31% of boys and girls) predominates. These adolescents belong to different clusters, whereat in most clusters either one specific setting of physical activity or a specific combination of different types of media predominates.ConclusionThe results of this study support to some extent the hypothesis that media use and physical activity compete: Very high media use occurred with low physical activity behavior, but very high activity levels co-occurred with considerable amounts of time using any media. There was no evidence that type of used media was related to physical activity levels, neither setting of physical activity was related to amount of media use in any pattern.     

Mutants as tools to understand cellular and molecular drought tolerance mechanisms

The use of mutants: a most promising way to detect genes involved in development or in response to environmental stress. The model species Arabidopsis, particularly amenable to dissect the genetics and molecular mechanisms underlying physiological responses, also offers the advantage of a wide variety of mutants. As far as drought tolerance is concerned, hormonal mutants, impaired in hormone biosynthesis — deficient mutants — or in the signal transduction pathway—responsive mutants—provide a valuable tool to analyse the role of phytohormone interaction in the plant drought behaviour as well as to differentiate the mutant phenotypes with new criteria.These two categories of mutants (in particular the abscisic acid, ABA, mutants) were shown to be affected in developmental processes during seed maturation-in the desiccation phase- and/or in response to environmental stress (drought, ...) in vegetative tissues. The present report will focus on this last aspect: alterations in drought responses in vegetative tissues (adaptive strategies and drought tolerance mechanisms) essentially in Arabidopsis hormonal mutants (ABA-deficient and ABA-insensitive, GA-deficient, auxin and ethylene-insensitive).Some of the results are discussed with regard to the predicted functions of genes affected by the mutations.     

Localized induction of a generalized response against multiple biotic agents in Caribbean sea fans

Although inducible defenses are an important component of the defense systems of a range of modular organisms, little is known about inducible defenses of octocorals. A localized inducible response against multiple enemies was detected in the Caribbean sea fans Gorgonia ventalina L. and G. flabellum L. Field surveys showed that localized purpling, resulting from an increase in the proportion of purple sclerites, was associated with overgrowth by Millepora alcicornis and macroalgae, and infection by the fungus Aspergillus sydowii. To confirm inducibility and to assess specificity of the response, a range of treatments—abrasion, cable tie, M. alcicornis, sea fan tissue infected with A. sydowii (diseased allografts), and healthy allografts—was applied to healthy sea fans. After 10 days, all biotic treatments induced a localized physical response consisting of changes in concentration, type, and color of sclerites; however, antifungal activity of non-polar chemical extracts was unaffected. The purpling response appears to be specific to biotic agents and reduces tissue damage in subsequent interactions.Communicated by H. Lasker     

Physical Activity and Bone Mineral Accrual in Boys with Different Body Mass Parameters during Puberty: A Longitudinal Study

The aim of our longitudinal study was to investigate the relationships between physical activity and bone mass in boys with different body mass status during the years surrounding pubertal growth spurt. Two hundred and six boys entering puberty took part in this study. The subjects were divided into underweight (), normal weight (), overweight () and obese () groups at baseline according to age related categories. Whole-body DXA scans were performed at baseline, after 12 and 24 months to assess body composition (lean body mass, fat mass), and total body (TB), lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) bone mineral density (BMD) parameters. Physical activity was measured by 7- day accelerometry. For longitudinal analysis, multilevel fixed effects regression models were constructed. Biological age, height and lean body mass had an effect for explanation of TB BMD, FN BMD and LS BMD. Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), vigorous physical activity (VPA) and sedentary time (SED) had the significant effect only on FN BMD. Being an underweight boy at the baseline indicated greater chance (p<0.01) to have lower TB BMD in the future (2 years at follow up) development, compared to normal weight (estimates = −0.038), overweight (estimates = −0.061) and obese boys (estimates = −0.106).     

Pollenkitt is lacking inGnetum gnemon (Gnetaceae)

The anther tapetum of the gymnospermGnetum gnemon produces no lipid osmiophilous droplets as pollenkitt forerunners. Thus—in contrast to entomophilous and anemophilous angiosperms—no pollenkitt is produced at all. From lack of pollenkitt in other gymnosperms, it appears to be restricted to angiosperms. This can be considered as new and additional proof for the hypothesis that the angiosperms are one coherent phylogenetic group, and that the development of pollenkitt in their ancestors was one of the main prerequisites for the adaptive switch to entomophily.     

Determinants of Childhood Adiposity: Evidence from the Australian LOOK Study

Background

To contribute to the current debate as to the relative influences of dietary intake and physical activity on the development of adiposity in community-based children.

Methods

Participants were 734 boys and girls measured at age 8, 10 and 12 years for percent body fat (dual emission x-ray absorptiometry), physical activity (pedometers, accelerometers); and dietary intake (1 and 2-day records), with assessments of pubertal development and socioeconomic status.

Results

Cross-sectional relationships revealed that boys and girls with higher percent body fat were less physically active, both in terms of steps per day and moderate and vigorous physical activity (both sexes p<0.001 for both measures). However, fatter children did not consume more energy, fat, carbohydrate or sugar; boys with higher percent body fat actually consumed less carbohydrate (p = 0.01) and energy (p = 0.05). Longitudinal analysis (combined data from both sexes) was weaker, but supported the cross-sectional findings, showing that children who reduced their PA over the four years increased their percent body fat (p = 0.04). Relationships in the 8 year-olds and also in the leanest quartile of all children, where adiposity-related underreporting was unlikely, were consistent with those of the whole group, indicating that underreporting did not influence our findings.

Conclusions

These data provide support for the premise that physical activity is the main source of variation in the percent body fat of healthy community-based Australian children. General community strategies involving dietary intake and physical activity to combat childhood obesity may benefit by making physical activity the foremost focus of attention.     

IPS-1 Is Essential for the Control of West Nile Virus Infection and Immunity

The innate immune response is essential for controlling West Nile virus (WNV) infection but how this response is propagated and regulates adaptive immunity in vivo are not defined. Herein, we show that IPS-1, the central adaptor protein to RIG-I-like receptor (RLR) signaling, is essential for triggering of innate immunity and for effective development and regulation of adaptive immunity against pathogenic WNV. IPS-1^−/− mice exhibited increased susceptibility to WNV infection marked by enhanced viral replication and dissemination with early viral entry into the CNS. Infection of cultured bone-marrow (BM) derived dendritic cells (DCs), macrophages (Macs), and primary cortical neurons showed that the IPS-1-dependent RLR signaling was essential for triggering IFN defenses and controlling virus replication in these key target cells of infection. Intriguingly, infected IPS-1^−/− mice displayed uncontrolled inflammation that included elevated systemic type I IFN, proinflammatory cytokine and chemokine responses, increased numbers of inflammatory DCs, enhanced humoral responses marked by complete loss of virus neutralization activity, and increased numbers of virus-specific CD8+ T cells and non-specific immune cell proliferation in the periphery and in the CNS. This uncontrolled inflammatory response was associated with a lack of regulatory T cell expansion that normally occurs during acute WNV infection. Thus, the enhanced inflammatory response in the absence of IPS-1 was coupled with a failure to protect against WNV infection. Our data define an innate/adaptive immune interface mediated through IPS-1-dependent RLR signaling that regulates the quantity, quality, and balance of the immune response to WNV infection.     

Characteristics of cardiac activity in 5- to 7-year-old children during graded exercise

The characteristics of cardiac activity in 5–7-year-old children were studied at rest and during graded veloergometric exercise. The indices of central hemodynamics strongly correlated at rest and the closest correlations were in girls compared to boys. Minute volume increased with an increasing load (from 0.5 to 1.5 W/kg) which could be attributed to an increase in stroke volume. In the groups of 5- to 7-year-old boys and 7-year-old girls the stroke volume increased with an increasing load reaching a maximum at 1.5 W/kg. In the groups of 6-year-old boys and 5-year-old girls the stroke volume increased up to a load of 1.0 W/kg. Heart rate represents another mechanism of cardiac output regulation. The chronotropic response to physical exercise in 5- to 7-year-old children was found to be sex specific, which was especially pronounced at the loads of 1.0 and 1.5 W/kg. Sex difference in the chronotropic heart response to graded physical exercise appeared at the age of 5, and the difference in inotropic response at the age of 7 years substantiates the heterochronous development of chrono- and inotropic cardiac functions.     

Development of ocularity domains and growth behaviour of axon terminals

Ontogenetic development of ocularity domains — stripes, patches and layers in cortex, colliculus superior and lateral geniculate nucleus — is the result of organization that may either be intrinsic to the postsynaptic structure or induced to it by the afferents. A specific type of axonal growth behaviour that was recently proposed as a basis for ontogenetic development of retinotopy is sufficient to account also for ocularity domains. No intrinsic organization in the postsynaptic structure is required. The latter merely serves as a propagating medium for markers carried by the presynaptic terminals. Computer simulations demonstrate the mechanism to be complete and consistent.     

Relationship between functional characteristics of cat visual cortex neurons,their response to novelty,and short-term memory

In the visual cortex of unanesthetized cats, the number and frequency of discharges in response to a new stimulus differed from the subsequent responses: the first response was more intensive in 34% of the neurons, but in 30% it was inhibited. The phenomenon of short-term memory was detected in 19% of the cells: it was expressed in regeneration of the configuration of response discharges after the cessation of rhythmic stimulation. These peculiarities can be linked with functional organization of the neurons. We divided them into two groups according to their response to photic stimuli. The first group includes short-latent neurons that respond with discharges of the phasic type and that virtually or totally lack spontaneous activity. The second group consists of long-latent neurons with the tonic type of discharges and distinct spontaneous activity. In the overwhelming majority of cases, response to novelty and short-term memory were discovered in neurons of the second group. It is hypothesized that the population of neurons of the first group — having narrower afferent connections — takes part mainly in analysis of properties of a photic stimulus; the population of neurons of the second group participates in information processing at the final and highest level, on which mechanisms of memory and attention are implicated.Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 2, No. 6, pp. 611–617, November–December, 1970.     

Zur Frage der Verteilung der ABO-Blutgruppen bei an Scharlach erkrankten Kindern

Summary The distribution of the ABO blood-groups among 697 scarlet patients —375 girls and 322 boys — had been examined and was compared with the distribution of the blood-groups among 1708 other children. It was seen a small trend of increasing of the blood-groups O and B and a reduction of A and AB, which was unequally strongly marked at different periods, but is not significant statistically.

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(Ärztl. Leiter: Prim. Dr. W. Kircher)     

Physical Fitness Percentiles of German Children Aged 9–12 Years: Findings from a Longitudinal Study

Background

Generating percentile values is helpful for the identification of children with specific fitness characteristics (i.e., low or high fitness level) to set appropriate fitness goals (i.e., fitness/health promotion and/or long-term youth athlete development). Thus, the aim of this longitudinal study was to assess physical fitness development in healthy children aged 9–12 years and to compute sex- and age-specific percentile values.

Methods

Two-hundred and forty children (88 girls, 152 boys) participated in this study and were tested for their physical fitness. Physical fitness was assessed using the 50-m sprint test (i.e., speed), the 1-kg ball push test, the triple hop test (i.e., upper- and lower- extremity muscular power), the stand-and-reach test (i.e., flexibility), the star run test (i.e., agility), and the 9-min run test (i.e., endurance). Age- and sex-specific percentile values (i.e., P₁₀ to P₉₀) were generated using the Lambda, Mu, and Sigma method. Adjusted (for change in body weight, height, and baseline performance) age- and sex-differences as well as the interactions thereof were expressed by calculating effect sizes (Cohen’s d).

Results

Significant main effects of Age were detected for all physical fitness tests (d = 0.40–1.34), whereas significant main effects of Sex were found for upper-extremity muscular power (d = 0.55), flexibility (d = 0.81), agility (d = 0.44), and endurance (d = 0.32) only. Further, significant Sex by Age interactions were observed for upper-extremity muscular power (d = 0.36), flexibility (d = 0.61), and agility (d = 0.27) in favor of girls. Both, linear and curvilinear shaped curves were found for percentile values across the fitness tests. Accelerated (curvilinear) improvements were observed for upper-extremity muscular power (boys: 10–11 yrs; girls: 9–11 yrs), agility (boys: 9–10 yrs; girls: 9–11 yrs), and endurance (boys: 9–10 yrs; girls: 9–10 yrs). Tabulated percentiles for the 9-min run test indicated that running distances between 1,407–1,507 m, 1,479–1,597 m, 1,423–1,654 m, and 1,433–1,666 m in 9- to 12-year-old boys and 1,262–1,362 m, 1,329–1,434 m, 1,392–1,501 m, and 1,415–1,526 m in 9- to 12-year-old girls correspond to a “medium” fitness level (i.e., P₄₀ to P₆₀) in this population.

Conclusions

The observed differences in physical fitness development between boys and girls illustrate that age- and sex-specific maturational processes might have an impact on the fitness status of healthy children. Our statistical analyses revealed linear (e.g., lower-extremity muscular power) and curvilinear (e.g., agility) models of fitness improvement with age which is indicative of timed and capacity-specific fitness development pattern during childhood. Lastly, the provided age- and sex-specific percentile values can be used by coaches for talent identification and by teachers for rating/grading of children’s motor performance.     

Parameters of psychophysiological adaptation to the academic process at a faculty of physical training in students specializing in different sports

The features of psychophysiological adaptation to learning at a physical training institute were studied in students of the faculty of physical training who specialized in different sports. The character of adaptive reorganizations in students involved in cyclic sports reflected the correspondence of the type of functional constitution to the sport specialization. Adaptation to the academic process in students involved in acyclic sports or sport games was accompanied by autonomic regulation strain, which was attributed to the inadequacy of physical loads to the state of the body. The adaptive capabilities of the students of the faculty of physical training were shown to depend not only on the specific character of the academic process at the faculty but also on the correspondence of the individual typological features to the chosen specialization.Translated from Fiziologiya Cheloveka, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2005, pp. 77–81.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Kazin, Varich.     

G banding in cytogenetic study of hemoblastoses

Summary Two boys (W. M. and C. P.) are described, in each of whom a short-arm deleted C chromosome was apparently present. The clinical findings on W. M. are stenosis of the sagittal sutura associated with atrophy of the nervus opticus and mental retardation, and on C. P. osteogenesis imperfecta. An analysis of the G- and Q-banding patterns revealed in each patient a 12p—chromosome. The deletion involved most of band p12 as shown by length measurements on G-banded chromosomes. Both cases were compared to proven and presumed cases of 12p—from literature, but no common clinical phenotype could be demonstrated.     

Morphofunctional Characteristics of 12- to 14-Year-Old Boys As Dependent on Their Physiological and Chronological Ages

To evaluate the morphofunctional development of adolescents as dependent on their physiological and chronological ages, physical development, cardiorespiratory system indices, and exercise performance were studied in 12- to 14-year-old boys. The morphofunctional development depended mostly on the sexual maturity. In subjects of the same chronological age, the maturity level substantially influenced the rate of physical development and the condition of the cardiorespiratory system. The maturity stage-dependent increase in absolute morphological and functional indices in 14-year-old adolescents was greater than the age-related increase observed in adolescents with the same stage of sexual maturation.__________Translated from Fiziologiya Cheloveka, Vol. 31, No. 3, 2005, pp. 118–123.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Girenko, Rubanovich, Aizman.     

Breeding systems and pollination inVigna minima (Leguminosae,Papilionoideae)

Four types of floral breeding systems—(i) chasmogamy, (ii) aerial pseudocleistogamy, (iii) subterranean pseudocleistogamy and (iv) obligate subterranean true cleistogamy—are observed in the populations ofVigna minima inhabiting the Western Ghats (India). Five categories of phenotypes are recognized based on the number and kinds of floral breeding systems found in a given individual. The frequencies of different categories of phenotypes not only show intra- and interpopulation variation, but also fluctuate from generation to generation suggesting differences in the genetic structure of populations. This polymorphism in the breeding system of a single species is unique and may be adaptive. Obligate subterranean true cleistogamy and amphicarpy appear to be adaptations to jungle fires and soil erosion.—The flowers are of the flag-blossom type and insect visitors act as tripping agents. The tripping mechanism together with the polymorphic floral breeding system result in a balanced mixture of selfing and outcrossing. Such a recombination system may enhance the fitness ofV. minima which is essentially a colonizing species.     

Phenological variation in fruit characteristics in vertebrate-dispersed plants

Summary We investigated inter-specific variation in fruit characteristics — fruit size, seed number per fruit, seed weight, nutritional content, fruit persistence, and fruit synchronization — in relation to flowering and fruiting phenology in 34 species of fleshy fruited plants. Except for aspects of fruit synchrony and persistence, the results in general were inconsistent with previous suggestions about adaptive variation in phenologically related fruit traits. The main results were as follows: (1) Late flowering, late fruiting, lengthy development time from flower to fruit, and highly persistent fruits constitute a complex of correlated characteristics among the species. (2) Synchronization of fruiting within individuals increased from early ripening fruits to late ripening fruits. Fruiting synchrony was more pronounced in species with a small crop size than in species with a large fruit crop, whereas synchrony was not significantly related to flowering synchronization, nor to life form. (3) Nitrogen and carbohydrate content of fruit pulp did not vary in relation to phenology, whereas lipid content decreased from early to late ripening fruits. (4) No seasonal trends were found for variation in seed size or seed number per fruit. (5) Interactions with flowering phenology and developmental constraints are important in phenological fruiting patterns. Temporal variation in start of fruiting was partly (36%) explained by variation in flowering time. Seed weight variation explained 17% of variation in development time from flower to fruit. (6) Despite constraints from flowering and seed development, some adaptive adjustment in fruiting phenology is likely to be allowed for among the investigated species. Such an adaptive variation in fruiting phenology was suggested by intra-generic comparisons of Prunus and Vaccinium species.     

Long range restriction map of the von Hippel-Lindau gene region on human chromosome 3p

Von Hippel-Lindau disease is a heritable tumour syndrome caused by the loss of the function of a tumour suppressor gene on the short arm of human chromosome 3. The interval RAF1-D3S18 (3p25–3p26) has been identfied by genetic linkage studies to harbour the von Hippel-Lindau gene. We have constructed a long range restriction map of this region and have succeeded in demonstrating the physical linkage of loci D3S726 (DNA probe LIB31-38), D3S18 (c-LIB-1, L162E5), D3S601 (LIB1963) and D3S587 (LIB 12–48). Since multipoint analysis has located D3S601 proximal to D3S726, the physical map should be oriented with D3S726 towards the telomere. The order and distances of probes within the von Hippel-Lindau gene region is as follows: telomere — LIB3138 — (<280 kb) — c-LIB-1 — (overlapping) — L162E5 — (900–1600 kb) — (LIB 19-63, LIB 12–48) — centromere. In tissues that included blood, semen and Epstein-Barrvirus-transformed lymphocytes, we detected a putative CpG island flanking D3S18.     

Direct endolymphatic instillation (ELI) of BCG-Tumor cell mixture

Summary A method of active immunization by direct Endolymphatic Instillation (ELI) of a mixture of BCG and Autologous Irradiated Tumor Cells (AITC) is described. ELI was performed in 36 patients with advanced breast cancer, melanoma and some other solid tumors. The procedure was well tolerated and was not associated with any untoward systemic side effects other than those often encountered in conventional BCG immunotherapy. Exposure of patients to AITC by the direct endolymphatic route proved to be superior to immunization by the intradermal route as judged by the subsequent induction of cutaneous Delayed Hypersensitivity Reaction (DHR) toward AITC. When employed as the first immunization attempt ELI was effective in 5 of 6 patients. It led to invigoration of preexisting weak DHR in 6 of 8 patients. In 15 of 22 patients conversion to a strongly positive cutaneous DHR to AITC was achieved by ELI, where previous attempts of immunization by the intradermal route had failed to elicit a positive response. Acquisition of positive cutaneous response to AITC following ELI was found to correlate with favourable prognosis in terms of longer median survival. The effect of ELI was particularly notable with respect to enhancement of in vitro lymphocyte stimulation by PPD antigen, but was not followed by increased reactivity of other in vitro parameters of cell-mediated immunity such as peripheral lymphocyte count, proportion of E-rosette forming cells, and PHA lymphocyte stimulation.Abbreviations used: ELI — Endolymphatic Instillation; AITC — Autologous Irradiated Tumor Cells; BCG — Bacillus Calmette-Guérin; DHR — Delayed Hypersensitivity Reaction; PPD — Purified Protein Derivative (tuberculin); PHA — Phytohemagglutinin; SI — Stimulation Index; E-RFC — E-Rosette Forming Cells; PBL — Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes.