Changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors from age 9 to 19 and the influence of television viewing

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to determine if time spent watching television is associated with changes in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors from age 9 to 19.

Design and Methods:

Participants were girls enrolled in the NHLBI Growth and Health Study (n = 1,702), and CVD risk factors were measured at ages 10, 12, 14, 16, and 19. Longitudinal quantile regression was used to determine if television viewing was associated with changes in CVD risk factors over time at the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles of the CVD risk factors.

Results:

In black girls, television viewing (h/wk) was positively associated with sum of skinfolds (mm) at the 75th (0.22, 99% CI, 0.06‐0.38) and 90th percentiles (0.21, 99% CI, 0.05‐0.36), but not at the 10th, 25th, or 50th percentiles. In white girls, television viewing (h/wk) was positively associated with sum of skinfolds (mm) with the strength of the associations progressively stronger toward the upper tail of the skinfold distribution, adjusting for physical activity and other covariates (10th percentile: 0.08, 99% CI, 0.03‐0.13; 90th percentile: 0.42, 99% CI, 0.24‐0.59). All associations were adjusted for physical activity, dietary factors, sleep, and maturation. No associations were observed between television viewing and changes in systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, or cholesterol levels in black or white girls.

Conclusion:

Girls who spent more time watching television had greater increases in sum of skinfolds from age 9 to 19, independent of physical activity levels and other covariates. The associations observed were stronger at the upper tail of the skinfold distribution.     

Genetic Polymorphisms at TIMP3 Are Associated with Survival of Adenocarcinoma of the Gastroesophageal Junction

The poor survival of adenocarcinomas of the gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) makes them clinically important. Discovery of host genetic factors that affect outcome may guide more individualized treatment. This study tests whether constitutional genetic variants in matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP) genes are associated with outcome of GEJ adenocarcinoma. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at four TIMP (TIMP1-4) and three MMP genes (MMP2, MMP7 and MMP9) were genotyped in DNA samples from a prospective cohort of patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the GEJ admitted to the British Columbia Cancer Agency. Cox proportional hazards regression, with adjustment for patient, disease and treatment variables, was used to estimate the association of SNPs with survival. Genotypes for 85 samples and 48 SNPs were analyzed. Four SNPs across TIMP3, (rs130274, rs715572, rs1962223 and rs5754312) were associated with survival. Interaction analyses revealed that the survival associations with rs715572 and rs5754312 are specific and significant for 5FU+cisplatin treated patients. Sanger sequencing of the TIMP3 coding and promoter regions revealed an additional SNP, rs9862, also associated with survival. TIMP3 genetic variants are associated with survival and may be potentially useful in optimizing treatment strategies for individual patients.     

Environmental,Institutional, and Demographic Predictors of Environmental Literacy among Middle School Children

Building environmental literacy (EL) in children and adolescents is critical to meeting current and emerging environmental challenges worldwide. Although environmental education (EE) efforts have begun to address this need, empirical research holistically evaluating drivers of EL is critical. This study begins to fill this gap with an examination of school-wide EE programs among middle schools in North Carolina, including the use of published EE curricula and time outdoors while controlling for teacher education level and experience, student attributes (age, gender, and ethnicity), and school attributes (socio-economic status, student-teacher ratio, and locale). Our sample included an EE group selected from schools with registered school-wide EE programs, and a control group randomly selected from NC middle schools that were not registered as EE schools. Students were given an EL survey at the beginning and end of the spring 2012 semester. Use of published EE curricula, time outdoors, and having teachers with advanced degrees and mid-level teaching experience (between 3 and 5 years) were positively related with EL whereas minority status (Hispanic and black) was negatively related with EL. Results suggest that school-wide EE programs were not associated with improved EL, but the use of published EE curricula paired with time outdoors represents a strategy that may improve all key components of student EL. Further, investments in teacher development and efforts to maintain enthusiasm for EE among teachers with more than 5 years of experience may help to boost student EL levels. Middle school represents a pivotal time for influencing EL, as improvement was slower among older students. Differences in EL levels based on gender suggest boys and girls may possess complementary skills sets when approaching environmental issues. Our findings suggest ethnicity related disparities in EL levels may be mitigated by time spent in nature, especially among black and Hispanic students.     

Dedicated biomass crops can enhance biodiversity in the arable landscape

Suggestions that novel, non‐food, dedicated biomass crops used to produce bioenergy may provide opportunities to diversify and reinstate biodiversity in intensively managed farmland have not yet been fully tested at the landscape scale. Using two of the largest, currently available landscape‐scale biodiversity data sets from arable and biomass bioenergy crops, we take a taxonomic and functional trait approach to quantify and contrast the consequences for biodiversity indicators of adopting dedicated biomass crops on land previously cultivated under annual, rotational arable cropping. The abundance and community compositions of biodiversity indicators in fields of break and cereal crops changed when planted with the dedicated biomass crops, miscanthus and short rotation coppiced (SRC) willow. Weed biomass was consistently greater in the two dedicated biomass crops than in cereals, and invertebrate abundance was similarly consistently higher than in break crops. Using canonical variates analysis, we identified distinct plant and invertebrate taxa and trait‐based communities in miscanthus and SRC willows, whereas break and cereal crops tended to form a single, composite community. Seedbanks were shown to reflect the longer term effects of crop management. Our study suggests that miscanthus and SRC willows, and the management associated with perennial cropping, would support significant amounts of biodiversity when compared with annual arable crops. We recommend the strategic planting of these perennial, dedicated biomass crops in arable farmland to increase landscape heterogeneity and enhance ecosystem function, and simultaneously work towards striking a balance between energy and food security.     

Provider Decisions to Treat Respiratory Illnesses with Antibiotics: Insights from a Randomized Controlled Trial

RationaleLower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) frequently causes adult hospitalization and antibiotic overuse. Procalcitonin (PCT) treatment algorithms have been used successfully in Europe to safely reduce antibiotic use for LRTI but have not been adopted in the United States. We recently performed a feasibility study for a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of PCT and viral testing to guide therapy for non-pneumonic LRTI.ObjectiveThe primary objective of the current study was to understand factors influencing PCT algorithm adherence during the RCT and evaluate factors influencing provider antibiotic prescribing practices for LRTI.ResultsDiagnosis of pneumonia on admission was the only variable significantly associated with non-adherence [7% (adherence) vs. 26% (nonadherence), p = 0.01]. Surveys confirmed possible infiltrate on chest radiograph as important for provider decisions, as were severity of illness, positive sputum culture, abnormal CBC and fever. However, age, patient expectations and medical-legal concerns were also at least somewhat important to prescribing practices. Physician agreement with the importance of viral and PCT testing increased from 42% to 64% (p = 0.007) and 49% to 74% (p = 0.001), respectively, after the study.ConclusionsOptimal algorithm adherence will be important for definitive PCT intervention trials in the US to determine if PCT guided algorithms result in better outcomes than reliance on traditional clinical variables. Factors influencing treatment decisions such as patient age, presence of fever, patient expectations and medical legal concerns may be amenable to education to improve PCT algorithm compliance for LRTI.     

Phylogeny and morphology of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Peziza ammophila</Emphasis> complex (Pezizales,Ascomycota), with description of two new species and a new form

This study was focused on species of Peziza belonging to the “P. ammophila” complex, using both morphological and molecular approaches. Molecular and morphological analyses showed that several taxa are hidden under the name “ammophila” and, as a consequence, two additional species and one form are established: P. hellenica sp. nov., P. oceanica sp. nov. and P. ammophila f. megaspora f. nov. On the basis of the data that we have, these taxa seem to be related to some geographical areas; P. ammophila appears to be prevalent in northern, central and southern Europe, its f. megaspora is distributed in France and in the Netherlands, P. hellenica comes from Greece and P. oceanica from New Zealand. A cryptic species, not yet circumscribed satisfactorily, is described as P. deceptiva ad int. Moreover, the problem concerning the identification of P. ammophila is raised, the species is epitypified with a sequenced collection from Sicily (Italy) and a key to the species of the complex is provided.     

Pharmacological removal of serum amyloid P component from intracerebral plaques and cerebrovascular Aβ amyloid deposits in vivo

Human amyloid deposits always contain the normal plasma protein serum amyloid P component (SAP), owing to its avid but reversible binding to all amyloid fibrils, including the amyloid β (Aβ) fibrils in the cerebral parenchyma plaques and cerebrovascular amyloid deposits of Alzheimer''s disease (AD) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). SAP promotes amyloid fibril formation in vitro, contributes to persistence of amyloid in vivo and is also itself directly toxic to cerebral neurons. We therefore developed (R)-1-[6-[(R)-2-carboxy-pyrrolidin-1-yl]-6-oxo-hexanoyl]pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid (CPHPC), a drug that removes SAP from the blood, and thereby also from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), in patients with AD. Here we report that, after introduction of transgenic human SAP expression in the TASTPM double transgenic mouse model of AD, all the amyloid deposits contained human SAP. Depletion of circulating human SAP by CPHPC administration in these mice removed all detectable human SAP from both the intracerebral and cerebrovascular amyloid. The demonstration that removal of SAP from the blood and CSF also removes it from these amyloid deposits crucially validates the strategy of the forthcoming ‘Depletion of serum amyloid P component in Alzheimer''s disease (DESPIAD)’ clinical trial of CPHPC. The results also strongly support clinical testing of CPHPC in patients with CAA.     

A Window into brain development: hdEEG methods to track visual development in nonhuman primates

Electroencephalography (EEG) is widely used to study human brain activity, and is a useful tool for bridging the gap between invasive neural recording assays and behavioral data. High‐density EEG (hdEEG) methods currently used for human subjects for use with infant macaque monkeys, a species that exhibits similar visual development to humans over a shorter time course was adapted. Unlike monkeys, human subjects were difficult to study longitudinally and were not appropriate for direct within‐species comparison to neuronal data. About 27‐channel electrode caps, which allowed collection of hdEEG data from infant monkeys across development were designed. Acuity and contrast sweep VEP responses to grating stimuli was obtained and a new method for objective threshold estimation based on response signal‐to‐noise ratios at different stimulus levels was established. The developmental trajectories of VEP‐measured contrast sensitivity and acuity to previously collected behavioral and neuronal data were compared. The VEP measures showed similar rates of development to behavioral measures, both of which were slower than direct neuronal measures; VEP thresholds were higher than other measures. This is the first usage of non‐invasive technology in non‐human primates. Other means to assess neural sensitivity in infants were all invasive. Use of hdEEG with infant monkeys opens many possibilities for tracking development of vision and other functions in non‐human primates, and can expand our understanding of the relationship between neuronal activity and behavioral capabilities across various sensory and cognitive domains. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 76: 1342–1359, 2016     

Influence of Obesity and Metabolic Disease on Carotid Atherosclerosis in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease (CordioPrev Study)

BackgroundRecent data suggest that the presence of associated metabolic abnormalities may be important modifiers of the association of obesity with a poorer prognosis in coronary heart disease. We determined the influence of isolated overweight and obesity on carotid intima media thickness (IMT-CC), and also assessed whether this influence was determined by the presence of metabolic abnormalities.Methods1002 participants from the CordioPrev study were studied at entry. We determined their metabolic phenotypes and performed carotid ultrasound assessment. We evaluated the influence of obesity, overweight and metabolic phenotypes on the IMT-CC.ResultsMetabolically sick participants (defined by the presence of two or more metabolic abnormalities) showed a greater IMT-CC than metabolically healthy individuals (p = 4 * 10⁻⁶). Overweight and normal weight patients who were metabolically healthy showed a lower IMT-CC than the metabolically abnormal groups (all p<0.05). When we evaluated only body weight (without considering metabolic phenotypes), overweight or obese patients did not differ significantly from normal-weight patients in their IMT-CC (p = 0.077). However, obesity was a determinant of IMT-CC when compared to the composite group of normal weight and overweight patients (all not obese).ConclusionsIn coronary patients, a metabolically abnormal phenotype is associated with a greater IMT-CC, and may be linked to a higher risk of suffering new cardiovascular events. The protection conferred in the IMT-CC by the absence of metabolic abnormality may be blunted by the presence of obesity.

Trial Registration

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