Neck Circumference as a Simple Screening Measure for Identifying Overweight and Obese Patients

Objective: There are numerous methods of assessing overweight and obesity. We undertook an observational study to test a method of identifying overweight or obese patients solely by measuring the circumference of the neck. Research Methods and Procedures: A test sample and a second validation sample included 979 subjects (460 men and 519 women), who visited a family medicine clinic in a southern Israeli urban district for any reason between the randomly chosen months of January and September 1998. Main outcome included neck, waist, and hip circumferences; body mass index (BMI); and waist:hip ratio measures. Results: Pearson's correlation coefficients indicated a significant association between neck circumference (NC) and: BMI (men, r = 0.83; women, r = 0.71; each, p < 0.0001), age (men, r = 0.33; women, r = 0.36; each, p < 0.0001), weight (men, r = 0.7; women, r = 0.81; each, p < 0.0001), waist circumference (men, r = 0.86; women, r = 0.85; each, p < 0.0001), hip circumference (men, r = 0.62; women, r = 0.56; each, p < 0.0001), and waist:hip ratio (men, r = 0.66; women, r = 0.87; each, p < 0.0001). NC ≥37 cm for men and ≥34 cm for women were the best cutoff levels for determining the subjects with BMI ≥25.0 kg/m² using the receiver output curve analysis. In the validation unrelated group, the test characteristics were excellent with 98% sensitivity, 89% specificity, and 94% accuracy for men, and 100% sensitivity, 98% specificity, and 99% accuracy for women. NC ≥39.5 cm for men and ≥36.5 cm for women were the best cutoff levels for determining the subjects with BMI ≥30 kg/m² using the receiver output curve analysis. In the validation unrelated group, the test characteristics were excellent with 93% sensitivity, 90% specificity, and 91% accuracy for men, and 93% sensitivity, 98% specificity, and 97% accuracy for women. Discussion: NC measurement is a simple and time‐saving screening measure that can be used to identify overweight and obese patients. Men with NC <37 cm and women with NC <34 cm are not to be considered overweight. Patients with NC ≥37 cm for men and ≥34 cm for women require additional evaluation of overweight or obesity status.     

Recent environmental change in North African wetland lakes: diatom and other stratigraphic evidence from nine sites in the CASSARINA Project

All nine wetland lakes in the CASSARINA North African suite of sample sites have been disturbed strongly by human activity during the 20th century. Dated lake sediment core were used to provide evidence of the extent of recent environmental change at each site. Sedimentary diatoms at seven sites were useful for inferring salinity change trends during the last century. At two sites preservation problems severely degraded the sedimentary diatom record. Sediment core integrity was otherwise established.Lithostratigraphic measurements indicated some site specific changes in soil erosion and sediment composition but, for the Egyptian Delta lakes, no physical signal synchronous with Aswan High Dam construction was found. Sedimentary diatom assemblages were generally site characteristic and halophilous taxa were common. At two sites planktonic diatoms indicated some recent eutrophication but generally the assemblages were more indicative of salinity changes. Diatom-inferred salinity trends for the seven sites typically indicated that reductions in water salinity occurred sometime during the early or mid 20th century.Rather than climate, hydrological modification of water resources is implicated as the primary driver of salinity changes during most of the 20th century. In the western North African region these modifications were mainly local land drainage and water diversion programmes to alleviate winter flooding and/or promote summer water availability. In the Delta region, the Nile has been intensively exploited since antiquity and intensively so from the late 19th century to release more fresh water for agriculture. Here, diatom records indicate that freshening began well before the Aswan High Dam but salinity fluctuations have tended to diminish during the latter part of the 20th century. A small reversal in the water freshening trend in the 1980/90s was possibly a response to land subsidence/sea-level change or to reduced freshwater supply.Freshwater supply to the sites is generally diminishing as former freshwater surpluses switch to deficit. One site (Merja Bokka, Morocco) became completely dry in 1998 as agriculture encroached and Megene Chitane, the only acid lake in Tunisia, is currently affected by excessive inflow abstraction. At the beginning of the 21st century, eight of the nine CASSARINA sites persist as viable but modified aquatic ecosystems. They nevertheless continue to support valuable aquatic biodiversity, especially in the Delta sites and in Chitane. The modern diatom communities are clearly tolerant of considerable environmental change but the remaining sites are increasingly threatened by major hydrological disturbance. Base-line floristic data for the late 20th century are given but continuous biomonitoring combined with effective management is needed urgently to help conserve North Africa's diminishing natural wetland lake resources.     

Some observations on the age and growth of thin-lipped grey mullet, Liza ramada Risso, 1826 (Pisces, Mugilidae) in three North African wetland lakes: Merja Zerga (Morocco), Garâat Ichkeul (Tunisia) and Edku Lake (Egypt)

Age and growth characteristics of the thin-lipped Grey Mullet (Liza ramada) were investigated in three North African wetland lakes: Merja Zerga (Morocco), Garâat Ichkeul (Tunisia) and Edku Lake (Egypt). Age structure of the mullet populations was very similar in all three study lakes. Small differences in growth were indicated, especially for the Moroccan population, where growth tended to be slower than for the other two populations. The fastest growth was observed in the Edku population while the best condition was observed in the Ichkeul population. Compared with some European populations, the sampled North African populations have faster growth and better condition factors.     

新疆出血热病毒糖蛋白基因的克隆与表达

新疆出血热(Xinjiang hemorrhagic fever,XHF)在国际上称克里米亚-刚果出血热(Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever,CCHF),是由经蜱传播的克里米亚-刚果出血热病毒(CCHFV)引起的烈性传染性疾病,流行于中国新疆南部、俄罗斯北部、中东、南部欧亚大陆及非洲撒哈拉地区,平均病死率在20%～70%[1-4].中国的CCHF于1965年第一次诊断于新疆南部的巴楚县(病死率高达90%),时称巴楚出血热[5];后因在北疆地区亦查出抗体,故改称为新疆出血热(XHF),并在国内广泛沿用[6].     

The use of ethylene-suppressed lines to assess differential sensitivity to ethylene of the various ripening pathways in Cantaloupe melons

Physiological characterization of ethylene-suppressed Cantaloupe Charentais melons ( Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis Naud cv. Védrantais) revealed that some ripening-associated events, like degreening of the rind and cell separation in the peduncular abscission zone, are totally dependent on ethylene. By contrast, some other ripening events, like softening and membrane deterioration, depend only partially on ethylene and display some ethylene-independent components. Application of increasing levels of exogenous ethylene on these antisense 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid oxidase fruits enabled the determination of the gradual sensitivity of various ripening pathways to the hormone. The threshold level of ethylene capable of physiological activity varied from 1 ppm for degreening of the rind to 2.5 ppm for softening, membrane deterioration and cell separation in the peduncular abscission zone. Up to a saturating dose of 5 ppm, the extent of rind degreening was proportionally related to the level of applied ethylene. The saturating levels of ethylene for flesh softening (2.5 ppm) and for membrane deterioration and cell separation in the peduncular abscission zone (5 ppm) were much lower than the internal ethylene found at the climacteric peak of wild-type fruit (over 100 ppm). The cessation of ethylene treatment resulted in a complete arrest of the rind degreening and peduncular cell separation indicating that both ripening pathways are completely dependent on ethylene. On the contrary, softening and membrane deterioration, though significantly slowed upon removal of ethylene treatment, continued to proceed in the absence of the hormone, thereby unmasking the ethylene-independent component of softening and membrane deterioration. The presence of ethylene-independent components in the regulation of individual pathways indicates that the ripening of climacteric fruit involves a substantial portion of non-climacteric regulation.     

QTL mapping of fruit-related traits in pepper (Capsicum annuum)

QTL analysis of pepper fruit characters was performed in an F₃ population derived from a cross between two Capsicum annuum genotypes, the bell-type cultivar Maor and the Indian small-fruited line Perennial. RFLP, AFLP^®1, RAPD and morphological markers (a total of 177) were used to construct a comparative pepper-tomato genetic map for this cross, and 14 quantitatively inherited traits were evaluated in 180 F₃ families. A total of 55 QTL were identified by interval analysis using LOD 3.0 as the threshold for QTL detection. QTL for several traits including fruit diameter and weight, pericarp thickness and pedicel diameter were often located in similar chromosomal regions, thus reflecting high genetic correlations among these traits. A major QTL that accounts for more than 60% of the phenotypic variation for fruit shape (ratio of fruit length to fruit diameter) was detected in chromosome 3. This chromosome also contained QTL for most of the traits scored in the population. Markers in linkage groups 2, 3, 8 and 10 were associated with QTL for multiple traits, thereby suggesting their importance as loci that control developmental processes in pepper. Several QTL in pepper appeared to correspond to positions in tomato for loci controlling the same traits, suggesting the hypothesis that these QTL may be orthologous in the two species.     

Natural killer gene complex (Nkc) allelic variability in inbred mice: evidence for Nkc haplotypes

Allelic variability for mouse Chromosome 6 Nkc loci was assessed in 22 common laboratory strains of mice using selected natural killer gene complex (Nkc)-linked sequence tagged site markers. Most Nkc markers distinguished three or more alleles for a particular locus in the assessed mouse strains. Nkc locus alleles were highly conserved among genealogically related inbred strains, whereas far less similarity was observed among unrelated strains. Concurrent strain-to-strain comparisons for all Nkc-linked loci revealed common and uncommon Nkc haplotypes, including some that were likely recombinant. Nkc allele and haplotype assignments in inbred mouse strains and correlation with phenotypic traits should facilitate positional gene cloning strategies for unknown Nkc-linked trait modification loci.     

Conservation of Ornamental Stone by Myxococcus xanthus-Induced Carbonate Biomineralization

Increasing environmental pollution in urban areas has been endangering the survival of carbonate stones in monuments and statuary for many decades. Numerous conservation treatments have been applied for the protection and consolidation of these works of art. Most of them, however, either release dangerous gases during curing or show very little efficacy. Bacterially induced carbonate mineralization has been proposed as a novel and environmentally friendly strategy for the conservation of deteriorated ornamental stone. However, the method appeared to display insufficient consolidation and plugging of pores. Here we report that Myxococcus xanthus-induced calcium carbonate precipitation efficiently protects and consolidates porous ornamental limestone. The newly formed carbonate cements calcite grains by depositing on the walls of the pores without plugging them. Sonication tests demonstrate that these new carbonate crystals are strongly attached to the substratum, mostly due to epitaxial growth on preexisting calcite grains. The new crystals are more stress resistant than the calcite grains of the original stone because they are organic-inorganic composites. Variations in the phosphate concentrations of the culture medium lead to changes in local pH and bacterial productivity. These affect the structure of the new cement and the type of precipitated CaCO₃ polymorph (vaterite or calcite). The manipulation of culture medium composition creates new ways of controlling bacterial biomineralization that in the future could be applied to the conservation of ornamental stone.     

Sharing of caring: nestling provisioning behaviour of long-tailed tit, Aegithalos caudatus, parents and helpers

The optimal investment strategies of parents in biparental systems are well studied. This contrasts with a poor theoretical and empirical understanding of variation in individual investment in breeding systems with multiple carers. We used the cooperative breeding system of long-tailed tits, to investigate how parents and helpers adjust their rate of nestling provisioning in relation to measures of nestling demand and the number of helpers. Our aim was to examine whether parents and helpers follow the same provisioning rules. Overall provisioning rates were higher for parents than for helpers. However, both parents and helpers increased their provisioning rates as nestlings aged and provisioned at higher rates early in the day. Parents brought more food to larger broods when not helped, but at nests with helpers, neither parents nor helpers had significantly higher provisioning rates at larger broods. However the total provisioning rate was higher at larger broods at both nests with and without helpers. Parents reduced their work rate in response to the arrival of a helper, but neither parents nor first helpers reduced their work rates further with arrival of additional helpers. Variation in provisioning rates between parents and helpers may be the result of different cost-benefit relations, and a theoretical framework is needed within which to explore the consequences of such differences. Copyright 2003 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.      

fs3.1: a major fruit shape QTL conserved in Capsicum.

fs3.1 is a major fruit shape (defined as the ratio of fruit length to fruit width) quantitative trait locus (QTL) originally detected in an intraspecific cross of Capsicum annuum between the blocky and elongated-fruited inbreds 'Maor' and 'Perennial', respectively. In addition to increasing fruit shape index, the 'Perennial' allele at fs3.1 increased fruit elongation and decreased fruit width and pericarp thickness. We verified the effect of fs3.1 in backcross inbred lines (BILs) derived from crossing 'Perennial' with 'Maor' and with a second blocky-type inbred line of C. annuum. To determine the effect of the fs3.1 region in additional Capsicum species, we constructed an advanced backcross population from the cross of 'Maor' and the oval-fruited Capsicum frutescens BG 2816 and an F2 of the introgression line IL 152 that contains an introgression of the fs3.1 region from Capsicum chinense PI 152225. QTLs for fruit shape, fruit width, and pericarp thickness, but not for fruit length, were detected in both crosses, indicating the conservation of the fs3.1 region as a QTL affecting fruit shape in pepper. We also tested tomato (Lycopersicon spp.) introgression lines containing the corresponding fs3.1 region from L. pennellii and L. hirsutum, but we did not detect a significant fruit shape QTL in these lines. The effect of fs3.1 on the growth of fruit dimensions varied with the genetic background. By measuring the length and width of ovaries and fruits of near-isogenic C. annuum lines that differ in fs3.1 during fruit development, we determined that fs3.1 controls shape predominantly by increasing the growth rate of the longitudinal axis in the first 2 weeks after pollination. However, in the crosses of C. annuum with C. frutescens and C. chinense, fs3.1 predominantly exerted its effect on the width dimension.