Selected anthropometric variables and aerobic fitness as predictors of cardiovascular disease risk in children

The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio and aerobic fitness as predictors of cardiovascular risk factor clustering in children. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 290 school boys and girls from 6 to 10 years old, randomly selected. Blood was collected after a 12-hour fasting period. Blood pressure, waist circumference (WC), height and weight were evaluated according to international standards. Aerobic fitness (AF) was assessed by the 20-metre shuttle-run test. Clustering was considered when three of these factors were present: high systolic or diastolic blood pressure, high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high triglycerides, high plasma glucose, high insulin concentrations and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. A ROC curve identified the cut-off points of body mass index (BMI), WC, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and AF as predictors of risk factor clustering. BMI, WC and WHR resulted in significant areas under the ROC curves, which was not observed for AF. The anthropometric variables were good predictors of cardiovascular risk factor clustering in both sexes, whereas aerobic fitness should not be used to identify cardiovascular risk factor clustering in these children.     

Population trends of European common birds are predicted by characteristics of their climatic niche

Temperate species are projected to experience the greatest temperature increases across a range of modelled climate change scenarios, and climate warming has been linked to geographical range and population changes of individual species at such latitudes. However, beyond the multiple modelling approaches, we lack empirical evidence of contemporary climate change impacts on populations in broad taxonomic groups and at continental scales. Identifying reliable predictors of species resilience or susceptibility to climate warming is of critical importance in assessing potential risks to species, ecosystems and ecosystem services. Here we analysed long‐term trends of 110 common breeding birds across Europe (20 countries), to identify climate niche characteristics, adjusted to other environmental and life history traits, that predict large‐scale population changes accounting for phylogenetic relatedness among species. Beyond the now well‐documented decline of farmland specialists, we found that species with the lowest thermal maxima (as the mean spring and summer temperature of the hottest part of the breeding distribution in Europe) showed the sharpest declines between 1980 and 2005. Thermal maximum predicted the recent trends independently of other potential predictors. This study emphasizes the need to account for both land‐use and climate changes to assess the fate of species. Moreover, we highlight that thermal maximum appears as a reliable and simple predictor of the long‐term trends of such endothermic species facing climate change.     

Effect of protein C activator on overall haemostasis potential in donor and hip arthroplasty patient plasma

A method of overall haemostasis potential (OHP) determination for quantitative and rapid estimation of coagulation-fibrinolysis balance in plasma has been presented. The method is based on the analysis of the absorbance at 350 nm vs. time curve, which records the clot formation and dissolution in plasma in the presence of thromboplastin and t-PA. Three parameters of coagulation system--time, rate of formation and maximal turbidity of the clot, and three parameters of fibrinolytic system--half-, full-time and maximal rate of the clot dissolution, and main integral parameter--the area under the curve that characterizes the size and time of the clot existence and expresses OHP of plasma, can be determined by this method. It was shown that OHP value of patients plasma was 3.8 times more than that of the donor plasma. It is in concordance with elevated level of Fg (4.25 mg/ml), soluble fibrin (50 microg/ml), D dimer (630 ng/ml) and insufficient decrease of APC activity (93%) in patients. AcPC, added to donor and patient plasma, reduced OHP value 1.6 and 3.7 times, correspondingly. AcPC increased amidase activity of thrombin and APC in the donor plasma, and did not change that of plasmin. These data indicated that the effect of AcPC on OHP is mediated by formation ofAPC that helps to reduce the level of inhibitors in the investigated plasma.