Índice general de fuerza y adiposidad como medida de la condición relacionada con la salud en niños y adolescentes de Bogotá, Colombia: Estudio FUPRECOL

Objetivos: El presente estudio tuvo por objetivo general (1) determinar los valores de referencia de la condición muscular mediante el índice general de fuerza (IGF) y como objetivo específico, (2) estudiar si el IGF está relacionado con indicadores de adiposidad en niños y adolescentes escolares de Bogotá, Colombia. Métodos: Del total de 7.268 niños y adolescentes (9-17.9 años) evaluados en el estudio FUPRECOL, 4.139 (57%) fueron mujeres. Se evaluó el IGF como marcador del desempeño muscular a partir de la tipificación de las pruebas de fuerza prensil (FP) y salto longitud (SL). El IGF se recodificó en cuartiles (Q), siendo el Q4 la posición con mejor valor del IGF. El índice de masa corporal (IMC), la circunferencia de cintura (CC), el índice cintura/talla (ICT) y el porcentaje de grasa corporal (%GC) por Bioimpedancia eléctrica, se midieron como marcadores de adiposidad. Resultados: La edad media de los evaluados fue 12,8±2,3 años. Se aprecia una tendencia hacia un incremento del nivel de condición física muscular en los varones conforme aumenta la edad, y hacia la estabilidad o un ligero aumento en el caso de las mujeres. El IGF se relacionó inversamente con el ICT y %GC en los varones (r= -0,280, r= -0,327 p<0,01), respectivamente. Los escolares ubicados en el Q4 del IGF, presentaron menores valores en marcadores de adiposidad IMC, CC, ICT y %GC, p<0,01 que su contraparte del Q1. Conclusión: Se presentan valores de referencia del IGF a partir de la estandarización de los resultados obtenidos en la FP y SL. La evaluación de la fuerza muscular en edades tempranas permitirá implementar programas de prevención de riesgo cardiovascular y metabólico futuro

Normative reference of standing long jump for Colombian schoolchildren aged 9-17.9 years: The FUPRECOL study

El propósito del presente estudio era generar los valores normativos de salto largo para niños de 9-17.9 años, e investigar las diferencias de sexo y grupo de edad

Niveles de actividad física en escolares de instituciones distritales de Bogotá, Colombia.

Objetivo: Estimar los niveles de actividad física (AF) de escolares de básica primaria durante el recreo, a través del uso del Sistema de Observación de Juego y Tiempo Libre en niños. Metodología: Estudio descriptivo transversal. Cinco instituciones educativas de la localidad de Engativá de Bogotá participaron en el presente estudio. Se contó con una muestra a conveniencia de 2.415 escolares (1.093 niñas y 1.322 niños), los cuales cursaban de 2º a 5º de primaria. Se realizaron 261 observaciones en 87 áreas determinadas. La muestra presentó una confiabilidad del 95%. Resultados: El tiempo de recreo fue de 30 minutos, los niños mostraron mayores porcentajes de AF con respecto a las niñas, sin embargo no se encontraron asociaciones estadísticamente significativas (p=0,506). Las áreas eran totalmente accesibles y utilizables, pero ausentes de actividades organizadas. Se encontró un bajo nivel de AF 9,5% en áreas supervisadas. De los escolares; el 22,5% para niñas, y el 20,6% para niños, tuvieron comportamientos sedentarios durante el recreo. Menos del 15% de los escolares realizaron AF vigorosa en el recreo y un mayor porcentaje 62,8% para niñas vs 64,6% para niños realizaron AF moderada. Conclusión: Los escolares acumularon una cantidad valiosa de AF moderada y vigorosa durante el recreo. Es probable que se aumente el nivel de AF, si el patio de la escuela está equipado y con actividades organizadas. Es esencial que las estrategias específicas se estudien y evalúen para determinar cómo y en qué medida se fomenta la AF entre los escolares.

Preclinical Target Validation Using Patient-derived Cells.

The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) and its clinical, industry and disease-foundation partners are launching open-source preclinical translational medicine studies.

Morphology and reproduction of Mesophyllum erubescens (Foslie) Me. Lemoine (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) from Southern Brazil

The genus Mesophyllum Me. Lemoine includes around 147 species, of which only three have been referred to the Brazilian coast. Mesophyllum erubescens was originally described from Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, Brazil (type locality). Here we present the first detailed description of M. erubescens based on Brazilian material. Samplings were made through scuba diving at the Biological Marine Reserve of Arvoredo Island, Santa Catarina. The relations of M. erubescens with other similar species, especially from the American Atlantic studied by W.R. Taylor are discussed.

An assessment of population structure in eight breeds of cattle using a whole genome SNP panel

Background: Analyses of population structure and breed diversity have provided insight into the origin and evolution of cattle. Previously, these studies have used a low density of microsatellite markers, however, with the large number of single nucleotide polymorphism markers that are now available, it is possible to perform genome wide population genetic analyses in cattle. In this study, we used a high-density panel of SNP markers to examine population structure and diversity among eight cattle breeds sampled from Bos indicus and Bos taurus. Results: Two thousand six hundred and forty one single nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs) spanning all of the bovine autosomal genome were genotyped in Angus, Brahman, Charolais, Dutch Black and White Dairy, Holstein, Japanese Black, Limousin and Nelore cattle. Population structure was examined using the linkage model in the program STRUCTURE and Fst estimates were used to construct a neighbor-joining tree to represent the phylogenetic relationship among these breeds. Conclusion: The whole-genome SNP panel identified several levels of population substructure in the set of examined cattle breeds. The greatest level of genetic differentiation was detected between the Bos taurus and Bos indicus breeds. When the Bos indicus breeds were excluded from the analysis, genetic differences among beef versus dairy and European versus Asian breeds were detected among the Bos taurus breeds. Exploration of the number of SNP loci required to differentiate between breeds showed that for 100 SNP loci, individuals could only be correctly clustered into breeds 50% of the time, thus a large number of SNP markers are required to replace the 30 microsatellite markers that are currently commonly used in genetic diversity studies.

First Report of the Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Rickettsia amblyommii and Rickettsia felis in Central America

During 2010, 15 adult ticks, identified as Amblyomma cajennense, were collected from horses in Cahuita and Turrialba districts, whereas 7 fleas, identified as Ctenocephalides felis, were collected from a dog in San Jose city, Costa Rica. In the laboratory, three A. cajennense specimens, two from Cahuita and one from Turrialba, were individually processed for rickettsial isolation in cell culture, as was a pool of seven fleas. Rickettsiae were successfully isolated and established in Vero cell culture from the three ticks and from a pool of seven fleas in C6/36 cell culture. The three tick isolates were genotypically identified as Rickettsia amblyommii, and the flea isolate was identified as Rickettsia felis through DNA sequencing of portions of the rickettsial genes gltA, ompA, and ompB of each isolate. In addition, other seven ticks were shown to contain rickettsial DNA. Polymerase chain reaction products of at least two of these ticks were sequenced and also showed to correspond to R. amblyommii. Overall, 66.7% (10/15) of the A. cajennense adult ticks were found to be infected with rickettsiae. This is the first report of a successful isolation in cell culture of R. amblyommii and R. felis from Central America.

Alstonine as an Antipsychotic: Effects on Brain Amines and Metabolic Changes

Managing schizophrenia has never been a trivial matter. Furthermore, while classical antipsychotics induce extrapyramidal side effects and hyperprolactinaemia, atypical antipsychotics lead to diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, and weight gain. Moreover, even with newer drugs, a sizable proportion of patients do not show significant improvement. Alstonine is an indole alkaloid identified as the major component of a plant-based remedy used in Nigeria to treat the mentally ill. Alstonine presents a clear antipsychotic profile in rodents, apparently with differential effects in distinct dopaminergic pathways. The aim of this study was to complement the antipsychotic profile of alstonine, verifying its effects on brain amines in mouse frontal cortex and striatum. Additionally, we examined if alstonine induces some hormonal and metabolic changes common to antipsychotics. HPLC data reveal that alstonine increases serotonergic transmission and increases intraneuronal dopamine catabolism. In relation to possible side effects, preliminary data suggest that alstonine does not affect prolactin levels, does not induce gains in body weight, but prevents the expected fasting-induced decrease in glucose levels. Overall, this study reinforces the proposal that alstonine is a potential innovative antipsychotic, and that a comprehensive understanding of its neurochemical basis may open new avenues to developing newer antipsychotic medications.

Genome-wide SNP genotyping highlights the role of natural selection in Plasmodium falciparum population divergence

Background: The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum exhibits abundant genetic diversity, and this diversity is key to its success as a pathogen. Previous efforts to study genetic diversity in P. falciparum have begun to elucidate the demographic history of the species, as well as patterns of population structure and patterns of linkage disequilibrium within its genome. Such studies will be greatly enhanced by new genomic tools and recent large-scale efforts to map genomic variation. To that end, we have developed a high throughput single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping platform for P. falciparum. Results: Using an Affymetrix 3,000 SNP assay array, we found roughly half the assays (1,638) yielded high quality, 100% accurate genotyping calls for both major and minor SNP alleles. Genotype data from 76 global isolates confirm significant genetic differentiation among continental populations and varying levels of SNP diversity and linkage disequilibrium according to geographic location and local epidemiological factors. We further discovered that nonsynonymous and silent (synonymous or noncoding) SNPs differ with respect to within-population diversity, interpopulation differentiation, and the degree to which allele frequencies are correlated between populations. Conclusions: The distinct population profile of nonsynonymous variants indicates that natural selection has a significant influence on genomic diversity in P. falciparum, and that many of these changes may reflect functional variants deserving of follow-up study. Our analysis demonstrates the potential for new high-throughput genotyping technologies to enhance studies of population structure, natural selection, and ultimately enable genome-wide association studies in P. falciparum to find genes underlying key phenotypic traits.

Noise in resistively shunted Josephson junctions

We investigate the dynamics of a resistively shunted Josephson junction. We compute the Josephson frequency and the generalized impedances for a variety of the parameters, particularly with relevance to predicting the measurable effects of zero-temperature current noise in the resistor.