Evaluación,corrección e impacto de la no respuesta en estudios de obesidad infantil

Objective

To evaluate and correct the impact of non-response in the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity in children aged 6 to 15 years old using silhouette scales.

Mungbean: A Nickel Indicator,Accumulator or Excluder?

Seeds of the two mungbean cultivars were exposed to 25, 30, 35 and 40 mg L⁻¹ nickel along with control. Nickel stress decreased growth, photosynthetic pigments, yield attributes and cation (Na⁺, K⁺ and Ca²⁺) accumulation in mungbean. This reduction was less at 25 mg L⁻¹ as compared to 40 mg L⁻¹ nickel. In addition, nickel was mainly stored in roots and restricted transfer to the aerial parts (shoot and least by leaves) was observed.     

Bone mineral density of vertebrae,proximal femur and os calcis in normal Greek subjects as assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: comparison with other populations

Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is an established method for the detection of even small changes in bone mineral density (BMD). It thus allows the earliest possible diagnosis of osteopenia, with consequent prompt estimation of fracture risk. However, for proper evaluation of densitometry results it is essential that a comparison with reference BMD values of normal age- and sex-matched persons from the same population be performed. For this purpose we determined bone density of the L2–L4 vertebrae, the L3 vertebra in the lateral projection, the proximal femur and the os calcis in a cross-sectional study of 168 men and 244 women from the Greek population. The age range of the subjects was 20–80 years. Peak bone mass for both sexes was attained in the 30–35 year age group for the vertebrae and in the 25–30 year age group for the proximal femur and os calcis. Mean annual vertebral bone loss calculated on cross-sectional data ranged from 0.1% to 0.22% for women <50 years and from 1.3% to 1.6% for those >50 years, whereas in men the range was from 0.36% to 0.64% for the whole age spectrum. Regarding femoral neck, the values were 0.3% (women <50 years), 1.2–1.5% (>50 years) and 0.6–0.8% for men. Total bone loss between ages 20 and 70 was 29.5% for the vertebrae and 32% for the femoral neck in women, whereas the values for men were 19.5% and 29% respectively. A positive correlation was observed between bone density, body weight and body height in both sexes. Body mass index correlated significantly with density only in postmenopausal women. Compared with North American, Finnish and German populations, Greek men presented with lower BMD values in the decades above 40 years. Greek women exhibited lower vertebral BMD values than those from the USA, Germany and Japan (50–60 age group), whereas they did not differ from those of Finnish women. However, femoral neck BMD in Greek women was higher than in Japanese women in all age groups.     

Fetal Development of the Incisive Canal,Especially of the Delayed Closure Due to the Nasopalatine Duct: A Study Using Serial Sections of Human Fetuses

The incisive canal of the incisive bone or premaxilla is a narrow bony canal through which pass the nasopalatine nerve and its concomitant vessels. However, its fetal development remains obscure. To assess its development, serial frontal sections of the heads of 26 human fetuses, of gestational age 9–20 weeks (crown‐rump length, 46–183 mm), were examined. The nerve initially passed through a wide loose tissue space, but after ossification of the upper part of the incisive bone at 12–15 weeks, the canal became narrow and filled with tight fibrous tissue. Canals in seven fetuses were dilated and open unilaterally or bilaterally. In two of these seven fetuses, a nasopalatine duct passed through the canal and connected the nasal cavity to a central lumen of the paramedian epithelial pearl in the incisive fossa (not to an oral cavity). Even if the canal was closed, the duct was likely to remain above and below the closed part. Paramedian pearls were present in all specimens larger than 110 mm (15 weeks), with or without association of midline pearls. These paramedian pearls usually protruded toward and/or extended into the dilated or open canal, suggesting that these pearls, not any primitive oronasal communication pathway, contributed to keeping the canal open. The dilated canal, located on the superomedial side of the second and third teeth buds, seemed to be usually closed by further ossification. Even in fetuses, the nasopalatine duct seemed to be a variant or unusual phase of development temporally occurring after normal palate fusion. Anat Rec, 300:1093–1103, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effect of Annealing Process on the Properties of Ni(55%)Cr(40%)Si(5%) Thin-Film Resistors

Resistors in integrated circuits (ICs) are implemented using diffused methods fabricated in the base and emitter regions of bipolar transistor or in source/drain regions of CMOS. Deposition of thin films on the wafer surface is another choice to fabricate the thin-film resistors in ICs’ applications. In this study, Ni(55%)Cr(40%)Si(5%) (abbreviated as NiCrSi) in wt % was used as the target and the sputtering method was used to deposit the thin-film resistors on Al₂O₃ substrates. NiCrSi thin-film resistors with different thicknesses of 30.8 nm~334.7 nm were obtained by controlling deposition time. After deposition, the thin-film resistors were annealed at 400 °C under different durations in N₂ atmosphere using the rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. The sheet resistance of NiCrSi thin-film resistors was measured using the four-point-probe method from 25 °C to 125 °C, then the temperature coefficient of resistance could be obtained. We aim to show that resistivity of NiCrSi thin-film resistors decreased with increasing deposition time (thickness) and the annealing process had apparent effect on the sheet resistance and temperature coefficient of resistance. We also aim to show that the annealed NiCrSi thin-film resistors had a low temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) between 0 ppm/°C and +50 ppm/°C.     

Inhibition of experimental pulmonary metastasis in mice by β-cyclodextrin-benzaldehyde

Summary The effect of -cyclodextrin-benzaldehyde (CDBA) on experimental pulmonary metastasis in C3H/He mice was examined. In an in vitro assay, the growth of RCT(+) cells was inhibited by 1200 g/ml CDBA using unrenewed media, and by 600 g/ml CDBA in that using daily renewed media. When mice were treated daily with CDBA, 3 weeks later the number of lung nodules developing after i.v. injection of 1×10⁶ RCT(+) cells was significantly decreased in a dose-dependent manner, i.e., 73.8%, 85.6%, and 95.7% inhibition was observed following 0.5, 5, and 25 mg CDBA/mouse per day p.o. administration, respectively. The same mice showed almost as much natural killer (NK) activity as normal mice. Therefore, experiments were designed to evaluate the effect of CDBA on the NK activity of tumor-free mice whose immunity had been suppressed by 5-fluorouracil (5FU). Injections of 5FU only suppressed this activity to about 50% of normal mice, but the combined treatment with CDBA negated the suppressive effect of 5FU on NK activity. The results suggested that the inhibition of experimental pulmonary metastasis might be induced by the possible combined effects of CDBA; that is, the direct inhibition of tumors and the augmentation of NK cell activity.     

Predictors of poor outcome in children with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome

Background and objective

Nearly 50% of the children with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) have a frequently relapsing (FR) or steroid dependent (SD) course, experiencing steroid toxicities and complications of immunosuppression. The study aimed to compare parameters between children with infrequent relapsing (IFR) and FR/SD nephrotic syndrome and to identify the factors associated with a FR/SD course.

High maneuverability guidewire with functionally graded properties using new superelastic alloys

Nitinol shape memory alloys (SMAs) are attracting considerable attention as core materials for medical guidewires because of their excellent flexibility and shape retention. However, since Nitinol guidewires possess low rigidity, the pushability and torquability of the guidewires are insufficient. On the other hand, although guidewires made of stainless steel have high pushability, plastic deformation occurs easily. We have developed a new class of superelastic guidewires with functionally graded properties from the tip to the end by using new SMA core materials such as Cu‐Al‐Mn‐based or Ni‐free Ti‐Mo‐Sn SMAs. The tip portion of the guidewire shows excellent superelasticity (SE), while the body portion possesses high rigidity. These functionally graded characteristics can be realized by microstructural control. These guidewires with functionally graded properties show excellent pushability and torquability and are considerably easier to handle than conventional guidewires with Nitinol or stainless steel cores. Moreover, a metallic catheter using a Ni‐free Ti‐based SMA with high biocompatibility is introduced.     

Diagnosing and preventing inherited disease: Non-syncytial sources of fetal DNA in transcervically recovered cell populations

We have previously shown that fetal DNA can be detected in swabsand flushings obtained from the lower uterine pole prior tothe termination of pregnancy. The presence of syncytiotrophoblastvesicles in transcervically retrieved samples suggested thatthis distinctive placental tissue was an abundant source offetal DNA and a valuable resource in prenatal diagnosis strategies.In a more extensive study involving 150 terminations of pregnancybetween 7 and 17 weeks gestational age, 29% of transcervicallyretrieved samples contained visible syncytial vesicles. Flushingof the uterine pole more frequently contained syncytia thandirect aspiration (39% compared with 26% of samples) but thisdifference was not statistically significant. No samples >14weeks gestational age contained syncytia. Polymerase chain reactionanalysis using Y-sequence specific-nested primers indicatedthe presence of fetal DNA in the absence of intact syncytialvesicles. We therefore examined samples by in-situ hybridizationusing Y-specific DNA probes. Positive labelling was observedin syncytial vesicles where present and in clumps of unidentifiedfetal cells. In addition, high numbers of naked nuclei werelabelled in samples devoid of syncytia. These isolated nucleiare possibly derived from disrupted syncytia, and may be animportant and hitherto overlooked contributory factor in fetalmaterial which collects at the lower uterine pole.