Day-level associations of physical activity and sedentary time in mother–child dyads across three years: a multi-wave longitudinal study using accelerometers

Journal of Behavioral Medicine - Understanding associations between mothers’ and children’s physical activity and sedentary behavior on more fine-grained timescales can provide insights...     

Fluorescence behaviour of human arterial tissue

Total fluorescence from arterial tissue is influenced by three factors: the absorption coefficient of tissue at a specific excitation wavelength, the laser excitation power and the fluorescence coefficient which is related to chemical species in tissue. These various influences were demonstrated by the following experimental results in vitro: (1) the effect of increasing power on fluorescence intensity, (2) the total fluorescence intensity in normal aorta and plaque and (3) the effect of a chromophore such as β-carotene on total fluorescence intensity. The fluorescence intensity of normal artery is an incremental function of laser excitation power, and the fluorescence emission from normal artery compared to fluorescence emission from plaque is significantly different at the same excitation power. The total fluorescence of normal artery was measured to be twice as great as that of atheromatous plaque (relative mean ratio of 2.58±0.46 compared to unity,p<0.0002 at 488 nm; relative mean ratio of 2.57±0.51 compared to unity,p<0.0009 at 514 nm). The total fluorescence emission decreases with the increase of β-carotene content in arterial tissue (R=0.97). These emission differences, when intensified by an exogenous chromophore of β-carotene, may provide an improved guidance signal for diagnosis of plaque from normal artery during laser angioplasty procedures.     

Mapping the social and physical contexts of physical activity across adolescence using ecological momentary assessment

BACKGROUND: Research has sought to understand how environmental factors influence adolescent physical activity, yet little is known about where and with whom adolescents are physically active. PURPOSE: This study used electronic ecological momentary assessment (e.EMA) to map the social and physical contexts of exercise and walking across adolescence. Differences in physical activity contexts by gender, grade in school, day of the week, and season were examined. METHODS: Twice a year between 9th and 12th grade, 502 adolescents (51% female) of mixed ethnicity (55% White) participated in 4-day e.EMA intervals (Thursday-Sunday) where their primary activity (e.g., exercise, TV, homework), social company (e.g., friends, family, class), and physical location (e.g., home, school, outdoors) were assessed every 30 (+/-10) min during waking hours. RESULTS: Overall, greater proportions of exercise and walking were reported with friends, outdoors, and at school. However, boys were more likely to report exercising and walking in outdoor locations than girls. Exercising with classmates, family, and at school decreased across high school. Walking with family, friends, and outdoors also decreased. On weekdays compared to weekends, students reported a greater proportion of their exercise and walking at school. Students were more likely to report exercising and walking outdoors in the fall and the spring than in the winter. CONCLUSION: e.EMA showed that the social and physical contexts of adolescent exercise and walking vary as a function of gender, grade in school, day of the week, and season. Understanding the contexts of physical activity during the high school years can be helpful in designing interventions during adolescence.     

A unique exonic splice enhancer mutation in a family with X-linked mental retardation and epilepsy points to a novel role of the renin receptor

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is essential for blood pressure control and water-electrolyte balance. Until the discovery of the renin receptor, renin was believed to be mainly a circulating enzyme with a unique function, the cleavage of angiotensinogen. We report a unique mutation in the renin receptor gene (ATP6AP2) present in patients with X-linked mental retardation and epilepsy (OMIM no. 300423), but absent in 1200 control X-chromosomes. A silent mutation (c.321C>T, p.D107D) residing in a putative exonic splicing enhancer site resulted in inefficient inclusion of exon 4 in 50% of renin receptor mRNA, as demonstrated by quantitative RT-PCR. Analysis of membrane associated-receptor molecular forms showed the presence of full-length and truncated proteins in the patient. Functional analysis demonstrated that the mutated receptor could bind renin and increase renin catalytic activity, similar to the wild-type receptor, but resulted in a modest and reproducible impairment of ERK1/2 activation. Thus, our findings confirm the importance of the RAS in cognitive processes and indicate a novel specific role for the renin receptor in cognitive functions and brain development.     

Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded nodal non-Hodgkin's lymphomas demonstrate the same chromosome changes as those found in frozen samples: a comparative study using interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Cytogenetic studies in lymphomas classically require fresh or frozen tissue, whereas in many instances only paraffin-embedded biopsies are available. We applied an interphase FISH assay on nuclei extracted from thick paraffin sections to determine accuracy of molecular cytogenetics in such samples. Twenty-three lymphoma samples and 4 reactive lymph nodes were tested with various commercially available DNA probes, and hybridization patterns were compared with those obtained on frozen nuclei counterparts. Successful hybridization with all probes tested was observed for 23/27 (85%) paraffin-embedded tissues and for all (100%) frozen samples, and cut-off levels defining positivity were superimposable for both situations. Chromosome changes were detected in the same way, without any false-positive or false-negative cases. Hybridization signals observed on dewaxed samples were either those classically expected to define the relevant chromosome change or were atypical: all atypical changes could be demonstrated also into nuclei from the frozen counterpart. Moreover, all typical and atypical chromosome changes observed on frozen nuclei were also detected in paraffin-embedded tissues. Our study shows that our interphase FISH assay performed on paraffin-embedded samples is a valuable alternate to conventional methods to ascertain diagnosis of lymphomas as to include patients into therapeutic trials.     

社交性应激反应问卷中文版在大学生中应用的信效度初步评价

目的：建立社交性应激反应问卷（RSQ-SSV）中文版，并分析其信、效度。方法：按量表翻译程序将RSQ—SSV翻译成中文，整群分层选取409名大学生进行RSQ—SSV中文版的测量。随机抽取90名学生于初评后一个月进行重测，并与美国样本进行比较。结果：RSQ-SSV中文版整个问卷的Cronbach α系数为0．88，各因子仅系数在0．73～0．81之间；重测信度为0．70；全量表的条目间平均相关系数为0．11，5因子的条目间平均相关系数在0．19～0．29之间，因子间相关系数在0．12～0．76之间；条目对因子负荷系数在0．38—0．86之间，复相关系数在0．14—0．74之间；验证性因子分析的指标：IFI为0．93，CFI为0．93，TLI为0．92，RMSEA为0．06。中国大学生样本的不随意的逃避反应因子得分高于美国大学生样本[（0．97&#177;0．41）vs．（0．91&#177;0．48），P=0．002]，而初级亲近控制应对反应、次级亲近控制应对反应、不随意的亲近反应得分均低于美国大学生样本[（1．75&#177;0．49）vs．（2．12&#177;0．50）、（1．51&#177;0．43）vs．（1．80&#177;0．48）、（1．17&#177;0．44）vs．（1．36&#177;0．56），均P〈0．001]。结论：RSQ-SSV中文版具有良好的信、效度，可以试用于我国大学生社交性应激反应的测评。