An ecologically based examination of barriers to physical activity in students from grade seven through first-year university

PurposeThe first purpose was to identify barriers to physical activity that students in grade seven through first-year university experienced. A second purpose was to classify barriers using an ecological framework and to examine the pattern of barrier categories (i.e., intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, community, public policy, and physical environmental) and specific barrier types as grade increased. The use of an ecological model addressed limitations in prior research revolving around the identification of salient barriers in a manner that makes the design of effective interventions difficult.MethodsParticipants in grades 7–8 (n = 35), 9–10 (n = 67), 11–12 (n = 80), and the freshmen year of university (n = 109) listed barriers to physical activity on an open-ended measure.ResultsFindings revealed a trend for the average number of barriers reported per student to increase as grade in school increased. First-year university students reported significantly more barriers than all other grade groupings. The frequency of barriers reported within the ecological categories was dependent on the specific grade groupings. Further, within each ecological category, distinct barriers were reported across the different grade groupings.ConclusionsFindings highlight the utility of using an ecological model to categorize barriers, rather than simply classifying barriers as internal or external to an individual, as done in prior research. Understanding the pattern of ecologically based barrier categories and specific types of barriers will help to inform the content of future research and interventions designed to alleviate salient barriers to physical activity.     

Retrorenal colon: implications for percutaneous diskectomy

It has been recommended that computed tomography (CT) with the patient prone be performed in every patient undergoing percutaneous diskectomy; this would enable detection of a retrorenal location of the colon, which could interfere with the percutaneous procedure. In this evaluation of 346 prone CT studies, only one patient (0.29%) was found to have retrorenal or retropsoas bowel that would have been perforated at diskectomy. Because of this extremely low prevalence, the performance of prone CT in every patient undergoing percutaneous lumbar diskectomy is not believed to be necessary.     

肾移植受者血清巨细胞病毒IgE和IgA抗体检测

采用间接ＥＬＩＳＡ检测２３名肾移植受者血清巨细胞病毒（ＣＭＶ）抗体，共检出１８名（７８％）活动性ＣＭＶ感染，其中１０名（４４％）为原发性感染。结果证实ＣＭＶ－ＩｇＥ和－ＩｇＡ具有较好的血清学诊断价值，优于ＣＭＶ－ＩｇＭ。     

GGA1 acts as a spatial switch altering amyloid precursor protein trafficking and processing

The beta-amyloid (Abeta) precursor protein (APP) is cleaved sequentially by beta-site of APP-cleaving enzyme (BACE) and gamma-secretase to release the Abeta peptides that accumulate in plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD). GGA1, a member of the Golgi-localized gamma-ear-containing ARF-binding (GGA) protein family, interacts with BACE and influences its subcellular distribution. We now report that overexpression of GGA1 in cells increased the APP C-terminal fragment resulting from beta-cleavage but surprisingly reduced Abeta. GGA1 confined APP to the Golgi, in which fluorescence resonance energy transfer analyses suggest that the proteins come into close proximity. GGA1 blunted only APP but not notch intracellular domain release. These results suggest that GGA1 prevented APP beta-cleavage products from becoming substrates for gamma-secretase. Direct binding of GGA1 to BACE was not required for these effects, but the integrity of the GAT (GGA1 and TOM) domain of GGA1 was. GGA1 may act as a specific spatial switch influencing APP trafficking and processing, so that APP-GGA1 interactions may have pathophysiological relevance in AD.     

Successful treatment of periungual warts using photodynamic therapy: a pilot study

AIM: The aim of this pilot study was an investigation on photodynamic therapy (PDT) whether it is a good alternative for treating periungual and subungual warts of the hands. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty patients (mean age: 30.5 years) with a total of 40 periungual and subungual warts were treated with PDT. A photosensitizer, 20%delta-aminolevulinic acid was applied on the warts. After a mean incubation time of 4.6 h (SD: 1.2), the warts were irradiated with the VersaLight for 5-30 min (15.2 +/- 4.3 min). RESULTS: After a mean of 4.5 treatments a mean clearance of 100% was achieved in 90% of the patients. One patient (5%) showed a clearance of 50% and another showed no improvement. The subungual or periungual location of the wart had no influence on the number of treatments or end result (P > 0.05). There were two recurrences during the mean follow-up period of 5.9 months (SD: 7.6). Besides mainly pain and hyperpigmentation, most treatments had no side-effects. CONCLUSION: PDT can offer a good alternative for treating periungual warts of the hands. Larger studies are indicated.     

Crystal structure of a DNA decamer showing a novel pseudo four-way helix-helix junction.

The crystal structure of the decanucleotide d(CGCAATTGCG)2 has been solved by a combination of molecular replacement and heavy-atom procedures and has been refined to an R factor of 20.2% at 2.7 A. It is not a fully base-paired duplex but has a central core of eight Watson-Crick base pairs flanked by unpaired terminal guanosines and cytosines. These participate in hydrogen-bonding arrangements with adjacent decamer duplexes in the crystal lattice. The unpaired guanosines are bound in the G+C regions of duplex minor grooves. The cytosines have relatively high mobility, even though they are constrained to be in one region where they are involved in base-paired triplets with G.C base pairs. The 5'-AATT sequence in the duplex region has a narrow minor groove, providing further confirmation of the sequence-dependent nature of groove width.