Investigating the association between obesity and asthma in 6- to 8-year-old Saudi children:a matched case-control study

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated an association between obesity and asthma, but there remains considerable uncertainty about whether this reflects an underlying causal relationship. Aims: To investigate the association between obesity and asthma in pre-pubertal children and to investigate the roles of airway obstruction and atopy as possible causal mechanisms. Methods: We conducted an age- and sex-matched case–control study of 1,264 6- to 8-year-old schoolchildren with and without asthma recruited from 37 randomly selected schools in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. The body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and skin fold thickness of the 632 children with asthma were compared with those of the 632 control children without asthma. Associations between obesity and asthma, adjusted for other potential risk factors, were assessed separately in boys and girls using conditional logistic regression analysis. The possible mediating roles of atopy and airway obstruction were studied by investigating the impact of incorporating data on sensitisation to common aeroallergens and measurements of lung function. Results: BMI was associated with asthma in boys (odds ratio (OR)=1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08–1.20; adjusted OR=1.11, 95% CI, 1.03–1.19) and girls (OR=1.37, 95% CI, 1.26–1.50; adjusted OR=1.38, 95% CI, 1.23–1.56). Adjusting for forced expiratory volume in 1 s had a negligible impact on these associations, but these were attenuated following adjustment for allergic sensitisation, particularly in girls (girls: OR=1.25; 95% CI, 0.96–1.60; boys: OR=1.09, 95% CI, 0.99–1.19). Conclusions: BMI is associated with asthma in pre-pubertal Saudi boys and girls; this effect does not appear to be mediated through respiratory obstruction, but in girls this may at least partially be mediated through increased risk of allergic sensitisation

Integrality gaps of integer knapsack problems

We obtain optimal lower and upper bounds for the (additive) integrality gaps of integer knapsack problems. In a randomised setting, we show that the integrality gap of a “typical” knapsack problem is drastically smaller than the integrality gap that occurs in a worst case scenario

Assessing the carbon footprint of marginal and smallholders farming systems: A typology driven approach

Agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with practices such as fertilizer application, soil tillage, and livestock management releasing carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and methane (CH4). To meet the demands of a growing population, it is essential to identify agricultural practices that boost food production while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This study aimed to quantify GHG emissions from various farm typologies of marginal and smallholder households in the western regions of Tamil Nadu, India, using the Cool Farm Tool (CFT). Data was collected from 250 households in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Erode districts during 2022-2023 and farm typologies were identified through multivariate analysis, revealing four farm types: (i) cereal crop-dominated marginal farms, (ii) livestock-dominated marginal farms, (iii) cash crop-dominated marginal farms, and (iv) plantation crop-dominated small farms. The results show that cash crop and plantation crop dominated farms had the highest emissions, particularly from crop residue burning, fertilizer production and fertilizer application. In contrast, cereal crop-dominated farms recorded lower emissions. Livestock dominated farm type exhibited higher GHG emission from enteric fermentation and manure management due to higher number of livestock. The results of this study highlight the importance of developing farm-specific mitigation strategies to reduce emissions. The study also underscores the value of using tools such as CFT for comprehensive GHG quantification to ensure sustainable agricultural practices

Atomically dispersed nickel-nitrogen-sulfur species anchored on porous carbon nanosheets for efficient water oxidation

Developing low-cost electrocatalysts to replace precious Ir-based materials is key for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here, we report atomically dispersed nickel coordinated with nitrogen and sulfur species in porous carbon nanosheets as an electrocatalyst exhibiting excellent activity and durability for OER with a low overpotential of 1.51 V at 10 mA cm(-2) and a small Tafel slope of 45 mV dec(-1) in alkaline media. Such electrocatalyst represents the best among all reported transition metal- and/or heteroatom-doped carbon electrocatalysts and is even superior to benchmark Ir/C. Theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the well-dispersed molecular S vertical bar NiNx species act as active sites for catalyzing OER. The atomic structure of S vertical bar NiNx centers in the carbon matrix is clearly disclosed by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption spectroscopy together with computational simulations. An integrated photoanode of nanocarbon on a Fe2O3 nanosheet array enables highly active solar-driven oxygen production

Withanolides and related steroids

Since the isolation of the first withanolides in the mid-1960s, over 600 new members of this group of compounds have been described, with most from genera of the plant family Solanaceae. The basic structure of withaferin A, a C28 ergostane with a modified side chain forming a δ-lactone between carbons 22 and 26, was considered for many years the basic template for the withanolides. Nowadays, a considerable number of related structures are also considered part of the withanolide class; among them are those containing γ-lactones in the side chain that have come to be at least as common as the δ-lactones. The reduced versions (γ and δ-lactols) are also known. Further structural variations include modified skeletons (including C27 compounds), aromatic rings and additional rings, which may coexist in a single plant species. Seasonal and geographical variations have also been described in the concentration levels and types of withanolides that may occur, especially in the Jaborosa and Salpichroa genera, and biogenetic relationships among those withanolides may be inferred from the structural variations detected. Withania is the parent genus of the withanolides and a special section is devoted to the new structures isolated from species in this genus. Following this, all other new structures are grouped by structural types. Many withanolides have shown a variety of interesting biological activities ranging from antitumor, cytotoxic and potential cancer chemopreventive effects, to feeding deterrence for several insects as well as selective phytotoxicity towards monocotyledoneous and dicotyledoneous species. Trypanocidal, leishmanicidal, antibacterial, and antifungal activities have also been reported. A comprehensive description of the different activities and their significance has been included in this chapter. The final section is devoted to chemotaxonomic implications of withanolide distribution within the Solanaceae. Overall, this chapter covers the advances in the chemistry and biology of withanolides over the last 16 years.Fil: Misico, Rosana Isabel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad de Microanálisis y Métodos Físicos Aplicados a la Química Orgánica (i); ArgentinaFil: Nicotra, V.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (p); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Oberti, Juan Carlos María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (p); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Orgánica; ArgentinaFil: Barboza, Gloria Estela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (p); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Gil, Roberto Ricardo. University Of Carnegie Mellon; Estados UnidosFil: Burton, Gerardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Orgánica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad de Microanálisis y Métodos Físicos Aplicados a la Química Orgánica (i); Argentin

Livelihood responses to Lantana camara invasion and biodiversity change in southern India: application of an asset function framework

Natural resources play key roles as assets in the livelihoods of rural communities. However, the benefits of these assets in livelihoods are frequently conceived narrowly as income generating or vulnerability reducing. We contend that they have other important roles to play in poverty reduction and livelihood change. In this paper we use a case study of two ethnic communities in a village in southern India to investigate livelihood responses to change in forest biodiversity through an examination of changes in attributes of natural assets resulting from the invasion of Lantana camara and wider socio-economic change. The invasion of forest by Lantana has contributed to changes in the attributes and functions of four key natural assets: forest grazing, bamboo for basketry, Phoenix loureie for brooms, and wild yams. We observe that differences in households’ and individuals’ ability to substitute important functions of lost or declining assets affect their ability to adapt to changes in resource availability and attributes. Analysing changes in asset attributes for different user groups allows the social effects of environmental change to be disaggregated

Platelet-Associated CD40/CD154 Mediates Remote Tissue Damage after Mesenteric Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

Several innate and adaptive immune cell types participate in ischemia/reperfusion induced tissue injury. Amongst them, platelets have received little attention as contributors in the process of tissue damage after ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury. It is currently unknown whether platelets participate through the immunologically important molecules including, CD40 and when activated, CD154 (CD40L), in the pathogenesis of I/R injury. We hypothesized that constitutive expression of CD40 and activation-induced expression of CD154 on platelets mediate local mesenteric and remote lung tissue damage after I/R injury. Wild type (WT; C57BL/6J), CD40 and CD154 deficient mice underwent mesenteric ischemia for 30 minutes followed by reperfusion for 3 hours. WT mice subjected to mesenteric I/R injury displayed both local intestinal and remote lung damage. In contrast, there was significantly less intestinal damage and no remote lung injury in CD40 and CD154 deficient mice when compared to WT mice. Platelet-depleted WT mice transfused with platelets from CD40 or CD154 deficient mice failed to reconstitute remote lung damage. In contrast, when CD40 or CD154 deficient mice were transfused with WT platelets lung tissue damage was re-established. Together, these findings suggest that multiple mechanisms are involved in local and remote tissue injury and also identify platelet-expressed CD40 and/or CD154 as mediators of remote tissue damage

Viral FLICE Inhibitory Protein of Rhesus Monkey Rhadinovirus Inhibits Apoptosis by Enhancing Autophagosome Formation

Rhesus monkey rhadinovirus (RRV) is a gamma-2 herpesvirus closely related to human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8). RRV encodes viral FLICE inhibitory protein (vFLIP), which has death effector domains. Little is known about RRV vFLIP. This study intended to examine its function in apoptosis. Here we found that RRV vFLIP inhibits apoptosis induced by tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and cycloheximide. In HeLa cells with vFLIP expression, the cleavage of poly [ADP-ribose] polymerase 1 (PARP-1) and activities of caspase 3, 7, and 9 were much lower than those in controls. Cell viability of HeLa cells with vFLIP expression was significantly higher than control cells after apoptosis induction. However, RRV vFLIP appears unable to induce NF-κB signaling when tested in NF-κB reporter assay. RRV vFLIP was able to enhance cell survival under starved conditions or apoptosis induction. At early time points after apoptosis induction, autophagosome formation was enhanced and LC3-II level was elevated in cells with vFLIP and, when autophagy was blocked with chemical inhibitors, these cells underwent apoptosis. Moreover, RRV latent infection of BJAB B-lymphoblastoid cells protects the cells against apoptosis by enhancing autophagy to maintain cell survival. Knockdown of vFLIP expression in the RRV-infected BJAB cells with siRNA abolished the protection against apoptosis. These results indicate that vFLIP protects cells against apoptosis by enhancing autophagosome formation to extend cell survival. The finding of vFLIP’s inhibition of apoptosis via the autophagy pathway provides insights of vFLIP in RRV pathogenesis

Crystal structure of the ferritin from the hyperthermophilic archaeal anaerobe Pyrococcus furiosus

The crystal structure of the ferritin from the archaeon, hyperthermophile and anaerobe Pyrococcus furiosus (PfFtn) is presented. While many ferritin structures from bacteria to mammals have been reported, until now only one was available from archaea, the ferritin from Archaeoglobus fulgidus (AfFtn). The PfFtn 24-mer exhibits the 432 point-group symmetry that is characteristic of most ferritins, which suggests that the 23 symmetry found in the previously reported AfFtn is not a common feature of archaeal ferritins. Consequently, the four large pores that were found in AfFtn are not present in PfFtn. The structure has been solved by molecular replacement and refined at 2.75-Å resolution to R = 0.195 and Rfree = 0.247. The ferroxidase center of the aerobically crystallized ferritin contains one iron at site A and shows sites B and C only upon iron or zinc soaking. Electron paramagnetic resonance studies suggest this iron depletion of the native ferroxidase center to be a result of a complexation of iron by the crystallization salt. The extreme thermostability of PfFtn is compared with that of eight structurally similar ferritins and is proposed to originate mostly from the observed high number of intrasubunit hydrogen bonds. A preservation of the monomer fold, rather than the 24-mer assembly, appears to be the most important factor that protects the ferritin from inactivation by heat

Distribution and Acute Stressor-Induced Activation of Corticotrophin-Releasing Hormone Neurones in the Central Nervous System of Xenopus laevis

In mammals, corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and related peptides are known to play essential roles in the regulation of neuroendocrine, autonomic and behavioural responses to physical and emotional stress. In nonmammalian species, CRH-like peptides are hypothesized to play similar neuroendocrine and neurocrine roles. However, there is relatively little detailed information on the distribution of CRH neurones in the central nervous system (CNS) of nonmammalian vertebrates, and there are currently no comparative data on stress-induced changes in CRH neuronal physiology. We used a specific, affinity-purified antibody raised against synthetic Xenopus laevis CRH to map the distribution of CRH in the CNS of juvenile South African clawed frogs . We then analysed stress-induced changes in CRH immunoreactivity (CRH-ir) throughout the CNS. We found that CRH-positive cell bodies and fibres are widely distributed throughout the brain and rostral spinal cord of juvenile X. laevis . Strong CRH-immunoreactovity (ir) was found in cell bodies and fibres in the anterior preoptic area (POA, an area homologous to the mammalian paraventricular nucleus) and the external zone of the median eminence. Specific CRH-ir cell bodies and fibres were also identified in the septum, pallium and striatum in the telencephalon; the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and various hypothalamic and thalamic nuclei in the diencephalon; the tectum, torus semicircularis and tegmental nuclei of the mesencephalon; the cerebellum and locus coeruleus in the rhombencephalon; and the ventral horn of the rostral spinal cord. To determine if exposure to an acute physical stressor alters CRH neuronal physiology, we exposed juvenile frogs to shaking/handling and conducted morphometric analysis. Plasma corticosterone was significantly elevated by 30 min after exposure to the stressor and continued to increase up to 6 h. Morphometric analysis of CRH-ir after 4 h of stress showed a significant increase in CRH-ir in parvocellular neurones of the anterior preoptic area, the medial amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, but not in other brain regions. The stress-induced increase in CRH-ir in the POA was associated with increased Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-LI), and confocal microscopy showed that CRH-ir colocalized with Fos-LI in a subset of Fos-LI-positive neurones. Our results support the view that the basic pattern of CNS CRH expression arose early in vertebrate evolution and lend further support to earlier studies suggesting that amphibians may be a transitional species for descending CRH-ergic pathways. Furthermore, CRH neurones in the frog brain exhibit changes in response to a physical stressor that parallel those seen in mammals, and thus are likely to play an active role in mediating neuroendocrine, behavioural and autonomic stress responses.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73585/1/j.1365-2826.2004.01246.x.pd