2022 World Hypertension League, Resolve To Save Lives and International Society of Hypertension dietary sodium (salt) global call to action

This fact sheet and global call to action is aimed at nutrition, hypertension, cardiovascular and other health care clinicians and scientists, and health advocates, as well as the organizations to which they belong. The ‘call’ is to align these audiences with the facts on: the burden of disease and key evidence supporting reductions in dietary sodium, the consistent recommendations for reducing dietary sodium from unbiased and comprehensive health and scientific reviews, the current levels of sodium intake, the cost savings expected from reducing high dietary sodium, the sources of controversial opinions, the current recommended approaches to reduce dietary sodium, and how to stay up to date with evidence on how to reduce dietary sodium and the evolving research on the adverse health effects of a high sodium intake. Health, nutrition, hypertension and cardiovascular organizations, and their members, need to become more engaged and advocate for reductions in dietary sodium, and for a greater priority to be given to high quality research on dietary sodium. The World Hypertension League, Resolve to Save Lives and International Society of Hypertension are committed to support reductions in dietary sodium as a high priority

The Indian cobra reference genome and transcriptome enables comprehensive identification of venom toxins

Snakebite envenoming is a serious and neglected tropical disease that kills ~100,000 people annually. High-quality, genome-enabled comprehensive characterization of toxin genes will facilitate development of effective humanized recombinant antivenom. We report a de novo near-chromosomal genome assembly of Naja naja, the Indian cobra, a highly venomous, medically important snake. Our assembly has a scaffold N50 of 223.35 Mb, with 19 scaffolds containing 95% of the genome. Of the 23,248 predicted protein-coding genes, 12,346 venom-gland-expressed genes constitute the \u27venom-ome\u27 and this included 139 genes from 33 toxin families. Among the 139 toxin genes were 19 \u27venom-ome-specific toxins\u27 (VSTs) that showed venom-gland-specific expression, and these probably encode the minimal core venom effector proteins. Synthetic venom reconstituted through recombinant VST expression will aid in the rapid development of safe and effective synthetic antivenom. Additionally, our genome could serve as a reference for snake genomes, support evolutionary studies and enable venom-driven drug discovery

Comparative genomics of the tardigrades <i>Hypsibius dujardini</i> and <i>Ramazzottius varieornatus</i>

Tardigrada, a phylum of meiofaunal organisms, have been at the center of discussions of the evolution of Metazoa, the biology of survival in extreme environments, and the role of horizontal gene transfer in animal evolution. Tardigrada are placed as sisters to Arthropoda and Onychophora (velvet worms) in the superphylum Panarthropoda by morphological analyses, but many molecular phylogenies fail to recover this relationship. This tension between molecular and morphological understanding may be very revealing of the mode and patterns of evolution of major groups. Limnoterrestrial tardigrades display extreme cryptobiotic abilities, including anhydrobiosis and cryobiosis, as do bdelloid rotifers, nematodes, and other animals of the water film. These extremophile behaviors challenge understanding of normal, aqueous physiology: how does a multicellular organism avoid lethal cellular collapse in the absence of liquid water? Meiofaunal species have been reported to have elevated levels of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) events, but how important this is in evolution, and particularly in the evolution of extremophile physiology, is unclear. To address these questions, we resequenced and reassembled the genome of H. dujardini, a limnoterrestrial tardigrade that can undergo anhydrobiosis only after extensive pre-exposure to drying conditions, and compared it to the genome of R. varieornatus, a related species with tolerance to rapid desiccation. The 2 species had contrasting gene expression responses to anhydrobiosis, with major transcriptional change in H. dujardini but limited regulation in R. varieornatus. We identified few horizontally transferred genes, but some of these were shown to be involved in entry into anhydrobiosis. Whole-genome molecular phylogenies supported a Tardigrada+Nematoda relationship over Tardigrada+Arthropoda, but rare genomic changes tended to support Tardigrada+Arthropoda

Daily variation in activity and flock size of two parakeet species from southeastern Brazil.

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The effect of physical fitness on psychological health: evidence from Chinese university students

Abstract Background Despite frequent discussions on the link between physical and mental health, the specific impact of physical fitness on mental well-being is yet to be fully established. Method This study, carried out between January 2022 and August 2023, involved 4,484 Chinese University students from eight universities located in various regions of China. It aimed to examine the association between physical fitness on psychological well-being. Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and logistic regression were used to analyze the association between physical fitness indicators (e.g., Body Mass Index (BMI), vital capacity, and endurance running) and mental health, assessed using Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). All procedures were ethically approved, and participants consented to take part in. Results Our analysis revealed that BMI, vital capacity, and endurance running scores significantly influence mental health indicators. Specifically, a 1-point increase in BMI increases the likelihood of an abnormal psychological state by 10.9%, while a similar increase in vital capacity and endurance running decreases the risk by 2.1% and 4.1%, respectively. In contrast, reaction time, lower limb explosiveness, flexibility, and muscle strength showed no significant effects on psychological states (p > 0.05). Conclusion Improvements in BMI, vital capacity, and endurance running capabilities are associated with better mental health outcomes, highlighting their potential importance in enhancing overall well-being

Identification of risk factors for diabetes in Chinese middle-aged and elderly adults

Abstract This study aimed to identify and analyze the factors associated with the prevalence of diabetes among Chinese adults, using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Data from the CHARLS cohort, with a mean age of 63.3 years, were analyzed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were performed for the overall population, as well as urban and rural subgroups. Logistic regression models were employed to assess the association between diabetes and variables such as age, gender, smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, and mental health disorders. Paired-sample t-tests were conducted to evaluate changes in diabetes prevalence across 2015, 2018, and 2020. The average of diabetes increased from 1.08 in 2015 to 1.15 in 2020, with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). Paired-sample t-tests showed significant differences between 2020 and 2018, as well as between 2018 and 2015 (P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis identified hypertension (aOR = 0.447, 95% CI: 0.410–0.488, P < 0.001) and chronic disease (aOR = 0.024, 95% CI: 0.013–0.042, P < 0.001) as key risk factors for diabetes. Mild physical exercise was a protective factor (aOR = 0.813, 95% CI: 0.708–0.935, P < 0.01), while smoking (aOR = 1.220, 95% CI: 1.088–1.369, P < 0.001) and alcohol consumption (aOR = 1.125, 95% CI: 1.020–1.242, P < 0.05) increased the risk. Smoking and alcohol had a greater impact in urban areas, while hypertension and mental health disorders were more influential in rural areas. This study demonstrates that age, gender, smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, and mental disorders significantly influence the risk of diabetes among Chinese adults aged 45 and above. Distinct risk factors were identified between urban and rural populations, highlighting the necessity for tailored intervention strategies. The longitudinal analysis from 2015 to 2020 revealed a substantial increase in diabetes prevalence, underscoring the critical need for sustained and targeted public health efforts

In vivo evaluation of the hypoglycemic effect of wolf-apple flour (Solanum lycocarpum A. St.-Hil)

The prevalence of diabetes has increased at alarming rates worldwide, and has become a serious health problem in modern society, highlighting the need for adjuvants to assist in its treatment. The starch from wolf-apple is a product extracted from the pulp of the unripe wolf-apple (Solanum lycocarpum A. St.-Hil), which has been used empirically by the population due to various therapeutic effects, among them, its hypoglycemic action. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of the administration of wolf-apple starch on diabetic Wistar rats, during five weeks. The animals were randomly divided into three groups: normal control, diabetic control and treated diabetic (received 100 mg/day of wolf-apple flour by gavage), and diabetes was induced with streptozotocin (40 mg/kg rat). The following parameters were evaluated: glycemia, animal weight, food intake, diuresis, water intake and histopathological analyses of liver and pancreas. The results show that the flour presented a hypoglycemic effect of 19.76%, and there was no significant difference in food consumption, water consumption and weight gain among the evaluated groups. On the other hand, the treated diabetic group showed a urine volume significantly higher than the other groups. The treated animals did not show toxicity in the liver and pancreas. It is concluded that the starch from wolf-apple has hypoglycemic potential.Keywords: Wolf-apple, flour, hypoglycemic effect, diabetes.African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(31) 3302-330

Maximizing the performance of badminton athletes through core strength training: Unlocking their full potential using machine learning (ML) modeling

Core strength training plays an essential role in maximizing performance for badminton athletes. The core muscles in the abdominal, back, and hip regions provide stability, enable efficient power transfer between the upper and lower body, and allow for rapid changes in direction - all crucial components for success in badminton. However, optimizing core training requires an understanding of its impact on sport-specific skills. A variety of exercises targeting the abdominal, back, and hip muscles are discussed. Incorporating core strength training into regular regimens can improve athletes' overall strength, endurance, balance, control, and prevent injuries. This study investigates the effects of various core exercises on stability, agility, and power in badminton players. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to explore the biomechanical demands of badminton and how core musculature contributes to movements like serving, smashing, and lunging. Studies assessing the effects of core training programs in related racquet sports were also examined. The results indicate that targeted core exercises significantly improve athletes' stability, agility, and power output. Exercises targeting the abdominal, back, and hip muscles enhance performance capabilities while reducing injury risk. Machine learning (ML) techniques are then applied to further analyze the relationship between core training and athletic performance. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is developed using a dataset of athletes' training histories, metrics, and injury profiles. The model predicts enhancements to stability, agility, and strength from optimized core strengthening routines. Validation confirms the network accurately captures the complex interactions between training variables and physical attributes. This integrated approach provides evidence-based guidelines for tailoring individualized training regimens to unleash players' full abilities. ANNs hold promise for analyzing large datasets on athletes' performance metrics, training variables, and injury histories to design personalized training programs. Linear regression analysis confirmed the ANN's accurate predictions. The findings emphasize integrating data-driven core strength training tailored for badminton into comprehensive programs can help optimize physical abilities and elevate performance levels