Physical activity may decrease the risk of dementia; however, conflicting findings exist. The purpose of the current meta-analysis was to investigate the relationship between physical activity and ...dementia risk based on physical activity type, amount, and intensity, and to propose an effective minimal physical activity amount for older adults. Forty-four studies were selected for the meta-analysis. Participation in high (a total of >2 hours of activity over the course of three sessions per week) and moderate (a total of >1 hour of activity over the course of two sessions per week) amounts of physical activity showed decreased dementia risks compared to physical inactivity. Vigorous exercise, regular exercise, leisure time physical activities, and gardening showed a positive effect toward lowering dementia risk, but walking was not associated with dementia risk. Physically inactive individuals had a higher dementia risk than those who participated in physical activity. Participation in physical activities produces a favorable effect toward lowering dementia risk. Participating in regular physical activity of >1 hour over the course of two sessions per week and avoiding physical inactivity are recommended for lowering dementia risk. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 44(10), 22-29..
Several controversial studies linking handgrip strength and health have suggested that low handgrip strength in older adults may be related to health problems and have investigated whether there is a ...minimum handgrip strength level associated with reduced mortality. Thus, by meta-analysis, the authors identified an association between handgrip strength in older adults and disease-specific mortality and all-cause mortality. Thirty studies with a total of 194,767 older adult participants were included in this meta-analysis. Higher handgrip strength was associated with an 18% decrease in all-cause mortality. Lower handgrip strength was associated with increased all-cause mortality. The minimum handgrip strength in older women that did not increase all-cause mortality was 18.21 kg. Increased handgrip strength showed a decreased all-cause mortality, whereas decreased handgrip strength was associated with increased all-cause mortality. Strengthening the handgrip may help improve disease-specific mortality in older adults.
Coastal cities face increasing natural disaster risks. Developing a green infrastructure network can reduce coastal vulnerability by connecting green spaces. Only a few researchers have examined ...practical guidelines for a green infrastructure network in coastal cities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to build a green infrastructure network by integrating potential evacuation routes and green spaces in a coastal city. The Haeundae District in South Korea was chosen as the study site. We constructed a green infrastructure network using space syntax and GIS network analysis. The results of this study showed that first, we created an integrated green infrastructure network by building evacuation route networks and urban ecological networks. Second, we evaluated the evacuation function and flood risk. Finally, we proposed green infrastructure network planning for coastal disasters, including hub and corridor design. This study can contribute to establishing strategies to reduce vulnerability in coastal cities.
This figure shows the green infrastructure network planning for coastal urban area in this study. Display omitted
•The green infrastructure network in a coastal city can minimize natural disaster risks.•Disaster prevention parks can provide emergency shelters and ecological network hubs.•39.8% of the green infrastructure networks of Haeundae are high-potential evacuation routes.•Areas with a runoff index of 0.7 or higher are most vulnerable to coastal disasters.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
(1) Background: The purpose of the current meta-analysis was to investigate any positive or negative effects of ketogenic diets in athletes and provide an assessment of the size of these effects. (2) ...Methods: Databases were used to select relevant studies up to January 2021 regarding the effects of ketogenic diets in athletes. Inclusion criteria were as follows: data before and after ketogenic diet use, being randomized controlled trials and presenting ketogenic diets and assessments of ketone status. Study subjects were required to be professional athletes. Review studies, pilot studies, and studies in which non-athletes were included were excluded from this meta-analysis. The outcome effect sizes in these selected studies were calculated by using the standardized mean difference statistic. (3) Results: Eight studies were selected for this meta-analysis. Athletes who consumed the ketogenic diet had reduced body fat percentages, respiratory exchange rates, and increased total cholesterol compared to athletes who did not consume this diet. However, body mass index, cardiorespiratory fitness, heart rate, HDL cholesterol, glucose level, and insulin level were unaffected by the diet. (4) Conclusions: Ketogenic diets had a beneficial effect by decreasing body fat percentage, but athletes with high total cholesterol level need to be monitored when instituting a ketogenic diet. Our study sample size was limited; therefore, additional studies may be needed to confirm the current findings. Further studies need to be conducted on changes in LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol.
Benzoapyrene (BaP), a type of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, is present in the atmosphere surrounding our environment. Although BaP is a procarcinogen, enzymatically metabolized ...benzoapyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE) could intercalate into DNA to form bulky BPDE-DNA adducts as an ultimate carcinogenic product in human keratinocytes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of mulberry extract, purified from the fruit of Morus Alba L., on BaP-induced cytotoxicity in human keratinocytes and its mechanisms of action. In this study, we confirmed that BaP induced nuclear translocation and the activation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) were decreased by pretreatment of mulberry extract. Mulberry extract could decrease DNA damage through the suppression of BaP derived DNA adduct formation and restoration of cell cycle retardation at S phase in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G), a major active compound of mulberry extract, showed biological activities to protect the cells from BaP exposure, similar to the effectivity of the mulberry extract. These results indicated that the inhibitory effect of C3G against BaP inducing skin cancer is attributable to repress the AhR signaling pathway.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
The hydrologic connectivity of non-floodplain wetlands (NFWs) with downstream water (DW) has gained increased importance, but connectivity via groundwater (GW) is largely unknown owing to the high ...complexity of hydrological processes and climatic seasonality. In this study, a causal inference method, convergent cross mapping (CCM), was applied to detect the hydrologic causality between upland NFW and DW through GW. CCM is a nonlinear inference method for detecting causal relationships among environmental variables with weak or moderate coupling in nonlinear dynamical systems. We assumed that causation would exist when the following conditions were observed: (1) the presence of two direct causal (NFW → GW and GW → DW) and one indirect causal (NFW → DW) relationship; (2) a nonexistent opposite causal relationship (DW → NFW); (3) the two direct causations with shorter lag times relative to indirect causation; and (4) similar patterns not observed with pseudo DW. The water levels monitored by a well and piezometer represented NFW and GW measurements, respectively, and the DW was indicated by the baseflow at the outlet of the drainage area, including NFW. To elucidate causality, the DW taken at the adjacent drainage area with similar climatic seasonality was also tested as pseudo DW. The CCM results showed that the water flow from NFW to GW and then DW was only present, and any opposite flows did not exist. In addition, direct causations had shorter lag time than indirect causation, and 3-day lag time was shown between NFW and DW. Interestingly, the results with pseudo DW did not show any lagged interactions, indicating non-causation. These results provide the signals for the hydrologic connectivity of NFW and DW with GW. Therefore, this study would support the importance of NFW protection and management.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Studies have reported conflicting results on the association between body mass index (BMI) and prognosis of colorectal cancer. Therefore, we have conducted a meta-analysis of prospective studies, ...which examined the association of pre- and post-diagnostic BMI with colorectal cancer-specific mortality and all-cause mortality in patients with colorectal cancer. We searched Medline and EMBASE database published between 1970 and September 2014. A total of 508 articles were identified, of which 16 prospective cohort studies were included for the current meta-analysis. The analysis included 58,917 patients who were followed up over a period ranging from 4.9 to 20 years (median: 9.9 years). We found that being underweight before cancer diagnosis was associated with increased all-cause mortality (Relative risk RR: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.18-2.23, p < 0.01) and being obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) before cancer diagnosis was associated with increased colorectal cancer-specific mortality (RR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.003-1.35, p < 0.01) and all-cause mortality (RR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.14-1.36, p < 0.01). On the other hand, being underweight (RR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.20-1.47, p < 0.01), obese (RR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.03-1.3, p < 0.01), and class II/III obese (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m(2); RR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.04-1.23, p < 0.01) after diagnosis were associated with significantly increased all-cause mortality. Being obese prior to diagnosis of colorectal cancer was associated with increased colorectal cancer-specific mortality and all-cause mortality, whereas being obese after diagnosis was associated with increased all-cause mortality. The associations with being underweight may reflect reverse causation. Maintaining a healthy body weight should be discussed with colorectal cancer survivors.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Insulin, IGF axis, adiponectin, and inflammatory markers are associated with breast cancer. Given that physical activity improves prognosis of breast cancer survivors, we investigated the effects of ...exercise on these markers as potential mediators between physical activity and breast cancer.
PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINAHL, and SportDiscus were searched up to December 3, 2015, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCT) that investigated the effect of exercise on insulin, IGF axis, and cytokines in breast cancer survivors. Weighted mean difference (WMD) was calculated using either fixed- or random-effects models on the basis of the heterogeneity of the studies.
A total of 18 studies involving 681 breast cancer survivors were included, and these numbers were reduced for individual biomarker analyses. We found that exercise significantly reduced fasting insulin levels WMD, -3.46 μU/mL; 95% confidence interval (CI), -5.97 to -0.95;
= 0.007. Furthermore, potentially meaningful but statistically nonsignificant changes were observed in insulin resistance (WMD, -0.73; 95% CI, -0.54 to 0.13;
= 0.23), adiponectin (WMD, 1.17 μg/mL; 95% CI, -0.87 to 3.20;
= 0.26), and C-reactive protein (WMD, -1.10 mg/L; 95% CI, -2.39 to 0.20;
= 0.10). Subgroup analyses showed that fasting insulin levels were significantly more impacted in studies in which intervention participants experienced a weight reduction (WMD, -7.10 μU/mL; 95% CI, -10.31 to -3.90;
< 0.001).
Exercise reduces fasting insulin levels in breast cancer survivors. This may be due to exercise-induced reductions in body weight.
Practitioners and clinicians may better help breast cancer prognosis be improved through exercise, anticipating physiological effects on cancer.
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PURPOSE This study aimed to examine the effects of an 8-week gluteus medius strengthening exercise on back pain, balance, and strength in female office workers with low back pain. METHODS The ...participants of this study were female office workers aged 30 to 48 years old who reported low back pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 3 to 7. Twenty-six participants were randomly assigned to the exercise (n=13) and control (n=13) groups. The study applied a gluteus medius strengthening program to the exercise group for 8 weeks, three times a week, and 60 minutes per session. The participants in the control group were asked to maintain their normal life patterns during the period of intervention. Data collected from the test were analyzed through repeated two-way ANOVA, paired t-test, and independent t-test. RESULTS First, there has been a significant decrease in the pain level, as evidenced by VAS and Korean oswestry disability index (KODI) scores. Second, there was a statistically significant improvement in both static and dynamic balance capabilities. Last, back strength also significantly improved. CONCLUSIONS Application of the gluteus medius strengthening exercise appears to be effective for low back pain, static and dynamic balance capabilities, and back strength.
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