Studying the interactions between nanoengineered materials and biological systems plays a vital role in the development of biological applications of nanotechnology and the improvement of our ...fundamental understanding of the bio-nano interface. A significant barrier to progress in this multidisciplinary area is the variability of published literature with regards to characterizations performed and experimental details reported. Here, we suggest a 'minimum information standard' for experimental literature investigating bio-nano interactions. This standard consists of specific components to be reported, divided into three categories: material characterization, biological characterization and details of experimental protocols. Our intention is for these proposed standards to improve reproducibility, increase quantitative comparisons of bio-nano materials, and facilitate meta analyses and in silico modelling.
Summary Measurements of health indicators are rarely available for every population and period of interest, and available data may not be comparable. The Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent ...Health Estimates Reporting (GATHER) define best reporting practices for studies that calculate health estimates for multiple populations (in time or space) using multiple information sources. Health estimates that fall within the scope of GATHER include all quantitative population-level estimates (including global, regional, national, or subnational estimates) of health indicators, including indicators of health status, incidence and prevalence of diseases, injuries, and disability and functioning; and indicators of health determinants, including health behaviours and health exposures. GATHER comprises a checklist of 18 items that are essential for best reporting practice. A more detailed explanation and elaboration document, describing the interpretation and rationale of each reporting item along with examples of good reporting, is available on the GATHER website.
Summary Background Excess bodyweight is a major public health concern. However, few worldwide comparative analyses of long-term trends of body-mass index (BMI) have been done, and none have used ...recent national health examination surveys. We estimated worldwide trends in population mean BMI. Methods We estimated trends and their uncertainties of mean BMI for adults 20 years and older in 199 countries and territories. We obtained data from published and unpublished health examination surveys and epidemiological studies (960 country-years and 9·1 million participants). For each sex, we used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate mean BMI by age, country, and year, accounting for whether a study was nationally representative. Findings Between 1980 and 2008, mean BMI worldwide increased by 0·4 kg/m2 per decade (95% uncertainty interval 0·2–0·6, posterior probability of being a true increase >0·999) for men and 0·5 kg/m2 per decade (0·3–0·7, posterior probability >0·999) for women. National BMI change for women ranged from non-significant decreases in 19 countries to increases of more than 2·0 kg/m2 per decade (posterior probabilities >0·99) in nine countries in Oceania. Male BMI increased in all but eight countries, by more than 2 kg/m2 per decade in Nauru and Cook Islands (posterior probabilities >0·999). Male and female BMIs in 2008 were highest in some Oceania countries, reaching 33·9 kg/m2 (32·8–35·0) for men and 35·0 kg/m2 (33·6–36·3) for women in Nauru. Female BMI was lowest in Bangladesh (20·5 kg/m2 , 19·8–21·3) and male BMI in Democratic Republic of the Congo 19·9 kg/m2 (18·2–21·5), with BMI less than 21·5 kg/m2 for both sexes in a few countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and east, south, and southeast Asia. The USA had the highest BMI of high-income countries. In 2008, an estimated 1·46 billion adults (1·41–1·51 billion) worldwide had BMI of 25 kg/m2 or greater, of these 205 million men (193–217 million) and 297 million women (280–315 million) were obese. Interpretation Globally, mean BMI has increased since 1980. The trends since 1980, and mean population BMI in 2008, varied substantially between nations. Interventions and policies that can curb or reverse the increase, and mitigate the health effects of high BMI by targeting its metabolic mediators, are needed in most countries. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and WHO.
The application of menthol has recently been researched as a performance-enhancing aid for various aspects of athletic performance including endurance, speed, strength and joint range of motion. A ...range of application methods has been used including a mouth rinse, ingestion of a beverage containing menthol or external application to the skin or clothing via a gel or spray. The majority of research has focussed on the use of menthol to impart a cooling sensation on athletes performing endurance exercise in the heat. In this situation, menthol appears to have the greatest beneficial effect on performance when applied internally. In contrast, the majority of investigations into the external application of menthol demonstrated no performance benefit. While studies are limited in number, menthol has not yet proven to be beneficial for speed or strength, and only effective at increasing joint range of motion following exercise that induced delayed-onset muscle soreness. Internal application of menthol may provoke such performance-enhancing effects via mechanisms related to its thermal, ventilatory, analgesic and arousing properties. Future research should focus on well-trained subjects and investigate the addition of menthol to nutritional sports products.
Summary Background Low haemoglobin concentrations and anaemia are important risk factors for the health and development of women and children. We estimated trends in the distributions of haemoglobin ...concentration and in the prevalence of anaemia and severe anaemia in young children and pregnant and non-pregnant women between 1995 and 2011. Methods We obtained data about haemoglobin and anaemia for children aged 6–59 months and women of childbearing age (15–49 years) from 257 population-representative data sources from 107 countries worldwide. We used health, nutrition, and household surveys; summary statistics from WHO's Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System; and summary statistics reported by other national and international agencies. We used a Bayesian hierarchical mixture model to estimate haemoglobin distributions and systematically addressed missing data, non-linear time trends, and representativeness of data sources. We quantified the uncertainty of our estimates. Findings Global mean haemoglobin improved slightly between 1995 and 2011, from 125 g/L (95% credibility interval 123–126) to 126 g/L (124–128) in non-pregnant women, from 112 g/L (111–113) to 114 g/L (112–116) in pregnant women, and from 109 g/L (107–111) to 111 g/L (110–113) in children. Anaemia prevalence decreased from 33% (29–37) to 29% (24–35) in non-pregnant women, from 43% (39–47) to 38% (34–43) in pregnant women, and from 47% (43–51) to 43% (38–47) in children. These prevalences translated to 496 million (409–595 million) non-pregnant women, 32 million (28–36 million) pregnant women, and 273 million (242–304 million) children with anaemia in 2011. In 2011, concentrations of mean haemoglobin were lowest and anaemia prevalence was highest in south Asia and central and west Africa. Interpretation Children's and women's haemoglobin statuses improved in some regions where concentrations had been low in the 1990s, leading to a modest global increase in mean haemoglobin and a reduction in anaemia prevalence. Further improvements are needed in some regions, particularly south Asia and central and west Africa, to improve the health of women and children and achieve global targets for reducing anaemia. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and the UK Medical Research Council.
We investigated the individual and interactive effects of coastal and climate change stressors (elevated temperatures, acidification, and hypoxia) on the growth, survival, and respiration rates of 4 ...commercially and ecologically important North Atlantic bivalves: bay scallops Argopecten irradians, Eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica, blue mussels Mytilus edulis, and hard clams Mercenaria mercenaria. Month-long experiments were performed on multiple cohorts of post-set juveniles using conditions commonly found during summer months within eutrophied, shallow, temperate, coastal environments (24–31°C; 2–7 mg O₂ l−1; pHT, total scale, 7.2–8.0). Elevated temperatures most consistently altered the performance of the bivalves, with both positive and negative physiological consequences. Low levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH individually reduced the survival, shell growth, and/or tissue weight of each bivalve, with A. irradians being the most vulnerable species. Low DO also significantly increased respiration rates of A. irradians and M. mercenaria, evidencing a compensatory physiological response to hypoxia. M. edulis and M. mercenaria both displayed size-dependent vulnerability to acidification, with smaller individuals being more susceptible. The combination of low DO and low pH often interacted antagonistically to yield growth rates higher than would be predicted from either individual stressor, potentially suggesting that some anaerobic metabolic pathways may function optimally under hypercapnia. Elevated temperature and low pH interacted both antagonistically and synergistically, producing outcomes that could not be predicted from the responses to individual stressors. Collectively, this study revealed species- and size-specific vulnerabilities of bivalves to coastal stressors along with unpredicted interactions among those stressors.
Summary Background Data for trends in glycaemia and diabetes prevalence are needed to understand the effects of diet and lifestyle within populations, assess the performance of interventions, and ...plan health services. No consistent and comparable global analysis of trends has been done. We estimated trends and their uncertainties in mean fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and diabetes prevalence for adults aged 25 years and older in 199 countries and territories. Methods We obtained data from health examination surveys and epidemiological studies (370 country-years and 2·7 million participants). We converted systematically between different glycaemic metrics. For each sex, we used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate mean FPG and its uncertainty by age, country, and year, accounting for whether a study was nationally, subnationally, or community representative. Findings In 2008, global age-standardised mean FPG was 5·50 mmol/L (95% uncertainty interval 5·37–5·63) for men and 5·42 mmol/L (5·29–5·54) for women, having risen by 0·07 mmol/L and 0·09 mmol/L per decade, respectively. Age-standardised adult diabetes prevalence was 9·8% (8·6–11·2) in men and 9·2% (8·0–10·5) in women in 2008, up from 8·3% (6·5–10·4) and 7·5% (5·8–9·6) in 1980. The number of people with diabetes increased from 153 (127–182) million in 1980, to 347 (314–382) million in 2008. We recorded almost no change in mean FPG in east and southeast Asia and central and eastern Europe. Oceania had the largest rise, and the highest mean FPG (6·09 mmol/L, 5·73–6·49 for men; 6·08 mmol/L, 5·72–6·46 for women) and diabetes prevalence (15·5%, 11·6–20·1 for men; and 15·9%, 12·1–20·5 for women) in 2008. Mean FPG and diabetes prevalence in 2008 were also high in south Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and central Asia, north Africa, and the Middle East. Mean FPG in 2008 was lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, east and southeast Asia, and high-income Asia-Pacific. In high-income subregions, western Europe had the smallest rise, 0·07 mmol/L per decade for men and 0·03 mmol/L per decade for women; North America had the largest rise, 0·18 mmol/L per decade for men and 0·14 mmol/L per decade for women. Interpretation Glycaemia and diabetes are rising globally, driven both by population growth and ageing and by increasing age-specific prevalences. Effective preventive interventions are needed, and health systems should prepare to detect and manage diabetes and its sequelae. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and WHO.
Cyanobacteria are complex prokaryotes, incorporating a Gram-negative cell wall and internal thylakoid membranes (TMs). However, localization of proteins within cyanobacterial cells is poorly ...understood. Using subcellular fractionation and quantitative proteomics, we produced an extensive subcellular proteome map of an entire cyanobacterial cell, identifying ∼67% of proteins in
sp. PCC 6803, ∼1000 more than previous studies. Assigned to six specific subcellular regions were 1,712 proteins. Proteins involved in energy conversion localized to TMs. The majority of transporters, with the exception of a TM-localized copper importer, resided in the plasma membrane (PM). Most metabolic enzymes were soluble, although numerous pathways terminated in the TM (notably those involved in peptidoglycan monomer, NADP
, heme, lipid, and carotenoid biosynthesis) or PM (specifically, those catalyzing lipopolysaccharide, molybdopterin, FAD, and phylloquinol biosynthesis). We also identified the proteins involved in the TM and PM electron transport chains. The majority of ribosomal proteins and enzymes synthesizing the storage compound polyhydroxybuyrate formed distinct clusters within the data, suggesting similar subcellular distributions to one another, as expected for proteins operating within multicomponent structures. Moreover, heterogeneity within membrane regions was observed, indicating further cellular complexity. Cyanobacterial TM protein localization was conserved in Arabidopsis (
) chloroplasts, suggesting similar proteome organization in more developed photosynthetic organisms. Successful application of this technique in
suggests it could be applied to mapping the proteomes of other cyanobacteria and single-celled organisms. The organization of the cyanobacterial cell revealed here substantially aids our understanding of these environmentally and biotechnologically important organisms.
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