Rapidly changing dietary practices and a sedentary lifestyle have led to increasing prevalence of childhood obesity (5–19 yr) in developing countries recently: 41.8% in Mexico, 22.1% in Brazil, 22.0% ...in India, and 19.3% in Argentina. Moreover, secular trends indicate increasing prevalence rates in these countries: 4.1 to 13.9% in Brazil during 1974–1997, 12.2 to 15.6% in Thailand during 1991–1993, and 9.8 to 11.7% in India during 2006–2009. Important determinants of childhood obesity include high socioeconomic status, residence in metropolitan cities, female gender, unawareness and false beliefs about nutrition, marketing by transnational food companies, increasing academic stress, and poor facilities for physical activity. Childhood obesity has been associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the early-onset metabolic syndrome, subclinical inflammation, dyslipidemia, coronary artery diseases, and adulthood obesity. Therapeutic lifestyle changes and maintenance of regular physical activity through parental initiative and social support interventions are the most important strategies in managing childhood obesity. Also, high-risk screening and effective health educational programs are urgently needed in developing countries.
The extracellular matrix (ECM) prevents invasion of tumour cells and possesses an intrinsic mechanism to down-regulate signalling processes that promote cancer proliferation. Small Leucine Rich ...Proteoglycans (SLRPs) are ubiquitous ECM components involved in matrix structural organization and as such can potentially regulate cancer cell multiplication, angiogenesis and migration. Decorin, a class I SLRP that modulates collagen fibrillogenesis, also functions as a natural pan-tyrosine kinase inhibitor to reduce tumour growth. In fact, decreased decorin expression has been associated with tumour aggressiveness and lower survival. In contrast, biglycan, another class I SLRP, was highly expressed in cancer and was associated with metastatic activity and lower survival. Tissue expression of lumican, a class II SLRP, was associated with clinical outcome and appears tumour specific. Recently, decorin, biglycan and lumican were found to be potential biomarkers in bladder cancer. This review updates our current understanding on the molecular interplay and significance of decorin, biglycan and lumican expression in cancer.
•SLRPs as key matrix proteoglycan has vital role in regulating cancer progression.•Decorin is underexpressed & associated with poor clinicopathological characteristics.•Overexpression of biglycan in cancer is associated with poor clinical prognosis.•The clinical outcome of lumican overexpression is cancer specific.•Targeting SLRPs can be adopted as a newer strategy in cancer therapeutics.
Narmada River is considered to be the holy river of the state Madhya Pradesh. A study was considered for the development of water quality index using eight parameters pH, Temperature, Total Dissolved ...Solids (TDS), Turbidity, Nitrate-Nitrogen (NO3-N), Phosphate (PO43−), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO) measured at six different sites (S1–S6) along the river Narmada. Three methods (Weighted Arithmetic Water Quality Index, National Sanitation Foundation Water Quality Index and Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water Quality Index) were used for calculation of water quality index. This was observed that the water quality was found to be excellent to good in the season summer and winter and poor to unsuitable for human consumption in the season monsoon along the river Narmada. The fall in the quality of water in monsoon season was due to poor sanitation, turbulent flow, soil erosion and high anthropogenic activities.
The present study aims at developing PGMD (poly-glycerol-malic acid-dodecanedioic acid)/curcumin nanoparticles based formulation for anticancer activity against breast cancer cells. The nanoparticles ...were prepared using both the variants of PGMD polymer (PGMD 7:3 and PGMD 6:4) with curcumin (i.e. CUR NP 7:3 and CUR NP 6:4). The size of CUR NP 7:3 and CUR NP 6:4 were found to be ~ 110 and 218 nm with a polydispersity index of 0.174 and 0.36, respectively. Further, the zeta potential of the particles was - 18.9 and - 17.5 mV for CUR NP 7:3 and CUR NP 6:4, respectively. The entrapment efficiency of both the nanoparticles was in the range of 75-81%. In vitro anticancer activity and the scratch assay were conducted on breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231. The IC
of the nanoformulations was observed to be 40.2 and 33.6 μM at 48 h for CUR NP 7:3 and CUR NP 6:4, respectively, in MCF-7 cell line; for MDA-MB-231 it was 43.4 and 30.5 μM. Acridine orange/EtBr and DAPI staining assays showed apoptotic features and nuclear anomalies in the treated cells. This was further confirmed by western blot analysis that showed overexpression of caspase 9 indicating curcumin role in apoptosis.
Elevated arm work is prevalent in many jobs. Feasible device-based methods are available to measure elevated arm work. However, we lack knowledge on the association between device-measured elevated ...arm work and prospective risk of long-term sickness absence (LTSA). We aimed to investigate this association.
At baseline, 937 workers wore accelerometers on the right arm and thigh over 1-5 workdays to measure work time spent with elevated arms in an upright position. Between baseline and 4-year prospective follow-up in the national registers, we obtained information on the individuals` first event of LTSA (≥6 consecutive weeks). We performed compositional Cox proportional hazard analyses to model the association between work time with arm elevation >30˚, >60˚, or >90˚ and the probability of LTSA.
Workers spent 21% of their work time with >30˚ arm elevation, 4% with >60˚ arm elevation, and 1% with >90˚ arm elevation; in the upright body position. We found a positive dose-response association between work time spent with elevated arm work and the risk of LTSA. Specifically, we found that increasing two minutes of work time spent with arm elevation at (i) >90˚ increased the risk of LTSA by 14% hazard ratio (HR) 1.14, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI 1.04-1.25) (ii) >60˚ increased the LTSA risk by 3% (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.03-1.06), and (iii) >30˚ increased the LTSA risk by 1% (HR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00-1.02).
Device-measured elevated arm work is associated with increased prospective LTSA. This information ought to be brought into preventive workplace practice by accessible and feasible device-based methods of elevated arm work.
Surface water samples from Godavari river basin was analyzed quantitatively for the concentration of eight heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, nickel and zinc using ...atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The analyzed data revealed that iron and zinc metals were found to be the most abundant metals in the river Godavari and its tributaries. Iron (Fe) recorded the highest, while cadmium (Cd) had the least concentration. Arsenic, cadmium, chromium, iron and zinc metals are within the acceptable limit of BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) 1050 (2012) Specification for drinking water, pp 1–5). The analysis of Godavari river and its tributary’s water samples reveals that the water is contaminated at selected points which are not suitable for drinking. Nickel and Copper concentration is above acceptable limit and other metal concentration is within the acceptable limit. Comprehensive study of the results reveals that out of 18 water quality stations monitored, water samples collected at 7 water quality stations are found to be within the permissible limit for all purposes. While Rajegaon, Tekra, Nandgaon, P. G. Bridge, Bhatpalli, Kumhari, Pauni, Hivra, Ashti, Bamini, and Jagda stations were beyond the desirable limit due to presence of copper and nickel metals. The contents of copper metal ions were higher at some water quality stations on Wunna river (Nandgaon); Wardha river (Hivra) and Wainganga river (Kumhari, Pauni, Ashti) during Feb. 2012, while nickel concentration during Feb. 2012, June 2012, March 2013 and Aug. 2013 at some water quality stations on rivers Bagh, Indravati, Pranhita, Wunna, Penganga, Peddavagu, Wainganga and Wardha. It can be concluded that rapid population growth and industrialization have brought about resource degradation and a decline in environmental quality.
Objectives: This study aimed to determine the extent to which age, gender, body mass index (BMI) and low-back pain (LBP) influence bias in self-reported sedentary behavior and moderate-to-vigorous ...physical activity (MVPA) among blue-collar workers. Methods: For 2-4 consecutive working days, 147 workers wore an Actigraph accelerometer on the thigh. Proportional time spent sedentary and in MVPA was determined using the Acti4 software. The same variables were also self-reported in a questionnaire. The difference between self-reported and accelerometer-based sedentary time and MVPA was calculated and linearly regressed against age, gender, BMI, and self-reported LBP intensity as main effects, as well as interaction terms combining each of these factors with objectively measured exposure. Results: Workers objectively spent 64% of their time sedentary and 9% in MVPA. On average, self-reports underestimated sedentary time by 1.5% and overestimated MVPA by 5.5%. Workers with mild/no LBP appeared to have the same size of self-report bias in MVPA regardless of how much MVPA they actually had, while workers with high LBP overestimated MVPA to an increasing extent with increasing exposure interaction: B=0.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.05-0.53. Age was positively associated with self-report bias in sedentary time (B=0.31, 95% CI 0.09-0.54) regardless of actual sedentary time. Conclusions: LBP and age, but not BMI and gender, introduced differential bias in self-reported information on sedentary behavior and MVPA among blue-collar workers. This result suggests that bias correction in future studies based on self-reports of sedentary time and MVPA should account for LBP and age.
Rosacea is a chronic, inflammatory facial dermatosis commonly found in fair skin tone population. Recent studies have shown the increasing prevalence in the dark skin tone population as well. Ocular ...involvement is very common and can occur without cutaneous features. Common ocular features are chronic blepharoconjunctivitis with eyelid margin inflammation and meibomian gland dysfunction. Corneal complications include corneal vascularization, ulceration, scarring, and rarely, perforation. Diagnosis is largely based on clinical signs, although it is often delayed in the absence of cutaneous changes, particularly in children. The management ranges from local therapy to systemic treatment, depending on the severity of the disease. There is a positive association between demodicosis and rosacea; however, causality is always argued. In this review, we describe the epidemiology, clinical features, and treatment of rosacea and ocular rosacea.
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