Search

Apart from influencing the health of the worldwide population, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the day-to-day life of all, including children. A sedentary lifestyle along with the transformation of eating and sleep habits took place in the child population. These changes created a highly obesogenic environment. Our aim was to evaluate the current weight in the child population and identify the real effects of the pandemic. Height and weight data were collected by pediatricians from the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 periods from 3517 children (1759 boys and 1758 girls) aged 4.71 to 17.33 years. We found a significant rise in the z-score BMI between pediatric visits in the years 2019 and 2021 in both sexes aged 7, 9, 11, and 13 years. Especially alarming were the percentages of (severely) obese boys at the ages of 9 and 11 years, which exceed even the percentages of overweight boys. With the use of statistical modeling, we registered the most dramatic increment at around 12 years of age in both sexes. Based on our research in the Czech Republic, we can confirm the predictions that were given at the beginning of the pandemic that COVID-19-related restrictions worsened the already present problem of obesity and excess weight in children.

Reservoirs interrupt natural riverine continuity, reduce the overall diversity of the environment, and enhance the spread of non-native fish species through suitable environments. Under favourable conditions, invasive species migrate to tributaries to benefit from local resource supplies. However, the changes in physical conditions in reservoirs that motivate fish species to migrate remain poorly understood. We analysed migration between a reservoir and its tributary in three non-native (asp Leuciscus aspius, ide Leuciscus idus, and bream Abramis brama) and two native (chub Squalius cephalus and pike Esox lucius) species equipped with radio tags. This 5-year study revealed that an increasing day length was the most general predictor of migration into the tributary in all observed species except E. lucius. Only L. aspius responded to the substantially increasing water level in the reservoir, while the migration of L. idus and S. cephalus was attenuated. Abramis brama and S. cephalus occurred more frequently in tributaries with an increase in temperature in the reservoir and vice versa, but if the difference in temperature between the reservoir and its tributary was small, then A. brama did not migrate. Our results showed that migration from the reservoir mainly followed the alterations of daylight, while responses to other parameters were species specific. The interindividual heterogeneity within the species was significant and was not caused by differences in length or sex. Our results contribute to the knowledge of how reservoirs can affect the spread of non-native species that adapt to rapid human-induced environmental changes., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Fog is an important atmospheric phenomenon highly relevant to ecosystems and/or the environment. Two essential prerequisites of fog formation are the presence of fog condensation nuclei and water in the atmosphere. The aim of our study was to examine in detail how fog occurrence is influenced by water areas in the immediate vicinity of the fog observation site. We have used as input data long-term observations on fog occurrence measured at 56 professional meteorological stations in Romania in 1981-2017 and GIS-derived information on water areas and on two topographical indices, TWI and TPI, in the neighbourhood of these stations. We formulated three alternative models of different complexity based on a semiparametric generalised additive logistic model for the probability of fog occurrence with potentially nonlinear, smooth effects modelled via penalised splines. A radius of 9 km appeared to be the most influential when considering the water area in a circle around the fog observation station. Based on our results, we concluded that (i) the water area in the vicinity of the station is a factor influencing fog occurrence, (ii) the water's effect differs according to water type (freshwater or seawater proximity), and (iii) GIS-derived topographical indices are informative for the explanation of fog occurrence and their inclusion enhanced the fit of the models substantially. Our findings, based on a reliable long-term data set of fog occurrence and recent GIS-derived data, explored by a relevant statistical approach will enhance further considerations related to fog formation and its environmental consequences., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This paper sought to evaluate the occurrence of decompression sickness (DCS) after the application of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) screening and risk stratification strategy., Background: PFO is associated with an increased risk of DCS. Recently, transcatheter closure was reported to reduce DCS occurrence in divers with a high-grade shunt. However, to date, there are no data regarding the effectiveness of any PFO screening and risk stratification strategy for divers., Methods: A total of 829 consecutive divers (age 35.4 ± 10.0 years, 81.5% men) were screened for PFO by means of transcranial color-coded sonography in the DIVE-PFO (Decompression Illness Prevention in Divers with a Patent Foramen Ovale) registry. Divers with a high-grade PFO were offered either catheter-based PFO closure (the closure group) or advised conservative diving (high grades). Divers with a low-grade shunt were advised conservative diving (low grades), whereas those with no PFO continued unrestricted diving (controls). A telephone follow-up was performed. To study the effect of the screening and risk stratification strategy, DCS occurrence before enrollment and during the follow-up was compared., Results: Follow-up was available for 748 (90%) divers. Seven hundred and 2 divers continued diving and were included in the analysis (mean follow-up 6.5 ± 3.5 years). The DCS incidence decreased significantly in all groups, except the controls. During follow-up, there were no DCS events in the closure group; DCS incidence was similar to the controls in the low-grade group (HR: 3.965; 95% CI: 0.558-28.18; P = 0.169) but remained higher in the high-grade group (HR: 26.170; 95% CI: 5.797-118.160; P < 0.0001)., Conclusions: The screening and risk stratification strategy using transcranial color-coded sonography was associated with a decrease in DCS occurrence in divers with PFO. Catheter-based PFO closure was associated with a DCS occurrence similar to the controls; the conservative strategy had a similar effect in the low-grade group, but in the high-grade group the DCS incidence remained higher than in all other groups., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures This research was supported by the project for conceptual development of research organization (grant number 00064203) and the AZV Grant, Ministry of Health, Czech Republic (grant number 15-34904A) and was partially supported by the long-term strategic development financing of the Institute of Computer Science (Czech Republic RVO 67985807) and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Large RI Project LM2018129 Czech-BioImaging). The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The ketogenic diet (KD) is an effective treatment for intractable epilepsy in children. Hypoglycemia can be one of its side-effects, which is considered to be present mainly during the introductory phase of KD. Continuous glucose monitoring in a 6-year old non-diabetic child treated with KD for more than 8 months revealed long periods of asymptomatic hypoglycemia (8.9% of the total time under 2.5 mmol/l, 10.6% of the total time in the range between 2.5-3.0, 29.1% in the range of 3.0-3.6 mmol/l). The episodes of serious hypoglycemia were associated with a fasting state. The amount of sacharides in KD was increased with substantial glycemic profile improvement.

Background: Seasons affect many social, economic, and biological outcomes, particularly in low-resource settings, and some studies suggest that birth season affects child growth., Aim: To study a predictor of stunting that has received limited attention: birth season., Subjects and Methods: This study uses cross-sectional data collected during 2008 in a low-resource society of horticulturists-foragers in the Bolivian Amazon, Tsimane'. It estimates the associations between birth months and height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) for 562 girls and 546 boys separately, from birth until age 11 years or pre-puberty, which in this society occurs ∼13-14 years., Results: Children born during the rainy season (February-May) were shorter, while children born during the end of the dry season and the start of the rainy season (August-November) were taller, both compared with their age-sex peers born during the rest of the year. The correlations of birth season with HAZ were stronger for boys than for girls. Controlling for birth season, there is some evidence of eventual partial catch-up growth, with the HAZ of girls or boys worsening until ∼ age 4-5 years, but improving thereafter. By age 6 years, many girls and boys had ceased to be stunted, irrespective of birth season., Conclusion: The results suggest that redressing stunting will require attention to conditions in utero, infancy and late childhood.

The aim of the project was to determine any effect of hyperbaric air on Bacteroides fragilis strains cultivated under hyperbaric conditions. Previously, it was hypothesized that there was a correlation between the presence of Bacteroides bacteria in patients preferring a meaty diet and cancer of the small intestine, and particularly of the large intestine and rectum. With respect to the fact that Bacteroides fragilis (BAFR) group are important producers of endotoxins, measurement and statistical evaluation of endotoxin production by individual strains of isolated Bacteroides species were used to compare bacteria isolated from various clinical samples from patients with colon and rectum cancer in comparison with strains isolated from other non-cancer diagnoses. Endotoxin production was proven by quantitative detection using the limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) test in EU/mL. Production of endotoxins in these bacteria cultured under hyperbaric air conditions was higher than those strains cultured under normobaric anaerobic conditions. But these differences in endotoxin production were not statistically significant (t test with log-transformed data, p value = 0.0910). Based on a two-tier t test for lognormal data, it is possible to cautiously conclude that a statistically significant difference was found between endotoxin production by Bacteroides fragilis strains isolated from non-carcinoma diagnoses (strains (1-6) and strains isolated from colorectal carcinoma diagnoses (strains 7-8; Wilcoxon non-parametric test p = 0.0132; t test = 0.1110; t test with log-transformed data, p value = 0.0294).

Aims: Previous studies have demonstrated substantial variability in manual assessment of QRS complex duration (QRSd). Disagreements in QRSd measurements were also found in several automated algorithms tested on digitized electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings. The aim of our study was to investigate the variability of automated QRSd measurements performed by two commercially available electrocardiographs., Methods and Results: Two GE MAC 5000 (GE-1 and GE-2) electrocardiographs and two Mortara ELI 350 (Mortara-1 and Mortara-2) electrocardiographs were used in the study. Participants for the study were recruited from patients hospitalized in the department of cardiology of a university hospital. Participants underwent up to four recording sessions within a single day with a different electrocardiograph at each session when two to four immediately successive ECG recordings were undertaken. In 76 patients, 683 ECGs were recorded; the mean QRSd was 109.0 ± 26.1 ms. The QRSd difference ≥10 ms between the first and second intra-session ECG was found in 7, 3, 20, and 14% of ECG pairs for GE-1, GE-2, Mortara-1, and Mortara-2, respectively. No inter-session difference in QRSd was found within both manufacturers. In individual patients, Mortara calculated the mean QRSd to be longer by 7.3 ms (95% CI: 6.2-8.5 ms, P < 0.0001) with a 2.1-times (95% CI: 1.9-2.4) greater standard deviation of the mean QRSd (7.1 vs. 3.3 ms, P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Electrocardiographs from two manufacturers measured QRSd values with a systematic difference and a significantly different level of precision. This may have important clinical implications in selection of suitable candidates for cardiac resynchronization therapy., (Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2016. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background/objectives: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is frequently heralded by an impairment of glucose homeostasis. Dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) and fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAP) are aminopeptidases that regulate several bioactive peptides involved in glucoregulation, and are frequently dysregulated in cancer. The present study analyzes blood plasma levels and the quantity and localization of DPP-IV and FAP in PDAC tissues., Methods: DPP-IV and FAP concentration and enzymatic activity were evaluated in the plasma from 93 PDAC, 39 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 29 control subjects, and in matched paired non-tumorous and tumor tissues from 48 PDAC patients. The localization of DPP-IV and FAP was determined using immunohistochemistry and catalytic histochemistry., Results: The enzymatic activity and concentration of DPP-IV was higher in PDAC tumor tissues compared to non-tumorous pancreas. DPP-IV was expressed in cancer cells and in the fibrotic stroma by activated (myo)fibroblasts including DPP-IV(+)FAP(+) cells. FAP was expressed in stromal cells and in some cancer cells and its expression was increased in the tumors. Plasmatic DPP-IV enzymatic activity, and in particular the ratio between DPP-IV enzymatic activity and concentration in PDAC with recent onset DM was higher compared to T2DM. In contrast, the plasmatic FAP enzymatic activity was lower in PDAC compared to T2DM and controls and rose after tumor removal., Conclusions: DPP-IV-like enzymatic activity is upregulated in PDAC tissues. PDAC patients with recent onset diabetes or prediabetes have increased plasmatic DPP-IV enzymatic activity. These changes may contribute to the frequently observed association of PDAC and recent onset impairment of glucoregulation., (Copyright © 2016 IAP and EPC. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)