Hand grip strength in boys and girls from summer school camps in Spain, 1900-1925. A comparison with 21st century data.

Objectives: The Spanish National Pedagogic Museum (Museo Pedagógico Nacional, MPN), founded by La Institución Libre de Enseñanza, organized the first summer school camps in Spain and their initiative was followed by other institutions in this country. MPN prepared anthropological forms for those sojourns, which included information about both metric and physiological measurements of the schoolchildren. The aim of the current work is to analyze hand grip strength data and to compare them with recent values.

NMReDATA: Tools and applications.

The nuclear magnetic resonance extracted data (NMReDATA) format has been proposed as a way to store, exchange, and disseminate nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data and physical and chemical metadata of chemical compounds. In this paper, we report on analytical workflows that take advantage of the uniform and standardized NMReDATA format. We also give access to a repository of sample data, which can serve for validating software packages that encode or decode files in NMReDATA format.

Variation of the cormic index since the onset of summer school camps in Spain (1887) up to present days.

Objectives: To assess a secular change in proportion between lower limbs and torso, we analyzed the evolution of cormic index in schoolchildren attending summer camps organized by the Spanish National Pedagogic Museum between 1887 and 1924, also comparing to later studies up to the present.

Subjects And Methods: Unpublished primary data for height and sitting height were collected from 805 individuals of both sexes. Data were pooled in cohorts according to age and year of measurement.

Waist circumference percentiles for Hispanic-American children and comparison with other international references.

Introduction: Waist circumference (WC) constitutes an indirect measurement of central obesity in children and adolescents.

Objective: To provide percentiles of WC for Hispanic-American children and adolescents, and compare them with other international references.

Materials And Methods: The sample comprised 13 289 healthy children between 6 and 18 years coming from public schools of middle and low socioeconomic levels in different parts of Argentina, Cuba, Spain, Mexico, and Venezuela.

Historical recollection of anthropometric data from schoolchildren attending summer camps from 1887 to 1934 in Spain: Interpretations and comparison with coetaneous and modern references.

Objectives: Around the aim of gaining knowledge on the secular trends in nutritional status of the Spanish population, we found a collection of historical records compiled by La Institución Libre de Enseñanza and their alumni association along 47 years. These data had been collected from boys and girls attending summer camps, with a policy of improving health of children with unfavorable socioeconomic conditions. The objective is to extract all possible information about growth changes, and eventually any interpretation related to status of the originating families.

Different roles of Nrf2 and NFKB in the antioxidant imbalance produced by esculetin or quercetin on NB4 leukemia cells.

Esculetin (6,7-dihydrocoumarin) and the flavonoid quercetin (3,5,7,3',4' pentahydroxyflavone) are compounds that could change the balance of redox homeostasis. NB4 leukemia cells were treated with 25 μM quercetin for 24 h and with esculetin at either 100 or 500 μM for different times. Quercetin increased the levels of pro-inflammatory NFkB p65 in the nucleus correspondingly reducing them in the cytosol.

Esculetin modulates cytotoxicity induced by oxidants in NB4 human leukemia cells.

Esculetin is a polyphenolic compound with cytoprotective properties. We previously demonstrated the induction of apoptosis by esculetin in NB4 human leukemia cells, as a model, by a mechanism not well understood. To analyse the antioxidant activity of esculetin on apoptosis, we have studied the influence of co-treatments of esculetin at a concentration of 100μM with exogenous ROS donors, namely tert-butyl-hydroperoxide and hydrogen peroxide, on NB4 cells.

Esculetin Neutralises Cytotoxicity of -BHP but Not of HO on Human Leukaemia NB4 Cells.

The coumarin esculetin shows antioxidant action on some cell types, both by scavenging ROS and by decreasing ROS production. We have previously demonstrated the induction of apoptosis by esculetin on NB4 human leukaemia cells by an ill-defined mechanism related to ROS levels. In this work, we analyze the effect of the simultaneous treatment with esculetin and two oxidants to observe the early events in the mechanism of esculetin-induced apoptosis.

SUBSCAPULAR AND TRICEPS SKINFOLDS REFERENCE VALUES OF HISPANIC AMERICAN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS AND THEIR COMPARISON WITH THE REFERENCE OF CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC).

Introduction: the assessment of the skinfold thickness is an objective measure of adiposity. Therefore, it is a useful tool for nutritional diagnosis and prevention of metabolic risk associated with excess fat in chilhood and adolescence.

Objective: to provide percentiles of subscapular and triceps skinfolds for Hispanic American schoolchildren and compare them with those published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from United States, that it have been commonly used as a reference in most of these countries.

JNK and NFκB dependence of apoptosis induced by vinblastine in human acute promyelocytic leukaemia cells.

The relationship between the mitogen-activated protein kinase response, nuclear factor-κB (NFκB) expression and the apoptosis in human acute promyelocytic leukaemia NB4 cells treated with vinblastine was investigated in this work. Cell viability, subdiploid DNA and cell cycle were analysed by propidium iodide permeability and flow cytometry analyses. Apoptosis was determined by annexin V-Fluorescein isothiocyanate assays.

Weight and height percentiles calculated by the LMS method in Argentinean schoolchildren. A comparative references study.

Background: The Argentinean population is characterized by ethnic, cultural and socio-economic diversity.

Aim: To calculate the percentiles of weight-for-age (W/A) and height-for-age (H/A) of schoolchildren from Argentina employing the LMS method; and to compare the obtained percentiles with those of the international and national references.

Subjects And Methods: Anthropometric data of 18 698 students (8672 girls and 10 026 boys) of 3-13 years old were collected (2003-2008) from Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chubut, Jujuy, La Pampa and Mendoza.

In vitro anti-proliferative effects on NB4 human leukemia cells and physicochemical screening of Pleurotus sp. (higher Basidiomycetes) mycelia from Cuba.

This study examined the phytochemical profile and the in vitro anti-proliferative effects of a hot water mycelial extract from the edible mushroom Pleurotus sp. on NB4 human leukemia cells. Flow-cytometry analyses were used to measure cell viability, cell cycle, and apoptosis in cells incubated 24 h with the extract at doses of 100 and 200 µg/mL.

Apoptosis induced by paclitaxel via Bcl-2, Bax and caspases 3 and 9 activation in NB4 human leukaemia cells is not modulated by ERK inhibition.

We have studied the role of pivotal bio-molecules involved in signalling of cytotoxic effects induced by paclitaxel (Ptx) on acute promyelocytic human leukaemia NB4 cells. A time-dependent increase in cell death and DNA cleavage was observed after 30μM Ptx treatment. Cell death induction by Ptx proceeds mainly as programmed cell death as shown by annexin V-FITC, reaching up to 30% of apoptotic cells after 24h.

[Determining factors in body mass index of Spanish schoolchildren based on the National Health Surveys].

Introduction: Spanish National Health Surveys do not establish synergistic relations between variables. The purpose of this study was to perform a deeper historical analysis of body mass index (BMI) and its relation to other parameters included in the questionnaire for children.

Material And Methods: Data from interviews conducted (between 1987 and 2006) to parents and guardians of schoolchildren aged 9-15 years were analyzed.

Cytotoxic action of Ganoderma lucidum on interleukin-3 dependent lymphoma DA-1 cells: involvement of apoptosis proteins.

Aqueous extracts and a semipurified fraction obtained by methanol extraction and column chromatography were isolated from Ganoderma lucidum [Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst.; Ganodermataceae Donk] and their effects on interleukin 3-dependent lymphoma cells (DA-1) were studied.

Ganoderma lucidum induced apoptosis in NB4 human leukemia cells: involvement of Akt and Erk.

Aim Of The Study: The final goal of this work was to study the toxic and apoptosis effects induced by fractions from Ganoderma lucidum [Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis) P. Karst.; Ganodermataceae Donk] on NB4 human leukemia cells.

Biomolecules in the computer: Jmol to the rescue.

Jmol is free, open source software for interactive molecular visualization. Since it is written in the Java™ programming language, it is compatible with all major operating systems and, in the applet form, with most modern web browsers. This article summarizes Jmol development and features that make it a valid and promising replacement for Rasmol and Chime in the development of educational materials, as well as in basic investigation of biomolecular structure.

Involvement of Bax, Bcl-2 and caspase 3 in hydroxyurea- or etoposide-induced apoptosis of mouse interleukin-3-dependent lymphoma cells.

Background: The apoptosis action induced by hydroxyurea or etoposide in interleukin 3-dependent lymphoma cells (DA-1) was studied.

Materials And Methods: The conditions to study apoptosis of these cells were 17 hours of cell treatment with concentrations of 1.25 mM hydroxyurea or 100 microM etoposide using flow cytometry, fluorometry and immunoblots techniques.

Quantitation of apoptosis induction by etoposide or hydroxyurea in mouse interleukin 3-dependent lymphoma cells.

Background: The apoptosis induction by etoposide or hydroxyurea in mouse interleukin 3-dependent lymphoma cells (DA-1) was studied. Treatments with 1.25 mM hydroxyurea and 100 microM etoposide for 17 hours were considered appropriate concentrations for such studies.

Toxic action of etoposide on mouse peritoneal macrophages and its modulation by interleukin 3.

In the present work, we have studied the toxic action of etoposide on mouse peritoneal macrophages. First, we have determined the induction of DNA fragmentation by this antitumour compound. To study the possible influence of interleukin 3 on the effects of etoposide on mouse macrophages, we studied intracellular protein phosphorylation induced by interleukin 3.