Associations of genetic and infectious risk factors with coronary heart disease.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the most pressing health problems of our time and a major cause of preventable death. CHD results from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. Using multiplex serological testing for persistent or frequently recurring infections and genome-wide analysis in a prospective population study, we delineate the respective and combined influences of genetic variation, infections, and low-grade inflammation on the risk of incident CHD.

Preoperative Clinical Factors Associated with Short-Stay Laparoscopic Appendectomy.

Background: Outpatient appendectomy for acute appendicitis is a feasible, yet not widely performed procedure, as there are no universally accepted criteria for patient selection. The aim of this study was to assess preoperative clinical factors associated with successful short-stay appendectomy (SSA) and establish a predictive score to help with patient selection.

Methods: All consecutive laparoscopic appendectomies performed in our institution between January 2013 and June 2015 were retrospectively analyzed.

A step beyond the hygiene hypothesis-immune-mediated classes determined in a population-based study.

Background: Comorbidity patterns of childhood infections, atopic diseases, and adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are related to immune system programming conditions. The aim of this study was to make a step beyond the hygiene hypothesis and to comprehensively classify these patterns with latent class analysis (LCA). A second aim was to characterize the classes by associations with immunological, clinical, and sociodemographic variables.

Correction: Genome-wide physical activity interactions in adiposity - A meta-analysis of 200,452 adults.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.

The Benefit of Menopausal Hormone Therapy on Bone Density and Microarchitecture Persists After its Withdrawal.

Context: Menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) favorably affects bone mineral density (BMD). Whether MHT also affects bone microarchitecture, as assessed by trabecular bone score (TBS), has never been evaluated.

Objective: Our objective was to assess the effect of MHT on TBS and BMD before and after its withdrawal.

Assessment of skinfold thickness equations in estimating body composition in children with inflammatory bowel disease.

Aim: To assess the agreement of commonly used skinfold thickness equations to estimate percentage of Fat Mass (FM%) in paediatric patients with IBD, in comparison with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA).

Methods: Twenty-one paediatric IBD patients were included: 11 females and 10 males; mean age for the entire group: 14.3 years, range 12-16 years, 16 with Crohn's disease, five with ulcerative colitis.

Psychosocial Quality-of-Life, Lifestyle and Adiposity: A Longitudinal Study in Pre-schoolers (Ballabeina Study).

Purpose: In obesity prevention, understanding psychosocial influences in early life is pivotal. Reviews reported contradictory results and a lack of longitudinal studies focusing on underlying lifestyle factors. This study tested whether psychosocial Quality-Of-Life (QOL) was associated with pre-schoolers' lifestyle and adiposity changes over one school year and whether lifestyle moderated the latter.

Changes in gene expression profile in human subcutaneous adipose tissue during significant weight loss.

Objective: To analyze the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ1 and 2 (PPARγ1 and 2), 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11βHSD1), and leptin in adipose tissue (AT) of obese women during weight loss following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and to compare these levels with those obtained in AT of nonobese subjects.

Methods: Gene expression was determined by real-time RT-PCR prior to surgery and at 3, 6, and 12 months after RYGB.

Results: All obese patients lost weight, reaching a mean BMI of 29.

Interobserver and intraobserver variability of the apparent diffusion coefficient in treated malignant hepatic lesions on a 3.0T machine: measurements in the whole lesion versus in the area with the most restricted diffusion.

Purpose: To assess the inter/intraobserver variability of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements in treated hepatic lesions and to compare ADC measurements in the whole lesion and in the area with the most restricted diffusion (MRDA).

Materials And Methods: Twenty-five patients with treated malignant liver lesions were examined on a 3.0T machine.

Variability of ascending aorta diameter measurements as assessed with electrocardiography-gated multidetector computerized tomography and computer assisted diagnosis software.

Recently, morphometric measurements of the ascending aorta have been done with ECG-gated multidector computerized tomography (MDCT) to help the development of future novel transcatheter therapies (TCT); nevertheless, the variability of such measurements remains unknown. Thirty patients referred for ECG-gated CT thoracic angiography were evaluated. Continuous reformations of the ascending aorta, perpendicular to the centerline, were obtained automatically with a commercially available computer aided diagnosis (CAD).

Prevalence and determinants of obesity in children in public schools of Sintra, Portugal.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of and the factors related to overweight and obesity in a sample of children from the region of Sintra, Portugal.

Methods And Procedures: Cross-sectional study, stratified for freguesia with random selection of schools. Height, weight, triceps skinfold, upper arm and waist circumferences were measured, and overweight/obesity defined according to international criteria.

Trends in the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension: the WHO MONICA Project.

Objective: To describe the secular changes in the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension.

Design: Two independent cross-sectional population surveys using standardized methods conducted between the early 1980s and mid-1990s.

Setting: Twenty-four geographically defined populations of the WHO MONICA Project.