Body mass index classification misses subjects with increased cardiometabolic risk factors related to elevated adiposity.

Context: Body mass index (BMI) is widely used as a measure of overweight and obesity, but underestimates the prevalence of both conditions, defined as an excess of body fat.

Objective: We assessed the degree of misclassification on the diagnosis of obesity using BMI as compared with direct body fat percentage (BF%) determination and compared the cardiovascular and metabolic risk of non-obese and obese BMI-classified subjects with similar BF%.

Design: We performed a cross-sectional study.

The laboratory workforce shortage: a managerial perspective.

Most clinical laboratories in the nation report severe difficulties in recruitment and retention of most types of personnel. Other important factors impacting this problem include work complexities, increased automation, and a graying workforce. As a further challenge, institutional needs for clinical laboratory personnel are expected to grow significantly in the next decade.

Sustainability and the health care manager: part I.

Given the current operating climate, organizations are coming under pressure to develop and implement sustainability programs and projects, yet few managers truly understand what is meant by sustainability and its implications for managing organizations. This article examines the concept of sustainability and provides a broader definition of the term than going "green." Using a puzzle metaphor, the authors outline and explain the different components of sustainability and provide a checklist for achieving sustainability goals.

Health care transitions and the aging population: a framework for measuring the value of rapid rehabilitation.

A study was undertaken to establish a framework to measure the value of rapid rehabilitation and identify indicators to quantify effective outcomes and efficient processes as health care services are delivered to the aging population across providers, services, and settings. The rapid rehabilitation protocol serving as intervention in this research provides patients (≥65 years old) the option to transition from the acute-care hospital, early in the continuum of care, to an outpatient, skilled nursing facility operated by a division of the hospital organization. A quasi-experimental, cross-sectional, retrospective study is designed to identify and quantify the relationships present in processes and outcomes inherent in health care transitions.

Body adiposity and type 2 diabetes: increased risk with a high body fat percentage even having a normal BMI.

Obesity is the major risk factor for the development of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. BMI is widely used as a surrogate measure of obesity, but underestimates the prevalence of obesity, defined as an excess of body fat. We assessed the presence of impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose (both considered together as prediabetes) or type 2 diabetes in relation to the criteria used for the diagnosis of obesity using BMI as compared to body fat percentage (BF%).

The endurance of the effects of the penalty point system in Spain three years after. Main influencing factors.

In this work we have used ARIMA time series models to analyse the contribution of the penalty point system, the most important legislative measure for driving licences, in reducing the number of fatalities over 24h on the roads in Spain during the study period (January 1995 to June 2009). In addition, because of this long period of analysis, other control variables were introduced to model the enactment of the Reform of the Penal Code in December 2007, together with other more specific effects needed to fit the model correctly. The ARIMA intervention models methodology combines the basic features of specific times series models: it controls the trend and seasonal variation in data that is present when modelling the structure through autoregressive and moving average parameters and allows for inserting step or impulse input variables for checking and evaluating the effects of deterministic measures, such as legislative changes which are the object of study in this work.

Cannabidiol and other cannabinoids reduce microglial activation in vitro and in vivo: relevance to Alzheimer's disease.

Microglial activation is an invariant feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is noteworthy that cannabinoids are neuroprotective by preventing β-amyloid (Aβ)-induced microglial activation both in vitro and in vivo. On the other hand, the phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) has shown anti-inflammatory properties in different paradigms.

In Vitro Activity of Geldanamycin Derivatives against Schistosoma japonicum and Brugia malayi.

Geldanamycin (GA) is a benzoquinone-containing ansamycin that inhibits heat shock protein 90. GA derivatives are being evaluated as anti-neoplastic agents, but their utility against parasites whose heat shock proteins (Hsps) have homology with human Hsp90 is unknown. The activities of four synthetic GA derivatives were tested in vitro using adult Brugia malayi and Schistosoma japonicum.

Up-regulation of the novel proinflammatory adipokines lipocalin-2, chitinase-3 like-1 and osteopontin as well as angiogenic-related factors in visceral adipose tissue of patients with colon cancer.

Background: Obesity is widely recognised as an important risk factor for colorectal cancer (CC).

Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of CC on circulating concentrations and gene expression levels of inflammatory and angiogenesis-related factors in human visceral adipose tissue (VAT).

Methods: VAT biopsies were obtained from 18 healthy individuals and 11 patients with CC.

Increased circulating and visceral adipose tissue expression levels of YKL-40 in obesity-associated type 2 diabetes are related to inflammation: impact of conventional weight loss and gastric bypass.

Context: Plasma YKL-40 is elevated in patients with type 2 diabetes. The potential role of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) as a significant source of YKL-40 is unknown.

Objective: In the study circulating and expression levels of YKL-40 were examined in VAT analyzing the contribution of adipocytes and stromovascular fraction cells (SVFCs).

Sleeve gastrectomy induces weight loss in diet-induced obese rats even if high-fat feeding is continued.

Background: Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has been used for the surgical treatment of morbid obesity as a first or definitive procedure with satisfactory results. The objective of this study in rats was to establish the effects of SG on weight loss depending on the post-surgical type of diet followed.

Methods: Thirty male Wistar rats were fed ad libitum during 3 months on a high-fat diet (HFD) to induce obesity.

Effect of self-assessment on test scores: student perceptions.

After a sudden increase in most of the individual grades in a multiple-choice test, students were asked to rank the three most relevant factors responsible for this outcome. Among eight others, the availability of a test for self-assessment before the final test was by far the most frequently mentioned (82.4% of the students).

Leptin administration downregulates the increased expression levels of genes related to oxidative stress and inflammation in the skeletal muscle of ob/ob mice.

Obese leptin-deficient ob/ob mice exhibit a low-grade chronic inflammation together with a low muscle mass. Our aim was to analyze the changes in muscle expression levels of genes related to oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in leptin deficiency and to identify the effect of in vivo leptin administration. Ob/ob mice were divided in three groups as follows: control ob/ob, leptin-treated ob/ob (1 mg/kg/d) and leptin pair-fed ob/ob mice.

Deletion of inducible nitric-oxide synthase in leptin-deficient mice improves brown adipose tissue function.

Background: Leptin and nitric oxide (NO) on their own participate in the control of non-shivering thermogenesis. However, the functional interplay between both factors in this process has not been explored so far. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the impact of the absence of the inducible NO synthase (iNOS) gene in the regulation of energy balance in ob/ob mice.

Association of increased visfatin/PBEF/NAMPT circulating concentrations and gene expression levels in peripheral blood cells with lipid metabolism and fatty liver in human morbid obesity.

Background And Aims: Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) is an adipokine with physiological effects on the control of glucose homeostasis as well as potentially involved in inflammation. The association of circulating NAMPT concentrations with obesity has not been clearly established. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of obesity on circulating concentrations and gene expression levels of NAMPT in human peripheral blood cells (PBCs) as well as its involvement in inflammation, glucose and lipid metabolism.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in five schools of the San Juan metropolitan area: assesment of teacher's knowledge.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore the level of knowledge that a group of Puerto Rican teachers have about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the most common psychiatric disorder in school age children.

Method: the design was descriptive experimental. One hundred thirty two school teachers of five different schools (public and private) from the metropolitan area of San Juan participated in the study.

Gas phase elimination kinetics of methyl mandelate: experimental and DFT studies.

The gas phase elimination kinetics of racemic methyl mandelate was determined in a static system, and yielded on decomposition benzaldehyde, methanol, and carbon monoxide. The reaction was homogeneous, unimolecular, and follows a first-order law in the temperature range 379.5-440 degrees C and pressure range of 21.

Leptin administration favors muscle mass accretion by decreasing FoxO3a and increasing PGC-1alpha in ob/ob mice.

Absence of leptin has been associated with reduced skeletal muscle mass in leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. The aim of our study was to examine the effect of leptin on the catabolic and anabolic pathways regulating muscle mass. Gastrocnemius, extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscle mass as well as fiber size were significantly lower in ob/ob mice compared to wild type littermates, being significantly increased by leptin administration (P<0.

Advancing drug innovation for neglected diseases-criteria for lead progression.

The current drug R&D pipeline for most neglected diseases remains weak, and unlikely to support registration of novel drug classes that meet desired target product profiles in the short term. This calls for sustained investment as well as greater emphasis in the risky upstream drug discovery. Access to technologies, resources, and strong management as well as clear compound progression criteria are factors in the successful implementation of any collaborative drug discovery effort.

A diet enriched in polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids, LMN diet, induces neurogenesis in the subventricular zone and hippocampus of adult mouse brain.

At present it is widely accepted that there are at least two neurogenic sites in the adult mammalian brain: the subventricular zone (SVZ) of lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampus dentate gyrus. The adult proliferation rate declines with aging and is altered in several neurodegenerative pathologies including Alzheimer's disease. The aim of this work was to study whether a natural diet rich in polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids (LMN diet) can modulate neurogenesis in adult mice and give insight into putative mechanisms.

A comparative perspective on contemporary trends in global healthcare management education.

Thomas Friedman in The World is Flat stated that service industries are no longer immune from the forces of globalization--all industries are competing in an increasingly level (flattened) playing field. The Global Healthcare Management Faculty Forum surveyed both domestic and foreign program directors to get a sense of current attitudes toward globalization and resultant healthcare management educational issues. We also surveyed program directors in other countries.

Involvement of serum vascular endothelial growth factor family members in the development of obesity in mice and humans.

Adipose tissue is highly vascularized implying that angiogenesis takes place in its expansion. The aim of this study was to compare the concentrations of members of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family in obesity. Serum concentrations of VEGFs were analyzed in 15 lean (BMI 20.

Increased adipose tissue expression of lipocalin-2 in obesity is related to inflammation and matrix metalloproteinase-2 and metalloproteinase-9 activities in humans.

Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) is a novel adipokine with potential roles in obesity, insulin resistance, and inflammation. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of obesity on circulating concentrations and gene and protein expression levels of LCN2 in human visceral adipose tissue (VAT) as well as its involvement in inflammation. VAT biopsies from 47 subjects were used in the study.

Joint experimental and theoretical studies of the mechanism for the gas phase elimination kinetics of methyl 2,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxypropionate.

Methyl 2,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxypropionate was found to decompose, in a static system, mainly to methyl isobutyrate and formaldehyde. The reaction rates were affected in packed and unpacked clean Pyrex vessels, demonstrating little but significant surface effect. However, in vessels seasoned with allyl bromide this reaction was homogeneous and unimolecular and followed a first-order law.