Relations between the levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity, BMI, dietary habits, cognitive functions and attention problems in 8 to 9 years old pupils: network analysis (PACH Study)

BACKGROUND

Physical activity (PA) and dietary habits (DH) play a crucial role on quality of life and health outcomes from various aspects.

METHODS

This study aims to investigate the relations between recommended daily levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in 8 to 9 year old pupils, and their body mass index (BMI), DH, cognitive functions and attention problem scores by network analysis. Study participants were split into two groups based on their MVPA levels on weekdays.

RESULTS

Our findings suggest that children who reach recommended MVPA levels consume more vegetables and fruits, eat breakfast more frequently, have better motor speed and lower impulsivity score.

CONCLUSIONS

The number of interlinkages between various parameters in network structure for children who do not reach recommended MVPA levels is greater and more intense, highlighting the differences between the groups and suggesting that different interventions and approaches to improve/change lifestyle habits might be used.

Climate regulation processes are linked to the functional composition of plant communities in European forests, shrublands, and grasslands

Terrestrial ecosystems affect climate by reflecting solar irradiation, evaporative cooling, and carbon sequestration. Yet very little is known about how plant traits affect climate regulation processes (CRPs) in different habitat types. Here, we used linear and random forest models to relate the community-weighted mean and variance values of 19 plant traits (summarized into eight trait axes) to the climate-adjusted proportion of reflected solar irradiation, evapotranspiration, and net primary productivity across 36,630 grid cells at the European extent, classified into 10 types of forest, shrubland, and grassland habitats. We found that these trait axes were more tightly linked to log evapotranspiration (with an average of 6.2% explained variation) and the proportion of reflected solar irradiation (6.1%) than to net primary productivity (4.9%). The highest variation in CRPs was explained in forest and temperate shrubland habitats. Yet, the strength and direction of these relationships were strongly habitat-dependent. We conclude that any spatial upscaling of the effects of plant communities on CRPs must consider the relative contribution of different habitat types.

Multi-Element Profile Characterization of Monofloral and Polyfloral Honey from Latvia

Honey is of scientific interest mainly due to its health-promoting and antibacterial properties, which are also associated with its floral origins. However, the methods for confirming honey floral origins are quite limited and require improvements. One method suggested in the search for a multi-method approach to evaluating the floral origins of Latvian honey is inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). This study investigated the multi-element profile of 83 honey samples of well-specified floral origins. The main findings included using Ba, Ca, Cs, Fe, and Rb as indicator elements for heather honey. The chemometric evaluation supported the use of ICP-MS for distinguishing heather honey from other types of honey. The Latvian polyfloral honey multi-element profile was defined and compared to honey samples with other geographical origins. Additionally, the multi-element profiles of buckwheat, clover, and polyfloral honey proteins were investigated to clarify whether the majority of elements were bound with proteins or not. Preliminary results indicated that Ca, K, Mg, Mn, Na, and Sr were mainly found in non-protein-bound forms, while the majority of Al, Cu, Ni, and Zn were in the form of large chemical structures (>10 kDa).

Effect of Betulin Colloidal Particles on Proliferation and Cytokine Secretion of Human Skin Fibroblasts

The aim of the study was to obtain untreated and treated betulin colloidal particles and assess their effect on the viability, morphology, proliferation and cytokine secretion of human dermal fibroblasts. To improve bioavailability, betulin treatment was performed by an antisolvent precipitation technique. The average particle size after treatment in the aqueous dispersion decreased from 552.9 ± 11.3 to 278.2 ± 1.6 nm. Treated betulin colloidal particles showed no cytotoxicity up to a concentration of 400 µg·mL-1 in the colorimetric tetrazolium salt viability test (CCK-8). Moreover, the cell morphology was not changed in the presence of betulin colloidal particles at a concentration range from 0.78 to 400 µg·mL-1. The obtained results also show that betulin particles induce the secretion of the proinflammatory and angiogenesis-stimulating cytokine IL-8. However, further studies would be required to clarify the mechanism of IL-8 secretion induction.

Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy with a microfluidic diamond quantum sensor

Quantum sensors based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond have emerged as a promising detection modality for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy owing to their micrometer-scale detection volume and noninductive-based detection. A remaining challenge is to realize sufficiently high spectral resolution and concentration sensitivity for multidimensional NMR analysis of picoliter sample volumes. Here, we address this challenge by spatially separating the polarization and detection phases of the experiment in a microfluidic platform. We realize a spectral resolution of 0.65 ± 0.05 Hz, an order-of-magnitude improvement over previous diamond NMR studies. We use the platform to perform two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy of liquid analytes within an effective ∼40-picoliter detection volume. The use of diamond quantum sensors as in-line microfluidic NMR detectors is a major step toward applications in mass-limited chemical analysis and single-cell biology.