Adolescent Reference Values for MR-Derived Biventricular Strain Obtained Using Feature-Tracking and Myocardial Tagging.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial strain is a promising marker for the detection of early left or right ventricular (LV or RV) dysfunction in pediatric populations. The reference standard for MR strain measurement is myocardial tagging (MT); however, MT has limited clinical utility because the additional acquisitions needed are time-consuming. In contrast, MR-feature tracking (FT) allows strain quantification from routinely acquired cine sequences. Studies providing reference values obtained with both FT and MT for adolescents are lacking. PURPOSE: To use MR-FT and MT to define sex-specific LV and RV strain reference values for adolescents. STUDY TYPE: Cross-sectional, prospective. POPULATION: One hundred twenty-three adolescents aged 15-18 years (52% girls) without known cardiovascular disease. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: Balanced steady-state free-precession sequence for FT analysis and a spatial modulation of magnetization hybrid TFE-EPI sequence for MT acquisitions at 3.0-T. ASSESSMENT: Segment Medviso software was used to obtain longitudinal (LS) and circumferential (CS) strain for both ventricles, and radial strain (RS) for LV. STATISTICAL TESTS: The Student t-test was used for between-sex comparisons of continuous variables. Sex-specific percentiles were calculated using the weighted average method. Intraobserver and interobserver agreement was assessed in 30 randomly selected studies using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: FT-derived LVLS and LVCS were significantly higher in girls than in boys (-19.8% vs. -17.8% and -22.2% vs. -21.0%, respectively), as they were with MT (LVLS: -18.1% vs. -16.8%; LVCS: -20.8% vs. -19.7%). FT-LVRS was higher in girls than in boys (44.8% vs. 35.1%), while MT-LVRS was the opposite (18.6% vs. 22.7%). FT-RVLS was higher in girls (-23.4% vs. -21.3%), but there were no between-sex differences in MT-derived RVLS or RVCS. ICC values for intraobserver agreement were ≥0.89, whereas for interobserver agreement were <0.80 for MT-LVRS and ≥0.80 for all remaining parameters. DATA CONCLUSION: This study provides sex-specific reference biventricular strain values obtained with MR-MT and MR-FT for adolescents aged 15-18 years. MR-FT may be a valid method for obtaining strain values in pediatric populations. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 3.

Orthology-based analysis helps map evolutionary diversification and predict substrate class use of BAHD acyltransferases.

Large enzyme families catalyze metabolic diversification by virtue of their ability to use diverse chemical scaffolds. How enzyme families attain such functional diversity is not clear. Furthermore, duplication and promiscuity in such enzyme families limits their functional prediction, which has produced a burgeoning set of incompletely annotated genes in plant genomes. Here, we address these challenges using BAHD acyltransferases as a model. This fast-evolving family expanded drastically in land plants, increasing from one to five copies in algae to approximately 100 copies in diploid angiosperm genomes. Compilation of >160 published activities helped visualize the chemical space occupied by this family and define eight different classes based on structural similarities between acceptor substrates. Using orthologous groups (OGs) across 52 sequenced plant genomes, we developed a method to predict BAHD acceptor substrate class utilization as well as origins of individual BAHD OGs in plant evolution. This method was validated using six novel and 28 previously characterized enzymes and helped improve putative substrate class predictions for BAHDs in the tomato genome. Our results also revealed that while cuticular wax and lignin biosynthetic activities were more ancient, anthocyanin acylation activity was fixed in BAHDs later near the origin of angiosperms. The OG-based analysis enabled identification of signature motifs in anthocyanin-acylating BAHDs, whose importance was validated via molecular dynamic simulations, site-directed mutagenesis and kinetic assays. Our results not only describe how BAHDs contributed to evolution of multiple chemical phenotypes in the plant world but also propose a biocuration-enabled approach for improved functional annotation of plant enzyme families.

Flower morphology as a predictor of pollination mode in a biotic to abiotic pollination continuum.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Wind pollination has evolved repeatedly in flowering plants, yet the identification of a wind pollination syndrome as a set of integrated floral traits can be elusive. Thalictrum (Ranunculaceae) comprises temperate perennial herbs that have transitioned repeatedly from insect to wind pollination while also exhibiting mixed pollination, providing an ideal system to test for evolutionary correlation between floral morphology and pollination mode in a biotic to abiotic continuum. Moreover, the lack of floral organ fusion across this genus allows testing for specialization to pollination vectors in the absence of this feature. METHODS: We expanded phylogenetic sampling in the genus from a previous study using six chloroplast loci, which allowed us to test whether species cluster into distinct pollination syndromes based on floral morphology. We then used multivariate analyses on floral traits followed by ancestral state reconstruction of the emerging flower morphotypes and determined whether these traits are evolutionarily correlated under a Bayesian framework with Brownian motion. KEY RESULTS: Floral traits fell into five distinct clusters, which were reduced to three after considering phylogenetic relatedness and were largely consistent with flower morphotypes and associated pollination vectors. Multivariate evolutionary analyses found a positive correlation between the lengths of floral reproductive structures (styles, stigmas, filaments and anthers). Shorter reproductive structures tracked insect-pollinated species and clades in the phylogeny, whereas longer structures tracked wind-pollinated ones, consistent with selective pressures exerted by biotic vs. abiotic pollination vectors, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although detectable suites of integrated floral traits across Thalictrum were correlated with wind or insect pollination at the extremes of the morphospace distribution, a presumed intermediate, mixed pollination mode morphospace was also detected. Thus, our data broadly support the existence of detectable flower morphotypes from convergent evolution underlying the evolution of pollination mode in Thalictrum, presumably via different paths from an ancestral mixed pollination state.

Clustering of lifestyle behaviors and adiposity in early adolescents in Spain: findings from the SI! Program for Secondary Schools.

BACKGROUND: Several unhealthy lifestyle behaviors in adolescence are often linked to overweight/obesity. Some of them may be present simultaneously, leading to combined effects on health. Therefore, the clustering of several unhealthy behaviors in adolescents might be associated with adiposity excess. PURPOSE: To identify lifestyle patterns and analyze their association with adiposity in early adolescents. METHODS: A cross-sectional cluster analysis was performed in 1183 adolescents (50.5% girls) with a mean age of 12.5 (0.4) years included in the SI! Program for Secondary Schools in Spain to identify lifestyle patterns based on healthy diet, step counts, sleep time, and leisure screen time. Generalized mixed models were applied to estimate the association between lifestyle patterns and adiposity indices. RESULTS: Four lifestyle patterns were derived: Cluster 1-higher screen time and poorer diet (n = 213), Cluster 2-lower activity and longer sleepers (n = 388), Cluster 3-active and shorter sleepers (n = 280), and Cluster 4-healthiest (n = 302). Except for the number of steps (12,008 (2357) day), the lifestyle behaviors in our sample presented levels far below the recommendations, especially for sleep duration. Cluster 4 included the largest proportion of adolescents from high socioeconomic status families (47.7%) and the lowest prevalence of overweight/obesity (23.1%). Compared to Cluster 4-healthiest, adolescents in the remaining clusters presented a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity and central obesity, showing Cluster 3 the highest prevalences (PR:1.31 [95%CI: 1.31, 1.31] and PR:1.40 [95%CI: 1.33, 1.47]). CONCLUSIONS: Clustering of lifestyle patterns in early adolescence allows the identification of individuals with excess adiposity, in whom health promotion strategies should be stressed, especially in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trial Registry, NCT03504059. Registered 20/04/2018-Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03504059 .

Epigenetic loss of the transfer RNA-modifying enzyme TYW2 induces ribosome frameshifts in colon cancer.

Transfer RNA (tRNA) activity is tightly regulated to provide a physiological protein translation, and tRNA chemical modifications control its function in a complex with ribosomes and messenger RNAs (mRNAs). In this regard, the correct hypermodification of position G37 of phenylalanine-tRNA, adjacent to the anticodon, is critical to prevent ribosome frameshifting events. Here we report that the tRNA-yW Synthesizing Protein 2 (TYW2) undergoes promoter hypermethylation-associated transcriptional silencing in human cancer, particularly in colorectal tumors. The epigenetic loss of TYW2 induces guanosine hypomodification in phenylalanine-tRNA, an increase in -1 ribosome frameshift events, and down-regulation of transcripts by mRNA decay, such as of the key cancer gene ROBO1. Importantly, TYW2 epigenetic inactivation is linked to poor overall survival in patients with early-stage colorectal cancer, a finding that could be related to the observed acquisition of enhanced migration properties and epithelial-to-mesenchymal features in the colon cancer cells that harbor TYW2 DNA methylation-associated loss. These findings provide an illustrative example of how epigenetic changes can modify the epitranscriptome and further support a role for tRNA modifications in cancer biology.

Comparative transcriptomics of a monocotyledonous geophyte reveals shared molecular mechanisms of underground storage organ formation.

Many species from across the vascular plant tree-of-life have modified standard plant tissues into tubers, bulbs, corms, and other underground storage organs (USOs), unique innovations which allow these plants to retreat underground. Our ability to understand the developmental and evolutionary forces that shape these morphologies is limited by a lack of studies on certain USOs and plant clades. We take a comparative transcriptomics approach to characterizing the molecular mechanisms of tuberous root formation in Bomarea multiflora (Alstroemeriaceae) and compare these mechanisms to those identified in other USOs across diverse plant lineages; B. multiflora fills a key gap in our understanding of USO molecular development as the first monocot with tuberous roots to be the focus of this kind of research. We sequenced transcriptomes from the growing tip of four tissue types (aerial shoot, rhizome, fibrous root, and root tuber) of three individuals of B. multiflora. We identified differentially expressed isoforms between tuberous and non-tuberous roots and tested the expression of a priori candidate genes implicated in underground storage in other taxa. We identify 271 genes that are differentially expressed in root tubers versus non-tuberous roots, including genes implicated in cell wall modification, defense response, and starch biosynthesis. We also identify a phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein, which has been implicated in tuberization signalling in other taxa and, through gene-tree analysis, place this copy in a phylogenetic context. These findings suggest that some similar molecular processes underlie the formation of USOs across flowering plants despite the long evolutionary distances among taxa and non-homologous morphologies (e.g., bulbs vs. tubers). (Plant development, tuberous roots, comparative transcriptomics, geophytes).

Spontaneous homeotic mutants and genetic control of floral organ identity in a ranunculid.

The regulation of floral organ identity was investigated using a forward genetic approach in five floral homeotic mutants of Thalictrum, a noncore eudicot. We hypothesized that these mutants carry defects in the floral patterning genes. Mutant characterization comprised comparative floral morphology and organ identity gene expression at early and late developmental stages, followed by sequence analysis of coding and intronic regions to identify transcription factor binding sites and protein-protein interaction (PPI) motifs. Mutants exhibited altered expression of floral MADS-box genes, which further informed the function of paralogs arising from gene duplications not found in reference model systems. The ensuing modified BCE models for the mutants supported instances of neofunctionalization (e.g., B-class genes expressed ectopically in sepals), partial redundancy (E-class), or subfunctionalization (C-class) of paralogs. A lack of deleterious mutations in the coding regions of candidate floral MADS-box genes suggested that cis-regulatory or trans-acting mutations are at play. Consistent with this hypothesis, double-flower mutants had transposon insertions or showed signs of transposon activity in the regulatory intron of AGAMOUS (AG) orthologs. Single amino acid substitutions were also found, yet they did not fall on any of the identified DNA binding or PPI motifs. In conclusion, we present evidence suggesting that transposon activity and regulatory mutations in floral homeotic genes likely underlie the striking phenotypes of these Thalictrum floral homeotic mutants.

Get the shovel: morphological and evolutionary complexities of belowground organs in geophytes.

Herbaceous plants collectively known as geophytes, which regrow from belowground buds, are distributed around the globe and throughout the land plant tree of life. The geophytic habit is an evolutionarily and ecologically important growth form in plants, permitting novel life history strategies, enabling the occupation of more seasonal climates, mediating interactions between plants and their water and nutrient resources, and influencing macroevolutionary patterns by enabling differential diversification and adaptation. These taxa are excellent study systems for understanding how convergence on a similar growth habit (i.e., geophytism) can occur via different morphological and developmental mechanisms. Despite the importance of belowground organs for characterizing whole-plant morphological diversity, the morphology and evolution of these organs have been vastly understudied with most research focusing on only a few crop systems. Here, we clarify the terminology commonly used (and sometimes misused) to describe geophytes and their underground organs and highlight key evolutionary patterns of the belowground morphology of geophytic plants. Additionally, we advocate for increasing resources for geophyte research and implementing standardized ontological definitions of geophytic organs to improve our understanding of the factors controlling, promoting, and maintaining geophyte diversity.

Scent matters: differential contribution of scent to insect response in flowers with insect vs. wind pollination traits.

Background and Aims: Growing experimental evidence that floral scent is a key contributor to pollinator attraction supports its investigation as a component of the suite of floral traits that result from pollinator-mediated selection. Yet, the fate of floral scent during the transition out of biotic into abiotic pollination has rarely been tested. In the case of wind pollination, this is due not only to its rarer incidence among flowering plants compared with insect pollination, but also to the scarcity of systems amenable to genus-level comparisons. Thalictrum (Ranunculaceae), with its multiple transitions from insect to wind pollination, offers a unique opportunity to test interspecific changes in floral fragrance and their potential impact on pollinator attraction. Methods: First, the Thalictrum phylogeny was revised and the ancestral character state of pollination mode was reconstructed. Then, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that comprise the scent bouquets of flowers from 11 phylogenetically representative wind- and insect-pollinated species were characterized and compared. Finally, to test the hypothesis that scent from insect-pollinated flowers elicits a significantly greater response from potential pollinators than that from wind-pollinated flowers, electroantennograms (EAGs) were performed on Bombus impatiens using whole flower extracts. Key Results: Phylogenetic reconstruction of the pollination mode recovered 8-10 transitions to wind pollination from an ancestral insect pollination state and two reversals to insect pollination. Biochemical and multivariate analysis showed that compounds are distinct by species and only partially segregate with pollination mode, with no significant phylogenetic signal on scent composition. Floral VOCs from insect-pollinated Thalictrum elicited a larger antennal response from potential insect pollinators than those from wind-pollinated congeners. Conclusions: An evolutionary scenario is proposed where an ancestral ability of floral fragrance to elicit an insect response through the presence of specific compounds was independently lost during the multiple evolutionary transitions to wind pollination in Thalictrum.

Tuber, or not tuber: Molecular and morphological basis of underground storage organ development.

Underground storage organs occur in phylogenetically diverse plant taxa and arise from multiple tissue types including roots and stems. Thickening growth allows underground storage organs to accommodate carbohydrates and other nutrients and requires proliferation at various lateral meristems followed by cell expansion. The WOX-CLE module regulates thickening growth via the vascular cambium in several eudicot systems, but the molecular mechanisms of proliferation at other lateral meristems are not well understood. In potato, onion, and other systems, members of the phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) gene family induce underground storage organ development in response to photoperiod cues. While molecular mechanisms of tuber development in potato are well understood, we lack detailed mechanistic knowledge for the extensive morphological and taxonomic diversity of underground storage organs in plants.

Absence of Myocardial Involvement After SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Asymptomatic Adolescents.

This study aimed to evaluate the presence of subclinical myocardial damage in adolescents who were vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. One hundred twenty asymptomatic adolescents with a mean age of 16.0 ± 0.4 years (51% girls) underwent cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibody testing was performed, and self-reported dates of confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or vaccination were collected. Participants were classified according to SARS-CoV-2 status as naïve (non-infected and unvaccinated, n = 74), infected (unvaccinated, n = 23), and vaccinated (independently of past infection status, n = 23). Biventricular volumes and ejection fraction and myocardial T2 relaxation time were similar in the three groups. T1 relaxation time was slightly higher in vaccinated adolescents (1249 ± 35 ms) than in naïve and infected participants (1231 ± 30 ms and 1227 ± 29 ms, respectively; p = 0.035), although this difference was considered clinically irrelevant. This observational study found no evidence of relevant subclinical myocardial involvement after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in asymptomatic adolescents.

Cardiovascular Health Trajectories in Adolescence and Their Association With Sociodemographic and Cardiometabolic Outcomes in Spain.

PURPOSE: To determine cardiovascular health (CVH) trajectories and their association with sociodemographic and cardiometabolic outcomes in adolescence. METHODS: One thousand eighty adolescents attending 24 secondary schools enrolled in the SI! Program for Secondary Schools trial in Spain were assessed at approximately 12, 14, and 16 years of age. CVH was assessed according to American Heart Association criteria based on seven metrics (smoking status, body mass index, physical activity, diet, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and blood glucose), and CVH trajectories were identified by latent class trajectory modeling. Associations between CVH trajectories, sociodemographic characteristics, and cardiometabolic outcomes were analyzed using generalized linear and Poisson models. RESULTS: Five CVH trajectory groups were identified: poor-stable (27 adolescents [2.5%]), intermediate-substantial rise (79 [7.3%]), intermediate-substantial decline (63 [5.8%]), intermediate-mild decline (403 [37.3%]), and intermediate-mild rise (508 [47.1%]). Boys and adolescents from families with low-average income, low-intermediate educational attainment, and a migrant background more frequently belonged to groups with lower baseline CVH and poor or declining trajectories. The intermediate-substantial decline group had the highest prevalence ratio for overweight/obesity (3.84; 95% confidence interval: 2.86-5.16) and metabolic syndrome (4.93; 95% confidence interval: 1.21-20.04) at age 16, whereas prevalence was lowest in the intermediate-mild rise group. DISCUSSION: Adolescent CVH trajectories differ according to socioeconomic characteristics and are associated with cardiometabolic outcomes. Primordial prevention interventions should be implemented early in life, taking into account CVH trajectories and with a particular focus on vulnerable populations.

Unlocking the power of polyphenols: A promising biomarker of improved metabolic health and anti-inflammatory diet in adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adolescence is a risk factor for future cardiovascular disease. The chronic inflammation associated with MetS can be attenuated by the anti-inflammatory effect of polyphenols. We aimed to evaluate total urinary polyphenols as a biomarker of anti-inflammatory diets and their effect on MetS in adolescents. METHODS: In this retrospective analysis of a longitudinal cohort study, the relationship between total polyphenol excretion (TPE) in urine, the inflammatory potential of the diet measured through the Children's Dietary Inflammatory Index (C-DII), and the presence of metabolic syndrome was evaluated. The study population consisted of adolescents enrolled in the SI! Program for Secondary Schools trial, who had completed all the study forms and provided urine samples at baseline and at the two-year follow-up. Multivariate linear regression and multinominal logistic regression models were generated to evaluate the relationship of changes in TPE with changes in the C-DII score and changes in MetS status, respectively. An analysis of the ROC curve was performed to assess the potential of TPE as a biomarker of an anti-inflammatory diet. RESULTS: This study included 662 adolescents, 51.2% were males, and 48.8% were females, with a mean age of 12 (0.38) years at baseline. The relationship between changes in TPE and changes in the C-DII score was stratified by sex with a p-value <0.001 for the interaction. TPE and C-DII were inversely associated in males (-0.13 mg GAE/g creatinine [-0.26; -0.01] per 1-SD increase, p-value = 0.037). In addition, an increase in changes in TPE levels were associated with a reversal in MetS status in all adolescents (1.30 [1.27; 1.34] per 1-SD increase, p-value<0.001). The ROC curve showed that urinary TPE levels can predict dietary inflammatory potential with an AUC = 0.793 (0.725; 0.863) in males. CONCLUSION: Polyphenols excreted in urine are a potential biomarker of anti-inflammatory diets in males and are associated with a reversal of MetS status in adolescents. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT03504059, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03504059.

A Wox3-patterning module organizes planar growth in grass leaves and ligules.

Grass leaves develop from a ring of primordial initial cells within the periphery of the shoot apical meristem, a pool of organogenic stem cells that generates all of the organs of the plant shoot. At maturity, the grass leaf is a flattened, strap-like organ comprising a proximal supportive sheath surrounding the stem and a distal photosynthetic blade. The sheath and blade are partitioned by a hinge-like auricle and the ligule, a fringe of epidermally derived tissue that grows from the adaxial (top) leaf surface. Together, the ligule and auricle comprise morphological novelties that are specific to grass leaves. Understanding how the planar outgrowth of grass leaves and their adjoining ligules is genetically controlled can yield insight into their evolutionary origins. Here we use single-cell RNA-sequencing analyses to identify a 'rim' cell type present at the margins of maize leaf primordia. Cells in the leaf rim have a distinctive identity and share transcriptional signatures with proliferating ligule cells, suggesting that a shared developmental genetic programme patterns both leaves and ligules. Moreover, we show that rim function is regulated by genetically redundant Wuschel-like homeobox3 (WOX3) transcription factors. Higher-order mutations in maize Wox3 genes greatly reduce leaf width and disrupt ligule outgrowth and patterning. Together, these findings illustrate the generalizable use of a rim domain during planar growth of maize leaves and ligules, and suggest a parsimonious model for the homology of the grass ligule as a distal extension of the leaf sheath margin.

Magnetic resonance imaging reference values for cardiac morphology, function and tissue composition in adolescents.

Background: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a precise tool for the assessment of cardiac anatomy, function, and tissue composition. However, studies providing CMR reference values in adolescence are scarce. We aim to provide sex-specific CMR reference values for biventricular and atrial dimensions and function and myocardial relaxation times in this population. Methods: Adolescents aged 15-18 years with no known cardiovascular disease underwent a non-contrast 3-T CMR scan between March 2021 and October 2021. The imaging protocol included a cine steady-state free-precession sequence for the analysis of chamber size and function, as well as T2-GraSE and native MOLLI T1-mapping for the characterization of myocardial tissue. Findings: CMR scans were performed in 123 adolescents (mean age 16 ± 0.5 years, 52% girls). Mean left and right ventricular end-diastolic indexed volumes were higher in boys than in girls (91.7 ± 11.6 vs 78.1 ± 8.3 ml/m2, p < 0.001; and 101.3 ± 14.1 vs 84.1 ± 10.5 ml/m2, p < 0.001), as was the indexed left ventricular mass (48.5 ± 9.6 vs 36.6 ± 6.0 g/m2, p < 0.001). Left ventricular ejection fraction showed no significant difference by sex (62.2 ± 4.1 vs 62.8 ± 4.2%, p = 0.412), whereas right ventricular ejection fraction trended slightly lower in boys (55.4 ± 4.7 vs. 56.8 ± 4.4%, p = 0.085). Indexed atrial size and function parameters did not differ significantly between sexes. Global myocardial native T1 relaxation time was lower in boys than in girls (1215 ± 23 vs 1252 ± 28 ms, p < 0.001), whereas global myocardial T2 relaxation time did not differ by sex (44.4 ± 2.0 vs 44.1 ± 2.4 ms, p = 0.384). Sex-stratified comprehensive percentile tables are provided for most relevant cardiac parameters. Interpretation: This cross-sectional study provides overall and sex-stratified CMR reference values for cardiac dimensions and function, and myocardial tissue properties, in adolescents. This information is useful for clinical practice and may help in the differential diagnosis of cardiac diseases, such as cardiomyopathies and myocarditis, in this population. Funding: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI19/01704).

Metabolic syndrome, adiposity, diet, and emotional eating are associated with oxidative stress in adolescents.

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS), a condition related to adiposity and oxidative stress, can develop in adolescence, a critical stage in life that impacts health in adulthood. However, there is scarce scientific research about the relationship between lifestyle factors, emotion management, and oxidative stress in this phase of life. Aim: To analyze whether nutritional parameters, lifestyle factors, emotion management, and MS in adolescents are associated with oxidative stress measured by the biomarker 8-isoprostane. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 132 adolescents (48.5% girls, aged 12 ± 0.48 years) and data were collected on nutritional parameters (anthropometric measurements, biochemical analyzes, and blood pressure), lifestyle factors (physical activity, sleep, and diet), and emotion management (self-esteem, emotional eating, and mood). 8-isoprostane was analyzed in spot urine samples. The study population was categorized in three groups (healthy, at-risk, and with MS) using the International Diabetes Federation definition of MS in adolescents. To capture more complex interactions, a multiple linear regression was used to analyze the association between 8-isoprostane and the aforementioned variables. Results: Urinary 8-isoprostane levels were significantly higher in the MS group compared to the healthy group (1,280 ± 543 pg./mg vs. 950 ± 416 pg./mg respectively). In addition, univariable analysis revealed positive significant associations between 8-isoprostane and body mass index, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, body fat percentage, blood lipid profile and glucose, emotional eating, and refined cereal intake. Conversely, a negative significant association was found between 8-isoprostane and sleep duration and fish intake. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed associations between 8-isoprostane and LDL-c (ß = 0.173 value of p = 0.049), emotional eating (low ß = 0.443, value of p = 0.036; high ß = 0.152, value of p = 0.470), refined cereal intake (ß =0.191, value of p = 0.024), and fish intake (ß = -0.187, value of p = 0.050). Conclusion: The MS group, LDL-c, emotional eating, and high refined cereals and low fish intakes were associated with higher levels of oxidative stress in an adolescent population.

Sleep duration and its association with adiposity markers in adolescence: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

AIMS: Large studies linking adolescents' objectively measured sleep duration and adiposity markers are lacking. We characterized sleep duration and its cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with adiposity markers in adolescence. METHODS AND RESULTS: Seven-day accelerometry was performed in a cohort of adolescents enrolled in the SI! Program for Secondary Schools trial in Spain at approximately ages 12 (1216 adolescents, 49.6% girls), 14 (1026 adolescents, 51.3% girls), and 16 (872 adolescents, 51.7% girls) years. Participants were classified as very short sleepers (VSS; <7 h), short sleepers (SS; 7-<8 h), or recommended-time sleepers (RTS; 8-10 h). Adjusted associations between sleep duration and adiposity markers were analysed using generalized linear and Poisson models. At ∼12 years, 33.7% of adolescents met sleep recommendations, and this percentage decreased with advancing age (22.6% at ∼14 and 18.7% at ∼16 years). Compared with RTS, overweight/obesity prevalence ratios at ∼12, 14, and 16 years among SS were 1.19 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09-1.30], 1.41 (95% CI: 1.34-1.48), and 0.99 (95% CI: 0.77-1.26) and among VSS were 1.30 (95% CI: 1.28-1.32), 1.93 (95% CI: 1.41-2.64), and 1.32 (95% CI: 1.26-1.37). Compared with adolescents who always met sleep recommendations, the prevalence of overweight/obesity was ∼5 times higher in those never meeting recommendations or meeting them only once. Similar trends were observed for the waist-to-height ratio (P = 0.010) and fat mass index (P = 0.024). CONCLUSION: Most adolescents did not meet sleep recommendations. Shorter sleep duration was independently associated with unfavourable adiposity markers, and such adverse impact was cumulative. Health promotion programmes should emphasize the importance of good sleep habits.

This study used a wearable activity tracker to analyse sleep patterns and their association with adiposity markers in a large cohort of adolescents at ages 12, 14, and 16 years.At 12 years, only 34% of adolescents met sleep recommendations (eight or more hours of sleep per day), and this percentage decreased with advancing age (23% at 14 and 19% at 16 years). Adolescents sleeping <8 h a day were more likely to present overweight, obesity, or other adverse adiposity markers than their peers with sufficient sleep.The link between insufficient sleep and adverse adiposity markers was independent of energy intake and physical activity levels, indicating that sleep itself is important. Therefore, health promotion programmes for adolescents should emphasize the importance of good sleep habits.

School-Based Cardiovascular Health Promotion in Adolescents: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: School-based interventions offer an opportunity for health promotion in adolescence. Objective: To assess the effect of 2 multicomponent educational health promotion strategies of differing duration and intensity on adolescents' cardiovascular health (CVH). Design, Setting, and Participants: The SI! Program for Secondary Schools is a 4-year cluster randomized clinical intervention trial conducted in 24 secondary schools from Barcelona and Madrid, Spain, from September 7, 2017, to July 31, 2021. Eligible participants were adolescents enrolled in the first grade of secondary school. Interventions: Schools and their participants were randomized to receive a health promotion intervention (SI! Program) over 4 school years (long-term intervention [LTI], 8 schools, 412 adolescents) or 2 school years (short-term intervention [STI], 8 schools, 504 adolescents) or to receive the standard curriculum (control, 8 schools, 441 adolescents). Main outcome and Measures: The primary end point was the between-group difference at 2 and 4 years in the change from baseline of the overall CVH score, as defined by the American Heart Association (range, 0-14 points, with a higher score indicating a healthier CVH profile). Intervention effects were tested with multilevel mixed-effects models. A complete-case intention-to-treat analysis was performed as the primary analysis. Results: Of the randomized students, the study enrolled 1326 adolescents (684 [51.6%] boys, mean [SD] age, 12.5 [0.4] years at recruitment) with a study completion rate of 86.0%. Baseline overall CVH scores were 10.3 points in the LTI group, 10.6 points in the STI group, and 10.5 points in the control group. After 2 years, at halfway through the LTI and at the end of the STI, the difference in the CVH score change was 0.44 points (95% CI, 0.01-0.87; P = .04) between the LTI group and the control group and 0.18 points (95% CI, -0.25 to 0.61; P = .39) between the STI group and the control group. At 4 years, differences for the LTI and STI groups vs control were 0.12 points (LTI: 95% CI, -0.19 to 0.43; P = .42) and 0.13 points (STI: 95% CI, -0.17 to 0.44; P = .38). No adverse events were reported. Conclusions and Relevance: Overall, the tested school-based health promotion strategies in this randomized clinical trial had a neutral effect on the CVH of the adolescents. Although there was evidence of a marginal beneficial effect at a point halfway through implementation in the LTI group, such a benefit was not noted at 4 years. Further research is warranted into the efficacy of school-based health promotion programs. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03504059.

Developmental Morphology and Anatomy Shed Light on Both Parallel and Convergent Evolution of the Umbellate Inflorescence in Monocots, Underlain by a New Variant of Metatopy.

Inflorescence structure is very diverse and homoplasious, yet the developmental basis of their homoplasy is poorly understood. To gain an understanding of the degree of homology that these diverse structures share, we characterize the developmental morphology and anatomy of various umbellate inflorescences across the monocots and analyzed them in an evolutionary context. To characterize branching order, we characterized the developmental morphology of multiple inflorescences with epi-illumination, and vascular anatomy with Laser Ablation Tomography, a novel high-throughput method to reconstruct three-dimensional vasculature. We used these approaches to analyze the umbellate inflorescences in five instances of presumed homoplasy: in three members of the Amaryllidaceae; in three members of the Asparagaceae, including a putatively derived raceme in Dichelostemma congestum; in Butomus umbellatus (Alismataceae), in Tacca chantrieri (Dioscoreaceae), and in umbellate structure in Fritillaria imperialis (Liliaceae). We compare these with racemes found in three members of the subfamily Scilliioideae (Asparagaceae). We find there are three convergent developmental programs that generate umbellate inflorescences in the monocots, bostryx-derived, cincinnus-derived and raceme-derived. Additionally, among the bostryx-derived umbellate inflorescence, there are three instances of parallel evolution found in the Amaryllidaceae, in two members of Brodiaeoideae (Asparagaceae), and Butomus umbellatus, all of which share the same generative developmental program. We discuss the morphological modifications necessary to generate such complex and condensed structures and use these insights to describe a new variant of metatopy, termed horizontal concaulesence. We contextualize our findings within the broader literature of monocot inflorescence development, with a focus on synthesizing descriptive developmental morphological studies.