Similarities and discrepancies between commercially available bioelectrical impedance analysis system and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for body composition assessment in 10-14-year-old children.

A variety of easy-to-use commercial bioelectrical impedance appliances are available. The aim of this study was to examine the usefulness of a commercially available body composition meter using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) by comparing its measurement results with those obtained from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The participants were 443 children aged from 10 to 14 years (226 boys and 217 girls). Fat mass, fat-free mass, lean body mass, percentage of body fat, and bone mineral contents were evaluated for all participants using BIA and DXA. The agreement in the anthropometric data obtained from both devices was analyzed using correlation analysis, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Lin's concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), Bland-Altman plots, and ordinary least products regression analysis. Equivalence between both devices was tested by two one-sided t-test. All measured indicators showed strong linear correlations between the two measurement systems (r, 0.853-1.000). Fat mass, fat-free mass, and lean body mass showed absolute concordance (ICC, 0.902-0.972; Lin's CCC, 0.902-0.972). BIA overestimated bone mineral content (62.7-66.5%) and underestimated percentage of body fat (- 8.9 to - 0.8%), lean body mass (- 3.5 to - 1.8%), and body mass (- 0.8 to - 0.5%). For fat mass and fat-free mass, the overestimate or underestimate varied according to the sex and statistical analysis test. Bland-Altman analysis and ordinary least products analysis showed fixed bias and proportional bias in all indicators. Results according to quartiles of body mass index showed poor agreement for fat mass and percentage of body fat in both boys and girls in the lowest body mass index quartile. The present results revealed strong linear correlations between BIA and DXA, which confirmed the validity of the present single-frequency BIA-derived parameters. Our results suggest that BIA cannot provide the exact same values as DXA for some body composition parameters, but that performance is sufficient for longitudinal use within an individual for daily health management and monitoring.

An Open Soil Health Assessment Framework Facilitating Sustainable Soil Management.

The crucial role of healthy soil in achieving sustainable food production and environment is increasingly recognized, as is the importance of proper assessment of soil quality. We introduce a new framework, open soil index (OSI), which integrally evaluates soil health of agricultural fields and provides recommendation for farming practices. The OSI is an open-source modular framework in which soil properties, functions, indicators and scores, and management advice are linked hierarchically. Soil health is evaluated with respect to sustainable crop production but can be extended to other ecosystem functions. The OSI leverages the existing knowledge base of agronomic research and routine laboratory data, enabling its application with limited cost. The OSI is a generic framework that can be adopted for specific regions with specific objectives. As a proof of concept, the OSI is implemented for all (>700,000) Dutch agricultural fields and illustrated with 11 pairs ("good" and "poor") of local fields and 32 fields where soil quality and crop yield have been monitored. The OSI produced reasonable evaluation for most pairs when soil physical functions were refined with on-site soil visual assessment. The soil functions are sufficiently independent and yet together reflect complex multidimensionality of soil quality. The framework can facilitate designing sustainable soil management programs by bridging regional targets to field-level actions.

Lifestyle changes as a result of COVID-19 containment measures: Bodyweight and glycemic control in patients with diabetes in the Japanese declaration of a state of emergency.

To clarify the association between lifestyle changes as a result of coronavirus disease 2019 containment measures and changes in metabolic and glycemic status in patients with diabetes, a cross-sectional, single-center, observation study was carried out. A self-reported questionnaire was provided to ascertain the frequency of various lifestyle activities before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 containment measures in Japan. Among 463 patients, change in glycated hemoglobin was significantly associated with change in bodyweight. After stratification by age 65 years, binary logistic regression analysis showed that increased frequency of snack eating increased bodyweight (odds ratio 1.709, P = 0.007) and glycated hemoglobin (odds ratio 1.420, P = 0.025) in the younger group, whereas in the older patients, reduced walking activities resulted in weight gain (odds ratio 0.726, P = 0.010). In conclusion, changes in eating behavior and physical activity increased bodyweight and reduced glycemic control among diabetes patients, but by different processes depending on age under the coronavirus disease 2019 containment measures in Japan.

Multiple Sources of the Outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease in Genesee County, Michigan, in 2014 and 2015.

BACKGROUND: A community-wide outbreak of Legionnaires' disease (LD) occurred in Genesee County, Michigan, in 2014 and 2015. Previous reports about the outbreak are conflicting and have associated the outbreak with a change of water source in the city of Flint and, alternatively, to a Flint hospital. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this investigation was to independently identify relevant sources of Legionella pneumophila that likely resulted in the outbreak. METHODS: An independent, retrospective investigation of the outbreak was conducted, making use of public health, health care, and environmental data and whole-genome multilocus sequence typing (wgMLST) of clinical and environmental isolates. RESULTS: Strong evidence was found for a hospital-associated outbreak in both 2014 and 2015: a) 49% of cases had prior exposure to Flint hospital A, significantly higher than expected from Medicare admissions; b) hospital plumbing contained high levels of L. pneumophila; c) Legionella control measures in hospital plumbing aligned with subsidence of hospital A-associated cases; and d) wgMLST showed Legionella isolates from cases exposed to hospital A and from hospital plumbing to be highly similar. Multivariate analysis showed an increased risk of LD in 2014 for people residing in a home that received Flint water or was located in proximity to several Flint cooling towers. DISCUSSION: This is the first LD outbreak in the United States with evidence for three sources (in 2014): a) exposure to hospital A, b) receiving Flint water at home, and c) residential proximity to cooling towers; however, for 2015, evidence points to hospital A only. Each source could be associated with only a proportion of cases. A focus on a single source may have delayed recognition and remediation of other significant sources of L. pneumophila. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5663.

Characteristics and costs of ditch-related injuries: a report from a single emergency center in Okayama.

AIM: This study was designed to identify the incidence, injury patterns, and financial burden of ditch-related injuries to provide a reference for establishing guidelines on the prevention of such injuries. METHODS: A retrospective chart review in a tertiary care hospital in Okayama city, Japan, focused on patients injured following a ditch-related fall and requiring intensive care between April 2012 and August 2013. Analysis was carried out to describe the epidemiology of ditch-related injuries. RESULTS: Thirteen patients (median age, 60 years) met the inclusion criteria. The median time lag between the fall and rescue was approximately 1.5 h. Ten patients were injured in residential areas, and three were injured in rural areas. Eight patients were riding a bicycle at the time of the accident. Head and spine injuries predominated, although there were two cases of drowning, of which one died. The injury severity score ranged from 1 to 50 (mean, 17.8 ± 13). At the time of discharge from the intensive care unit, 6, 4, and 1 patients were classified into cerebral performance categories 1, 3, and 4, respectively. There were two in-hospital deaths, resulting in a case fatality rate of 15.3%. The total cost during the review period was ¥27,572,630, with a mean cost of ¥2,120,971 per patient. CONCLUSION: Ditch-related injuries are associated with a high rate of poor neurological outcome and pose a financial burden on the health insurance system. Injury prevention efforts directed at decreasing the risk of ditch-related falls are required to minimize these outcomes.

Miglitol prevents diet-induced obesity by stimulating brown adipose tissue and energy expenditure independent of preventing the digestion of carbohydrates.

Miglitol is an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor that improves post-prandial hyperglycemia, and it is the only drug in its class that enters the bloodstream. Anecdotally, miglitol lowers patient body weight more effectively than other alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, but the precise mechanism has not been addressed. Therefore, we analyzed the anti-obesity effects of miglitol in mice and in the HB2 brown adipocyte cell line. Miglitol prevented diet-induced obesity by stimulating energy expenditure without affecting food intake in mice. Long-term miglitol treatment dose-dependently prevented diet-induced obesity and induced mitochondrial gene expression in brown adipose tissue. The anti-obesity effect was independent of preventing carbohydrate digestion in the gastrointestinal tract. Miglitol effectively stimulated energy expenditure in mice fed a high-fat high-monocarbohydrate diet, and intraperitoneal injection of miglitol was sufficient to stimulate energy expenditure in mice. Acarbose, which is a non-absorbable alpha glucosidase inhibitor, also prevented diet-induced obesity, but through a different mechanism: it did not stimulate energy expenditure, but caused indigestion, leading to less energy absorption. Miglitol promoted adrenergic signaling in brown adipocytes in vitro. These data indicate that circulating miglitol stimulates brown adipose tissue and increases energy expenditure, thereby preventing diet-induced obesity. Further optimizing miglitol's effect on brown adipose tissue could lead to a novel anti-obesity drug.

Combined influence of media use on subjective health in elementary school children in Japan: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: In recent years in Japan, electronic games, home computers, and the internet have assumed an important place in people's lives, even for elementary school children. Subjective health complaints have also become a problem among children. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between media use and health status in elementary school children in Japan. METHODS: A cross-sectional school-based population survey was conducted in 2009 with a sample of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children (age range: 10-12 years old) in elementary schools in Japan (n = 3,464). Self-reported health, lifestyle habits, and time spent using media were assessed. RESULTS: The use of games, television, and personal computers was significantly associated with lifestyle (p < 0.05) and subjective health (p < 0.05). In addition, the use of games, the use of television, and the use of personal computers were mutually associated. The greater the number of media used for more than 1 hour was, the higher the odds ratio of the association of media use with unhealthy lifestyle and subjective health complaints was. The plural use of these media had stronger associations with unhealthy lifestyle and subjective health complaints. CONCLUSIONS: Game, television, and personal-computer use were mutually associated, and the plural use of these media had stronger associations with unhealthy lifestyle and subjective health complaints. Excessive use of media might be a risk for unhealthy lifestyle and subjective health complaints.