Association between breakfast consumption, breakfast quality, mental health and quality of life in Turkish adolescents: A high school-based cross-sectional study.

This study aimed to determine the frequency of breakfast consumption and breakfast quality among adolescents and to evaluate the relationships between breakfast consumption, breakfast quality, mental health, and health-related quality of life. This cross-sectional study included 449 students from 17 high schools between December 2022 and May 2023. A face-to-face questionnaire measuring the frequency of breakfast consumption, Mediterranean diet quality index (KIDMED), health-related quality of life (KIDSCREEN), and depression, anxiety and stress scales (DASS-21) was performed. Of the students, 54.1% skipped breakfast 2 or more times a week and 75.9% had poor breakfast quality. There were significant differences in breakfast quality classification according to the frequency of breakfast consumption (p = 0.003). Breakfast consumption ≤1 time/week or 2-5 times/week was associated with depression, anxiety and low adherence to the Mediterranean diet. No relationship was observed between breakfast quality and stress, depression or anxiety (p = 0.620, p = 0.586, p = 0.539, respectively) or between breakfast quality and the KIDSCREEN-27 subscales (p > 0.05). However, those eating poor-quality breakfasts had better results in physical wellbeing (p = 0.022), psychological wellbeing (p = 0.024), autonomy and parent relations (p = 0.017) than breakfast-skippers and also scored lower for depression, stress and anxiety (all p < 0.001). In conclusion, the frequency of breakfast consumption had a stronger association with reduced symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety, as well as improvements in all dimensions of health-related quality of life, compared to the quality of breakfast consumed. Given the association of breakfast consumption with mental health outcomes in adolescents, our findings are of great importance, especially to parents, clinicians and nutritional educators.

Multimorbidities and quality of life in adult cerebral palsy over 40 years.

AIM: This study aimed to describe the most common combinations of comorbidities and their relationship to quality of life in a sample of adults over 40 years of age with cerebral palsy. METHODS: Patients who are 40 years or older and admitted to the hospital in the last 5 years and were diagnosed with cerebral palsy were included. Demographic data and comorbidities were both questioned through the Patient Information Management System and confirmed by asking the individual about their diseases. The patients' quality of life was evaluated with the EQ-5D-3L Telephone interview version. Principal component analysis was used to determine comorbidity combinations for multiple morbidity. RESULTS: Comorbidity was found in 72.1% of the participants and multimorbidity was found in 47.5%. The 5 most common comorbidities were musculoskeletal diseases (34.4%), psychiatric diseases (21.3%), essential hypertension (21.3%), osteoporosis (18%) and hyperlipidemia (18%). As a result of principal component analysis, a total of five components are formed and this most common comorbidity combinations in the sample explained 66.78% of the total variance. CONCLUSIONS: New combinations of comorbidities have been demonstrated that may perhaps serve as a starting point for identifying new association of pathways. Future efforts are needed to identify modifiable factors for early intervention and prevention of chronic health problems in this population.

How Did the Lockdown Imposed Due to COVID-19 Affect Patients With Cerebral Palsy?

BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus infection (SARS-CoV-2) caused disruption of the treatment and follow-up evaluations of children with cerebral palsy. AIM: The change in mobility, pain, functional status, and spasticity was investigated who were followed in a pediatric rehabilitation unit after the lockdown. METHODS: One hundred ten children were evaluated. Pain, severity of spasticity, botulinum toxin administration dates, and continuity of home exercises were recorded. The functional status was evaluated with the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM). RESULTS: The WeeFIM self-care and mobility subscale scores and total scores were significantly worse. Only 5 of the participants had pain in the previous evaluations; in the last evaluation, 29 had pain complaints. The pain and spasticity severity of the participants whose botulinum toxin administration was delayed were significantly increased. CONCLUSIONS: The children with cerebral palsy should be followed with telemedicine at short intervals, and when necessary, in the hospital.

Rehabilitation in paraneoplastic stiff-person syndrome - Case Report.

We aimed to share our rehabilitation experience in a patient diagnosed with paraneoplastic Stiff-person syndrome(SPS). A 45-year-old female patient was admitted to neurology with the complaint of widespread painful contractions. EMG was evaluated in favor of SPS. Amphiphysin-antibody was +++ in CSF. Patients' treatment was arranged and transferred to rehabilitation inpatient-clinic. The patient was included in the rehabilitation program of range of motion, stretching, strengthening, posture&walking exercises, balance&coordination exercises, 5 days/week for 3 months. The patient was screened for breast cancer, diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma and underwent mastectomy. With the rehabilitation, the patient was mobilized first in the parallel-bar then with tripod-cane in the following months. Significant improvements were found in functional status and quality of life with control of spasticity and mobilization. Although the primary treatment of paraneoplastic SPS is cancer treatment, significant gains have been achieved with rehabilitation. It is necessary to raise awareness of the importance of rehabilitation to physicians who diagnose the disease.

Expanding Clinical Phenotype of TRAPPC12-Related Childhood Encephalopathy: Two Cases and Review of Literature.

Biallelic mutations in the TRAPPC12 gene are responsible for early-onset progressive encephalopathy with brain atrophy and spasticity (PEBAS). To date, three different allelic variants have been reported. Next-generation sequencing allowed discovery of unique alternations in this gene with different phenotypes. We report two patients carrying TRAPPC12 variants, one previously reported and one unknown mutation, with severe neurodevelopmental delay and brain atrophy. Standard clinical examination and cranial imaging studies were performed in these two unrelated patients. In addition, whole-exome sequencing was performed, followed by Sanger sequencing for verification. The first patient, a 2-year-old boy, was found to be homozygous for the previously reported c.1880C > T (p.Ala627Val) mutation. He presented with a phenotype including severe progressive cortical atrophy, moderate cerebellar atrophy, epilepsy, and microcephaly, very similar to the previously reported cases. The second case, a 9-year-old boy, carried a novel homozygous c.679T > G (p.Phe227Val) variant and presented with mild cortical atrophy, severe cerebellar atrophy, and neither clinically manifest epilepsy nor microcephaly, which were previously considered typical findings in PEBAS with TRAPPC12 mutations. Our findings suggest that clinical and brain imaging findings might be more variable than previously anticipated; however, a larger number of observations would benefit for broader phenotypic spectrum.

Assessment of Nutritional Status and Malnutrition Risk at Diagnosis and Over a 6-Month Treatment Period in Pediatric Oncology Patients With Hematologic Malignancies and Solid Tumors.

In total, 74 pediatric oncology patients with hematologic malignancies (n=56) or solid tumors (n=18) and a median age of 78.5 months were included in this prospective study. The aims were to assess malnutrition risks and nutritional status over a 6-month treatment period measured at regular intervals. The rate of patients with high risk for malnutrition at diagnosis was 28.4% by Screening Tool for Risk of Impaired Nutritional Status and Growth tool and 36.5% by Pediatric Yorkhill Malnutrition Score. Body mass index (BMI) z-scores at diagnosis showed 12.3% undernutrition (<-2 SD) and 6.8% overnutrition (>2 SD), which changed to 6.7% and 11.1% at the sixth month, respectively. Malnutrition (BMI<5th age percentile) was detected in 13.7% at diagnosis. Despite an initial deterioration noted in BMI, BMI for age percentile, and z-scores at month 1 in all malignancy subgroups (at month 3 for acute lymphoblastic leukemia), the scores improved later on. There was an increase in weight from baseline in 88.2% of patients over 6 months. This study revealed a decrease in the prevalence of undernutrition and malnutrition over a 6-month treatment period with improved anthropometrics despite an initial deterioration in all malignancy subgroups and even in patients with high risk for malnutrition at baseline screening. Solid tumors and acute lymphoblastic leukemia seem to be associated with higher likelihood of undernutrition and overnutrition, respectively, during treatment.

Physiological and transcriptomic analysis of a salt-resistant Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant obtained by evolutionary engineering.

Salt-resistant yeast strains are highly demanded by industry due to the exposure of yeast cells to high concentrations of salt, in various industrial bioprocesses. The aim of this study was to perform a physiological and transcriptomic analysis of a salt-resistant Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) mutant generated by evolutionary engineering. NaCl-resistant S. cerevisiae strains were obtained by ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis followed by successive batch cultivations in the presence of gradually increasing NaCl concentrations, up to 8.5% w/v of NaCl (1.45 M). The most probable number (MPN) method, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and glucose oxidase/peroxidase method were used for physiological analysis, while Agilent yeast DNA microarray systems were used for transcriptome analysis. NaCl-resistant mutant strain T8 was highly cross-resistant to LiCl and highly sensitive to AlCl3. In the absence of NaCl stress, T8 strain had significantly higher trehalose and glycogen levels compared to the reference strain. Global transcriptome analysis by means of DNA microarrays showed that the genes related to stress response, carbohydrate transport, glycogen and trehalose biosynthesis, as well as biofilm formation, were upregulated. According to gene set enrichment analysis, 548 genes were upregulated and 22 downregulated in T8 strain, compared to the reference strain. Among the 548 upregulated genes, the highest upregulation was observed for the FLO11 (MUC1) gene (92-fold that of the reference strain). Overall, evolutionary engineering by chemical mutagenesis and increasing NaCl concentrations is a promising approach in developing industrial strains for biotechnological applications.