Deakin University

About: Deakin University is a education organization based out in Burwood, Victoria, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 12118 authors who have published 46470 publications receiving 1188841 citations. The organization is also known as: Deakin.

Chemerin Is Associated with Metabolic Syndrome Phenotypes in a Mexican-American Population

Abstract: Context: Chemerin is a novel adipokine previously associated with metabolic syndrome phenotypes in a small sample of subjects from Mauritius. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine whether plasma chemerin levels were associated with metabolic syndrome phenotypes in a larger sample from a second, unrelated human population. Design, Setting, Patients, and Intervention: Plasma samples were obtained from the San Antonio Family Heart Study (SAFHS), a large family-based genetic epidemiological study including 1431 Mexican-American individuals. Individuals were randomly sampled without regard to phenotype or disease status. This sample is well-characterized for a variety of phenotypes related to the metabolic syndrome. Main Outcomes: Plasma chemerin levels were measured by sandwich ELISA. Linear regression and correlation analyses were used to determine associations between plasma chemerin levels and metabolic syndrome phenotypes. Results: Circulating chemerin levels were significantly higher in nondiabetic subjects with body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 kg/m2 compared with those with a BMI below 25 kg/m2 (P < 0.0001). Plasma chemerin levels were significantly associated with metabolic syndrome-related parameters, including BMI (P < 0.0001), fasting serum insulin (P < 0.0001), triglycerides (P < 0.0001), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.00014), independent of age and sex in nondiabetic subjects. Conclusion: Circulating chemerin levels were associated with metabolic syndrome phenotypes in a second, unrelated human population. This replicated result using a large human sample suggests that chemerin may be involved in the development of the metabolic syndrome.

A Review of Interventions to Encourage SMEs to Make Environmental Improvements

Abstract: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an important part of the world economy but they are thought to be responsible for around 60% of all carbon dioxide emissions and 70% of all pollution. ...

Adult measures of general health and health-related quality of life: Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-Item (SF-36) and Short Form 12-Item (SF-12) Health Surveys, Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), Sickness Impact Profile (SIP), Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 6D (SF-6D), Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3), Quality of Well-Being Scale (QWB), and Assessment of Quality of Life (AQOL)

Abstract: tional well-being that is not specific to any disease. The health measures included in this review were further subdivided into generic health profiles (questionnaires that provide assessment of more than 1 dimension of health status) and health utility measures that provide an overall measure of health status rated between perfect health (1.0) and death (0.0). Relevant measures were identified (using medical subject headings [MeSH]) through a systematic search of medical publications indexed to PubMed database. The following search queries were used: [Quality of life (title) AND Outcomes assessment (MeSH terms) AND Rheumatic diseases (MeSH terms)] and [Quality of life (abstract) AND Outcomes assessment (MeSH terms) AND Rheumatic diseases (MeSH terms)]. In MeSH, “rheumatic diseases” are defined as “disorders of connective tissue, especially the joints and related structures, characterized by inflammation, degeneration, or metabolic derangement,” and in

Metabolic energy expenditure and the regulation of movement economy

Abstract: Over the years, various psychological theories have embraced notions ofeconomy, efficiency, orleast effort to explain how complex movement sequences are organized and modified. The purpose of the present paper was to synthesize various perspectives on this issue, to identify a common hypothesis, and to propose a conceptual framework that explains how movement economy is regulated. The framework presented here postulates that adaptive movement patterns emerge as a function of the organism’s propensity to minimize metabolic energy expenditure with respect to task, environment, and organism constraints to action. An important role is also proposed for interoceptive sensory information in guiding motor skill learning and control. The paper concludes by suggesting future directions in four areas of movement economy research that contribute to understanding the learning and control of movement in both human and nonhuman organisms.