Trends in obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m²), by educational attainment, U.S. non-Hispanic blacks and whites, aged 50 years, 1971–2012 NHANES

<p>Trends in obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m²), by educational attainment, U.S. non-Hispanic blacks and whites, aged 50 years, 1971–2012 NHANES</p

Four Decades of Obesity Trends among Non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks in the United States: Analyzing the Influences of Educational Inequalities in Obesity and Population Improvements in Education

<div><p>Both obesity (body mass index ≥ 30) and educational attainment have increased dramatically in the United States since the 1970s. This study analyzed the influences of educational inequalities in obesity and population improvements in education on national obesity trends between 1970 and 2010. For non-Hispanic white and black males and females aged 25–74 years, educational differences in the probability of being obese were estimated from the 1971–2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, and population distributions of age and educational groups, from the 1970 Census and 2010 American Community Survey. In the total population, obesity increased from 15.7% to 38.8%, and there were increases in the greater obese probabilities of non-college graduates relative to four-year college graduates. The increase in obesity would have been lower by 10% (2.2 percentage points) if educational inequalities in obesity had stayed at their 1970 values and lower by one third (7.9 points) if obesity inequalities had been eliminated. Obesity inequalities were larger for females than males and for whites than blacks, and obesity did not differ by education among black males. As a result, the impact of obesity inequalities on the obesity trend was largest among white females (a 47% reduction in the obesity increase if obesity inequalities had been eliminated), and virtually zero among black males. On the other hand, without educational improvements, the obesity increase would have been 9% more in the total population, 23% more among white females and not different in the other three subpopulations. Results indicate that obesity inequalities made sizable contributions to the obesity trends, and the obesity reductions associated with educational improvements were more limited.</p></div

How Half-Coated Janus Particles Enter Cells

Janus particles possess functional asymmetry and directionality within a single entity and thus are predicted to enable many promising biomedical applications that are not offered by homogeneous particles. However, it remains elusive what role the Janus principle plays in Janus particle–cell interactions, particularly in cellular uptake. We studied how asymmetric distribution of ligands on half-coated Janus microparticles dictates the membrane dynamics during receptor-mediated particle uptake, and found key differences from those characteristic of homogeneous particles. Live-cell fluorescence imaging combined with single-particle level quantification of particle–cell membrane interactions shows that the asymmetric distribution of ligands leads to a three-step endocytic process: membrane cup formation on the ligand-coated hemisphere, stalling at the Janus interface, and rapid membrane protrusion on the ligand-absent hemisphere to complete the particle engulfment. The direct correlation between the spatial presentation of ligands on Janus particles and the temporal changes of membrane dynamics revealed in this work elucidates the potential of using the Janus principle to fine-tune particle–cell interactions

Macrophage Uptake of Janus Particles Depends upon Janus Balance

Properties of synthetic particles, such as size and shape, influence how immune cells uptake vaccine and drug carriers. Here, we explore the role of a new property, anisotropic presentation of ligands, in particle uptake by macrophage cells. We use micrometer-sized Janus particles that are partially coated with ligands and investigate how the ligand patch size (Janus balance) affects their uptake by macrophages. Macrophage uptake of both 1.6 and 3 μm Janus particles is enhanced as the size of the ligand patch increases. However, presenting ligands asymmetrically reduces particle phagocytosis; Janus particles with the same amount of ligands as uniformly coated particles are internalized less efficiently. We also show that, because of the asymmetric geometry of Janus particles, the onset of ligand-mediated phagocytosis depends upon the orientation of the particles with respect to the cells. This study demonstrates Janus balance as a new parameter that we can use to manipulate the macrophage uptake of particles

population

Pooled sequence data with population information

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Cancer survival in New South Wales, Australia: socioeconomic disparities remain despite overall improvements

Number of cancer cases and distribution by socioeconomic disadvantage in New South Wales, Australia, 1996–2000 and 2004–2008. (DOCX 18 kb

Additional file 2: Table S2. of Cancer survival in New South Wales, Australia: socioeconomic disparities remain despite overall improvements

Stage distribution (%) by socioeconomic status for 10 cancers in NSW, Australia, 1996–2000 and 2004–2008. (DOCX 49 kb

Data_Sheet_1_Association of soluble transferrin receptor/log ferritin index with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.docx

BackgroundSoluble transferrin receptor (sTfR)/log ferritin index (sTfR Index) can be used to assess the entire spectrum of iron status, and is valuable in evaluating iron status in population studies. There is still a lack of evidence on the association between sTfR index and all-cause mortality.ObjectTo explore the association between sTfR index and all-cause mortality, as well as mortality due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer.MethodData were from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2003 to 2020. Participants aged 16 years and older who had complete data of serum ferritin and sTfR were included. Pregnant individuals or those with ineligible data on death or follow-up were excluded from the analysis. Baseline sTfR index was calculated by baseline sTfR/log (ferritin) and classified as three tertile. We performed the Cox proportional hazard regression to assess the association of sTfR index (both continuous and categorical scale) with all-cause and cause-specific mortality and further assess the non-linear relationship between sTfR index and the outcomes with restricted cubic spline.ResultIn this study, 11,525 participants, a total of 231 (2.0%) all-cause deaths occurred during a median follow-up of 51 months. The risk of all-cause mortality, CVD-related mortality, and cancer-related mortality was higher in participants with highest tertile of sTfR index. After confounding factors adjustment, participants with highest tertile of sTfR index were associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.14–2.57) as compared with lowest tertile. Additionally, sTfR index per SD increment was associated with a 25% increasing risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.08–1.45, p = 0.003) and a 38% cancer-related mortality (HR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.07–1.77, p = 0.018). These associations remained robust after adjusting for the serum ferritin as well as in various subgroups stratified by age, sex, smoking statue, hypertension, diabetes, and CVD. Spline analysis showed that there is approximately linear relationship between sTfR index with all-cause mortality (p for non-linear = 0.481). Moreover, ferritin was not a predictor of all-cause death after adjustment for confounding factors.SignificanceThis cohort study demonstrated a significant association between sTfR index increment and an increased risk of all-cause and cancer-related mortality, independent of ferritin levels.</p

Table_1_Conventionality matters in Chinese metaphor but not simile comprehension: evidence from event-related potentials.XLSX

Metaphor and simile, two prevalent forms of figurative language widely employed in daily communication, serve as significant research subjects in linguistics. The Career of Metaphor Theory in cognitive linguistics posits that as conventionality increases, the cognitive mechanisms of metaphor comprehension shift from “comparison” to “categorization.” In line with this notion, prior electrophysiological investigations have revealed that novel metaphors elicit a stronger N400 brain response compared to conventional metaphors. However, the observed N400 difference between conventional and novel metaphors may merely stem from the familiarity contrast between them, as conventional metaphors are typically more familiar than novel ones. To address this dichotomy, the present study not only compared the N400 responses between conventional and novel metaphors but also between conventional and novel similes. While conventional and novel similes differ in familiarity, similar to conventional and novel metaphors, both are processed via “comparison” mechanisms. The results revealed that novel metaphors elicited larger N400 amplitudes compared to conventional metaphors, aligning with previous findings. In contrast, no significant N400 differences were observed between conventional and novel similes, suggesting that familiarity disparity is unlikely to account for N400 distinctions. Our findings imply that conventional and novel metaphors undergo distinct cognitive processing mechanisms (“comparison” versus “categorization”), thereby providing further empirical validation for the Career of Metaphor Theory.</p

Plots of the pseudo-second order model for the removal of P to the modified oyster material.

<p>Strong correlations for data (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0060243#pone-0060243-t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>) and agreement between experimental and calculated <i>Qe</i> data suggest that this model represents P-removal extremely well.</p