Fast-food offerings in the United States in 1986, 1991, and 2016 show large increases in food variety, portion size, dietary energy, and selected micronutrients

BACKGROUND US national survey data shows fast food accounted for 11% of daily caloric intake in 2007-2010. OBJECTIVE To provide a detailed assessment of changes over time in fast-food menu offerings over 30 years, including food variety (number of items as a proxy), portion size, energy, energy density, and selected micronutrients (sodium, calcium, and iron as percent daily value [%DV]), and to compare changes over time across menu categories (entrées, sides, and desserts). DESIGN Fast-food entrées, sides, and dessert menu item data for 1986, 1991, and 2016 were compiled from primary and secondary sources for 10 popular fast-food restaurants. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Descriptive statistics were calculated. Linear mixed-effects analysis of variance was performed to examine changes over time by menu category. RESULTS From 1986 to 2016, the number of entrées, sides, and desserts for all restaurants combined increased by 226%. Portion sizes of entrées (13 g/decade) and desserts (24 g/decade), but not sides, increased significantly, and the energy (kilocalories) and sodium of items in all three menu categories increased significantly. Desserts showed the largest increase in energy (62 kcal/decade), and entrées had the largest increase in sodium (4.6% DV/decade). Calcium increased significantly in entrées (1.2%DV/decade) and to a greater extent in desserts (3.9% DV/decade), but not sides, and iron increased significantly only in desserts (1.4% DV/decade). CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate broadly detrimental changes in fast-food restaurant offerings over a 30-year span including increasing variety, portion size, energy, and sodium content. Research is needed to identify effective strategies that may help consumers reduce energy intake from fast-food restaurants as part of measures to improve dietary-related health issues in the United States.Accepted manuscrip

Archaeological Survey Of The Los Rios Clubhouse Area Collin County, Texas

The City of Plano is proposing to convert the Los Rios Golf Course and Country Club into a city park. For the first phase of the project, the city may choose to remove the clubhouse and associated physical facilities. The City of Plano contracted with AR Consultants, Inc. to conduct an archaeological survey of the 8.3-acre area surrounding the clubhouse and an architectural evaluation of the clubhouse. Of the 8.3 acres, six are paved or are the sites of buildings. The archaeological survey, which was conducted under the authority of Texas Antiquities Permit 8283, was conducted on January 12, 2018 and focused only on the unpaved areas. No prehistoric cultural remains were found. A few isolated historic artifacts were found on the surface but were not determined to be a site. The architectural evaluation determined that the clubhouse may be significant based on its connection to local entertainment/recreation, its example as a Modern-style clubhouse, and its connection to the Craycroft-Lacy & Partners architectural firm. However, the clubhouse is not yet 50 years old. Therefore, it is not recommended eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places or for designation as a State Antiquities Landmark. Given the results of this survey, AR Consultants, Inc. recommends that further cultural resource investigations are unnecessary within the 8.3-acre project area surrounding the clubhouse, and requests that the Texas Historical Commission concur with this recommendation. Documents related to the archaeological survey will be curated at the Center for Archaeological Studies at Texas State University in San Marcos

Associations among Wine Grape Microbiome, Metabolome, and Fermentation Behavior Suggest Microbial Contribution to Regional Wine Characteristics.

UnlabelledRegionally distinct wine characteristics (terroir) are an important aspect of wine production and consumer appreciation. Microbial activity is an integral part of wine production, and grape and wine microbiota present regionally defined patterns associated with vineyard and climatic conditions, but the degree to which these microbial patterns associate with the chemical composition of wine is unclear. Through a longitudinal survey of over 200 commercial wine fermentations, we demonstrate that both grape microbiota and wine metabolite profiles distinguish viticultural area designations and individual vineyards within Napa and Sonoma Counties, California. Associations among wine microbiota and fermentation characteristics suggest new links between microbiota, fermentation performance, and wine properties. The bacterial and fungal consortia of wine fermentations, composed from vineyard and winery sources, correlate with the chemical composition of the finished wines and predict metabolite abundances in finished wines using machine learning models. The use of postharvest microbiota as an early predictor of wine chemical composition is unprecedented and potentially poses a new paradigm for quality control of agricultural products. These findings add further evidence that microbial activity is associated with wine terroirImportanceWine production is a multi-billion-dollar global industry for which microbial control and wine chemical composition are crucial aspects of quality. Terroir is an important feature of consumer appreciation and wine culture, but the many factors that contribute to terroir are nebulous. We show that grape and wine microbiota exhibit regional patterns that correlate with wine chemical composition, suggesting that the grape microbiome may influence terroir In addition to enriching our understanding of how growing region and wine properties interact, this may provide further economic incentive for agricultural and enological practices that maintain regional microbial biodiversity

Spectral Line Removal in the LIGO Data Analysis System (LDAS)

High power in narrow frequency bands, spectral lines, are a feature of an interferometric gravitational wave detector's output. Some lines are coherent between interferometers, in particular, the 2 km and 4 km LIGO Hanford instruments. This is of concern to data analysis techniques, such as the stochastic background search, that use correlations between instruments to detect gravitational radiation. Several techniques of `line removal' have been proposed. Where a line is attributable to a measurable environmental disturbance, a simple linear model may be fitted to predict, and subsequently subtract away, that line. This technique has been implemented (as the command oelslr) in the LIGO Data Analysis System (LDAS). We demonstrate its application to LIGO S1 data.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, to be published in CQG GWDAW02 proceeding

Network sensitivity to geographical configuration

Gravitational wave astronomy will require the coordinated analysis of data from the global network of gravitational wave observatories. Questions of how to optimally configure the global network arise in this context. We have elsewhere proposed a formalism which is employed here to compare different configurations of the network, using both the coincident network analysis method and the coherent network analysis method. We have constructed a network model to compute a figure-of-merit based on the detection rate for a population of standard-candle binary inspirals. We find that this measure of network quality is very sensitive to the geographic location of component detectors under a coincident network analysis, but comparatively insensitive under a coherent network analysis.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for proceedings of the 4th Edoardo Amaldi conference, incorporated referees' suggestions and corrected diagra

Positive impact of low-dose, high-energy radiation on bone in partial- and/or full-weightbearing mice

Astronauts traveling beyond low Earth orbit will be exposed to galactic cosmic radiation (GCR); understanding how high energy ionizing radiation modifies the bone response to mechanical unloading is important to assuring crew health. To investigate this, we exposed 4-mo-old female Balb/cBYJ mice to an acute space-relevant dose of 0.5 Gy 56Fe or sham (n = ~8/group); 4 days later, half of the mice were also subjected to a ground-based analog for 1/6 g (partial weightbearing) (G/6) for 21 days. Microcomputed tomography (µ-CT) of the distal femur reveals that 56Fe exposure resulted in 65-78% greater volume and improved microarchitecture of cancellous bone after 21 d compared to sham controls. Radiation also leads to significant increases in three measures of energy absorption at the mid-shaft femur and an increase in stiffness of the L4 vertebra. No significant effects of radiation on bone formation indices are detected; however, G/6 leads to reduced % mineralizing surface on the inner mid-tibial bone surface. In separate groups allowed 21 days of weightbearing recovery from G/6 and/or 56Fe exposure, radiation-exposed mice still exhibit greater bone mass and improved microarchitecture vs. sham control. However, femoral bone energy absorption values are no longer higher in the 56Fe-exposed WB mice vs. sham controls. We provide evidence for persistent positive impacts of high-LET radiation exposure preceding a period of full or partial weightbearing on bone mass and microarchitecture in the distal femur and, for full weightbearing mice only and more transiently, cortical bone energy absorption values

Cellular eIF2B subunit localisation: implications for the integrated stress response and its control by small molecule drugs

eIF2 is a G protein critical for translation. It is tightly regulated in the integrated stress response (ISR) via phosphorylation of eIF2α and the subsequent control of eIF2B, a multisubunit guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF). Through studying the localisation of eIF2B subunits we identified cytoplasmic eIF2B bodies in mammalian cells. We highlight a relationship between body size and the eIF2B subunits localising to them; larger bodies contain all subunits and smaller bodies contain predominantly catalytic subunits. eIF2 localises to eIF2B bodies and shuttles within these bodies in a manner which correlates with eIF2B activity. Upon stress eIF2α-P localises predominately to larger bodies and results in a decreased shuttling of eIF2. Interestingly drugs which inhibit the ISR can rescue eIF2 shuttling in a manner correlating to levels of eIF2α-P. In contrast, smaller bodies show increased eIF2 shuttling in response to stress, which is accompanied by the localisation of eIF2Bδ to these bodies, suggesting the formation of a novel trimeric complex of eIF2B. This response is mimicked by ISR inhibiting drugs, providing insight into their potential mechanism of action. This study provides evidence that the composition and function of mammalian eIF2B bodies is regulated by the ISR and drugs which control it

AMCIS 2022 Awards Luncheon

This is a video recording and PDF document with the AMCIS 2022 Awards Ceremony