Historical development of and paradigm shifts in public health nutrition

There is a bi-directional relationship between public health nutrition (PHN) and the environmental sustainability (ES) of food systems. Dietary guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for healthy eating. There is significant variation towards the integration of ES considerations in these policies. An understanding of how and why this variation occurs is neede

Chewing gum can produce contextdependent effects upon memory

Abstract Two experiments examined whether chewing spearmint gum can affect the initial learning or subsequent recall of a word list. Comparing those participants in Experiment 1 who chewed gum at the learning or the recall phases showed that chewing gum at initial learning was associated with superior recall. In addition, chewing gum led to context-dependent effects as a switch between gum and no gum (or no gum and gum) between learning and recall led to poorer performance. Experiment 2 provided evidence that sucking gum was sufficient to induce some of the same effects as chewing.

The nature and importance of women's goals for immediate and delayed breast reconstruction

Objectives: Increasingly, women undergo breast reconstruction (BR) surgery to restore health-related and psychosocial quality of life after mastectomy. Most research focuses on BR outcomes rather than women's pre-surgical expectations of, and goals for, immediate (IBR) or delayed (DBR) procedures, yet such information could support women's decision-making. This study aimed to investigate women's BR goals, whether they differed according surgery timing (IBR or DBR), and the importance women placed on them. Methods: Seventy-six women considering DBR (n = 50) or IBR (n = 26) at a UK hospital were encouraged to clarify their BR goals and rate the importance of achieving each one. Content analysis categorised and counted the frequency of the goals they reported. Results: Fifteen goal categories (7 surgical, e.g. scarring; 8 psychosocial/lifestyle, e.g. feeling feminine) were identified. Many (e.g. scarring, intimacy) were reported by a similar percentage of women in each surgical group, however, differences were identified (e.g. breast sensation was not mentioned by women considering IBR). Women reported more psychosocial (n = 206) than surgical goals (n = 160). Further, an independent t-tests revealed that women in both groups placed significantly more importance on the psychosocial (M = 9.4) than surgical goals (M = 8.5). Conclusions: This study highlights the variety of goals women have for BR, the importance they attach to them, and differences and similarities between those seeking IBR and DBR. Future research should consider whether BR goals are met, how goal achievement influences satisfaction with outcome over time and how best to incorporate goals into pre-surgical treatment decision-making

Comparative anti-inflammatory effects of plant- and marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids explored in an endothelial cell line

Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) lower risk of cardiovascular disease. The primary source of EPA and DHA is fatty fish. Plant-derived alpha linolenic acid (ALA) and stearidonic acid (SDA) could provide sustainable land-based alternatives, but their functionality is underexplored. Omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FAs) may influence atherogenic processes through changing endothelial cell (EC) function and lowering inflammation. This study compared effects of marine- and plant-derived n-3 FAs on EC inflammatory responses. EA.hy926 cells were exposed to ALA, SDA, EPA or DHA prior to stimulation with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. All FAs were shown to be incorporated into ECs in a dose-dependent manner. SDA (50 μM) decreased both production and cell-surface expression of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1; however EPA and DHA resulted in greater reduction of ICAM-1 production and expression. EPA and DHA also significantly lowered production of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8. ALA, SDA and DHA (50 μM) all reduced adhesion of THP-1 monocytes to EA.hy926 cells. DHA significantly decreased nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NFκB)p105 gene expression and phosphorylated NFκBp65 protein. Both EPA and DHA (50 μM) significantly decreased cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 protein. Thus, both marine-derived n-3 FAs, particularly DHA, had potent anti-inflammatory effects in this EC model. Of the plant-derived n-3 FAs, SDA showed the greatest inhibition of inflammation. Although neither ALA nor SDA reproduced the anti-inflammatory effects of EPA and DHA in this model, there is some potential for SDA to be a sustainable anti-inflammatory alternative to the marine n-3 FAs

Australia’s COVID-19 pandemic housing policy responses

This research reviewed Australia’s COVID-19 housing policy responses to better understand their intervention approach, underlying logic, short and long term goals, target groups and level of success. It considered literature and policy from Australia and a small number of international comparator policies; conducted online surveys of landlords and of economists; and consulted key stake holders. Given Australia’s federated system of government, considerable differences quickly emerged between intervention approaches across states and territories. This was also driven by the extent to which different jurisdictions were impacted by the spread of the virus, the extent and frequency of lockdowns, and damage to state/local economies. The national and state policy measures implemented to support home ownership achieved the desired goal of providing short-term stimulus to the residential building sector and support to the broader economy. However, a range of anticipated and unforeseen consequences have precipitated as a result of concentrated demand-side subsidies, low interest rates and flexible lending conditions. The establishment of an agile infrastructure to support information sharing will support more effective and innovative housing policy development in the future. The state-to-state infrastructure and approaches that were developed rapidly and which supported jurisdictional responses to COVID-19 provide a template for a shelf-ready policy-sharing practice that warrants supported development across governments. This could usefully include local government as well as state and territory and national tiers of governance

The RESOLVE and ECO Gas in Galaxy Groups Initiative: The Group Finder and the Group HI–Halo Mass Relation

We present a four-step group-finding algorithm for the Gas in Galaxy Groups (G3) initiative, a spin-off of the z ∼ 0 REsolved Spectroscopy Of a Local VolumE (RESOLVE) and Environmental COntext (ECO) surveys. In preparation for future comparisons to intermediate redshift (e.g., the LADUMA survey), we design the group finder to adapt to incomplete, shallow, or nonuniform data. We use mock catalogs to optimize the group finder’s performance. Compared to friends-of-friends (with false-pair splitting), the G3 algorithm offers improved completeness and halo-mass recovery with minimal loss of purity. Combining it with the volume-limited H I census data for RESOLVE and ECO, we examine the H I content of galaxy groups as a function of group halo mass. Group-integrated H I mass M rises monotonically over halo masses M ∼ 10–10 M, pivoting in slope at M ∼ 10M, the gas-richness threshold scale. We present the first measurement of the scatter in this relation, which has a median of ∼0.3 dex and is asymmetric toward lower M I,grp. We discuss interesting tensions with theoretical predictions and prior measurements of the M–M relation. In an appendix, we release RESOLVE DR4 and ECO DR3, including updates to survey redshifts, photometry, and group catalogs, as well as a major expansion of the ECO H I inventory with value-added data products. © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical SocietyWe are grateful to the anonymous referee, whose feedback has improved the quality of this work. We also thank Adrienne Erickcek, Andrew Mann, Mugdha Polimera, Matthew Bershady, Joshua Oppor, Jeremy Darling, Hayley Roberts, and Amir Kazemi-Moridani for valuable feedback at varying stages of the project. Z.L.H., S.J.K., and E.R.C. acknowledge support for this research from National Science Foundation (NSF) grant AST-1814486. Z.L.H. and D.S.C. are also supported through a North Carolina Space Grant Graduate Research Fellowship. S.J.K. and D.S.C. acknowledge support from NSF grant AST-2007351. A.J.B. acknowledges support from NSF grant AST-1814421. K.M.H. acknowledges financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the "Center of Excellence Severo Ocho" awarded to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709), via participation in SKA-SPAIN, funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN), and financial support from grant RTI2018-096228-B-C31 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE)

The diversity, evolution and ecology of Salmonella in venomous snakes

BACKGROUND: Reptile-associated Salmonella bacteria are a major, but often neglected cause of both gastrointestinal and bloodstream infection in humans globally. The diversity of Salmonella enterica has not yet been determined in venomous snakes, however other ectothermic animals have been reported to carry a broad range of Salmonella bacteria. We investigated the prevalence and diversity of Salmonella in a collection of venomous snakes and non-venomous reptiles. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPLE FINDINGS: We used a combination of selective enrichment techniques to establish a unique dataset of reptilian isolates to study Salmonella enterica species-level evolution and ecology and used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the relatedness of phylogenetic groups. We observed that 91% of venomous snakes carried Salmonella, and found that a diverse range of serovars (n = 58) were carried by reptiles. The Salmonella serovars belonged to four of the six Salmonella enterica subspecies: diarizonae, enterica, houtanae and salamae. Subspecies enterica isolates were distributed among two distinct phylogenetic clusters, previously described as clade A (52%) and clade B (48%). We identified metabolic differences between S. diarizonae, S. enterica clade A and clade B involving growth on lactose, tartaric acid, dulcitol, myo-inositol and allantoin. SIGNIFICANCE: We present the first whole genome-based comparative study of the Salmonella bacteria that colonise venomous and non-venomous reptiles and shed new light on Salmonella evolution. Venomous snakes examined in this study carried a broad range of Salmonella, including serovars which have been associated with disease in humans such as S. Enteritidis. The findings raise the possibility that venomous snakes could be a reservoir for Salmonella serovars associated with human salmonellosis

The RESOLVE and ECO Gas in Galaxy Groups Initiative: The Group Finder and the Group H i –Halo Mass Relation

We present a four-step group-finding algorithm for the Gas in Galaxy Groups (G3) initiative, a spin-off of the z ∼ 0 REsolved Spectroscopy Of a Local VolumE (RESOLVE) and Environmental COntext (ECO) surveys. In preparation for future comparisons to intermediate redshift (e.g., the LADUMA survey), we design the group finder to adapt to incomplete, shallow, or nonuniform data. We use mock catalogs to optimize the group finder’s performance. Compared to friends-of-friends (with false-pair splitting), the G3 algorithm offers improved completeness and halo-mass recovery with minimal loss of purity. Combining it with the volume-limited H i census data for RESOLVE and ECO, we examine the H i content of galaxy groups as a function of group halo mass. Group-integrated H i mass M H I,grp rises monotonically over halo masses M halo ∼ 1011–1014.5 M ⊙, pivoting in slope at M halo ∼ 1011.4 M ⊙, the gas-richness threshold scale. We present the first measurement of the scatter in this relation, which has a median of ∼0.3 dex and is asymmetric toward lower M H I,grp. We discuss interesting tensions with theoretical predictions and prior measurements of the M H I,grp–M halo relation. In an appendix, we release RESOLVE DR4 and ECO DR3, including updates to survey redshifts, photometry, and group catalogs, as well as a major expansion of the ECO H i inventory with value-added data products

Good practice guidelines for long-term ecoacoustic monitoring in the UK: with a particular focus on terrestrial biodiversity at the human-audible frequency range

Passive acoustic monitoring has great potential as a cost-effective method for long-term biodiversity monitoring. However, to maximise its efficacy, standardisation of survey protocols is necessary to ensure data are comparable and permit reliable inferences. The aim of these guidelines is to outline a basic long-term acoustic monitoring protocol that can be adapted to suit a range of projects according to specific objectives and size

Proceedings of Patient Reported Outcome Measure’s (PROMs) Conference Oxford 2017: Advances in Patient Reported Outcomes Research

A33-Effects of Out-of-Pocket (OOP) Payments and Financial Distress on Quality of Life (QoL) of People with Parkinson’s (PwP) and their Carer