Measuring diet in primary school children aged 8-11 years: validation of the Child and Diet Evaluation Tool (CADET) with an emphasis on fruit and vegetable intake.

Background/Objectives:The Child And Diet Evaluation Tool (CADET) is a 24-h food diary that measures the nutrition intake of children aged 3-7 years, with a focus on fruit and vegetable consumption. Until now CADET has not been used to measure nutrient intake of children aged 8-11 years. To ensure that newly assigned portion sizes for this older age group were valid, participants were asked to complete the CADET diary (the school and home food diary) concurrently with a 1-day weighed record. Subjects/Methods:A total of 67 children with a mean age of 9.3 years (s.d.: ± 1.4, 51% girls) participated in the study. Total fruit and vegetable intake in grams and other nutrients were extracted to compare the mean intakes from the CADET diary and Weighed record using t-tests and Pearson's r correlations. Bland-Altman analysis was also conducted to assess the agreement between the two methods. Results: Correlations comparing the CADET diary to the weighed record were high for fruit, vegetables and combined fruit and vegetables (r=0.7). The results from the Bland-Altman plots revealed a mean difference of 54 g (95% confidence interval: -88, 152) for combined fruit and vegetables intake. CADET is the only tool recommended by the National Obesity Observatory that has been validated in a UK population and provides nutrient level data on children's diets. Conclusions:The results from this study conclude that CADET can provide high-quality nutrient data suitable for evaluating intervention studies now for children aged 3-11 years with a focus on fruit and vegetable intake

Mechanisms of Mouse Hepatitis Virus Entry into Cells

Background: Viruses can enter cells through several mechanisms, two common ones being clathrin-mediated and caveolin-mediated endocytosis. The clathrin pathway delivers viral particles to endosomes, with subsequent acidification of the endosome and endosome/lysosome fusion often a prerequisite for release of the viral genome into the cytoplasm. The caveolin-mediated pathway delivers virus initially into vesicles called caveosomes, which have a neutral pH, before viral uncoating occurs. Viral entry pathways can be examined by using various drugs to inhibit the different endocytosis pathways, as well as by siRNA technology to down-regulate expression of clathrin or caveolin proteins on the surface of host cells

Longitudinal photocurrent spectroscopy of a single GaAs/AlGaAs v-groove quantum wire

Modulation-doped GaAs v-groove quantum wires (QWRs) have been fabricated with novel electrical contacts made to two-dimensional electron-gas (2DEG) reservoirs. Here, we present longitudinal photocurrent (photoconductivity/PC) spectroscopy measurements of a single QWR. We clearly observe conductance in the ground-state one-dimensional subbands; in addition, a highly temperature-dependent response is seen from other structures within the v-groove. The latter phenomenon is attributed to the effects of structural topography and localization on carrier relaxation. The results of power-dependent PC measurements suggest that the QWR behaves as a series of weakly interacting localized states, at low temperatures

Positron and positronium affinities in the work-formalism Hartree-Fock approximation

Positron binding to anions is investigated within the work formalism proposed by Harbola and Sahni for the halide anions and the systems Li^- through O^- excluding Be^- and N^-. The toal ground-state energies of the anion-positron bound systems are empirically found to be an upper bound to the Hartree-Fock energies. The computed expectation values as well as positron and positronium affinities are in good agreement with their restricted Hartree-Fock counterparts. Binding of a positron to neutral species is also investigated using an iterative method.Comment: 12 pages, to appear in Physical Review

Preventing childhood obesity, phase II feasibility study focusing on South Asians: BEACHeS

Objective: To assess feasibility and acceptability of a multifaceted, culturally appropriate intervention for preventing obesity in South Asian children, and to obtain data to inform sample size for a definitive trial. Design: Phase II feasibility study of a complex intervention. Setting: 8 primary schools in inner city Birmingham, UK, within populations that are predominantly South Asian. Participants: 1090 children aged 6–8 years took part in the intervention. 571 (85.9% from South Asian background) underwent baseline measures. 85.5% (n=488) were followed up 2 years later. Interventions: The 1-year intervention consisted of school-based and family-based activities, targeting dietary and physical activity behaviours. The intervention was modified and refined throughout the period of delivery. Main outcome measures: Acceptability and feasibility of the intervention and of measurements required to assess outcomes in a definitive trial. The difference in body mass index (BMI) z-score between arms was used to inform sample size calculations for a definitive trial. Results: Some intervention components (increasing school physical activity opportunities, family cooking skills workshops, signposting of local leisure facilities and attending day event at a football club) were feasible and acceptable. Other components were acceptable, but not feasible. Promoting walking groups was neither acceptable nor feasible. At follow-up, children in the intervention compared with the control group were less likely to be obese (OR 0.41; 0.19 to 0.89), and had lower adjusted BMI z-score (−0.15 kg/m2; 95% CI −0.27 to −0.03). Conclusions: The feasibility study informed components for an intervention programme. The favourable direction of outcome for weight status in the intervention group supports the need for a definitive trial. A cluster randomised controlled trial is now underway to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of the intervention. Trial registration number: ISRCTN51016370

Organic phosphorus composition and potential bioavailability in semi-arid arable soils of the Western United States

The organic P composition of semi-arid arable soils is largely unknown, but such information is fundamental to understanding P dynamics in irrigated agriculture. We used solution "P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and phosphatase hydrolysis to characterize organic P in semi-arid arable soils from the western USA (organic C 2.0-30.7 g C kg' soil, clay 2-48%, pH 5.2-8.2, CaCO 3 <1-480 g kg -' soil). Total P concentrations ranged from 220 to 1210 mg P kg-1 soil, of which between 12 and 45% was extracted with NaOH-EDTA. Inorganic orthophosphate was the dominant P compound, but concentrations determined by solution 31P NMR spectroscopy were consistently greater than those determined by molybdate colorimetry. Concentrations of organic P were relatively small, and were dominated by orthophosphate monoesters (11-130 mg P kg-1 soil), with smaller concentrations of orthophosphate diesters (0-7 mg P kg-1 soil). Pyrophosphate was present in almost all soils at concentrations up to 14 mg P kg-1 soil. Bicarbonate-extractable organic P ranged from 1.7 to 22.8 mg P kg-1 soil, of which between 37 and 87% was hydrolyzed by phosphatase enzymes, suggesting its bioavailability. Soil organic P concentrations were positively correlated with mean annual precipitation, organic C, clay, and oxalate-extractable metals (Al, Fe, Mn), and negatively correlated with mean annual temperature and soil pH. However, CaCO3 concentrations were not significantly correlated with any soil property. These results indicate that equilibrium levels of organic P in semi-arid arable soils are controlled by a balance between the physical protection offered by the soil matrix and the suitability of the environment for biological productivit

Assessing the impact of care farms on quality of life and offending: a pilot study among probation service users in England

OBJECTIVES: To assess the feasibility of conducting a cost-effectiveness study of using care farms (CFs) to improve quality of life and reduce reoffending among offenders undertaking community orders (COs). To pilot questionnaires to assess quality of life, connection to nature, lifestyle behaviours, health and social-care use. To assess recruitment and retention at 6 months and feasibility of data linkage to Police National Computer (PNC) reconvictions data and data held by probation services. DESIGN: Pilot study using questionnaires to assess quality of life, individually linked to police and probation data. SETTING: The pilot study was conducted in three probation service regions in England. Each site included a CF and at least one comparator CO project. CFs are working farms used with a range of clients, including offenders, for therapeutic purposes. The three CFs included one aquaponics and horticulture social enterprise, a religious charity focusing on horticulture and a family-run cattle farm. Comparator projects included sorting secondhand clothes and activities to address alcohol misuse and anger management. PARTICIPANTS: We recruited 134 adults (over 18) serving COs in England, 29% female. RESULTS: 52% of participants completed follow-up questionnaires. Privatisation of UK probation trusts in 2014 negatively impacted on recruitment and retention. Linkage to PNC data was a more successful means of follow-up, with 90% consenting to access their probation and PNC data. Collection of health and social-care costs and quality-adjusted life year derivation were feasible. Propensity score adjustment provided a viable comparison method despite differences between comparators. We found worse health and higher reoffending risk among CF participants due to allocation of challenging offenders to CFs, making risk of reoffending a confounder. CONCLUSIONS: Recruitment would be feasible in a more stable probation environment. Follow-up was challenging; however, assessing reconvictions from PNC data is feasible and a potential primary outcome for future studies

Evaluation of the impact of a school gardening intervention on children's fruit and vegetable intake: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Current academic literature suggests that school gardening programmes can provide an interactive environment with the potential to change children’s fruit and vegetable intake. This is the first cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) designed to evaluate whether a school gardening programme can have an effect on children’s fruit and vegetable intake. Methods: The trial included children from 23 schools; these schools were randomised into two groups, one to receive the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)-led intervention and the other to receive the less involved Teacher-led intervention. A 24-hour food diary (CADET) was used to collect baseline and follow-up dietary intake 18 months apart. Questionnaires were also administered to evaluate the intervention implementation. Results: A total of 641 children completed the trial with a mean age of 8.1 years (95% CI: 8.0, 8.4). The unadjusted results from multilevel regression analysis revealed that for combined daily fruit and vegetable intake the Teacher-led group had a higher daily mean change of 8 g (95% CI: −19, 36) compared to the RHS-led group -32 g (95% CI: −60, −3). However, after adjusting for possible confounders this difference was not significant (intervention effect: −40 g, 95% CI: −88, 1; p = 0.06). The adjusted analysis of process measures identified that if schools improved their gardening score by 3 levels (a measure of school gardening involvement - the scale has 6 levels from 0 ‘no garden’ to 5 ‘community involvement’), irrespective of group allocation, children had, on average, a daily increase of 81 g of fruit and vegetable intake (95% CI: 0, 163; p = 0.05) compared to schools that had no change in gardening score. Conclusions: This study is the first cluster randomised controlled trial designed to evaluate a school gardening intervention. The results have found very little evidence to support the claims that school gardening alone can improve children’s daily fruit and vegetable intake. However, when a gardening intervention is implemented at a high level within the school it may improve children’s daily fruit and vegetable intake by a portion. Improving children’s fruit and vegetable intake remains a challenging task

Fast Purcell-enhanced single photon source in 1,550-nm telecom band from a resonant quantum dot-cavity coupling

High-bit-rate nanocavity-based single photon sources in the 1,550-nm telecom band are challenges facing the development of fibre-based long-haul quantum communication networks. Here we report a very fast single photon source in the 1,550-nm telecom band, which is achieved by a large Purcell enhancement that results from the coupling of a single InAs quantum dot and an InP photonic crystal nanocavity. At a resonance, the spontaneous emission rate was enhanced by a factor of 5 resulting a record fast emission lifetime of 0.2 ns at 1,550 nm. We also demonstrate that this emission exhibits an enhanced anti-bunching dip. This is the first realization of nanocavity-enhanced single photon emitters in the 1,550-nm telecom band. This coupled quantum dot cavity system in the telecom band thus provides a bright high-bit-rate non-classical single photon source that offers appealing novel opportunities for the development of a long-haul quantum telecommunication system via optical fibres.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure