Relationships of psychosocial factors to dietary intakes of preadolescent girls from diverse backgrounds

Family and personal factors that might be related to the development of food selection and eating patterns have not been well studied in children. The aim of this study was to examine whether such psychosocial factors differ in girls from four culturally diverse Girl Scout troops and how these factors are associated with dietary intakes. The social measures and dietary assessments were all obtained at baseline on subjects who were participating in a small nutrition education programme. The programme enrolled girls and one parent for each girl from four Girl Scout troops in Detroit, Michigan. The social factors assessed included girls’ emotionality and use of food to regulate emotions, their general attitudes about health, eating and body image, and self-perceptions of their competence. Dietary intakes also were assessed in both the girls and their parents. There were large differences between troops in ethnicity and parent education level, and there were differences in dietary intakes as well. The psychosocial factors assessed in this study, however, did not differ significantly by troop. When the psychosocial factors were examined for their relationships to dietary factors, there was an indication that families which reported higher self-competence and academic competence in their daughters also had healthier eating patterns in their daughters. This was a small study, but the data suggest that simple comparisons between ethnic groups may not adequately capture the complexity of family and psychosocial factors contributing to good dietary practices.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73597/1/j.1740-8709.2006.00051.x.pd

A randomized single and multiple ascending dose study in healthy volunteers of LTI-291, a centrally penetrant glucocerebrosidase activator

Aims A mutation in the GBA1 gene is the most common genetic risk factor for developing Parkinson's disease. GBA1 encodes the lysosomal enzyme glucosylceramidase beta (glucocerebrosidase, GCase) and mutations decrease enzyme activity. LTI-291 is an allosteric modulator of GCase, enhancing its activity. These first-in-human studies evaluated the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of single and multiple ascending doses of LTI-291 in healthy volunteers.Methods In the single ascending dose (SAD) study, 40 healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to LTI-291 (n = 8 per dose level) or placebo (n = 2 per dose level). Single doses of 3, 10, 30 and 90 mg LTI-291 were investigated. In the multiple ascending dose (MAD) study, 40 healthy middle-aged or elderly volunteers were randomly assigned to LTI-291 (n = 8 per dose level) or placebo (n = 2 per dose level). Fourteen consecutive daily doses of 3, 10, 30 and 60 mg LTI-291 or placebo were administered. In both the SAD and MAD studies, glycosphingolipid levels were measured and a test battery of neurocognitive tasks was performed.Results LTI-291 was generally well tolerated and no deaths or treatment-related SAEs occurred and no subject withdrew from a study due to AEs. C-max, AUC(0-24) and AUC(0-inf) increased in a dose proportional manner. The median half-life was 28.0 hours after multiple dosing. No dose-dependent glycosphingolipid changes occurred. No neurocognitive adverse effects were detected.Conclusions These first-in-human studies demonstrated that LTI-291 was well tolerated when given orally once daily for 14 consecutive days. This supports the continued clinical development and the exploration of LTI-291 effects in a GBA1-mutated Parkinson population.Perioperative Medicine: Efficacy, Safety and Outcome (Anesthesiology/Intensive Care

Planet-compatible pathways for transitioning the chemical industry

Chemical products, such as plastics, solvents, and fertilizers, are essential for supporting modern lifestyles. Yet, producing, using, and disposing of chemicals creates adverse environmental impacts which threaten the industry’s license to operate. This study presents seven planet-compatible pathways toward 2050 employing demand-side and supply-side interventions with cumulative total investment costs of US$1.2–3.7 trillion. Resource efficiency and circularity interventions reduce global chemicals demand by 23 to 33% and are critical for mitigating risks associated with using fossil feedstocks and carbon capture and sequestration, and constraints on available biogenic and recyclate feedstocks. Replacing fossil feedstocks with biogenic/air-capture sources, shifting carbon destinations from the atmosphere to ground, and electrifying/decarbonizing energy supply for production technologies could enable net negative emissions of 0.5 GtCO2eq y−1 across non-ammonia chemicals, while still delivering essential chemical-based services to society

Fish consumption patterns and hair mercury levels in children and their mothers in 17 EU countries

The toxicity of methylmercury (MeHg) in humans is well established and the main source of exposure is via the consumption of large marine fish and mammals. Of particular concern are the potential neurodevelopmental effects of early life exposure to low-levels of MeHg. Therefore, it is important that pregnant women, children and women of childbearing age are, as far as possible, protected from MeHg exposure.Within the European project DEMOCOPHES, we have analyzed mercury (Hg) in hair in 1799 mother–child pairs from 17 European countries using a strictly harmonized protocol for mercury analysis. Parallel, harmonized questionnaires on dietary habits provided information on consumption patterns of fish and marine products. After hierarchical cluster analysis of consumption habits of the mother–child pairs, the DEMOCOPHES cohort can be classified into two branches of approximately similar size: one with high fish consumption (H) and another with low consumption (L). All countries have representatives in both branches, but Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Portugal and Sweden have twice as many or more mother–child pairs in H than in L. For Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia the situation is the opposite, with more representatives in L than H.There is a strong correlation (r=0.72) in hair mercury concentration between the mother and child in the same family, which indicates that they have a similar exposure situation. The clustering of mother–child pairs on basis of their fish consumption revealed some interesting patterns. One is that for the same sea fish consumption, other food items of marine origin, like seafood products or shellfish, contribute significantly to the mercury levels in hair. We conclude that additional studies are needed to assess and quantify exposure to mercury from seafood products, in particular. The cluster analysis also showed that 95% of mothers who consume once per week fish only, and no other marine products, have mercury levels 0.55 µg/g. Thus, the 95th percentile of the distribution in this group is only around half the US-EPA recommended threshold of 1 µg/g mercury in hair. Consumption of freshwater fish played a minor role in contributing to mercury exposure in the studied cohort.The DEMOCOPHES data shows that there are significant differences in MeHg exposure across the EU and that exposure is highly correlated with consumption of fish and marine products. Fish and marine products are key components of a healthy human diet and are important both traditionally and culturally in many parts of Europe. Therefore, the communication of the potential risks of mercury exposure needs to be carefully balanced to take into account traditional and cultural values as well as the potential health benefits from fish consumption. European harmonized human biomonitoring programs provide an additional dimension to national HMB programs and can assist national authorities to tailor mitigation and adaptation strategies (dietary advice, risk communication, etc.) to their country’s specific requirements

The VANDELS ESO public spectroscopic survey

VANDELS is a uniquely deep spectroscopic survey of high-redshift galaxies with the VIMOS spectrograph on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The survey has obtained ultradeep optical (0.48 < λ < 1.0 μ m) spectroscopy of ≃2100 galaxies within the redshift interval 1.0 ≤ z ≤ 7.0, over a total area of ≃0.2 deg2 centred on the CANDELS Ultra Deep Survey and Chandra Deep Field South fields. Based on accurate photometric redshift pre-selection, 85 per cent of the galaxies targeted by VANDELS were selected to be at z ≥ 3. Exploiting the red sensitivity of the refurbished VIMOS spectrograph, the fundamental aim of the survey is to provide the high-signal-to-noise ratio spectra necessary to measure key physical properties such as stellar population ages, masses, metallicities, and outflow velocities from detailed absorption-line studies. Using integration times calculated to produce an approximately constant signal-to-noise ratio (20 < tint< 80 h), the VANDELS survey targeted: (a) bright star-forming galaxies at 2.4 ≤ z ≤ 5.5, (b) massive quiescent galaxies at 1.0 ≤ z ≤ 2.5, (c) fainter star-forming galaxies at 3.0 ≤ z ≤ 7.0, and (d) X-ray/Spitzer-selected active galactic nuclei and Herschel-detected galaxies. By targeting two extragalactic survey fields with superb multiwavelength imaging data, VANDELS will produce a unique legacy data set for exploring the physics underpinning high-redshift galaxy evolution. In this paper, we provide an overview of the VANDELS survey designed to support the science exploitation of the first ESO public data release, focusing on the scientific motivation, survey design, and target selection

Balance conditions in variational data assimilation for a high-resolution forecast model

This paper explores the role of balance relationships for background error covariance modelling as the model's grid box decreases to convective-scales. Data assimilation (DA) analyses are examined from a simplified convective-scale model and DA system (called ABC-DA) with a grid box size of 1.5km in a 2D 540km (longitude), 15km (height) domain. The DA experiments are performed with background error covariance matrices B modelled and calibrated by switching on/off linear balance (LB) and hydrostatic balance (HB), and by observing a subset of the ABC variables, namely v, meridional wind, r', scaled density (a pressure-like variable), and b', buoyancy (a temperature-like variable). Calibration data are sourced from two methods of generating proxies of forecast errors. One uses forecasts from different latitude slices of a 3D parent model (here called the `latitude slice method'), and the other uses sets of differences between forecasts of different lengths but valid at the same time (the National Meteorological Center method). Root-mean-squared errors computed over the domain from identical twin DA experiments suggest that there is no combination of LB/HB switches that give the best analysis for all model quantities. It is frequently found though that the B-matrices modelled with both LB and HB do perform the best. A clearer picture emerges when the errors are examined at different spatial scales. In particular it is shown that switching on HB in B mostly has a neutral/positive effect on the DA accuracy at `large' scales, and switching off the HB has a neutral/positive effect at `small' scales. The division between `large' and `small' scales is between 10 and 100km. Furthermore, one hour forecast error correlations computed between control parameters find that correlations are small at large scales when balances are enforced, and at small scales when balances are not enforced (ideal control parameters have zero cross correlations). This points the way to modelling B with scale-dependent balances

Black Holes at the LHC

In these two lectures, we will address the topic of the creation of small black holes during particle collisions in a ground-based accelerator, such as LHC, in the context of a higher-dimensional theory. We will cover the main assumptions, criteria and estimates for their creation, and we will discuss their properties after their formation. The most important observable effect associated with their creation is likely to be the emission of Hawking radiation during their evaporation process. After presenting the mathematical formalism for its study, we will review the current results for the emission of particles both on the brane and in the bulk. We will finish with a discussion of the methodology that will be used to study these spectra, and the observable signatures that will help us identify the black-hole events.Comment: 37 pages, 14 figures, lectures presented in the 4th Aegean Summer School on Black Holes, 17-22 September 2007, Lesvos, Greece, typos corrected, comments and references adde