Unevenly distributed: a systematic review of the health literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in the United Kingdom

Background: There is a growing literature documenting socioeconomic inequalities in obesity risk among adults in the UK, with poorer groups suffering higher risk. Methods: In this systematic review, we summarize and appraise the extant peer-reviewed literature about socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity risk in the UK published between 1980 and 2010. Only studies featuring empirical assessments of relations between socioeconomic indicators and measures of obesity among adults in the UK were included. Results: A total of 35 articles met inclusion criteria, and were reviewed here. Conclusion: Socioeconomic indicators of low socioeconomic position (SEP), including occupational social class of the head-of-household at birth and during childhood, earlier adulthood occupational social class, contemporaneous occupational social class, educational attainment, and area-level deprivation were generally inversely associated with adult obesity risk in the UK. Measures of SEP were more predictive of obesity among women than among men. We outline important methodological limitations to the literature and recommend avenues for future research

The preparation and characterization of chitosan/poly (vinyl alcohol) blended films : mechanical, thermal and surface investigations

In this study, blends of chitosan (CS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (CS/PVA) having various proportions were prepared and characterized by universal mechanical tester, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and contact angle measurements. Studying the mechanical properties of the films showed that blending improved the tensile strength, which increased with increasing PVA content up to 40% while the elongation% at break of the blends was decreased compared to that of the pure components. The obtained results of DSC suggested that some interaction between chitosan and PVA mostly took place. Static water contact angle measurements showed an improvement in the wettability of the obtained films

Gold Nanoparticles and Its Potential Applications in Cancer Research

2009 Spring Meeting of the NANOFANS Forum. Presented on May 1, 2009 from 11 am-2 pm in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building (Rooms 1116-1118) on the Georgia Tech campus.Cancer Nanotechnology: New Opportunities in Engineering and Medicine / Shuming Nie, Director, Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, Emory and Georgia Tech -- Magnetic Nanoparticles and Ovarian Cancer: A Potential New Direction in Therapeutic Intervention / John McDonald, Director, Ovarian Cancer Institute and Chair of the School of Biology at Georgia Tech -- Gold Nanoparticles and Its Potential Applications in Cancer Research / Mostafa El-Sayed, Director, Laser Dynamics Laboratory at the School of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Georgia Tech.Shuming Nie is the Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Chair Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interest is broadly in biomolecular engineering and nanotechnology. John McDonald is taking an integrated systems approach to the study of cancer. This means that he views cancer not as a defect in any particular gene or protein, but as a de-regulated cellular/ inter-cellular process. Mostafa El-Sayed is the Julius Brown Chair and Regents Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech. He researches Nanoscience and also investigates how Nanoparticles can be used in Nanomedicine, Nano Catalysis, and Nanophotonics

Voltammetric studies of some azo compounds derived from 4-methyl-6,7-dihydroxy coumarin in microemulsion and aqueous media

The cyclic voltammetric(CV) behavior of some azo compounds based on coumarin derivatives  was investigated in microemulsion systems and in aqueous solutions. The obtained results indicated that these compounds undergo an irreversible 4-electron reduction step leading to cleavage of the N=N center with the formation of amine compounds in all media. The effect of medium on the CV parameters was discussed. The total number of electrons involved in the reduction process was determined by controlled potential coulometry. Also, The effect of substituents on the electrode reaction pathway and the kinetic parameters of the electrode process were calculated and discussed. Based on the data obtained the electroreduction mechanism was suggested and discussed

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLING OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON (DOC) AND NITROGEN (DON) IN NATURAL WATERS

Increases in human population and activities have lead to significantly enhanced inputs of carbon and nitrogen fiom both point and difiuse sources to rivers, estuaries, and coastal seas, altering the global carbon and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles. This increased load has had a marked ecological impact globally, with detrimental changes to primary production, conununity stricture and water quality. Understandmg the nature and cycling of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON), significant components of the global carbon and nitrogen cycles, in estuaries will provide better estimates of C and N transport to coastal and ocean waters. This study involves: (1) optimisation of the h i ^ temperature catalytic oxidation (HTCO) analytical method used for reliable analysis of DOC and total, dissolved nitrogen (TDN), (2) investigation of spatial and temporal variations of DOC and DON, and other reliated determinands, in two contrasting estuarine environments, the Yealm and Plym, in south-west England, (3) investigation of DON bioavailability using a bacterial incubation experiment, and (4) preliminary work on the use of stable nitrogen isotope ratios to identify DON sources. The sampling and analytical protocols required for rapid, precise and reliable determinations of DOC and DON, using the coupled HTCO-chemiluminescence technique, are described ui this study. This metiiod gave detection limits of approxunately 6.2 \iM C and 0.46 | iM N , and precisions of < 2-3 % and < 3-5 % (n=3-5) for DOC and TDN, respectively. The mean DOC and TDN of the CRMs analysed, over a period of 2 years, were 48 ± 3.9 | iM C and 20 ± 1.5 nM N that were close to the certified values of 44 - 45 pM C and 21 | iM N , respectively. Concentrations of DOC ranged from 61 | iM C at the seaward end to 335 pM C at the fresh water end for the Yealm, and 71 - 290 |j,M C for the Plym. DON concenfrations were mamly m the range of 1.8 - 62 pM N for the Yeahn, and 4-94 \iM N for the Plym. The enhanced DON concenfrations in the Yealm might be the result of sewage discharges and agricultural run off, while in the Plym they may be due to sewage discharge, run off from the Chelson Meadow landfill and other anthropogenic activities within the urban Plym catchment. Except during a limited numbers of surveys, DOC and DON generally behaved in a non conservative manner in these estuaries. Nifrate and filterable reactive phosphate (FRP) behaved relatively conservatively m the Yealm, but were more non-conservative in the Plym. The spatial distribution of DOC and DON concenfrations in the Plym Estuary appeared much more mfluenced by anthropogenic uiputs relative to distributions in the Yealm Estuary. The seasonal variation of DOC and DON was characterised by lower concenfrations during winter and a slight increase in spring and suimner followed by highest concenfrations during late smmner and auturrm, suggesting a sfrong link to seasonally variable phytoplankton production. The confribution of DON to die TDN pool ranged between 4 and 79 % for the Yealm, and 3.5 - 84 % for the Plym. Higher values (53 - 79 %) were observed during late summer, emphasising the important contributions of DON to TDN- pool. Incubation experiments usmg the Plym Estuary water mdicated that 30 - 58 % of DON was bioavailable for heterofrophic bacterial utilisation; at the same time nitrate concentrations increased by 9 - 35 %, presumably through mineralization of DON. From the studies undertaken in the present work, it may be concluded that the omission of DON in estuarine and coastal water studies will result in underestimation of the total nifrogen load. As a significant part of the DON appeared to be bioavailable, ignoring this fraction will result in an underestimation of eutrophication pressures on coastal and ocean waters.Mansoura University, Ministry of Higher Education, Egyp