Breastfeeding Is Associated with a Maternal Feeding Style Low in Control from Birth

Background: The influence of maternal child-feeding style upon child weight and eating style for children over the age of twelve months is well established. However there is little empirical evidence examining maternal child-feeding style during milk feeding despite evidence that mothers who breastfeed exert lower levels of control over later diet. The aim of this paper was to examine variation in maternal child-feeding style during the first six months postpartum and to explore associations with mode of milk feeding and infant weight. Methods: The Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ) is frequently used to measure maternal child-feeding style in preschool children. 390 mothers with an infant aged 0–6 months completed an adapted version of the CFQ to measure maternal child-feeding style during milk feeding. Participants reported breastfeeding duration, infant weight and perceived size. Results: Principle components analysis of questionnaire items produced six factors; encouraging feeding, feeding to a routine, limiting intake, concern for weight, monitoring and perceived responsibility. Breastfeeding was associated with lower levels of control compared to formula feeding. Infant birth weight was significantly inversely associated with concern for weight, monitoring and encouraging feeding. Discussion: Formula feeding is associated with greater maternal control of child-feeding from birth whilst a lower birth weight is linked to concerns for infant weight and pressure to eat. As early maternal child-feeding relationships may impac

Maternal feeding practices and fussy eating in toddlerhood: A discordant twin analysis

Background: Parental feeding practices are thought to play a causal role in shaping a child's fussiness; however, a child-responsive model suggests that feeding practices may develop in response to a child's emerging appetitive characteristics. We used a novel twin study design to test the hypothesis that mothers vary their feeding practices for twin children who differ in their 'food fussiness', in support of a child-responsive model. Methods: Participants were mothers and their 16 month old twin children (n=2026) from Gemini, a British twin birth cohort of children born in 2007. Standardized psychometric measures of maternal 'pressure to eat', 'restriction' and 'instrumental feeding', as well as child 'food fussiness', were completed by mothers. Within-family analyses examined if twin-pair differences in 'food fussiness' were associated with differences in feeding practices using linear regression models. In a subset of twins (n=247 pairs) who were the most discordant (highest quartile) on 'food fussiness' (difference score≥.50), Paired Samples T-test were used to explore the magnitude of differences in feeding practices between twins. Between-family analyses used Complex Samples General Linear Models to examine associations between feeding practices and 'food fussiness'. Results: Within-pair differences in 'food fussiness' were associated with differential 'pressure to eat' and 'instrumental feeding' (ps<.001), but not with 'restriction'. In the subset of twins most discordant on 'food fussiness', mothers used more pressure (p<.001) and food rewards (p<.05) with the fussier twin. Between-family analyses indicated that 'pressure to eat' and 'instrumental feeding' were positively associated with 'food fussiness', while 'restriction' was negatively associated with 'food fussiness' (ps<.001). Conclusions: Mothers appear to subtly adjust their feeding practices according to their perceptions of their toddler's emerging fussy eating behavior. Specifically, the fussier toddler is pressured more than their less fussy co-twin, and is more likely to be offered food rewards. Guiding parents on how to respond to fussy eating may be an important aspect of promoting feeding practices that encourage food acceptance

Mesodynamics in the SARS nucleocapsid measured by NMR field cycling

Protein motions on all timescales faster than molecular tumbling are encoded in the spectral density. The dissection of complex protein dynamics is typically performed using relaxation rates determined at high and ultra-high field. Here we expand this range of the spectral density to low fields through field cycling using the nucleocapsid protein of the SARS coronavirus as a model system. The field-cycling approach enables site-specific measurements of R1 at low fields with the sensitivity and resolution of a high-field magnet. These data, together with high-field relaxation and heteronuclear NOE, provide evidence for correlated rigid-body motions of the entire β-hairpin, and corresponding motions of adjacent loops with a time constant of 0.8 ns (mesodynamics). MD simulations substantiate these findings and provide direct verification of the time scale and collective nature of these motions

Pharmacotherapeutic intervention in impulsive preschool children: The need for a comprehensive therapeutic approach

Impulsive and aggressive behaviour symptoms often are serious problems in children, even already at preschool age. Thus, effective treatment approaches are requested. In this comment pharmacotherapeutic treatment approaches, first of all risperidone, their limitations and alternative psychotherapeutic approaches are outlined

Appetitive Traits associated with Higher and Lower Body Mass Index: Evaluating the Validity of the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire in an Australian Sample

Background: The aims of this study were to evaluate the factor structure of the newly developed Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ) (Hunot et al., Appetite 105:356-63, 2016) in an Australian sample, and examine associations between the four food approach and four food avoidance appetitive traits with body mass index (BMI). Methods: Participants (N = 998) recruited between May and October 2016 via a university research participation scheme and online social network sites completed an online version of the AEBQ and self-reported demographic and anthropometric data. Of the sample, 84.8% were females, 29.6% had completed a university degree and the overall mean age was 24.32 years (SD = 8.32). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test three alternative factor structures (derived from issues raised in the original development study): the original 8 factor model, a 7 factor model with Food Responsiveness and Hunger scales combined, and a 7 factor model with the Hunger scale removed. Results: The CFA revealed that the original 8 factor model was a better fit to the data than the 7 factor model in which Food Responsiveness and Hunger scales were combined. However, while reliability estimates for 7 of the 8 scales were good (Cronbach’s α between 0.70-0.86), the reliability of the Hunger scale was modest (0.67) and dropping this factor resulted in a good fitting model. All food avoidance scales (except Food Fussiness) were negatively associated with body mass index (BMI) whereas Emotional Overeating was the only food approach scale positively associated with BMI. Conclusions: The study supports the use of the AEBQ as a reliable and valid measure of food approach and avoidance appetitive traits in adults. Longitudinal studies that examine continuity and stability of appetitive traits across the lifespan will be facilitated by the addition of this measurement tool to the literature

The genetic legacy of extreme exploitation in a polar vertebrate

Understanding the effects of human exploitation on the genetic composition of wild populations is important for predicting species persistence and adaptive potential. We therefore investigated the genetic legacy of large-scale commercial harvesting by reconstructing, on a global scale, the recent demographic history of the Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella), a species that was hunted to the brink of extinction by 18th and 19th century sealers. Molecular genetic data from over 2,000 individuals sampled from all eight major breeding locations across the species’ circumpolar geographic distribution, show that at least four relict populations around Antarctica survived commercial hunting. Coalescent simulations suggest that all of these populations experienced severe bottlenecks down to effective population sizes of around 150–200. Nevertheless, comparably high levels of neutral genetic variability were retained as these declines are unlikely to have been strong enough to deplete allelic richness by more than around 15%. These findings suggest that even dramatic short-term declines need not necessarily result in major losses of diversity, and explain the apparent contradiction between the high genetic diversity of this species and its extreme exploitation history

Fitness of Isogenic Colony Morphology Variants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Murine Airway Infection

Chronic lung infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa are associated with the diversification of the persisting clone into niche specialists and morphotypes, a phenomenon called ‘dissociative behaviour’. To explore the potential of P. aeruginosa to change its morphotype by single step loss-of–function mutagenesis, a signature-tagged mini-Tn5 plasposon library of the cystic fibrosis airway isolate TBCF10839 was screened for colony morphology variants under nine different conditions in vitro. Transposon insertion into 1% of the genome changed colony morphology into eight discernable morphotypes. Half of the 55 targets encode features of primary or secondary metabolism whereby quinolone production was frequently affected. In the other half the transposon had inserted into genes of the functional categories transport, regulation or motility/chemotaxis. To mimic dissociative behaviour of isogenic strains in lungs, pools of 25 colony morphology variants were tested for competitive fitness in an acute murine airway infection model. Six of the 55 mutants either grew better or worse in vivo than in vitro, respectively. Metabolic proficiency of the colony morphology variant was a key determinant for survival in murine airways. The most common morphotype of self-destructive autolysis did unexpectedly not impair fitness. Transposon insertions into homologous genes of strain PAO1 did not reproduce the TBCF10839 mutant morphotypes for 16 of 19 examined loci pointing to an important role of the genetic background on colony morphology. Depending on the chosen P. aeruginosa strain, functional genome scans will explore other areas of the evolutionary landscape. Based on our discordant findings of mutant phenotypes in P. aeruginosa strains PAO1, PA14 and TBCF10839, we conclude that the current focus on few reference strains may miss modes of niche adaptation and dissociative behaviour that are relevant for the microevolution of complex traits in the wild

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Diving below the spin-down limit:constraints on gravitational waves from the energetic young pulsar PSR J0537-6910

We present a search for continuous gravitational-wave signals from the young, energetic X-ray pulsar PSR J0537-6910 using data from the second and third observing runs of LIGO and Virgo. The search is enabled by a contemporaneous timing ephemeris obtained using NICER data. The NICER ephemeris has also been extended through 2020 October and includes three new glitches. PSR J0537-6910 has the largest spin-down luminosity of any pulsar and is highly active with regards to glitches. Analyses of its long-term and inter-glitch braking indices provided intriguing evidence that its spin-down energy budget may include gravitational-wave emission from a time-varying mass quadrupole moment. Its 62 Hz rotation frequency also puts its possible gravitational-wave emission in the most sensitive band of LIGO/Virgo detectors. Motivated by these considerations, we search for gravitational-wave emission at both once and twice the rotation frequency. We find no signal, however, and report our upper limits. Assuming a rigidly rotating triaxial star, our constraints reach below the gravitational-wave spin-down limit for this star for the first time by more than a factor of two and limit gravitational waves from the l = m = 2 mode to account for less than 14% of the spin-down energy budget. The fiducial equatorial ellipticity is limited to less than about 3 x 10⁻⁵, which is the third best constraint for any young pulsar