Prevalence and Predictors of Household Food Insecurity among Adult/Youth Dyads at the Initiation of the iCook 4-H Two-Year Obesity Prevention Study

Objective: Determine food insecurity prevalence and predictors among adult/youth dyads enrolled in a childhood obesity prevention study (iCook 4-H).Methods: The iCook 4-H intervention was designed for youth (9-10 years old) and their adult main meals preparer to cook, eat, and play together. Although not an inclusion criteria, diverse, low income, and/or rural families were the target during recruitment. At baseline, adults completed surveys on food insecurity, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and youth anthropometrics were collected with body mass index (BMI) calculated. Descriptive statistics were computed and chi-square analysis was conducted to test differences between potential predictors and food insecurity. Binomial logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between food insecurity and its predictors.Results: Thirty-four percent of households (n=71 of 206) were food insecure. Youth were primarily white (69.9%) and normal weight (58.3%). Adults were also primarily white (74.8%), overweight or obese (67.9%), married (68.9%), not participating in government assistance programs (57.8%), and held no college degree (55.3%). Based on the logistic regression model, households with a non-white youth (OR=13.53; 95% CI=3.33, 55.05), an adult without a college degree (OR=5.62; 95% CI=2.01, 15.73), and government assistance program participation (OR=5.63; 95% CI=2.63, 12.07) were significantly associated with household food insecurity. However, there was no significant association with BMI found (youth p=0.167; adult p=0.179).Conclusion: Consistent with previous findings, household food insecurity status was associated with youth race, adult education, and government assistance program participation. In contrast, no relationship between BMI and food insecurity status was observed in this study, which warrants further investigation

Health Disparities Score Composite of Youth and Parent Dyads from an Obesity Prevention Intervention: iCook 4-H

iCook 4-H is a lifestyle intervention to improve diet, physical activity and mealtime behavior. Control and treatment dyads (adult primary meal preparer and a 9–10-year-old youth) completed surveys at baseline and 4, 12, and 24 months. A Health Disparity (HD) score composite was developed utilizing a series of 12 questions (maximum score = 12 with a higher score indicating a more severe health disparity). Questions came from the USDA short form U.S. Household Food Security Survey (5), participation in food assistance programs (1), food behavior (2), level of adult education completed (1), marital status (1), and race (1 adult and 1 child). There were 228 dyads (control n = 77; treatment n = 151) enrolled in the iCook 4-H study. Baseline HD scores were 3.00 ± 2.56 among control dyads and 2.97 ± 2.91 among treatment dyads, p = 0.6632. There was a significant decline in the HD score of the treatment group from baseline to 12 months (p = 0.0047) and baseline to 24 months (p = 0.0354). A treatment by 12-month time interaction was found (baseline mean 2.97 ± 2.91 vs. 12-month mean 1.78 ± 2.31; p = 0.0406). This study shows that behavioral change interventions for youth and adults can help improve factors that impact health equity; although, further research is needed to validate this HD score as a measure of health disparities across time

Supersymmetric completion of M-theory 4D-gauge algebra from twisted tori and fluxes

We present the supersymmetric completion of the M-theory free differential algebra resulting from a compactification to four dimensions on a twisted seven-torus with 4-form and 7-form fluxes turned on. The super--curvatures are given and the local supersymmetry transformations derived. Dual formulations of the theory are discussed in connection with classes of gaugings corresponding to diverse choices of vacua. This also includes seven dimensional compactifications on more general spaces not described by group manifolds.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, typos corrected, references adde

High quality anti-relaxation coating material for alkali atom vapor cells

We present an experimental investigation of alkali atom vapor cells coated with a high quality anti-relaxation coating material based on alkenes. The prepared cells with single compound alkene based coating showed the longest spin relaxation times which have been measured up to now with room temperature vapor cells. Suggestions are made that chemical binding of a cesium atom and an alkene molecule by attack to the C=C bond plays a crucial role in such improvement of anti-relaxation coating quality

Preparation of distilled and purified continuous variable entangled states

The distribution of entangled states of light over long distances is a major challenge in the field of quantum information. Optical losses, phase diffusion and mixing with thermal states lead to decoherence and destroy the non-classical states after some finite transmission-line length. Quantum repeater protocols, which combine quantum memory, entanglement distillation and entanglement swapping, were proposed to overcome this problem. Here we report on the experimental demonstration of entanglement distillation in the continuous-variable regime. Entangled states were first disturbed by random phase fluctuations and then distilled and purified using interference on beam splitters and homodyne detection. Measurements of covariance matrices clearly indicate a regained strength of entanglement and purity of the distilled states. In contrast to previous demonstrations of entanglement distillation in the complementary discrete-variable regime, our scheme achieved the actual preparation of the distilled states, which might therefore be used to improve the quality of downstream applications such as quantum teleportation

Teens Implementing a Childhood Obesity Prevention Program in the Community: Feasibility and Perceptions of a Partnership with HSTA and iCook 4-H

High school student researchers and teen leaders from the Health Science Technology Academy (HSTA), under the supervision of HSTA teachers, led a childhood obesity prevention (COP) program (iCook 4-H). The objective was to evaluate the feasibility and perceptions of having teen leaders implement a COP program for dyads of youth (9–10 years old) and their primary adult food preparer. Behavior change and perceptions were assessed through surveys and open-ended interviews. Across eight HSTA organizations, 43 teen leaders participated in teaching the iCook 4-H program to 24 dyads. Increased frequency of culinary skills, physical activity and mealtime behavior were reported by youth. Almost all adults (93%) reported that their youth had learned kitchen skills and that the program provided youth-adult quality time and developed culinary skills. Youth echoed adult perceptions with additional themes of food safety and physical activity. HSTA teen leaders perceived the program to be successful and reported the training they received to implement the program was adequate 98% of the time. HSTA teachers found the program to be beneficial for HSTA students in improving leadership, confidence and responsibility. iCook 4-H was feasible to be disseminated through teen leaders in the HSTA program. This teen-led approach could serve as a model for youth health-related programming

Ripple Effect Mapping Outcomes of a Childhood Obesity Prevention Program From Youth and Adult Dyads Using a Qualitative Approach: iCook 4-H

Objective: To describe the impact of the iCook 4-H intervention study based on data gathered through ripple effect mapping focus groups through an explorative approach. Design: Youth–adult dyads responded about ways in which iCook had affected the individual, family, and community. Three questions were asked: (1) What were people doing differently as a result of iCook? (2) Who benefited from iCook and how? (3) Were there changes in the way community groups and institutions did things as a result of iCook?Setting: Ripple effect mapping sessions took place across 5 states (Maine, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia). Participants: Seventy dyad participants (n = 35 youth, n = 35 adults) from the iCook 4-H intervention. Main Outcome Measure: Three core themes of iCook 4-H were assessed: cooking, eating, and playing together. Analysis: Direct content analysis and word frequencies were used. Results: Seven categories emerged: improved health, increased community involvement, increased knowledge, increased communication, changed motivation, financial mindfulness, and increased appreciation for family. An overarching theme that was determined was that learning new skills together through trying new things (cooking, eating, and playing) leads to positive individual family and community change. Conclusions and Implications: Ripple effect mapping was effective in determining the perceived impact of iCook 4-H on oneself, family, and community

Cold gas outflows from the Small Magellanic Cloud traced with ASKAP

Feedback from massive stars plays a critical role in the evolution of the Universe by driving powerful outflows from galaxies that enrich the intergalactic medium and regulate star formation. An important source of outflows may be the most numerous galaxies in the Universe: dwarf galaxies. With small gravitational potential wells, these galaxies easily lose their star-forming material in the presence of intense stellar feedback. Here, we show that the nearby dwarf galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), has atomic hydrogen outflows extending at least 2 kiloparsecs (kpc) from the star-forming bar of the galaxy. The outflows are cold, $T<400~{\rm K}$, and may have formed during a period of active star formation $25 - 60$ million years (Myr) ago. The total mass of atomic gas in the outflow is $\sim 10^7$ solar masses, ${\rm M_{\odot}}$, or $\sim 3$% of the total atomic gas of the galaxy. The inferred mass flux in atomic gas alone, $\dot{M}_{HI}\sim 0.2 - 1.0~{\rm M_{\odot}~yr^{-1}}$, is up to an order of magnitude greater than the star formation rate. We suggest that most of the observed outflow will be stripped from the SMC through its interaction with its companion, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), and the Milky Way, feeding the Magellanic Stream of hydrogen encircling the Milky Way.Comment: Published in Nature Astronomy, 29 October 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0608-

Quality of Life Associated with Physical Activity but not Sedentary Time in Youth

Purpose: It has been reported that youth who engaged in more screen time had lower quality of life scores compared to those that were more physically active. Furthermore, increased sedentary behavior increases health risks particularly the risk for obesity. A cross-sectional analysis was completed to examine the relationship between healthrelated quality-of-life (HRQOL) and accelerometer-measured sedentary time (ST) and physical activity (PA) in 9-10-yearold youth who were recruited for the family-based, childhood obesity intervention, iCook 4-H. It was hypothesized that objectively measured ST would be negatively correlated and PA would be positively correlated with HRQOL.Methods: A subset of participants (n=118) wore Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers for 7 days and completed the Pediatric Quality of Life survey (PedsQLTM, version 4.0) to assess HRQOL. Mean daily minutes of accelerometermeasured ST (547 ± 60) and PA including light-intensity (LPA=240 ± 49), moderate-intensity (MPA=35 ± 11), vigorous-intensity (VPA=17 ± 9), and moderate-to vigorousintensity (MVPA=52 ± 19) were evaluated during waking hours. Multiple linear regressions were used to assess relationship between ST and PA intensities with HRQOL. Statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05.Results: There were no significant associations between ST or LPA with HRQOL. MPA, VPA and MVPA were positively associated with multiple HRQOL domains.Conclusion: The lack of relationship between objectively measured ST and LPA with the total HRQOL score and subscales merits further investigation. The findings of the current study support the need for lifestyle interventions that engage families in behavior that increases MVPA

The skeletal phenotype of chondroadherin deficient mice

Chondroadherin, a leucine rich repeat extracellular matrix protein with functions in cell to matrix interactions, binds cells via their a2b1 integrin as well as via cell surface proteoglycans, providing for different sets of signals to the cell. Additionally, the protein acts as an anchor to the matrix by binding tightly to collagens type I and II as well as type VI. We generated mice with inactivated chondroadherin gene to provide integrated studies of the role of the protein. The null mice presented distinct phenotypes with affected cartilage as well as bone. At 3–6 weeks of age the epiphyseal growth plate was widened most pronounced in the proliferative zone. The proteome of the femoral head articular cartilage at 4 months of age showed some distinct differences, with increased deposition of cartilage intermediate layer protein 1 and fibronectin in the chondroadherin deficient mice, more pronounced in the female. Other proteins show decreased levels in the deficient mice, particularly pronounced for matrilin-1, thrombospondin-1 and notably the members of the a1-antitrypsin family of proteinase inhibitors as well as for a member of the bone morphogenetic protein growth factor family. Thus, cartilage homeostasis is distinctly altered. The bone phenotype was expressed in several ways. The number of bone sialoprotein mRNA expressing cells in the proximal tibial metaphysic was decreased and the osteoid surface was increased possibly indicating a change in mineral metabolism. Micro-CT revealed lower cortical thickness and increased structure model index, i.e. the amount of plates and rods composing the bone trabeculas. The structural changes were paralleled by loss of function, where the null mice showed lower femoral neck failure load and tibial strength during mechanical testing at 4 months of age. The skeletal phenotype points at a role for chondroadherin in both bone and cartilage homeostasis, however, without leading to altered longitudinal growth