Fortified breakfast cereal consumed daily for 12 wk leads to a significant improvement in micronutrient intake and micronutrient status in adolescent girls: a randomised controlled trial

Background: Poor micronutrient status is reported among adolescents across Europe and USA. This may be related to the well-documented decline in the regular consumption of breakfast by this group. The regular consumption of a breakfast cereal offers a possible means to improve micronutrient status; fortified cereal is likely to have enhanced benefit. A study was conducted to determine the efficacy of the regular consumption of a fortified cereal with milk, compared with unfortified cereal, consumed either as a breakfast or a supper, in improving micronutrient intake and micronutrient status of adolescent girls. Methods: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention trial was conducted in girls recruited at ages 16–19 years, from schools and colleges in Sheffield, UK. Girls were randomised to receive 50 g fortified or unfortified cereal, with 150 ml semi-skimmed milk, daily, for 12 weeks, as a breakfast or as a supper. Dietary intake was estimated using a 4-d food diary and blood collected for the assessment of nutritional status. Within-group changes were tested using a paired sample t test; two-way ANOVA was used to analyse effects of the intervention, with cereal type and time of consumption as factors, correcting for baseline values. The analysis was conducted on 71 girls who completed the study. Results: Consumption of unfortified cereal elicited an increase in the intake of vitamins B1, B2 and B6; consumption of fortified cereal elicited increases in vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, folate and iron (P < 0.001) and of vitamin D (P = 0.007), all increases were significantly greater than for unfortified cereal. Consumption of the fortified cereal also led to a significant improvement in biomarkers of status for vitamins B2, B12, folate and of iron, compared with girls receiving the unfortified cereal, and maintained vitamin D status, in contrast with the girls receiving the unfortified cereal (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The daily consumption of cereal with milk for 12 weeks by adolescent girls, increased intakes of micronutrients. The consumption of fortified cereal elicited greater increases than for unfortified cereal and improved biomarkers of micronutrient status. The findings justify strategies to encourage the consumption of fortified cereal with milk by adolescents, either as a breakfast or a supper

Effect of extended morning fasting upon ad libitum lunch intake and associated metabolic and hormonal responses in obese adults

Background/Objectives: Breakfast omission is positively associated with obesity and increased risk of disease. However, little is known about the acute effects of extended morning fasting upon subsequent energy intake and associated metabolic/regulatory factors in obese adults. Subjects/Methods: In a randomised cross-over design, 24 obese men (n=8) and women (n=16) extended their overnight fast by omitting breakfast consumption or ingesting a typical carbohydrate-rich breakfast of 2183±393 kJ (521±94 kcal), before an ad libitum pasta lunch 3 h later. Blood samples were obtained throughout the day until 3 h post lunch and analysed for hormones implicated in appetite regulation, along with metabolic outcomes and subjective appetite measures. Results: Lunch intake was unaffected by extended morning fasting (difference=218 kJ, 95% confidence interval −54 kJ, 490 kJ; P=0.1) resulting in lower total intake in the fasting trial (difference=−1964 kJ, 95% confidence interval −1645 kJ, −2281 kJ; P<0.01). Systemic concentrations of peptide tyrosine–tyrosine and leptin were lower during the afternoon following morning fasting (Pless than or equal to0.06). Plasma-acylated ghrelin concentrations were also lower following the ad libitum lunch in the fasting trial (P<0.05) but this effect was not apparent for total ghrelin (Pgreater than or equal to0.1). Serum insulin concentrations were greater throughout the afternoon in the fasting trial (P=0.05), with plasma glucose also greater 1 h after lunch (P<0.01). Extended morning fasting did not result in greater appetite ratings after lunch, with some tendency for lower appetite 3 h post lunch (P=0.09). Conclusions: We demonstrate for the first time that, in obese adults, extended morning fasting does not cause compensatory intake during an ad libitum lunch nor does it increase appetite during the afternoon. Morning fasting reduced satiety hormone responses to a subsequent lunch meal but counterintuitively also reduced concentrations of the appetite-stimulating hormone-acylated ghrelin during the afternoon relative to lunch consumed after breakfast

Search for charged Higgs bosons through the violation of lepton universality in t¯t events using pp collision data at ps = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

In several extensions of the Standard Model, the top quark can decay into a bottom quark and a light charged Higgs boson H+, t → bH+, in addition to the Standard Model decay t → bW. Since W bosons decay to the three lepton generations equally, while H+ may predominantly decay into τν, charged Higgs bosons can be searched for using the violation of lepton universality in top quark decays. The analysis in this paper is based on 4.6 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Signatures containing leptons (e or μ) and/or a hadronically decaying τ (τhad) are used. Event yield ratios between e+τhad and e+μ, as well as between μ+τhad and μ+e, final states are measured in the data and compared to predictions from simulations. This ratio-based method reduces the impact of systematic uncertainties in the analysis. No significant deviation from the Standard Model predictions is observed. With the assumption that the branching fraction B(H+ → τν) is 100%, upper limits in the range 3.2%–4.4% can be placed on the branching fraction B(t → bH+) for charged Higgs boson masses mH+ in the range 90–140GeV. After combination with results from a search for charged Higgs bosons in t¯t decays using the τhad+jets final state, upper limits on B(t → bH+) can be set in the range 0.8%–3.4%, for mH+ in the range 90–160GeV

The impact of minority ethnic businesses on the spatial character of London’s high streets

Research shows that a variety of building types, sizes and street morphologies can support a diversified mix of uses and thus contribute to the vitality of town centres. Other studies have highlighted the special role of minority ethnic businesses in this context. This study set out to examine the relationship between spatial accessibility, commercial diversity (as a measure of land use mixing) and minority ethnic business (MEB) diversity in ten of London’s high streets. We found that streets with a significant MEB presence were more likely to benefit from commercial diversity and that the sampled MEB units were measurably smaller in size. We also found the location of larger clusters of MEB businesses to be more accessible, both locally and across the city. The study also found three distinct types of MEB centres: ranging from high streets with a small MEB presence, others with a high rate of MEB mixing, and a third type: the ‘ethnic marketplace’, with a singular ethnic character. We conclude that greater attention should be given to designing street accessibility, lot configuration, mixed building sizes, and land use mixing, so as to serve the long-term economic and social vitality of local town centres