The Relationship between Eating Occasions and BMI Percentile in School Children

The relationship between meal frequency and BMI percentile in school-children by Savannah J. Goldsbury. Dietetics & Nutrition; University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS Purpose: To identify the relationship between meal frequency and BMI in children. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 1,004 children in grades 3-5 (age 7-12 y) from 12 elementary schools within the Kansas City, KS Public School District. Each child completed one testing day of height and weight measurements to determine BMI percentiles (BMI%). Number of eating occasions per day (EO), and total energy intake (EI) were identified using a multiple pass 24-hr diet recall administered by trained nutrition staff. Correlation analyses were performed to determine relationships between BMI%, EO, and EI. BMI% was also examined according to EO categorized as >3, 3 - 4, and ≥5 using ANOVA. Regression analysis was used to determine the best predictors of BMI%. Results: BMI% was 73 ± 27% ; EO was 4 ± 1 (range: 1-8); EI was 1,674± 784 kcals (range: 104-7,273). A lower BMI% was associated with a greater number of EO(r= -0.089; p3 EO had higher BMI% (80± 23%) compared to those who had 3-4 (73± 27; p5 (72± 28; p< 0.01). The best fit model for predicting BMI% included EI, gender, and race/ethnicity (R2= 0.27). A higher BMI% was predicted by a lower EI (β= -0.102; p<0.001), being male (β= -0.093; p<0.01), and by being white Hispanic (β= 0.079; p<0.05). Conclusion: Increased EO in combination with increased EI is associated with a lower BMI% in children. Gender and race/ethnicity also play a role in BMI%. The relationship between BMI% and EI may be a result of underreporting, but it is unknown whether this translates to EO. The strong correlation between EI and EO may be masking the influence of EO on BMI%. The results suggest that increasing EO may be a beneficial strategy in combating obesity

When do stars in 47 Tucanae lose their mass?

By examining the diffusion of young white dwarfs through the core of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae, we estimate the time when the progenitor star lost the bulk of its mass to become a white dwarf. According to stellar evolution models of the white-dwarf progenitors in 47 Tucanae, we find this epoch to coincide approximately with the star ascending the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) (3.0 +/- 8.1 Myr before the tip of the AGB) and more than ninety million years after the helium flash (with 90% confidence). From the diffusion of the young white dwarfs we can exclude the hypothesis that the bulk of the mass loss occurs on the red-giant branch (RGB) at the 4 sigma level. Furthermore, we find that the radial distribution of horizontal branch stars is consistent with that of the red-giant stars and upper-main-sequence stars and inconsistent with the loss of more than 0.2 solar masses on the RGB at the 6 sigma level

Proper Motions and Internal Dynamics in the Core of the Globular Cluster M71

We have used Gemini North together with the NIRI-ALTAIR adaptive optics imager in the H and K bands to explore the core of the Galactic globular cluster M71 (NGC 6838). We obtained proper motions for 217 stars and have resolved its internal proper motion dispersion. Using a 3.8 year baseline, the proper motion dispersion in the core is found to be 179 +/- 17 microarcsec/yr. We find no evidence of anisotropy in the motions and no radial variation in the proper motions with respect to distance from the cluster center. We also set an upper limit on any central black hole to be ~150 Msun at 90% confidence level.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter

The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters. X. New Determinations of Centers for 65 Clusters

We present new measurements of the centers for 65 Milky Way globular clusters. Centers were determined by fitting ellipses to the density distribution within the inner 2\arcmin of the cluster center, and averaging the centers of these ellipses. The symmetry of clusters was also analyzed by comparing cumulative radial distributions on opposite sides of the cluster across a grid of trial centers. All of the determinations were done with stellar positions derived from a combination of two single-orbit ACS images of the core of the cluster in $F606W$ and $F814W$. We find that the ellipse-fitting method provides remarkable accuracy over a wide range of core sizes and density distributions, while the symmetry method is difficult to use on clusters with very large cores, or low density. The symmetry method requires a larger field, or a very sharply peaked density distribution.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in AJ, supplementary material will be available upon publicatio

The varying role of the GP in the pathway between colonoscopy and surgery for colorectal cancer: a retrospective cohort study

Extent: 11p.Objectives: To describe general practitioner (GP) involvement in the treatment referral pathway for colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Design: A retrospective cohort analysis of linked data. Setting: A population-based sample of CRC patients diagnosed from August 2004 to December 2007 in New South Wales, Australia, using the 45 and Up Study, cancer registry diagnosis records, inpatient hospital records and Medicare claims records. Participants: 407 CRC patients who had a colonoscopy followed by surgery. Primary outcome measures: Patterns of GP consultations between colonoscopy and surgery (ie, between diagnosis and treatment). We investigated whether consulting a GP presurgery was associated with time to surgery, postsurgical GP consultations or rectal cancer cases having surgery in a centre with radiotherapy facilities. Results: Of the 407 patients, 43% (n=175) had at least one GP consultation between colonoscopy and surgery. The median time from colonoscopy to surgery was 27 days for those with an intervening GP consultation and 15 days for those without the consultation. 55% (n=223) had a GP consultation up to 30 days postsurgery; it was more common in cases of patients who consulted a GP presurgery than for those who did not (65% and 47%, respectively, adjusted OR 2.71, 95% CI 1.50 to 4.89, p=0.001). Of the 142 rectal cancer cases, 23% (n=33) had their surgery in a centre with radiotherapy facilities, with no difference between those who did and did not consult a GP presurgery (21% and 25% respectively, adjusted OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.27 to 2.63, p=0.76). Conclusions: Consulting a GP between colonoscopy and surgery was associated with a longer interval between diagnosis and treatment, and with further GP consultations postsurgery, but for rectal cancer cases it was not associated with treatment in a centre with radiotherapy facilities. GPs might require a more defined and systematic approach to CRC management.David Goldsbury, Mark Harris, Shane Pascoe, Michael Barton, Ian Olver, Allan Spigelman, Justin Beilby, Craig Veitch, David Weller, Dianne L O'Connel

Human chorionic gonadotropin increases β-cleavage of amyloid precursor protein in SH-SY5Y cells

Elevated levels of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides, the main component of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease, are the result of excessive β- and γ-cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and/or impaired Aβ clearance in the brain. It has been suggested that high concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH) in women contribute to increased Aβ generation after menopause, but the mechanism for this is incompletely understood. We investigated the effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), an LH receptor agonist, on APP β-cleavage in the SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line. Treatment of these cells with hCG-induced elevated β-cleavage in a dose-dependent manner: administration of 30 mIU but not 10 mIU/ml of hCG significantly increased sAPPβ levels in the cell medium 1.7-fold as measured by ELISA. These results support the notion that LH contributes to elevated Aβ levels at least in part by increasing β-cleavage of APP by β-site APP cleaving enzyme.NHMRC grant: 104596