Beverage Selections and Presence Affect Healthy Eating Index Scores in Lunches of Elementary Age Children, Whether from Home or School

Objectives: Examined differences in school lunch meals (served and consumed) brought from home (LBFH) versus National School Lunch Program (NSLP) using Healthy Eating Index 2010 scores for assessment of Meal Quality by component food groups. Influence of beverage selections on HEI-2010 scores were examined for each meal origin. Methods: Digital plate waste estimations were analyzed for 509 NSLP meals and 524 LBFH from 2nd-5th-grade students in four elementary schools during the 2011-2012 academic year. Nutrient Data Software for Research (NDSR) determined food groups and nutrients for calculations. Independent t-tests compared NSLP and LBFH meal components. Two one-way ANOVA tests compared HEI-2010 dietary components of the following beverage selections: 1% plain milk, non-fat flavored milk, 100% fruit juice, sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB), or water/no beverage. Results: NSLP (90% non-fat flavored or low-fat plain milk) and LBFH (75% water/none or SSB) vary widely in beverages selected. LBFH provided significantly (p \u3c 0.05) more Whole Grains (NSLP 2.8/5pts vs LBFH 4.7pts) and Seafood & Plant Proteins (NSLP 0.5/5pts vs LBFH 1.7pts) than NSLP. NLSP provided more Dairy (NSLP 9.3/10pts vs LBFH 4.7pts). NSLP scored higher in Total Protein, and Reduced Empty Calories. Both meal origins show need for improvement in Greens/Bean Vegetables and Seafood/Plant Proteins. Selection of 1% plain milk resulted in a significantly higher HEI-2010 scores (NSLP served 55.7/100pts, consumed 53.9pts and LBFH, served 62.1, consumed 60.2). Applications: Child Nutrition Professionals consistently provide nutritious beverages like 1% plain milk, non-fat flavored milk, and 100% juice in NSLP meals. LBFH would benefit from elimination of SSB. A “milk only” line for children with LBFH may encourage milk consumption and improve HEI scores of LBFH. Increased nutrition education to teachers, staff, parents, and children on the effects of various beverages on dietary quality would be appropriate to further improve beverage selection and meal quality

Measurements of laser-hole boring into overdense plasmas using x-ray laser refractometry(invited)

Copyright 1999 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Review of Scientific Instruments, 70(1), 543-548, 1986 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.114938

The Melanocortin 3 Receptor: A Novel Mediator of Exercise-Induced Inflammation Reduction in Postmenopausal Women?

The purpose of this study was to determine whether resistance exercise training-induced reductions in inflammation are mediated via melanocortin 3 receptor expression in obese (BMI 32.7 ± 3.7) women (65.6 ± 2.8 yrs) randomized to either a control (N = 11) or resistance training group (N = 12). The resistance trained group performed resistance training 3 days/week for 12 weeks. Resting blood samples were collected before and after the training intervention in both resistance trained and control groups. Resistance training upregulated melanocortin 3 receptor mRNA by 16-fold (P = .035) and decreased monocyte count, without changing leukocyte number, body composition, or body weight. Resistance trained individuals exhibited increased sensitivity to inflammatory stimuli, whereas control individuals exhibited no change. While there was no change in whole blood tumor necrosis factor alpha mRNA between the groups, whole blood interleukin 10 mRNA was higher in the resistance trained group following the intervention period. In summary, it appears that resistance training may modulate melanocortin 3 receptor expression, providing a possible mechanism for the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise training

Burden of Human Papillomavirus among Haitian Immigrants in Miami, Florida: Community-Based Participatory Research in Action

Background. Haitian immigrant women residing in Little Haiti, a large ethnic enclave in Miami-Dade County, experience the highest cervical cancer incidence rates in South Florida. While this disparity primarily reflects lack of access to screening with cervical cytology, the burden of human papillomavirus (HPV) which causes virtually all cases of cervical cancer worldwide, varies by population and may contribute to excess rate of disease. Our study examined the prevalence of oncogenic and nononcogenic HPV types and risk factors for HPV infection in Little Haiti. Methods. As part of an ongoing community-based participatory research initiative, community health workers recruited study participants between 2007 and 2008, instructed women on self-collecting cervicovaginal specimens, and collected sociodemographic and healthcare access data. Results. Of the 242 women who contributed adequate specimens, the overall prevalence of HPV was 20.7%, with oncogenic HPV infections (13.2% of women) outnumbering nononcogenic infections (7.4%). Age-specific prevalence of oncogenic HPV was highest in women 18–30 years (38.9%) although the prevalence of oncogenic HPV does not appear to be elevated relative to the general U.S. population. The high prevalence of oncogenic types in women over 60 years may indicate a substantial number of persistent infections at high risk of progression to precancer

X-ray standing wave and reflectometric characterization of multilayer structures

Microstructural characterization of synthetic periodic multilayers by x-ray standing waves have been presented. It has been shown that the analysis of multilayers by combined x-ray reflectometry (XRR) and x-ray standing wave (XSW) techniques can overcome the deficiencies of the individual techniques in microstructural analysis. While interface roughnesses are more accurately determined by the XRR technique, layer composition is more accurately determined by the XSW technique where an element is directly identified by its characteristic emission. These aspects have been explained with an example of a 20 period Pt/C multilayer. The composition of the C-layers due to Pt dissolution in the C-layers, Pt$_{x}$C$_{1-x}$, has been determined by the XSW technique. In the XSW analysis when the whole amount of Pt present in the C-layers is assumed to be within the broadened interface, it l eads to larger interface roughness values, inconsistent with those determined by the XRR technique. Constraining the interface roughness values to those determined by the XRR technique, requires an additional amount of dissolved Pt in the C-layers to expl ain the Pt fluorescence yield excited by the standing wave field. This analysis provides the average composition Pt$_{x}$C$_{1-x}$ of the C-layers .Comment: 12 pages RevTex, 10 eps figures embedde

Solid molecular hydrogen: The Broken Symmetry Phase

By performing constant-pressure variable-cell ab initio molecular dynamics simulations we find a quadrupolar orthorhombic structure, of $Pca2_1$ symmetry, for the broken symmetry phase (phase II) of solid H2 at T=0 and P =110 - 150 GPa. We present results for the equation of state, lattice parameters and vibronic frequencies, in very good agreement with experimental observations. Anharmonic quantum corrections to the vibrational frequencies are estimated using available data on H2 and D2. We assign the observed modes to specific symmetry representations.Comment: 5 pages (twocolumn), 4 Postscript figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. Let

High-Pressure Amorphous Nitrogen

The phase diagram and stability limits of diatomic solid nitrogen have been explored in a wide pressure--temperature range by several optical spectroscopic techniques. A newly characterized narrow-gap semiconducting phase $\eta$ has been found to exist in a range of 80--270 GPa and 10--510 K. The vibrational and optical properties of the $\eta$ phase produced under these conditions indicate that it is largely amorphous and back transforms to a new molecular phase. The band gap of the $\eta$ phase is found to decrease with pressure indicating possible metallization by band overlap above 280 GPa.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Power laws in microrheology experiments on living cells: comparative analysis and modelling

We compare and synthesize the results of two microrheological experiments on the cytoskeleton of single cells. In the first one, the creep function J(t) of a cell stretched between two glass plates is measured after applying a constant force step. In the second one, a micrometric bead specifically bound to transmembrane receptors is driven by an oscillating optical trap, and the viscoelastic coefficient $G_e(\omega)$ is retrieved. Both $J(t)$ and $G_e(\omega)$ exhibit power law behavior: $J(t)= A(t/t_0)^\alpha$ and $\bar G_e(\omega)\bar = G_0 (\omega/\omega_0)^\alpha$, with the same exponent $\alpha\approx 0.2$. This power law behavior is very robust ; $\alpha$ is distributed over a narrow range, and shows almost no dependance on the cell type, on the nature of the protein complex which transmits the mechanical stress, nor on the typical length scale of the experiment. On the contrary, the prefactors $A_0$ and $G_0$appear very sensitive to these parameters. Whereas the exponents $\alpha$ are normally distributed over the cell population, the prefactors $A_0$ and $G_0$ follow a log-normal repartition. These results are compared with other data published in the litterature. We propose a global interpretation, based on a semi-phenomenological model, which involves a broad distribution of relaxation times in the system. The model predicts the power law behavior and the statistical repartition of the mechanical parameters, as experimentally observed for the cells. Moreover, it leads to an estimate of the largest response time in the cytoskeletal network: $\tau_m \approx 1000$ s.Comment: 47 pages, 14 figures // v2: PDF file is now Acrobat Reader 4 (and up) compatible // v3: Minor typos corrected - The presentation of the model have been substantially rewritten (p. 17-18), in order to give more details - Enhanced description of protocols // v4: Minor corrections in the text : the immersion angles are estimated and not measured // v5: Minor typos corrected. Two references were clarifie

Structural Phase Transition at High Temperatures in Solid Molecular Hydrogen and Deuterium

We study the effect of temperature up to 1000K on the structure of dense molecular para-hydrogen and ortho-deuterium, using the path-integral Monte Carlo method. We find a structural phase transition from orientationally disordered hexagonal close packed (hcp) to an orthorhombic structure of Cmca symmetry before melting. The transition is basically induced by thermal fluctuations, but quantum fluctuations of protons (deuterons) are important in determining the transition temperature through effectively hardening the intermolecular interaction. We estimate the phase line between hcp and Cmca phases as well as the melting line of the Cmca solid.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures; accepted in Phys. Rev.