The stability of food intake between adolescence and adulthood: a 21-year follow-up

Studies of the diet of adolescents in the UK demonstrate that dietary habits known to be detrimental to health in adulthood are evident at an early age. For example, Gregory et al (2000) found 4-18 year olds in the UK to have a frequent consumption of fatty and sugary foods and low consumption of fruit and vegetables. Concerns have therefore been expressed regarding the diet of children and adolescents and the continuation of these dietary habits into adulthood (HEA, 1995; Gaziano, 1998). This study aimed to investigate the extent to which these concerns may be justified by determining the stability of food intake of a group of adolescents followed up 21 years later in adulthood. The investigation involved 202 individuals from whom dietary data were collected in 1979-80 (mean age 11.6 years) (Hackett et al. 1984) and again in 2000-1 (mean age 32.5 years). Dietary data were collected at both time-points using two 3 d estimated food diaries followed by an interview to determine portion sizes using the method considered most appropriate at the time, i.e. calibrated food models in 1979-80 and a photographic food atlas (Nelson et al. 1997) in 2000-1. Foods consumed were allocated to one, or a combination of, the five food groups of the ‘Balance of Good Health’ food selection guide (HEA, 1994) according to Gatenby et al. (1995). The weight of food eaten from each of the five food groups was calculated (percentage of total weight of food consumed) and Pearson correlation coefficients generated to provide an estimate of the stability of food intake. The HEA guide advises that a balanced diet should consist of around 33% fruit and vegetables, 33% bread, other cereals and potatoes, 8% foods containing fat and/or sugar, 12% meat, fish and alternatives and 15% milk and dairy products (Gatenby et al. 1995). A shift in the group’s food intake towards the recommendations had occurred with age, most notably with a decrease in foods containing fat and/or sugar and an increase in fruit and vegetables. Nevertheless, at both ages, intakes of foods containing fat and/or sugar, meat, fish and alternatives were higher, and fruit, vegetables, bread, other cereals and potatoes lower than currently recommended. In addition, although there was significant evidence of tracking of relative intake of bread, cereals and potatoes (P<0.01), fruit and vegetables (P<0.01), and meat, fish and alternatives (P=0.02) between 11.6 and 32.5 years, the correlations were not strong. In conclusion, food intake patterns had changed considerably from early adolescence through to adulthood in a direction more in line with the current recommendations. The predictive value of an adolescent’s food intake of their intake in adulthood was found to be significant, but not strong. Further investigations will consider the extent to which this is influenced by factors such as social class, gender and educational level, as well as assessing tracking in terms of relative nutrient intakes

Dissipative and Dispersive Optomechanics in a Nanocavity Torque Sensor

Dissipative and dispersive optomechanical couplings are experimentally observed in a photonic crystal split-beam nanocavity optimized for detecting nanoscale sources of torque. Dissipative coupling of up to approximately $500$ MHz/nm and dispersive coupling of $2$ GHz/nm enable measurements of sub-pg torsional and cantilever-like mechanical resonances with a thermally-limited torque detection sensitivity of 1.2$\times 10^{-20} \text{N} \, \text{m}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ in ambient conditions and 1.3$\times 10^{-21} \text{N} \, \text{m}/\sqrt{\text{Hz}}$ in low vacuum. Interference between optomechanical coupling mechanisms is observed to enhance detection sensitivity and generate a mechanical-mode-dependent optomechanical wavelength response.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Developing an ecosystems approach – dry stone walls

This report presents results from a return-on-investment (ROI) model developed to explore ways in which historic environment values can be incorporated into the four categories of ecosystem services. The model is based on identifying and monetising the benefit flows from ecosystem services provided by dry stone walls in the Peak District National Park (PDNP). The overall project aims involved: development of a methodology for recording the public and environmental benefits (goods and services)flowing from dry stone walls in the PDNP; identification of those benefits in a way that is compatible with the language associated with ‘ecosystem services’ and ‘natural capital’; attribution of value (economic and non- economic) to those benefits (services); and, to recommend other heritage assets for which this approach would be suitable

LEO degradation of graphite and carbon-based composites aboard Space Shuttle Flight STS-46

Six different types of carbon and carbon-boron nitride composites were exposed to low Earth orbit aboard Space Shuttle flight STS-46. The samples received a nominal atomic oxygen fluence of 2.2 x 10(exp 20) atoms/sq cm in 42 hours of exposure. Pyrolytic graphite and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite showed significant degradation, and the measured erosion yield was within a factor of two of published values. The erosion yield of pyrolytic boron nitride was found to be 2.6 x 10(exp 26) cu cm/atom in plasma asher exposure, over 42 times lower than that of pyrolytic graphite. This low erosion yield makes graphite plus boron nitride mixtures quite resistant to low Earth orbit exposure. Evidence suggests that the graphitic component was preferentially etched, leaving the surface boron nitride rich. Degradation resistance increases with boron nitride composition. Carbon fiber/carbon composites degraded in low Earth orbit, and the carbon pitch binder was found to etch more easily than the graphite fibers which have much higher degradation resistance

Weight gain among treatment-naïve persons with HIV starting integrase inhibitors compared to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors or protease inhibitors in a large observational cohort in the United States and Canada.

IntroductionWeight gain following antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation is common, potentially predisposing some persons with HIV (PWH) to cardio-metabolic disease. We assessed relationships between ART drug class and weight change among treatment-naïve PWH initiating ART in the North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design (NA-ACCORD).MethodsAdult, treatment-naïve PWH in NA-ACCORD initiating integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI), protease inhibitor (PI) or non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based ART on/after 1 January 2007 were followed through 31 December 2016. Multivariate linear mixed effects models estimated weight up to five years after ART initiation, adjusting for age, sex, race, cohort site, HIV acquisition mode, treatment year, and baseline weight, plasma HIV-1 RNA level and CD4+ cell count. Due to shorter follow-up for PWH receiving newer INSTI drugs, weights for specific INSTIs were estimated at two years. Secondary analyses using logistic regression and all covariates from primary analyses assessed factors associated with &gt;10% weight gain at two and five years.ResultsAmong 22,972 participants, 87% were male, and 41% were white. 49% started NNRTI-, 31% started PI- and 20% started INSTI-based regimens (1624 raltegravir (RAL), 2085 elvitegravir (EVG) and 929 dolutegravir (DTG)). PWH starting INSTI-based regimens had mean estimated five-year weight change of +5.9kg, compared to +3.7kg for NNRTI and +5.5kg for PI. Among PWH starting INSTI drugs, mean estimated two-year weight change was +7.2kg for DTG, +5.8kg for RAL and +4.1kg for EVG. Women, persons with lower baseline CD4+ cell counts, and those initiating INSTI-based regimens had higher odds of &gt;10% body weight increase at two years (adjusted odds ratio&nbsp;=&nbsp;1.37, 95% confidence interval: 1.20 to 1.56 vs. NNRTI).ConclusionsPWH initiating INSTI-based regimens gained, on average, more weight compared to NNRTI-based regimens. This phenomenon may reflect heterogeneous effects of ART agents on body weight regulation that require further exploration

Heritage, Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Boundaries and Linear Landscape Features in the Lower Severn Vale

This project is one of a series of pilot projects that seek to address the need for the heritage sector to better engage with the ecosystem services approach to assess the benefits that cultural heritage can provide to people’s health, wellbeing and prosperity. Understanding and capturing variability in the landscape context of historic linear features is the focus of this project. The key objectives for the project are: Develop a research methodology for recording the public and environmental benefits (goods and services) arising from the historic environment, and specifically flowing from linear features in the Lower Severn Vale. Identify those benefits in a way that is compatible with ‘ecosystem services’ and ‘natural capital’ approaches. Attribute value (economic and non-economic) to those benefits (services). Identify other values that fall outside the ecosystem services framework that can be ascribed to heritage assets. Provide the heritage and natural environment sectors with case study examples, tested at different scales of application, of how this might work for different environmental contexts. The project builds on existing techniques for valuing the benefits of market and non-market goods and services and has tested the scope for integrating a range of digital and GIS mapping data into the accounting methodology. The project was carried out in the Lower Severn Vale (LSV), which is situated within the Severn and Avon Vales National Character Area (NCA) and flanked by the Cotswolds and the Forest of Dean NCAs, offering a range of settings to explore the variability of historic linear features and the benefits they offer. Linear features comprise field boundaries, routeways, and other forms of physical structure such as flood protection barriers and drainage features around the River Severn (dykes, embankments, ditches, channels, etc.). The three case studies, which were chosen in consultation with Historic England, were selected in order to explore variations within areas marked by similar characteristics bordering both sides of the Severn

Heritage, Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: Historic Buildings and their Associated Boundaries. Project Report. Historic England, Portsmouth.

This project explores and tests how the cultural heritage values of buildings and structures can be incorporated into an ecosystem services framework, through considering them as both an integral part of their associated historic spaces and of their wider landscape settings. The project applies a methodology that identifies the ecosystem service outcomes from buildings, expressed in terms of flows of benefits over time, and attributes monetary values that are compatible with the ecosystem services approach. The method focuses on identifying and measuring the flow of ecosystem services over time arising from the current level of ‘natural capital’ (the stock), in a site or a defined area. The project team have developed and applied an environmental value accounting model that identifies the benefits and attributes the values associated with historic buildings and structures. The model is based on a ‘return-on-investment’ accounting framework that integrates historic function, character and significance of buildings (or other structures) with a range of agricultural, environmental, economic, and social functions to analyse the range of values generated. The cultural heritage (historic) value of buildings in the case study areas is assessed through the integration of three scored characteristics (time depth, inter-relationships, legibility). This desk-based identification of the extent to which the historic buildings and structures in an area contribute ecosystem services is aimed at enhancing understanding of the value of the annual flow of benefits generated by cultural heritage

Assessing SHINE features in the Lake District National Park using the NCA/Cultural Capital process

Historic England, in partnership with the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA), has identified a need to explore and develop methodologies capable of capturing the values of the natural capital and ecosystem services flowing from the historic environment. The overarching focus of this project is to develop and implement a research methodology to improve the assessment of values arising from the historic environment in order to contribute to improved decision making. The project will inform guidance for the wider heritage sector on ways to incorporate the concepts of natural capital and ecosystem services. The project objectives are to: 1. Assess the heritage assets in the Selected Heritage Inventory for Natural England (SHINE) dataset and portal within the area of the LDNP World Heritage Site (WHS) area using the Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) approach. 2. Consider the feasibility of assessing which features in the SHINE dataset contribute to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) attributes of the WHS. 3. Conceptually map ‘Cultural Capital’ values that are not adequately captured by the NCA approach. 4. Provide a basic economic assessment of the value the assets bring to the local economy through their contribution they make to ‘place’. 5. Identify the tourism value of SHINE features. 6. Determine the impact of AES and other spending on SHINE features. 7. Work with the Cumbria Pioneer Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) Test and Trial to explore how well the SHINE approach works to inform historic environment asset assessment. 8. Assess whether it is possible to attach a value to heritage assets which can be used to outline the benefits to partners, policy makers, farmers and land managers of including heritage features in ELMS. 9. Identify the cultural services/public goods that are derived from these assets and the valuation of these and the case for public payments for maintaining and enhancing these public goods through ELMS