Childhood Obesity Task Forces Established by State Legislatures, 2001-2010

Introduction - States and communities are considering policy and environmental strategies, including enacting legislation, to reduce and prevent childhood obesity. One legislative approach has been to create task forces to understand key issues and develop a course of action. The goal of this study was to describe state-level, childhood obesity task forces in the United States created by legislation from 2001 through 2010. Methods - We used the Center for Disease Control and Prevention\u27s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity database to identify state-level childhood obesity task forces created through legislation from 2001 through 2010. Results - We identified 21 states that had enacted legislation creating childhood obesity task forces of which 6 has created more than one task force. Most task forces were charged with both gathering and reviewing information and making recommendations for obesity-prevention actions in the state. Most legislation required that task forces include representation from the state legislature, state agencies, community organizations, and community members. Conclusion - Evaluation of the effectiveness of obesity-prevention task forces and the primary components that contribute to their success may help to determine the advantages of the use of such strategies in obesity prevention

Bottle-Feeding Practices During Early Infancy and Eating Behaviors at 6 Years of Age

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests an association of breastfeeding with a maternal feeding style (MFS) that is less controlling than formula feeding, which, in turn, may improve a child’s self-regulation of eating. This study examines associations of bottle-feeding practices during infancy with MFS and children’s eating behavior (CEB) at 6 years old. METHODS: We linked data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II to the Year 6 Follow-Up, which include 8 MFS and CEB measures adapted from previous validated instruments. Bottle-feeding practices during the first 6 months estimated by using the Infant Feeding Practices Study II were bottle-feeding intensity (BFI), mother’s encouragement of infant to finish milk in the bottle, and infant finishing all milk in the bottle. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for associations of bottle-feeding practices with MFS and CEB at 6 years old were calculated by using multivariable logistic regressions controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and other feeding practices (N = 1117). RESULTS: Frequent bottle emptying encouraged by mothers during infancy increased odds of mothers encouraging their child to eat all the food on their plate (aOR: 2.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.65–3.41] and making sure their child eats enough (aOR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.14–2.31) and of children eating all the food on their plate at 6 years old (aOR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.05–3.83). High BFI during early infancy also increased the odds of mothers being especially careful to ensure their 6-yearold eats enough. CONCLUSIONS: Bottle-feeding practices during infancy may have longterm effects on MFS and CEB. Frequent bottle emptying encouraged by mothers and/or high BFI during early infancy increased the likelihood of mothers pressuring their 6-year-old child to eat and children’s low satiety responsiveness

Incidence of Obesity Among Young US Children Living in Low-Income Families, 2008–2011

OBJECTIVE: To examine the incidence and reverse of obesity among young low-income children and variations across population subgroups. METHODS: We included 1.2 million participants in federally funded child health and nutrition programs who were 0 to 23 months old in 2008 and were followed up 24 to 35 months later in 2010–2011. Weight and height were measured. Obesity at baseline was defined as gender-specific weight-for-length \u3e/=95th percentile on the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. Obesity at follow-up was defined as gender-specific BMI-for-age \u3e/=95th percentile. We used a multivariable log-binomial model to estimate relative risk of obesity adjusting for gender, baseline age, race/ethnicity, duration of follow-up, and baseline weight-for-length percentile. RESULTS: The incidence of obesity was 11.0% after the follow-up period. The incidence was significantly higher among boys versus girls and higher among children aged 0 to 11 months at baseline versus those older. Compared with non-Hispanic whites, the risk of obesity was 35% higher among Hispanics and 49% higher among American Indians (AIs)/Alaska Natives (ANs), but 8% lower among non-Hispanic African Americans. Among children who were obese at baseline, 36.5% remained obese and 63.5% were nonobese at follow-up. The proportion of reversing of obesity was significantly lower among Hispanics and AIs/ANs than that among other racial/ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS: The high incidence underscores the importance of earlylife obesity prevention in multiple settings for low-income children and their families. The variations within population subgroups suggest that culturally appropriate intervention efforts should be focused on Hispanics and AIs/ANs

Common cancer-associated imbalances in the DNA damage response confer sensitivity to single agent ATR inhibition

ATR is an attractive target in cancer therapy because it signals replication stress and DNA lesions for repair and to S/G2 checkpoints. Cancer-specific defects in the DNA damage response (DDR) may render cancer cells vulnerable to ATR inhibition alone. We determined the cytotoxicity of the ATR inhibitor VE-821 in isogenically matched cells with DDR imbalance. Cell cycle arrest, DNA damage accumulation and repair were determined following VE-821 exposure. Defects in homologous recombination repair (HRR: ATM, BRCA2 and XRCC3) and base excision repair (BER: XRCC1) conferred sensitivity to VE-821. Surprisingly, the loss of different components of the trimeric non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) protein DNA-PK had opposing effects. Loss of the DNA-binding component, Ku80, caused hypersensitivity to VE-821, but loss of its partner catalytic subunit, DNA-PKcs, did not. Unexpectedly, VE-821 was particularly cytotoxic to human and hamster cells expressing high levels of DNA-PKcs. High DNA-PKcs was associated with replicative stress and activation of the DDR. VE-821 suppressed HRR, determined by RAD51 focus formation, to a greater extent in cells with high DNA-PKcs. Defects in HRR and BER and high DNA-PKcs expression, that are common in cancer, confer sensitivity to ATR inhibitor monotherapy and may be developed as predictive biomarkers for personalised medicine

Childhood Obesity Task Forces Established by State Legislatures, 2001-2010

Introduction - States and communities are considering policy and environmental strategies, including enacting legislation, to reduce and prevent childhood obesity. One legislative approach has been to create task forces to understand key issues and develop a course of action. The goal of this study was to describe state-level, childhood obesity task forces in the United States created by legislation from 2001 through 2010. Methods - We used the Center for Disease Control and Prevention\u27s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity database to identify state-level childhood obesity task forces created through legislation from 2001 through 2010. Results - We identified 21 states that had enacted legislation creating childhood obesity task forces of which 6 has created more than one task force. Most task forces were charged with both gathering and reviewing information and making recommendations for obesity-prevention actions in the state. Most legislation required that task forces include representation from the state legislature, state agencies, community organizations, and community members. Conclusion - Evaluation of the effectiveness of obesity-prevention task forces and the primary components that contribute to their success may help to determine the advantages of the use of such strategies in obesity prevention

Bottle-Feeding Practices During Early Infancy and Eating Behaviors at 6 Years of Age

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests an association of breastfeeding with a maternal feeding style (MFS) that is less controlling than formula feeding, which, in turn, may improve a child’s self-regulation of eating. This study examines associations of bottle-feeding practices during infancy with MFS and children’s eating behavior (CEB) at 6 years old. METHODS: We linked data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II to the Year 6 Follow-Up, which include 8 MFS and CEB measures adapted from previous validated instruments. Bottle-feeding practices during the first 6 months estimated by using the Infant Feeding Practices Study II were bottle-feeding intensity (BFI), mother’s encouragement of infant to finish milk in the bottle, and infant finishing all milk in the bottle. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for associations of bottle-feeding practices with MFS and CEB at 6 years old were calculated by using multivariable logistic regressions controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and other feeding practices (N = 1117). RESULTS: Frequent bottle emptying encouraged by mothers during infancy increased odds of mothers encouraging their child to eat all the food on their plate (aOR: 2.37; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.65–3.41] and making sure their child eats enough (aOR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.14–2.31) and of children eating all the food on their plate at 6 years old (aOR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.05–3.83). High BFI during early infancy also increased the odds of mothers being especially careful to ensure their 6-yearold eats enough. CONCLUSIONS: Bottle-feeding practices during infancy may have longterm effects on MFS and CEB. Frequent bottle emptying encouraged by mothers and/or high BFI during early infancy increased the likelihood of mothers pressuring their 6-year-old child to eat and children’s low satiety responsiveness

Snapshots of Ce70 Toroid Assembly from Solids and Solution

Crystallization at the solid-liquid interface is difficult to spectroscopically observe and therefore challenging to understand and ultimately control at the molecular level. The Ce70-torroid formulated [CeIV70(OH)36(O)64(SO4)60(H2O)10] 4- , part of a larger emerging family of MIV70- materials (M=Zr, U, Ce), presents such an opportunity. We have elucidated assembly mechanisms by X-ray scattering (small-angle scattering and total scattering) of solutions and solids, as well as crystallizing and identifying fragments of Ce70 by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Fragments show evidence for templated growth (Ce5, [Ce5(O)3(SO4)12] 10- ) and modular assembly from hexamer (Ce6) building units (Ce13, [Ce13(OH)6(O)12(SO4)14(Η2Ο)14] 6- and Ce62, [Ce62(OH)30(O)58(SO4)58] 14- ). Ce62, an almost complete ring, precipitates instantaneously in the presence of ammonium cations as two torqued arcs that interlock by hydrogen boding through NH4 +, which can also be replaced by other cations, demonstrated with CeIII. Room temperature rapid assembly of both Ce70 and Ce62, respectively, by addition of Li+ and NH4 +, along with ion?exchange and redox behavior, invite exploitation of this emerging material family in environmental and energy applications

In situ electrochemical regeneration of nanogap hotspots for continuously reusable ultrathin SERS sensors.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) harnesses the confinement of light into metallic nanoscale hotspots to achieve highly sensitive label-free molecular detection that can be applied for a broad range of sensing applications. However, challenges related to irreversible analyte binding, substrate reproducibility, fouling, and degradation hinder its widespread adoption. Here we show how in-situ electrochemical regeneration can rapidly and precisely reform the nanogap hotspots to enable the continuous reuse of gold nanoparticle monolayers for SERS. Applying an oxidising potential of +1.5 V (vs Ag/AgCl) for 10 s strips a broad range of adsorbates from the nanogaps and forms a metastable oxide layer of few-monolayer thickness. Subsequent application of a reducing potential of -0.80 V for 5 s in the presence of a nanogap-stabilising molecular scaffold, cucurbit[5]uril, reproducibly regenerates the optimal plasmonic properties with SERS enhancement factors ≈106. The regeneration of the nanogap hotspots allows these SERS substrates to be reused over multiple cycles, demonstrating ≈5% relative standard deviation over at least 30 cycles of analyte detection and regeneration. Such continuous and reliable SERS-based flow analysis accesses diverse applications from environmental monitoring to medical diagnostics

In situ electrochemical regeneration of nanogap hotspots for continuously reusable ultrathin SERS sensors

Acknowledgements: The authors greatly appreciate helpful comments from many colleagues including Oren Scherman, Luis Liz-Marzán, and Duncan Graham. The authors acknowledge financial support from the European Research Council (ERC) under Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme PICOFORCE (Grant Agreement No. 883703), and POSEIDON (Grant Agreement No. 861950) and from the EPSRC (Cambridge NanoDTC EP/L015978/1, EP/L027151/1, EP/X037770/1). S.M.S.-T. is supported by the University of Cambridge Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars Programme. S.M.S.-T., D.-B.G., and N.S. acknowledge support from EPSRC Grant EP/L015889/1 for the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensor Technologies and Applications, and from AstraZeneca (MedImmune Ltd). M.N. is supported by a Gates Cambridge fellowship (OPP1144). B.d.N. acknowledges support from the Royal Society (URF/R1/211162).Funder: University of Cambridge Harding Distinguished Postgraduate Scholars ProgrammeAbstractSurface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) harnesses the confinement of light into metallic nanoscale hotspots to achieve highly sensitive label-free molecular detection that can be applied for a broad range of sensing applications. However, challenges related to irreversible analyte binding, substrate reproducibility, fouling, and degradation hinder its widespread adoption. Here we show how in-situ electrochemical regeneration can rapidly and precisely reform the nanogap hotspots to enable the continuous reuse of gold nanoparticle monolayers for SERS. Applying an oxidising potential of +1.5 V (vs Ag/AgCl) for 10 s strips a broad range of adsorbates from the nanogaps and forms a metastable oxide layer of few-monolayer thickness. Subsequent application of a reducing potential of −0.80 V for 5 s in the presence of a nanogap-stabilising molecular scaffold, cucurbit[5]uril, reproducibly regenerates the optimal plasmonic properties with SERS enhancement factors ≈106. The regeneration of the nanogap hotspots allows these SERS substrates to be reused over multiple cycles, demonstrating ≈5% relative standard deviation over at least 30 cycles of analyte detection and regeneration. Such continuous and reliable SERS-based flow analysis accesses diverse applications from environmental monitoring to medical diagnostics.</jats:p

In situ electrochemical regeneration of nanogap hotspots for continuously reusable ultrathin SERS sensors

Abstract Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) harnesses the confinement of light into metallic nanoscale hotspots to achieve highly sensitive label-free molecular detection that can be applied for a broad range of sensing applications. However, challenges related to irreversible analyte binding, substrate reproducibility, fouling, and degradation hinder its widespread adoption. Here we show how in-situ electrochemical regeneration can rapidly and precisely reform the nanogap hotspots to enable the continuous reuse of gold nanoparticle monolayers for SERS. Applying an oxidising potential of +1.5 V (vs Ag/AgCl) for 10 s strips a broad range of adsorbates from the nanogaps and forms a metastable oxide layer of few-monolayer thickness. Subsequent application of a reducing potential of −0.80 V for 5 s in the presence of a nanogap-stabilising molecular scaffold, cucurbit[5]uril, reproducibly regenerates the optimal plasmonic properties with SERS enhancement factors ≈106. The regeneration of the nanogap hotspots allows these SERS substrates to be reused over multiple cycles, demonstrating ≈5% relative standard deviation over at least 30 cycles of analyte detection and regeneration. Such continuous and reliable SERS-based flow analysis accesses diverse applications from environmental monitoring to medical diagnostics