Impact of childhood experience and adult well-being on eating preferences and behaviours

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relative contribution of childhood experience, measured by childhood violence and childhood happiness, and adult well-being on adult eating preferences and behaviours, independent of proximal factors such as current deprivation. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, stratified, randomised sample survey using retrospective measures of childhood violence and happiness and self-reported measures of current well-being. SETTING: The North West Region of England between September 2012 and March 2013. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 18–95-year-olds from randomly selected households (participation was successful for 90% of eligible households and 78% of the total visited addresses; n=11 243). OUTCOMES: Dichotomised measures for preference of healthy foods or ‘feel good’ foods and low or high daily fruit and vegetable consumption. RESULTS: After correcting for demographics, combined categories for childhood experience and dichotomised measures of adult well-being were found to be significantly related to adult food preferences and eating behaviours. Participants with unhappy and violent childhoods compared to those with happy and non-violent childhoods had adjusted ORs (95% CI, significance) of 2.67 (2.15 to 3.06, p<0.001) of having low daily fruit and vegetable intake (two or less portions) and 1.53 (1.29 to 1.81, p<0.001) of choosing ‘feel good’ foods over foods which were good for their long term health. CONCLUSIONS: Daily intake of fruit and vegetables, linked to non-communicable diseases, and preference for ‘feel good’ foods, linked to obesity, are affected by childhood experience and adult well-being independent of demographic factors. Preventative interventions which support parent–child relationships and improve childhood experience are likely to reduce the development of poor dietary and other health-risk behaviours

The Evolution of Distributive Benefits: The Rise of Letter-Marking in the United States Congress

THE RECENT MORATORIUM ON EARMARKS HAS GIVEN RISE TO A NEW AND LARGELY HIDDEN PRACTICE FOR SECURING DISTRIBUTIVE BENEFITS: LETTER-MARKING. LETTER-MARKING OCCURS WHEN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ASK (IN WRITING) THE HEAD OF AN AGENCY TO RETAIN OR ALLOCATE DISTRIBUTIVE BENEFITS IN THEIR DISTRICTS. WHILE LETTER-MARKING IS COMMON IN WASHINGTON, THE SCHOLARLY LITERATURE HAS IGNORED THIS PRACTICE. WE USE A UNIQUE DATASET OF 101 CONGRESSIONAL LETTERS RELATING TO FAA FUNDING AND EMPIRICALLY ASSESS THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE LETTER-WRITER’S CHARACTERISTICS AND THE LETTER’S CONTENT IMPACT THE LIKELIHOOD OF ACHIEVING THE OBJECTIVES. IN DOING SO, WE OFFER A NUANCED UNDERSTANDING OF LETTER-MARKING

Overcoming Barriers to Health and Wellbeing : Community Assets in North East Essex

The Overcoming Barriers to Health and Wellbeing report presents research carried out by Public Health and Social Science researchers at Anglia Ruskin University. Colchester Borough Council commissioned this independent study with funding from the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance. The aim of the research is to provide Local Authorities and health and wellbeing commissioners with insight into the public health benefits of community assets from the perspective of citizens who access them in their local communities. This report provides an evidence-based rationale for the support of community assets to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes of citizens in North East Essex. There is a focus on populations considered to be at increased risk of poor health and wellbeing outcomes, and on addressing populations in places where there are areas of comparative social deprivation in the context of growing health inequalities in the region

Effectively Transforming IMC Flight into VMC Flight: An SVS Case Study

A flight-test experiment was conducted using the NASA LaRC Cessna 206 aircraft. Four primary flight and navigation display concepts, including baseline and Synthetic Vision System (SVS) concepts, were evaluated in the local area of Roanoke Virginia Airport, flying visual and instrument approach procedures. A total of 19 pilots, from 3 pilot groups reflecting the diverse piloting skills of the GA population, served as evaluation pilots. Multi-variable Discriminant Analysis was applied to three carefully selected and markedly different operating conditions with conventional instrumentation to provide an extension of traditional analysis methods as well as provide an assessment of the effectiveness of SVS displays to effectively transform IMC flight into VMC flight

Fluorocarbene, Fluoroolefin, and Fluorocarbyne Complexes of Rh

The manuscript reports the synthesis, characterization, and analysis of electronic structure in a series of complexes of small perfluorocarbon ligands with the (PNP)Rh fragment (where PNP is a diarylamido/bis(phosphine) pincer ligand). Reactions of (PNP)Rh(TBE) as the source of (PNP)Rh with CHF3 and C2HF5 produced perfluoroalkylidene complexes (PNP)RhCF2 and (PNP)RhC(F)(CF3). (PNP)RhCF2 could also be obtained via the reaction of (PNP)Rh(TBE) with Me3SiCF3/CsF, with an admixture of (PNP) Rh(C2F4), where TBE = tert-butylethylene. Abstraction of fluoride from these neutral (PNP)RhCxFy complexes was successful, although only abstraction from (PNP)Rh]CF2 allowed unambiguous identification of the Rh product, [(PNP)Rh CF] +. DFT computational studies allowed comparison of relative energies of (PNP)Rh(C2F4) and [(PNP)Rh(C2F3)]+ isomers as well as comparisons between the electronic structure of the =CF2,C2F4, and CF+ complexes and their hydrocarbon analogues

"Until the trial is complete you can't really say whether it helped you or not, can you?": exploring cancer patients' perceptions of taking part in a trial of acupressure wristbands.

BACKGROUND: Nested qualitative studies within clinical trials provide data on patients' experiences of receiving trial interventions and can inform and improve trial designs. The present study explored patients' experiences of participating in a randomised controlled trial of acupressure wristbands for chemotherapy related nausea. METHODS: A randomised three-group sham-controlled trial was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of acupressure wristbands in the management of chemotherapy-related nausea. A convenience sample of 26 patients volunteered to participate in a qualitative study to explore their experiences of using acupressure wristbands, and taking part in the clinical trial. Participants were recruited from each of the three UK geographical sites from which the trial was conducted: Manchester, Liverpool and Plymouth. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants in their own homes or other location convenient for participating patients. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analysed using Framework methodology. RESULTS: The main motivational factors influencing participants to take part in the trial were a desire to 'give something back' and limit their own experience of nausea. Participants were largely satisfied with the organisation and running of the acupressure wristband trial. Many participants experienced positive outcomes as a result of taking part in the trial. Lapses in memory, or poor health as a result of their chemotherapy treatment, led to some participants failing to complete trial paperwork on designated days. Two sham wristband participants reported wearing the bands inappropriately resulting in pressure being applied to the acupoint. Almost all of the participants interviewed had only experienced mild nausea or vomiting during the trial. Participants were pragmatic on the extent to which the wristbands were responsible for this lack of nausea and vomiting during the trial. However, many participants, including some patients receiving sham acupressure, believed the wristbands to have had a positive impact on their nausea and vomiting; there was a perception that the wristbands were, at least in part, responsible for the lack of nausea and vomiting they had experienced. CONCLUSIONS: Participants perceive acupressure wristbands as reducing the level of nausea and vomiting experienced during chemotherapy treatment. Reports that some participants wore wristbands inappropriately, and/or delayed completion of trial paperwork could represent confounding variables and have implications for the trial results, and the design of clinical trials within the field of cancer

Cutter Elements for Drill Bits and Methods for Fabricating Same

A method of fabricating a PCD cutter element including a diamond table including a plurality of coated diamond particles fabricated using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process

Cutter Elements for Drill Bits and Methods for Fabricating Same

A method of fabricating a PCD cutter element including a diamond table including a plurality of coated diamond particles fabricated using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process

Electrical properties of Bi-implanted amorphous chalcogenide films

The impact of Bi implantation on the conductivity and the thermopower of amorphous chalcogenide films is investigated. Incorporation of Bi in Ge-Sb-Te and GeTe results in enhanced conductivity. The negative Seebeck coefficient confirms onset of the electron conductivity in GeTe implanted with Bi at a dose of 2x1016 cm-2. The enhanced conductivity is accompanied by defect accumulation in the films upon implantation as is inferred by using analysis of the space-charge limited current. The results indicate that native coordination defects in lone-pair semiconductors can be deactivated by means of ion implantation, and higher conductivity of the films stems from additional electrically active defects created by implantation of bismuth.Comment: This is an extended version of the results presented in Proc. SPIE 8982, 898213 (2014