Learning to Eat Vegetables in Early Life: The Role of Timing, Age and Individual Eating Traits

Vegetable intake is generally low among children, who appear to be especially fussy during the pre-school years. Repeated exposure is known to enhance intake of a novel vegetable in early life but individual differences in response to familiarisation have emerged from recent studies. In order to understand the factors which predict different responses to repeated exposure, data from the same experiment conducted in three groups of children from three countries (n = 332) aged 4–38 m (18.9±9.9 m) were combined and modelled. During the intervention period each child was given between 5 and 10 exposures to a novel vegetable (artichoke puree) in one of three versions (basic, sweet or added energy). Intake of basic artichoke puree was measured both before and after the exposure period. Overall, younger children consumed more artichoke than older children. Four distinct patterns of eating behaviour during the exposure period were defined. Most children were “learners” (40%) who increased intake over time. 21% consumed more than 75% of what was offered each time and were labelled “plate-clearers”. 16% were considered “non-eaters” eating less than 10 g by the 5th exposure and the remainder were classified as “others” (23%) since their pattern was highly variable. Age was a significant predictor of eating pattern, with older pre-school children more likely to be non-eaters. Plate-clearers had higher enjoyment of food and lower satiety responsiveness than non-eaters who scored highest on food fussiness. Children in the added energy condition showed the smallest change in intake over time, compared to those in the basic or sweetened artichoke condition. Clearly whilst repeated exposure familiarises children with a novel food, alternative strategies that focus on encouraging initial tastes of the target food might be needed for the fussier and older pre-school children

Features of 80S mammalian ribosome and its subunits

It is generally believed that basic features of ribosomal functions are universally valid, but a systematic test still stands out for higher eukaryotic 80S ribosomes. Here we report: (i) differences in tRNA and mRNA binding capabilities of eukaryotic and bacterial ribosomes and their subunits. Eukaryotic 40S subunits bind mRNA exclusively in the presence of cognate tRNA, whereas bacterial 30S do bind mRNA already in the absence of tRNA. 80S ribosomes bind mRNA efficiently in the absence of tRNA. In contrast, bacterial 70S interact with mRNA more productively in the presence rather than in the absence of tRNA. (ii) States of initiation (Pi), pre-translocation (PRE) and post-translocation (POST) of the ribosome were checked and no significant functional differences to the prokaryotic counterpart were observed including the reciprocal linkage between A and E sites. (iii) Eukaryotic ribosomes bind tetracycline with an affinity 15 times lower than that of bacterial ribosomes (Kd 30 μM and 1–2 μM, respectively). The drug does not effect enzymatic A-site occupation of 80S ribosomes in contrast to non-enzymatic tRNA binding to the A-site. Both observations explain the relative resistance of eukaryotic ribosomes to this antibiotic

Silver and Palladium Complexes of a Bis(benzimidazolin-2-ylidene)pyridine Pincer Ligand

Reaction of 2,6-bis(3-butylbenzimidazol-1-ium)pyridine dibromide with silVer oxide affords a dinuclear complex of the type [L2Ag2]2+ [L ) 2,6-bis(3-butylbenzimidazolin-2-ylidene)pyridine]. 1H NMR spectroscopic studies suggest that the dinuclear structure is also present in solution. Transmetalationof the silVer-NHC complex with PdCl2(CH3CN)2 yields a mononuclear palladium complex of the type [LPdCl]+, with a chelating C,N,C pincer ligand

Action Principle in Nonequilibrium Statistical Dynamics

We introduce a variational method for approximating distribution functions of dynamics with a ``Liouville operator'' \hL, in terms of a {\em nonequilibrium action functional} for two independent (left and right) trial states. The method is valid for deterministic or stochastic Markov dynamics, and for stationary or time-dependent distributions. A practical Rayleigh-Ritz procedure is advanced, whose inputs are finitely-parametrized ansatz for the trial states, leading to a ``parametric action'' for their evolution. The Euler-Lagrange equations of the action principle are Hamiltonian in form (generally noncanonical). This permits a simple identification of fixed points as critical points of the parametric Hamiltonian. We also establish a variational principle for low-order statistics, such as mean values and correlation functions, by means of {\em least effective action.} The latter is a functional of the given variable, which is positive and convex as a consequence of H\"{o}lder realizability inequalities. Its value measures the ``cost'' for a fluctuation from the average to occur and in a weak-noise limit it reduces to the Onsager-Machlup action. In general, the effective action is shown to arise from the nonequilibrium action functional by a constrained variation. This result provides a Rayleigh-Ritz scheme for calculating just the desired low-order statistics, with internal consistency checks less demanding than for the full distribution.Comment: 46 pages, LaTex Version 2.09, tar + gzip + uuencode The tar file contains xyzvar.tex, the LaTeX file itself, and seceq.sty, a stylefile for sequential numering of equations by section. The file seceq.sty will automatically be input from the same directory when formatting the LaTeX file. The paper is submitted to Phys. Rev.

Positive selection inhibits gene mobilization and transfer in soil bacterial communities

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between bacterial lineages is a fundamental evolutionary process that accelerates adaptation. Sequence analyses show that conjugative plasmids are principal agents of HGT in natural communities. However, we lack understanding of how the ecology of bacterial communities and their environments affect the dynamics of plasmid-mediated gene mobilization and transfer. Here we show, in simple experimental soil bacterial communities containing a conjugative mercury resistance plasmid, the repeated, independent mobilization of transposon-borne genes from chromosome to plasmid, plasmid to chromosome and, in the absence of mercury selection, interspecific gene transfers from the chromosome of one species to the other via the plasmid. By reducing conjugation, positive selection for plasmid-encoded traits, like mercury resistance, can consequently inhibit HGT. Our results suggest that interspecific plasmid-mediated gene mobilization is most likely to occur in environments where plasmids are infectious, parasitic elements rather than those where plasmids are positively selected, beneficial elements

Women and citizenship post-trafficking : the case of Nepal

The research for this paper was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council – ESRC Res-062-23-1490: ‘Post Trafficking in Nepal: Sexuality and Citizenship in Livelihood Strategies’. Diane Richardson would like to acknowledge the support provided by the award of a Leverhulme TrustMajor Research Fellowship, ‘Transforming Citizenship: Sexuality, Gender and Citizenship Struggles’ [award MRF-2012-106].This article analyses the relationship between gender, sexuality and citizenship embedded in models of citizenship in the Global South, specifically in South Asia, and the meanings associated with having - or not having - citizenship. It does this through an examination of women's access to citizenship in Nepal in the context of the construction of the emergent nation state in the 'new' Nepal 'post-conflict'. Our analysis explores gendered and sexualized constructions of citizenship in this context through a specific focus on women who have experienced trafficking, and are beginning to organize around rights to sustainable livelihoods and actively lobby for changes in citizenship rules which discriminate against women. Building from this, in the final section we consider important implications of this analysis of post-trafficking experiences for debates about gender, sexuality and citizenship more broadly.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A systematic review of methods for increasing vegetable consumption in early childhood

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This study aims to synthesise the body of research investigating methods for increasing vegetable consumption in 2- to 5-year-old children, while offering advice for practitioners. RECENT FINDINGS: Repeated exposure is a well-supported method for increasing vegetable consumption in early childhood and may be enhanced with the inclusion of non-food rewards to incentivise tasting. Peer models appear particularly effective for increasing 2-5-year-olds' vegetable consumption. There is little evidence for the effectiveness of food adaptations (e.g. flavour-nutrient learning) for increasing general vegetable intake among this age group, although they show some promise with bitter vegetables. SUMMARY: This review suggests that practitioners may want to focus their advice to parents around strategies such as repeated exposure, as well as the potential benefits of modelling and incentivising tasting with non-food rewards. Intervention duration varies greatly, and considerations need to be made for how this impacts on success

A Proposed Taxonomy of Anaerobic Fungi (Class Neocallimastigomycetes) Suitable for Large-Scale Sequence-Based Community Structure Analysis

Anaerobic fungi are key players in the breakdown of fibrous plant material in the rumen, but not much is known about the composition and stability of fungal communities in ruminants. We analyzed anaerobic fungi in 53 rumen samples from farmed sheep (4 different flocks), cattle, and deer feeding on a variety of diets. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprinting of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region of the rrn operon revealed a high diversity of anaerobic fungal phylotypes across all samples. Clone libraries of the ITS1 region were constructed from DNA from 11 rumen samples that had distinctly different fungal communities. A total of 417 new sequences were generated to expand the number and diversity of ITS1 sequences available. Major phylogenetic groups of anaerobic fungi in New Zealand ruminants belonged to the genera Piromyces, Neocallimastix, Caecomyces and Orpinomyces. In addition, sequences forming four novel clades were obtained, which may represent so far undetected genera or species of anaerobic fungi. We propose a revised phylogeny and pragmatic taxonomy for anaerobic fungi, which was tested and proved suitable for analysis of datasets stemming from high-throughput next-generation sequencing methods. Comparing our revised taxonomy to the taxonomic assignment of sequences deposited in the GenBank database, we believe that >29% of ITS1 sequences derived from anaerobic fungal isolates or clones are misnamed at the genus level

Microsatellite instability due to hMLH1 deficiency is associated with increased cytotoxicity to irinotecan in human colorectal cancer cell lines

Around 15% of colorectal cancers (CRCs) show microsatellite instability (MSI) due to dysfunction of the mismatch repair system (MMR). As a consequence of this, MSI tumours tend to accumulate errors in mononucleotide repeats as those in genes implicated in repairing double-strand breaks (DSBs). Previous studies have shown that irinotecan (CPT-11), a chemotherapy agent inducing DSB, is more active in MSI than in microsatellite stable (MSS) CRC. The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity to CPT-11 in a series of CRC cell lines with either proficient or deficient MMR and to assess the mutational status of two DSB repair genes, MRE11 and RAD50, in these cell lines. hMLH1-deficient cell lines due to either epigenetic silencing or mutation showed very similar IC50 and were four- to nine-fold more sensitive to CPT-11 than the MSS line. Cell lines harbouring mutations in both MRE11 and RAD50 were most sensitive to CPT-11. We conclude that MSI cell lines display higher sensitivity to CPT-11 than MSS cells. Mutation of MRE11 and RAD50 could account for this difference in response to CPT-11. Future clinical trials tailoring chemotherapy regimens based on microsatellite status are warranted