Growth of children receiving a dehydrated potato-soy protein concentrate or corn-soy blend as part of a food aid program in Northern Senegal

Rations distributed by food aid programs are intended to improve the growth of undernourished children. In practice, food programs target individual children and provide a supplement to the family that is intended to increase the energy and nutrient intake of undernourished children. Multiple food rations are available yet few studies have compared their differential effect on the growth of children. The objective of the study was to compare growth in undernourished Senegalese children who received a newly developed dehydrated potato-soy protein concentrate blend (PSB) to those supplemented with the currently available corn-soy blend (CSB). The first child at each site was randomly assigned to receive PSB or CSB and subsequent children alternately received PSB or CSB. Eligibility for obtaining the food ration was basedon criteria determined by the USAID (P.L. 480) Title II Food Aid Program. Children received iso-caloric amounts of the two supplements each month (23,000kcals). Weight, height and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) were taken over a fourmonth period. Z-scores were calculated for weight-for-age (WAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ) and for length/height-for-age measures (HAZ).The study was conducted at 7 clinics which served as food distribution sites in northern Senegal. The study enrolled348 children 18-56 months old with a weight-for-age z-score below the �yellow� zone of the locally available growth chart (equivalent to WAZ < -1.0). WAZ and HAZ significantly increased over time but there was no difference between the two ration groups. In a subset of 280 children (145 PSB, 135 CSB) who attended all four appointments and received the full complement of ration, there was significant and equivalent increase for both groups in WAZ and WHZ. These findings indicate thatchildren participating in the food aid program significantly improved their growth over a four-month period. Using the new PSB as a ration had the same impact on growth as the standard CSB and required less fuel to prepare

Physical properties of z>4 submillimeter galaxies in the COSMOS field

We study the physical properties of a sample of 6 SMGs in the COSMOS field, spectroscopically confirmed to lie at z>4. We use new GMRT 325 MHz and 3 GHz JVLA data to probe the rest-frame 1.4 GHz emission at z=4, and to estimate the sizes of the star-forming (SF) regions of these sources, resp. Combining our size estimates with those available in the literature for AzTEC1 and AzTEC3 we infer a median radio-emitting size for our z>4 SMGs of (0.63"+/-0.12")x(0.35"+/-0.05") or 4.1x2.3 kpc^2 (major times minor axis; assuming z=4.5) or lower if we take the two marginally resolved SMGs as unresolved. This is consistent with the sizes of SF regions in lower-redshift SMGs, and local normal galaxies, yet higher than the sizes of SF regions of local ULIRGs. Our SMG sample consists of a fair mix of compact and more clumpy systems with multiple, perhaps merging, components. With an average formation time of ~280 Myr, derived through modeling of the UV-IR SEDs, the studied SMGs are young systems. The average stellar mass, dust temperature, and IR luminosity we derive are M*~1.4x10^11 M_sun, T_dust~43 K, and L_IR~1.3x10^13L_sun, resp. The average L_IR is up to an order of magnitude higher than for SMGs at lower redshifts. Our SMGs follow the correlation between dust temperature and IR luminosity as derived for Herschel-selected 0.1=1.95+/-0.26 for our sample, compared to q~2.6 for IR luminous galaxies at z4 SMGs put them at the high end of the L_IR-T_dust distribution of SMGs, and that our SMGs form a morphologically heterogeneous sample. Thus, further in-depth analyses of large, statistical samples of high-redshift SMGs are needed to fully understand their role in galaxy formation and evolution

Photometric and Spectroscopic Observations of SN 1990E in NGC 1035: Observational Constraints for Models of Type II Supernovae

We present 126 photometric and 30 spectral observation of SN 1990E spanning from 12 days before B maximum to 600 days past discovery. These observations show that SN 1990E was of type II-P, displaying hydrogen in its spectrum, and the characteristic plateau in its light curve. SN 1990E is one of the few SNe II which has been well observed before maximum light, and we present evidence that this SN was discovered very soon after its explosion. In the earliest spectra we identify, for the first time, several N II lines. We present a new technique for measuring extinction to SNe II based on the evolution of absorption lines, and use this method to estimate the extinction to SN 1990E, Av=1.5+/-0.3 mag. From our photometric data we have constructed a bolometric light curve for SN 1990E and show that, even at the earliest times, the bolometric luminosity was falling rapidly. We use the late-time bolometric light curve to show that SN 1990E trapped a majority of the gamma rays produced by the radioactive decay of 56Co, and estimate that SN 1990E ejected 0.073 Mo of 56Ni, an amount virtually identical to that of SN 1987A. [excerpt

Verbal instructions override the meaning of facial expressions

Psychological research has long acknowledged that facial expressions can implicitly trigger affective psychophysiological responses. However, whether verbal information can alter the meaning of facial emotions and corresponding response patterns has not been tested. This study examined emotional facial expressions as cues for instructed threat-of-shock or safety, with a focus on defensive responding. In addition, reversal instructions were introduced to test the impact of explicit safety instructions on fear extinction. Forty participants were instructed that they would receive unpleasant electric shocks, for instance, when viewing happy but not angry faces. In a second block, instructions were reversed (e.g., now angry faces cued shock). Happy, neutral, and angry faces were repeatedly presented, and auditory startle probes were delivered in half of the trials. The defensive startle reflex was potentiated for threat compared to safety cues. Importantly, this effect occurred regardless of whether threat was cued by happy or angry expressions. Although the typical pattern of response habituation was observed, defense activation to newly instructed threat cues remained significantly enhanced in the second part of the experiment, and it was more pronounced in more socially anxious participants. Thus, anxious individuals did not exhibit more pronounced defense activation compared to less anxious participants, but their defense activation was more persistent