Association Between Vitamin D Intake and Obesity During Pre- and Early Adolescence

Background: Prevalence of obesity in US children has increased substantially. The influence of vitamin D intake on body mass index (BMI) is yet to be clearly defined. Results are mixed regarding the relationship of vitamin D deficiency with obesity in children. The objective of this study was to examine the association between vitamin D intake and BMI over a 6 month period in pre-to early adolescent children in Pittsburgh, PA. Methods: Secondary analysis was done on 256 healthy 6-14 year old (54% male) Caucasian and African American (70%) children from Pittsburgh, PA. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and a Sun Exposure Questionnaire (SEQ) and provided anthropometric measures at 2 time points 6 months apart. Vitamin D intake was compared by BMI status (normal = \u3c85th percentile, overweight = 85th to 95th percentile, obese = \u3e95th percentile) as well as by change in BMI over 6 months. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance, Spearman’s correlation, Chi Square test, and regression analysis (vitamin D intake, gender, race, baseline BMI, total energy intake, sun exposure and sunscreen use). Results: Median reported vitamin D intake was 245.85 IU at baseline and 382.51 IU at 6 month follow up. After subdividing children by BMI, at baseline the obese group reported lowest median intake (188 IU) and at 6 month follow up the normal group reported lowest median intake (374 IU) (P=0.03). Overall relation between vitamin D intake and BMI was significant (P=0.033) but weak (r=-0.015). Regression analysis revealed only baseline BMI status (P=\u3c0.001) as a predictor of 6 month follow up BMI. No relation was observed between change in BMI and vitamin D intake. Conclusion: The results of this study do not support a strong relationship between vitamin D intake and change in BMI status over a 6 month time period

Electronic Health Records and Support For Primary Care Teamwork

This study examined primary care practices' experiences using electronic health records (EHRs) as they strive to function as teams in patientcentered medical homes (PCMHs). We identify how EHRs facilitate and pose challenges to teamwork and how practices overcame such challenges. We describe solutions and identify opportunities to improve care processes as well as EHR functionalities and policies, to support teamwork

Geochemical constraints on the origin of enigmatic cemented chalks, Norfolk, UK

Very hard cemented chalk stacks and crusts found locally in the upper part of the Cretaceous Chalk of north Norfolk, UK, are related to solution features. The solution features, mainly pipes and caves, formed after deposition of the overlying Middle Pleistocene Wroxham Crag, probably by routing of sub-glacial, or glacial, melt-waters derived from late Pleistocene glaciers. New geochemical (particularly stable isotope) data shows that cementation of the chalks, although related spatially to the solution features, was not caused by glacier-derived waters. The carbon isotope composition of the chalk cements is typically around -9.5‰, indicative of biologically active soils. Moreover, the oxygen isotope compositions of the cements, around -5‰, are incompatible with water d18O values much below -9 to -10‰ (which probably precludes isotopically negative glacier-derived water), as resulting palaeo-temperatures are below zero. Taken together, the isotope data suggest chalk cementation occurred under interglacial conditions similar to the present. Dissolved calcium carbonate for cementation came from dissolution of reworked chalk in overlying MIS 12 glacial tills

Multilayer Modelling of Lubricated Contacts: A New Approach Based on a Potential Field Description

A first integral approach, derived in an analogous fashion to Maxwell’s use of potential fields, is employed to investigate the flow characteristics, with a view to minimising friction, of shear-driven fluid motion between rigid surfaces in parallel alignment as a model for a lubricated joint, whether naturally occurring or engineered replacement. For a viscous bilayer arrangement comprised of immiscible liquids, it is shown how the flow and the shear stress along the separating interface is influenced by the mean thickness of the layers and the ratio of their respective viscosities. Considered in addition, is how the method can be extended for application to the more challenging problem of when one, or both, of the layers is a viscoelastic material

Eddy genesis and manipulation in plane laminar shear flow

Eddy formation and presence in a plane laminar shear flow configuration consisting of two infinitely long plates orientated parallel to each other is investigated theoretically. The upper plate, which is planar, drives the flow; the lower one has a sinusoidal profile and is fixed. The governing equations are solved via a full finite element formulation for the general case and semi-analytically at the Stokes flow limit. The effects of varying geometry (involving changes in the mean plate separation or the amplitude and wavelength of the lower plate) and inertia are explored separately. For Stokes flow and varying geometry, excellent agreement between the two methods of solution is found. Of particular interest with regard to the flow structure is the importance of the clearance that exists between the upper plate and the tops of the corrugations forming the lower one. When the clearance is large, an eddy is only present at sufficiently large amplitudes or small wavelengths. However, as the plate clearance is reduced, a critical value is found which triggers the formation of an eddy in an otherwise fully attached flow for any finite amplitude and arbitrarily large wavelength. This is a precursor to the primary eddy to be expected in the lid-driven cavity flow which is formed in the limit of zero clearance between the plates. The influence of the flow driving mechanism is assessed by comparison with corresponding solutions for the case of gravity-driven fluid films flowing over an undulating substrate. When inertia is present, the flow generally becomes asymmetrical. However, it is found that for large mean plate separations the flow local to the lower plate becomes effectively decoupled from the inertia dominated overlying flow if the wavelength of the lower plate is sufficiently small. In such cases the local flow retains its symmetry. A local Reynolds number based on the wavelength is shown to be useful in characterising these large-gap flows. As the mean plate separation is reduced, the form of the asymmetry caused by inertia changes, and becomes strongly dependent on the plate separation. For lower plate wavelengths which do not exhibit a cinematically induced secondary eddy, an inertially induced secondary eddy can be created if the mean plate separation is sufficiently small and the global Reynolds number sufficiently large

An Architectural Approach to Autonomics and Self-management of Automotive Embedded Electronic Systems

International audienceEmbedded electronic systems in vehicles are of rapidly increasing commercial importance for the automotive industry. While current vehicular embedded systems are extremely limited and static, a more dynamic configurable system would greatly simplify the integration work and increase quality of vehicular systems. This brings in features like separation of concerns, customised software configuration for individual vehicles, seamless connectivity, and plug-and-play capability. Furthermore, such a system can also contribute to increased dependability and resource optimization due to its inherent ability to adjust itself dynamically to changes in software, hardware resources, and environment condition. This paper describes the architectural approach to achieving the goals of dynamically self-configuring automotive embedded electronic systems by the EU research project DySCAS. The architecture solution outlined in this paper captures the application and operational contexts, expected features, middleware services, functions and behaviours, as well as the basic mechanisms and technologies. The paper also covers the architecture conceptualization by presenting the rationale, concerning the architecture structuring, control principles, and deployment concept. In this paper, we also present the adopted architecture V&V strategy and discuss some open issues in regards to the industrial acceptance

Optical and EPR spectroscopy of Er3+ in lithium yttrium borate, Li6Y(BO3)3:Er single crystals

The energy levels of Er3+ ions have been determined in lithium yttrium borate (Li6Y(BO3)3) single crystals in a wide spectral range between 6000 and 40000 cm-1 together with an analysis of the ground state, using optical and EPR spectroscopy. The crystal field splittings of the 4I15/2 ground state and those of nearly all excited states up to the 4D7/2 manifold have been obtained at low temperature from luminescence (T = 5 K) and absorption (T = 9 K) measurements, respectively. The numbers of experimentally observed Stark sublevels agree well with those expected theoretically for Er3+ ions occupying a single low symmetry (C1) site. A full set of g- and 167Er hyperfine tensor parameters are presented for the ground state characterized by EPR; the measured Orbach-type spin-relaxation rates viz. the involved activation energies correspond to the optically derived lowest excited sublevels

Cenozoic paleoceanography 1986: An introduction

New developments in Cenozoic paleoceanography include the application of climate models and atmospheric general circulation models to questions of climate reconstruction, the refinement of conceptual models for interpretation of the carbon isotope record in terms of carbon mass balance, paleocirculation, paleoproductivity, and the regional mapping of paleoceanographic events by acoustic stratigraphy. Sea level change emerges as a master variable to which changes in the ocean environment must be traced in many cases, and tests of the onlap-offlap paradigm therefore are of crucial importance