Adolescent Breakfast Skipping: An Australian Study

Eating breakfast is important for the health and development of children and adolescents. This paper reports on the findings of an Australian survey of 699 thirteen-year-olds concerning the extent of skipping breakfast. Results indicated that approximately 12% of the sample skipped breakfast. Gender was the only statistically significant sociodemographic variable, with females skipping at over three times the rate of males. Skippers were more likely to be dissatisfied with their body shape and to have been on a diet to lose weight than were those who ate breakfast. However, in a follow-up telephone survey, the reasons given for skipping breakfast were almost exclusively lack of time and not being hungry in the morning. While North American school nutrition programs have considered poverty to be a key issue in breakfast skipping, these findings suggest that, for Australian adolescents, skipping breakfast is a matter of individual choice

Estimated dietary phytoestrogen intake and major food sources among women during the year before pregnancy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Phytoestrogens may be associated with a variety of different health outcomes, including outcomes related to reproductive health. Recently published data on phytoestrogen content of a wide range of foods provide an opportunity to improve estimation of dietary phytoestrogen intake.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using the recently published data, we estimated intake among a representative sample of 6,584 women of reproductive age from a multi-site, population-based case-control study, the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS). The NBDPS uses a shortened version of the Willett food frequency questionnaire to estimate dietary intake during the year before pregnancy. We estimated intake among NBDPS control mothers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Lignans contributed 65% of total phytoestrogen intake; isoflavones, 29%; and coumestrol, 5%. Top contributors to total phytoestrogen intake were vegetables (31%) and fruit (29%); for isoflavones, dairy (33%) and fruit (21%); for lignans, vegetables (40%) and fruit (29%); and for coumestans, fruit (55%) and dairy (18%). Hispanic women had higher phytoestrogen intake than non-Hispanic white or black women. Associations with maternal age and folic acid-containing supplements were more modest but indicated that older mothers and mothers taking supplements had higher intake.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The advantage of the approach used for the current analysis lies in its utilization of phytoestrogen values derived from a single laboratory that used state-of-the-art measurement techniques. The database we developed can be applied directly to other studies using food frequency questionnaires, especially the Willett questionnaire. The database, combined with consistent dietary intake assessment, provides an opportunity to improve our ability to understand potential associations of phytoestrogen intake with health outcomes.</p

Anthracimycin activity against contemporary methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Anthracimycin is a recently discovered novel marine-derived compound with activity against Bacillus anthracis. We tested anthracimycin against an expanded panel of Staphylococcus aureus strains in vitro and in vivo. All strains of S. aureus tested, including methicillin-susceptible, methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant strains of S. aureus, were susceptible to anthracimycin at MIC values of ⩽0.25 mg l(-1). Although its postantibiotic effects were minimal, anthracimycin exhibited potent and rapid bactericidal activity, with a &gt;4-log kill of USA300 MRSA within 3 h at five times its MIC. At concentrations significantly below the MIC, anthracimycin slowed MRSA growth and potentiated the bactericidal activity of the human cathelicidin, LL-37. The bactericidal activity of anthracimycin was somewhat mitigated in the presence of 20% human serum, and the compound was minimally toxic to human cells, with an IC50 (inhibitory concentration 50)=70 mg l(-1) against human carcinoma cells. At concentrations near the MIC, anthracimycin inhibited S. aureus nucleic acid synthesis as determined by optimized macromolecular synthesis methodology, with inhibition of DNA and RNA synthesis occurring in the absence of DNA intercalation. Anthracimycin at a single dose of 1 or 10 mg kg(-1) was able to protect mice from MRSA-induced mortality in a murine peritonitis model of infection. Anthracimycin provides an interesting new scaffold for future development of a novel MRSA antibiotic

Imaging and spectroscopy of arcs around the most luminous X-ray cluster RX J1347.5-1145

The cluster RX J1347.5-1145, the most luminous cluster in the X-ray wavelengths, was imaged with the newly installed Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on-board HST. Its relatively high redshift (0.451) and luminosity indicate that this is one of the most massive of all known clusters. The STIS images unambiguously show several arcs in the cluster. The largest two arcs (> 5 arcsec in length) are symmetrically situated on opposite sides of the cluster, at a distance of ~ 35 arcsec from the central galaxy. The STIS images also show approximately 100 faint galaxies within the radius of the arcs whose combined luminosity is ~ 4 x 10^11 Lsun. We also present ground-based spectroscopic observations of the northern arc which show one clear emission line at 6730 A, which is consistent with an identification as [OII] 3727 A, implying a redshift of 0.81 for this arc. The southern arc shows a faint continuum but no emission features. The surface mass within the radius of the arcs (240 kpc), as derived from the gravitational lensing, is 6.3 x 10^14 Msun. The resultant mass-to-light ratio of ~1200 is higher than what is seen in many clusters but smaller than the value recently derived for some `dark' X-ray clusters (Hattori et al. 1997). The total surface mass derived from the X-ray flux within the radius of the arcs is ~2.1 - 6.8 x 10^14 Msun, which implies that the ratio of the gravitational to the X-ray mass is ~1 to 3. The surface GAS mass within this radius is ~3.5 x 10^13 Msun, which implies that at least 6% of the total mass within this region is baryonic.Comment: 3 figures. Replaced with the final version as appears in the Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 10, 1998 issue). This incorporates some important revision

Phase II Study of a Non-Platinum–Containing Doublet of Paclitaxel and Pemetrexed with Bevacizumab as Initial Therapy for Patients with Advanced Lung Adenocarcinomas

Many patients with lung cancers cannot receive platinum-containing regimens due to co-morbid medical conditions. We designed the PPB regimen of paclitaxel, pemetrexed, and bevacizumab to maintain or improve outcomes while averting the unique toxicities of platinum-based chemotherapies

Salt intake and dietary sources of salt on weekdays and weekend days in Australian adults

ObjectiveTo assess if there is a difference in salt intake (24 h urine collection and dietary recall) and dietary sources of salt (Na) on weekdays and weekend days.DesignA cross-sectional study of adults who provided one 24 h urine collection and one telephone-administered 24 h dietary recall.SettingCommunity-dwelling adults living in the State of Victoria, Australia.SubjectsAdults (n 598) who participated in a health survey (53&middot;5 % women; mean age 57&middot;1 (95 % CI 56&middot;2, 58&middot;1) years).ResultsMean (95 % CI) salt intake (dietary recall) was 6&middot;8 (6&middot;6, 7&middot;1) g/d and 24 h urinary salt excretion was 8&middot;1 (7&middot;8, 8&middot;3) g/d. Mean dietary and 24 h urinary salt (age-adjusted) were 0&middot;9 (0&middot;1, 1&middot;6) g/d (P=0&middot;024) and 0&middot;8 (0&middot;3, 1&middot;6) g/d (P=0&middot;0017), respectively, higher at weekends compared with weekdays. There was an indication of a greater energy intake at weekends (+0&middot;6 (0&middot;02, 1&middot;2) MJ/d, P=0&middot;06), but no difference in Na density (weekday: 291 (279, 304) mg/MJ; weekend: 304 (281, 327) mg/MJ; P=0&middot;360). Cereals/cereal products and dishes, meat, poultry, milk products and gravy/sauces accounted for 71 % of dietary Na.ConclusionsMean salt intake (24 h urine collection) was more than 60 % above the recommended level of 5 g salt/d and 8&ndash;14 % more salt was consumed at weekends than on weekdays. Substantial reductions in the Na content of staple foods, processed meat, sauces, mixed dishes (e.g. pasta), convenience and takeaway foods are required to achieve a significant consistent reduction in population salt intake throughout the week.<br /

Prediction of preterm birth with and without preeclampsia using mid-pregnancy immune and growth-related molecular factors and maternal characteristics.

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate if mid-pregnancy immune and growth-related molecular factors predict preterm birth (PTB) with and without (±) preeclampsia. STUDY DESIGN:Included were 400 women with singleton deliveries in California in 2009-2010 (200 PTB and 200 term) divided into training and testing samples at a 2:1 ratio. Sixty-three markers were tested in 15-20 serum samples using multiplex technology. Linear discriminate analysis was used to create a discriminate function. Model performance was assessed using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS:Twenty-five serum biomarkers along with maternal age &lt;34 years and poverty status identified &gt;80% of women with PTB ± preeclampsia with best performance in women with preterm preeclampsia (AUC = 0.889, 95% confidence interval (0.822-0.959) training; 0.883 (0.804-0.963) testing). CONCLUSION:Together with maternal age and poverty status, mid-pregnancy immune and growth factors reliably identified most women who went on to have a PTB ± preeclampsia

A Genome-Wide association Study of Obstructive Heart Defects among Participants in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Obstructive heart defects (OHDs) share common structural lesions in arteries and cardiac valves, accounting for ~25% of all congenital heart defects. OHDs are highly heritable, resulting from interplay among maternal exposures, genetic susceptibilities, and epigenetic phenomena. A genome-wide association study was conducted in National Birth Defects Prevention Study participants (