Parental control and overconsumption of snack foods in overweight and obese children

The associations between snack food consumption, parent feeding practices and general parenting in overweight in obese children are largely unknown. Therefore, we examined these relationships in 117 treatment-seeking overweight and obese children (10.40 ± 1.35 years; 53% female; 52% Caucasian; BMI-z: 2.06 ± 0.39). Children consumed a dinner meal, completed an Eating in the Absence of Hunger (EAH) free access paradigm (total EAH intake=EAH%-total; sweet food intake=EAH%-sweet), and completed the Child Report of Parent Behavior Inventory. Parents completed the Child Feeding Questionnaire. Child EAH%-total and EAH%-sweet were positively associated with dinner consumption (p’s<.01). Girls had significantly higher EAH%-total compared to boys (p<.05). In separate models, higher EAH%-total was associated with greater use of maternal psychological control (p<.05) and EAH%-sweet was positively associated with parent monitoring (p<.05). In analyses examining factors associated with the consumption of specific foods, EAH snack food, parent restriction, pressure to eat, monitoring, and maternal psychological control were positively correlated with intake of Hershey’s® chocolate bars (p’s<.05). In summary, parental monitoring is associated with child sweet snack food intake and maternal psychological control is associated with child total snack food consumption. Future research should evaluate the complex relationship between child eating and parenting, especially with regard to subgroups of foods

Cerebral small vessel disease genomics and its implications across the lifespan

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are the most common brain-imaging feature of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), hypertension being the main known risk factor. Here, we identify 27 genome-wide loci for WMH-volume in a cohort of 50,970 older individuals, accounting for modification/confounding by hypertension. Aggregated WMH risk variants were associated with altered white matter integrity (p = 2.5×10-7) in brain images from 1,738 young healthy adults, providing insight into the lifetime impact of SVD genetic risk. Mendelian randomization suggested causal association of increasing WMH-volume with stroke, Alzheimer-type dementia, and of increasing blood pressure (BP) with larger WMH-volume, notably also in persons without clinical hypertension. Transcriptome-wide colocalization analyses showed association of WMH-volume with expression of 39 genes, of which four encode known drug targets. Finally, we provide insight into BP-independent biological pathways underlying SVD and suggest potential for genetic stratification of high-risk individuals and for genetically-informed prioritization of drug targets for prevention trials.Peer reviewe

Minding the Body: Space, Memory, and Visual Culture in Constructions of Jewish Identity

While it is well established that articulations of identity must always be contextualized within time and place, only when we consider how bodies move through, touch, and are touched by physical, cognitive, and even imaginary spaces do we arrive at dynamic and intersectional expressions of identity. Using two divergent visual culture case studies, this essay first applies Setha Low’s theory of embodied spaces to understand the intersection and interconnection between body, space, and culture, and how the concept of belongingness is knotted with material and representational indicators of space at the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Israel. Marianne Hirsch’s ideas about the Holocaust and affiliative postmemory are also considered to further understand how Jewish bodies inherit their identifies and sense of belonging. To test how embodied spaces and affiliative postmemory or collective memory implicitly operate to help shape and articulate expressions of Jewish identities, the focus then shifts to a consideration of the eight-decade career of New York jazz musician and visual artist, Bill Wurtzel. The clever combination of “schtick and sechel” in Wurtzel’s artistic practice, activated by his movement through the Jewish spaces of his youth such as the Catskills, and through his interaction with Jewish design great, Lou Dorfsman, underscore how Jewish belonging and identity are forged at the intersection of physical and tactile “embodied spaces,” where the internal meets the external and human consciousness and experience converge

Photography, philanthropy, and the politics of American Jewish identity.

Historians and sociologists of American Jewish life have identified a tension between the American Jewish impulse towards integration and Jewish group survival. Philanthropy, however, as an expression of the Jewish values of righteousness and charity has interceded to mitigate these competing values and, in fact, has functioned to strengthen American Jewish solidarity. This dissertation investigates Jewish self-representation in the photographic campaigns sponsored by the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in the aftermath of World War Two through the mid-1990s. It posits the photographic production of these philanthropies as an alternative medium through which we may investigate the fabrication of American Jewish identities.Although these photographic campaigns have had the alleged function of charting the rescue and rehabilitation operations of the UJA and the JDC, I suggest that these images indirectly represent the centrality of American Jews to modern Jewish existence. Two general questions frame this inquiry: (1) to what extent is Jewish identity in America inscribed within Jewish philanthropy? and (2) how does the photographic practice of Jewish philanthropies reinforce the imperatives of the organized sector of American Jewry, and participate in the fabrication of American Jewish identities? Analysis of the interface between the visual and written texts suggests that these photographs not only document the rescue efforts of oppressed and impoverished Jews abroad, but equally illustrate how many American Jews anchor their identities in the task of philanthropic relief.This study probes how this self-definition responds to a Jewish identity that has ruptured into a multiplicity of identities, exacerbated by the competing impulses of integration and survival in the modern world. I suggest that the photographic production of mainstream American Jewish philanthropies charts a dual journey of rehabilitation, restoring not only the threatened existence of Jews who inhabit hostile counties, but also the faltering identities of American Jews. My dissertation thus argues that through philanthropy, many American Jews renew their commitment to the Jewish religion and establish their centrality to Jewish survival, while defining a more holistic and organic Jewish community.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Los Angeles, 1998.School code: 0031

Development of Complementary Encounter and Patient Decision Aids for Shared Decision Making about Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation

Introduction Decision aids (DAs) are helpful instruments used to support shared decision making (SDM). Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) face complex decisions regarding stroke prevention strategies. While a few DAs have been made for AF stroke prevention, an encounter DA (EDA) and patient DA (PDA) have not been created to be used in conjunction with each other before. Design Using iterative user-centered design, we developed 2 DAs for anticoagulation choice and stroke prevention in AF. Prototypes were created, and we elicited feedback from patients and experts via observations of encounters, usability testing, and semistructured interviews. Results User testing was done with 33 experts (in AF and SDM) and 51 patients from 6 institutions. The EDA and PDA underwent 1 and 4 major iterations, respectively. Major differences between the DAs included AF pathophysiology and a preparation to meet with the clinician in the PDA as well as different language throughout. Content areas included personalized stroke risk, differences between anticoagulants, and risks of bleeding. Based on user feedback, developers 1) addressed feelings of isolation with AF, 2) improved navigation options, 3) modified content and flow for users new to AF and those experienced with AF, 4) updated stroke risk pictographs, and 5) added structure to the preparation for decision making in the PDA. Limitations These DAs focus only on anticoagulation for stroke prevention and are online, which may limit participation for those less comfortable with technology. Conclusions Designing complementary DAs for use in tandem or separately is a new method to support SDM between patients and clinicians. Extensive user testing is essential to creating high-quality tools that best meet the needs of those using them. Highlights First-time complementary encounter and patient decision aids have been designed to work together or separately. User feedback led to greater structure and different experiences for patients naïve or experienced with anticoagulants in patient decision aids. Online tools allow for easier dissemination, use in telehealth visits, and updating as new evidence comes out