Peruvian Parents Perceptions of Children's Obesity

Although parents are critical to childhood obesity prevention, little is known about Peruvian parents' perceptions regarding childhood obesity, a country undergoing an emerging obesity epidemic. The study assessed Peruvian parents' perceptions regarding their children's obesity risks and behaviors. The specific objectives were to: (a) assess the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of parents regarding nutrition and physical activity of their preschool-aged children, and (b) assess parents’ ability to recognize overweight status in their children. Methods: The cross-sectional study surveyed 202 parents of preschool children (Mean age= 49.4 months, SD = 8.5) in the peri-urban slum communities of Lima, Peru utilizing a modified version of the Behavior and Attitudes Questionnaire for Healthy Habits (BAQ-HH) questionnaire. Children's body mass index (BMI) was compared with parental descriptions of the child's weight. Results: Nearly half (41.3%) of children had exceeded healthy weight (defined as BMI- for-age Z- score >-2 and £1). Parents demonstrated high knowledge, positive behaviors, and concerned attitudes. Parental knowledge and attitude scores predicted parental behavior scores (p=0.004). More than half (56.6%) accurately perceived their child's weight. However, 90.4% of parents of overweight/obese children underestimated their weight. Conclusions: Understanding Peruvian parents' perceptions of their children's obesity risk is essential to planning comprehensive interventions

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Research report (Austin, Tex.)

"This research program conducted a large experimental program, which consisted of the design, construction, curing, deterioration, and structural load testing of 16 large-scale column specimens with a critical lap splice region, and then compared and calibrated models developed in the analytical program with the experimental behavior. Specimens were carefully instrumented both internally and externally to monitor the strain behavior of the concrete and reinforcing steel from specimen construction, curing, deterioration, and final structural load testing.

Influence of clipping on bacterial contamination of canine arthrocentesis sites before and after skin preparation

ObjectiveTo determine the influence of hair removal as part of the aseptic skin preparation of canine arthrocentesis sites and to characterize the bacterial flora remaining after aseptic skin preparation.Study designRandomized controlled trial.Study populationThirteen shorthaired beagle-cross dogs.MethodsA coin toss was used to randomly determine to have one carpus, elbow, tarsus, and stifle clipped. The contralateral side was left unclipped. Aseptic skin preparation was performed on all sites with 4% chlorhexidine followed by 70% isopropyl alcohol. The skin of each site was sampled for aerobic and anaerobic bacterial cultures before and after aseptic skin preparation. Bacterial cultures were submitted for laboratory testing to determine the colony-forming units (CFU) of bacteria and bacterial species isolated for each site.ResultsEach group (clipped and unclipped) included 52 sites. Aseptic skin preparation reduced bacterial CFU in both groups. There was no association between values for CFU per milliliter after skin preparation of dogs and side (P = .07), joint (P = .71), pre-aseptic skin preparation CFU (P = .94), or clipping (P = .42). Staphylococcus spp were the most common of the bacterial species cultured.ConclusionIn clean shorthaired dogs without visible evidence of dermatological disease, leaving arthrocentesis sites unclipped rather than performing traditional surgical clipping did not result in increased bacterial skin counts after aseptic skin preparation.Clinical significanceIn this study we did not find evidence to support that clipping of canine arthrocentesis sites is required for effective aseptic skin preparation. A prospective clinical trial is required to determine whether a change in practice would be associated with increased morbidity

Subjective and Real Time: Coding Under Different Drug States

Organisms are constantly extracting information from the temporal structure of the environment, which allows them to select appropriate actions and predict impending changes.  Several lines of research have suggested that interval timing is modulated by the dopaminergic system.  It has been proposed that higher levels of dopamine cause an internal clock to speed up, whereas less dopamine causes a deceleration of the clock.  In most experiments the subjects are first trained to perform a timing task while drug free.  Consequently, most of what is known about the influence of dopaminergic modulation of timing is on well-established timing performance.  In the current study the impact of altered DA on the acquisition of temporal control was the focal question.  Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were distributed randomly into three different groups (haloperidol, d-amphetamine or vehicle).  Each animal received an injection 15 min prior to the start of every session from the beginning of interval training.  The subjects were trained in a Fixed Interval (FI) 16s schedule followed by training on a peak procedure in which 64s non-reinforced peak trials were intermixed with FI trials.  In a final test session all subjects were given vehicle injections and 10 consecutive non-reinforced peak trials to see if training under drug conditions altered the encoding of time.  The current study suggests that administration of drugs that modulate dopamine do not alter the encoding temporal durations but do acutely affect the initiation of responding

The Drosophila BTB Domain Protein Jim Lovell Has Roles in Multiple Larval and Adult Behaviors

<div><p>Innate behaviors have their origins in the specification of neural fates during development. Within Drosophila, BTB (<b>B</b>ric-a-brac,<b>T</b>ramtrack, <b>B</b>road) domain proteins such as Fruitless are known to play key roles in the neural differentiation underlying such responses. We previously identified a gene, which we have termed <i>jim lovell</i> (<i>lov</i>), encoding a BTB protein with a role in gravity responses. To understand more fully the behavioral roles of this gene we have investigated its function through several approaches. Transcript and protein expression patterns have been examined and behavioral phenotypes of new <i>lov</i> mutations have been characterized. Lov is a nuclear protein, suggesting a role as a transcriptional regulator, as for other BTB proteins. In late embryogenesis, Lov is expressed in many CNS and PNS neurons. An examination of the PNS expression indicates that <i>lov</i> functions in the late specification of several classes of sensory neurons. In particular, only two of the five abdominal lateral chordotonal neurons express Lov, predicting functional variation within this highly similar group. Surprisingly, Lov is also expressed very early in embryogenesis in ways that suggests roles in morphogenetic movements, amnioserosa function and head neurogenesis. The phenotypes of two new <i>lov</i> mutations that delete adjacent non-coding DNA regions are strikingly different suggesting removal of different regulatory elements. In <i>lov⁴⁷</i>, Lov expression is lost in many embryonic neurons including the two lateral chordotonal neurons. <i>lov⁴⁷</i> mutant larvae show feeding and locomotor defects including spontaneous backward movement. Adult <i>lov⁴⁷</i> males perform aberrant courtship behavior distinguished by courtship displays that are not directed at the female. <i>lov⁴⁷</i> adults also show more defective negative gravitaxis than the previously isolated <i>lov^91Y</i> mutant. In contrast, <i>lov⁶⁶</i> produces largely normal behavior but severe female sterility associated with ectopic <i>lov</i> expression in the ovary. We propose a negative regulatory role for the DNA deleted in <i>lov⁶⁶</i>.</p></div

Courtship defects in <i>lov³⁸</i> and <i>lov⁴⁷</i> males.

<p><b>A -</b> Directed courtship. Courtship indices for courtship directed towards the female. The courtship indices for <i>lov^91Y</i> in its original genetic background (91Y non-iso) and after isogenization of <i>lov^91Y</i> into the same <i>w⁺</i> background (see text) as the other <i>lov</i> mutants (91Y) are shown. Comparison of these two indices demonstrates that the new genetic background suppresses courtship significantly. Courtship behavior for <i>lov³⁸</i>, <i>lov⁴⁷</i> and <i>lov⁶⁶</i> is therefore compared only to the <i>lov^91Y</i> iso line (91Y) to correct for this background suppression of courtship. Statistics as previously. ** = p<0.01 as compared to isogenized <i>lov^91Y</i>. <b>B -</b> Non-directed courtship. Courtship indices for elements of the courtship ritual performed while not pursuing the female. Statistics as previously. *** = p<0.001 as compared to Canton-S control. <b>C -</b> Locomotor activity for males alone in courtship chambers (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0061270#s2" target="_blank">Material and Methods</a>). Control - Canton-S, 91Y = <i>lov^91Y</i>, 38 = <i>lov³⁸</i>, 47 = <i>lov⁴⁷</i>, 66 = <i>lov⁶⁶</i>,+ = <i>CyO</i> chromosome, def - <i>lov</i> deficiency chromosome <i>SB1</i>. Statistics as previously. ** = p<0.01 as compared to Canton-S control. ^## = p<0.01 as compared to isogenized <i>lov^91Y.</i></p