Parental Influence on Weight Biases in School-Age Children

Obesity rates have rapidly increased in America over the past few decades, and with this rise comes an increase in the negative psychosocial consequences experienced by victims of weight bias. Although a fair amount of research on weight bias (i.e., the negative attitudes or beliefs one holds toward overweight individuals) has been done in adults and adolescents, limited research has been done in young children. This study worked to fill gaps in the literature by investigating if children between the ages of five and nine would show weight biases, if the biases against individuals would vary by the ethnicity and gender of the target, and if children’s biases related to parents’ biases and health habits. To measure bias, children completed an explicit Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire and a more implicit Figure Rating Scale examining biases toward individuals of varying gender and ethnicity. Parents also completed the Anti-Fat Attitudes Questionnaire and a health habits survey. Children displayed significant biases against overweight individuals, with more bias relating to the controllability of obesity. Children did not show different biases toward individuals of different genders and ethnicity, nor did their biases relate to parental views

Superconductivity in potassium-doped 2,2′'-bipyridine

Organic compounds are always promising candidates of superconductors with high transition temperatures. We examine this proposal by choosing 2,2$'$-bipyridine solely composed by C, H, and N atoms. The presence of Meissner effect with a transition temperature of 7.2 K in this material upon potassium doping is demonstrated by the $dc$ magnetic susceptibility measurements. The real part of the $ac$ susceptibility exhibits the same transition temperature as that in $dc$ magnetization, and a sharp peak appeared in the imaginary part indicates the formation of the weakly linked superconducting vortex current. The occurence of superconductivity is further supported by the resistance drop at the transition together with its suppression by the applied magnetic fields. The superconducting phase is identified to be K$_3$-2,2$'$-bipyridine from the analysis of Raman scattering spectra. This work not only opens an encouraging window for finding superconductivity after optoelectronics in 2,2$'$-bipyridine-based materials but also offers an example to realize superconductivity from conducting polymers and their derivatives.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Neural correlates of fatigability in older adults by 7T magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)

There is increasing evidence to support that fatigability, a term for feelings of fatigue anchored to a defined activity at a fixed intensity and duration, may have neurobiological origins. The identification of brain regions associated with fatigability may illuminate vulnerable structural neuronal networks related to the disablement pathway. This work will examine whether structural brain MRI metrics are associated with physical and mental fatigability in older adults. Cross-sectional data collected at the baseline visit for the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders Study was used to conduct analyses. The analytic sample included participants with complete data for brain MRI metrics and the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale. Grey matter volumes (GMV) for a priori identified brain regions of interest were adjusted for intracranial volume (ICV) and fatigability was dichotomized to higher(HF) and lower(LF) physical and mental fatigability status based on established cutpoints. T-tests and non-parametric methods were performed to compare mean-normalized GMV by higher and lower physical and mental fatigability. An exploratory significance level of p<0.1 was used. The analytic sample (n=29) had a mean (SD) age of 77.2(5.5) years (range=70.3 to 88.3 years), was mostly female (86.2%), 37.9% White and 31.0% had completed greater than a high school education. A majority of participants reported higher fatigability for physical and mental categories (65.5% for each). For the right hippocampus, mean (SD) GMV was lower for those with HF (0.261(0.039)) compared to LF (0.273(0.022)) for physical measures, p=0.07. Similar associations were found for the right putamen (HF: 0.273(0.030), LF: 0.292(0.030), p=0.05) and left (HF: 0.254(0.043), LF: 0.314(0.024), p=0.04) and right thalamus (HF: 0.285(0.032), LF: (0.307(0.023), p=0.08). The associations were similar for mental fatigability for the right hippocampus and thalamus with addition of the right cingulum posterior (HF: 0.260(0.040), LF: 0.276(0.015), p=0.05) and left (HF: 0.075(0.012), LF: 0.080(0.006), p=0.02) and right amygdala (HF: 0.081(0.015), LF: 0.086(0.010), p=0.05). Analyses are suggestive of neural correlates of physical and mental fatigability in older adults. These findings are significant to public health, because they will advance neuroepidemiologic knowledge about the role of the brain and fatigability in the disablement pathway

Racial and Ethnic Heterogeneity in the Association Between Total Cholesterol and Pediatric Obesity

Publisher's PDFTotal cholesterol (TC) directly correlates with overweight/obesity, but it remains unclear if this association varies by race and ethnicity. We assessed the association as well as the racial/ethnic heterogeneity in this relationship. Data on 63,863 children were assessed using electronic medical records between 2010 and 2011. A cross-sectional design was utilized with log-binomial regression model and chi-squared statistic to examine the data. Overall, abnormal total cholesterol (ATC) was 7.5% (4812). Significant racial variability in ATC was observed: Black/African American (AA) (7.4%), White (7.0%), Asian (5.1%) and some other race (SOR) children (11.3%), 2 (5) = 141.5, p < 0.0001. Black/AA (34.7%) and SOR children (41.2%) were predominantly overweight/obese, unlike the Asian children, (25.8%), 2 (5) = 324.6, p < 0.0001. The BMI percentile was highest among SOR (69.0 28.6) and Black/AA children (65.2 29.1), but lowest among Asian children (55.7 31.5). A significant racial variability was also observed in weight, with the highest mean among Black/AA children (36.8kg 23.0) and the lowest among Asian children (28.7kg 16.8), f = 7.2, p < 0.001. Relative to normal TC, children with ATC were 2.6 times as likely to have abnormal BMI, relative risk (RR) =2.60, 99% CI, 2.54–2.68). Compared to non-Hispanic (RR = 2.62, 99% CI, 2.54–2.69), the risk was lower among Hispanics (RR = 2.34, 99%, 2.21–2.48). Among children with ATC, risk for abnormal BMI was highest among Asians, adjusted RR = 2.91, 99% CI, 2.34–3.62), intermediate among AA (ARR = 2.68, 99% CI, 2.59–2.77), but lowest among Whites (ARR = 2.40, 99% CI, 2.39–2.64), and SOR (ARR = 2.33, 99% CI, 2.19–2.50). In a large sample of children, total cholesterol directly correlates with BMI, with an observed racial and ethnic heterogeneity.University of Delaware. Department of Biological Sciences

Marsh migration and beyond: A scalable framework to assess tidal wetland resilience and support strategic management.

Tidal wetlands are critical but highly threatened ecosystems that provide vital services. Efficient stewardship of tidal wetlands requires robust comparative assessments of different marshes to understand their resilience to stressors, particularly in the face of relative sea level rise. Existing assessment frameworks aim to address tidal marsh resilience, but many are either too localized or too general, and few directly translate resilience evaluations to recommendations for management strategies. In response to the deficiencies in existing frameworks, we identified a set of metrics that influence overall marsh resilience that can be assessed at any spatial scale. We then developed a new comprehensive assessment framework to rank relative marsh resilience using these metrics, which are nested within three categories. We represent resilience as the sum of results across the three metric categories: current condition, adaptive capacity, and vulnerability. Users of this framework can add scores from each category to generate a total resilience score to compare across marshes or take the score from each category and refer to recommended management actions we developed based on expert elicitation for each combination of category results. We then applied the framework across the contiguous United States using publicly available data, and summarized results at multiple spatial scales, from regions to coastal states to National Estuarine Research Reserves to finer scale marsh units, to demonstrate the framework's value across these scales. Our national analysis allowed for comparison of tidal marsh resilience across geographies, which is valuable for determining where to prioritize management actions for desired future marsh conditions. In combination, the assessment framework and recommended management actions function as a broadly applicable decision-support tool that will enable resource managers to evaluate tidal marshes and select appropriate strategies for conservation, restoration, and other stewardship goals