Convenience Over Nutrition for Recreation League Youth Sport Team Snack and Mealtime Choices

Fifty-six percent of school-aged children participate in team sports, yet there is limited evidence on how participation in youth sports impacts the dietary behaviors of participants and their families. Our team surveyed parents and caregivers of children participating in recreation league youth sports (n = 178) to assess the foods and beverages offered as team snacks and factors that influence team snack choices. Juice was the most popular beverage, and crackers were the most popular snack reported by parents. Convenience, followed by cost and child preference, were the most frequently reported factors influencing team snack choices. Survey items also included factors that influence mealtime behaviors on game and practice days. Convenience, followed by nutrition and taste, were most frequently reported as factors that influenced mealtime behaviors. Almost half of parents said their family’s eating habits changed as a result of recreational youth sports activities, and more than half said their family often or always eats dinner outside of the home on game and practice days. Professionals who work with this age group and their parents, including extension agents, can tailor education to encourage healthy team snacks and promote strategies to make healthy meals accessible on evenings with youth sports

Scattering of elastic waves by periodic arrays of spherical bodies

We develop a formalism for the calculation of the frequency band structure of a phononic crystal consisting of non-overlapping elastic spheres, characterized by Lam\'e coefficients which may be complex and frequency dependent, arranged periodically in a host medium with different mass density and Lam\'e coefficients. We view the crystal as a sequence of planes of spheres, parallel to and having the two dimensional periodicity of a given crystallographic plane, and obtain the complex band structure of the infinite crystal associated with this plane. The method allows one to calculate, also, the transmission, reflection, and absorption coefficients for an elastic wave (longitudinal or transverse) incident, at any angle, on a slab of the crystal of finite thickness. We demonstrate the efficiency of the method by applying it to a specific example.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, Phys. Rev. B (in press

Absence of thrombospondin-2 causes age-related dilated cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: The progressive shift from a young to an aged heart is characterized by alterations in the cardiac matrix. The present study investigated whether the matricellular protein thrombospondin-2 (TSP-2) may affect cardiac dimensions and function with physiological aging of the heart. METHODS AND RESULTS: TSP-2 knockout (KO) and wild-type mice were followed up to an age of 60 weeks. Survival rate, cardiac function, and morphology did not differ at a young age in TSP-2 KO compared with wild-type mice. However, >55% of the TSP-2 KO mice died between 24 and 60 weeks of age, whereas <10% of the wild-type mice died. In the absence of TSP-2, older mice displayed a severe dilated cardiomyopathy with impaired systolic function, increased cardiac dilatation, and fibrosis. Ultrastructural analysis revealed progressive myocyte stress and death, accompanied by an inflammatory response and replacement fibrosis, in aging TSP-2 KO animals, whereas capillary or coronary morphology or density was not affected. Importantly, adeno-associated virus-9 gene-mediated transfer of TSP-2 in 7-week-old TSP-2 KO mice normalized their survival and prevented dilated cardiomyopathy. In TSP-2 KO animals, age-related cardiomyopathy was accompanied by increased matrix metalloproteinase-2 and decreased tissue transglutaminase-2 activity, together with impaired collagen cross-linking. At the cardiomyocyte level, TSP-2 deficiency in vivo and its knockdown in vitro decreased the activation of the Akt survival pathway in cardiomyocytes. CONCLUSIONS: TSP-2 expression in the heart protects against age-dependent dilated cardiomyopath

On the Spiral Structure of the Milky Way Galaxy

We consider the possible pattern of the overall spiral structure of the Galaxy, using data on the distribution of neutral (atomic), molecular, and ionized hydrogen, on the base of the hypothesis of the spiral structure being symmetric, i.e. the assumption that spiral arms are translated into each other for a rotation around the galactic center by 180{\deg} (a two-arm pattern) or by 90{\deg} (a four-arm pattern). We demonstrate that, for the inner region, the observations are best represented with a four-arm scheme of the spiral pattern, associated with all-Galaxy spiral density waves. The basic position is that of the Carina arm, reliably determined from distances to HII regions and from HI and H2 radial velocities. This pattern is continued in the quadrants III and IV with weak outer HI arms; from their morphology, the Galaxy should be considered an asymmetric multi-arm spiral. The kneed shape of the outer arms that consist of straight segments can indicate that these arms are transient formations that appeared due to a gravitational instability in the gas disk. The distances between HI superclouds in the two arms that are the brightest in neutral hydrogen, the Carina arm and the Cygnus (Outer) arm, concentrate to two values, permitting to assume the presence of a regular magnetic field in these arms.Comment: 21 pages, 14 fugures; accepted for publication in Astronomichesky Journal (Astron. Rep.

The Science of Sungrazers, Sunskirters, and Other Near-Sun Comets

This review addresses our current understanding of comets that venture close to the Sun, and are hence exposed to much more extreme conditions than comets that are typically studied from Earth. The extreme solar heating and plasma environments that these objects encounter change many aspects of their behaviour, thus yielding valuable information on both the comets themselves that complements other data we have on primitive solar system bodies, as well as on the near-solar environment which they traverse. We propose clear definitions for these comets: We use the term near-Sun comets to encompass all objects that pass sunward of the perihelion distance of planet Mercury (0.307 AU). Sunskirters are defined as objects that pass within 33 solar radii of the Sun’s centre, equal to half of Mercury’s perihelion distance, and the commonly-used phrase sungrazers to be objects that reach perihelion within 3.45 solar radii, i.e. the fluid Roche limit. Finally, comets with orbits that intersect the solar photosphere are termed sundivers. We summarize past studies of these objects, as well as the instruments and facilities used to study them, including space-based platforms that have led to a recent revolution in the quantity and quality of relevant observations. Relevant comet populations are described, including the Kreutz, Marsden, Kracht, and Meyer groups, near-Sun asteroids, and a brief discussion of their origins. The importance of light curves and the clues they provide on cometary composition are emphasized, together with what information has been gleaned about nucleus parameters, including the sizes and masses of objects and their families, and their tensile strengths. The physical processes occurring at these objects are considered in some detail, including the disruption of nuclei, sublimation, and ionisation, and we consider the mass, momentum, and energy loss of comets in the corona and those that venture to lower altitudes. The different components of comae and tails are described, including dust, neutral and ionised gases, their chemical reactions, and their contributions to the near-Sun environment. Comet-solar wind interactions are discussed, including the use of comets as probes of solar wind and coronal conditions in their vicinities. We address the relevance of work on comets near the Sun to similar objects orbiting other stars, and conclude with a discussion of future directions for the field and the planned ground- and space-based facilities that will allow us to address those science topics

Rare KK Decays

The rare decays of the $K$ meson have had a long tradition as a laboratory for testing the symmetry properties of the weak interactions, and the manner in which these symmetries are broken by higher order effects. Present--day interest is focussed on decays that are suppressed by $CP$--symmetry or GIM symmetry. Such decays, in the standard theory, are sensitive to effects of the virtual top quark, and could also reveal new interactions transcending the standard model. In addition, the radiative decays of the $K$ meson have become a useful testing--ground for effective Lagrangians describing the low energy interactions of pions, kaons and photons.Comment: Invited Talk at the Third Workshop on High Energy Particle Physics (WHEPP 3) Madras, 1994, LaTex, 14 pages, 3 figures available upon reques

Measurement of the B0-anti-B0-Oscillation Frequency with Inclusive Dilepton Events

The $B^0$-$\bar B^0$ oscillation frequency has been measured with a sample of 23 million \B\bar B pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC. In this sample, we select events in which both B mesons decay semileptonically and use the charge of the leptons to identify the flavor of each B meson. A simultaneous fit to the decay time difference distributions for opposite- and same-sign dilepton events gives $\Delta m_d = 0.493 \pm 0.012{(stat)}\pm 0.009{(syst)}$ ps$^{-1}$.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Transfer origins in the conjugative Enterococcus faecalis plasmids pAD1 and pAM373: identification of the pAD1 nic site, a specific relaxase and a possible TraG-like protein

The Enterococcus faecalis conjugative plasmids pAD1 and pAM373 encode a mating response to the peptide sex pheromones cAD1 and cAM373 respectively. Sequence determination of both plasmids has recently been completed with strong similarity evident over many of the structural genes related to conjugation. pAD1 has two origins of transfer, with oriT1 being located within the repA determinant, whereas the more efficiently utilized oriT2 is located between orf53 and orf57 , two genes found in the present study to be essential for conjugation. We have found a similarly located oriT to be present in pAM373. oriT2 corresponds to about 285 bp based on its ability to facilitate mobilization by pAD1 when ligated to the shuttle vector pAM401; however, it was not mobilized by pAM373. In contrast, a similarly ligated fragment containing the oriT of pAM373 did not facilitate mobilization by pAD1 but was efficiently mobilized by pAM373. The oriT sites of the two plasmids each contained a homologous large inverted repeat (spanning about 140 bp) adjacent to a series of non-homologous short (6 bp) direct repeats. A hybrid construction containing the inverted repeat of pAM373 and direct repeats of pAD1 was mobilized efficiently by pAD1 but not by pAM373, indicating a significantly greater degree of specificity is associated with the direct repeats. Mutational (deletion) analyses of the pAD1 oriT2 inverted repeat structure suggested its importance in facilitating transfer or perhaps ligation of the ends of the newly transferred DNA strand. Analyses showed that Orf57 (to be called TraX) is the relaxase, which was found to induce a specific nick in the large inverted repeat inside oriT ; the protein also facilitated site-specific recombination between two oriT2 sites. Orf53 (to be called TraW) exhibits certain structural similarities to TraG-like proteins, although there is little overall homology.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72536/1/j.1365-2958.2002.03007.x.pd

Sacituzumab govitecan in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer have a poor prognosis. Sacituzumab govitecan is an antibody-drug conjugate composed of an antibody targeting the human trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (Trop-2), which is expressed in the majority of breast cancers, coupled to SN-38 (topoisomerase I inhibitor) through a proprietary hydrolyzable linker. METHODS In this randomized, phase 3 trial, we evaluated sacituzumab govitecan as compared with single-agent chemotherapy of the physician's choice (eribulin, vinorelbine, capecitabine, or gemcitabine) in patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. The primary end point was progression-free survival (as determined by blinded independent central review) among patients without brain metastases. RESULTS A total of 468 patients without brain metastases were randomly assigned to receive sacituzumab govitecan (235 patients) or chemotherapy (233 patients). The median age was 54 years; all the patients had previous use of taxanes. The median progression-free survival was 5.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.3 to 6.3; 166 events) with sacituzumab govitecan and 1.7 months (95% CI, 1.5 to 2.6; 150 events) with chemotherapy (hazard ratio for disease progression or death, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.32 to 0.52; P<0.001). The median overall survival was 12.1 months (95% CI, 10.7 to 14.0) with sacituzumab govitecan and 6.7 months (95% CI, 5.8 to 7.7) with chemotherapy (hazard ratio for death, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.38 to 0.59; P<0.001). The percentage of patients with an objective response was 35% with sacituzumab govitecan and 5% with chemotherapy. The incidences of key treatment-related adverse events of grade 3 or higher were neutropenia (51% with sacituzumab govitecan and 33% with chemotherapy), leukopenia (10% and 5%), diarrhea (10% and <1%), anemia (8% and 5%), and febrile neutropenia (6% and 2%). There were three deaths owing to adverse events in each group; no deaths were considered to be related to sacituzumab govitecan treatment. CONCLUSIONS Progression-free and overall survival were significantly longer with sacituzumab govitecan than with single-agent chemotherapy among patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Myelosuppression and diarrhea were more frequent with sacituzumab govitecan