Gender Differences Concerning Physical Activity Beliefs and Practices among Fourth and Fifth Graders in Rural Virginia

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Physical activity (PA) is a known preventative factor. It is recommended that children participate in 60 minutes of PA daily, but most do not meet these guidelines. Further, boys, aged 8-17 years, spend more time in PA than girls of the same age. The purposes of this study were to identify gender differences in PA beliefs and practices among fourth and fifth graders and to determine when gender disparities in self-confidence regarding PA and fitness occur.  Subjects were 41 fourth (19 boys; 22 girls) and 33 fifth (16 boys; 17 girls) graders in a public elementary school in the rural northwest. They participated in the FitnessGram, a nationwide assessment of flexibility, aerobic capacity, and muscular strength and endurance, and a proctored survey about their PA beliefs, self-confidence, and participation. There were no differences in FitnessGram data between boys and girls for aerobic capacity or muscular strength and endurance, but girls had increased flexibility when compared to boys in both grades. Importantly, survey results showed fifth grade girls had less confidence they could improve their physical fitness (p = 0.002) or their overall health (p = 0.004) when compared to fourth grade girls. Research is needed to determine how these changes in self-confidence contribute to the gender gap in time spent in PA. We recommend physical education programs throughout all grades teach healthy behaviors, including time spent in PA, and work to build and maintain self-confidence in girls

The application of halloysite tubule nanoclay in drug delivery

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.ABSTRACT: Introduction: Natural and biocompatible clay nanotubes are among the best inorganic materials for drug nanoformulations. These halloysite tubes with SiO2 on the outermost surface have diameter of ca. 50 nm, length around 1 micrometer and may be loaded with drugs at 10-30 wt. %. Narrow tube openings allow for controllable sustained drug release for hours, days or even weeks. Areas covered: Physical-chemical properties of these nanotubes are described followed by examples of drug-loading capabilities, release characteristics, and control of duration of release through the end tube capping with polymers. Development of halloysite–polymer composites such as tissue scaffolds and bone cement/dentist resin formulations with enhanced mechanical properties and extension of the drug release to 2-3 weeks are described. Examples of the compression properties of halloysite in tablets and capsules are also shown. Expert opinion: We expect that clay nanotubes will be used primarily for non-injectable drug formulations, such as topical and oral dosage forms, cosmetics, as well as for composite materials with enhanced therapeutic effects. These include tissue scaffolds, bone cement and dentist resins with sustained release of antimicrobial and cell growth-promoting medicines (including proteins and DNA) as well as other formulations such as compounds for antiseptic treatment of hospitals

Social environment mediates cancer progression in Drosophila

The influence of oncogenic phenomena on the ecology and evolution of animal species is becoming an important research topic. Similar to host–pathogen interactions, cancer negatively affects host fitness, which should lead to the selection of host control mechanisms, including behavioral traits that best minimize the proliferation of malignant cells. Social behavior is suggested to influence tumor progression. While the ecological benefits of sociality in gregarious species are widely acknowledged, only limited data are available on the role of the social environment on cancer progression. Here, we exposed adult Drosophila, with colorectal-like tumors, to different social environments. We show how subtle variations in social structure have dramatic effects on the progression of tumor growth. Finally, we reveal that flies can discriminate between individuals at different stages of tumor development and selectively choose their social environment accordingly. Our study demonstrates the reciprocal links between cancer and social interactions and how sociality may impact health and fitness in animals and its potential implications for disease ecology.This work was supported by the ANR (Blanc project EVOCAN to F.T. and project DROSONET to F.M. and C.S.), the CNRS (INEE and INSB), Fondation ARC (1555286 to J.M. and F.M.), The French league against Cancer (M27218 to J.M.), IDEEV program (to F.M.), by an International Associated Laboratory Project France/Australia, by the French-Australian Science Innovation Collaboration Program Early Career Fellowship (B.U.), by André Hoffmann (Fondation MAVA), Fyssen Foundation (to F.M. and E.H. D.) and the French Government (fellowship 2015–155 to M.D.)

Features of Muon Arrival Time Distributions of High Energy EAS at Large Distances From the Shower Axis

In view of the current efforts to extend the KASCADE experiment (KASCADE-Grande) for observations of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) of primary energies up to 1 EeV, the features of muon arrival time distributions and their correlations with other observable EAS quantities have been scrutinised on basis of high-energy EAS, simulated with the Monte Carlo code CORSIKA and using in general the QGSJET model as generator. Methodically various correlations of adequately defined arrival time parameters with other EAS parameters have been investigated by invoking non-parametric methods for the analysis of multivariate distributions, studying the classification and misclassification probabilities of various observable sets. It turns out that adding the arrival time information and the multiplicity of muons spanning the observed time distributions has distinct effects improving the mass discrimination. A further outcome of the studies is the feature that for the considered ranges of primary energies and of distances from the shower axis the discrimination power of global arrival time distributions referring to the arrival time of the shower core is only marginally enhanced as compared to local distributions referring to the arrival of the locally first muon.Comment: 24 pages, Journal Physics G accepte

Electrodeposited lead dioxide coatings

Lead dioxide coatings on inert substrates such as titanium and carbon now offer new opportunities for a material known for 150 years. It is now recognised that electrodeposition allows the preparation of stable coatings with different phase structures and a wide range of surface morphologies. In addition, substantial modification to the physical properties and catalytic activities of the coatings are possible through doping and the fabrication of nanostructured deposits or composites. In addition to applications as a cheap anode material in electrochemical technology, lead dioxide coatings provide unique possibilities for probing the dependence of catalytic activity on layer composition and structure (critical review, 256 references)

The JCMT Plane Survey: First complete data release - emission maps and compact source catalogue

We present the first data release of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) Plane Survey (JPS), the JPS Public Release 1 (JPSPR1). JPS is an 850-µm continuum survey of six fields in the northern inner Galactic Plane in a longitude range of ℓ = 7°–63°, made with the Sub-millimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 (SCUBA-2). This first data release consists of emission maps of the six JPS regions with an average pixel-to-pixel noise of 7.19 mJy beam−1, when smoothed over the beam, and a compact-source catalogue containing 7,813 sources. The 95 per cent completeness limits of the catalogue are estimated at 0.04 Jy beam−1 and 0.3 Jy for the peak and integrated flux densities, respectively. The emission contained in the compact-source catalogue is 42 ± 5 per cent of the total and, apart from the large-scale (greater than 8 arcmin) emission, there is excellent correspondence with features in the 500-µm Herschel maps. We find that, with two-dimensional matching, 98 ± 2 per cent of sources within the fields centred at ℓ = 20°, 30°, 40° and 50° are associated with molecular clouds, with 91 ± 3 per cent of the ℓ = 30° and 40° sources associated with dense molecular clumps. Matching the JPS catalogue to Herschel 70-µm sources, we find that 38 ± 1 per cent of sources show evidence of ongoing star formation. The images and catalogue will be a valuable resource for studies of star formation in the Galaxy and the role of environment and spiral arms in the star formation process

Neutralising Antibodies against Ricin Toxin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have listed the potential bioweapon ricin as a Category B Agent. Ricin is a so-called A/B toxin produced by plants and is one of the deadliest molecules known. It is easy to prepare and no curative treatment is available. An immunotherapeutic approach could be of interest to attenuate or neutralise the effects of the toxin. We sought to characterise neutralising monoclonal antibodies against ricin and to develop an effective therapy. For this purpose, mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were produced against the two chains of ricin toxin (RTA and RTB). Seven mAbs were selected for their capacity to neutralise the cytotoxic effects of ricin in vitro. Three of these, two anti-RTB (RB34 and RB37) and one anti-RTA (RA36), when used in combination improved neutralising capacity in vitro with an IC50 of 31 ng/ml. Passive administration of association of these three mixed mAbs (4.7 µg) protected mice from intranasal challenges with ricin (5 LD50). Among those three antibodies, anti-RTB antibodies protected mice more efficiently than the anti-RTA antibody. The combination of the three antibodies protected mice up to 7.5 hours after ricin challenge. The strong in vivo neutralising capacity of this three mAbs combination makes it potentially useful for immunotherapeutic purposes in the case of ricin poisoning or possibly for prevention