Barriers to increasing fruit and vegetable intakes in the older population of Northern Ireland: low levels of liking and low awareness of current recommendations

Objective: To investigate barriers to increasing fruit and vegetable (f + v) intakes in a large sample of the older population of Northern Ireland (NI), in relation to current intakes.

Levels of Neonatal Thyroid Hormone in Preterm Infants and Neurodevelopmental Outcome at 51/2 Years: Millennium Cohort Study

Context: Transient hypothyroxinemia is the commonest thyroid dysfunction of premature infants, and recent studies have found adverse associations with neurodevelopment. The validity of these associations is unclear because the studies adjusted for a differing range of factors likely to influence neurodevelopment. Objective: The aim was to describe the association of transient hypothyroxinemia with neurodevelopment at 5.5 yr corrected age. Design: We conducted a follow-up study of a cohort of infants born in Scotland from 1999 to 2001 =34 wk gestation. Main Outcome Measures: We measured scores on the McCarthy scale adjusted for 26 influences of neurodevelopment including parental intellect, home environment, breast or formula fed, growth retardation, and use of postnatal drugs. Results: A total of 442 infants =34 wk gestation who had serum T4 measurements on postnatal d 7, 14, or 28 and 100 term infants who had serum T4 measured in cord blood were followed up at 5.5 yr. Infants with hypothyroxinemia (T4 level = 10th percentile on d 7, 14, or 28 corrected for gestational age) scored significantly lower than euthyroid infants (T4 level greater than the 10th percentile and less than the 90th percentile on all days) on all McCarthy scales, except the quantitative. After adjustment for confounders of neurodevelopment, hypothyroxinemic infants scored significantly lower than euthyroid infants on the general cognitive and verbal scales. Conclusions: Our findings do not support the view that the hypothyroxinemic state, in the context of this analysis, is harmless in preterm infants. Many factors contribute both to the etiology of hypothyroxinemia and neurodevelopment; strategies for correction of hypothyroxinemia should acknowledge its complex etiology and not rely solely on one approach.

Influence of unit operations on the levels of polyacetylenes in minimally processed carrots and parsnips: An industrial trial

Carrots and parsnips are often consumed as minimally processed ready-to-eat convenient foods and contain in minor quantities, bioactive aliphatic C17-polyacetylenes (falcarinol, falcarindiol, falcarindiol-3-acetate). Their retention during minimal processing in an industrial trial was evaluated. Carrot and parsnips were prepared in four different forms (disc cutting, baton cutting, cubing and shredding) and samples were taken in every point of their processing line. The unit operations were: peeling, cutting and washing with chlorinated water and also retention during 7 days storage was evaluated. The results showed that the initial unit operations (mainly peeling) influence the polyacetylene retention. This was attributed to the high polyacetylene content of their peels. In most cases, when washing was performed after cutting, less retention was observed possibly due to leakage during tissue damage occurred in the cutting step. The relatively high retention during storage indicates high plant matrix stability. Comparing the behaviour of polyacetylenes in the two vegetables during storage, the results showed that they were slightly more retained in parsnips than in carrots. Unit operations and especially abrasive peeling might need further optimisation to make them gentler and minimise bioactive losses.

Effective collision strengths for optically allowed transitions among degenerate levels of hydrogenic ions with Z = 2 - 30.

The Coulomb–Born approximation is used to calculate electron-impact excitation collision strengths and effective collision strengths for optically allowed transitions among degenerate fine-structure levels of hydrogenic ions with 2⩽Z⩽30 and n⩽5. Collision strengths are calculated over a wide range of energies up to View the MathML source. Effective collision strengths are obtained over a wide temperature range up to View the MathML source by integrating the collision strengths over a Maxwellian distribution of electron velocities.

Social support and the likelihood of maintaining and improving levels of physical activity:the Whitehall II Study

Background: Evidence on the association between social support and leisure time physical activity (LTPA) is scarce and mostly based on cross-sectional data with different types of social support collapsed into a single index. The aim of this study was to investigate whether social support from the closest person was associated with LTPA.

The GalF protein of Escherichia coli is not a UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase but interacts with the GalU protein possibly to regulate cellular levels of UDP-glucose

We report the functional characterization of the galF gene of strain VW187 (Escherichia coli O7:K1), which encodes a polypeptide displaying structural features common to bacterial UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylases, including the E. coli GalU protein. These enzymes catalyse a reversible reaction converting UTP and glucose-1-phosphate into UDP-glucose and PPi. We show that, although the GalF protein is expressed in vivo, GalF-expressing plasmids cannot complement the phenotype of a galU mutant and extracts from this mutant which only produces GalF are enzymatically inactive. In contrast, the presence of GalU and GalF proteins in the same cell-free extract caused a significant reduction in the rate of pyrophosphorolysis (conversion of UDP-glucose into glucose-1-phosphate) but no significant effect on the kinetics of synthesis of UDP-glucose. The presence of GalF also increased the thermal stability of the enzyme in vitro. The effect of GalF in the biochemical properties of the UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase required the co-synthesis of GalF and GalU, suggesting that they could interact as components of the oligomeric enzyme. The physical interaction of GalU and GalF was demonstrated in vivo by the co-expression of both proteins as fusion products using a yeast two-hybrid system. Furthermore, using a pair of galF-/galU+ and galF/galU+ isogenic strains, we demonstrated that the presence of GalF is associated with an increased concentration of intracellular UDP-glucose as well as with an enhancement of the thermal stability of the UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase in vivo. We propose that GalF is a non-catalytic subunit of the UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase modulating the enzyme activity to increase the formation of UDP-glucose, and this function is important for bacterial adaptation to conditions of stress.

Physico-chemical characterization of a recombinant cytoplasmic form of lysine:N6-hydroxylase

A recombinant cytoplasmic preparation of lysine: N6-hydroxylase, IucD398, with a deletion of 47 amino acids at the N-terminus, was purified to homogeneity. IucD398 is capable of N-hydroxylation of L-lysine upon supplementation with FAD and NADPH. The enzyme is stringently specific with L-lysine and (S)-2-aminoethyl-L-cysteine serving as substrates. Protonophores, FCCP and CCCP, as well as cinnamylidene, have been found to serve as potent inhibitors of lysine: N6-hydroxylation by virtue of their ability to interfere in the reduction of the flavin cofactor.

Double blind cross-over placebo controlled study of omeprazole in the treatment of patients with reflux symptoms and physiological levels of acid reflux--the "sensitive oesophagus"

At least 10-15% of patients with reflux symptoms have a normal endoscopy and physiological levels of acid reflux on pH monitoring. Such patients with 50% or more of symptoms associated with acid reflux episodes have "a positive symptom index" (SI), and it has been proposed that this defines the "sensitive oesophagus".

CD11b+ bone marrow-derived monocytes are the major leukocyte subset responsible for retinal capillary leukostasis in experimental diabetes in mouse and express high levels of CCR5 in the circulation

We investigated the phenotype of cells involved in leukostasis in the early stages of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in mice by direct observation and by adoptive transfer of calcein-AM-labeled bone marrow-derived leukocytes from syngeneic mice. Retinal whole mounts, confocal microscopy, and flow cytometry ex vivo and scanning laser ophthalmoscopy in vivo were used. Leukostasis in vivo and ex vivo in retinal capillaries was increased after 2 weeks of diabetes (Hb A(1c), 14.2 ± 1.2) when either donor or recipient mice were diabetic. Maximum leukostasis occurred when both donor and recipient were diabetic. CD11b(+), but not Gr1(+), cells were preferentially entrapped in retinal vessels (fivefold increase compared with nondiabetic mice). In diabetic mice, circulating CD11b(+) cells expressed high levels of CCR5 (P = 0.04), whereas spleen (P = 0.0001) and retinal (P = 0.05) cells expressed increased levels of the fractalkine chemokine receptor. Rosuvastatin treatment prevented leukostasis when both recipient and donor were treated but not when donor mice only were treated. This effect was blocked by treatment with mevalonate. We conclude that leukostasis in early diabetic retinopathy involves activated CCR5(+)CD11b(+) myeloid cells (presumed monocytes). However, leukostasis also requires diabetes-induced changes in the endothelium, because statin therapy prevented leukostasis only when recipient mice were treated. The up-regulation of the HMG-CoA reductase pathway in the endothelium is the major metabolic dysregulation promoting leukostasis.

Levels of cadmium and zinc in soil and plants following the toxic spill from a pyrite mine, Aznalcollar, Spain

On 25 April 1998, a breach of the tailings dam of the Los Frailes pyrite mine in southwestern Spain resulted in the release of 6 million m(3) of acidic water and toxic sludge high in heavy metals. Contaminated material extended 40 km downstream, affecting agricultural land and parts of the wildlife-rich Donana Natural and National Parks, including the Entremuros, a very important area for birds. We report on the concentrations, distributions and bioavailability of zinc and cadmium in soil and vegetation from the Entremuros in November 1998 and October 1999, following 2 'cleanup' operations. Levels of Zn and Cd in soil increased significantly over this period, although this was not reflected consistently in metal concentrations in emergent macrophytes. We recommend monitoring of further cleanup attempts in order to develop means of minimizing potential impacts to wildlife in the area.

Market Basket Survey Shows Elevated Levels of As in South Central U.S. Processed Rice Compared to California: Consequences for Human Dietary Exposure:consequences for human dietary exposure

We report the largest market basket survey of arsenic (As) in U.S. rice to date. Our findings show differences in transitional-metal levels between polished and unpolished rice and geographical variation in As and selenium (Se) between rice processed in California and the South Central U.S. The mean and median As grain levels for the South Central U.S. were 0.30 and 0.27 µg As g-1, respectively, for 107 samples. Levels for California were 41% lower than the South Central U.S., with a mean of 0.17 µg As g-1 and a median of 0.16 µg As g-1 for 27 samples. The mean and median Se grain levels for the South Central U.S. were 0.19 µg Se g-1. Californian rice levels were lower, averaging only 0.08 and 0.06 µg Se g-1 for mean and median values, respectively. The difference between the two regions was found to be significant for As and Se (General Linear Model (GLM):? As p < 0.001; Se p < 0.001). No statistically significant differences were observed in As or Se levels between polished and unpolished rice (GLM:? As p = 0.213; Se p = 0.113). No significant differences in grain levels of manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), or zinc (Zn) were observed between California and the South Central U.S. Modeling arsenic intake for the U.S. population based on this survey shows that for certain groups (namely Hispanics, Asians, sufferers of Celiac disease, and infants) dietary exposure to inorganic As from elevated levels in rice potentially exceeds the maximum intake of As from drinking water (based on consumption of 1 L of 0.01 mg L-1 In. As) and Californian state exposure limits. Further studies on the transformation of As in soil, grain As bioavailability in the human gastrointestinal tract, and grain elemental speciation trends are critical.

Explaining levels of deprivation in the European Union

In this paper we seek to explain variations in levels of deprivation between EU countries. The starting-point of our analysis is the finding that the relationship between income and life-style deprivation varies across countries. Given our understanding of the manner in which the income-deprivation mismatch may arise from the limitations of current income as a measure of command over resources, the pattern of variation seems to be consistent with our expectations of the variable degree to which welfare-state regimes achieve 'decommodification' and smooth income flows. This line of reasoning suggests that cross-national differences in deprivation might, in significant part, be due not only to variation in household and individual characteristics that are associated with disadvantage but also to the differential impact of such variables across countries and indeed welfare regimes. To test this hypothesis, we have taken advantage of the ECHP (European Community Household Panel) comparative data set in order to pursue a strategy of substituting variable names for country/welfare regime names. We operated with two broad categories of variables, tapping, respectively, needs and resources. Although both sets of factors contribute independently to our ability to predict deprivation, it is the resource factors that are crucial in reducing country effects. The extent of cross-national heterogeneity depends on specifying the social class and situation in relation to long-term unemployment of the household reference person. The impact of the structural socio-economic variables that we label 'resource factors' varies across countries in a manner that is broadly consistent with welfare regime theory and is the key factor in explaining cross-country differences in deprivation. As a consequence, European homogeneity is a great deal more evident among the advantaged than the disadvantaged.