Toward the reduction of population obesity: Macrolevel environmental approaches to the problems of food, eating, and obesity.

The authors reviewed the evidential basis of three environmental approaches to reducing population obesity: What are the effects of (a) taxing or subsidizing foods, (b) manipulating the ease of food access, and (c) restricting access to certain foods? A narrative review evaluated evidence using National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute criteria. There was strong evidence that subsidization influences food purchases, but not necessarily food consumption or body weight. Ease of food access may influence food purchases, and possibly food intake and body weight. Data on restriction were lacking. More studies are needed to justify that altering these macro-environmental variables will necessarily reduce population obesity. A proposed conceptual model posits that the steps through environmental interventions may exert intended and unintended influences on body weight and obesity prevalence. Contemplated policy changes should weigh scientific evidence with social judgments and values concerning changes to the environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Association between oxygen delivery and consumption in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Is there supply dependence?

Numerous investigators have suggested that cell glycoconjugates are modified by the development of cancer and the progression of this to a malignant form. Accordingly, in the present work, beta-D-galactosidase, alpha-L-fucosidase, beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase and beta-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminidase activities were studied in human thyroid and gastric tumours. Samples were obtained from human gastric mucosa and thyroid gland tumours together with a part of the surrounding normal tissue (control). Enzyme activity was determined spectrophotometrically based on the release of p-nitrophenol from suitable p-nitrophenyl-derivative substrates. Results showed that beta-D-galactosidase, alpha-L-fucosidase, beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase and beta-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminidase activities were detected in tumour and control samples from thyroid and gastric tissues. The gastric mucosa also showed alpha-L-mannosidase activity. The specific activities of these glycosidases were higher (two- or three-fold) in tumour tissues as compared with their controls. beta-D-galactosidase, beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminidase and beta-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminidase activities from thyroid and gastric tumours showed a significant increase in V(max) as compared with their respective controls (P < 0.05 or P < 0.001). Thyroid alpha-L-fucosidase activity showed a statistically and significantly increased affinity (lower K(m)) in tumour samples as compared to normal tissue. In conclusion both gastric and thyroid tumours showed enhanced glycosidase activity as compared with enzyme activity observed in normal tissue. These results are in agreement with the notion of a markedly raised degradation within lysosomes of tumour cells.     

An analytical model for freeboard and in-bed limestone sulfation in fluidized-bed coal combustors

A new model, which combines in-bed and freeboard sulfation, significantly improves the ability to predict sulfur capture by limestone sorbents in fluidized-bed coal combustors. In this model, the in-bed hydrodynamics are described in terms of a bubble phase and an emulsion phase while the freeboard region has only a diluted emulsion phase. The solids, which are in the emulsion phases, are considered to be completely back-mixed; the gaseous bubble phase travels in plug-flow but exchanges with the emulsion phase. The sulfation reaction occurs principally in the emulsion phase and the reaction rate is a direct function of the sulfur dioxide concentration, the extent of the calcium oxide conversion (as measured by a thermogravimetric analyzer), and the amount of limestone present in the bed and in the freeboard. The amount present, or holdup, in the free-board is calculated from empirical correlations for elutriation and from particle-time trajectories as predicted from equations of motion.The model indicates that a significant amount of sulfur capture can occur in the freeboard region, especially with high superficial gas velocities and small particle sizes, both of which lead to increased freeboard holdup. For an overall sulfur retention of 90%, approximately 9% of the sulfur is predicted to be captured within the freeboard above a combustor bed 1.8 m by 1.8 m by 1.2 m high of 1200 μm diameter limestone particles that are fluidized at 2.4 m/s. The model also predicts that the sulfur captured by the entrained particles is negligible. These predictions compare favorably with the actual sulfur retentions experienced in similar sized pilot-scale combustors.     

Ambient ammonia in terrestrial ecosystems: a comparative study in the Tennessee Valley, USA

Atmospheric ammonia has been shown to degrade regional air quality and affect environmental health. In-situ measurements of ammonia are needed to determine how ambient concentrations vary in different ecosystems and the extent to which emission sources contribute to those levels. The objective of this study was to measure and compare ammonia concentrations in two Tennessee Valley (USA) ecosystems: a forested rural area and a metropolitan site adjacent to a main transportation route. Integrated samples of atmospheric ammonia were collected with annular denuder systems for ~ 4 weeks during the summer of 2009 in both ecosystems. Ancillary measurements of meteorological variables, such as wind direction and precipitation, were also conducted to determine any relationships with ammonia concentration. Measurements in the two ecosystems revealed ammonia concentrations that were mostly representative of background levels. Arithmetic means were 1.57 ± 0.68 μg m^− 3 at the metropolitan site and 1.60 ± 0.77 μg m^− 3 in the forest. The geometric mean concentrations for both sites were ~ 1.46 μg m^− 3. Wind direction, and to a lesser extent air temperature and precipitation, did influence measured concentrations. At the metropolitan site, ammonia concentrations were slightly higher in winds emanating from the direction of the interstate highway. Meteorological variables, such as wind direction, and physical factors, such as topography, can affect measurement of ambient ammonia concentrations, especially in ecosystems distant from strong emission sources. The 12-h integrated sampling method used in this study was unable to measure frequent changes in ambient ammonia concentrations and illustrates the need for measurements with higher temporal resolution, at least ~ 1-2 h, in a variety of diverse ecosystems to determine the behavior of atmospheric ammonia and its environmental effects.     

Reactive and non-reactive transport modelling in partially water saturated argillaceous porous media around the ventilation experiment, Mont Terri

At Mont Terri Underground Research Laboratory (URL) Switzerland, a specific experiment has been performed in a tunnel, in order to investigate the hydro-mechano-chemical (HMC) perturbations induced in the argillaceous formation by forced ventilation. This experiment has been selected in the international project DECOVALEX to be used for process model development and validation. The numerical simulation of the geochemical response to the ventilation experiment (VE) is the object of the present paper, focusing on the transport of chloride as a conservative species and sulphate as a reactive species. Utilising the validated hydro-mechanical (HM) results from earlier steps of the DECOVALEX task, reactive and non-reactive transport models, incorporating the current understanding of the geochemistry at the site, were successfully constructed for the whole experimental period. The associated parametric and process uncertainty analyses clearly demonstrate that the basic HM understanding must be sound. However, to demonstrate this degree of robustness, the explicit inclusion of process representations of water desaturation, liquid vaporisation, species exclusion porosity, and redox processes, is required.     

Chaulmoogric acid: Assimilation into the complex lipids of mycobacteria

Lipid analysis ofMycobacterium vaccae, grown in the presence of chaulmoogric acid, demonstrates that this cyclopentenyl fatty acid is taken up by the organism and incorporated into cellular phospholipids and triacylglycerols. As cell growth is retarded by the addition of chaulmoorgric acid to the growth medium, it is possible that the antimicrobial properties of this compound result from a perturbation of membrane processes.     

Female regulation and choice in the copulatory behavior of montane voles (Microtus montanus).

To study female choice of mating partners in montane voles, a male was tethered at each end of an elongate chamber, and an estrous female was allowed to move betweeen the 2 males and a neutral area. In Exp I, using 16 females and 32 males, females with a choice of 2 gonadally intact males copulated preferentially with 1 of them. Preferred males were more effective than nonpreferred males at gaining intromission and had more thrusts per intromission. In Exp II, with 10 females, 10 castrated males, and 10 sham-operated males, females spent more time with and mated preferentially with intact rather than castrated males. It is therefore suggested that the opportunity to copulate is reinforcing for female voles and that they display distinct preferences, correlated with copulatory stimulation, for some partners. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Food reinforcement and eating: A multilevel analysis.

Eating represents a choice among many alternative behaviors. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of how food reinforcement and behavioral choice theory are related to eating and to show how this theoretical approach may help organize research on eating from molecular genetics through treatment and prevention of obesity. Special emphasis is placed on how food reinforcement and behavioral choice theory are relevant to understanding excess energy intake and obesity and how they provide a framework for examining factors that may influence eating and are outside of those that may regulate energy homeostasis. Methods to measure food reinforcement are reviewed, along with factors that influence the reinforcing value of eating. Contributions of neuroscience and genetics to the study of food reinforcement are illustrated by using the example of dopamine. Implications of food reinforcement for obesity and positive energy balance are explored, with suggestions for novel approaches to obesity treatment based on the synthesis of behavioral and pharmacological approaches to food reinforcement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)