Biologically plausible gated recurrent neural networks for working memory and learning-to-learn.

The acquisition of knowledge and skills does not occur in isolation but learning experiences amalgamate within and across domains. The process through which learning can accelerate over time is referred to as learning-to-learn or meta-learning. While meta-learning can be implemented in recurrent neural networks, these networks tend to be trained with architectures that are not easily interpretable or mappable to the brain and with learning rules that are biologically implausible.

Bridging Public Health Research and State-Level Policy: The Texas Research-to-Policy Collaboration Project.

Purpose And Objectives: Significant barriers to the implementation of evidence-based policy exist. Establishing an infrastructure and resources to support this process at the state level can accelerate the translation of research into practice. This study describes the adaptation and initial evaluation of the Texas Research-to-Policy Collaboration (TX RPC) Project, focusing on the adaptation process, legislative public health policy priorities, and baseline researcher policy knowledge and self-efficacy.

Nematocida displodere mechanosensitive ion channel of small conductance 2 assembles into a unique 6-channel super-structure in vitro.

Mechanosensitive ion channels play an essential role in reacting to environmental signals and sustaining cell integrity by facilitating ion flux across membranes. For obligate intracellular pathogens like microsporidia, adapting to changes in the host environment is crucial for survival and propagation. Despite representing a eukaryote of extreme genome reduction, microsporidia have expanded the gene family of mechanosensitive ion channels of small conductance (mscS) through repeated gene duplication and horizontal gene transfer.

Who shops at their nearest grocery store? A cross-sectional exploration of disparities in geographic food access among a low-income, racially/ethnically diverse cohort in Central Texas.

We examined whether Central Texans shop at their nearest supermarket, how far they travel for groceries, and explored differences by race/ethnicity, urbanicity, motivations for store selection and other demographic characteristics. Using cross-sectional data and GIS, continuous network distances from participants' homes to nearest and usual supermarkets were calculated and multivariate linear regression assessed differences. <19% shopped at their nearest supermarket.

Functional annotation of a divergent genome using sequence and structure-based similarity.

Background: Microsporidia are a large taxon of intracellular pathogens characterized by extraordinarily streamlined genomes with unusually high sequence divergence and many species-specific adaptations. These unique factors pose challenges for traditional genome annotation methods based on sequence similarity. As a result, many of the microsporidian genomes sequenced to date contain numerous genes of unknown function.

Food deserts and dental care utilization in the United States.

Objectives: Although food deserts are known to impact health and healthcare utilization, no research has investigated the relationship between food deserts and dental care utilization. This study aimed to fill this gap by assessing the relationship between living in a food desert and self-reported dental care utilization in the past year.

Methods: Data are from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 10,495).

The Association of Childbirth with Medical Debt in the USA, 2019-2020.

Background: Medical debt affects one in five adults in the USA and may disproportionately burden postpartum women due to pregnancy-related medical costs.

Objective: To evaluate the association between childbirth and medical debt, and the correlates of medical debt among postpartum women, in the USA.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Effects of a School-Based Nutrition, Gardening, and Cooking Intervention on Metabolic Parameters in High-risk Youth: A Secondary Analysis of a Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Although school-based gardening programs for children have consistently been shown to improve dietary behaviors, no cluster randomized clinical trial (RCT) has evaluated the effects of a school-based gardening intervention on metabolic outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a school-based gardening, nutrition, and cooking intervention (Texas Sprouts) on changes in metabolic outcomes in elementary schoolchildren.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This study was a secondary analysis of a cluster RCT, conducted over 3 years from 2016 to 2019, at low-income elementary schools with majority Hispanic students in the greater Austin, Texas, area.

Five U.S. Dietary Patterns and Their Relationship to Land Use, Water Use, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Implications for Future Food Security.

The U.S. agri-food system is a driver of climate change and other impacts.

Fresh for Less: Cross-Sector Collaboration for Funding, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Local Initiative to Improve Equitable Healthy Food Access.

Introduction: This study describes the cross-sector collaboration, dynamic implementation/evaluation, and implications of Fresh for Less (FFL); an equity-focused, multi-strategy healthy food access promotion program that has been implemented since 2017 in underserved communities in Austin, Texas through farmstands, mobile markets, and Healthy Corner Stores.

Methods: Annual evaluation has consisted of repeat cross-sectional quantitative surveys, qualitative customer/staff interviews, audits and cost-effective analyses.

Results: Farmstand/mobile market customers reported increased fresh produce consumption and high satisfaction.

Association between Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Purchasing Behaviors, Food Insecurity Status and Geographic Food Access among a Lower-Income, Racially/Ethnically Diverse Cohort in Central Texas.

The aims of this study were to determine if fresh fruit and vegetable consumption and purchasing behaviors were associated with geographic food access and/or food insecurity status, and to explore the role of sociodemographic characteristics among participants of a lower-income, racially/ethnically diverse cohort. This study used a cross-sectional design and baseline survey data from the FRESH-Austin study (N = 393). Associations between fresh produce consumption/purchasing and food insecurity status and geographic access to food were assessed utilizing univariate, bivariate, and multivariate linear regression methods and potential interactions were examined.

Oscillating Laser Post-Processing of NiCrCoFeCBSi/WC Thermally Sprayed Coatings.

In the present experimental study, the transverse oscillating laser beam technique was applied for the post-melting of metal matrix composite coatings, thermally sprayed with nickel-based self-fluxing NiCrCoFeCBSi alloy and 40 wt.% WC, to improve their hardness and wear resistance. The study was conducted using the single module optical fiber laser at 300 W power, >9554 W/cm2 power density, 250−1000 mm/min laser speed, 1 mm and 2 mm transverse oscillation amplitude.

Effects of a School-Based Garden Program on Academic Performance: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: School gardening programs have consistently been found to improve dietary behaviors in children. Although several quasi-experimental studies have also reported that school gardens can enhance academic performance, to date, no randomized controlled trial has been conducted to substantiate this.

Objective: The objective of the study was to examine the effects of Texas Sprouts (TX Sprouts), a gardening, nutrition, and cooking program vs control on academic performance in primarily low-income, Hispanic children.

Associations between variety of fruits and vegetables consumed, diet quality and socio-demographic factors among 8th and 11th grade adolescents in Texas.

Objective: To examine demographic and dietary correlates of consumption of a variety of fruits and vegetables (FV) among Texas adolescents. Different types of FV are needed for adequate dietary intake of vitamins and phytochemicals for proper development and functioning throughout the lifespan.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis from the Texas Surveillance of Physical Activity and Nutrition (Texas SPAN) data comparing consumption of a variety of fruit and vegetables by gender, race/ethnicity and region (Texas-Mexico border/non-border).

Objective and perceived barriers and facilitators of daily fruit and vegetable consumption among under-resourced communities in Central Texas.

Introduction: Fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) continues to be low, particularly among people living in under-resourced communities. Identifying barriers and facilitators of FVC and whether those barriers and facilitators differ for racially and ethnically minoritized people is imperative for developing effective and equitable public health policies and interventions.

Methods: A baseline cohort of 390 participants from Central Texas communities historically lacking healthy food retailers completed a survey including FVC, 7 psychosocial barriers and facilitators of FVC, distance to a grocery retailer, participation in government assistance programs, and race/ethnicity.

Examining Geographic Food Access, Food Insecurity, and Urbanicity among Diverse, Low-Income Participants in Austin, Texas.

The purpose of this study was to explore the association between geographic food access and food insecurity and the potential role of race/ethnicity, income, and urbanicity among a low-income, diverse sample in Central Texas. Utilizing a cross-sectional study design, secondary data analysis of an existing cohort was used to examine the association between food insecurity; geographic food access; and sociodemographic factors of race/ethnicity, income, urbanicity, and additional covariates using binomial logistic regression models. The existing cohort was recruited from lower-income communities in Travis County, Texas.

Exploring the Impact of Policies to Improve Geographic and Economic Access to Vegetables among Low-Income, Predominantly Latino Urban Residents: An Agent-Based Model.

Modifying the food environment of cities is a promising strategy for improving dietary behaviors, but using traditional empirical methods to test the effectiveness of these strategies remains challenging. We developed an agent-based model to simulate the food environment of Austin, Texas, USA, and to test the impact of different food access policies on vegetable consumption among low-income, predominantly Latino residents. The model was developed and calibrated using empirical data from the FRESH-Austin Study, a natural experiment.

Change in Depression and Its Determinants during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Examination among Racially/Ethnically Diverse US Adults.

This study examined longitudinal data to identify changes in the occurrence of depressive symptoms, and to explore if such changes were associated with socio-demographic, movement behaviors, and health variables during the COVID-19 pandemic, among a diverse sample of central Texas residents. Participants who completed two online surveys in 2020 (in June and November) from an on-going longitudinal study were included. Depressive symptoms were measured by Patient Health Questionnaire-2.

Protein-lipid interaction at low pH induces oligomerization of the MakA cytotoxin from .

The α-pore-forming toxins (α-PFTs) from pathogenic bacteria damage host cell membranes by pore formation. We demonstrate a remarkable, hitherto unknown mechanism by an α-PFT protein from . As part of the MakA/B/E tripartite toxin, MakA is involved in membrane pore formation similar to other α-PFTs.

The associations of plant-based food and metabolic syndrome using NHANES 2015-16 data.

Background: Consuming a diet rich in plant-based foods (PBFs) may be protective for risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and chronic disease. However, the impact of consuming healthy versus all types of PBF on MetS is unknown.

Methods: The relationship between consumption of PBF (both healthy and all) was examined using data from the 2015 to 2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

A Multi-Pronged Evaluation of a Healthy Food Access Initiative in Central Texas: Study Design, Methods, and Baseline Findings of the FRESH-Austin Evaluation Study.

Food insecurity and limited healthy food access are complex public health issues and warrant multi-level evaluations. The purpose of this paper was to present the overall study design and baseline results of the multi-pronged evaluation of a healthy food access (i.e.

Impact of a School-Based Gardening, Cooking, Nutrition Intervention on Diet Intake and Quality: The TX Sprouts Randomized Controlled Trial.

School gardens have become common school-based health promotion strategies to enhance dietary behaviors in the United States. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of TX Sprouts, a one-year school-based gardening, cooking, and nutrition cluster randomized controlled trial, on students' dietary intake and quality. Eight schools were randomly assigned to the TX Sprouts intervention and eight schools to control (i.

Correlates of Transitions in Food Insecurity Status during the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic among Ethnically Diverse Households in Central Texas.

Food insecurity increased substantially in the USA during the early stages of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to identify potential sociodemographic and food access-related factors that were associated with continuing or transitioning into food insecurity in a diverse population. An electronic survey was completed by 367 households living in low-income communities in Central Texas during June-July 2020.

Examining food insecurity and areas with unmet food needs during COVID-19: A geospatial, community-specific approach.

Food insecurity is a public health issue that has increased in the U.S. since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Validation of the FRESH Austin food frequency questionnaire using multiple 24-h dietary recalls.

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to examine the validity of an FFQ utilised in the Food Retail: Evaluating Strategies for a Healthy Austin (FRESH Austin) study, designed to evaluate changes in the consumption of fruits and vegetables (FV) in diverse low-income communities in Austin, TX.

Design: The FRESH Austin FFQ was validated against three 24-h dietary recalls (24hDR). All dietary assessments were administered (in-person or by telephone) by trained investigators.