Associations among Food Security, School Meal Participation, and Students' Diet Quality in the First School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study.

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 updated the nutrition standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs (NSLP and SBP) and expanded universal free meals' availability in low-income schools. Past studies have shown that school meals are an important resource for children in food-insecure households. This analysis used data from the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study to classify students as food insecure (FI), marginally secure (MS), or food secure (FS).

A Randomized Controlled Trial Measuring Effects of Extra Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefits on Child Food Security in Low-Income Families in Rural Kentucky.

Background: To reduce childhood hunger, the US Department of Agriculture funded several innovative demonstration projects, including the Kentucky Ticket to Healthy Food project.

Objective: The study tested the hypothesis that Ticket to Healthy Food would reduce child food insecurity (FI-C) among rural, low-income households.

Design: The study used a randomized controlled trial in which households were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups.

A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of a Home-Delivered Food Box on Children's Diet Quality in the Chickasaw Nation Packed Promise Project.

Background: Poor diet quality among children can lead to poor health, development, and academic achievement. Child nutrition assistance programs aim to improve diet quality among children.

Objective: This study tested the impact of the Packed Promise intervention on diet quality among low-income children in Chickasaw Nation territory.

A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of a Home-Delivered Food Box on Food Security in Chickasaw Nation.

Background: The 2010 Child Nutrition reauthorization called for the independent evaluation of innovative strategies to reduce the risk of childhood hunger or improve the food security status of households with children.

Objective: The research question was whether the Packed Promise intervention reduces child food insecurity (FI-C) among low-income households with children.

Design: This study was a cluster randomized controlled trial of 40 school districts and 4,750 eligible, consented households within treatment and control schools.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Three School Meals and Weekend Food Backpacks on Food Security in Virginia.

Background: Food insecurity is a concern for the health and well-being of low-income children in the United States. School-based nutrition assistance programs aim to reduce food insecurity; however, there is limited evidence of their combined impact on food insecurity among children (FI-C).

Objective: This study tested the impact of the Virginia 365 demonstration project on the food security status of children attending low-income schools.

Measuring the Effects of a Demonstration to Reduce Childhood Food Insecurity: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Nevada Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Project.

Background: To reduce childhood hunger, the US Department of Agriculture funded a set of demonstration projects, including the Nevada Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids (HHFK) project.

Objective: The study objective was to test whether the Nevada HHFK project reduced child food insecurity (FI-C) among low-income households with young children.

Design: Households were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups, with outcomes measured using household surveys and administrative data.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments in data infrastructure.

Aim: This article describes American Reinvestment and Recovery Act comparative effectiveness research data infrastructure (DI) investments and identifies facilitators and barriers to implementation.

Materials & Methods: We reviewed original project proposals, conducted an investigator survey and interviewed project officers and principal investigators.

Results: DI projects assembled or enhanced existing clinical datasets, established linkages between public and private data sources and built infrastructure.

A review of prenatal home-visiting effectiveness for improving birth outcomes.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of prenatal home visiting for improving prenatal care utilization and preventing preterm birth and low birth weight.

Data Sources: Medline, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and Social Work Abstract databases were searched for articles that examined prenatal home-visiting and prenatal care utilization or neonatal outcomes, with additional ascendancy and descendancy searches. Listservs were also used to identify unpublished evaluations.

Energy intake misreporting among children and adolescents: a literature review.

While adults' energy intake misreporting is a well-documented phenomenon, relatively little is known about the nature and extent of misreporting among children and adolescents. Children's and adolescents' dietary reporting patterns are likely to be distinct because of their ongoing cognitive and social development. These developmental differences present unique challenges to aspects of dietary reporting, such as food knowledge, portion size estimation and response editing.

Surveying hard-to-reach programs: identifying the population of Medicaid prenatal case management programs.

Objectives: Community-based prenatal case management (PCM) is a means to improve birth outcomes for medically or socially high-risk pregnant women. To conduct national surveys of PCM programs, a useful sampling frame of existing programs is needed. However, as a relatively small optional Medicaid reimbursed program, PCM programs are hard to reach.

Modulation of host innate immune response in the bladder by uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), the most frequent cause of urinary tract infection (UTI), is associated with an inflammatory response which includes the induction of cytokine/chemokine secretion by urothelial cells and neutrophil recruitment to the bladder. Recent studies indicate, however, that UPEC can evade the early activation of urothelial innate immune response in vitro. In this study, we report that infection with the prototypic UPEC strain NU14 suppresses tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-mediated interleukin-8 (CXCL-8) and interleukin-6 (CXCL-6) secretion from urothelial cell cultures compared to infection with a type 1 piliated E.

Infectious response to E. coli: molecular and genetic pathways.

Urinary tract infections are most commonly caused by type 1-piliated Escherichia coli (UPEC) and result in urothelial apoptosis, local cytokine release and neutrophil infiltration. A human urothelial cell line was incubated with various E. coli isolates and was then characterized by flow cytometry.

Epithelial differentiation promotes the adherence of type 1-piliated Escherichia coli to human vaginal cells.

Colonization of the vaginal introitus by fecal Escherichia coli is thought to be a key initial event leading to acute urinary tract infection, yet the mannosylated receptor for type 1 pili on the squamous epithelium of vaginal mucosa is unknown. E. coli expressing type 1 pili adhered to sections of normal human vaginal epithelium in a gradient with greatest binding in upper cell layers was observed, which suggests that epithelial differentiation influences bacterial binding.

Mast cell activation triggers a urothelial inflammatory response mediated by tumor necrosis factor-alpha.

Purpose: Mast cells have been implicated in bladder inflammation and pathogenesis. To determine if mast cell secretion products can modulate urothelial inflammatory responses we developed an in vitro model of mast cell-urothelial cell interactions.

Materials And Methods: Cultures of the immortalized urothelial cell line TEU-2 were incubated in the conditioned medium of mast cell cultures.

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli potentiates type 1 pilus-induced apoptosis by suppressing NF-kappaB.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common inflammatory diseases. Acute UTIs are typically caused by type 1-piliated Escherichia coli and result in urothelial apoptosis, local cytokine release, and neutrophil infiltration. To examine the urothelial apoptotic response, a human urothelial cell line was incubated with various E.