ABC Grow Healthy Practices and Obesity-Related Health Behaviours in Family Child Care Homes in South Carolina.

Background: Many states throughout the United States have introduced Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) to address childhood obesity in preschool-age children, but few have examined the impact of these standards in Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs). In South Carolina, the ABC Grow Healthy Practices are specific QRIS items that include diet, physical activity and sleep practices.

Methods: The purposes of this cross-sectional study are to (1) describe physical activity levels, sleep duration and diet quality of children attending FCCHs in South Carolina and (2) compare physical activity levels, sleep duration and diet quality between children attending FCCHs that were enrolled versus not enrolled in the ABC programme.

The PdxR-PdxKU locus involved in vitamin B salvage is important for group A streptococcal resistance to neutrophil killing and survival in human blood.

(Group A , GAS) is a Gram-positive bacterium that inflicts both superficial and life-threatening diseases on its human host. Analysis of fitness using a transposon mutant library revealed that genes predicted to be involved in vitamin B acquisition are associated with fitness in whole human blood. Vitamin B is essential for all life and is important for many cellular functions.

Longitudinal Associations Between Physical Activity and Sleep Duration in Infants and Toddlers.

Purpose: This study examined longitudinal associations between average physical activity (PA) levels in children and their sleep duration, and whether changes in PA levels are associated with their sleep duration.

Methods: Data were collected on 108 children at 4 time points: when children were 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of age (44% female, 50% Non-Hispanic White). PA was assessed using accelerometry.

Identification of Glyoxalase A in Group B and its contribution to methylglyoxal tolerance and virulence.

Group B (GBS) is a Gram-positive pathobiont that commonly colonizes the gastrointestinal and lower female genital tracts but can cause sepsis and pneumonia in newborns and is a leading cause of neonatal meningitis. Despite the resulting disease severity, the pathogenesis of GBS is not completely understood, especially during the early phases of infection. To investigate GBS factors necessary for blood stream survival, we performed a transposon (Tn) mutant screen in our bacteremia infection model using a GBS transposon mutant library previously developed by our group.

Child and mother characteristics associated with 6-month weight gain for infants and toddlers during 6 to 36 months.

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity in the U.S. has increased, likely due to decreased physical activity, increased sedentary behaviour and unhealthy diets.