Publications by authors named "Lacy K"

Purpose: As healthy eating recommendations shift to incorporate environmentally sustainable eating principles, it becomes crucial to understand whether children's dietary intakes align with global recommendations such as the EAT-Lancet Commission Planetary Health Diet (PHD), in addition to national health-promoting guidelines, including the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG). This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the alignment of young Australian children's food intakes with these recommendations.

Methods: Dietary data from the 2011-2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey for children aged 2-8 years were used and compared with, energy-adjusted target amounts of the PHD and ADG Foundation Diet.

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  • The study investigates how different types of senescent cells in the skin contribute to the development of cancer in patients with Familial Melanoma Syndrome (FMS), who have defects in the CDKN2A gene.
  • Melanocytes from FMS patients show lower p16 levels and higher DNA damage markers compared to fibroblasts, while patient fibroblasts also exhibit unusual behaviors, such as increased replicative capacity and defective senescence.
  • The findings suggest that the combination of DNA damage in melanocytes and impaired senescence in fibroblasts may weaken the immune response and enhance the risk of melanoma in these patients.
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  • Snacking is prevalent among adolescents, making up over 25% of their total energy intake, but its impact on diet quality is still not well understood.
  • The study analyzed snack characteristics of 935 Australian adolescents using a 24-hour dietary recall, focusing on snack frequency, energy density (ED), and the types of snacks consumed in relation to their diet quality measured by the Dietary Guideline Index for Children and Adolescents (DGI-CA).
  • Results indicated that while snack frequency remained consistent across different diet quality levels, adolescents with better diet quality had lower snack ED and a higher intake of healthy foods, while consuming fewer unhealthy discretionary snacks.
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Child eating behaviour traits are associated with several aspects of dietary intake of pre-school children, however the associations between child eating behaviour traits and overall dietary quality in pre-school children has not been examined. Additionally, it is unknown how these relationships vary by age. This study examines the associations between child eating behaviour traits and pre-school children's dietary quality and whether children's age moderates these associations.

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The primary aim of this study was to examine the association between snack nutritional quality, overall diet quality and adiposity among Australian adolescents. The secondary aim was to assess the distribution of discretionary foods (i.e.

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variants have been identified in familial melanoma (FM) as well as a number of other germline and somatic malignancies. The functional validation of variants identified from the screening of patients with melanoma gene susceptibility panels is key to understanding the clinical significance of identified variants. Here we report a novel, likely pathogenic missense variant (p.

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According to Mendel's second law, chromosomes segregate randomly in meiosis. Non-random segregation is primarily known for cases of selfish meiotic drive in females, in which particular alleles bias their own transmission into the oocyte. Here we report a rare example of unselfish meiotic drive for crossover inheritance in the clonal raider ant, Ooceraea biroi, in which both alleles are co-inherited at all loci across the entire genome.

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The clonal raider ant, , is a queenless species that reproduces asexually, and these traits make it an attractive model system for laboratory research. However, it is unclear where on the ant phylogeny these traits evolved, partly because few closely related species have been described and studied. Here, we describe a new raider ant species, , from Zhejiang, China.

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  • Despite advancements in immunotherapies for melanoma, many patients still don't benefit due to current treatments mainly targeting T-cells rather than the more prevalent macrophages in the tumor environment.
  • Macrophages have a dual role: they can activate the immune response and kill cancer cells, but they can also aid in tumor growth and spread depending on their interaction with the tumor microenvironment.
  • A thorough understanding of macrophages' roles and interactions in melanoma, along with novel therapies aimed at them, is crucial for enhancing treatment outcomes for melanoma patients.
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According to Mendel's second law, chromosomes segregate randomly in meiosis. Nonrandom segregation is primarily known for cases of selfish meiotic drive in females, in which particular alleles bias their own transmission into the oocyte. Here, we report a rare example of unselfish meiotic drive for crossover inheritance in the clonal raider ant, .

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Breakfast is considered a healthy dietary habit which can track over time from childhood to adulthood. The breakfast meal has the potential to improve daily dietary quality, particularly if it includes a range of food groups and adequate nutrient intakes. However, research on breakfast consumption trends among young Australian children aged up to 5 years is currently limited.

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Eusocial insects divide labor between reproductive and non-reproductive individuals. The molecular mechanisms underlying the evolution of these castes have remained mysterious. A comparative genomic study of sweat bees points to a familiar factor as a regulator of behavioral specialization: juvenile hormone.

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Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) offer a patient-derived cell source for conducting mechanistic studies of diseases or for several therapeutic applications. Understanding hMSC properties, such as their electrical behavior at various maturation stages, has become more important in recent years. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a method that can manipulate cells in a nonuniform electric field, through which information can be obtained about the electrical properties of the cells, such as the cell membrane capacitance and permittivity.

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Ants communicate via large arrays of pheromones and possess expanded, highly complex olfactory systems, with antennal lobes in the brain comprising up to ∼500 glomeruli. This expansion implies that odors could activate hundreds of glomeruli, which would pose challenges for higher-order processing. To study this problem, we generated transgenic ants expressing the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP in olfactory sensory neurons.

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  • - B cells play a crucial role in the immune response against tumors, particularly in melanoma, but their specific functions and characteristics have not been fully explored until now.
  • - In this study, researchers found that memory B cells are more prevalent in tumors than in the bloodstream and exhibit unique antibody profiles that indicate processes like clonal expansion and affinity maturation.
  • - The presence of tumor-associated B cells with autoimmune-like traits and high levels of antibodies related to both autoimmune diseases and cancer suggests a dysregulated immune response in melanoma patients.
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Background: Gardening has been associated with greater fruit and vegetable intake, but few randomized trials have been conducted.

Objectives: We sought: ) to determine changes in fruits and vegetable intake combined and separately from baseline (spring) to harvest time (fall), as well as from baseline to winter follow-up, and ) to identify the mediators (both quantitatively and qualitatively) between gardening and vegetable intake.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial of community gardening was conducted in Denver, Colorado, USA.

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  • Despite existing checkpoint inhibitor therapies, about half of melanoma patients still struggle with poor outcomes.
  • A new engineered monoclonal IgE antibody targeting the CSPG4 antigen shows promise by binding to melanoma cells and enhancing immune responses.
  • In studies, this IgE therapy significantly improved survival and anti-tumor activity in models, suggesting its potential as an effective treatment option for melanoma patients.
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Parent feeding practices influence a child's dietary intake. Many studies examining how parents react to children's fussy eating behaviours have been limited to questionnaire measures, which assess a limited number of feeding practices. There is a lack of research exploring the range of strategies parents use when their child is being fussy and/or refusing to eat.

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The mismatch in signals perceived by the vestibular and visual systems to the brain, also referred to as motion sickness syndrome, has been diagnosed as a challenging condition with no clear mechanism. Motion sickness causes undesirable symptoms during travel and in virtual environments that affect people negatively. Treatments are directed toward reducing conflicting sensory inputs, accelerating the process of adaptation, and controlling nausea and vomiting.

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Most ant species have two distinct female castes-queens and workers-yet the developmental and genetic mechanisms that produce these alternative phenotypes remain poorly understood. Working with a clonal ant, we discovered a variant strain that expresses queen-like traits in individuals that would normally become workers. The variants show changes in morphology, behavior, and fitness that cause them to rely on workers in wild-type (WT) colonies for survival.

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Background: Breakfast quality in early childhood remains understudied. This study describes the changes in breakfast quality index (BQI) (i.e.

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Dietary behaviours in early childhood are understudied despite links with later health. Assessing the distribution of key food groups across the day could identify opportunities for improvements. This study aimed to describe the 24-hourly distribution of dietary intakes and frequency of eating occasions for weekdays and weekend days among children aged 18 months and assess associations of eating frequency with vegetable, fruit and discretionary intakes and zBMI.

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The application of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for the treatment of melanoma has significantly improved the clinical management of this malignancy over the last decade. Currently approved mAbs for melanoma enhance T cell effector immune responses by blocking immune checkpoint molecules PD-L1/PD-1 and CTLA-4. However, more than half of patients do not benefit from treatment.

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