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.

Children's physical activity in family child care homes: Influence of quality status, environment and policy features, and child characteristics.

Background: About half of preschool-age children are not meeting recommendations of 15 min/h of physical activity (PA), and nearly one out of seven children between the ages of 2-5 years are living with obesity. Furthermore, children attending family child care homes (FCCHs), compared with larger child care centers, engage in lower levels of PA and appear to be at a higher risk of obesity. Therefore, examining PA and multi-level factors that influence PA in children who attend FCCHs is essential.

The stand-alone regulator RofA exhibits characteristics of a PRD-containing virulence regulator.

[group A streptococcus (GAS)] is a human pathogen capable of infecting diverse tissues. To successfully infect these sites, GAS must detect available nutrients and adapt accordingly. The phosphoenolpyruvate transferase system (PTS) mediates carbohydrate uptake and metabolic gene regulation to adapt to the nutritional environment.

Young Children's Dietary Quality in Family Child Care and in Their Own Home.

Background: Some evidence suggests that children may have higher quality dietary intake in early care and education settings, compared with their respective homes, but no studies have explored these differences among children in less formal family child care.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare dietary quality via the Healthy Eating Index 2015 among children in family child care and in their own home.

Design: This was a cross-sectional analysis of baseline dietary intake data from the Childcare Home Eating and Exercise Research study, a natural experiment, using directly observed dietary data in child care and 24-hour recall data in homes among children in South Carolina.

Factors Associated with Children's Physical Activity During Youth Soccer Practices.

: To identify practice and social contextual factors that associate with physical activity (PA) levels of children during their participation in a youth soccer program. : Twenty-seven youth soccer teams serving children ages 6-11 years participated. Research staff directly observed and recorded PA intensity and practice and social contextual factors using momentary time-sampling procedures.

Longitudinal associations between sleep and weight status in infants and toddlers.

Background: The limited research assessing relationships between sleep duration and weight status in infants and toddlers relies primarily on parent-reported sleep and cross-sectional studies.

Objectives: Examine whether average sleep duration and changes in sleep duration among 6-24-month-old children were associated with weight-for-length z-scores, and whether these associations varied by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status and sex.

Methods: Data were collected when children were approximately 6, 12, 18 and 24 months old (N = 116).

Effects of tiletamine-zolazepam vs. propofol on peri-induction intraocular pressure in dogs: A randomized, masked crossover study.

Introduction: Anesthesia induction agents have the potential to cause severe ocular side effects, resulting in lasting damage to the eye.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of tiletamine-zolazepam on IOP compared to propofol when they are used as an induction agent in normal healthy dogs.

Methods: Twenty healthy adult client owned dogs weighing 22.

Design Considerations for the Attenuation of Translational and Rotational Accelerations in American Football Helmets.

Participants in American football experience repetitive head impacts that induce negative changes in neurocognitive function over the course of a single season. This study aimed to quantify the transfer function connecting the force input to the measured output acceleration of the helmet system to provide a comparison of the impact attenuation of various modern American football helmets. Impact mitigation varied considerably between helmet models and with location for each helmet model.

A Summary of One Research Team's Contributions to Understanding Physical Activity Behavior in Children and Youth.

Schools are well-positioned to provide physical activity opportunities to help youth achieve the recommended 60 or more daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The Children's Physical Activity Research Group (CPARG) at the University of South Carolina has focused on understanding physical activity in school-aged youth for 30+ years. The purpose of this article was to critically review (CPARG) contributions to the field in school settings and school-age youth.

Loss of Encoding the δ-Factor of RNA Polymerase Impacts Pathophysiology of the M1T1 Strain 5448.

Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as the Group A Streptococcus (GAS), is a Gram-positive bacterial pathogen of major clinical significance. Despite remaining relatively susceptible to conventional antimicrobial therapeutics, GAS still causes millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths each year worldwide. Thus, a need for prophylactic and therapeutic interventions for GAS is in great demand.

The association of physical activity to oral glucose tolerance test outcomes in multiple autoantibody positive children: The TEDDY Study.

Objective: To examine the association of physical activity (PA), measured by accelerometry, to hemoglobin AIC (HbA1c) and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) outcomes in children who were multiple persistent confirmed autoantibody positive for type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Methods: The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) multinational study followed children from birth. Children ≥3 years of age who were multiple persistent confirmed autoantibody positive were monitored by OGTTs every 6 months.

Capillary Western Immunoassay Optimization of Estrogen Related Factors in Human Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue.

Lipedema is a multifaceted chronic fat disorder characterized by the bilateral and disproportionate accumulation of fat predominantly in the lower body regions of females. Research strongly supports that estrogen factors likely contribute to the pathophysiology of this disease. We aim to help demonstrate this link by quantifying estrogen factor differences between women with and without lipedema.

Behavioral, Environmental, and Demographic Factors Associated with Objectively Measured Physical Activity in Infants.

To describe objectively measured physical activity (PA) in infants, and to identify demographic, behavioral, and environmental factors associated with infants' PA. Participants were 6-7-month-old infants and their mothers ( = 143 dyads) from two Southeastern US counties. Infant measures included PA assessed by accelerometers at ankle and waist sites, motor developmental status (, stationary and locomotion), and anthropometric characteristics (, height and weight).

Carbon catabolite repression on the Rgg2/3 quorum sensing system in Streptococcus pyogenes is mediated by PTS and Mga.

Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as group A Streptococcus or GAS, is a human-restricted pathogen causing a diverse array of infections. The ability to adapt to different niches requires GAS to adjust gene expression in response to environmental cues. We previously identified the abundance of biometals and carbohydrates led to natural induction of the Rgg2/3 cell-cell communication system (quorum sensing, QS).

NCS Assessments of the Motor, Sensory, and Physical Health Domains.

As part of the National Children's Study (NCS) comprehensive and longitudinal assessment of the health status of the whole child, scientific teams were convened to recommend assessment measures for the NCS. This manuscript documents the work of three scientific teams who focused on the motor, sensory, or the physical health aspects of this assessment. Each domain team offered a value proposition for the importance of their domain to the health outcomes of the developing infant and child.

Lipedema and the Potential Role of Estrogen in Excessive Adipose Tissue Accumulation.

Lipedema is a painful fat disorder that affects ~11% of the female population. It is characterized by bilateral, disproportionate accumulation of subcutaneous adipose tissue predominantly in the lower body. The onset of lipedema pathophysiology is thought to occur during periods of hormonal fluctuation, such as puberty, pregnancy, or menopause.

PRD-Containing Virulence Regulators (PCVRs) in Pathogenic Bacteria.

Bacterial pathogens rely on a complex network of regulatory proteins to adapt to hostile and nutrient-limiting host environments. The phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system (PTS) is a conserved pathway in bacteria that couples transport of sugars with phosphorylation to monitor host carbohydrate availability. A family of structurally homologous PTS-regulatory-domain-containing virulence regulators (PCVRs) has been recognized in divergent bacterial pathogens, including Mga and AtxA.

The role of parental support for youth physical activity transportation and community-level poverty in the healthy communities study.

This study evaluates whether parental provision of transportation for physical activity is associated with child/adolescent moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, while also evaluating community-level poverty. Self- and parental-reported surveys were administered with parents/caregivers and children in the Healthy Communities Study (N = 5138). Associations between individual-level demographics, community-level poverty, parental provision of transportation for physical activity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were examined in multi-level models.

Hemoglobin Induces Early and Robust Biofilm Development in by a Pathway That Involves but Not the Cognate Two-Component System.

grows in biofilms during both asymptomatic colonization and infection. Pneumococcal biofilms on abiotic surfaces exhibit delayed growth and lower biomass and lack the structures seen on epithelial cells or during nasopharyngeal carriage. We show here that adding hemoglobin to the medium activated unusually early and vigorous biofilm growth in multiple serotypes grown in batch cultures on abiotic surfaces.