Cancer and non-cancer health effects from food contaminant exposures for children and adults in California: a risk assessment.

Background: In the absence of current cumulative dietary exposure assessments, this analysis was conducted to estimate exposure to multiple dietary contaminants for children, who are more vulnerable to toxic exposure than adults.

Methods: We estimated exposure to multiple food contaminants based on dietary data from preschool-age children (2-4 years, n=207), school-age children (5-7 years, n=157), parents of young children (n=446), and older adults (n=149). We compared exposure estimates for eleven toxic compounds (acrylamide, arsenic, lead, mercury, chlorpyrifos, permethrin, endosulfan, dieldrin, chlordane, DDE, and dioxin) based on self-reported food frequency data by age group.

Evaluation of risk factors and a community intervention to increase control and treatment of asthma in a low-income semi-rural California community.

To better understand risk factors associated with current asthma in a low-income, ethnically diverse population, we analyzed pooled data from the 2004-2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey conducted in Salinas, CA. We were particularly interested in modifiable risk factors, as the survey was conducted as part of a large community-based intervention that addresses asthma, obesity, and diabetes. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants involved with the clinical, school, and community aspects of the intervention to inform the intervention's progress, and adapt practices and programs to reach those most in need.

The power of policy: a case study of healthy eating among children.

We used a case study approach to examine the nutritional effect of a policy to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in the Students Today Achieving Results for Tomorrow after-school program. The snack menu was changed in 44 after-school programs serving 8000 low-income and ethnically diverse elementary-school students. A comparison of previous and current snack menus identified a significant increase in fruit servings (83%) and no change in vegetable servings.

Functional studies on native and mutated forms of perilipins. A role in protein kinase A-mediated lipolysis of triacylglycerols.

Perilipin A coats the lipid storage droplets in adipocytes and is polyphosphorylated by protein kinase A (PKA); the fact that PKA activates lipolysis in adipocytes suggests a role for perilipins in this process. To assess whether perilipins participate directly in PKA-mediated lipolysis, we have expressed constructs coding for native and mutated forms of the two major splice variants of the perilipin gene, perilipins A and B, in Chinese hamster ovary fibroblasts. Perilipins localize to lipid droplet surfaces and displace the adipose differentiation-related protein that normally coats the droplets in these cells.