Chloroplast thylakoid membrane-stabilised emulsions.

Background: Thylakoid-stabilised emulsions have been reported to possess satiety-promoting effects and inhibit pancreatic lipase-colipase activity in vitro, which prompted the investigation of their interfacial properties.

Results: Thylakoid membranes isolated from spinach were used as an emulsifier/stabiliser in oil (triglyceride)-in-water emulsions. Emulsions were characterised with respect to droplet size, interfacial tension, creaming, surface load and electron microscopy.

Hippocampal c-Jun-N-terminal kinases serve as negative regulators of associative learning.

In the adult mouse, signaling through c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) links exposure to acute stress to various physiological responses. Inflammatory cytokines, brain injury and ischemic insult, or exposure to psychological acute stressors induce activation of hippocampal JNKs. Here we report that exposure to acute stress caused activation of JNKs in the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 subfields, and impaired contextual fear conditioning.

Improving the food environment in UK schools: policy opportunities and challenges.

Childhood obesity and nutrition are high on the UK policy agenda because of their association with chronic illnesses and related costs. In 2007, to improve children's nutrition, the Government introduced new standards for all school food sources, including products sold from vending machines. Our research explores the factors influencing schools' decisions and children's food choices in relation to vending machines.

Level of urbanization and noncommunicable disease risk factors in Tamil Nadu, India.

Objective: To investigate the poorly understood relationship between the process of urbanization and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) through the application of a quantitative measure of urbanicity.

Methods: We constructed a measure of the urban environment for seven areas using a seven-item scale based on data from the Census of India 2001 to develop an "urbanicity" scale. The scale was used in conjunction with data collected from 3705 participants in the World Health Organization's 2003 STEPwise risk factor surveillance survey in Tamil Nadu, India, to analyse the relationship between the urban environment and major NCD risk factors.

Should nutrient profile models be 'category specific' or 'across-the-board'? A comparison of the two systems using diets of British adults.

Background/objectives: Nutrient profile models have the potential to help promote healthier diets. Some models treat all foods equally (across-the-board), some consider different categories of foods separately (category specific). This paper assesses whether across-the-board or category-specific nutrient profile models are more appropriate tools for improving diets.

Corticotropin-releasing factor receptors and urocortins, links between the brain and the heart.

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), a 41 amino acid peptide, was discovered as a key signal in mediating neuroendocrine, autonomic, and behavioral responses to stress. It was revealed later that there exist additional CRF-like peptides, termed urocortins. The CRF receptor subtype 1 (CRF1 receptor) is predominant in the brain whereas subtype 2 (CRF2 receptor) is highly expressed in the brain and the heart.

Poly[1,4-bis-(ammonio-meth-yl)cyclo-hexane [di-μ-iodido-diiodido-plumbate(II)]].

The title compound, {(C(8)H(20)N(2))[PbI(4)]}(n), is an inorganic-organic hybrid. The structure is composed of alternate layers of two-dimensional corner-sharing PbI(6) octa-hedra ( symmetry) and 1,4-bis-(ammonio-meth-yl)cyclo-hexane cations ( symmetry) extending parallel to the bc plane. The cations inter-act with the inorganic layer via N-H⋯I hydrogen bonding in the right-angled halogen sub-type of the terminal halide hydrogen-bonding motif.

Poly[1,4-bis-(ammonio-meth-yl)cyclo-hexane [di-μ-chlorido-dichloridoplumbate(II)]].

The title compound, {(C(8)H(20)N(2))[PbCl(4)]}(n), crystallizes as an layered inorganic-organic hybrid perovskite-type structure. Corner-sharing PbCl(6) octa-hedra extend parallel to the ac plane. Adjacent layers are staggered relative to one another, with diammonium cations separating these layers.

Poly[1,4-bis-(ammonio-meth-yl)cyclo-hexane [di-μ-bromido-dibromido-plumbate(II)]].

The title compound, {(C(8)H(20)N(2))[PbBr(4)]}(n), crystallizes as an inorganic-organic hybrid with alternating layers of diammonium cations and two-dimensional corner-sharing PbBr(6) octa-hedra extending parallel to the bc plane, which are eclipsed relative to one another. Both PbBr(6) octa-hedra and the organic cation exhibit symmetry. The cations inter-act via N-H⋯Br hydrogen bonding in the right-angled halogen sub-type of the terminal halide hydrogen-bonding motif.

Impact of front-of-pack 'traffic-light' nutrition labelling on consumer food purchases in the UK.

Front-of-pack 'traffic-light' nutrition labelling has been widely proposed as a tool to improve public health nutrition. This study examined changes to consumer food purchases after the introduction of traffic-light labels with the aim of assessing the impact of the labels on the 'healthiness' of foods purchased. The study examined sales data from a major UK retailer in 2007.

The burden of smoking-related ill health in the UK.

Background: Smoking is one of the biggest avoidable causes of morbidity and mortality in the United Kingdom. This paper quantifies the current health and economic burden of smoking in the UK. It provides comparisons with previous studies of the burden of smoking in the UK and with the costs for other chronic disease risk factors.

The burden of alcohol-related ill health in the United Kingdom.

Background: Although moderate alcohol consumption has been shown to confer a protective effect for specific diseases, current societal patterns of alcohol use impose a huge health and economic burden on modern society. This study presents a method for estimating the health and economic burden of alcohol consumption to the UK National Health Service (NHS).

Methods: Previous estimates of NHS costs attributable to alcohol consumption were identified by systematic literature review.

Modelling income group differences in the health and economic impacts of targeted food taxes and subsidies.

Objective: To examine the effects, by income group, of targeted food taxes and subsidies on nutrition, health and expenditure in the UK.

Methods: A model based on consumption data and demand elasticity was constructed to predict the effects of four food taxation-subsidy regimens. Resulting changes in demand, expenditure, nutrition, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality were estimated.

Region specific gene expression profile in mouse brain after chronic corticotropin releasing factor receptor 1 activation: the novel role for diazepam binding inhibitor in contextual fear conditioning.

We have previously reported that repeated central administration of sub-anxiogenic doses of the corticotropin releasing factor 1 (CRF(1)) agonist Cortagine, termed "priming," elicits a phenotype of increased anxiety-like behaviors in the elevated plus maze (EPM) and open-field test, and enhanced retention of contextual conditioned fear in C57BL/6J mice. Observed behavioral changes were functionally coupled to CRF(1)-mediated elevated central cholecystokinin (CCK) tone in discrete brain regions. However, the changes in gene expression that mediated "priming"-induced behavioral and concurrent molecular changes in specific brain regions remained unknown.

Thylakoids promote release of the satiety hormone cholecystokinin while reducing insulin in healthy humans.

Objective: The effects of a promising new appetite suppressor named "thylakoids" (membrane proteins derived from spinach leaves) were examined in a single meal in man. Thylakoids inhibit the lipase/colipase hydrolysis of triacylglycerols in vitro and suppress food intake, decrease body-weight gain and raise the satiety hormone cholecystokinin (CCK) in rats, but their effects in man remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate whether thylakoids, when added to a test meal, affect appetite regulation and blood parameters in healthy individuals.

Validation of model-based estimates (synthetic estimates) of the prevalence of risk factors for coronary heart disease for wards in England.

Several sets of model-based estimates (synthetic estimates) of the prevalence of risk factors for coronary heart disease for small areas in England have been developed. These have been used in policy documents to indicate which areas are in need of intervention. In general, these models have not been subjected to validity assessment.

Suppression of the MEK/ERK signaling pathway reverses depression-like behaviors of CRF2-deficient mice.

The neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) plays a critical role in the proper functioning of the stress response system through its actions on its receptors, CRF receptor 1 (CRF1) and CRF receptor 2 (CRF2), located at multiple anatomical sites. Clinical data indicate that stress response dysfunctions, such as excessive CRF activity and hyperstimulation of CRF1, are present in a range of stress-related disorders, including depression and anxiety disorders. Our previous work along with that of other laboratories has demonstrated that mice deficient in CRF2 (CRF2-/-) display increased anxiety and depression-like behaviors.

Defining 'low in fat' and 'high in fat' when applied to a food.

Objectives: To describe four different methods of identifying indicator foods that are high, medium or low in fat with reference to dietary patterns and to use these indicator foods to test three sets of definitions of 'high', 'medium' and 'low' in fat from 'banding schemes' developed by the Coronary Prevention Group (CPG), the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Sainsbury's.

Methods: Indicator foods were developed using food intake data from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey and two parameters: (i) probability of the food being consumed by an individual with a high-fat diet (Method 1); and (ii) the contribution of the food to the fat intake of the average diet of consumers (Methods 3 and 4). Method 2 used both parameters.

EGF Mediates Survival of Rat Cochlear Sensory Cells via an NF-κB Dependent Mechanism In Vitro.

The survival of cochlear epithelial cells is of considerable importance, biologically. However, little is known about the growth factor(s) that are involved in the survival of cochlear sensory epithelial cells. In this study, we demonstrated that epidermal growth factor (EGF) plays a role in the survival of cochlear epithelial cells.

Spatial heterogeneity of mesopredator release within an oceanic island system.

Predator-prey communities are ubiquitous in ecology, but introduced predators can drive native species to extinction within island systems, prompting the eradication of such exotics. Ecological theory predicts that elimination of top-introduced predators from islands can lead to the counterintuitive decline of native prey populations through the ecological release of smaller introduced species in a process termed "mesopredator release." We show, in accordance with mesopredator release theory and counter to conservation goals for a New Zealand island reserve, that initial eradication of cats on Little Barrier Island led to reduced breeding success of Cook's petrels, which also are vulnerable to predation by a mesopredator, the Pacific rat.