Transforming Obesity Prevention for CHILDren (TOPCHILD) Collaboration: protocol for a systematic review with individual participant data meta-analysis of behavioural interventions for the prevention of early childhood obesity.

Introduction: Behavioural interventions in early life appear to show some effect in reducing childhood overweight and obesity. However, uncertainty remains regarding their overall effectiveness, and whether effectiveness differs among key subgroups. These evidence gaps have prompted an increase in very early childhood obesity prevention trials worldwide.

De novo genome assembly of the tobacco hornworm moth (Manduca sexta).

The tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, is a lepidopteran insect that is used extensively as a model system for studying insect biology, development, neuroscience, and immunity. However, current studies rely on the highly fragmented reference genome Msex_1.0, which was created using now-outdated technologies and is hindered by a variety of deficiencies and inaccuracies.

Direct effects of hypoxia and nitric oxide on ecdysone secretion by insect prothoracic glands.

Insect molting and metamorphosis are controlled by the molt stimulating hormone ecdysone. A recent study suggests that reduced tissue oxygenation correlates with the size-sensing mechanism responsible for triggering molting. When reared in hypoxia, larvae of Manduca sexta and Drosophila melanogaster initiate molting at lower weights than do larvae reared in normoxia.

JAK2 and AMP-kinase inhibition in vitro by food extracts, fractions and purified phytochemicals.

We have identified a range of food phytochemicals that inhibit Janus Kinase 2 (JAK2) and Adenosine Monophosphate Kinase (AMPK). A mutated and dysregulated form of JAK2, a tyrosine kinase, is associated with several diseases including Crohn's disease. Using an in vitro, time-resolved fluorescence (TR-FRET) assay, we tested 49 different types of food extracts, plus 10 concentrated fractions of increasing hydrophobicity from each extract, to find foods containing JAK2 inhibitors.

The POU factor ventral veins lacking/Drifter directs the timing of metamorphosis through ecdysteroid and juvenile hormone signaling.

Although endocrine changes are known to modulate the timing of major developmental transitions, the genetic mechanisms underlying these changes remain poorly understood. In insects, two developmental hormones, juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroids, are coordinated with each other to induce developmental changes associated with metamorphosis. However, the regulation underlying the coordination of JH and ecdysteroid synthesis remains elusive.

Insulin signaling pathways in lepidopteran ecdysone secretion.

Molting and metamorphosis are stimulated by the secretion of ecdysteroid hormones from the prothoracic glands. Insulin-like hormones have been found to enhance prothoracic gland activity, providing a mechanism to link molting to nutritional state. In silk moths (Bombyx mori), the prothoracic glands are directly stimulated by insulin and the insulin-like hormone bombyxin.

Phylogenetic analysis of symbionts in feather-feeding lice of the genus Columbicola: evidence for repeated symbiont replacements.

Background: Many groups of insects have obligate bacterial symbionts that are vertically transmitted. Such associations are typically characterized by the presence of a monophyletic group of bacteria living in a well-defined host clade. In addition the phylogeny of the symbiotic bacteria is typically congruent with that of the host, signifying co-speciation.

Amino acids and TOR signaling promote prothoracic gland growth and the initiation of larval molts in the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta.

Molting in arthropods is orchestrated by a series of endocrine changes that occur towards the end of an instar. However, little is understood about the mechanisms that trigger these endocrine changes. Here, nutritional inputs were manipulated to investigate the minimal nutritional inputs required for a Manduca sexta larva to initiate a molt.

Nutritional sensitivity of fifth instar prothoracic glands in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta.

Insulin-regulated growth of the prothoracic glands appears to play a critical role in timing the last larval molt, and hence metamorphosis. The present study examined insulin signaling in relation to the growth and secretory activity of prothoracic glands in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. As larvae feed during the first half of the final larval stage, the prothoracic glands grow and ecdysone secretory capacity increases.

Gene genealogies strongly distorted by weakly interfering mutations in constant environments.

Neutral nucleotide diversity does not scale with population size as expected, and this "paradox of variation" is especially severe for animal mitochondria. Adaptive selective sweeps are often proposed as a major cause, but a plausible alternative is selection against large numbers of weakly deleterious mutations subject to Hill-Robertson interference. The mitochondrial genealogies of several species of whale lice (Amphipoda: Cyamus) are consistently too short relative to neutral-theory expectations, and they are also distorted in shape (branch-length proportions) and topology (relative sister-clade sizes).

Chemical composition and in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of apple phenolic extracts and of their sub-fractions.

Apple extract powders from three different manufacturers were investigated for their anti-inflammatory activity, their total phenolic content, and their chemical composition. The samples represented two production batches for two products and a single batch of a third. The samples showed similar, but clearly different, anti-inflammatory activities, and had substantially different total phenolic contents, and different chemical compositions.

Bacterial endosymbiont of the slender pigeon louse, Columbicola columbae, allied to endosymbionts of grain weevils and tsetse flies.

The current study focuses on a symbiotic bacterium found in the slender pigeon louse, Columbicola columbae (Insecta: Phthiraptera). Molecular phylogenetic analyses indicated that the symbiont belongs to the gamma subdivision of the class Proteobacteria and is allied to Sodalis glossinidius, the secondary symbiont of tsetse flies (Glossina spp.) and also to the primary symbiont of grain weevils (Sitophilus spp.

The control of growth and differentiation of the wing imaginal disks of Manduca sexta.

During the larval feeding period, the growth of the wing imaginal disks of Lepidoptera is dependent on continuous feeding. Feeding and nutrition exert their effect via the secretion of bombyxin, the lepidopteran insulin-like hormone. When larvae stop feeding and enter the wandering stage in preparation for metamorphosis, the control of imaginal disk growth becomes feeding and nutrition-independent.

A silychristin isomer and variation of flavonolignan levels in milk thistle (Silybum marianum) fruits.

A new natural product has been isolated from silymarin, the hepatoprotective extract of milk thistle (Silybum marianum) fruits. This was shown by NMR spectroscopy to be silychristin B (8), a diastereoisomer of the known silychristin (7). Levels of these and the other flavonolignans varied markedly in fruits of different S.

Inhibition of tyrosine phosphorylation blocks hormone-stimulated calcium influx in an insect steroidogenic gland.

In the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta (M. sexta) as in other insects, ecdysone synthesis occurs in the prothoracic glands and is stimulated by the brain neuropeptide prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH). PTTH activates the prothoracic glands through the second messenger cAMP, the synthesis of which is stimulated by calcium.

Intracellular symbionts of sharpshooters (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellinae) form a distinct clade with a small genome.

The leafhoppers (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) are the most species-rich group of invertebrates in which intracellular symbionts are usual. Here we present the first molecular characterization of bacteriome-associates in the leafhoppers, with focus on the subfamily Cicadellinae (sharpshooters). Phylogenetic analyses of 16S rDNA sequences from intracellular symbionts residing in the bacteriomes of five host species indicate that these symbionts form a well-defined clade within the gamma-3 Proteobacteria, consistent with an ancient colonization and strict vertical transmission.