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Background: The purpose is to determine if altering school breakfast policies and the school breakfast environment will positively impact adolescent beliefs of the barriers and benefits of eating breakfast., Methods: There were 904 adolescents from 16 rural high schools, Minnesota, in the BreakFAST Study who reported eating breakfast fewer than 4 times per week at baseline. Schools were randomized to intervention (N = 8 schools) or delayed intervention (N = 8) condition. The intervention lasted 1 school year. Students completed an online survey of beliefs of barriers and benefits to eating breakfast at baseline and follow-up. Summative scales were created. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression, accounting for clustering by school, was performed using SAS. Sex interaction was tested. Models tested the effect of the intervention on change in summative scales from baseline to follow -up., Results: Participants were 54% female, 69.1% white, 36.6% eligible for free or reduced-price meals (FRM) and 13.1% of families received public assistance. The change in reported barriers was significantly different in intervention versus control schools (Net difference = 1.0, p = .03). There was no intervention effect of perceived benefits., Conclusions: A school-based policy and environmental change intervention can successfully reduce perceived barriers to eating school breakfast., (© 2018, American School Health Association.)

Objective: To assess the ability of matriptase, a type II transmembrane serine proteinase, to promote aggrecan loss from the cartilage of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and to determine whether its inhibition can prevent aggrecan loss and cartilage damage in experimental OA., Methods: Aggrecan release from human OA cartilage explants and human stem cell-derived cartilage discs was evaluated, and cartilage-conditioned media were used for Western blotting. Gene expression was analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Murine OA was induced by surgical destabilization of the medial meniscus, and matriptase inhibitors were administered via osmotic minipump or intraarticular injection. Cartilage damage was scored histologically and aggrecan cleavage was visualized immunohistochemically using specific neoepitope antibodies., Results: The addition of soluble recombinant matriptase promoted a time-dependent release of aggrecan (and collagen) from OA cartilage, which was sensitive to metalloproteinase inhibition and protease-activated receptor 2 antagonism. Although engineered human (normal) cartilage discs failed to release aggrecan following matriptase addition, both matrix metalloproteinase- and aggrecanase-mediated cleavages of aggrecan were detected in human OA cartilage. Additionally, while matriptase did not directly degrade aggrecan, it promoted the accumulation of low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP-1) in conditioned media of the OA cartilage explants. Matriptase inhibition via neutralizing antibody or small molecule inhibitor significantly reduced cartilage damage scores in murine OA, which was associated with reduced generation of metalloproteinase-mediated aggrecan cleavage., Conclusion: Matriptase potently induces the release of metalloproteinase-generated aggrecan fragments as well as soluble LRP-1 from OA cartilage. Therapeutic targeting of matriptase proteolytic activity reduces metalloproteinase activity, further suggesting that this serine proteinase may have potential as a disease-modifying therapy in OA., (© 2017 The Authors. Arthritis & Rheumatology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American College of Rheumatology.)

Purpose: The long-term use of β-blockers has been shown to improve clinical outcomes among patients with heart failure (HF). However, a lack of data persists in assessing whether carvedilol or bisoprolol are superior to metoprolol tartrate in clinical practice. We endeavored to compare the effectiveness of β-blockers among older adults following a primary hospital admission for HF., Methods: We conducted a cohort study using Quebec administrative databases to identify patients who were using β-blockers, carvedilol, bisoprolol, or metoprolol tartrate after the diagnosis of HF. We characterized the patients by the type of β-blocker prescribed at discharge of their first HF hospitalization. An adjusted multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to compare the primary outcome of all-cause mortality. We also conducted analyses by matching for a propensity score for initiation of β-blocker therapy and assessed the effect on primary outcome., Results: Among 3197 patients with HF with a median follow-up of 2.8 years, the crude annual mortality rates (per 100 person-years) were at 16, 14.9, and 17.7 for metoprolol tartrate, carvedilol, and bisoprolol, respectively. Adjusted hazard ratios of carvedilol (hazard ratio 0.92; 0.78-1.09) and bisoprolol (hazard ratio 1.04; 0.93-1.16) were not significantly different from that of metoprolol tartrate in improving survival. After matching for propensity score, carvedilol and bisoprolol showed no additional benefit with respect to all-cause mortality compared with metoprolol tartrate., Conclusions: Our evidence suggests no differential effect of β-blockers on all-cause mortality among older adults with HF. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., (Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Background: We sought to determine if perceived barriers, benefits, and modifiable behaviors support or interfere with breakfast consumption in a racially and economically diverse rural high school population., Methods: The participants were 832 Minnesota adolescents from 16 rural high schools. We used baseline data from a group randomized trial aimed at increasing school breakfast participation through policy and environmental-level school changes. Students completed an online survey asking about demographics, breakfast eating behaviors, and the barriers and benefits of eating as it relates to school performance. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression, accounting for clustering by school, was performed using SAS. Each scale was modeled independently., Results: Participants were 9th and 10th grade students, 36% free/reduced-price lunch (FRL), 30% non-White, and 55% female. Breakfast skippers compared to nonbreakfast skippers reported fewer school related benefits and beliefs and more barriers to eating breakfast (p < .01). Adjusted models revealed students reported more positive beliefs (OR = 0.78, 95% CI = 0.73-0.83), more benefits (OR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.93-0.97) and fewer barriers (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.82-0.87) and were less likely to skip breakfast., Conclusions: Future intervention research should focus on alleviating barriers and enhancing education around the school related benefits of eating breakfast., (© 2016, American School Health Association.)

1. Nitric oxide (NO) is known to affect the properties of various proteins via the S-nitrosylation of cysteine residues. This study evaluated the direct effects of the NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on the pharmacological properties of the AT1 receptor for angiotensin II expressed in HEK-293 cells. 2. SNP dose-dependently decreased the binding affinity of the AT1 receptor without affecting its total binding capacity. This modulatory effect was reversed within 5 min of removing SNP. 3. The effect of SNP was not modified in the presence of the G protein uncoupling agent GTPgammaS or the soluble guanylyl cyclase inhibitor 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one. 4. The binding properties of a mutant AT1 receptor in which all five cysteine residues within the transmembrane domains had been replaced by serine was not affected by SNP. Systematic analysis of mutant AT1 receptors revealed that cysteine 289 conferred the sensitivity to SNP. 5. These results suggest that NO decreased the binding affinity of the AT1 receptor by S-nitrosylation of cysteine 289. This modulatory mechanism may be particularly relevant in pathophysiological situations where the beneficial effects of NO oppose the deleterious effects of angiotensin II.