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Purpose: Obesity in children and adolescents is a significant public health concern. The World Health Organization Health Promoting Schools (HPS) framework promotes good nutrition and physical activity in school settings. While HPS is embraced globally, effective implementation and sustainable programmes are a continued challenge. This paper aims to report on the characteristics of current school interventions based on HPS and implementation barriers and enablers. Design/methodology/approach: A literature search identified peer-reviewed studies of school health interventions reflective of the HPS framework focusing on obesity prevention. Studies from all countries were included, if conducted in primary and/or secondary schools; included a sufficient amount of qualitative implementation or process evaluation data to draw conclusions regarding key barriers and enablers to implementation; and were published in English. Findings: Nine interventions (n = 9) from seven countries were included. Most were implemented in primary schools and focused on specific grade levels. Engaging parents, the home environment, teacher time constraints, fun interventions, student participation, teacher training, integration with the curriculum and stakeholder engagement all emerged as strong implementation themes. Teachers as role models, establishing community partnerships and policy support also emerged as common themes. Originality/value: Future interventions may benefit from enhancing teacher and parent health promotion. Partnerships with initiatives focusing on environmental sustainability may simultaneously benefit human and planetary health while strengthening stakeholder engagement opportunities and consistent messaging throughout the community. More comprehensive evaluation data are needed, in particular, for long-term HPS initiatives.

Students' perceptions of school safety and experiences with bullying were examined in a large Canadian cohort of 5,493 girls and 5,659 boys in Grades 4 to 12. Results indicate notable differences in when and where students felt safe based on their own perceptions of safety and their own experiences with bullying, particularly across elementary and secondary schools. For elementary students, especially those involved in bullying, the playground/school yard and outside recess/break time were particularly hazardous, whereas for secondary students involved in bullying, the hallways, school lunchroom/cafeteria, and outside recess/break were considered especially dangerous. The commonality across student-identified unsafe areas is that they tend to not be well supervised by school personnel. Accordingly, the present results underscore the need to increase adult supervision in areas in which an overwhelming majority of students report feeling unsafe. (Contains 2 tables and 2 notes.)

Abstract In Neurospora crassa, FRQ, WC-1, and WC-2 proteins comprise the core circadian FRQ-based oscillator that is directly responsive to light and drives daily rhythms in spore development and gene [...]

Abstract Background Hyperaccumulation, the rare capacity of certain plant species to accumulate toxic trace elements to levels several orders of magnitude higher than other species growing on the same site, is thought to be an elemental defense mechanism against herbivores and pathogens. Previous research has shown that selenium (Se) hyperaccumulation protects plants from a variety of herbivores and pathogens. Selenium hyperaccumulating plants sequester Se in discrete locations in the leaf periphery, making them potentially more susceptible to some herbivore feeding modes than others. In this study we investigate the protective function of Se in the Se hyperaccumulators Stanleya pinnata and Astragalus bisulcatus against two cell disrupting herbivores, the western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) and the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae). Results Astragalus bisulcatus and S. pinnata with high Se concentrations (greater than 650 mg Se kg-1) were less subject to thrips herbivory than plants with low Se levels (less than 150 mg Se kg-1). Furthermore, in plants containing elevated Se levels, leaves with higher concentrations of Se suffered less herbivory than leaves with less Se. Spider mites also preferred to feed on low-Se A. bisulcatus and S. pinnata plants rather than high-Se plants. Spider mite populations on A. bisulcatus decreased after plants were given a higher concentration of Se. Interestingly, spider mites could colonize A. bisulcatus plants containing up to 200 mg Se kg-1 dry weight, concentrations which are toxic to many other herbivores. Selenium distribution and speciation studies using micro-focused X-ray fluorescence (μXRF) mapping and Se K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy revealed that the spider mites accumulated primarily methylselenocysteine, the relatively non-toxic form of Se that is also the predominant form of Se in hyperaccumulators. Conclusions This is the first reported study investigating the protective effect of hyperaccumulated Se against cell-disrupting herbivores. The finding that Se protected the two hyperaccumulator species from both cell disruptors lends further support to the elemental defense hypothesis and increases the number of herbivores and feeding modes against which Se has shown a protective effect. Because western flower thrips and two-spotted spider mites are widespread and economically important herbivores, the results from this study also have potential applications in agriculture or horticulture, and implications for the management of Se-rich crops.

This paper examines the mechanisms responsible for the production of ice in convective clouds influenced by mineral dust. Observations were made in the Ice in Clouds Experiment - Dust (ICE-D) field campaign which took place in the vicinity of Cape Verde during August 2015. Measurements made with instruments on the FAAM aircraft through the clouds on 21 August showed that ice particles were observed in high concentrations at temperatures greater than about -8 °C. Sensitivity studies were performed using existing parametrisation schemes in a cloud model to explore the impact of the freezing onset temperature, the efficiency of freezing, mineral dust as efficient ice nuclei, and multi-thermals on secondary ice production by the rime-splintering process. The simulation with the default Morrison microphysics scheme (Morrison et al., 2005) that involved a single thermal produced a concentration of secondary ice that was much lower than the observed value of total ice number concentration. Relaxing the onset temperature to a higher value, enhancing the freezing efficiency, or combinations of these, increased the secondary ice particle concentration, but not by a sufficient amount. Simulations that involved only dust particles as ice nucleating particles produced a lower concentration of secondary ice particles, since the freezing onset temperature is low. The simulations implicate that a higher concentration of ice nucleating particles with a higher freezing onset temperature may explain some of the observed high concentrations of secondary ice. However, a simulation with two thermals that used the original Morrison scheme without enhancement or relaxation produced the greatest concentration of secondary ice particles. It did so because of the increased time that graupel particles were exposed to significant cloud liquid water content in the Hallett-Mossop temperature zone. The forward-facing camera and measurements of the vertical wind in repeated passes of the same cloud suggested that these tropical clouds contained multiple thermals. Hence, in a similar way to other convective clouds observed elsewhere in the world, it is likely that multi-thermals play an important role in producing very high concentrations of secondary ice particles in some tropical clouds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correct, timely and meaningful interpretation of polarimetric weather radar observations requires an accurate understanding of hydrometeors and their associated microphysical processes along with well-developed techniques that automatize their recognition in both the spatial and temporal dimensions of the data. This study presents a novel technique for identifying different types of hydrometeors from Quasi-Vertical Profiles (QVP). In this new technique, the hydrometeor types are identified as clusters belonging to a hierarchical structure. The number of different hydrometeor types in the data is not predefined and the method obtains the optimal number of clusters through a recursive process. The optimal clustering is then used to label the original data. Initial results using observations from the NCAS X-band dual-polarization Doppler weather radar (NXPol) show that the technique provides stable and consistent results. Comparison with available airborne in situ measurements also indicates the value of this novel method for providing a physical delineation of radar observations. Although this demonstration uses NXPol data, the technique is generally applicable to similar multivariate data from other radar observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aromatase inhibitors improve disease-free survival compared with tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. The Tamoxifen and Exemestane Adjuvant Multinational (TEAM) trial compared exemestane monotherapy with sequential therapy of tamoxifen followed by exemestane. The trial failed to show a statistically significant difference between treatment arms. A robust translational program was established to investigate predictive biomarkers.Methods: A tissue microarray was retrospectively constructed using a subset of patient tissues (n = 4631) from the TEAM trial (n = 9766). Immunohistochemistry was performed for biomarkers, classed into three groups: MAPK pathway, NF-kappa B pathway, and estrogen receptor (ER) phosphorylation. Expression was analyzed for association with relapse-free survival (RFS) at 2.5 and 10 years and treatment regimen using Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank analysis. All statistical tests were two-sided.Results: In univariate analysis, ER167 (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.59 to 0.85, P < .001), IKKα (HR = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.60 to 0.92, P = .005), Raf-1338 (HR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.52 to 0.80, P < .001), and p44/42 MAPK202/204 (HR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.64 to 0.92, P = .004) were statistically significantly associated with improved RFS at 10 years in patients receiving sequential therapy. Associations were strengthened when IKKα, Raf-1338, and ER167 were combined into a cumulative prognostic score (HR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.52 to 0.77, P < .001). Patients with an all negative IKKα, Raf-1338, and ER167 score favored exemestane monotherapy (odds ratio = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.35 to 0.90). In multivariable analysis, the IKKα, Raf-1338, and ER167 score (P = .001) was an independent prognostic factor for RFS at 10 years in patients receiving sequential therapy.Conclusions: The IKKα, Raf-1338, and ER167 score is an independent predictive biomarker for lower recurrence on sequential therapy. Negative expression may further offer predictive value for exemestane monotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]