Later timing of eating has been associated with higher adiposity among adults and children in several studies, but not all. Moreover, studies in younger children are scarce. Hence, this study investigated the associations of the timing of evening eating with BMI Z-score and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and whether these associations were moderated by chronotype among 627 preschoolers (3–6-year-olds) from the cross-sectional DAGIS survey in Finland. Food intake was measured with 3-d food records, and sleep was measured with hip-worn actigraphy. Three variables were formed to describe the timing of evening eating: (1) clock time of the last eating occasion (EO); (2) time between the last EO and sleep onset; and (3) percentage of total daily energy intake (%TDEI) consumed 2 h before sleep onset or later. Chronotype was assessed as a sleep debt-corrected midpoint of sleep on the weekend (actigraphy data). The data were analysed with adjusted linear mixed effects models. After adjusting for several confounders, the last EO occurring closer to sleep onset (estimate = −0·006, 95 % CI (−0·010, −0·001)) and higher %TDEI consumed before sleep onset (estimate = 0·0004, 95 % CI (0·00003, 0·0007)) were associated with higher WHtR. No associations with BMI Z-score were found after adjustments. Clock time of the last EO was not significantly associated with the outcomes, and no interactions with chronotype emerged. The results highlight the importance of studying the timing of eating relative to sleep timing instead of only as clock time.

We explored age-dependent patterns in haemagglutination inhibition (HI) titre to seasonal [1956 A(H1N1), 1977 A(H1N1), 2007 A(H1N1)] and pandemic [A(H1N1)pdm09] influenza strains using serological data collected from an adult French influenza cohort. Subjects were recruited by their general practitioners from 2008 to 2009 and followed until 2010. We explored age-related differences between strain-specific HI titres using 1053 serological samples collected over the study period from 398 unvaccinated subjects. HI titres against the tested seasonal and pandemic strains were determined using the HI technique. Geometric mean titres (GMTs) were estimated using regression models for interval-censored data. Generalized additive mixed models were fit to log-transformed HI estimates to study the relationship between HI titre and age (age at inclusion and/or age at initial strain circulation). GMT against one strain was consistently highest in the birth cohort exposed to that strain during childhood, with peak titres observed in subjects aged 7–8 years at the time of initial strain circulation. Our results complete previous findings on influenza A(H3N2) strains and identify a strain-dependent relationship between HI titre and age at initial strain circulation.

A requirement for performing robust genetic and statistical analyses on twins is correctly assigned zygosities. In order to increase the power to detect small risk factors of disease, zygosity testing should also be amenable for high throughput screening. In this study we validate and implement the use of a panel of 50 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for reliable high throughput zygosity testing and compare it to a panel of 16 short tandem repeats (STRs). We genotyped both genomic (gDNA) and whole genome amplified DNA (WGA DNA), ending up with 47 SNP and 11 STR markers fulfilling our quality criteria. Out of 99 studied twin pairs, 2 were assigned a different zygosity using SNP and STR data as compared to self reported zygosity in a questionnaire. We also performed a sensitivity analysis based on simulated data where we evaluated the effects of genotyping error, shifts in allele frequencies and missing data on the qualitative zygosity assignments. The frequency of false positives was less than 0.01 when assuming a 1% genotyping error, a decrease of 10% of the observed minor allele frequency compared to the actual values and up to 10 missing markers. The SNP markers were also successfully genotyped on both gDNA and WGA DNA from whole blood, saliva and filter paper. In conclusion, we validate a robust panel of 47 highly multiplexed SNPs that provide reliable and high quality data on a range of different DNA templates.

The genetic variability of influenza virus is usually studied with sequences selected over numerous years and countries, and rarely within a single season. Here we examined the viral evolution and the correlation between genetic and clinical features during an epidemic. From a French prospective household-based study in 1999–2000, 99 infected patients were randomly selected. The HA1 genomic domain was sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis showed the existence of two groups of A/H3N2 viruses. We found no distinct pattern of genomic evolution within either group according to time. A spatial correlation with the nucleotide distances was shown. The average nucleotide diversity was 3·4×10−3 nucleotides per site, and did not differ between the groups. A lower number of segregating sites was observed in patients who experienced influenza-like symptoms during the previous epidemic. These results suggest that the influenza virus undergoes regular HA1 nucleotide changes, but without clonal expansion of mutant strains within a single epidemic.

In the summer of 1998, the Wisconsin State legislature amended its child protection laws. Under new child abuse provisions, Wisconsin judges can confine pregnant women who abuse alcohol or drugs for the duration of their pregnancies. South Dakota enacted similar legislation almost simultaneously. The South Dakota statute requires mandatory drug and alcohol treatment for pregnant women who abuse those substances and classifies such activity as child abuse. In addition, the South Dakota legislation gives relatives the power to commit pregnant women involuntarily for two days; a court order can place the pregnant women in custody for up to nine months. These recent legislative “successes” follow scores of failed attempts by legislators in other states to establish fetal protection laws aimed at women who use and abuse drugs and alcohol during pregnancy.

The evolution of texture in thin films must be fully understood in order to take advantage of favorable crystallographic orientations in a material for a given application. The development of an out-of-plane texture (preferred crystallographic orientation in the growth direction) and an in-plane texture (preferred crystallographic orientation in the plane of growth) in sputter deposited, thin mo films on Si was studied using transmission electron microscopy and diffraction, and conventional x-ray pole figures. For a range of deposition parameters, a strong (110) out-of-plane texture developed within 1000Å, while a strong in-plane texture did not develop until a thickness of about 1 μm.

A multiscalar approach is used to demonstrate the ability to control strength and toughness in microlaminates composed of molybdenum and tungsten. Here, two different thickness scales are utilized; an alternating stack of molybdenum and tungsten layers having thicknesses on the nanometer scale are combined with a layer of molybdenum having a thickness on the micron scale. The stack of thin layers acts as a strong phase and the thick layer acts as a tough phase. Multilayers of two configurations were fabricated which had total thicknesses of 31μm and 50μm. The tough phase thickness was 5μm for the 31μm multilayer and 1μm for the other. The strong phase contained a stack of 29 alternating 4nm thick layers of molybdenum and tungsten. Uniaxial tensile testing was performed using a standard Instron tensile testing machine, followed by optical analysis of specimen fracture surfaces. Fracture toughness ranged from 2.4 to 9.5MPa(m)1/2, and tensile strengths were observed from 126MPa to 883MPa. Control of mechanical properties was demonstrated by an increase in the upper bound fracture toughness from 2.7 to 9.5MPa(m)1/2 when the tough layer thickness was increased from 1μm to 5μm.

It is important that inherent strains (or stresses) be controlled during thin film processing. This study used grazing incidence x-ray scattering (G1XS) to determine the strain gradient present in a ∼1700 Å sputtered molybdenum thin film. In particular, the gradient in the hydrostatic strain was Measured. This observation corresponded to assessing the average change in the lattice parameter as a function of depth throughout the thickness of the film. In addition, the strain ellipsoids, which represent the state of strain in three dimensions, were calculated as a function of film depth. It was shown that the strain varied throughout the ∼1700 Å Mo film thickness and that the principal strains were anisotropic, with one principal strain much larger than the others in Magnitude.

Synchrotron white-beam (polychromatic) x-ray radiation was used in a transmission Laue study of texture in monolithic mo films and Mo/W Multilayers. High intensity synchrotron radiation permits x-ray diffraction study of mo specimens >100μm in thickness, while 6μm is the practical thickness limit for a transmission study using a rotating anode x-ray source. The transmission Laue technique permits the collection of preferred orientation data from several families of diffracting planes on one photographic exposure. Polychromatic x-rays facilitate collection of diffraction information from a range of planar orientations without altering the orientation of the sample with respect to the incident x-ray beam. The texture information from a 35μm thick monolithic mo film and a 31μm thick multilayer of mo and W is presented. Two-fold symmetry seen in the {211} plane diffraction ring of the multilayer demonstrated both an in-plane and out-of-plane texture with a <110> growth direction. Three fold symmetry seen in the {310} and {222} plane diffraction rings of the monolithic mo film demonstrated both in-plane and out-of-plane texture which suggests a <111> growth direction.