National nutrition surveys in Europe: a review on the current status in the 53 countries of the WHO European region

Objectives: The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the coverage of national nutrition surveys in the 53 countries monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe and identify gaps in provision, (2) to describe relevant survey attributes and (3) to check whether energy and nutrients are reported with a view to providing information for evidence-based nutrition policy planning. Design: Dietary survey information was gathered using three methods: (1) direct email to survey authors and other relevant contacts, (2) systematic review of literature databases and (3) general web-based searches. Survey characteristics relating to time frame, sampling and dietary methodology and nutrients reported were tabled from all relevant surveys found since 1990. Setting: Fifty-three countries of the WHO Regional Office for Europe, which have need for an overview of dietary surveys across the life course. Subjects: European individuals (adults and children) in national diet surveys. Results: A total of 109 nationally representative dietary surveys undertaken post-1990 were found across 34 countries. Of these, 78 surveys from 33 countries were found post-2000, and of these, 48 surveys from 27 countries included children and 60 surveys from 30 countries included adults. No nationally representative surveys were found for 19 of 53 countries, mainly from Central and Eastern Europe. Multiple 24hr recall and food diaries were the most common dietary assessment methods. Only 22 countries reported energy and nutrient intakes from post-2000 surveys; macronutrients were more widely reported than micronutrients. Conclusions: Less than two-thirds of WHO Europe countries have nationally representative diet surveys, mainly collected post-2000. The main availability gaps lie in Central and Eastern European countries, where nutrition policies may therefore lack an appropriate evidence base. Dietary methodological differences may limit the scope for inter-country comparisons

Interventions to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages or increase water intake: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

A systematic review and meta-analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of interventions to reduce sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) or increase water intakes and to examine the impact of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) in consumption patterns. Randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials published after January 1990 and until December 2016 reporting daily changes in intakes of SSB or water in volumetric measurements (mL d¯¹) were included. References were retrieved through searches of electronic databases and quality appraisal followed Cochrane principles. We calculated mean differences (MD) and synthesized data with random-effects models. Forty studies with 16 505 participants were meta-analysed. Interventions significantly decreased consumption of SSB in children by 76 mL d¯¹ (95% confidence interval [CI] −105 to −46; 23 studies, P < 0.01), and in adolescents (−66 mL d¯¹, 95% CI −130 to −2; 5 studies, P = 0.04) but not in adults (−13 mL d¯¹, 95% CI −44 to 18; 12 studies, P = 0.16). Pooled estimates of water intakes were only possible for interventions in children, and results were indicative of increases in water intake (MD +67 mL d¯¹, 95% CI 6 to 128; 7 studies, P = 0.04). For children, there was evidence to suggest that modelling/demonstrating the behaviour helped to reduce SSB intake and that interventions within the home environment had greater effects than school-based interventions. In conclusion, public health interventions – mainly via nutritional education/counselling – are moderately successful at reducing intakes of SSB and increasing water intakes in children. However, on average, only small reductions in SSBs have been achieved by interventions targeting adolescents and adults. Complementary measures may be needed to achieve greater improvements in both dietary behaviours across all age groups

Deletion of ameloblastin exon 6 is associated with amelogenesis imperfecta

Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) describes a heterogeneous group of inherited dental enamel defects reflecting failure of normal amelogenesis. Ameloblastin (AMBN) is the second most abundant enamel matrix protein expressed during amelogenesis. The pivotal role of AMBN in amelogenesis has been confirmed experimentally using mouse models. However, no AMBN mutations have been associated with human AI. Using autozygosity mapping and exome sequencing, we identified genomic deletion of AMBN exon 6 in a second cousin consanguineous family with three of the six children having hypoplastic AI. The genomic deletion corresponds to an in-frame deletion of 79 amino acids, shortening the protein from 447 to 368 residues. Exfoliated primary teeth (unmatched to genotype) were available from family members. The most severely affected had thin, aprismatic enamel (similar to that reported in mice homozygous for Ambn lacking exons 5 and 6). Other teeth exhibited thicker but largely aprismatic enamel. One tooth had apparently normal enamel. It has been suggested that AMBN may function in bone development. No clinically obvious bone or other co-segregating health problems were identified in the family investigated. This study confirms for the first time that AMBN mutations cause non-syndromic human AI and that mouse models with disrupted Ambn function are valid

Adolescent self-control predicts midlife hallucinatory experiences:40-year follow-up of a national birth cohort

Associations between self-control in adolescence and adult mental health are unclear in the general population; to our knowledge, no study has investigated self-control in relation to psychotic-like symptoms

Bottom mixed layer oxygen dynamics in the Celtic Sea

The seasonally stratified continental shelf seas are highly productive, economically important environments which are under considerable pressure from human activity. Global dissolved oxygen concentrations have shown rapid reductions in response to anthropogenic forcing since at least the middle of the twentieth century. Oxygen consumption is at the same time linked to the cycling of atmospheric carbon, with oxygen being a proxy for carbon remineralisation and the release of CO2. In the seasonally stratified seas the bottom mixed layer (BML) is partially isolated from the atmosphere and is thus controlled by interplay between oxygen consumption processes, vertical and horizontal advection. Oxygen consumption rates can be both spatially and temporally dynamic, but these dynamics are often missed with incubation based techniques. Here we adopt a Bayesian approach to determining total BML oxygen consumption rates from a high resolution oxygen time-series. This incorporates both our knowledge and our uncertainty of the various processes which control the oxygen inventory. Total BML rates integrate both processes in the water column and at the sediment interface. These observations span the stratified period of the Celtic Sea and across both sandy and muddy sediment types. We show how horizontal advection, tidal forcing and vertical mixing together control the bottom mixed layer oxygen concentrations at various times over the stratified period. Our muddy-sand site shows cyclic spring-neap mediated changes in oxygen consumption driven by the frequent resuspension or ventilation of the seabed. We see evidence for prolonged periods of increased vertical mixing which provide the ventilation necessary to support the high rates of consumption observed

Emergent global patterns of ecosystem structure and function from a mechanistic general ecosystem model

Anthropogenic activities are causing widespread degradation of ecosystems worldwide, threatening the ecosystem services upon which all human life depends. Improved understanding of this degradation is urgently needed to improve avoidance and mitigation measures. One tool to assist these efforts is predictive models of ecosystem structure and function that are mechanistic: based on fundamental ecological principles. Here we present the first mechanistic General Ecosystem Model (GEM) of ecosystem structure and function that is both global and applies in all terrestrial and marine environments. Functional forms and parameter values were derived from the theoretical and empirical literature where possible. Simulations of the fate of all organisms with body masses between 10 µg and 150,000 kg (a range of 14 orders of magnitude) across the globe led to emergent properties at individual (e.g., growth rate), community (e.g., biomass turnover rates), ecosystem (e.g., trophic pyramids), and macroecological scales (e.g., global patterns of trophic structure) that are in general agreement with current data and theory. These properties emerged from our encoding of the biology of, and interactions among, individual organisms without any direct constraints on the properties themselves. Our results indicate that ecologists have gathered sufficient information to begin to build realistic, global, and mechanistic models of ecosystems, capable of predicting a diverse range of ecosystem properties and their response to human pressures

A repeated cross-sectional survey assessing changes in diet and nutrient quality of English primary school children’s packed lunches between 2006 and 2016

Objective: Mandatory school meal standards were introduced in 2006 in England; however, no legislation exists for packed lunches. This study analyses provision of foods and nutrients in packed lunches in 2016 to highlight differences in diet and nutrient quality since 2006. Design: Two cross-sectional surveys of children’s packed lunches were conducted in 2006 and 2016. Data were analysed using multilevel regression models taking into account the clustering of children within primary schools. Setting: Data were collected from 1148 children who attended 76 schools across England in 2006 and from 323 children attending 18 schools across England in 2016. Participants: Children were included if they regularly ate a packed lunch prepared at home (approximately half of children take a packed lunch to school) and were aged 8–9 years (in year 4), for both surveys. Outcome measures: Data collected in both years included provision of weight and type of food, nutrients and proportion of lunches meeting individual and combined school meal standards. Results: Frequency of provision and portion size of some food types changed substantially between surveys. Frequency of provision of confectionery in lunches reduced by 9.9% (95% CI −20.0 to 0.2%), sweetened drinks reduced by 14.4% (95% CI −24.8 to −4.0%), and cakes and biscuits not containing chocolate increased by 9.6% (95% CI 3.0 to 16.3%). Vegetable provision in lunches remained low. Substantial changes were seen in the percentage of lunches meeting some nutrient standards: non-milk extrinsic sugars (19%, 95% CI 10 to 29%), vitamin A (−8%, 95% CI −12 to −4%), vitamin C (−35%, 95% CI −42 to −28%) and zinc (−8%, 95% CI −14 to −1%). Conclusions: Packed lunches remain low quality with few meeting standards set for school meals. Provision of sugars has reduced due to reductions in provision and portion size of sugary drinks and packaged sweet foods; however, provision of some nutrients has worsened

Microsatellite discovery in an insular amphibian (Grandisonia alternans) with comments on cross-species utility and the accuracy of locus identification from unassembled Illumina data

The Seychelles archipelago is unique among isolated oceanic islands because it features an endemic radiation of caecilian amphibians (Gymnophiona). In order to develop population genetics resources for this system, we identified microsatellite loci using unassembled Illumina MiSeq data generated from a genomic library of Grandisonia alternans, a species that occurs on multiple islands in the archipelago. Applying a recently described method (PALFINDER) we identified 8001 microsatellite loci that were potentially informative for population genetics analyses. Of these markers, we screened 60 loci using five individuals, directly sequenced several amplicons to confirm their identity, and then used eight loci to score allele sizes in 64 G. alternans individuals originating from five islands. A number of these individuals were sampled using non-lethal methods, demonstrating the efficacy of non-destructive molecular sampling in amphibian research. Although two loci satisfied our criteria as diploid, neutrally evolving loci with the statistical power to detect population structure, our success in identifying reliable loci was very low. Additionally, we discovered some issues with primer redundancy and differences between Illumina and Sanger sequences that suggest some Illumina-inferred loci are invalid. We investigated cross-species utility for eight loci and found most could be successfully amplified, sequenced and aligned across other species and genera of caecilians from the Seychelles. Thus, our study in part supported the validity of using PALFINDER with unassembled reads for microsatellite discovery within and across species, but importantly identified major limitations to applying this approach to small datasets (ca. 1 million reads) and loci with small tandem repeat sizes

Defects in the acid phosphatase ACPT cause recessive hypoplastic amelogenesis imperfecta

We identified two homozygous missense variants (c.428C>T, p.(T143M) and c.746C>T, p.(P249L)) in ACPT, the gene encoding Acid Phosphatase, Testicular, which segregate with hypoplastic Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) in two unrelated families. ACPT is reported to play a role in odontoblast differentiation and mineralisation by supplying phosphate during dentine formation. Analysis by computerised tomography and scanning electron microscopy of a primary molar tooth from an individual homozygous for the c.746C>T variant, revealed an enamel layer that was hypoplastic but mineralised with prismatic architecture. These findings implicate variants in ACPT as a cause of early failure of amelogenesis during the secretory phase