Health behaviours, body weight and self-esteem among grade five students in Canada

PURPOSE: This study sought to identify the principal components of self-esteem and the health behavioural determinants of these components among grade five students. METHODS: We analysed data from a population-based survey among 4918 grade five students, who are primarily 10 and 11 years of age, and their parents in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The survey comprised the Harvard Youth and Adolescent Questionnaire, parental reporting of students’ physical activity (PA) and time spent watching television or using computer/video games. Students heights and weights were objectively measured. We applied principal component analysis (PCA) to derive the components of self-esteem, and multilevel, multivariable logistic regression to quantify associations of diet quality, PA, sedentary behaviour and body weight with these components of self-esteem. RESULTS: PCA identified four components for self-esteem: self-perception, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, social-perception. Influences of health behaviours and body weight on self-esteem varied across the components. Better diet quality was associated with higher self-perception and fewer externalizing problems. Less PA and more use of computer/video games were related to lower self-perception and social-perception. Excessive TV watching was associated with more internalizing problems. Students classified as obese were more likely to report low self- and social-perception, and to experience fewer externalizing problems relative to students classified as normal weight. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates independent influences of diet quality, physical activity, sedentary behaviour and body weight on four aspects of self-esteem among children. These findings suggest that school programs and health promotion strategies that target health behaviours may benefit self-esteem in childhood, and mental health and quality of life later in life

How to use the social capital and social media tools to construct the old-age service system under the shortage of relevant resources

In this paper, we describe the serious super aging society in China and the shortage of relevant resources to serve for the elderly. And we explore that, under the guidance of government, how to incorporate various resources and use the information and communications technology (ICT) as a tool to overcome difficulties in the elderly services. Copyright 2014 ACM.EI516-5172014-Januar

Glucose deprivation in tuberous sclerosis complex-related tumors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cancer cells possess unique metabolic phenotypes that are determined by their underlying oncogenic pathways. Activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling cascade promotes glycolysis and leads to glucose-dependence in tumors. In particular, cells with constitutive mTORC1 activity secondary to the loss of TSC1/TSC2 function are prone to undergo apoptosis upon glucose withdrawal <it>in vitro</it>, but this concept has not been tested <it>in vivo</it>. This study examines the effects of restricting glucose metabolism by pharmacologic and dietary means in a tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) tumor xenograft model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Tumor-bearing mice were randomly assigned to receive unrestricted carbohydrate-free ("Carb-free") or Western-style diet in the absence or presence of 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) in one of four treatment groups. After 14 weeks, tumor sizes were significantly different among the four treatment groups with those receiving 2-DG having the smallest tumors. Unexpectedly, the "Carb-free" diet was associated with the largest tumors but they remained responsive to 2-DG. PET imaging showed significant treatment-related changes in tumor ¹⁸fluorodeoxyglucose-uptake but the standard uptake values did not correlate with tumor size. Alternative energy substrates such as ketone bodies and monounsaturated oleic acid supported the growth of the <it>Tsc2</it>-/- cells <it>in vitro</it>, whereas saturated palmitic acid was toxic. Correspondingly, tumors in the high-fat, "Carb-free" group showed greater necrosis and liquefaction that contributed to their larger sizes. In contrast, 2-DG treatment significantly reduced tumor cell proliferation, increased metabolic stress (i.e., ketonemia) and AMPK activity, whereas rapamycin primarily reduced cell size.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data support the concept of glycolytic inhibition as a therapeutic approach in TSC whereas dietary withdrawal of carbohydrates was not effective.</p

Formation and Healing of Vacancies in Graphene Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Growth

The formation and kinetics of single and double vacancies in graphene chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth on Cu(111), Ni(111), and Co(0001) surfaces are investigated by the first principles calculation. It is found that the vacancies in graphene on the metal surfaces are dramatically different from those in free-standing graphene. The interaction between the vacancies and the metal surface and the involvement of a metal atom in the vacancy structure greatly reduce their formation energies and significantly change their diffusion barriers. Furthermore, the kinetic process of forming vacancies and the potential route of their healing during graphene CVD growth on Cu(111) and Ni(111) surfaces are explored. The results indicate that Cu is a better catalyst than Ni for the synthesis of high-quality graphene because the defects in graphene on Cu are formed in a lower concentration and can be more efficiently healed at the typical experimental temperature. This study leads to a deep insight into the atomic process of graphene growth, and the mechanism revealed in this study can be used for the experimental design of high-quality graphene synthesis