Revisiting implications of early family economic conditions for adolescent adaptations: An integrative cascade model.

Implications of family economic conditions (FECs) for child development have been extensively examined. What remains sparse is research spanning multiple life stages to delineate the far-reaching influences of early FECs for child subsequent development in different domains and how various family stress and investment processes jointly account for such association. To address these gaps, using data from 929 families in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2001, 2005), this study examined how family income-to-needs ratio (FITNR) when children were 1-36 months old was associated with child language skills, social competence, externalizing, and internalizing problems at 6th grade. Parental investment and maternal/paternal depressive symptoms and sensitivity when children were 54 months old and in 3rd grade were tested as potential mediators. Results indicated that early FITNR shaped child cognitive, social, and behavioral adaptation in early adolescence indirectly through parental investment, depressive symptoms, and sensitive parenting in the preschool period and middle childhood. Parental investment, depressive symptoms, and sensitive parenting played such mediating roles above and beyond each other. Parental investment primarily accounted for the association between early FITNR and child later language skills, whereas parental depressive symptoms and sensitive parenting uniquely explained the associations between early FITNR and child subsequent internalizing symptoms, externalizing problems, social competence, and language skills. Theoretical/practical implications of such findings were discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Medical service pricing and pharmaceutical supply chain coordination contracts under the zero-markup drug policy.

To implement state policies of zero-markup drug policy and medical service fee adjustment for public hospitals, this study constructed game models of the pharmaceutical supply chain, consisting of a drug supplier and a public hospital. The study obtained the optimal medical service level and pricing under the new state drug policies. In addition, it analyzed the impacts of the degree of public benefit of hospitals on the medical service level, the medical service price, and the drug price. Finally, from the perspective of cooperation between drug suppliers and public hospitals, the specialized coordination contract was designed to maximize overall social welfare. This study found an anomalous but meaningful conclusion: in the background of the zero-markup drug policy, a higher public benefit of hospitals could increase the drug prices, but it could reduce the medical service prices further to cut down on the overall treatment fees for the patients. The novel coordination contract can optimize the pharmaceutical supply chain and achieve a win-win situation for the drug suppliers, public hospitals, and patients. When the public benefit of hospitals is higher, the profit of a decentralized decision-making supply chain is greater than a centralized one, while the pharmaceutical supply chain will not coordinate itself.

Spatial heterogeneity of socio-economic determinants of typhoid/paratyphoid fever in one province in central China from 2015 to 2019.

BACKGROUND: Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever are one of the most criticial public health issues worldwide, especially in developing countries. The incidence of this disease may be closely related to socio-economic factors, but there is a lack of research on the spatial level of relevant determinants of typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever. METHODS: In this study, we took Hunan Province in central China as an example and collected the data on typhoid and paratyphoid incidence and socio-economic factors in 2015-2019. Firstly spatial mapping was made on the disease prevalence, and again using geographical probe model to explore the critical influencing factors of typhoid and paratyphoid, finally employing MGWR model to analysis the spatial heterogeneity of these factors. RESULTS: The results showed that the incidence of typhoid and paratyphoid fever was seasonal and periodic and frequently occurred in summer. In the case of total typhoid and paratyphoid fever, Yongzhou was the most popular, followed by Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Huaihua and Chenzhou generally focused on the south and west. And Yueyang, Changde and Loudi had a slight increase trend year by year from 2015 to 2019. Moreover, the significant effects on the incidence of typhoid and paratyphoid fever from strong to weak were as follows: gender ratio(q = 0.4589), students in ordinary institutions of higher learning(q = 0.2040), per capita disposable income of all residents(q = 0.1777), number of foreign tourists received(q = 0.1697), per capita GDP(q = 0.1589), and the P values for these factors were less than 0.001. According to the MGWR model, gender ratio, per capita disposable income of all residents and Number of foreign tourists received had a positive effect on the incidence of typhoid and paratyphoid fever. In contrast, students in ordinary institutions of higher learning had a negative impact, and per capita GDP shows a bipolar change. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of typhoid and paratyphoid fever in Hunan Province from 2015 to 2019 was a marked seasonality, concentrated in the south and west of Hunan Province. Attention should be paid to the prevention and control of critical periods and concentrated areas. Different socio-economic factors may show other directions and degrees of action in other prefecture-level cities. To summarize, health education, entry-exit epidemic prevention and control can be strengthened. This study may be beneficial to carry out targeted, hierarchical and focused prevention and control of typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever, and provide scientific reference for related theoretical research.

Parenting measurement, normativeness, and associations with child outcomes: Comparing evidence from four non-Western cultures.

This study compared parenting across four non-Western cultures to test cross-cultural commonality and specificity principles in three aspects: measurement properties, parenting normativeness, and their associations with child outcomes. Both mothers and fathers (N = 1509 dyads) with preschool-aged children (M = 5.00 years; 48% girls) from urban areas of four countries (Malaysia, N = 372; China, N = 441; Turkey, N = 402; and Japan, N = 294) reported on four parenting constructs (authoritative, authoritarian, group harmony socialization, and intrusive control) and their sub-dimensions using modified culturally relevant measures. Teachers reported on children's internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behaviors. The commonality principle was supported by two sets of findings: (1) full measurement invariance was established for most parenting constructs and sub-dimensions, except that intrusive control only reached partial scalar invariance, and (2) no variations were found in associations between parenting and any child outcomes across cultures or parent gender at the construct level for all four parenting constructs and at the sub-dimensional level for authoritarian and intrusive control sub-dimensions. The specificity principle was supported by the other two sets of findings: (1) cross-cultural differences in parenting normativeness did not follow the pattern of economic development but yielded culture-specific patterns, and (2) at the sub-dimensional level, the authoritative parenting and group harmony socialization sub-dimensions were differently associated with child outcomes across cultures and/or parent gender. The findings suggested that examining specific dimensions rather than broad parenting constructs is necessary to reflect cultural specificities and nuances. Our study provided a culturally-invariant instrument and a three-step guide for future parenting research to examine cross-cultural commonalities/specificities. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: This is the first study to use an instrument with measurement invariance across multiple non-Western cultures to examine the commonality and specificity principles in parenting. Measurement invariance was achieved across cultures for authoritative and authoritarian parenting, group harmony socialization, intrusive control, and their sub-dimensions, supporting the commonality principle. Cross-cultural differences in parenting normativeness did not follow the pattern of economic development but yielded culture-specific patterns, supporting the specificity principle. Both commonalities and specificities were manifested in associations between parenting and child outcomes across cultures.

Trends in global burden of diseases attributable to lead exposure in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019.

Background: Lead hazards are ubiquitous in the environment, and lead exposure has been proved to damage human health. Nevertheless, there is limited data on the global burden of diseases attributable to lead exposure. In this study, we evaluated the temporal-spatial trend of disease burden caused by lead exposure in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Methods: Based on Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019, deaths, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) and DALYs rate (ASDR) were estimated by region, country, sex and age. The estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) was calculated to assess the temporal trends of ASMR and ASDR between 1990 and 2019. Results: Global deaths increased from 0.53 (95% UI: 0.31, 0.77) to 0.90 (95% UI: 0.55, 1.29) million, and the number of DALYs increased from 16.02 (95% UI: 10.32, 22.17) to 21.68 (95% UI: 13.81, 30.30) million between 1990 and 2019. China, India and Bangladesh were top three countries with the largest number of deaths and DALYs in 2019. The ASMR (per 100,000 population) decreased from 14.47 (95% UI: 8.40, 21.43) to 11.48 (95% UI: 7.00, 16.49) with EAPC of -0.75 (95% UI: -0.87, -0.64), and the ASDR (per 100,000 population) decreased from 378.01 (95% UI: 240.55, 524.18) to 267.52 (95% UI: 170.57, 373.44) with EAPC of -1.19 (95% UI: -1.32, -1.07). Most of disease burden of lead exposure occurred in the men and elderly population. Stroke and ischemic heart disease were two key sources of disease burden of lead exposure. Also, a negative association between sociodemographic index (SDI) and disease burden of lead exposure was observed. Conclusions: Lead exposure poses a significant disease burden globally, and is still a great threat to public health. Primary prevention measures of reducing lead exposure in the environment are essential.

Global antimicrobial resistance: a system-wide comprehensive investigation using the Global One Health Index.

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the top ten global public health challenges. However, given the lack of a comprehensive assessment of worldwide AMR status, our objective is to develop a One Health-based system-wide evaluation tool on global AMR. METHODS: We have further developed the three-hierarchical Global One Health Index (GOHI)-AMR indicator scheme, which consists of five key indicators, 17 indicators, and 49 sub-indicators, by incorporating 146 countries' data from diverse authoritative databases, including WHO's Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) and the European CDC. We investigated the overall- or sub-rankings of GOHI-AMR at the international/regional/national levels for data preprocessing and score calculation utilizing the existing GOHI methodology. Additionally, a correlation analysis was conducted between the GOHI-AMR and other socioeconomic factors. RESULTS: The average GOHI-AMR score for 146 countries is 38.45. As expected, high-income countries (HICs) outperform the other three income groups on overall rankings and all five key indicators of GOHI-AMR, whereas low-income countries unexpectedly outperform upper-middle-income countries and lower-middle-income countries on the antibiotics-resistant key indicator (ARR) and ARR-subordinate indicators, including carbapenem-, ß-lactam-, and quinolone resistance, and even HICs on aminoglycoside resistance. There were no significant differences among the four groups on the environmental-monitoring indicator (P > 0.05). GOHI-AMR was positively correlated with gross domestic product, life expectancy, and AMR-related publications, but negatively with natural growth rate and chronic respiratory disease. In contrast to Cyprus, the remarkably lower prevalence of "ESKAPE pathogens" in high-scoring Sweden and Denmark highlights Europe's huge gaps. China and Russia outperformed the other three BRICS countries on all key indicators, particularly India's ARR and Brazil's AMR laboratory network and coordination capacity. Furthermore, significant internal disparities in carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalence were observed between China and the USA, with MRSA prevalence both gradually declining, whereas CRKP prevalence has been declining in the USA but increasing in China, consistent with higher carbapenems-related indicator' performance in USA. CONCLUSIONS: GOHI-AMR is the most comprehensive tool currently available for the assessment of AMR status worldwide. We discovered unique features impacting AMR in each country and offered precise recommendations to improve the capacity to tackle AMR in low-ranking countries.

Towards a global One Health index: a potential assessment tool for One Health performance.

BACKGROUND: A One Health approach has been increasingly mainstreamed by the international community, as it provides for holistic thinking in recognizing the close links and inter-dependence of the health of humans, animals and the environment. However, the dearth of real-world evidence has hampered application of a One Health approach in shaping policies and practice. This study proposes the development of a potential evaluation tool for One Health performance, in order to contribute to the scientific measurement of One Health approach and the identification of gaps where One Health capacity building is most urgently needed. METHODS: We describe five steps towards a global One Health index (GOHI), including (i) framework formulation; (ii) indicator selection; (iii) database building; (iv) weight determination; and (v) GOHI scores calculation. A cell-like framework for GOHI is proposed, which comprises an external drivers index (EDI), an intrinsic drivers index (IDI) and a core drivers index (CDI). We construct the indicator scheme for GOHI based on this framework after multiple rounds of panel discussions with our expert advisory committee. A fuzzy analytical hierarchy process is adopted to determine the weights for each of the indicators. RESULTS: The weighted indicator scheme of GOHI comprises three first-level indicators, 13 second-level indicators, and 57 third-level indicators. According to the pilot analysis based on the data from more than 200 countries/territories the GOHI scores overall are far from ideal (the highest score of 65.0 out of a maximum score of 100), and we found considerable variations among different countries/territories (31.8-65.0). The results from the pilot analysis are consistent with the results from a literature review, which suggests that a GOHI as a potential tool for the assessment of One Health performance might be feasible. CONCLUSIONS: GOHI-subject to rigorous validation-would represent the world's first evaluation tool that constructs the conceptual framework from a holistic perspective of One Health. Future application of GOHI might promote a common understanding of a strong One Health approach and provide reference for promoting effective measures to strengthen One Health capacity building. With further adaptations under various scenarios, GOHI, along with its technical protocols and databases, will be updated regularly to address current technical limitations, and capture new knowledge.

Financial relief policy and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this paper, we investigate the effect of stimulus payments during the COVID-19 pandemic on the social distancing practices of their recipients. While the directed cash payments stipulated by the 2020 CARES Act were intended to mitigate the economic impact of closures imposed in response to the outbreak, we find that this relief may also have inadvertently contributed to the spread of the virus due to increased social activity. We find that, as the payments were sent out on a staggered weekly schedule, there was a corresponding spike in weekend traffic as indicated by a number of mobility metrics that measure social distancing, over and above the usual uptick expected from weekend shopping following receipt of the stimulus payments on Fridays. This preliminary study gives some indication that the economic benefits of the stimulus package may in fact be outweighed by the detrimental effects of looser social distancing practices prolonging the outbreak.

Dietary curcumin supplementation promotes browning and energy expenditure in postnatal overfed rats.

BACKGROUND: Early postnatal overfeeding could result in metabolic imprinting that decreases energy expenditure following white adipose tissue (WAT) gain throughout life. This research investigated whether curcumin (CUR) supplementation could promote WAT browning and activate thermogenesis in postnatal overfed rats. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study adjusted the size of litters to three (small litters, SL) or ten (normal litters, NL) to mimic early postnatal overfeeding or normal feeding from postnatal day 3. From postnatal week 3 (weaning period), SL rats were fed a standard diet (SL) or a diet supplemented with 1% (SL1% CUR) or 2% (SL2% CUR) CUR for ten weeks. At postnatal week 13, SL rats with 1% or 2% CUR supplementation had lower body weight and less WAT gain and had an increased lean mass ratio, and their glucose tolerance and blood lipid levels had recovered to normal when compared to SL rats that did not receive the supplement. Moreover, the increased heat generation were consistent with the expression levels of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) and other browning-related genes in the subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) of the SL2% CUR rats but not in the SL1% CUR rats. In addition, 2% CUR dietary supplementation enhanced the serum norepinephrine levels in SL rats, with upregulated mRNA levels of ß3-adrenergic receptor (ß3-AR) in SAT. CONCLUSION: Dietary CUR supplementation attenuates body fat gain and metabolic disorders in SL, which might be induced by promoting browning of SAT and energy expenditure. Moreover, the benefits were more obvious in SL with 2% CUR supplementation.

Noninvasive assessment of endometrial fibrosis in patients with intravoxel incoherent motion MR imaging.

Recently, few noninvasive methods have been reported to evaluate endometrial fibrosis. Our study was to investigate the feasibility of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) MR imaging in the detection of endometrial fibrosis in patients with intrauterine injury. 30 patients with hysteroscopy-confirmed endometrial fibrosis and 28 healthy women were enrolled to undergo MR examination including the IVIM sequence. Endometrial thickness (ET); apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC); and IVIM parameters, including pure diffusion coefficient (D), pseudodiffusion coefficient (D*) and vascular fraction (f) were evaluated. A multivariable model combing ADC, D, and f values using binary logistic regression analysis was built to diagnose endometrial fibrosis. Endometrial fibrosis patients demonstrated lower endometrial ADC, D, f values and ET (all p < 0.05). The multivariable model, ADC, D, f values and ET performed well in diagnosing endometrial fibrosis with AUC of 0.979, 0.965, 0.920, 0.901 and 0.833, respectively. The multivariable model revealed a better diagnostic accuracy than D, f and ET (all p < 0.05). Although ADC achieved a better diagnostic value than ET (z = 2.082, p < 0.05), no difference in AUC was shown among ADC, D, and f (all p > 0.05); between ET and D (p > 0.05); and between ET and f (p > 0.05). The reproducibility of ADC, D, f and D* values in patients with endometrial fibrosis and healthy women were good to excellent (ICC: 0.614-0.951). IVIM parameters exhibit promising potential to serve as imaging biomarkers in the noninvasive assessment of endometrial fibrosis.

Development of a non-invasive method for skin cholesterol detection: pre-clinical assessment in atherosclerosis screening.

BACKGROUND: Establishing a high-accuracy and non-invasive method is essential for evaluating cardiovascular disease. Skin cholesterol is a novel marker for assessing the risk of atherosclerosis and can be used as an independent risk factor of early assessment of atherosclerotic risk. METHODS: We propose a non-invasive skin cholesterol detection method based on absorption spectroscopy. Detection reagents specifically bind to skin cholesterol and react with indicator to produce colored products, the skin cholesterol content can be obtained through absorption spectrum information on colored products detected by non-invasive technology. Gas chromatography is used to measure cholesterol extracted from the skin to verify the accuracy and reliability of the non-invasive test method. A total of 342 subjects were divided into normal group (n = 115), disease group (n = 110) and risk group (n = 117). All subjects underwent non-invasive skin cholesterol test. The diagnostic accuracy of the measured value was analyzed by receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: The proposed method is able to identify porcine skin containing gradient concentration of cholesterol. The values measured by non-invasive detection method were significantly correlated with gas chromatography measured results (r = 0.9074, n = 73, p < 0.001). Bland-Altman bias was - 72.78 ± 20.03 with 95% limits of agreement - 112.05 to - 33.51, falling within the prespecified clinically non-significant range. We further evaluated the method of patients with atherosclerosis and risk population as well as normal group, patients and risk atherosclerosis group exhibited higher skin cholesterol content than normal group (all P < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve for distinguishing Normal/Disease group was 0.8642 (95% confidence interval, 0.8138 to 0.9146), meanwhile, the area under the ROC curve for distinguishing Normal/Risk group was 0.8534 (95% confidence interval, 0.8034 to 0.9034). CONCLUSIONS: The method demonstrated its capability of detecting different concentration of skin cholesterol. This non-invasive skin cholesterol detection system may potentially be used as a risk assessment tool for atherosclerosis screening, especially for a large population.

Temporal dynamics of the association between financial stress and depressive symptoms throughout the emerging adulthood.

BACKGROUND: Emerging adulthood is a life stage with elevated risk for both mental disorders and financial distress. Although a positive link between financial stress and depressive symptoms has been identified, there is a lack of delineation on the temporal dynamics of this link spanning the entire stage of emerging adulthood (roughly ages 18 to 29). METHODS: Using a statistical approach that partitions between-person from within-person variation and based on four waves of data from a college cohort (N = 2,098) throughout emerging adulthood, this study addresses this gap. RESULTS: Latent growth curve model analyses indicate that the trajectory of financial stress throughout emerging adulthood followed an inverted "U" shape, whereas that of depressive symptoms displayed a linear, decreasing trend. The positive correlations of both intercepts and slopes between financial stress and depressive symptoms indicated a co-development pattern. Classical, cross-lagged panel model analyses (i.e., a model aggregating between-person and within-person variation) demonstrated a reciprocal positive association between financial stress and depressive symptoms across waves. Random intercept, cross-lagged panel model analyses (i.e., a model disaggregating between-person and within-person effects) indicated a unidirectional positive within-person effect from depressive symptoms to financial stress across waves, controlling for between-person effects. LIMITATIONS: Shared-method and shared-informant variance may inflate the identified associations, and the correlational data precludes casual inferences. CONCLUSION: Improving young adults' mental well-being, specifically intervening depressive symptoms, could be an avenue for reducing their financial stress. Future research is pressing to examine mechanisms via which depression symptoms manifest as financial stress during transition to adulthood.

Pricing and coordination in a dual-channel supply chain with a socially responsible manufacturer.

This paper aims at designing coordination contract in a dual channel supply chain (DCSC) which consists of a socially responsible manufacturer and a retailer. We build stylized game models under both centralized and decentralized scenarios. Then, we identify the reason for supply chain inefficiency under decentralized scenario. Further, according to the manufacturer's corporate social responsibility (CSR) coefficient, we design two different contracts to achieve coordination. We find that with the impact of CSR, social welfare under centralized scenario is always higher than that under decentralized scenario. However, profit of the whole supply chain between the two scenarios has different relationship. More specifically, when CSR coefficient is relatively low, profit under centralized scenario is higher than that under decentralized scenario. When CSR coefficient is high, profit under centralized scenario is lower than that under decentralized scenario. Due to these two cases, we respectively design revenue sharing contract with franchise fee and wholesale price contract with franchise fee and government subsidy to achieve coordination. The result suggests that encouraging the manufacturer to bear CSR properly can reach a multi-win for social welfare, consumers and supply chain members through coordination contract. However, when CSR coefficient is higher than a certain threshold, conflict between supply chain members becomes irreconcilable which results in the retailer's resistance. In this condition, only through subsidy from government or philanthropic organization can supply chain members sustain their cooperation.

Adaptation and assessment of the Child Feeding Questionnaire for Chinese immigrant families of young children in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Chinese immigrant mothers have been found to hold cultural-specific beliefs about children's weight and use cultural-specific feeding practices when feeding their children. However, current measurements of child feeding, including the widely used Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFQ), do not capture these cultural-specific beliefs and practices. Thus, the present study examined the underlying factor structure of the original CFQ (7-factor model) and the modified CFQ with additional Asian cultural-specific feeding items (8- and 9-factor model) and assessed the validity of the CFQ among U.S. Chinese immigrant mothers. METHOD: First-generation Chinese immigrant mothers (N = 216, Mage = 38.31, SDage = 4.34) with young children (Mage = 5.14, SDage = 1.49; 47.70% females) completed the CFQ (Birch et al., 2001), with two additional items capturing Asian cultural-specific feeding beliefs and practices. Children's and parents' body mass index and mothers' perceptions of their children's body size were also assessed. RESULTS: Our findings revealed that the 9-factor model, which included the cultural-specific feeding items, was the most optimal model to represent the factor structure of feeding beliefs and practices among U.S. Chinese immigrant mothers of young children. Mothers' feeding beliefs and practices were associated with children's and mothers' body mass index and mothers' perceptions of their children's body size. CONCLUSIONS: The present study highlighted the importance of cultural-specific beliefs and practices when examining parents' feeding perceptions, beliefs, and practices.

Three-dimensional nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon nanomaterials derived from plant biomass: Cost-effective construction of label-free electrochemical aptasensor for sensitively detecting alpha-fetoprotein.

We synthesized three kinds of nitrogen-doped nanoporous carbon nanomaterials (represented by N-mC) through a cost-effective method, that is, pyrolysis of plant biomasses (grass, flower, and peanut shells). We further explored their potential as sensitive bioplatforms for electrochemical label-free aptasensors to facilitate the early detection of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Chemical structure characterizations revealed that rich functional groups coexisted in as-synthesized N-mC nanomaterials, such as C-C, C-O, C=O, C-N, and COOH. Among the three kinds of N-mC nanomaterials, the one derived from grass (N-mCg) exhibited the lowest carbon defect degree, the highest ID/IG ratio in the Raman spectra, and the largest specific surface area (186.2 m2 g-1). Consequently, N-mCg displayed excellent electrochemical activity and strong affinity toward aptamer strands, further endowing the corresponding aptasensor with sensitive detection ability for AFP. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) were used to investigate the whole detection procedure for AFP. The EIS and DPV results showed that the fabricated N-mCg-based aptasensor possessed an extremely low limit of detection of 60.8 and 61.8 fg·mL-1 (s/n = 3), respectively, for detecting AFP within a wide linear range from 0.1 pg mL-1 to 100 ng mL-1. Moreover, the aptasensor displayed acceptable selectivity and applicability, high reproducibility, and excellent stability in serum samples of cancer patients. Therefore, the proposed cost-effective and label-free strategy based on the nitrogen-doped nanoporous carbon derived from plant biomass is a promising approach for the early detection of various tumor markers.

Effects of postnatal overfeeding and fish oil diet on energy expenditure in rats.

BackgroudEarly life nutrition may have a role in the regulation of metabolism in adulthood. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of postnatal overfeeding and a postweaning fish oil diet on energy expenditure.MethodsOn postnatal day 3, rat litters were adjusted to a litter size of three (small litters, SLs) or ten (normal litters, NLs). After weaning, SLs were fed the standard diet or a fish oil diet enriched with polyunsaturated fatty acids (SL-FOs) for 10 weeks. The metabolic parameters of rats were monitored using the TSE LabMaster at postnatal week 3 (W3) and postnatal week 13 (W13).ResultsAt W3, the O2 consumption and heat production in SLs were lower than those in NLs, while the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) was higher than NLs. SLs showed obesity, dyslipidemia, and impaired glucose tolerance at W13. The postweaning fish oil diet in SLs not only increased O2 consumption, CO2 production, heat production, and reduced the RER but it also reduced weight gain, serum triglycerides, and improved glucose tolerance at W13.ConclusionPostnatal overfeeding can decrease the level of body energy expenditure and induce obesity, but a fish oil diet can increase the energy expenditure and prevent the development of metabolic dysregulation in adults.

Family, employment, and individual resource-based antecedents of maternal work-family enrichment from infancy through middle childhood.

This study used data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,019) to examine family, employment, and individual antecedents of maternal work-family enrichment from infancy through middle childhood. Work-family conflict and important confounding factors were controlled. From the family domain, higher income-to-needs ratio and social support were associated with higher work-family enrichment. From the employment domain, greater job rewards, benefits of employment for children, and work commitment were associated with higher work-family enrichment. From the individual domain, higher maternal education and extroversion were associated with higher work-family enrichment. No family, employment, and individual characteristics were associated with work-family conflict across time except for partner intimacy. In general, the results supported antecedents of work-family enrichment that supply needed resources. The present study contributed to the literature by identifying antecedents of maternal work-family enrichment across early child developmental stages, which goes beyond examinations of particular life stages and a work-family conflict perspective. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record