Ethnic Differences in Correlates of Obesity between Latin‐American and Black Women

Objective: To date, no studies have examined dietary intake, physical activity, and body image in a large sample of Latin‐American and black women recruited using the same methodology. The aim of this study was to examine three potential correlates of obesity (dietary intake, body image, and physical activity) in a large sample of Latin‐American and black women across the weight spectrum. Research Methods and Procedures: Participants were black (n = 271) and Latin‐American (n = 234) adult women who completed a 24‐hour dietary recall and physical activity and body image questionnaires. Results: After controlling for BMI, education, marital status, and number of children, black women consumed more kilocalories, dietary fat (grams), and percent calories from fat than Latin‐American women, who consumed more carbohydrates (grams) and dietary fiber (total and soluble). Black women engaged in more sedentary behavior than Latin‐American women. Although Latin‐American women weighed less than black women, they perceived their current body image as heavier and reported greater body image dissatisfaction than black women. Black women also reported a higher ideal body image than Latin‐American women. Discussion: The combined effect of a diet higher in calories and fat, increased sedentary behavior, and more accepting body image could account for higher rates of obesity among black women. Future studies should further explore cultural attitudes and beliefs related to weight that could provide information for the development of culturally competent obesity interventions.     

The Bias in Self‐reported Obesity From 1976 to 2005: A Canada–US Comparison

The objective of this study was to determine whether the bias in self‐reported estimates of obesity has changed over time and followed different patterns in Canada and the United States. Using age‐standardized data from three waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the United States and the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) and the Canadian Heart Health Survey (CHHS) in Canada, discrepancies were compared between reported and measured estimates of height, weight, and obesity (based on the BMI) from 1976 to 2005. Results indicated that obesity increased in both countries, but rates were higher in the United States. The discrepancy between self‐reported and measured obesity was small in the United States with reported data underestimating measured prevalence by about 3%; this stayed relatively constant over time. In Canada, the discrepancy was large and doubled in the past decade (from 4 to 8%). In the United States, self‐reported data may be more accurate in monitoring changes in obesity over time, as the estimates have consistently remained about 3% below the measured estimates, whereas in Canada, monitoring obesity based solely on self‐reported height and weight may produce inaccurate estimates because of the increasing discrepancy between self‐reported and measured data.     

Race Differences in Accuracy of Self‐Reported Childhood Body Size Among White and Black Women

Objective: To assess the relation of self‐reported current and recalled preadolescent body size to measured BMI (kilograms per meter squared) and interviewer's assessment of body size. Research Methods and Procedures: This was a prospective cohort study of 1890 white and black women who were 9 to 10 years old at time of enrollment and were followed up 10 to 13 years later. At baseline, subjects had their weight and height measured and were asked to indicate their current body size from a series of nine pictograms. A sample of the subjects also had their body size evaluated by interviewers. At the young‐adult follow‐up visit, subjects were asked to recall their body size at 9 and 10 years old and to indicate their current weight, height, body size, and level of concern with weight. Results: Among the women with interviewer assessments, 84% of the white women and 67% of black women recalled a body size that was within one body size of the interviewer's assessment. Independent of weight status in childhood or at follow‐up, black women were 3 times more likely than white women to recall a body figure that was more than one figure leaner than the shape they reported at baseline (odds ratio = 3.5, 95% confidence interval 2.8 to 4.5) or than the interviewer's rating at baseline (odds ratio = 3.4, 95% confidence interval 2.4 to 4.9). Discussion: The results suggest that the use of body figures to recall childhood size are best suited for ranking subjects in terms of BMI. The higher rate of underestimation of size by black women suggests that body figure ratings work best for white women.     

Measuring Weight Self‐stigma: The Weight Self‐stigma Questionnaire

Stigma associated with being overweight or obese is widespread. Given that weight loss is difficult to achieve and maintain, researchers have been calling for interventions that reduce the impact of weight stigma on life functioning. Sound measures that are sensitive to change are needed to help guide and inform intervention studies. This study presents the weight self‐stigma questionnaire (WSSQ). The WSSQ has 12 items and is designed for use only with populations of overweight or obese persons. Two samples of participants—one treatment seeking, one nontreatment seeking—were used for validation (N = 169). Results indicate that the WSSQ has good reliability and validity, and contains two distinct subscales—self‐devaluation and fear of enacted stigma. The WSSQ could be useful for identifying individuals who may benefit from a stigma reduction intervention and may also help evaluate programs designed to reduce stigma.     

Accuracy of Self‐reported Weight and Height in Binge Eating Disorder: Misreport Is Not Related to Psychological Factors

This study examined the degree of misreport in weight, height, and BMI among overweight adults (n = 392) with binge eating disorder (BED) and tested whether the degree of misreport was associated with eating disorder psychopathology and psychological variables. Male (n = 97) and female (n = 295) participants self‐reported height and weight, and were subsequently measured by clinic staff. Participants also completed a series of diagnostic interviews and self‐report assessments. Discrepancies between self‐reported and measured values were modest. The degree of misreport for weight, height, and BMI was not related to eating disorder features, depression, and self‐esteem. Overall, the errors in self‐reported weight and height by overweight patients with BED were very slight. The degree of discrepancy between self‐reported and measured values was not related to eating disorder or psychological features, suggesting that such data are not biased or systematically related to individual differences in overweight patients with BED.     

Self‐thinning and Tree Competition in Savannas

This paper examines the feasibility of applying self‐thinning concepts to savannas and how competition with herbaceous vegetation may modify self‐thinning patterns among woody plants in these ecosystems. Competition among woody plants has seldom been invoked as a major explanation for the persistence of herbaceous vegetation in mixed tree–grass ecosystems. On the contrary, the primary resource‐based explanations for tree–grass coexistence are based on tree–grass competition (niche‐separation) that assumes that trees are inferior competitors unless deeper rooting depths provide them exclusive access to water. Alternative nonresource‐based hypotheses postulate that trees are the better competitors, but that tree populations are suppressed by mortality related to fire, herbivores, and other disturbances. If self‐thinning of woody plants can be detected in savannas, stronger evidence for resource‐limitation and competitive interactions among woody plants would suggest that the primary models of savannas need to be adjusted. We present data from savanna sites in South Africa to suggest that self‐thinning among woody plants can be detected in low‐disturbance situations, while also showing signs that juvenile trees, more so than adults, are suppressed when growing with herbaceous vegetation in these ecosystems. This finding we suggest is evidence for size‐asymmetric competition in savannas.     

Organizing Self‐Organizing Systems

Industrial symbiosis examines cooperative management of resource flows through networks of businesses known in the literature as industrial ecosystems. These industrial ecosystems have previously been portrayed as having characteristics of complex adaptive systems, but with insufficient attention to the internal and external phenomena describing their genesis. Drawing on biological, ecological, organizational, and systems theory, a discontinuous three‐stage model of industrial symbiosis is presented. The model proceeds from a random formative stage involving numerous actors engaging in material and energy exchanges, to conscious recognition and intentional pursuit of network benefits, to institutionalization of beliefs and norms enabling successful collaborative behavior. While there is much variation, with no single path to this outcome, the recognition of benefits is seen as an emergent property characteristic of these self‐organized systems that move beyond the initial stage.     

Self‐regulating ubiquitin ligases

Occasional auto‐modification of ubiquitin ligases typically leads to their proteasomal destruction, but new findings published in The EMBO Journal now show that in the case of Rsp5/Nedd4, auto‐ubiquitylation instead triggers oligomerization and concomitant reduction of ligase activity. This novel mechanism therefore creates silenced ligases that remain poised for reactivation.     

Triboelectrification‐Enabled Self‐Charging Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Li‐ion batteries as energy storage devices need to be periodically charged for sustainably powering electronic devices owing to their limited capacities. Here, the feasibility of utilizing Li‐ion batteries as both the energy storage and scavenging units is demonstrated. Flexible Li‐ion batteries fabricated from electrospun LiMn₂O₄ nanowires as cathode and carbon nanowires as anode enable a capacity retention of 90% coulombic efficiency after 50 cycles. Through the coupling between triboelectrification and electrostatic induction, the adjacent electrodes of two Li‐ion batteries can deliver an output peak voltage of about 200 V and an output peak current of about 25 µA under ambient wind‐induced vibrations of a hexafluoropropene–tetrafluoroethylene copolymer film between the two Li‐ion batteries. The self‐charging Li‐ion batteries have been demonstrated to charge themselves up to 3.5 V in about 3 min under wind‐induced mechanical excitations. The advantages of the self‐charging Li‐ion batteries can provide important applications for sustainably powering electronics and self‐powered sensor systems.     

Differences in Renal Clearances Measured in Danish Pigs

Measurements are reported of renal clearances of inulin, endogenous creatinine, urea and PAH in 15 pigs in order to elucidate (a) the effect of pentobarbitone and urethane on the renal clearances, (b) differences in clearances measured by continuous infusion and by subcutaneous injection, (c) the effect of the intensity of feeding on the renal clearances, and (d) the difference in the renal clearances between two strains of Danish Landrace pigs. Sedation with pentobarbitone and urethane had no effect on the renal clearances of the pigs. Measurement of clearances by continuous infusion gave the same results as use of the subcutaneous injection method. Changes in the intensity of feeding and the consequent effect on growth had no influence on the renal clearances or on the relative kidney weight. Considerable differences were demonstrated in the renal function of pigs from two different strains of Danish Landrace Pigs.     

Self‐Actuating Electrocaloric Cooling Fibers

Solid‐state cooling fibers comprising an electrocaloric polymer, poly(vinylidene fluoride‐trifluoroethylene‐chlorofluoroethylene) terpolymer, spray‐coated on a conductive fiber core electrode, and a coaxially coated single‐walled carbon nanotubes outer electrode are reported. The fiber coolers can be less than 160 µm thin and more than 8 cm long. Measured cooling ΔT of the EC fibers is 0.7 °C at an electric field of 100 V µm^?1 applied between the electrodes. The fiber coolers are flexible; 2000 cycles of repeated bending to a 2.5 mm curvature radius do not significantly degrade the cooling ΔT. Self‐actuated bending of the fibers is observed during the EC operation, which allows the EC fibers to move heat from one location to another without any additional driving mechanisms such as electromagnetic motors, pumps, or electrostatic actuation that are commonly used in conventional coolers. The self‐actuating EC fibers represent the first ever active cooler in a thin fiber form factor.     

Self‐assembly of pH and calcium dual‐responsive peptide‐amphiphilic hydrogel

Peptide‐based hydrogels have gained much interest for biomedical applications as a result of their biocompatibility. Herein, we reported a synthetic pH‐sensitive and calcium‐responsive peptide‐amphiphilic hydrogel. The sequences of the peptide amphiphiles were derived from the repeat‐in‐toxin (RTX) motif. At a certain peptide‐amphiphile concentration, self‐assembly was accompanied by the formation of a rigid, viscoelastic hydrogel at low pH or the presence of calcium ions. Circular dichroism spectra showed that the peptide amphiphiles adopted beta‐sheet structure. Meanwhile, as revealed by transmission electron microscopy, the peptide‐amphiphile self‐assembly was accompanied by the formation of long interconnected nanofibrillar superstructure. Material properties of the resulting peptide‐amphiphile hydrogel were characterized using oscillatory sheer rheology, and the storage modulus (G′) was found to be one order of magnitude higher than the loss modulus (G″), indicating a moderately rigid viscoelastic material. Furthermore, with systematical residue substitution, it was found that the aspartic acid within the repeat‐in‐toxin sequence of peptide amphiphiles was responsible for the pH and calcium selectivity. The environmental responsiveness, secondary structure, morphology, and mechanical nature of the peptide‐amphiphile hydrogel make it a possible material candidate for biomedical and engineering application. Copyright © 2013 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sex‐ and Depot‐Dependent Differences in Adipogenesis in Normal‐Weight Humans

To elucidate cellular mechanisms of sex‐related differences in fat distribution, we determined body fat distribution (dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry and single‐slice abdominal computed tomography (CT)), adipocyte size, adipocyte number, and proportion of early‐differentiated adipocytes (aP2⁺CD68^?) in the stromovascular fraction (SVF) in the upper and lower body of normal‐weight healthy men (n = 12) and premenopausal women (n = 20) (age: 18–49 years, BMI: 18–26 kg/m²). Women had more subcutaneous and less visceral fat than men. The proportion of early differentiated adipocytes in the subcutaneous adipose tissue SVF of women was greater than in men (P = 0.01), especially in the femoral depot, although in vitro adipogenesis, as assessed by peroxisome proliferator activated receptor‐γ (PPARγ) expression, was not increased in femoral preadipocytes cultured from women compared with men. In women, differentiation of femoral preadipocytes was less than that of abdominal subcutaneous preadipocytes (P = 0.04), and femoral subcutaneous preadipocytes tended to be more resistant to tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNFα)–induced apoptosis (P = 0.06). Thus, turnover and utilization of the preadipocyte pool may be reduced in lower vs. the upper‐body fat in women. Collectively, these data indicate that the microenvironment, rather than differences in inherent properties of preadipocytes between genders, may explain the gynoid obesity phenotype and higher percent body fat in women compared to men.     

Self‐organised patchiness and scale‐dependent bio‐geomorphic feedbacks in aquatic river vegetation

Spatial self‐organisation of ecosystems is the process by which large‐scale ordered spatial patterns emerge from disordered initial conditions through local feedbacks between organisms and their environment. Such process is considered important for ecosystem functioning, providing increased productivity, resistance and resilience against environmental change. Although spatial self‐organisation has been found for an increasing number of ecosystems, it has never been shown so far for aquatic river vegetation. Here we explore the existence of spatial self‐organisation of freshwater macrophyte patches in a typical lowland river (Belgium), showing that the underlying mechanisms for pattern formation are scale‐dependent feedbacks between plant growth, water flow and local river bed erosion and sedimentation. The mapping of vegetation patches showed that the frequency distribution of patch sizes is governed by a power‐law function, suggesting that the patches are self‐organised. Scale‐dependent feedbacks, likely to lead to this self‐organised pattern, were demonstrated with a mimic experiment. Both positive and negative feedbacks on plants were confirmed by a transplantation experiment. Placing vegetation patch mimics in the river showed experimentally that on a short range (within and behind the mimics) flow reduction and increased sedimentation occurred, while on a larger range (next to patches) the flow was accelerated and decreased sedimentation took place. By transplanting macrophytes within, next to and further away from existing patches, it was proven that the conditions within the patches favoured the survival and growth of transplants (i.e. short‐range positive feedback), while the conditions just next to patches led to decreased survival and growth (i.e. long‐range negative feedback).     

‘Native’ Culture and Self‐advocacy

Book reviewed in this article: Takashi Irimoto and Takako Yamada (eds). Circumpolar Ethnicity and Identity.     

Self‐admission in psychiatry: The ethics

Self‐admission to inpatient treatment is a novel approach that aims to increase agency and autonomy for patients with severe psychiatric illness and a history of high utilization of inpatient care. By focusing on brief, preventive hospital admissions in times of increased risk of relapse, self‐admission seeks to reduce the need for prolonged episodes of inpatient treatment. Participants are generally satisfied with the model, which is not surprising given that self‐admission programs allocate a scarce resource—hospital beds—to a select group. However, the patients targeted by these programs are not necessarily those in most need of hospital admission, which may compromise the commonly accepted ‘principle of need’ in allocation of public healthcare resources. In light of the current lack of consistent evidence of the usefulness and cost‐effectiveness of the model, several aspects need to be further studied in order to guide any large‐scale implementation of self‐admission in psychiatry.