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School-based nutrition programs are crucial to reducing food insecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted students' school meal participation. This study seeks to understand parent views of school meals during COVID-19 to inform efforts to improve participation in school meal programs. Photovoice methodology was used to explore parental perception of school meals in San Joaquin Valley, California, a region of predominately Latino farmworker communities. Parents in seven school districts photographed school meals for a one-week period during the pandemic and then participated in focus group discussions and small group interviews. Focus group discussions and small group interviews were transcribed, and data were analyzed using a team-based, theme-analysis approach. Three primary domains emerged: benefits of school meal distribution, meal quality and appeal, and perceived healthfulness. Parents perceived school meals as beneficial to addressing food insecurity. However, they noted that meals were unappealing, high in added sugar, and unhealthy, which led to discarded meals and decreased participation in the school meal program. The transition to grab-and-go style meals was an effective strategy for providing food to families during pandemic school closures, and school meals remain an important resource for families experiencing food insecurity. However, negative parental perceptions of the appeal and nutritional content of school meals may have decreased school meal participation and increased food waste that could persist beyond the pandemic.

Purpose: Our study introduces a novel anesthetic protocol for neonates without using volatile agents with the goal to minimize potentially neurotoxic and pro-apoptotic agents. The authors evaluated the short-term safety and efficacy of our anesthetic protocol in patients undergoing early cleft lip repair (ECLR)., Methods: A retrospective review of ECLR patients who underwent repair before 2.5 months of age within the last 4.3 years was performed. This sample was comprised of 2 groups, those who received either a standard volatile gas-based regimen or a dexmedetomidine-based neonatal anesthetic protocol (DBNAP). Patient demographics, medication dosing, anesthetic time (induction to extubation), major and minor complications, and medication side effects were compared between the 2 cohorts., Results: A total of 101 patients underwent ECLR. All patients were American Society of Anesthesiologists class 1 or 2. Mean age at surgery was 31 ± 13 days and mean anesthetic time was 179 ± 36 minutes. DBNAP was used in 65 patients while the standard anesthetic protocol was used in 36 patients. Patient weight was significantly lower in the DBNAP group (4.01 ± 0.61 versus 4.38 ± 0.72 kg, P  = 0.007). There were no significant differences between the 2 cohorts when comparing anesthetic time, emergence time, complication rate, or medication side effects., Conclusion: For patients undergoing ECLR, DBNAP is perioperatively equivalent to the anesthetic standard of care, demonstrating no major complications and acceptable rates of minor complications and medication side effects., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.)

Purpose: Affecting children by age 3, primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) can cause debilitating vision loss by the developmental impairment of aqueous drainage resulting in high intraocular pressure (IOP), globe enlargement, and optic neuropathy. TEK haploinsufficiency accounts for 5% of PCG in diverse populations, with low penetrance explained by variable dysgenesis of Schlemm's canal (SC) in mice. We report eight families with TEK-related PCG, and provide evidence for SVEP1 as a disease modifier in family 8 with a higher penetrance and severity., Methods: Exome sequencing identified coding/splice site variants with an allele frequency less than 0.0001 (gnomAD). TEK variant effects were assayed in construct-transfected HEK293 cells via detection of autophosphorylated (active) TEK protein. An enucleated eye from an affected member of family 8 was examined via histology. SVEP1 expression in developing outflow tissues was detected by immunofluorescent staining of 7-day mouse anterior segments. SVEP1 stimulation of TEK expression in human umbilical vascular endothelial cells (HUVECs) was measured by TaqMan quantitative PCR., Results: Heterozygous TEK loss-of-function alleles were identified in eight PCG families, with parent-child disease transmission observed in two pedigrees. Family 8 exhibited greater disease penetrance and severity, histology revealed absence of SC in one eye, and SVEP1:p.R997C was identified in four of the five affected individuals. During SC development, SVEP1 is secreted by surrounding tissues. SVEP1:p.R997C abrogates stimulation of TEK expression by HUVECs., Conclusions: We provide further evidence for PCG caused by TEK haploinsufficiency, affirm autosomal dominant inheritance in two pedigrees, and propose SVEP1 as a modifier of TEK expression during SC development, affecting disease penetrance and severity.

Non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) has the potential to dramatically increase the prenatal detection rate of Down syndrome because of improvements in safety and accuracy over existing tests. There is concern that NIPS could lead to more negative attitudes towards Down syndrome and less support for individuals with Down syndrome. To assess the impact of NIPS on support for prenatal testing, decision-making about testing, and beliefs or attitudes about Down syndrome, we performed an Internet-based experiment using adults (N = 1,789) recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants were randomly assigned to read a mock news article about NIPS, a mock news article about amniocentesis, or no article. The content in the two articles varied only in their descriptions of the test characteristics. Participants then answered questions about their support for testing, hypothetical testing decision, and beliefs and attitudes about Down syndrome. Reading the mock NIPS news article predicted increased hypothetical test uptake. In addition, the NIPS article group also agreed more strongly that pregnant women, in general, should utilize prenatal testing. We also found that the more strongly participants supported prenatal testing for pregnant women, the less favorable their attitudes towards individuals with Down syndrome; providing some evidence that NIPS may indirectly result in more negative perceptions of individuals with this diagnosis., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the RNAi pathway is required for the formation of pericentric heterochromatin, proper chromosome segregation, and repression of pericentric meiotic recombination. Here we demonstrate that, when the activity of the histone H3 Lys 14 (H3K14) acetyltransferase Mst2 is eliminated, the RNAi machinery is no longer required for pericentric heterochromatin functions. We further reveal that reducing RNA polymerase II recruitment to pericentric regions is essential for maintaining heterochromatin in the absence of RNAi.

During meiosis, the formation of viable haploid gametes from diploid precursors requires that each homologous chromosome pair be properly segregated to produce an exact haploid set of chromosomes. Genetic recombination, which provides a physical connection between homologous chromosomes, is essential in most species for proper homologue segregation. Nevertheless, recombination is repressed specifically in and around the centromeres of chromosomes, apparently because rare centromeric (or pericentromeric) recombination events, when they do occur, can disrupt proper segregation and lead to genetic disabilities, including birth defects. The basis by which centromeric meiotic recombination is repressed has been largely unknown. We report here that, in fission yeast, RNAi functions and Clr4-Rik1 (histone H3 lysine 9 methyltransferase) are required for repression of centromeric recombination. Surprisingly, one mutant derepressed for recombination in the heterochromatic mating-type region during meiosis and several mutants derepressed for centromeric gene expression during mitotic growth are not derepressed for centromeric recombination during meiosis. These results reveal a complex relation between types of repression by heterochromatin. Our results also reveal a previously undemonstrated role for RNAi and heterochromatin in the repression of meiotic centromeric recombination and, potentially, in the prevention of birth defects by maintenance of proper chromosome segregation during meiosis.