NIHRDataInsights/HRCSData huggingface dataset:
Title: PEACH: Personal and Environmental Determinants of Children's Health
Funder: World Cancer Research Fund

Abstract: Background: Overweight and obesity in the young are increasing rapidly, and the environment is believed to play a role in this. However there are few data that describe how the environment may influence physical activity or eating behaviours. Aims & goals: The main hypothesis for this study is that the environment in which a young person lives is associated with their level of physical activity and/or consumption of healthy or unhealthy foods, and that these factors are associated with obesity. Our objective is to measure a wide range of factors known to be associated with eating and physical activity and to describe they interact in the development of obesity. In addition we will investigate how stress due to poor living environments may be related to a hormone called cortisol, that is released due to stress and is associated with obesity. How it will be done: Over 1300 young people have already been recruited to the first phase of this study and will be followed up again now that they are 14 years old. This will allow us to investigate whether changes in physical activity and eating behaviours that we discovered between primary and secondary school are continued into later adolescence. They will have their activity measured with activity monitors, will wear GPS receivers to record journeys to and from school and in the evening, and will complete computerised questionnaires to measure personal, social and environmental factors believed to be associated with eating behaviours, physical activity and obesity. On one day they will provide a saliva sample 5 times during the day for measurement of cortisol. Potential impact: This study will describe how children interact with the environment and how this may influence physical activity, eating behaviours and obesity. This information will allow us to design interventions to help prevent childhood obesity.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;2.4 SURVEILLANCE AND DISTRIBUTION
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: Behaviour Change e-Health Platform for Increasing Physical Activity in Children
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: The objective of the project is to conduct a feasibility study of developing low cost behaviour change e-health platform for increasing physical activity (PA) in children. As a result of sedentary ways of life, youth obesity has risen dramatically over the past few decades. Effective prevention of overweight and obesity remains a pressing public health priority given the adverse impact on health, quality of life and risk of obesity in adulthood. Current obesity prevention programmes are not evidence-based, limiting their effectiveness, electronic playground equipments are emerging but lack personalisation and interactivity while physical activity measurement devices are rarely designed for children.The objective for Food Dudes is to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the commercial potential and determine the feasibility of building a prototype of the proposed behaviour change e-health platform.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: Maximising satiety through manipulating expectations sensory quality and nutrient content.
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: Satiety involves integration of cognitive, oral, & post-ingestive signals. However, aspects of satiety remain puzzling, including the ineffectiveness of beverages to generate satiety. One possibility is that expectations about likely effects of consumed items on satiety interact with actual nutrient effects. If so, increasing expectations that products will be satiating should magnify effects of ingested nutrients, improving appetite regulation, and this is explored here. In Phase 1 optimal manipulations of satiety expectations, sensory quality & levels of nutrient that generate satiety, will be established, and how combinations of satiety expectations (through product labelling and sensory quality) & nutrient content interact will be explored. Studies concentrate on protein-based satiety only since this appears more effective than other macronutrients in generating satiety. Phase 1 will use both a mid-morning drink-preload manipulation, and a modified breakfast in a naturalistic environment, to determine the extent to which expectations modify satiety both acutely (Experiments 1-4), and as a consequence of repeat consumption (to test for learning: Experiment 5). How expectation effects relate to release of satiety hormones is tested in Phase 2, with Experiment 6 examining acute effects of manipulated expectation and Experiment 7 exploring effects of learning. Phase 3 explores longer term effects of repeated consumption of products optimised to generate satiety, with 2-week interventions where either an optimised satiety product or control consumed at home either as a mid-morning snack (Study 1) or breakfast (Study 2). Outcome measures include daily energy intake, appetite post-consumption and consumer evaluations of the products. Overall, the project outcome could explain discrepancies in the literature on the nature of satiety and offer the food industry new design rules for development of food products with consumer perceivable benefits on appetite control.


Research activity codes: 3.3 NUTRITION AND CHEMOPREVENTION
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: Development of Physically Modified Hydrocolloids and Starches for Enhanced Salt Perception
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: This project aims at creating a range of new physically modified hydrocolloids and starches that can be used to thicken salt reduced foods. It will also develop a model that relates extensional and shear rheological parameters of thickened foods to mouthfeel and salt perception. It is clear that there is a physical dimension to how food behaves in the body in addition to nutritional and biochemical factors. Central to this proposal is the idea that viscous liquids foods of comparable viscosity mix with body fluids at different levels of efficiency. Salt perception from starch thickened foods is generally better than from hydrocolloid thickened materials at the same shear viscosity, where this viscosity is determined at shear rates appropriate to in mouth conditions. The reason for this difference is that the viscosity in starch thickened products generally arises from swollen particles, whereas in hydrocolloid thickened products viscosity results from macromolecules in solution. It has been shown that the former mix much more efficiently with water (and hence saliva) than the latter. A consequence of this is that for the hydrocolloid thickened systems sodium ions remain entrained within the poorly mixing viscous matrix and are therefore swallowed before reaching the taste sensors. To be of value this understanding needs to be translated into novel food ingredients that can deliver the required rheological properties. Hence this project will concentrate on the following specific areas. a) The development of new particulate thickening systems from both hydrocolloids and starches using technologies that use energy sources efficiently and have low wastage. b) The use of sensory evaluation to demonstrate that these and conventional thickeners give salt perception and mouthfeel that can be predicted on the basis of the mixing / particulate hypothesis c) The development of new rheological criteria to predict salt perception and mouthfeel.


Research activity codes: 3.3 NUTRITION AND CHEMOPREVENTION
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: Physiological signals critical periods and hypothalamic mechanisms underlying neonatal programming of adult hyperphagia by maternal over-nutrition
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: We have developed an experimental protocol in rodents which shows that maternal diet-induced obesity programmes offspring hyperphagia. This is associated with an amplified and prolonged leptin surge in the offspring before weaning. We hypothesise that the latter half of the suckling period is critical for programming adult hyperphagia via excess leptin, which is driven by factors in the dam's milk. Leptin resistance is seen in the offspring by postnatal day 30. In response to leptin, they fail to exhibit anorexia and show reduced pSTAT-3 in the arcuate nucleus (ARC). We will investigate the signals and processes underlying the ontogeny of these phenomena. Central to our objectives is the physiological and pathophysiological regulation of neonatal leptin and its subsequent effects on leptin-signalling and peptidergic pathways intrinsic to or projecting from the ARC. This multidisciplinary project will investigate the significance of maternal obesity versus diet in programming hyperphagia. To this end, we will study wildtype offspring of heterozygous MC4 receptor deficient mice (which are hyperphagic irrespective of diet). The neonatal leptin surge will be characterised and related to adipocyte maturation in different fat depots. Interventions will be made to amplify and extend the surge in control pups or curtail it in offspring of obese dams The ontogeny and nature of the leptin resistance will be studied in terms of leptin receptor expression and leptin-signalling pathways. Our model will also address findings which have led others to identify an apparent paradox, in which reduced orexigenic AgRP is associated with hyperphagia. Since we hypothesise that this paradox is illusory because AgRP reduction reflects increased turnover from an impaired pathway, we must quantity its expression. Our model offers a tractable opportunity to address this paradox. It is unencumbered by the genetic lesions of ob/ob mice or rats bred to be susceptible to diet-induced obesity.


Research activity codes: 2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: S6 kinase 1 and ageing
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: Reduced activity of TOR or its substrate, S6 kinase, leads to lifespan extension in disparate eukaryotic organisms Preliminary data from our groups indicate that mice lacking one of two S6 kinase orthologs, S6K1, also have enhanced longevity and are protected from age-associated diseases. We will therefore undertake detailed analysis of S6K1 functions pertinent to aging by addressing the following objectives: 1) To generate tissue-specific S6K1 knockout mice and assess their response to diet-induced obesity and examine age- associated pathology in these animals. We will delete S6K1 in liver, fat and neuronal tissues using floxed mouse alleles of S6K1 recently created in the Withers and Kennedy labs. Mice will be phenotyped on a standard diet and for potential protective effects from diet-induced obesity and age-related pathologies. 2) To analyse interactions of S6K1 signalling with insulin/IGF-1 signalling- Insulin resistant IRS1-/- mice, which have reduced S6K1 activity, are long-lived. However, S6K1 may also act in a negative feedback loop to suppress insulin signaling. Therefore an alternative hypothesis is that S6K1-/- mice are long-lived due to enhanced insulin/IGF-1 activity. To address this apparent conundrum we will undertake detailed analysis of the signaling components in response to insulin, fasting and feeding and high fat diet both in tissues derived from our tissue-specific S6K1 knockout mice and from cell lines derived from these animals to dissect the interactions between signaling pathways. 3) To assess altered translation in S6K1-/- mice - S6K1 phosphorylates ribosomal protein RPS6. A major consequence of activation of this pathway is increased translation, particularly of messages with 5' TOP sequences. We will assess the changes in translation that accompany S6K1 knockout using polysome analysis as a measure of global translation levels and translation state array analysis to identify specific changes at the transcript level.


Research activity codes: 1.1 NORMAL BIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTIONING;2.1 BIOLOGICAL AND ENDOGENOUS FACTORS
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: Mining diversity of cereal (wheat) fibre to improve the nutritional quality of wheat
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: This project will provide mechanistic understanding to allow selection of wheat varieties or ingredients for producing breads with improved nutritional quality. The solubility of wheat cell wall polysaccharides, such as aribinoxylans (AX) in the upper GI tract lumen must be a function of (i) At the crop level: the intrinsic properties of cell wall polysaccharides, primarily a function of genetic effects which may be modified by growing environment; (ii) At the process level: milling and baking which may modify cell walls in as yet undefined ways; (iii) At the human level: the upper GI tract luminal environment We will investigate how such factors affect the health benefits of soluble cereal fibre (AX), by (i) growing grains which are known to have different AX contents, (ii) making flour and baking bread from these grains, (iii) analysing the materials using new chemistry and imaging technologies, (iv) conducting in-vitro digestion studies using a novel in-vitro digestion system, thus (iv) identifying breads with different digestion behaviours which will then be tested on humans to confirm their effects. Hypotheses to be tested are that (i) Changes in the viscosity of digesta that affect nutrient availability and uptake can be generated by solubilisation of AX, and (ii) The amount and availability of these fractions is affected both by grain type and the milling and baking process; Identification of breads with healthier digestion profiles, and explanation and quantification of this will enable innovation through knowledge-based rather than empirical approaches in (a) plant breeding, through selection of optimal grain traits (b) changes occurring during manufacture through different baking methods and (c) fundamental science through identification of factors controlling digestion.


Research activity codes: 3.3 NUTRITION AND CHEMOPREVENTION
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: Enhancing the consumer perception of reduced fat foods through interfacial design and rheological behaviour
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: Our aim is to develop a rational strategy to improve the acceptability of reduced fat emulsified foods. This will be achieved by engineering the surface of emulsion droplets to increase the strength of the inter-droplet interactions. This will increase the contribution of each droplet to the overall emulsion viscosity, and hence increase the perceived fat content of the emulsion. This is based on previous work where emulsions stabilised by proteins imparted higher perceived fat contents than those stabilised by emulsifiers. Our more recent work showed that a solid, elastic droplet surface formed by proteins enhanced the interactions between emulsion droplets, whereas the fluid emulsifier surface lubricated the droplets surfaces. Work to date has focussed on concentrated emulsions, to utilise this research in foods, we need to apply the same principles to reduced fat emulsions, i.e. those for which some droplets have been replaced with a viscoelastic matrix. We will use IFR's expertise in interfacial design to develop droplets with different surface strengths, by using emulsifiers (surfactants) and proteins, but also extending this to highly elastic surfaces by crosslinking proteins and using colloidal particles. These systems will be incorporated into model food emulsions. Leatherhead Food Research will determine the sensory perception and consumer acceptability. The University of Edinburgh will study the fundamental physical interactions between the droplets within the emulsion using high speed confocal imaging under shear flow. This state of the art technique will give us a unique insight into the physics underlying how the interface influences emulsion rheology. In addition, the consumer attitudes and response to changes in mouthfeel will be examined at Leatherhead to define the barriers to consumer acceptability. Overall this methodology will improve the likelihood of successful adoption of these tailored interfaces into real foods.


Research activity codes: 3.3 NUTRITION AND CHEMOPREVENTION
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: Does flavour-nutrient inconsistency compromise energy regulation in humans?
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: Over time, the orosensory properties of a food can serve as a cue (conditioned stimulus) that enables an individual to predict the caloric consequences of consuming a particular food. When these 'flavour-nutrient associations' are disrupted this promotes imprecise caloric regulation and weight gain in rats. In the UK, foods are now highly processed and their energy density is manipulated routinely. This increases exposure to inconsistent flavour-nutrient pairings. For the first time, this project will elucidate the effects of these inconsistent parings in humans. Specifically, it will explore two hypotheses. In Phase 1 we will test the hypothesis that inconsistent flavour-nutrient pairings disrupt learned cephalic-phase responses to food and that this compromises the ability to compensate for calories in food from meal to meal. As part of this research we will draw on expertise in 'sensing technology' to refine methods for measuring thermogenic responses to food. In Phase 2 we will test the hypothesis that inconsistent flavour-nutrient pairings have a direct effect on meal size, specifically, that they create 'uncertainty' (psychological) about the satiety that a food is expected to confer, and that this promotes the selection of larger meals. Despite its otherwise widespread application, this is the first time that 'prospect theory' will be used to make predictions about human dietary behaviour. In total, 11 studies will be conducted. Nine of these will be controlled laboratory experiments involving participants drawn from local staff and student populations. Four of these will use a 'preload' paradigm and two will establish causality by manipulating flavour-nutrient consistency directly. Two online studies will be conducted using custom software, written in Java script. This research will identify specific ways in which our modern food environment promotes obesity in the UK. As such, it will impact academics, the food industry, and the general public.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: Emulsion structure: a novel mechanism of delivering fatty acids to regulate gut function and satiety.
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: Obesity and associated health problems have in part been linked with chronic overconsumption, leading to gradual long term weight gain and obesity. Enhancing the satiety promoting properties of a wide range of common food products offers a sustainable solution. However, the complex mechanisms involved in the digestion of and subsequent physiological response to these structures is not known. This study aims to delay lipid digestion by designing the interfaces of fat droplets to modulate lipolysis. This will enable delivery of fatty acids to the distal small intestine to promote secretion of satiety inducing hormones in humans and hence reduce appetite. This will help develop a rational design strategy for satiety promoting foods as a long term weight control strategy. We have previously demonstrated delayed lipolysis in vitro by creating emulsion droplets stabilised by galactolipids or crosslinked proteins which increase resistance to lipolysis by preventing adsorption of bile salts and/or lipase/colipase. The next stage of this research is to determine the effectiveness in vivo. Therefore this study will aim to address the following objectives:- 1. Identify which specific lipids are most effective at stimulating anorectic gut hormones in cellular and animal models. 2. Determine how rational design of emulsions (form and composition) can resist lipid digestion and target the delayed release of specific lipids to the lower small intestine in vitro and in animal models. 3. Validate the effectiveness of the emulsion systems on healthy human volunteers by quantifying the impact on lipid digestion rates, gut hormone release and satiety. The outcome of this study will be to determine the mechanistic pathways, both physiological and physico-chemical, that control satiety through the rational design of resistant emulsion systems The design principles involved will be used to develop human studies to determine the impact on long weight control.


Research activity codes: 3.3 NUTRITION AND CHEMOPREVENTION
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL
Title: Evaluating novel plant oilseeds enriched in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids to support sustainable development of aquaculture
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: The aim of this proposal is to generate a transgenic oilseed (Camelina sativa) possessing the novel trait for the biosynthesis of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LC-PUFA), eicosapentaenoate (EPA) and docosahexaenoate (DHA), and to evaluate the oils in feeds for Atlantic salmon. Levels of essential n-3 LC-PUFA are critically low in Western diets contributing to high prevalence of many diseases. Fish, particularly farmed fish like salmon, are the major source of n-3 LC-PUFA for humans, but the levels are dependent upon the use of marine fish oil in feeds and so aquaculture represents a non-sustainable production system. The pressure for more sustainable feeds based on plant meals and oils will reduce n-3 LC-PUFA levels in farmed fish. This project proposes to use transgenesis to deliver a designer oilseed that is focussed on the requirements of the aquaculture industry. Transgenic Camelina will be transformed with algal genes encoding the n-3 biosynthetic pathway and expression restricted to the seeds via seed-specific promoters. Transgenic oils will be used in plant-based feeds fed to salmon to evaluate their nutritional quality and safety. Growth performance, feed efficiency and fish health will be determined along with nutrient and fatty acid composition and metabolic/molecular consequences including expression of key target genes. Biochemical and molecular studies in cell cultures will provide data to inform the genetic engineering studies of levels of EPA and DHA required for optimal performance in aquafeeds. Major outcomes will be the development of a GM crop with a high value trait, data to facilitate uptake of this product by the aquaculture industry, an expanded understanding of the basic science underpinning fatty acid nutrition critical to modern fish farming, and key information relevant to feed formulation to maintain nutritional quality of farmed fish and improve competitiveness and sustainability of UK aquaculture.


Research activity codes: 3.3 NUTRITION AND CHEMOPREVENTION
Health categories: STROKE;CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;CARDIOVASCULAR;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL